It SHRUNK, and now I'm STUCK!

I'm in a pickle! It's not a major issue, rather more of an annoyance. Last weekend, I finally washed the hamper covers we have for our kids. They have the folding wood-framed hampers. Well, the girls' hampers might have shrunk a little, but the boy's hamper. Well, it shrunk so much I can't really get the cover back on there! :-( So, now I need a new hamper cover for him. But, I can't find one. I did a Google search, looked on eBay, and even checked esty. No luck. Plenty of hampers, no covers without the frames. Anyone know where I can get just a cover? Or, anyone crafty and able to make one? I managed to find the hamper for sale on Babies R Us, but I don't think I want this hamper/cover again! :-/

What it looks like:

The "specs" (click on it to read it):

The link:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3762925

Woe is Me

Like almost every other American, one of my goals for this year is to lose weight. No, you don't get to find out how much I weigh! LOL No one needs to know! ;-) But, I have had three babies in the past six years - and you can tell! It sucks. I gotta do it a little at a time - I'm getting close to my first goal, but not close enough! After my first goal, I have to lose about 10 more pounds to get to my pre-Natalie weight. That will be cause for much celebration indeed! Then, there are another 10-15 lbs to get to my pre-Grant weight. That will be cause for even GREATER celebration. Beyond that, there are another 20-25 lbs to get to my pre-Abby weight. THAT will be the celebration of a lifetime - well, at least since the birth of my babies! ;-) Beyond that another 15-20 lbs would be nice, but I'll be THRILLED just to get to my pre-Abby weight. Can I do it? I sure hope so - but I'm skeptical. See, as much as I hate to admit it (out of shame), I'm lazy. If something's work, I don't wanna do it. BUT, if that work can be made fun, I'm all for it! For instance, I HATE exercising - it's a chore and takes a long time to get noticable results. BUT, I love dancing - I was on the poms squad in junior high and in high school and LOVED it. Lost weight when I joined both (there were 3 years between the two - for various reasons I'll spare you for now), and looked great. If there was a way to do that kind of thing again now that I'm 32, I'd be there - and I'd likely lose the weight! But, well, anything even remotely close to that - Zumbo, I think is what it's called, for instance - is pricey. I don't have money for that right now. Plus, if I were to take it and get results and want to keep going, it'd be a recurring expense - no room in the budget for that right now. What I really wanna do is get a Wii Fit and use that. I know it's not anything like Zumbo, but I know I could enjoy that. But, of course, I can't get a Wii Fit to save my life - and I'm sure as hell not paying upwards of $100 for something that regularly is priced around $80. No way, no how. But, let me tell you, it's all I can do to keep from just saying screw it and ponying up the money! I am sure part of the problem is the aforementioned other Americans with the same goal - and likely a similar plan. I just wonder when the Wii Fit craze will die down so I can walk into Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or Target and buy one then and there. I feel like the king dude (I can't remember what they are - lemurs?) in Madagascar - "HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE!" So, for now, I'm using Wii Sports. That tennis gets me moving pretty well. It's better than nothing, right?

No One's Dead ~ Yet

Man, I cannot wait for school tomorrow! Absolutely cannot wait! Abby had a half day Thursday, no school Friday, and DH left early Friday. It's been a long weekend, that's for sure! And they're driving me bonkers. It's been cold, so I've been dragging them around town getting Christmas shopping done to get them out of the house. Oh, my, gosh! I never want to do it that way again! I've never had them misbehave like this. Now, granted, shopping with me likely is EXTREMELY boring, but c'mon! I became one of THOSE moms - you know, the one with the out-of-control kids running through the aisles! I tried to give the kids away to passers-by, but no one wanted them. I wonder why ...

And now, I got interrupted writing this because Abby and Grant decided now would be a good time for playing - LOUDLY, I might add - in their room. Grant had already been asleep for about an hour, and Abby was apparently incapable of going to bed without him waking. Usually, he goes right back to sleep. Not tonight. So, I brought him back downstairs with me so Abby can fall asleep. She's got school tomorrow, otherwise I'd bring her back down until I'm confident Grant's asleep.

Have I mentioned how EXHAUSTED I am? I'm on Day 3 of DH being gone and have no idea how I'm gonna make it another 27 days! Well, I know how - by the grace of God. Without His help, this wouldn't work. On one hand, I'm grateful for school - gets one of the three out of my hands for a bit. (And, honestly, it's the one who tends to be the least cooperative.) On the other hand, I'm not happy about school - because it just adds to the stress. I gotta worry about getting her to bed early enough, getting her to school on time, getting back to the school on time to pick her up (which rarely allows for the other two to get decent naps), some days packing a lunch ... I figure by the time we get into a good routine DH will be home. That's typically how it goes.

Anyway, I gotta go. Dishes are calling my name. Yippee! Hopefully I can go to bed after that.

One day down ...

and 29 left to go. DH left this morning. Fortunately, his travel days are Day #1 and Day #30 of his deployment. I've spoken with him a few times today, and he made it to Austin no problem. So, all is well on that side. Tomorrow is when he starts working.

Today went pretty well, even with Abby having a day off school! :-) The morning was laid-back, with us doing not much of anything once DH left. we just hung out together and did whatever. After Grant's nap, we went to pickup my new battery for my laptop. (My previous battery had suddenly stopped charging - apparently Apple's got some sort of problem with the older batteries, b/c they sent me a new one free of charge!) It took me forever to find the damn place Apple shipped the battery to. Where I live, we have streets and avenues. The streets run north/south, and the avenues are east/west. I was thinking the Apple service shop was on 19th St. But, after driving around a bit, I figured there was no way that was possible. (Where I was driving was where the road ended by the river. It was pretty easy to tell I wasn't in the right place! LOL) Suddenly it hit me - 19th AVENUE, not street! DUH! Sure enough, they were right there - which also is closer to my house, of course! Blond moment? Perhaps - except that I'm not blond ... hmm.

After the Apple store, we (the kids and I) checked out Toys R Us. They were having a sale from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m. tonight, which also carries over into the morning tomorrow - but I don't know the hours. I have most of the kids' Christmas stuff bought AND most of Grant's b-day stuff! :-) Christmas shopping is almost done - I ordered Dh what he wanted (a new hard drive for his laptop) and purchased some stuff for my nieces and nephews last night. Now the other adults on our list are the only people left for whom we need to get something! :-)

The one downside to the new battery for the laptop is I have to calibrate it - which means I couldn't go to bed yet! :-( I forgot how long it takes and started it a couple of hours ago! DOH! LOL I should soon be able to continue the process - hopefully it'll complete most of it's stuff overnight.

I gotta get to bed. I'm too tired. So, I think I'll finish the calibration tomorrow morning. Wish me luck! ;-)