Back...

Back to laundry.

Back to dishes.

Back to tons of mail.

Back to 179 unread emails.

Back to work.

Back to errands.

Back to cleaning.

Back to telemarketers incessant calling despite us being on the Do Not Call list.

Back to not being on vacation.

And while I don't love not being on vacation anymore, it is nice to be back on a schedule. And the girls definitely know they're home and in their own beds so they are now actually sleeping again. Oh yeah...no sleep for us in el mountains, which was lame. But, we had SO much fun! And sweet Aunt Becky, Mamaw and Papaw watched the girls for us during the day so David and I could go hiking.

And, of course, I haven't had a chance to load my pictures yet, but I'm going to work on those tonight, so I'll have some up for you tomorrow!

Until then, here is a video of Harper falling asleep in the car yesterday and us trying to keep her awake until we got home so she'd nap...which she never did, so our efforts were futile.

Vacay!

Tomorrow, we're headed for the hills! Or mountains. I guess mountains are big hills with extra rocks. Either way, we're going hiking with my family in the Smokies next week. We used to go hiking almost every year growing up. It's so peaceful. Dad always picks pretty long, strenuous hikes, so you had to keep up or you'd be left to the grizzlies. Ha, I'm kidding. There are no grizzlies in the Smokies, just black bears. But yeah, you'd be left.

Being homeschooled, some of our vacation projects included researching the history surrounding our hikes. Yes, it was as boring as it sounds. Well, then it was. Now, it's pretty interesting. On a lot of the hikes, if you see (I think) daffodils, you can safely assume a home had been built nearby. A lot of people were named Mary and Elizabeth and Abraham and Jedidiah. And that's about all I remember. I really was more focused on finding the perfect hiking stick. Perfect in the sense that it was long enough to tap Noah and Peter on the shoulders, but short to enough that it appeared too short for me to reach them, thus rendering my brothers' complaints to my parents ineffective.

This year, my parents rented an amazing house. Thanks, Mums and Pops!

Since the girls probably won't be the best of hikers, my Aunt Becky is joining us to help my grandparents keep them during the day so we can hike. And David and I will take turns staying at the house, too, so Aunt Becky can go hiking if she wants. And we'll go downtown shopping one day, maybe hit the outlet mall. I'm super duper excited.

Since Mom and Dad rented the house, the least we could do was bring all of the desserts. So, every night this week, I've been making tons of junk food. Sigh. It's been wonderful. So many bowls and spoons for me to lick at the end. I've eaten so many raw eggs, but so far so good. I made two types of cookies, a pound cake, chocolate covered potato chips, fudge, and chocolate overload brownies. I made three different batches of fudge. The first batch never set. So, I found a different recipe. It called for an egg, so I threw one one. Never even thinking that you don't cook fudge and even though I heated up the chocolate, it wasn't enough to cook the egg through. Well, it was in the fridge setting up quite nicely before I realized, "Wait, raw egg." And even though I don't care, I know other folks don't like that and Noah is highly allergic to eggs and I would totally forget to tell him not to eat it and he'd eat it and then it'd ruin the whole trip. So, we threw those out and I made another batch and it's perfect. But the brownies...they're going to be sooooo rich, we're going to vomit. I put a batch of brownies in the bottom of the pan.

Then, layered some Ghirardelli hazelnut chocolates.

Then, put another batch of brownies on top. Gag. Almost too much chocolate, but is that ever bad thing? I like to use York Peppermint Patties, too. We'll see how these turn out.

We leave in the morning and although I'm not looking forward to the drive with two kids who don't like car rides that much, I do have a stash of secret weapons with me. New, spill-proof snack cups so they can eat their raisins and Kix, which they LOVE. A load of Yo Gabba Gabba and Sesame Street videos. And new travel toys that they've never seen, so we should be able to make it in one piece. I hope.

I'll update through Twitter (on the right) and send some pictures! You kids behave while I'm gone and I'll see you in a week!

