I stopped letting Oprah give me a complex right around the time I saw her pitch a buttercreme hatbox cake (in her O list) to the tune of a disgustingly exorbitant $300+.
*gag
Frig O.prah!

Oprah has more money than God, she can have all green towels and fresh flowers delivered every day if she wants. I like fake flowers. And my towels not only don't match, but some have -- GASP! -- bleach stains. As long as your house is clean, it doesn't matter if it's ugly. I do more entertaining in my puke-yellow-tiled kitchen than anywhere else in the house, but I don't care, because at least it's tidy.

Dude, I hear ya. It's so easy to be a great decorator when money is no object.

I say you put up your fake flowers. If Oprah don't like 'em, then Oprah can come over and redecorate.

My kids are over the picture thing already. They are so used to me taking hundreds (yes, HUNDREDS) of pictures a day that they don't even notice me anymore. In fact, they are starting to encourage me.

You know that red balloon picture you commented on?

I was driving and we saw it stuck to weeds on the side of the road. I expected them to tell me to stop so they could fight over who got to keep it. But, no! They insisted that I "stop, turn around and pull over to take a picture of it that they could keep the memory of the pretty red forever and leave the balloon for everyone else to look at."

I love my kids...

Fuck Oprah. If she doesn't like it, let her buy you fresh flowers and new towels. Hell, let her buy you a whole new damned house. Until then, she can just quit her bitching.

move to texas .. we have cheaper houses! :P

i think you take great pics!

my child throws blocks at my head. my floor has milk stains all over it. the bathroom smells like baby poop.

i blame it on oprah as well. ps do you EVER check your damn email woman?

Yes yes TEXAS. TEXAS! Only the really rich people have $600K houses, most people don't. So come here and visit me in my apartment!

good thing you're not inviting that bitch Oprah over then, huh?

and like SJ said, maybe it's time to consider another state? i know $1700/month would get you a nice house in virginia!

I'll bet you $5 that if you put a couple of your gorgeous photos and a few children's drawings on the walls no one will notice a mismatched ANYTHING.
xxx
M

i can attest to Texas being cheaper...way cheaper as far as housing goes. come on over!

your pics get better every time you pst them...i'm so jealous. we can never find the battery to our digital camera so whenever i'm dying to take a picture, i never can. i'm lazy and disorganized...go figure!

and one last thing, what do you put in your hair to make it so shiny??? it's gorgeous!

Great pictures! I really like the ones of Gabby by the window.

My son hides when I break out my camera. My daughter on the other hand doesn't mind, which is a good thing since I just got my light set-up on Friday and I needs to practice. If all else fails, I can torment my cats.

what? dude, I love fake flowers!i Mean, fresh are nice, too, but fake work fabulously and there are some really pretty ones out there. In fact, I may use fake in my wedding so I can reuse them later (Can you hear Oprah having a heart attack this very moment?) Keep those fake flowers and have the damn BBQ. I'm hungry.

I don't invite people over to my apartment because it's so ugly. Even when it's clean, it looks dirty. And, I have fake flowers because I kill all the real ones.

that's why you should MOVE TO TEXAS! *nod* I think Melly would agree with me.

I LOVE the photos!

And Oprah has no idea what it means to live on a budget. She one knew, she grew up poor, but she has since completely forgotten what happens when you make less than a billion dollars a year.

Sigh.

I grew up with mismatched towels and no furniture. Do you know my mom never owned a sofa until she bought her first tiny house at age 45? And the she bought a futon. When we bought our first house in St. Louis (where it's affordable), my first purchases for it were new appliances, and my second was a giant overstuffed sofa, all my own. THAT is bliss, I tell you. The towels are incidental. A long as they dry you off, I say let them all be different colours!

If you ove to Texas, you'll totally be copying me. But copying me would be good because, damn, I needs some friends out here.

I agree, you should move to Texas! you could buy a mansion for $600,000 where I come from!

*takes a deep breath*

Y, this is NOT directed at you...I've just had one of THOSE days, and I've got to get this out before I SPLODE!

To all those out there that have a house, rented or owned. BITE ME!!!

