Have Kids, Laugh More

Wife, mom, cats, food and drinks, gardening, baking, occasionally funny

[havekidslaughmore]

Thankfully a few friends took me up on stopping over my house to take some tomatoes and green beans off of my hands. I still have loads and loads of tomatoes, but I bought a same day delivery food mill from Amazon to process the tomatoes, always wanted one, and I'm going to make tomato sauce with this batch. Last year I food processed them and froze them and no one liked the sauce. So I'm going to mash them up properly, simmer them down, and can some sauce. Because I'm not tired and busy enough.

I'm starting to think if I'm not busy I will die or have to finally face all of my life experiences. I'll just be busy. 😂

[havekidslaughmore]

I planted less tomatoes this year, but I opted for more consistent varieties that don't split or get disease, so it's like I planted 3x the tomatoes this year. I will never ever learn.

I think I finally have enough to make tomato sauce this year. I've already made a ton of salsa. It takes so many tomatoes to make sauce that it's not even worth the effort but now I have a lot.

I got my wish for a more manageable amount of cucumbers and really got accidentally tomato rich.

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I was baptized Catholic as a baby, attended only Catholic weddings and funerals throughout my life, and don't know all the prayers and hand movements and secret handshakes, so when I went to the Catholic HS parent orientation and they opened up with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit cross yourself jazz and some standard Catholic prayers, I was like GIRLLLL ya busted, everyone here knows you don't know this, you heathen.

But I also go to a wacky church full of stuff no one else knows about or thinks is normal, too, so fair. I guess I'm going to be learning how to blend into this place for 4 years.

I know the cross yourself Father, Son, Holy Spirit thing, but not sure if it's up-down-left-right or up-down-right-left.

I wasn't paying attention at the funerals and weddings. I was getting into trouble laughing with my cousins.

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We pulled up to our house very late and saw a man wearing only shorts going through our neighbor's trash. He was bald, unclothed except the shorts, and looked like Gollum searching for his precious. Hunched over and everything. It's trash night. Good luck digging through my trash. I just emptied all of the cat litter boxes to clean them.

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Just found out because my son is living in a dorm full of suites he has to bring his own toilet paper because the students clean their own bathrooms in the suite. And trash bags. And cleaning supplies. This is apartment life all of a sudden. He got a double and his entire suite of 4 rooms is all doubles so he shares with 8 guys as opposed to 10 or more. To be a freshman and not get a quad is God's blessing. It's also more money, but I'm happy he has a double. At least cleaning the shared bathroom won't be as bad as it could have been. Also, that 3K scholarship he lost because of an error on his major focus, was business undecided instead of business finance, could not get resolved because the funding went to someone else. 😭 So college was almost free and now it's not, but that's whatever. I have money from painting and that's what I work so hard for. All the kid shit! Maybe next year he will get another scholarship or 2 to fill the gap when financial aid season rolls back around. He plans on getting a little campus job when he lands there.

He did use some of his grad money to get dorm room items and a laptop. I bought him a suit, shirts, ties, shoes, random other things. They need to bring a suit and some business casual stuff for all of the business major events and fairs when they have to dress up. He looks so nice in it. And of course I'm paying his tuition balance that wasn't supposed to be there. That's his first business lesson. Handle your financial aid account issues immediately.

[havekidslaughmore]

Saved $58 on daughter's shoes and athletic apparel with my son's Dick's discount, used $30 of Old Navy points to get 3 free shirts for her, Kohls cash to get her free Nike shorts on clearance, and used a $5 Sephora rewards off of my cleanser that I use. It was discounts and points redemption day! And also tax free weekend for school shopping. And I ran into the family that I painted for 2 houses ago and it was funny because I was spending the very money they gave me on the items I was holding. 💥💰 😎

I introduced the mom to my son and he helped them find shoes. He said she had lots of nice things to say about me.

Seriously though, that's a lot of deals today. Deals are my drug. But I don't get high, I get low. Prices. Low prices. I'm cheesy and I'm not sorry.