Here's some pics of the gals. They're new favorite thing is to "share," which I'm pretty happy about. If they have their juice or snack or toy, they always offer you some.

Roommate

I was watching TV the other night and a preview came on for a new movie called The Roommate. I think it's a horror movie and I'm assuming it's about a roommate. It's definitely something I'm gonna try to see...she said sarcastically. Ha, no, but it did get me to thinking about my roommate in college, Cassy. I am not lying when I say she was the best. roommate. ever.

My freshman year, I was matched with a sweet gal named Kristen and we got along great. She was so precious, a nursing student. But, because of our wildly different degrees and schedules, we never got to see each other or hang out. So, for our upperclassmen years, we both found other gals we had become friends with who also happened to be in our fields of study. Not that you have to room with someone with the same degree as you, but it helps having a built-in study buddy. So, Kristen roomed with Kristen (funny, huh) and I roomed with Rebekah. The whole Summer, I looked forward to rooming with Bekah...I knew it was going to be a lot of fun. We called and emailed throughout the Summer discussing who was bringing the TV, what kind of furniture we had, etc.

Late August, and we arrive back on campus. When we signed up for our room, Bekah and I were like, third in line, and heck yes, we got the biggest room. It was fabulous. So, I'm unpacking all of my stuff, making sure I only take half of everything...the drawers, the closet, the sink, the room itself. You literally could feel the invisible line running straight down the middle. Bekah never arrived that day, so I thought maybe she was coming in the next two days before class started.

She never came. I never heard anything...no email, no phone call. Classes started, still no Bekah. I called the Residence Life office and was like, "Dude, where's my roommate?" Because, at this point, I wanted to make sure she was okay. They told me "due to a family situation, she transferred to another school." And yes, sometimes I wonder if she called in and told them that just because she changed her mind about rooming with me.

A month came and went and I was on my ownsie. It was quite nice, I will admit. Then, I get a letter stating that I had to find someone else who was without a roommate and we had to pair up. I was super duper frustrated, because it was like freshman year again. Luckily, the first time around, I got someone pretty cool. I was afraid I'd get stuck with a lame-o. And they probably were afraid they'd get stuck with me. But, we had to find someone (they gave us a list of names) or we had to pay double the room.

So, I found someone...Cassy, a brand new transfer student. She lived just down the hall from me. Two rooms shared a bathroom. My suite-mates were Rebecca (my now sister-in-law) and her roommate Elizabeth. I loved suiting with them. They were clean and their room smelled nice and they were quiet and we all go along famously. Cassy's suite-mates were her two best friends from her home town. We had to decide who was moving into whose room. It was a doozie. I didn't want to leave my huge room with fabulous suite-mates. She didn't want to leave her slightly smaller room and the only two people on campus that she knew. The Residence Life office decided for us by saying since I had the bigger room, it made more sense for us to be there. Which, wasn't a 100% completely fair way of deciding, but hey, I wasn't going to complain. So, they let David and our friend, Mark, in and we all moved Cassy into my room. It was a very quiet, somber day. I was stoked, but I know it was hard for her. But, after a few hours of unpacking, we settled in for the night and I turned on the TV. A rerun of Cheers was on. We immediately became good friends. Every night from then on, we watched one or two episodes of Cheers before bed.

When you first meet Cassy, probably the first things you notice are her hair and her height. She has the type of blonde hair that most women (and some men) would dye to have. Ha, get it...die...dye...cuz you know, hair. Anyways. And she was super tiny. I don't consider myself a tall person...I'm 5' 3.5". That extra half inch is important. But, Cassy came to about my shoulder, I swear. She used to be a gymnastics teacher and she could launch herself into her bed with amazing ease. And we had our beds all the way to the top, so we could fit our fridges underneath. Cassy looked way younger than she was, but not in a bad way. Her face was perfectly round, sprinkled with freckles, her bright blue eyes always smiling. Yeah, she was super adorable.

