Disco Mommy's Random Thoughts

I Have Issues

2011-02-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

I know they are going to get their dance.
I know he is going to go to her house to ask her father if she can be his date to that dance.
I know that her father will pray for their dance and buy her a corsage.
I know that he will tell her how beautiful she is when he picks her up for the dance.
I know her parents will watch the dance from the fields.
I know every moment of this movie.
Yet I still start crying when he stands up in the Council meeting and says "My name is Ren McCormick...".
And I stop crying when the credits roll.
Every. Single. Time.

Reflections

2011-01-01T15:40:00.000-08:00

Best part of 2010
Jon-Changing jobs and getting to spend more time with the family.
Gina-Trapeze flying, finishing grad school and having more family time after Jon’s job change
Dylan-Indian Village and Hawaii
Megan-Getting Squinkies for her birthday

Worst part of 2010
Jon-A few rough days at work
Gina-Stupid back and stupid mouth problems
Dylan-The weather in the summer
Megan-Every time she got yelled at for being naughty

Looking forward to in 2011
Jon-More family time and fitting into skinny jeans again
Gina-New York in June, family vacation in August and getting her stupid back and mouth fixed
Dylan-Starting 5th grade
Megan-Getting more exercise by being successful in her resolution to run in place for 3 minutes a day

Best New Years Ever!

2010-12-31T21:22:00.001-08:00

Thirteen years ago at a New Years Eve party my boyfriend looked me in the eyes and said “I don’t think you will ever be a good wife or mother”, thus ending our 2 year relationship. I spent the next two weeks crying my eyes out on the shoulder of my roommate who said things like “you are wonderful”, “you will be an amazing mother”, and “he is crazy to think he’s better off without you”. 2 years later, I married that wise man and have spent the last 11 New Years Eve’s being thankful for another year with him! And every day I work hard to prove him right. I am a good wife. I am a good mother. I would not wish the heartache of that night on my worst enemy. But if you ask me if I am glad it happened to me…my answer would be…ABSOLUTELY!!! Happy New Years honey! I love love love you!!!

Christmas Sing-A-Long

2010-12-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

I learned a few things last night.

Even though I cannot sing, I can still have fun at a sing-a-long.

People invite us places for my husband's amazing eggnog. And the look on people's faces when they take their first sip is priceless.

I am going to be an amazing drum player someday! I am currently taking applications for my band!

There are sweet girls Megan's age who snuggle with their moms and don't roll their eyes. Megan will never be one of them.

When I go on Amazing Race, the tag under my name will be "Bookstore Volunteer" because let's face it, "Mom, Wife, Teacher" isn't catchy.

My daughter is a flirt. Complete with the "notice me" way she sits on the couch and the "sing me a song" requests. Sigh.

My son is not a flirt. He walked past the sweet girl snuggling with her mom 87 times without a second glance. Different Sigh.

There are some people that just look good in hats. Any type of hat. I am not one of them.

It's cute when little girls show off their ballet skills. It's embarrassing when my husband shows off his.

Things I Learned in Yucaipa

2010-09-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Don't ask me how we ended up in Yucaipa. It's not relevant. I can tell you, however, that I learned a lot during my short visit.
1. There aren't many mini-vans in Yucaipa. Most people drive big trucks or old mustangs. If you drive a mini-van down Yucaipa Blvd., the people will stare at you like you have landed from another planet.
2. There are a lot of churches in Yucaipa. But the place with the most patrons is the bar.
3. You can see the entire town in 3 1/2 minutes.
4. We like to take a local's recommendation for a good meal spot whenever traveling to a new town. In Yucaipa, this means dinner at a place whose menu includes breakfast, Mexican food, cheese steaks, burgers and fried mushrooms, all prepared on a grill behind the cash only counter. There are plastic benches in their small booths. Their burger special is only $3.25 but if you want any flavor with that, you better make use of the ridiculously hot peppers they leave sitting on the counter all day, or at the very least, half of the salt from the shaker at your table. After dining at this place, you have a 50/50 chance that your icky tummy the next day came from their meat, or the e-coli from the stream water you drank on your hike. Their bathrooms were clean, which was a bonus!
5, In Yucaipa, the entire staff of a restaurant will stop working and sit down to watch the opening ceremonies of the WWE Championships.

