lisamoe

So more yay! I had written to another high school friend of mine about the reunion and she wrote back this week with an update on her life and now we're exchanging emails. She and I were close in high school and she was one of my bridesmaids when I got married the first time. I saw her at her own wedding and one time after I think, but not since then, even though she just lives near Joplin which is less than 2 hours away. She has two little boys too, one just Jesse's age. Anyway, it's good to be back in touch with her. That's three old friends that have stumbled back into my life within the last two weeks. I guess it was just the right time.

Today I started a new thing with the kids. I've been a little overwhelmed with going back to work and still trying to keep the house up, so I'm leaving the kids a short list of chores that will help me out on any day that they aren't already busy with field trips or something. I know it's going to be my Mom that has to prod them into doing it, but hopefully they'll get more used to it soon and will do it on their own. Today they're to take the trash out, move the clean clothes out of the dryer and put the washed ones in it, put the potatoes and carrots into the roast I left slowcooking, and wash their hair. That seems like a very small amount of stuff, but even that much that I don't have to do or supervise will help me out. And time they're doing that is time they're not messing something else up, lol.

After we went to The Barnyard last night, I went and bought a new slow cooker. I got a big 6 quart one with a locking lid and big handles that don't get hot so you can take it to potlucks. I'm hoping to cook a slow cooker meal a couple of times a week because it's great to come home to dinner already done and I can also cook a lot healthier that way than I do when I fry stuff to get it done quick. I'm going to use those crockpot liners too and see how I like them. They seem like a good idea. Oh, and The Barnyard was a real stinker. My kids said they liked it "ok," but they didn't ask me if we could get it on DVD or ask to go back, so I know they weren't crazy about it. It's probably an adequate kids movie, but *all* the funny stuff was already in the commercials, the music was overall mildly irritating, the fact that all the "boy cows" had huge pink udders was distracting throughout, and though the farm animals were animated well, they were so poorly concieved that you sometimes couldn't even tell what kind of animal they were supposed to be. I'm glad we only paid $2 apiece.

Ok, guess I'd best find some work to do.

Last night we saw Pirates at the Admiral Twin drive-in with a_spirited_soul and her kids. I want to see it again sometime on a better screen with less dealing with excited kids, but the parts I saw were very good. The kids act a LOT better in a real movie theater, but the excitement of hanging out with their friends at the drive-in pretty much killed any chance of sitting still and watching the movie or say, letting ME watch the movie. I enjoyed the evening, in any case, and talking with Allison for a while after the movie.

Today has been, well, a day. It's about to let up though, and I've got pork chops and broccoli with cheese cooking. I haven't eaten anything today except one of the big cinnamon peach muffins I made this morning. Hmmm...I wonder how it would be if I broke one in half in a bowl, heated it back up, and then put ice cream on it. Pretty good, I'm guessing.