Cassy was a pre-dental student, getting her undergrad in Biology. I love science, so I loved hearing all about the weird things she was learning. I helped her study, calling things out to her and helping her come up with mnemonic devices to memorize the insane amount of material that was required. She helped me with my art projects and proofread some of my papers. She always told me how fabulous my stuff was, even if I knew it was crap. She was a good friend.

She was always in a good mood. Even if she had had a bad day, she'd come in, throw her backpack–that weighed twice as much as her–onto the floor with a humphff!, leap into bed, scream a little into her pillow, and then say, "Let's eat some cake batter." And we did, sans egg. And she'd be laughing about something inappropriate one of her classmates said in her human anatomy class. She told me which biology and physics teachers to pick. I'd tell her who the easiest art teachers were.

We had a few core classes together, like English Literature, and we'd study for tests together. We'd roll our eyes when we talked about our super feminist professor and laugh behind our hands during class every time she mentioned how far she'd risen above the men that have held her back. She was on her 5th husband. This husband, however, seemed to be a keeper. She said he didn't talk much.

Cassy was obsessed with dill pickles. She had two huge jars under her bed at all times. I never knew when she replaced them, it happened so fast. If she ran out of the actual pickles, she'd still save the juice. And she would drink it STRAIGHT OUT OF THE JAR. Y'all, this was one of those huge jars you'd get at Sam's or something. And she'd prop up on her bed, watching a soap opera, and drink straight from the jar. All you could see was a distorted blur of a face, surrounded by a blonde halo, two hands clasping that pickle jar. Bleh.

It cracked me up, because she never washed off her mascara. Every night, she would spend about 15 minutes pulling every bit of it off her lashes. I was like, "Cassy, you realize there is make-up remover for that." "Yeah, no, I know. It's just easier this way." Whatever floats your boat, buddy.

Her family life was similar to mine. We were both really close to our families. Their dog, an English bulldog named Rocky, was one of them. I heard more stories about him than some of her siblings. She had several nieces and nephews, all of whose names started with a C. I could never keep them straight. One of the nephews, C-something, was an up and coming artist. I got him a solid graphite pencil and fancy eraser and he drew me a Japanime cartoon. I still have it.

She was an eBay fiend. She taught me how to use eBay and I bought my first item with her help, David's groom's cake topper. She wasn't as great with some other websites. I introduced her to Delia's and told her to check out their website sometime. Our school was pretty conservative, so a lot of web-related checks. I come in from classes one day and she's sitting at my desk, her face pale. I asked what was up. She said, "I went to a porn site." I laughed, thinking she was just making a joke, even if it was weird, and she said, "No...really. I tried to go to that Delilah website you told me about and it was a porn site." I said, "Did you try to go to DELIA'S?" Her eyes got big and she half-smiled and said, "Nope. I went to Delilah's." So, I called the web office and told them not to put a flag on my computer because it was an accident. And I gave Cassy my Delia's catalog instead.

She was such a good roommate and such a good friend. And we decided to room together the next year, too...her senior year, my junior. Rebecca and Elizabeth graduated, so the suite next to mine was open. Cassy's two friends, Erin and (for the life) I can't remember the other one's name, moved in next door. We were one big happy family. We both got engaged that Summer and we talked wedding plans all year long. She graduated in May and I knew I would never find another roommate like that, so I applied to be a Resident Assistant, and praise the Lord, I got the gig. ROOM TO MYSELF, WHA WHAAAAAAT!

I missed Cassy my senior year, but I'd rather be by myself than with a crazy person. We were bridesmaids in each other's weddings. She got married the Summer after she graduated and I got married the following Summer. I'm so, so thankful it worked out the way it did. I had two great roommates and college was a blast. I miss it sometimes. And every time I eat the last dill pickle out of the jar, I think, "Hmm...Cassy would like this."