I could go on, however my son has informed me that making fun of Yucaipa, and the people that come from there, is not kind hearted. So I will leave you with this, Yucaipa is not a destination location, but if you ever need a good chuckle, take a ride out there. There are plenty of sights to see!

Pay it forward

2010-08-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to the Chicago concert. The whole experience was blog worthy, but I will save that for later. This post is reserved for praises for two wonderful women we met at the concert. They were seated next two us. Two friends since elementary school who were about my mom's age. They take an annual trip together and this was their week. They had come from Canada to see the band. They were as excited (if not more) than we were. When they were about to enter, they overheard the security saying any cameras would be confiscated. They were so worried about this, they returned to their room, left their cameras behind and came back into line. My camera was in my purse, in plain view, and it did not get confiscated.

After a few songs, we realized most people around us also had cameras and were not afraid to use them. Our friends were disappointed, we were encouraged to take ours out! So I got a few pictures and videos of our friends and the band. I took an email address and told them I would send them when we returned from our trip. They were so very very grateful! At the end of the concert they asked us if they could buy us a drink or two to say "thank you" in advance. We declined and told them to "pay it forward". We said, someday you will be in the position to make a memory for someone else and we hoped they would take to opportunity like we had.

Well...our friends really took this to heart. After sending the pictures, I got a reply that warmed my heart. Let's back up for a minute. During the concert, there was a man who got to come on stage and sing a song with the band. He had won this opportunity, backstage passes and front row tickets after being the highest bidder on an auction for the opportunity. The money raised all went to breast cancer research. Awesome! So flash forward to the email I received...after returning to Canada, one of the ladies went on the band website and found they would be playing this weekend only a few hours from her home. She eagerly bid on the chance to sing with the band and won! She was really excited about the opportunity, and then remembered our "pay it forward" conversation. It was then that she contacted her local breast cancer survivors group and asked them if they thought they could find a survivor who loves Chicago and might want the package. Yep, in addition to donating money to the research fund, she also donated her winning tickets to a survivor! What a woman! That is the most awesome "pay it forward" story I have heard, I think, ever.

Opposites Attract

2010-08-28T15:50:00.001-07:00

My husband and I don't have a whole lot in common.

I get excited about the Chicago band tour bus.

He gets excited about the Nom Nom truck.

Enough said.

Notable Quotables

2010-08-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been filled with some quotes that just have to be documented.

Dad-"2 minute warning guys and then we have to get out of the pool."
Dylan- (Gets out of pool, stomps to Dad and then cries big tears while saying...) "Why can't it be like and hour and a half instead of only 120 seconds?"
(Clearly the art of compromise is lost on him)

Friend-"Gina, you are so awesome people ask me how they can get into your club. So many people, too many to even name names, have come up to me and asked me how I got into your club. They want to know how to be a part of the inner circle!"
Me-"You're cut off!"
Friend-"Seriously! I tell them you're really nice and welcoming and that they just need to go say hi to you. Then later they'll come back to me and say 'WOW! I tried it and you're right! She really is nice. She said hi back to me!!'"
(No, this conversation did not take place in high school. This was really an adult saying this to me)

Spinal Surgeon-"My advice to you is to take a Vicodin and go to the gym. If it hurts to work out, just take your pain pills when you want to exercise."
(This guy is obviously an advocate for addiction to pain pills. And possibly my new best friend! I mean think about it, why would I ever want to actually recover from my injury when I can just pop pills for the next 50 years! Brilliant solution! Sign me up!)

