Friday 5

Horray!!! Friday is here.. FINALLY! Although I dont know why I'm so excited.. it's FREEZING outside and we have a soccer game tonight! :( (but i'll get into that in a minute!)

Time for the Friday 5! I can feel the stress releasing as I type....

{1} Why is that the one morning of the week that you actually let yourself sleep an extra 15 min, and you are in return running late, your blow dryer decides to stop working?! Of course that would be the morning that it's about 48 degrees outside, so wet hair is not an option... unless of course, I want to sound like a seal tomorrow and be sick for a week! Great.. just great! Looks like I'm making a Target run this afternoon!

{2} Why do cough & cold medicines just not work for toddlers??? I spent 10 min in the medicine aisle at Walgreens the other night trying to find something that will clear up Ethan's cough. (he's had it for.. gosh.. a month it seems and it wont go away! nothing else is wrong with him!) EVERYTHING is for children 4 and up.. most are 6 and up! The only things that seem to help him.. Mucinex and Delsym... both of which are for kids 6 and up! So.. when I do finally break down and give him some, I only give him half the smalled dose (1/2 tsp) and watch him like a hawk! WHAT DO I DO?! The poor kid sounds like a seal! And let's not mention the fact that both of those medicines are about $10 a bottle! SERIOUSLY?!

{3} I've started getting Christmas stuff together for the kids.. and I have no idea what to get them! I've decided on a few things, but not much. I guess I just dont know what the "IT" gifts are for this year!! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! LK is 5 going on 15 and Ethan is a ginormous 2.5 yr old! LK loves all things girly, pink and "big" for her age. Ethan is a sports maniac and loves Toy Story, Thomas the Train and Bob! HELP!

{4} WEATHER... I HATE YOU! Other than about 6 days of sunshine, it has been rainy and just plain gross here for over a month! We have played a total of 3 soccer games in that time period.. all others have been re-scheduled. So.. that means, we have one tonight (in the freezing cold weather.. i'm SO anticipating the hissy fit LK is going to throw over that one!) AND one tomorrow morning! Crappy weather.. please go away!

{5} My check engine light came on yesterday! I am beginning to hate my car! Dont get me wrong.. up until the past year, it's been great! I never had any issues with it! I bought it when I was pregnant with LK in '03 and paid it off last year. I think it's true what they say though... "you pay it off.. it falls apart!" So.. not only is it beginning to get on my nerves for those reasons.. it is now too small! I have two kiddos (maybe a 3rd soon!) who are getting very active into sports and other things. There is just not enough room! So.. (just in case my hubby is reading this today..) THIS is what I want...

The Volvo XC90 or the V70! I know.. a STATIONWAGON?! HA! (i've turned into the ultimate soccer mom!haha!) But seriously.. have you sat in one of these?? I'm telling you.. you sit in and you will fall in love! So.. yes.. I WILL be getting a Volvo.. it's just a matter of us deciding to cough up that car payment every month! UGH!

Friday Five

{1} So, Tuesday we were supposed to have soccer practice (so I thought!). Well, by around 2ish, it was raining.. so practice canceled, right?! WRONG! And not only was it still on.. it was a GAME! AHHH!! Chris has class on Tuesday nights, so that left me and two kids rushing around trying to make it in time! Of course, it had rained, so that meant rainboots! UGH! We got there at about 5:40, unloaded the car.. about lost it when Ethan removed his rainboots b/c they were muddy – um, hello.. it RAINED!... rushed two kids, chairs, soccer equipment and all to the field, only to stand around for the next 10 min until her coach got there to tell us where to go! OH.MY.GOODNESS… what a night! Not to mention that by the end of the game Ethan had removed the boots, the muddy socks and was just running around barefoot! I’m sure that was REAL sanitary! I think I dislike soccer about as much as LK does! ;)

{2} ALL summer McDonald’s was selling their large cokes for $1. It was GREAT! Well, it’s been a few weeks since I had gone to get one. So, I pulled into the drive-thru and asked for a large coke.. $1.90.. WHAT?! I asked why and the lady was very rudely so kind enough to tell me that they were no longer $1! Gosh.. day ruined, right there!

{3} I took Ethan to school this morning.. 20 min from my house only to realize that I had left my purse (license, money, belongings..everything) at home! I had to drive ALL the way back home to get everything and then head ALL the way back out to where I originally was! I swear, my mind is just a big ole scatterbrained mess sometimes!

{4} Why can't the rain go away?! Just asking...

{5} We've been using the same dry cleaner for a few months now and like them ok. Their work is pretty good and they're not overpriced.. works for me! So, just when I think that I'm really starting to like them I come home with THREE shirts ruined! You know the plastic attachments they use to put the ticket on your item?! Well, instead of putting it through the tag, they put it through the actual shirts! 2 of Chris's polos (Lacoste and Vineyard Vines) have 2 holes in the back of each and one of my blouses from Banana is the same way! OH, I am NOT ok with that! I asked the owner what the policy was and he told me that they refund 10% of the shirt cost. Umm.. NO! You are NOT giving me $7 for for brand new $70 polo! You will be replacing it.. Yes, you will!

Friday Five!

Friday Five is your chance to let a little steam off, or just talk about something that's been on your mind all week! Here's my Friday Five! Enjoy!