"Apple Juice"

Someone slipped a little sumpin sumpin in their apple juice this morning. Little nut jobs.

Knick Knack Batty Bat

So, this afternoon I was hard at work. The girls have been superb today, allowing me to get a lot done. However, they were getting a little bored in the play room, despite the countless toys strewn about the floor. When they get bored, they come to the gate nearest me, both hands in a white-knuckled grasp on the top bar, stretching their tiny necks as far as their adorably disproportional heads will allow, lifting the aforementioned melons to give their eyes that innocent puppy dog look just the right angle as they look at me and say, "Mom...sup. We're bored." And then the whining. That's when we go watch "teebee" or "Gab Gab."

Not today. I lifted them into the playpen and pulled out a secret weapon...Sesame Street on DVD. This was the first time they'd been introduced to the gang on the street. I knew it would be a hit and it was. It was Kids' Silliest Songs and my kids are silly and they love songs, so...perfect. I mashed play and Elmo was the first to pop on the screen. It was like I had hired a snake charmer. The girls were instantly mesmerized. I rejoiced and went back to work.

I was "in the zone." And you know when you're "in the zone," the environment around you just gets soft and fuzzy...kind of dark. Things around you are a little quieter, your senses honed to the one thing you're working on. I was making it happen.

I could hear snippets of some of the tunes fade in and out of my orbit–little satellites of songs drifting around, some chancing it too close, allowing gravity to pull them to their immediate doom, and ending up as a crater on my brain. Wow, I went way too far with that metaphor. What I meant to say was, I heard some of the songs. Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah...Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star... A moment later and I hear the Count counting bats. He counts a few...and a few more...and a few more. I find myself counting bats, too. Focus, Ruth! I shake my head and get back to the logo on my monitor. The Count keeps counting. For AN HOUR. Honestly, how many bats does that vampire have in his castle?

This old bat, he has one, he plays knick knack on my thumb...with a knick knack batty bat, give the bat a bone... FOR. ETERNITY. UNTIL THE END OF TIME. How long is this song? I mean, seriously.

And I think, "If that Count counts one more bat, I'm gonna get up and punch his purple nose through the TV."

He counted one more bat.

I got up.

I walked to the TV and lo and behold, it was back at the main menu, looping, and that was the song. Oops. It was a 30 minute video and it had flown by. In the zone, folks.

And my sweet critters were so sweet and playing quietly together, despite the mind-numblingly repetitive song that had been playing for maybe 15 minutes. I have pretty darn good kids. And I owe the Count an apology.

A Collection of Thoughts

So, as sweet Hugsy Bear said Monday, I was sick the whole dumb weekend. Blergh! My weekend was ripped away from me in a cloud of snot, fever, and Tami-Flu. Blast you, Winterrrrrrr (fists raised to the sky)! I was in bed pretty much all day Saturday and half the day Sunday. What's sad is that I woke up Sunday morning, looked in the mirror and expected to see Herman Munster and I gotta say, I looked FABULOUS. My eyes weren't shady and zombie-esque. My skin was clear and flushed in a glowing tone. My hair was just the right amount of shiny and mussed. I was like, bring on the cameras! No, really, I just looked like a less exhausted version of myself. Depressing that it took me being sick and getting some good rest to feel better about how I looked. But, that's why we have make-up for the rest of the time, I guess. Now I'm left with bronchitis...a gnarly cough that sounds like I'm hacking up glue and a sexy man voice. I could totally sing the blues..."My sticky shoes, my sticky, sticky shoes...why you stick on me...baby..."

Ain't nobody leavin' here without sangin' the blues... hey, what's that from? Heh heh.