Dylan-"Look! Some Japan guys on a roller coaster!"
Dad-"Ummmm....no, those are Buddhist Monks".
(Maybe you had to be there for this one but it was worth a mention)

Friend-"I am a total Facebook addict now! I logged in 3 times last month!"
(I had nothing to say to this. She clearly needs help for this addiction. Anyone have any references for a good inpatient recovery program?)

Advice to Graduate Students

2010-04-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today I spent some time grading assignments from my graduate level students. Here is some advice for those of you that may be considering pursuing this level of education:

1. Put your name on your paper. You have been doing it for approximately 16 grade levels. Now is not the time to stop.

2. When the questions asks for four examples, don't give me the same example worded four different ways. For example... Sam showed limited cognition when he was unable to remember what time to feed the baby. Sam forgot to feed the baby, therefore he has no cognition. If Sam has to have help remembering to feed the baby, this shows he needs help with cognition. Sam does not have the same cognition as normal people as evidenced by the fact that he cannot remember to feed the baby. That is ONE example.

3. If it says reference the text, reference the text. Don't say "The textbook has a chapter about Mental Retardation". Show me you read that chapter with a quote or two genius!

4. No fancy colors. I do not need each answer written in a different color font. This may have been cute for answering questions about your boyfriend in high school, but it is not so cute when discussing the heartache experienced by parents of children with profound disabilities!

5. If it asks for a limitation...don't give me a strength. I know the strengths already...that's why I didn't ask about them.

6. Get a new printer. I can hardly read your dot-matrix text. Or save it to a flash drive and print it out at Kinkos.

7. When making a video of yourself to be viewed by the instructor...
Clean your house first. I do not need to look at your sink full of dirty dishes. I have my own thank you very much. Do I really need to mention throwing away dirty diapers sitting on the couch? Make sure that the camera operator knows the importance of the instructor actually being able to see what you are doing on the video. Your grade will reflect the fact that I watched your camera operator's hand eat french fries for 3 minutes. And I BEG YOU...please take the battery out of the beeping smoke detector before filming! I will deduct 1 point for every beep I hear.

Consider this a public service announcement!

Date Night!

2010-03-06T14:08:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time...we had a date.

The luxury transportation picked us up right on time.

We had appetizers on the beach just after sundown.

We laughed and loved.

We watched some teenagers come in from a swim after dark. Poor dears...the waves must have knocked their swim suits right off of them!

We walked on the famous pier.

Beach potties have no mirrors, so I took a picture of myself in the stall to see the damage the wind and moisture had done.

We walked downtown.

We ate some more.

Our carriages took us back to the place where the trolls were playing.

It was wonderful.

Cha...cha...cha...cha...changes

2010-01-31T23:06:00.000-08:00

I used to crave change. After graduating high school, I changed schools, boyfriends, jobs and residences about every year. I was not settled. I always wanted to go somewhere else and start a new adventure. Then I met my husband. I knew very early on that the changes I would be making from that point on would be for the better, not for the different. We had a few years of subtle, yet rewarding changes that led us to Huntington Beach. After moving to our home 7 years ago I was very settled. My husband had a stable job, I loved our neighborhood and community, we were making great friends, going to an awesome church, involved in our community, feeling very charitable, life was good. No need for more change. It took one moment to make the life we had created for ourselves to come crashing down on us. It was uncomfortable, it was painful, it was scary. In the past month we have gone through many changes as a family. It has been very unsettling. I suddenly found myself fearing that which I used to desire. Change. I have cried for myself, I have cried for my children, I have cried for my husband. I have been scared, angry, hurt, frustrated, confused and sad. Very very sad. I felt like I was saying the right things "we have faith", "we trust", "we will be OK". I walked the walk and talked the talk but in reality I had a lot of doubt and fear and questions of faith. I never doubted there was a plan for us. I just wanted to know what it would be and when it would start! The problem is, I neglected to recognize that there were many things that had led us to that one moment of change. It had been coming for a long time...we weren't really happy...we were just comfortable...doing what we had to for our family. But we weren't really doing anything for a purpose beyond our own daily survival. All our efforts, all the long hours, all the missed opportunity for family time, all the holidays spent apart, all the late nights, all the loneliness were for nothing more than paying the bills. So much was wrong...we just didn't want to admit it, because we both feared change. So change was thrust upon us. In several different ways. And today I sit here grateful for that change. Tomorrow we start a new adventure. An adventure that ties us to our community even more, that allows us more opportunities to be together as a family, creates more opportunities to foster friendships and spiritual relationships that have meaning, and purpose. And tonight, I watched my husband excited to go to work for the first time in 9 years. I have no regrets. The path we took to get here was blessed beyond measure. And now that we have arrived, I feel more blessed than ever! It does not take an expensive car, a hefty 401K, a college fund to make me feel complete. For me, truly living, is being surrounded with good people, having a happy husband, nurturing my children and and having meaningful relationships. I am so grateful to have a meaningful relationship with Jesus. I am grateful for my husband. I am grateful for my friends. I am grateful for change. It is because of change that I have been led to this amazing life. There will be other bumps in the road, but I will face them with more confidence and less fear because ultimately, change is moving us in the right direction.

