I am a domestic goddess....???

I feel impressed to enlighten you all in the correct technique required to assemble a master Shepherd's Pie. First be sure to crank the heat up under the hamburger, so it cooks faster. The crispier, the better. Next, don't check to make sure the little doo-hickie thinger on the top of the italian seasoning jar is tightly fastened. The more the merrier. Be sure to drain your tomato sauce. This is a very important step for all cthose who consider themselves "masters" in cooking. Forget about adding water to the green beans before sticking them in the microwave for 44 minutes. Note to self: clean sticky stuff off microwave keypad. Finally stick it under the broiler to harden the cheese and potatoes into a frisbee worthy disc of generously browned...stuff.

All joking aside, I must admit to being somewhat distracted these days. I don't need a phone, or makeup to be a distracted driver. Just stick me in the car with whatever child equation you wish, and like magic I zone out. Who knows where I go. Distraction is dangerous when doing laundry, homework, (yeah, uh-huh, 4+8 is 14, Alanna) and as you may have noticed, cooking. The PPD monster (for those scratching their heads (like my husband) - "post-partum depression") has reared it's ugly head in a big way in recent days. I'm not sure if it's the combo of health, employment, injury, princesses, new baby, stomach flu, croup/ear infections, school events/homework/expectations, a teenager who is perfecting her arsenal of emotional torture designed to ensure the last word in any given situation, or if it's just internal. Make no mistake, IT IS THERE and it is real. To those who live with me....Be afraid, be very afraid. All that being said, however, today I'm having a pretty good day.

Although I fail miserably at marathon obsession, I have sprint obsessions (I seem to have lost my follow-through). Mine, as of late, have included food storage (no, really), digital scrapbooking, cooking....not going so well, attempting humor, and, well in a syncopated kind of way, walking. I've actually gone for a walk several times in the last couple of weeks. I'm hoping that the exercise and fresh air might do enough to lift my spirits. I do realize that if things don't improve or continue to disintegrate, I may have to seek professional help, and I'm working on being ok with that.

Even if my intended attempts at humor fall flat, I can be hilarious without even meaning to. (*caution, MILD language ahead). My kids (and incidentally, all of Sophia's friends at the bus stop as she related the incident to them) got a good giggle out of my behavior the other day. We were reading scriptures as a family right before bed. Now to preface this little story, I must say that it had been a hard day for me. I had stepped on a piece of glass that hadn't managed to be cleaned up properly from the floor after a "gabby incident" and had to dig it out of my foot with my fingernail (ouch) because SOMEBODY used my tweezers and didn't put them where they belong, and then I tripped over Gabby's coat on the floor and broke my little toe on the other foot, and then a stray shelf standing on its end in the garage fell over and scraped down the back of my foot. So, let's just say that physically I was feeling quite sensitive. As I helped Ellie to read the scriptures, Sophia stabbed me with a shard of broken plastic that she'd found on the ground right in the tender skin around my ankle, so what started out with "Wherefore, it came to pass......", ended with "OUCH, dammit!" So much for teaching my children how to be Christlike.

Now, lest you think my blog is less about the princesses, and more about my mental breakdown (YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH IT?) I should probably update you on the latest happenings.

Sophia attended her first night dance and came home histerically twitterpated. That's about all I have to say right now. The boy is "Chuck"......Spencer, to his mother.

Alanna is whizzing along in school, and we hope to get her in the spanish immersion program for next year. The applications come home tonight and the plan is to take it into the office tomorrow. I had fun helping her class with their easter party.

Isa (who has a great sense of humor and found my faux paux quite amuzing) is reading really well, and enjoying the nice weather we've been having. She's quite the contradiction....1/3 tomboy, and 2/3 girly girl.

Ellie was listening to Isa ask if she could get her hair colored the other day. I asked why she would want to color her hair and she replied that she just wanted it different. Ellie piped up and said "She wants hers just like mine." She also told me the other day that she might not have a license, but she knew how to drive and I was doing it all wrong.

Gabby is sooooo two. Now I've never had a "terrible two" year old, until they hit about three, but Gabby is once again proving that once you figure it out, the rules change. She is 22 months, and every other word out of her mouth is "WHY?" How do you find answers that satisfy a 22 month old? She is into EVERYTHING and doesn't stop for a second. Water is her favorite sport, and she loves to climb onto the counters and turn the sinks on full blast and play, and play, and play.......

Samm is still a joy. She has learned to sit unassisted most of the time, and waves her hand, and I SWEAR she said "hi" the other day to a lady in relief society, in which case she would be a chip off the old block, since that was my first word, as I understand it. She's not really interested in "food" (can you blame her with the "stuff" that gets served at our house?) but we'll keep trying. She's growing great and has more than doubled her birth weight.

Any day now things will be looking up...................

("Domestic Goddess" credits: Special thanks to http://www.simplytiffany.squarespace.com/ for her "Midnight's Spring Sonata" kit, http://www.digitalscrapbookingplace.com/ for their Antiquing Pack (light scratches overlay), and Basic Set (paper clip), Amanda Sok at http://www.scrapgirls.com/ for her "Blooming Fancy" paper, and Sharon Kenealy at ksharonk@bigpond.net.au for the notepaper found in her "Garden Delights" kit.)