havocandmayhem.com

I’ve been keeping up with my Week in the Life project this week. I thought it would be a good thing to get back into the habit of taking photos every day. I’m averaging about 40 photos a day with some multiple reshoots.  My goal is to have 7-10 edited photos a day for a nice variety on a 2 page layout. I do a lot of the same things every day, makes for visually monotonous pages. Some days I think I will rely on the journaling to mention I went to the gym rather than do another gym photo. I’m also writing down what the boys are watching & gaming all day plus what they are playing.  They’ve been outside most of the time so there are few appearances of the dinos, clones or Legos. I’ve only managed to edit Mon & Tues but here are some highlights I’m hoping to start on the pages this weekend. They are going to go in my 45th Year book & I am going to do another week in the life in 6 months also so I have a summer & a winter for contrast. Did you do

And no I don’t mean BlogHer, though it is that time of year too. But I can’t afford to attend BlogHer unless it is less than a 4 hour drive away & that’s never gonna happen so I resigned myself to missing it long ago. No, instead of OMG BLOG HER!!! angst, I spend this time of year in OMG SHOULD I MOVE MY BLOG??? angst Different angst but same kinda theme. I’ve spent 4 years with this domain name, hosted through blogger & for the past 3 years every time the renewal comes up I get all “should I or shouldn’t I” about self hosting and in the end I always decide against it because I just can’t deal with moving it myself & I don’t always understand what the hosting sites will or will not do in helping me move stuff & I know I am not asking the right questions & it’s all just too much someone get me a Xanax or something. However… I finally found someone to deal with all of it for me at a very reasonable price & after dithering for 3 weeks about it (and my d

Better World Books is now one of my favorite online shops, right up there with Timbuk2. Remember the Timbuk2 order email I received? I loved that email. Loved the fun casual tone of it. Over the weekend I ordered a few used books from Better World and today I received this shipping notification: Hello S, (Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?) Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world! I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure ha

Our a/c started acting up very early Saturday morning. I woke up about 4am to a warm breeze, where once there had been a cold  one. Naturally we waited until about 8am to check it out. There is nothing anyone can do at 4am except frustrate themselves. The thermostat was flashing all it’s warning lights. BAD THINGS!!! It was saying VERY BAD THINGS ARE HAPPENING!!! So we turned it off & pulled out the filter. We pull out the filter so we can feel we are being proactive and doing something about the problem, not because we think the filter *is* the problem, it’s just the only bit we know we can safely muck about with in the whole unit. The filter was filthy & neither of us could remember when we last cleaned it. But it was 102 outside & the thought of standing out there vacuuming the filter off did not appeal. So we put it back & turned the a/c back on. It ran until about 8pm when once again it went warm and flashing. TOTALLY NOT KIDDING ABOUT THE BA

Dinos on the march Going for a ride Waiting their turn New manicure For more weekly winners please visit Lotus at Sarcastic Mom Thanks for stopping by!

July 20, 1967 July 20, 2011 The new photo a day project starts today-a self portrait for my birthday

Mayhem finally learned to ride a two wheeler. And naturally all I had was my cell phone with me & then I uploaded the photo to facebook & then had to download it to my computer so I can then reload it on this blog. Havoc got a new bike Friday night. So Mayhem got his old bike. It took DH a couple hours to find the hardware to re-install the training wheels & 10 minutes later one of the wheels broke. I told Mayhem it was a sign from the Divine that it is time put aside training wheels and learn to ride a two wheeler. It took him a couple days but he was motivated. DH & the boys went to the lumber yard & bought some wood Saturday. DH laid some of it out where the walls for the mud room will go so we can make any adjustments we want done now. First thing I did was add 2 feet to the overall length because we’d been miscommunicating on where the wall would end. The doors will be at either end, where the grass seed bag and the green loaders are located

My friend Rinda, over at Gallo Organico has set up a summer photo scavenger hunt. I’m slowly working on it & adapting some items to my location. First a castle. Possibly the most heavily guarded castle in this sector. Also, the only castle in this sector Your country’s flag A campfire. We made s’mores A metal or glass building. Rain A rooster . Well, ok, a chicken And they started laying eggs this week. For more Weekly Winners please visit Lotus at Sarcastic Mom Thanks for stopping by!

I’ve mentioned my dog Houndini before. The one who cannot be contained? Who will go over, under, around & through fences. Who must be hiding opposable thumbs because she can get out of her harness on a lead. No kennel has been built that can contain this dog. Well… Turns out she is not alone in this trait. This is the chicken yard It’s 100 feet in circumference and about 4 feet high. Made of chicken wire. Naturally. These are chickens behind the fence and then there is this guy Just out for a stroll and eluding capture This is the second time today he has had to catch an escaped chicken I  don’t know what I am going to do when he goes back to school & a chicken escapes. I’ve tried. I have a hell of a time catching them, even inside the fence. We think they are flying over the fence; that they have enough space to get a good running start. There are no gaps for them to fit through. Unlike the cats & Houndini the chickens can’t co

My little babies have EMAIL!!! Wwwwaaaahhhhhh!!! Mostly I am crying because I had to add two more email addys to my already chock full of email addys Windows Mail program. Some days it take more than 5 minutes just for the retrieval to access all the accounts. It’s not like I am going to let *them* access their email. Oh hells to the no on that. Someday they can access their own email, perhaps as a going off to college present. They play some different online games – physics games, atv games & clone wars adventures – and I don’t want my email addys dealing with that stuff. Plus it plays merry hell with logins when I can’t remember what email I used where & they end up whining “but havocandmayhem at gmail isn’t woooorrrrrrrkiiiiiiinnnnngggg” and that is because I used stacey at havocandmayhem but failed to note it anywhere. I get something like 200 accounts with my domain (geez!) so I spent an hour or so trying to figure out where to access these accounts wit

