Names have been changed to protect the innocent...and my husband...and me...but not the dog. His name is Dexter.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Do You Fear Change?

Last week (or maybe the week before...who knows) I read a quote on Twitter that had me thinking.  I can't remember who tweeted it or who they were quoting.  My memory is awesome.

Oh wait, I just Googled it.  I love Google.  Here's the quote:
"It is the most unhappy people who most fear change."
Mignon McLaughlin

This quote has really stayed with me, which is astounding when you consider how many people post quotes on Twitter.  And I think there just might be something to that.

So...what do you think?  True?  Not true?   
 
Awesome graphic made by yours truly.
That's the power of raw talent.
Or the lack of finding another picture to use.
I even Googled "sad face".

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Another Reason To Be Jealous of CG

Yes, there are many many reason to be jealous of CG.  The main reason being these two...
Seriously, they are the two cutest girls ever!  Plus, he has an amazingly neurotic wife with a touch of the ADD and a dog that keeps running away.  And a house that is slowly falling apart.  And the car. 

But now!  CG is the proud owner of a SMART PHONE!!!  The kind of smart phone where you can download apps and stuff.  Or maybe it's upload.  Either way, apps will be involved.  SO, my smart phone friends, what are your favorite apps?  And why?  Where did you get them?  And how much do they cost?  We need all the details people!!! 

And yes, I am insanely jealous.  Thanks for asking.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Time To Head To Las Vegas!

It seems as though I've been on a bit of a winning streak lately.  No really....I keep winning things.  Which is awesome, of course. 

First, I won a ticket to EVO conference.  (more EVO details later)
Then I won a necklace from the lovely Jessica of Duck Duck Cow. (more details after I order it)
Then while I was at EVO I won a really nice stroller and a 3 months supply of diapers from Huggies. (definitely more details later)
After I got home I found out I won a $50 gift certificate to Sportsman's Warehouse from Together Counts. (yep, more on that later)
Then I won a water bottle at the Tour De Donut.  (I probably won't talk about that one much more)

Obviously it's time for me to head to Vegas.  Not everyone gets my logic, but it seems pretty obvious to me. 
ROAD TRIP!

Friday, July 22, 2011

The Ecomaids Save The Day!

Well, okay, maybe they didn't exactly save the day, but they did a great job cleaning my house.

ECOMAIDS of Salt Lake has just recently opened up here in the Salt Lake Valley and I was lucky enough to be able to have them come to my home and give it a thorough cleaning...between piles of random crap.  And they were nice about it!

After they had a little tour of our sprawling estate to see which rooms they would be cleaning, they got started.  They use cleaning products that are Non-toxic, Chemical-free, All-natural and Biodegradable so it's safe for all members of your family whether they be of the kid variety, pet variety or sensitive to chemicals variety.  Being of the chemical sensitive variety, I can tell you that these cleaners did not bother me or my asthma even the slightest bit.   
And clean they did!  My stove top has not been this shiny bright since the day we installed it.  For the life of me I cannot get that blasted thing clean.  But now I have a fighting chance since anyone can purchase their cleaning products directly from them. 
I do actually manage to get my microwave pretty clean, but still....doesn't that look gorgeous?!
They vacuumed and mopped and dusted and were generally wonderful.
Paige even killed a spider for me!  I was sorting through my kids crayons/pencils/markers (what? you don't neurotically sort things when people are cleaning your kitchen for you?) and a nasty, well fed spider climbed out of the artistic utensil holder I was cleaning out.  I may or may not have screamed and ran across to the other side of the kitchen.  It's only about 10 steps so I wasn't exactly winded but I was totally freaked out.  And she didn't even laugh at me!  She's a good sport.

One of my favorite parts?  It has to be the fancy folded toilet paper.  I may start doing that every time I use the bathroom just because I love the way it looks.
They were respectful and pleasant and Paige even listened to me prattle on about cycling and my dog (no connection whatsoever).   They were even good to Dexter who tends to be kind of needy when we have company over.  And when we don't.

And they left me a thank you note.  For coming to clean my house.  I feel like I should bake them cookies or something. 
Overall, I've been very happy with my experience with ECOMAIDS of Salt Lake.  They are professional and local and just plain nice. 

