I need to find an aluminum-free deodorant that actually works! Toms of Main was working a little bit but just not good enough. I only use deodorant because I’d rather sweat than loose my boobs to breast cancer. I found this recipe for homemade deodorant, but I need to find something to use until I have time to make it and/or if it turns out not to go on clear enough.

Anyone?

I have been SO sick.

Last weekend was crazy busy. This week to come is scheduled to be crazy busy.

Eden lost her first tooth.

I want to feel better so I can enjoy my week.

So that roast that I had planned to cook last week… I just cooked it tonight. Or tried to cook it that is. The problem with cooking something in the oven for four hours is that you have to find four hours straight at home to cook. (This is a recipe where the crockpot just doesn’t do.)

So I forgot to get the roast in in time. And it was 4:30 and I really needed to cook the roast because it had been thawed for a few days. So I had the brilliant idea to cook it at a really high temperature… as high as my new stove would go – 500º. I thought I’d get a good sear on the roast before I added the wine/broth mixture to it. And 10 minutes into cooking, I poured the room temperature mixture over the roast and walked away.

Then the stove exploded. Or I should say that the pyrex casserole dish holding my roast exploded. There was a big bang followed by lots of red wine smelling steam and smoke. And I now get to test out the self clean function on my new stove. That is, after I shop vac all the tiny pieces of glass out of it.

And all I really wanted was to eat my roast…

Dear Blingo,
Since nearly the beginning of your life I have been a large fan of you. I have referred many, many users to you. In turn, you have also been good to me. I have won many a fantastic prize, including my much loved and used ipod nano.

But alas, you have sold out to the corporate giant. I kept using you faithfully even when you became PCH. I even kept coming back when I stopped winning prizes. (It’s been FOREVER since I’ve won, yet I use you every day.) But now that you have discontinued your use of Google results and sprinkled your results with sponsored links, it is time that we part ways.

I will always remember how good you once were.

Longing for the old Blingo,
Allison ******

It’s Saturday morning. I wake up early-ish to Eden asking if she can turn the heat up. I can’t fall back asleep. So I get up, shower, get dressed, hair, makeup. I have to work, so I putz around a bit on the computer and decide to make breakfast. We’ve been getting these frozen beef breakfast sausage patties, but I tend to fill the house with smoke when I make them – they’re best when they’re crispy (aka slightly burnt). When we were stoveless I started cooking them on the grill and it worked out perfect.

So I run out in the rain, turn on the two outside burners, let them sit for a sec, and then turn on the middle one. The grill won’t light. I try again. Still won’t light. I open the lid, as I’m sure I need to actually SEE what’s happening. I try again. A giant flame rises from the grill and it’s lit. I smell burning hair. MY burning hair….

Great…

Luckily, it only got a small part of my bangs and part of one side in the front. And NOT any of my eyelashes.

I think maybe I’ll go back to filling the house with smoke when I cook sausages.

Eden spent last night puking and today sleeping. I’m not feeling good at all either. All I want to do is clean out the kitchen and prepare it for our new stove. And finish finishing our new dining room table so it will be done in time for Eden’s tea party on Sunday.

boo.

Last night we had a visit from the xcel energy guy. The night before we had started smelling a strange gas smell. It was strange because it didn’t smell like regular gas but more like butane. Especially when I was cooking. The xcel guy determined that our stove had a couple substantial gas leaks and he shut it off and issued us a red tag. So now I need a new stove. Which is good and bad.

Good because the old one was falling apart anyway. The handle had completely busted off, the oven door wouldn’t seal properly and one of the burners would rarely light. Bad because Eden’s birthday is next week and we just ordered her a somewhat expensive present. And I’m not going to run out and buy the very first stove I see; I need to become acquainted with one first and decide that I will like it before I make a purchase. So I have to figure out how to cook dinner with a microwave and a grill for the next few days. (What is it with all these electric stoves anyway? Lowes had rows and rows of electric stoves and 5 gas stoves to choose from. All I know is I’d rather not have a stove than go back to using an electric!)

In our quest to rid the house of mountains of toys that the kids don’t bother to play with, we’ve been encouraging the kids to save up money from chores so they can buy their own toys. Our thought is that they might appreciate the toy more if they’ve purchased it themselves.

So the other day Jim helped Eden and Honor check out their piggy banks to see how much they’ve saved. Eden pulled out six dollars and some change. Honor pull out the title to our house all crumpled up with a big “H” scribbled on it in marker.

It’s been a difficult week for me. And of course I can’t write about much of it. I continue to be frustrated that I can’t turn to this blog when I really need it. And I really don’t know what to do… I’m seriously about to say eff it all and write whatever the hell I want. (And you thought I already did that!)

I think part of my problem is that I am such an emotional and sensitive person. It’s something that I can’t change about myself and something that I’m trying to use as a strength rather than a weakness. Sometimes things just effect me more than they do others. Sometimes things effect me A LOT more than they do others. But I’m trying to realize that I can’t shut myself down. I can’t close myself off to the world as much as I sometimes want to. So I remain open, open to hurts and heartaches and anguish. I’m not sure what the positive to that is yet, but I’m learning to not fight it and instead work with it.

Right now, some people are coming back into our lives that have been fairly absent in the past few years. I’m having a hard time accepting that our relationships with these people are just how. they. are. I’m having a hard time with being manipulated and pushed aside until I’m needed. And I’m pissed that I can’t write about the whole fracking thing.

So I guess that I just came here to throw a pity party and a temper tantrum and it’s probably best that I don’t even hit publish. But I’m going to anyway. Because, today, I guess I want to be a spoiled brat.

So, it’s about halfway through the day. A minute ago I was sitting at Tangle, knitting with one of my customers. I leaned forward and heard this strange scraping sound on the back of the chair. Thinking it was the buttons on the back of my new pants I reached back to straighten them out. But what I found was the cardboard tag, stapled to the waist band.

ah!!!