But, I am very thankful for the guy that got stuck with me. Two babies and a sick wife. Mmm...he's my guy. And it's his birthday today!!! Happy Birthday, Hugs! The big 2-9...you get cuter and cuter every year. Last night, I made some surprise carrot cake cupcakes for him to take to work today. I debated doing that, because I didn't want it to be like a mom sending her kid to school with treats for all the other kids. But, I mean, if you gotta work on your birthday, you might as well enjoy it with your friends and co-workers with some cupcakes. Of all the cakes in the word, carrot cake is probably my least favorite. Vegetables should not be in dessert. I don't care if carrots are "sweet" or not. It's weird. But, David loves it, so that's what he got. And the icing...ohhhhhh the icing...it's definitely the best part. I hope you like your present when you get home, sweetie...the girls picked it out.

Speaking of birthdays...guess what? I had a nephew on Saturday!! Well, let me rephrase that, I didn't do any HAVING...David and I were blessed with a nephew through Rebecca and Richard. William Richard and he's going to be called Liam. I'm looking forward to him coming and staying with us one week every Summer. We'll build mud forts and eat jellybeans for breakfast. He's going to learn to fart with his armpit and he and the twins will probably wear overalls every day. Laura Grace and James, same with your papoose. Y'all are going to hate me by the time it's over with. But y'all's kids will learn very valuable life lessons at Aunt Ruthie and Uncle David's. Don't worry, we won't let them ride the motorcycle until they're at LEAST 4....eh, maybe 3. I'm probably never going to see those kids, am I? I love that I get nephews and nieces. We got Allen last year. We just got Liam. We get Virginia Kate in just a few weeks. Baby Dr. Mystery (LG and James') will get here in August. So many children to spoil. And yes, I realize they can spoil mine just as much, but that's the fun of it.

This week has been another one of those poo-ey weeks where you sigh a lot. You know...we all have them. And God brought along very special people who, throughout the week, allowed Him to use them to minister to me in such an incredible way. I'm so thankful for their encouraging words and that they let God speak to me through them. I've just been overwhelmed by the support and love. You guys are the best and you have no idea how much your words and prayers meant to me. Thank you! And it also made me think...there are so many times that I feel led to say something encouraging to someone and then I just shrug it off like, "They're going to think that's silly" or "I don't know them well enough to say that," etc. But, I'm telling you, don't be like me...say what you feel led to say. That might be the EXACT thing that person needed to hear right then. And it's definitely been that way for me and I'm thankful that person didn't shrug it off. Hugs! Not David "Hugs"...like a HUG hug.

I'm contemplated moving to England because they have Cadbury cream eggs year round. WHYYY???? WHY NOT HERE??? Easter takes FO-EVAH!

Our new floors have been ordered and are on the way. I am more excited than I ever thought I'd be about floors. Well, you would be, too, if you saw the current state of our carpet. I just stopped caring about a month ago. I mean, I vacuum, of course, but I stopped caring about the stains. We contemplated putting in the floors ourselves. It would literally cost half the price. But...

1. We have 1 out of 7 power tools needed.

2. We'd have no idea what we'd be doing.

3. It would take every night and weekend for about 2-3 weeks...time that we don't have.

4. We would probably screw it up. And by "we", I mean me.

5. Having the professionals install it would take a day...A SINGLE SATURDAY.

6. Their work is guaranteed.

7. They know what they're doing.

8. I wouldn't have to do any work.

To me, it's worth the money. But, we did save about $400 because we're picking the wood up ourselves from the store and we're pulling up the carpet. Now, how to get rid of the carpet...hmm...hadn't thought about that. Maybe there's a Carpet Fairy that comes at night...well, that just sounds creepy.

The weather here has been fabulous...it's definitely been pivotal in drawing me and the girls out of our cabin fever status. I just know it's gonna end sometime, though, and be replaced with another freeze that always happens right around Easter. Mmm...cadbury eggs. England, send me some!

Hoodlums

They were SUPPOSED to be taking a nap.

Also, Whitters at The Glamorous Life of a Housewife is giving away a fabulous liptacular sample set and I'm gonna win! So, don't even try to enter. But, if you HAVE to, here's the link...