DH bought me my very own laptop (an oldie but a goodie for not much $$) and he's going to get me a wireless card for it, too.  Plus, he's going to replace the hard drive in our defunct machine.  I'm so glad I married a handyman!  He's multi-talented, my DH is.  :)

I just let the kids watch "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardobe" (cartoon version) for movie night and now they are playing a little X-Box.  We had a very long afternoon in the van.  First we went to the tax accountant to drop off our stuff (we're filing for an extension).  Then, we took Buster for a follow-up X-ray.  Then we tried to take him for his lab work, but it took a while to find the right building (the lab has moved from the location I found on Google map), and by then they had closed.  They close kind of early...4 p.m.  I tried to go to the DMV next, but it was too close to five at that point.  We were all hungry and I was actually getting shaky, so we went to McDonalds.  Yes, I know.  Bad, bad, bad.  But I needed someplace for the kids to stretch their legs.  They had a great time playing with a couple of children who were there with their grandparents.  We left at the same time they did, and it was so cute to watch them wave goodbye to each other.

It was so nice to get away from the grind today.  I have felt oppressed by all the housework that I need to do.  I worked on laundry yesterday and got several loads through, doing the "fold from the dryer" method that Tonya suggested.  Fell down on that a bit today and I have one load in the basket because I needed to dry my sheets immediately tonight.  But then, I haven't been here to take care of it today. 

I notice I'm more of a "fun mom" when I am out and about with the kids and I don't have household pressures bearing down.  I get so grouchy having to clean up messes over and over and over again.  Or make *them* clean up messes, which seems like just as much work as doing it myself.  I get frustrated with my inconsistancy and keep trying to improve, and failing, to my chagrin. 

On the other hand, if I run around too much I get unsettled and unhappy.  It's best as a once-in-a -while kind of thing. 

I brought some CD's into the van today and it was nice to hear our old favorites again.  My kids love Rich Mullins' "Songs" CD and will listen to it a thousand times over quite happily.  They call it "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" because that's the first song in the lineup.  :)   We also got to listen to our Jim Weiss "Tell Me a Story" CD again.   Mopsy is too young to remember the last time she heard it, so it's like new to her.  Scrub wanted to hear the whole thing, but there wasn't time.  Weiss is truly a gifted storyteller.  I'd love to collect more of his CD's. 

Now that I have a laptop, maybe we can do more listening to stories.  I can listen to the Bible online at esv.org and there are the Old Time Radio programs and Christian radio shows at OnePlace.com.  Thistle & Shamrock does a podcast, too.

I have so much catching up to do with my regular blog reading!  Later!