Love Songs From Jesus

2010-01-27T06:32:00.001-08:00

Last week I was having one of the worst weeks of my adult life. Details aren't important. Just know that this solid as a rock girl was crying every day, several times. More times than I can count actually. I was a mess emotionally, physically, spiritually. On Friday morning I was driving to work in the pouring rain. There were accidents everywhere. I had a few scary moments myself. It didn't help that I was crying...again. I turned up the radio to drown out the sound of my ridiculous sobs. As I did, "Jesus take the wheel" started. Great...that didn't help. So I started singing along, which made me cry more and then told myself to stop. Stop crying, stop trying, stop hurting and just let Jesus take control. Easier said than done but I really needed to hear that song at that moment. I tried to compose myself as the song was ending because I was almost at school. The next song was "Heaven Let Your Light Shine Down". WOW! I was blasting this song as I pulled up to school. As I did, I was greeted by the most amazing rainbow right on top of one of the buildings. It was hard to capture on my phone but I tried. I just wanted to remember that moment, that when I stop, let Jesus be in control, and live life with more faith, heaven will indeed shine its light on me. I am trying to remember those five important minutes in my life right now. Each day, when I feel the urge to cry, I think back to Jesus sending me those two love songs right when I needed them.

Feed Me!

2010-01-18T20:08:00.000-08:00

FYI-I can binge eat better than anyone I know. And probably better than anyone you know too!

The Dark Side of DIsco Mommy!

2010-01-10T19:51:00.000-08:00

I love that my brother thinks that by threatening to send me a picture of his bare rear I will stop harassing him via text. He doesn't know me at all! Game on! I have ALL night to text o'brother of mine!

Falsetto, Flowers and Paper Bags

2010-01-04T00:09:00.000-08:00

I recently heard someone say "There is something for everyone in every church service, but everything might not be for you". For me, I dread the "Shake and Howdy". To me it feels forced. I love being friendly and joyful to strangers as I go through my daily routine. I always ask the cashiers at the stores how they are doing and try to spread the joy! But this portion of our church service just isn't for me. That's OK...I do it anyway. Today was the first day I was excited for the Shake and Howdy. All through the worship songs I was waiting for the moment when I could turn around and meet the woman with the extremely loud, off key falsetto, singing right into my ear! When the moment came, I quickly turned around with a smile on my face...and it was...a...MAN! A young man...in his 30's...who looked more like a wanna-be body builder than a wanna-be opera singer! HUH?! Where was she? Who was she? Either this man had been cursed with this strange voice or the voice was coming from someone sitting in the row behind him which means she was singing even louder than I thought! I was so disappointed.

