Thril of the Junk ...

There is a store in our little downtown area that I love to go into. They have candles, purses, shirts, jewelry, just about everything a girl could want - all in one place (http://www.candlequeencandles.com/). They were featured on a site (junkmafia) which led me to look at other stores and junk places. I found an ad for something called "The Thrill of the Junk" which sounded like this HUGE junk sale...in Iowa. I thought it might be fun to road trip to see this grand sale...so I asked the manfriend if he was interested in taking a road trip and we were off early Saturday morning. Off to Iowa......

As it turns out - A. Our idea of junk and the Iowan idea of junk are very different. B. 3 hours is a long way to drive to find marked up home interior stuff. C. Does ANYONE in Iowa know what a flea market or swap n shop is? (btw the answer is a resounding NO).

So since we're close to Omaha, we went to look at car parts for the MF's 55 Chevy that he's restoring. We ended up making a pretty good day out of it, hitting some garage sales and finding amazing beef jerky in a strip mall and having overall a fairly good road trip day.

Something I've noticed lately is how the Peanut can be a bit selfish and rude...(is this true for all 12 year olds or have I done something wrong?) I feel like I am messing up somehow on raising her. WHY is she consistently rude to me? Why does she talk back consistently? Why is it that when I get onto her for her behavior, her response is to explain to me why she was doing wrong, instead of addressing the issues at hand? Am I wrong to expect her to correct her mistakes sooner than she does? These aren't new issues I'm addressing so why is it so hard to learn?

Remember when "children should be seen and not heard?" I still adhere somewhat to that philosophy. There are many times when the Peanut interrupts adults (to show me something in the store) or whatever... She inserts herself into many adult conversations (is this a flaw on my part?) When corrected, she doesn't see what she did wrong - she explains why she interrupted... The lack of impulse control is driving me batty!

Is this how they are, or am I messing her up? #Idon'treallyknowanymore

I like you.

So it's funny. I have said for a while that my guy is one of my favorite people and I really like him. Some friends wonder why I haven't uttered those words yet. We have both been married before, for a good amount of time. After my divorce, I dated a few people for a while, although six months was the max. Each guy was a tool in their own right. One rushed to utter those words which quite honestly freaked me out. I decided I'd take a year off from dating to find me. (I made it 6 months)...

Fast forward to one of my most favorite people. He was very recently divorced when we went out for the first time. In my mind, I could easily be the rebound (and I guess I still could). He could choose to go back to his ex-wife (although I highly doubt that now). And now we have dated for a year and a half - solid. And he's one of my most favorite people. For real. And I like him. Which goes back to that question... why haven't you said those words? We're content with it the way it is. I like being happy. I like liking him. 

One of my two followers sent me a link a few minutes ago that made me all teary at the end (you have been warned!). The best part was knowing I was not completely alone in liking someone :)

Watch here :)
http://youtu.be/_5H2q-Xfp4s

Chores, school and other fun

I come from the school of thought that chores for children are ok, as long as they are age appropriate. I work with someone who thinks I am mean for requiring my daughter to do ANY chores at all. Really? His opinion is that she will learn in time how to cook, clean, & do her laundry. Perhaps, but why not arm her with the knowledge so she doesn't flounder when she's on her own? She's already counting down till she's 18 and 'out of the house' (which if you're counting also, is 5 years-ish...EEK!).

I'm a single mom. I work full time. I go to school. Granted the school is online, but it requires my brain just the same. The last thing I want to do is come home and clean up messes that were left for me. Maybe that makes me a bad mom. I don't know. I do know that with just two of us in the house, it can't hurt Peanut to help with things from time to time...and it keeps her out of trouble...

What are your thoughts on kids and chores? Should they have to do them at all? Should they earn an allowance for them? Should they focus solely on their grades? Feel free to chime in! :) #thanksforreading