NASCAR on VDay...

Every year my friend Sara and her husband host a Daytona 500 party. NASCAR like football has nothing to do with what women want or like, this year is no exception- the Daytona 500 takes place on Sunday, February 14th- Valentine's Day and if you are as lucky as I am smack dab in the middle of a 3 day weekend. While some women are romanced with these...

We get to suffer through 500 laps of...

... while our husbands drink beer, talk about racing, race cars, and the next race and we get to supervise the kids, serve food, and clean up after the men. Good times!

This year Sara decided to put a fun little twist on the party, to make it more interesting for the ladies. Each lady is supposed to select her "favorite" (i.e.- the best looking) driver to be their NASCAR boyfriend. The goal is to see who can make their husband made first about the attention that said woman is paying to her NASCAR bf.

I am sooooooo excited because "my NASCAR bf" will be joining me at the party! I have big plans for C.E. and I this Valentine's Day, he will be very impressed by my creative use of frosting on his good luck gift. I can't wait for the Daytona 500! See Sara it worked!

Working Girl...

As a teen I had big dreams, high hopes, and lofty expectations that I would someday be one of those super chic, working for my money, city girls, you know what I am talking about like Melanie Griffith in the cult classic "Working Girl". As things work out I never was really good at the chic part, and there is nothing hip about teaching, and Iowa was far from the city... and then you add a husband and 2 children and I realized that there wasn't even time for the working part.

Until last September, when Steve proposed that I help him "man a booth" at Wal Mart (not chic- in the least bit!). I agreed to help because 6 or 7 weeks wouldn't be so bad. Shortly after my booth sitting began, Steve came to me again because he needed someone to call "some people" (489 people to be exact, with a marketing plan that involved calling people no less than 8 times before considering them a "dead lead"- morbid I know! Especially when we are talking about the Senior market), I agreed to do it. By Christmas we were all running out of steam (everyone but Steve, who put an amazing 12,000 miles on his truck in the last 6 weeks of 2009 and signed 150+ new clients).

So now the Medicare season is slow, so I have graciously agreed to recruit and contract new agents to work for the 2010 Annual Election Period, what was I thinking! Because most of my days are leisurely. And then there are days like today I called 20 agents, 30 potential clients, and baked 20 dozen (the math is a little blurry) cookies for the kids Valentine Parties tomorrow. I also worked out for 30 minutes on Wii Fit Plus, took Steve's down coat to the cleaners, got my car washed, made copies of Valentines games for Jack's class, went to the bank, the post office, the office supply store, and the grocery store. I even cleaned out the totally gross clog in my bathroom drain! The only thing that didn't get checked off my list was putting the furniture back after having the carpets cleaned--- WHY? because the guy never showed up to clean them!

I have to say I think that I am most definitely a working girl.

Demoted...

February and March every year stresses me out! Preschool, which class, money, Kindergarten, AM? PM?, summer school, reading levels... the list is a mile long! This year I was quite certain that I was going to be able to make is through February and March without coping through all the decision making with acne and binge eating, because Abby is going to Kindergarten and she will be going to school with Jack next fall! (The cheering section of moms goes wild!!!) Or at least I thought she was until she did this...

After some serious soul searching and excessive eating... I came to the conclusion that another year of preschool for my little Miss. July would not be such a bad thing. Now just to convince her father.

Boy!!!

My sister has 2 boys which I think qualifies her to write numerous blogs about the joys of parenting 2 future men. I have one boy which only makes me ponder if there is something wrong with my model or is mine just like everyone elses'. So it is time to air Jack's dirty laundry... literally.

My boy-

• You must ask him no less than 10 times to brush his teeth every morning and then again every night.
• He has to brush his teeth no less then 3 times before he goes to school and I still pick food out of his teeth at the bus stop.
• I tell him that he can't sleep in the clothes that he wore to school AND he definitely can't wear the same thing to school 2 days in a row.
• I have to remind him of the merits of personal hygiene (ie- you must shower more than once a week, and no less than once).
• We keep his hair short to avoid the battle of the curls, and the more frequent shower war.
• I count the number of pairs of underwear and socks in the laundry basket and wonder if I should start to tell him that he needs to be sure to change his underwear and socks no less than once a day.

So many rules but I don't want to raise one of those really icky boys, or am I already?

My Current Facebook Status...

Reads...

"Rachel Kuhtz's children are not very smart. When they heard 'go outside and ride your bikes,' they actually heard 'go outside and spray each other with the garden hose and try to hide it from me.'"

Oh- the joys of parenting!

Are you surprised that each one blamed the other for the crime?

I am not.

A New Car...

The lease is up and I am shopping for a new car. The choices are numerous but with the appeal of a lower payment and better gas mileage, I am really trying to go bare bones (Rachel style- let's not get too crazy). So for the past week I have been visiting, emailing, texting, calling, and test driving with my favorite car salesmen, Ed. I think Ed thinks I am crazy, but I am hoping that he understands that Steve is the crazy one and despite what I want my husband ultimately has the purchase power not me. So we have gone back and forth about car vs. SUV, options, safety features, payments, color, etc. While I do all the work Steve works his butt off just to step on the car lot to purchase the car

(or in the case of this week totally veto the car that I thought I was getting- totally a pain).

You want to know what I will be driving.... Wait for it....

2010 Porsche Panamera Turbo

Don't I wish!

What kind of cruel wife would I be to get a Porsche

the year that her husband was promised he would get one of his own...

OK so seriously, it could be a...

1992 Acura Integra.

We have one sitting in the mud in the backyard.

I don't know.

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

Clean It Yourself...

That means that the RK Cleaning and Household Chores business is open. Only one client and she (and the 4 year old daughter) is keeping me plenty busy. It seems like the minute one room is done and I start another the previous room is already a mess. I wish that I had the power to give up. But how I enjoy a clean house, the smell the carpet, the shine... My heart skips a beat.

Some how I am going to figure this all out because saving $300+ a month is very appealing. Especially when I see walls that need to be painted and furniture to be made. I think I have finally figured out what to do with my blahz-ah Master Bedroom (hint- it will include the purchase of a door!!!) Oh- and summer vacations are right around the corner!!! I am very excited for what we have planned this summer!