My husband and I work our asses to the ground, and have three children 11, 7 and 11 months. We are JAMMED in a 2 bedroom apartment that is a whopping 750sqft. Why? Because this was suppose to be the "pit stop" apartment before we bought a house. Then hubby got hours cut, then I got pregnant (don't go there) then he got laid off, then all hell broke loose.

Let me just tell you. Having to sleep in your living room because your 11 year old girl is trying to be a grown woman and might KILL your 7 year old boy if she is not sequestered until she figures out how to control her hormones or is old enough for midol? FUN times. Not to mention its summer time, and Sacramento average days are 100 degrees in the shade? (there goes chaining the 7 year old to the patio with a box of match boxes)

I have no closet, my clothes are in STOLEN milk crates (now I will have the milk police after me) I have no sofa, therefore I cannot entertain, and my comforter is various shades of "OOPS!", I have no dining room, my kids eat on tv trays on the patio (when its not raining). I have no place for my baby to try to play, walk, explore, I have to section off the hallway with baby gates for her to be able to play.

The sooner I get out of this god forsaken, expensive as hell, fixin' to slide into the ocean state....the better.

Maybe I will move to Idaho and grow potatoes.

So yeah, people with house? Suck.

I love the pics :) Your kids are so cute! Err I don't like watching Oprah, I rather watch Ellen who never fails to crack me up.

Isnt living in California grand? I live just Northeast of the Bay Area. Where everyone commutes 2 hours to work each day. I WILL not fork our a half a million dollars for a home therefore I will never own a home. It sucks. I am green with envy and deep in debt.
My husband and I believe that staying home with our 24 month old son who has a few disablities is very important. There for no home of our own for us either. You arent alone not that it EVER makes ME feel any better. Our day will come I promise.

*huggy squishes Tammy* :)

I live in Southern CA,but not by choice. My husband is in the military,and we've been stationed here now for the last 3 years. One more to go(till April '06). I can't believe how much the cost of living here is!! Even with living in military housing,he doesnt make enough. We barely get by. The cost for a "descent" house here in CA...would buy you a mansion in the Midwest. And OMG,you dont even get a yard here. Homes are to close together,etc.. No way would I buy a home out here!

i love the pictures. and you have such a beautiful family, who cares about matching towels?? f*ck oprah who doesn't have her own opinion and just repeats what all her "advisors" tell her to say. i have fake flowers in my apartment and I LIKE IT LIKE THAT! i probably won't ever own a house but i'll be more than happy if i manage to produce babies that are even close to how cute yours are!

uhm, hello....apparently you need to put away the camera, stop watching Oprah and take your damn measurements.....The firehats with the flashing lights and sirens have been ordered, one for each child...they'll be on the doorstep by next week if I don't see those measurements in my inbox!!!

I almost shat myself at $1700/month...dude, that's crazy. Not like anyone wants to live in Cleveland, America's Poorest City (tm), but shit, even $1400/month gets you four bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a finished basement.

California scares me. I'd move there and end up having to whore myself to live. Speaking of whoring, Oprah is a satanic cult leader. I'm not kidding. Did you hear that shit about her and Hermes in Paris? Talk about thinking you're Queen of the Earth!

Oprah I have decided is a white person in disguise. As much as I miss San Diego, I am glad not to be struggling. You know how much my water bill is with five family members and the slip and slid going everyday…it’s maybe 60 bucks. Everything is cheaper here in the Midwest. In the medium size town I live in I have made two wonderful friends but from where else…San Diego. Bloomington is the ‘new’ San Diego, well sans beach. And well with snow. And humidity. Ok now I realize again why it cost so much to live there and why I would give anything to move back. :{

I think I remember reading that you're in Rancho Cucamonga right?
Have you ever thought about going up the hill? Oh stop laughing! It isn't that bad up here. And houses are still fairly reasonable. You can still get something really nice for under 200 up here if you look hard enough.

I just have to say, some rich (homes) have fake flowers, too. We just got back from visiting my parents and we drove past this 400,000+ home with a white picket fence (of course, assholes) around it. I commented on how pretty I thought the fake flowers wrapped around the top looked.