And I was thrilled to hear about their involvement with Cleaning for a Reason which is a foundation that offers free cleaning services for women who are undergoing treatment for cancer.  If you know of anyone who could benefit from this sort of help, please contact Cleaning for a Reason to submit their information.  Plus you can request ECOMAIDS of Salt Lake! 

Lucky for you, ECOMAIDS Salt Lake has generously given me two $50 gift certificates to give away to TWO lucky winners!  Yay!  And it can even be used with their Grand Opening Special which is their Full House Initial Service cleaning which includes your kitchen, living room, dining room area, entrance, hallway and stairs, one bedroom and one bathroom.  All that for only $79 (regularly $159).  So even if you don't win, that is seriously a great deal.  (For more information check out their Special Offers Page.) 

All you have to do to enter this awesome giveaway is leave me a comment going into graphic detail about the messiest room in your house.  It'll make me feel better about the hot mess my house usually is.

AND for extra entries you can do any of the following:
*Like ECOMAIDS of Salt Lake on Facebook
*Like Lady of Perpetual Chaos on Facebook (don't you already?!)
*Become my "friend" on Google Friend Connect or follow this blog
*Tweet the following (or something like it) about this giveaway and leave the URL of your tweet:

"I just entered to win $50 to ECOMAIDS of Salt Lake via @LadyofPC. http://www.ladyofperpetualchaos.com PLS RT"

*Update your Facebook status with a link back to this giveaway
*Post a picture (pretty much anywhere...just leave me a link) to the messiest room in your house.  It will make it more fun for all of us!

Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry so you get full credit!

This giveaway will go until Thursday, July 28, 2011 at midnight.  A winner will be drawn and notified by email.  This giveaway is for Salt Lake County residents only.  Unless you want to donate it to someone who lives in Salt Lake County.  Then you'd be their favoritest person ever!

**Disclaimer:  ECOMaids of Salt Lake provided me with house cleaning and the gift certificates for the giveaway.  All opinions are my own and most of the mess they cleaned up is from my kids. 

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Daily Attempt At Making Dinner

I'm not a foodie.  Or a cooking diva.  Or even a foodie in training.  But, as anyone who has seen me in real life can attest, I like food.  And I like to cook, most of the time.  To be perfectly honest, I don't love cooking in the summer.  I would rather be playing.  Or napping.  But I do feel that family dinners are important.  And my family feels like dinner is important.  So, naturally, we try to have dinner as a family every night.  Even healthy dinners!  It sounds like such a simple thing...eating dinner.  And yet.....

Image from Google

Last night was a fairly typical night in the Chaos household.  I had planned on making tacos for dinner since I had some ground beef in the fridge that needed to be used.  The only problem?  I didn't have any sour cream.  Sour cream is such an essential part of family meals that I know better than to make tacos without serving sour cream.  But no big deal.  We were going straight to the library after CG got home from work so we could just swing by the store to pick up some sour cream on our way home.  Easy Peasy. 

I ran into the store to pick up the sour cream.  I should take this moment to mention that it was dinner time.  So of course, I decided to pick up a seasoned rice mix to go with the tacos.  And then on my way to the sour cream section, I saw that they had tortillas on sale that weren't frozen so I picked up some of those.  Continuing on to the sour cream, I found a loaf of garlic bread that was "manager special" so it was half price.  And I grabbed that too so I'd have something for dinner the next night.  I grabbed the sour cream and headed back to get some cheese for the pizza and even managed to grab a bag of chips on my way out because...they looked yummy. 

So much effort for tacos.  Surely my organization will be rewarded!

Then we get home and I pull the ground beef out of the fridge to find "Best if used or frozen by 7/16".  Four days earlier.  So much for tacos.  But in a random stroke of good luck, since I had picked up the stuff for garlic bread pizza we still got to eat dinner.

And there you have it....a typical dinner time in the Chaos house.  Obviously I need to go grocery shopping.  And not at dinner time.
 