Nov 2006 at the park. Please note the old school metal whirly gig. I & my friends played on one as a child . The unbalanced, dangerous, OMG somebody could get hurt!, metal whirly gig, with the dirt underneath. The sort of thing all responsible parks have long since removed from their play areas for fear of a lawsuit when some kid lets go while spinning, as kids do, and flies off landing in the hard packed dirt breaking a collar bone. Or when some kid gets kicked in the face by standing too close while other spin while sticking their legs over the sides. As kids do. And it’s RUSTY! Tetanus as well as broken bones & missing teeth! My kids love it!  It was the only thing they ever wanted to ride on at this park. “We go to lake park and do spinny thing?” they would ask. The other park does not have one.  The other park is not nearly as much fun. My friends and I always assumed it would be removed at some point & when we heard that an all new play area was

DH & I watch House Hunters on HGTV fairly regularly & the one thing that drives us crazy, apart from the people who are always complaining that their dining room table won’t fit in the space (get a new table!), is the way buyers & agents define the word budget. It seems to mean ‘suggestion’.  The buyers say they have a budget of $700,000 and the agent shows agent shows them a home at $780,000 and it remains a viable option. If DH & I should happen to have a budget of $700,000 hahahahahaha!!! HAHAHAHA!!! hahahaha!!! um, as I was saying, should such a thing ever come to pass we wouldn’t even look at a $780,000 home. It’s $80,000 over budget, therefore cannot be bought. Not that we are these wonderful money managers who stick to a budget hahahahahaha!!! HAHAHAHA!!! hahahaha!!! but with large ticket monthly payments we absolutely do. We figured out the most we can afford to pay & that’s the most we can afford to pay, so if that means no pool in the preferred

We went to my hometown over the weekend. Thursday I stuffed myself with diCarlos’s pizza. Enough so that I didn’t really want anymore the rest of the weekend, which is unusual for me. But, and it pains me to admit it, it wasn’t as good as it usually is. And it wasn’t really last year either. The son took over the business last year or sometime after my visit the year before that. And something changed. I don’t know what that something is. I didn’t even know about the change of ownership until Saturday so it isn’t a perception issue. The crust seems the same, the sauce seems the same, the cheese seems the same but the whole together does not. Odd. Friday it rained a lot. So first we went to Cabela’s and looked at camping stuff and rugged outdoor wear and fishing poles and guns and fudge and ‘hunting’ themed house décor.  The had some sales going on so we bought some stuff for grilling that we’ve been needing and the boys got to play the shooting range game Then we went to t

A few days late Lets start with the library books – all by Georgette Heyer. Frederica – the story of Frederica a distant connection of Lord Alverstoke who asks him to help her introduce her sister into Society. Just perhaps invite them to a party at his house, one he was asked to have for his nieces anyway. But soon she & her siblings end up involving him in all sorts of mishaps. Very funny & entertaining. Both hero & heroine and assorted secondary characters are very likeable people. No flogging potential at all. Recommended Cotillion - I really enjoyed this one & I can’t tell you why without spoiling it.  Kitty’s guardian decides to leave his large fortune to whichever of his nephews she decides to marry. She persuades one to take her to London so she can pursue another while two others Disapprove. Once there she gets involved in a number of scrapes & needs rescuing.  This was laugh out loud funny & no flogging was needed. Sprig Muslin - Sir Gareth L

I am from shelves & shelves of books, DiCarlos pizza and summers at the lake. I am from a perfectly clean, organized, burnt orange & gold decorated and pine scented split level home. I am from a cul de sac in the suburbs up, on the hill, in a town by the river, in the beautiful Appalachian mountains I am from summers at Myrtle Beach, mini golf and dark tans, from Nan's homemade noodles and Grandma's imaginative stories. From chain smokers who refuse to roll the window down, so the smell mixed with the new car pleathor smell & the ‘pine scented’ airfreshner. And they wondered why I got car sick. I am from endless social activity, meeting your obligations, giving back to the community and always being on time. From fighting over who was on who’s side, laying in the footwells, hanging between the seats & laying in the back window We spent a lot of time in the car. I am from Mass every Sunday, and also on Friday when school was session. From 12 yea

Look what unexpectedly made it to the top of the House Project List! Turns out we not only had plywood, we had something to cut out the hole! And paint! Who knew! Mostly though these were made because my husband is a 14 year old boy in a 45 year old man’s body & could not resist the lure of a game called CORNHOLE. And the need to ask everyone at the party to come & play cornhole. heh heh heh He said cornhole. The idea was a US flag & a Union Jack but there wasn’t enough blue paint so DH let the boys go to town on the other one with the random cans of spray paint we have been collecting for years. There wasn’t enough white for stars either.  Martha will address these shortcomings next year. It’s on her checklist. I bought the beanbag thingys at Wal Mart & OMG… they were supposedly filled with ‘gravel’ but … I am more than passing familiar with many types of gravel but have never encountered the nearly weightless silica based type. Might as well be

The boys & I have been visiting the library every Friday. They each have their own library card now & I allow them 4 books at a time. But Havoc has been getting videos instead. So far he has watched the entire Century of Warfare series and the entire Presidents of the US series. One day they played trench warfare in the living room using the sofas as the trenches & the area in front of the tv as No Man’s Land. At least they did until I told them to stop Going Over the Top of the sofas to charge each other with lightsabers. The dinos & clone troopers got together for a party at the Christmas Peace. They even had Gatling guns made out of legos. Don’t tell me tv can’t be educational. Havoc does have some books. He’s reading one of the Nate the Great series & a book called Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder, plus he has taken an interest in some of my comic strip collection books. He’s read all of Stone Soup, most of Baby Blues (after Hammie was born) and is startin