{1}Don’t you just hate it when you’re driving down the street and there’s a point where traffic is going to merge into your lane (like an interstate off ramp, maybe?!) and instead of MERGING, they just plow right into your lane and come “way too close for comfort” close to side swiping you?! OH.MY.GOODNESS! This happens to me at least once a week and I typically about come unglued when this happens. I usually have my kids in the car with me and I’m a cautious driver…. So you be one too! Please! Give me a chance to change lanes so you can merge.. don’t just assume that you have the right away.. YOU DON’T! You only have the right to MERGE when you’re able to!

{2}Why is it that food that is actually healthy for your kids is WAY more expensive than the crappy stuff?? Seriously, I stood in the “juice box” aisle for 10 min in Kroger the other day just reading all the labels! First of all… over half of the drinks are ridiculously bad for kids! I mean, come on, we should all know by know that artificial sweetener is a NO-NO for kiddos! It took me a good 2 or 3 minutes to find one that didn’t have it! My other requirement… 100% juice! Once I finally found one that was actually good for my kids to drink.. it, of course, cost a good $3 more than all the others! CRAZY! Same goes for snacks too! Lately, I’ve been making the switch to all organic stuff for them… and yep.. costs way more money! That just seems unfair to me! Just because I want my children to be healthy and eat things that are good for them, I have to pay more money! UGH!

{3}Cat Litter… I don’t care what the package says… that litter box STILL stinks! I hate it! And by the way… LILLY KATE’S kittens have only had LILLY KATE change their litter about 3 times! I think a change is needed in the Stickles house!

{4}Dress your children “weather” appropriate.. please! This time of year, it is chilly in the mornings but hot by the afternoon. I can’t tell you the number of kids I see walking to school in the mornings in short sleeves and shorts. Yes… it’s going to warm up, but right now.. IT’S COLD! Do what I do… I make LK wear a sweater/light jacket so she can take it off once she’s inside. It’s not that hard! And then you wonder why your child constantly has a runny nose this time of year!

{5}Just something I’ve been thinking about… room mom crafts! I’m really trying to hard to make this such a fun year for LK’s Kindergarten class. I’ve been searching the internet for Fall craft ideas. The problem is that her school does not celebrate Halloween, so any craft related to Halloween isn’t an option. So… Can ya’ll help me??? I’d much appreciate it! :)

The Friday Five

So, I'm going to be starting a few new segments on the blog in the next week or so! I think they're going to be really fun and add a little spice to the site. To get things started off, here is The Friday Five ... five things that just really annoyed me this week! My chance to just let off a little steam and give my opinion. Sometimes, you just gotta speak your mind! So, enjoy my Friday Five!

{1} Do you ever see those people who are constantly on their cell phones and refuse to get off them? You know the ones who stand in the check out line, or the line to order food, or the waiting area in a restaurant and DO NOT get off the phone. They can barely even do the task that they're in the establishment to do b/c they're on the phone! Not only are they on the phone and causing the hard-at-work employee grief, but they insist on joining everyone else in line or waiting, in on their conversation by talking as loud as they possibly can! Talk about just enough to make me burst sometimes! I'll be honest.. I am in a hurry about 90% of the time.. I'm always running late. So, when I'm in line somewhere, I need everyone to do their part to make things run as smoothly as possible. THESE people just get in my way! They hold things up and make things difficult, which in return makes me that much more behind schedule! Seriously... just GET OFF the phone!!!

{2} It really gets on my nerves when people just can not be happy for others. They refuse to let others enjoy life. Why can't we all just be grateful for the things that we have and be happy for others and the things that they have? I'm not talking about material things.. just the basics.. home, family, life, love, happiness. I can honestly say that I'm happy for everyone I know and the good things going on in their lives, and I just wish some people would be just as happy for me. Instead, I'm judged for my seemingly "perfect" life (which is FAR from perfect.. trust me!)! I have to hide the things in life that make me and my family happy. That's just no way to live.. and not the type of friends I want to have, if you ask me! I am happy. I am loved. And I love. If you dont like it, GET OVER IT. Find out what is missing from you life and fix it! If you dont like something about your life, then change it! It's quite simple, really!

{3} I have no idea what day garbage pick up is in my neighborhood. For almost a year now, it's been on Wednesday. Over the July 4th holiday, it just got all messed up. For the past few weeks now, the entire neighboorhod sits out their trash on Tuesday night and then it just sits there for days until the garbagemen decide to come pick it up. One week they came on a Friday, last week it was on Thursday... seriously.. is it really that hard to schedule ONE day to come and pick it up. I guess it is! So.. I'm left with days of seeing peoples trash on the curb all around my neighborhood. Attactrive, huh?! (that's the city of memphis for ya!)

{4} Don't you just hate when you rush like a crazy woman to get to an appointment ON TIME only to sit in the waiting room for almost an hour?! Really... what's the point of even scheduling apointment times then? Very, very frustrating!... especially to an on-the-go mom with a way overbooked schedule! This just annoys me x10 when the appointment isn't even for me or one of the kids, but for a KITTEN who won't eat! (well, at least $80 -yes, an annoying $80- later.. he's eating!)

{5} Speaking of Kitten health... why is there no "webmd.com" for animals?! Our kittens were not eating, so in an effort to save a little money, I thought I would search online and try to solve the problem myself. Boy, was I wrong! I could not find a single website that would give me an answer! I guess I was just expecting a plain jane ole website with ailments and answers. Bottom line, no wesbite was found, I couldn't play Veternarian Stickles for the day, and we ended up having to spend the money on the kittens! What an ordeal!

So... I shared my Friday Five.. what pet peeves did you have this week?