So the sermon starts. I enjoyed it. My heart was moved. So was my belly. By about half way through I was feeling nauseous. There was a horrible smell. HORRIBLE! It was the most disgusting perfume I have ever experienced. I am painfully allergic to any flowery scented perfume and I could not bear this one. It was strong. It was wrong. My eyes were watering, my ears were ringing, my stomach was churning. I wanted to vomit. And just like the first day I stepped foot into FCC, the Pastor seemed to know exactly what I would need that day. Imagine my relief when he told us to pull the paper bag out of our programs. This was a gift for me! My own personal air sick bag just at the right time! I was tremendously relieved. He does provide!

By the way, I love that my mystery friend was making a "joyful noise"! It's awesome!

Vacation Is Over

2010-01-03T23:58:00.000-08:00

I know it is time for vacation to end when my kids get diarrhea from all the crap they have been eating. They are seriously going to detox from sugar tomorrow. It is going to be ugly.

Yep...I'm Hairy!

2010-01-03T23:48:00.000-08:00

I have always known I am hairy. I'm Italian...I wear it with pride. Today I went to take care of the craziness that is my eyebrows and upper lip. The lady offered me a special price, $5 extra to wax my chin while she was at it. I declined. Surely I don't need that. It's just an up sell. When I left, I looked in the rear view mirror and spotted the most ridiculously long hair growing out of my chin. How did she make that grow there?!?! Aging sucks!

By the way...I had to look at some disgusting pictures for this post. I will never be the same.

Overwhelmed

2010-01-03T23:43:00.000-08:00

I haven’t even finished putting away my Christmas decorations and I am already being solicited for summer camps for my kids. SLOW DOWN WORLD!

Reality Check

2010-01-03T23:32:00.000-08:00

When girls in their 20’s get implants, they forget to consider how ridiculous they will look when they are in their 70’s. I do not think old ladies should wear a bikini, especially if they have had implants. It’s just wrong!!

Cougar Town

2009-12-29T21:38:00.000-08:00

One of the best quotes of the year came out of my mom's mouth last night. During Christmas dinner she declared "I have decided I am going to become a cougar next year!" Watch your twenty something sons closely. My mom is officially on the prowl!

Christmas No No!

2009-12-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

The first rule when wrapping Christmas presents for me...do NOT put a sticker on the bag. Stickers on the tissue only please people! That way I can re-use the bag and share the love! Thank you!

Random Quotes

2009-09-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

My kids often say news worthy things. These are two that touched me this week

Me: Meg, I love you more than applesauce
Meg: I love you more than cookie dough ice cream

Anyone who knows my sugar crazy, ice-cream begging, cookie dough addicted girl can tell you this is huge!

I am washing the dishes while simultaneously cooking dinner and quizzing Dylan on spelling words. He says "Mom, they should seriously start paying you for this job because you work really hard!"

Who are "they" I wonder. I will submit my bill for back pay immediately!

Short and Sweet, sort of like me!

2009-09-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Read the entire Facebook status update before commenting people. Please.

I left for church with 2 kids and came home with five! I love impromptu play dates. There was a fierce Monopoly game and an incredibly elaborate American Girl party. Do I care that the rooms are messy, the sink is piled high with dishes and they ate all the food in my house. Absolutely NOT! I can say though that I will have to get a good job before they are teenagers because these boys can EAT!

I love all the kids in my children’s lives. I love that my friends trust me with their children and I love our little “village” There was a time in my life that I thought God would not trust me with children of my own. Now I have earned his trust and the trust of so many wonderful friends. It feels good!

I am taking the 40 day Love Dare! Sounds like a fun challenge. But it probably means I cannot amuse you with any more lessons from the “Obvious File”. Need to show some respect y’all!

I had to go shopping for “work” clothes. The last time I worked a job where I had to dress in decent clothing I was pregnant and weighed 199lbs. So I hit up the Goodwill. Got 12 new shirts, 3 new pants, and 2 sweaters for under $50. All but two had tags still on. Seriously people, stop paying retail!

