Motherhood Photo Contest

5 Minutes for mom is having a photo contest with the topic "Motherhood". The photo is supposed to show what motherhood means to me. This photo is just one small part of what motherhood means to me.

We have a winner

I used a random number generator to determine the winner for my Bloggy giveaway.
Congratulations to Christie for being lucky number 5.

No more rinsing

As I have posted before, our house was in pretty bad "cosmetic" shape when we bought it. I can't even remember how dirty it was, until I look at picture. And even then I can barely believe it. One of the things I have wanted to change from the moment we moved in was our dishwasher. Besides the fact that the old one was just plain hideous, it also didn't do it's job at all very well. Unless you rinsed every single food particle off, and made sure nothing was caked on, it came out totally dirty. But even with rinsing, the plates came out smelling like fish.I love tax season. Our W-4 is filled out in a way that only Winter is a dependent, so the IRS takes too much money out. Then come April, we get a nice chunk of money back. I know this is not the smartest way to save money, but it works for us. If we had the money all year, I know we would just spend it on little non-essential things. So this year I used some of that money to buy a new dishwasher.
I ordered it from Sears in Sherman (a little bitty town) and had to wait for 5 days to pick it up. I picked it up, brought it home. Then I removed the old dishwasher, cleaned up a dead mouse that had been under there for probably 10 years. I bought parts, bought some more parts because the other parts didn't connect up. I hooked up the new dishwasher, fixed the water leaks, tested it, it worked. Loaded dishes. Started it again... nothing. It shorted out. I disconnected the electrical cords again, tested again, and loaded again. Fixed some more water leaks. Decided everything was connected the right way, and pushed it into its spot. Without further addu here's the new one.It actually cleans my dishes!! As a test I even put in dishes that had food from the night before. Of course it also looks much better, and I can't wait to get our wood floor in, so you can see the full effect. We're not done with the kitchen though. We still have countertops, backsplash, floors, and new oven/microwave to install.

Out of it

I have felt so out of it the last couple of days. I can't believe I haven't posted anything for 4 days, and there's so much to write about. I guess I have just been too busy doing all the things I am supposed to be doing, instead of spending time behind the computer and ignoring my duties.
As I hate catching up, I'll just forget these last couple of days of my life. (I don't remember anything!)
I do want to share that I rototilled our garden yesterday. Now I hurt in the strangest places. I wish I could have gotten some of my labor on video, it would have given you a good laugh. The rototiller would just jump ahead where the ground was harder, so I hung on for dear life.
BTW my garden is in a new spot, closer to the house, and fenced in.

Kitten had kittens

Our 8 month old kitten had kittens yesterday! She had 5 of them. 2 white ones, 2 black ones, and an orange one. I think there are multiple daddies involved. She seems really good with them. She just lays in her little box and lets them drink to their heart's content. It's really amazing how these things just come natural.
Today I picked up a used swing set for $50, to go with the trampoline.
I also picked up our new dishwasher. The dishwasher we currently have is very delapitated. I think it must be the original one (15 years old!)
I have this crazy sinus infection, which started last week when we visited grandma in Plano. I couldn't stop sneezing, and ever since that I have been stuffed up. I have had a pretty bad headache for the past 2 days, so today I decided I needed to do something. I am not ready for antibiotics (I have a thing against them), so I steamed over a bowl of hot water, shot saline solution up my nose, drank some tea, and wished I had a painkiller strong enough to knock me out cold.
Something got to my chickens today. I found a pile of feathers and part of a chicken bone. It looks like 2 of my chicks are missing, and one has severe damage/injury to the neck. I have the suspicion that one of our dogs did it, so I tied both of them up. I am leaning mostly towards Cinnamon, because yesterday Joe caught her chasing the chicks. Unfortunately, when I find out who is the murderer, I will have to get rid of it. Yes, I'm cruel, but my chickens are worth more than my dogs.... sorry. (I never was a dog-person)

I want to win win win!!

I just got introduced to the Bloggy giveaways. There are so many giveaways. If I just enter all of them, I should win at least one thing, right? No matter that I am ignoring all my duties as a house-wife. I will win!

Bloggy Giveaway!

Attention Music Lovers!

I am taking part in the Bloggy giveaway carnival where there are literally hundreds of giveaways going on right now.

I am giving away 1 CD of Harp Music, played and recorded by me, myself, and I. There are 9 songs on the CD, and there's a good mix between classic, popular, and other music styles.

I live in the Dallas Texas area, and play harp for weddings and other events here. If you live in the area and would like me to play for your event, or if you know someone who would love live harp music, just check out my website Jessica.Roadjoural.org. This is my temporary website while I work on getting my dallas(dot)harpist(dot)com set up.

To be entered in this giveaway just visit my harp website, then come back here and give me some feedback on the website. If you comment without feedback, you will not be entered to win the CD.

Some rules: You have to live in the United States to enter. If you don't have a google ID, please leave me an email address, so I'll be able to contact you if you win. On Sunday April 27th at 10pm I will choose a winner.

Good luck, and happy listening!