[havekidslaughmore]

The smaller the bathroom you have to paint, the worse of a day you're going to have. I had to contort myself into positions the Kama Sutra doesn't even know about to paint the baseboards around the toilet today. I get a break from painting now until I get these kids off to school and college, then I go back to do a few more rooms for them. They are still figuring out colors and I am grateful for a few weeks rest.

This wall color Soft Sage is SO NICE!

[havekidslaughmore]

I started getting deliveries of People Magazine 2 weeks ago. Against my will. They come every week! I'm like, "Another one?" I haven't even read the 1st one. I have a phone now! I am not bored enough to sit and flip through a magazine like it's 2004. Remember when you went to the doctor and had no phone and all you had to do was look at magazines? And it was horrible! It's all ads!

After the 2nd People magazine showed up I started worrying that somehow I am paying for these. Also against my will. So I penned a nice, but concerned, email to People customer service and asked why I'm getting these, and am I paying for them? Because I have the entire world wide web to read about Rosie O'Donnell and Shania Twain if I want, and I do not want!

I didn't expect an answer, because the customer service department of People magazine seems like it would be one 68 year old lady in a closet full of cobwebs. Can People magazine afford an office?

Well, I got a reply! It's a free gift subscription that will end in December. I will continue to receive a weekly magazine with someone's face that I forgot existed until I have a large stack of them. Like Pokemon cards of B-listers.

One day my daughter will need some magazines to cut up for a collage, and she will have the generous folks at People magazine to thank for this stack of soon-to-be art clippings.

[havekidslaughmore]

The timing of suddenly working A LOT, getting the kids ready for school and/or moving to college, and my garden now blowing up is not ideal.

Thank you, Springtime Stef, for not planting too many cucumbers this year.

I love painting at this new house. The people are great, I had my little espresso today, and I left with a pizza and a gluten free pizza for the huz. They own a big pizza place around here. And they are so nice. Actual jackpot of jobs lately.

He was referred to me by a lady I told, "Tape is for boys," and she tells everyone that. So he said to me today, "I was told to tell you that tape is for little boys," and I laughed, "Oh.... that's Nancy."

Anyway, it's the best of times and the most stressful of times.

[havekidslaughmore]

You know you're about to have a really good paint job when they bring you this. 💕

[havekidslaughmore]

9th grader starts in 2 weeks and college kid moves out in 2.5 weeks. Welcome to my current panic attack.

[havekidslaughmore]

I have 13K in booked July and August painting.

[havekidslaughmore]

After work I saw a bee in my bedroom. I left to get something to catch it, then I never saw it again. Now it's time to go to bed and there's a bee somewhere.

[havekidslaughmore]

The way these 5 kids are scuffing up my walls and trim after I'm done is crazy. The mom won't let them watch TV or video games but I'm like can they sit and watch TV please? 😭

[havekidslaughmore]

One couple I painted for 2 years ago has referred me to SO many amazing jobs. I think we need to take them out somewhere nice. Just checked out a gorgeous house they referred me to. Clean, smooth walls and trim, no ceilings painted (that's the dream).

I'm currently finishing up the other house they referred me to and probably starting this new one next week. 🙏

This guy owns a big pizza place out here and I feel like I'm in a referral machine dream scenario right now. I don't even have a business card. I'm only referrals. I am living the best life, friends.

[havekidslaughmore]

This is going to sound so stupid but every time I paint I learn some type of hack or something to make the job easier or faster. That's not stupid, but what I started doing on this job is so simple stupid that I don't know why I never did it before. Probably because I come to a job with a lot of stuff. A lot. And one more thing to bring in is such a pain in the ass. I have a 5 gallon bucket that I put a few rags in and some lightly soapy water and it's changed my life. I was always washing my hands and rags out all day long, especially during prep and caulking and wood filler, and it's so annoying to have to run to a sink or to a basement utility sink. Soapy bucket of rags is forever with me now. Plus when I'm cleaning up, I toss my wet brushes and roller frames in there to give them a little pre-soak before cleaning them in a wash sink and it's just so much better. I didn't invent fire, or the wheel, but anything that makes me more productive and cleaner is amazing.

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So they want me to paint the outlet and switch covers in trim paint. You do you, boo. They are in terrible shape also. Just buy some new ones? Making me commit painting sins, man.