big, bad, dirty secrets

Yup. I've got some. And as a kind of 'cleansing' for the new year ahead, I thought I'd let some of my skeletons out of the closet.

1. I eat ice cream right out of the container. Most of the time, I have enough self-control to not eat the whole thing, but by sticking my licked on, germy spoon in it and having a big bite, it's as if I am claiming the whole container for ME! this is Ben and Jerry's s'mores ice cream. It use to be called Marsha, Marsha, Marshmallow--and it is sooooo yummy. It has a TOASTED marshmallow swirl and clumps of crumbled graham crackers. YOU would want to eat the whole thing by yourself too!

2. I wear spanx. Not every day. But under certain dresses or pants, or when I want to look really good....... or at least not so much like I had four babies in 8 years--there's nothing like a hip 'girdle'. They really do take two sizes off! But be warned: you will look skinnier, but you will never, never be comfortable :)!

3. For as good a cook as I think I am, my children's most favorite thing that I make is this:

I call them my lazy enchiladas, and there is nothing homemade about them. I don't even grate my own cheese. I 'invented' them when I was pregnant and suffering from morning sickness, and not really all that in to cooking. This year, I let Zane pick out whatever he wanted for dinner on his birthday--and these were it. (They're not really all that bad for the measley 20 minutes they take from start to finish.)

4. So, you've seen some photos of the outside of my house--but you'll notice they always abruptly end on the left side. THIS is why: Yes. There's one in every neighborhood.... and we live next door to our street's eyesore. There are usually no less than eight cars--most broken down, parked all around the place. The outside lights are always on. The blinds are always closed tight. The garbage cans never get taken in. And there is always some form of junk or furniture sitting in their yard or driveway. Until recently they even had two mean pitbulls. We have called the city. Our neighbors have all called the city. We managed to get two of the broken cars towed away, and the pitbulls carted off (they could actually CLIMB THE FENCE! and run around in my front yard)--- but that's been it. Now add to it the fact that this family are actually members of our church (though not active) and it gets a bit sticky with the whole "love thy neighbor, even though they lower thy property value" commandment. Just to prove we actually do live in a nice older subdivision, here are our neighbors and friends to our right:
and here are our neighbors and friends across the street:

*To our credit, the place wasn't that bad when we bought our house last year. A series of renters with roommates and an owner who just doesn't seem to care have taken it there.

5. Finally here is my biggest, dirtiest secret of all: I don't scrapbook. I know that that is almost akin to saying "I don't hug my children" amongst today's mothers, but I just can't bring myself to spend the money or commit to the necessary time needed to scrapbook. I admire scrapbooks, I admire women who make them--I just look at my tens of thousands of pictures and don't even want to go there. I do like to make cards and fun gift holders though, so there may be hope for me yet.

Anyone else want to air some of their dirty laundry? I'd be happy to read about it!