Oates-meal

Pediatrician update: We have found a new pediatrician! He accepts our insurance and he he's on Dallas' top docs list. And, most importantly, he has a huge aquarium and a train in his waiting room. Thank you to the parents of a little girl in Beckett's class for the recommendation!! We've only seen him once, but I liked him much better than the other dr. He agreed that putting tubes in Kyler's ears after only 3 ear infections was unnecessary and too aggressive a treatment. And, he didn't scold me or my children or tell me what other parents are doing wrong. Who thought those would be characteristics we'd look for?

Today, while driving back to the grocery store (yes, I said back. i was one of "those people" who shop and check out only to discover all their payment methods are at home. And to top it off, it was a nightmare shopping trip. We're under a "winter weather advisory," which means it might drop below freezing for half a second. This means every Dallasite must rush to the grocery store to stock up on food for fear they'll be holed up inside their homes. This is not the reason I was there. Monday is my weekly shopping day. If I could have pushed it back a day, I would have, but the kids can't live on rice cakes and honey forever.), I was jammin' to Hall & Oates "Kiss on my List" (only I sang "kiss on my lips" b/c, even though I know it's wrong, that's how I originally sang it, and it's just stuck with me), having a good ol' time while the boys snoozed away in their carseats. Then I remembered a joke I heard on Chelsea Lately the other night about an ambush makeover on the Today show. A mom whose kids were too embarrassed to be seen with her got a great makeover. When her new look was revealed, the kids (all girls of course) were screaming so loudly you couldn't hear Kathie Lee or Hota (now, is that a bad thing, I ask?). Chelsea's joke was that 'yeah, girls, Mom looks cool now, but she's still driving you home in a minivan blasting out Hall & Oates.' I quickly changed the station.

All in all, it really was a good shopping trip. I was able to get $132 of groceries for just $50.54 after coupons and sales, going just $.54 over our weekly grocery budget! And to top it off, the foundation repair guy said the lengthening crack in our hallway is not a result of foundation damage but just signs of the house shifting and the pressure from the a/c duct directly above it. So, I saved roughly $2082 today! (i'm just estimating on the foundation repair cost) I also discovered his (the foundation dude) father-in-law was the chief engineer to design the logistics of building indoor water parks in Wisconsin Dells. Because of him, Midwestern kids can simultaneously shoot down a water slide while watching the snow fall.