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Utah Tour de Donut Results

Utah Tour de Donut 2011 has come and gone.  And I must admit I was a tad bit nervous.  The last race I was in I was.....well, a little traumatized.  Remember?  I was definitely nervous for this race.  To deal with my nerves in the days leading up to the race, I just didn't think about it.  This was a surprisingly helpful way to handle my crazy.  I even continued on not thinking about it too much until well after we got to the race's starting location.  I was able to register and apply my sunscreen while giving little thought to my increasing nervousness.

But then you reach a point when you can no longer ignore the obvious.  For me, it happened as all the cyclists were lining up at the starting line and the count down clock was very quickly counting down to the start time.  I was surrounded by people confident in their biking skills.  These people were excited and happy to be participating in such a fun event.  And I was terrified.  Crazy, much?

As soon as the race began, the sound of all the cyclists clicking into their peddles was all around and hundreds of bikers were taking off!  The butterflies in my stomach were raging against me and I was so nervous I was shaking.  It is safe to say that I was FREAK. ING. OUT.

So I did the only logical thing to do in that situation.  Once the herd of bikers had thinned out, I hopped on the bike, went to my happy place and started the race.   And just kept going.  And going.  I finished the 21 miles in 110 minutes.  The race ended at 100 minutes, but at least I finished.
The course was flat which helped immensely.  Plus, my friend very generously let me borrow her road bike for the event (thank you! thank you!) and I think that made a huge difference.  HUGE!

My personal goal for this race was to have a better experience than I did in the last race.  I can happily report that my goal was accomplished.  Not only did I finish the race, but I didn't cry a single time and was still in my happy place at the finish line.  And, really, what more can you ask for?

Friday, July 15, 2011

Friday Favorite-Summer Mountain Dew Flavors

Honestly, every year I look forward to the limited time only flavors of Mountain Dew.  Because I don't have much of a life, but still.  They're usually pretty yummy.  And they're only available for a limited time!  Which probably makes them taste even better!

This year I'm loving Mountain Dew Pitch Black.  It's actually a summer flavor from a couple of years ago.  I loved it then and I'm loving it now. 
So go get one today!  Like now!  It's just not summer until you've had a limited edition Mountain Dew. 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Utah Tour de Donut Countdown

In just a few short days I will be subjecting myself to a little public humiliation with a side of exercise at this years Tour de Donut.  A 21 mile bike race where you have time deducted from your finishing time for every donut that you eat.  Seriously, does it get any better than that?! 
I'm excited and working hard at not being scared since this really is going to be so much fun.  But now the big question of the day.....will I see you there?  If you will be there BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT so I can hunt you down at the race...in a totally non-stalker-ish way of course. 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Chaos at Disney Pixar Cars 2 Movie!

Yes, you read that right.  The Chaos family recently got to go see Disney Pixars Cars 2!    In order to properly prepare, we watched the original Cars movie (again) a couple of days before seeing Cars 2.  That way everyone could pick their favorite character (Sally & Lightning McQueen) and form strong opinions about the movie so we were ready for the full theater experience.

My girls....they were excited.  Very excited!
The official sponsor of the event was Any Hour Services, which provides electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning services.  They had some fun activities before the movie started which included Lolly shooting pretzels and confetti out of a cannon-thingy.

They had one of their technicians there to be put on the spot and answer questions from the audience.  I heard one teenage girl ask if he was married, but most of their questions were more of the service variety.  And when they say Any Hour, they mean Any Hour.  I'm thinking I should put these people on speed dial considering how much my house wants to fall apart.  Maybe we could even get a little air conditioning.

Then we were ready for the movie! 




We were even lucky enough to sit next to a family (I don't know who they were) that happened to win one of the prizes and shared with Babs.  We all know how hard it is when Pete gets to do something fun (like shoot off a cannon-thingy) and Repeat doesn't.  So, thank you, to that kind family that sat next to us.  You're doing a good job raising those boys to be so thoughtful.   


So....what was the official verdict of the movie?  We all loved it, of course.  There isn't a Disney and/or Pixar movie that isn't met with great love at our house.


***The tickets were generously given to us by HalfPriceUtah.com.  Surely you're already heard of them and all their fabulous deals and if you like them on Facebook here you'll get the heads up on all the local deals.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

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