Tomorrow starts 11 weeks of self inflicted torture. I am trying to push up my graduation date. I am taking 3 classes and doing student teaching, continuing to work in the classrooms, work for the properties, be a wife and mommy, lead the Daisy’s and whatever else comes my way!. I am going to be a crazy lady but it will make January-June more tolerable and free up time for me to study for my comps. And provided I pass everything, I get to walk in June! Whoot Woo!

My student teaching assignment is amazing. I work one hour a day. One. I have the whole morning free! I can go to the gym, run errands and even take a nap if I want to. I work one hour with 4th graders with various visual impairments. And then I leave in time to pick up my kids from school. It’s going to be awesome!

I have declared Tuesday night to be family night! We WILL have dinner as a family every Tuesday and then we will all go to church for our respective Bible studies. We have allowed our schedules be an excuse for not participating in Bible study this past year. Jon working nights/weekends, my school classes and sports practices/games has made sitting down for dinner together really challenging lately. Tuesday’s we have noting. NOTHING! So this was a perfect way to have dinner as a family AND participate in a Bible study. I am very excited!

Church was amusing this morning. I laughed out loud, several times. And what was with Bruce’s shoes? I swear he was wearing different shoes! They were close enough but not exactly matching.

Church was also strangely emotional. I have no idea why. My marriage is strong, we are not in financial ruin, I have not suffered a tragic loss. Why was it so emotional for me?

I am thinking about taking a vacation day tomorrow. After dropping the kids off at school, I will do my grocery shopping and then go on vacation. I want to go to the gym, then read a book by the pool. I will probably even take a nap by the pool. As long as I wake up in time to get them from school, they will never know!

Have a happy day!

From The Obvious Files

2009-09-11T17:37:00.000-07:00

I do not make a habit of verbally bashing my husband. He is a great man and truthfully there isn't much wrong with him. Tonight I would like to share with you something from the "obvious files" I keep in my head. Look at the picture below...

This is my kitchen counter and trash can. Between the two is the brown paper bag where we drop our bottles and cans for recycling. OBVIOUSLY my husband is so exhausted from busting his ass all day for our family that he lacks the arm strength drop the can INTO the bag which sits below. I feel for this man. It must really suck being this tired!

Reflections

2009-06-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of time to reflect lately.

Reflection on Love:

I am in love with my husband. I am not sure that he believes me when I go postal but I am. He works his ass off for us! He is underappreciated and under paid. I try to make up for that by showing him how much we appreciate him. I have enjoyed (almost) every minute of the past 8 years. I am so grateful he has been willing to do without a nicer car, vacations, a fancy phone, a bigger TV, a decent bathroom, a higher thread count, and more dates with me so that I can be home raising our children. I am so blessed for the opportunity he had given me. Being a single income family is tough on both of us but our kids don’t notice what we do without and it is worth the sacrifice! In the words of New Radicals “We’re flat broke, but hey we do it in style”. My husband has never complained that I am a bad housekeeper (which I am). He has never mentioned that I am a horrible cook (which I am). He has never criticized a thing about me (even when I have given him good reason to!) We are approaching our 10th anniversary. We have some fun things planned including a mini-getaway. October cannot come soon enough! I can’t wait for some alone time with him!

Reflection on School:

I am an over achiever. This quarter I had 4 classes. 100 points possible in each. I finished the quarter with 407 points overall. Full points in each class PLUS extra credit. My college does not give A+’s. If they did, I would be getting 4. I have to settle for A’s. I love school!!! I love learning, growing, working, sharing, just feeling my brain grow! I have loved being home with my kids for 8 years. What a gift I was given! It has been a blast! Fun! Exciting! Joyful! Amazing! But it has not been the most intellectually stimulating thing. Being a housewife can get monotonous if you let it. Not so much when they were infants and toddlers. Then there was no time to even breathe, however once they got into school, I got bored. It became very routine, for them and me. So I shook things up a bit for all of us. I started taking online lasses and going one night a week. That stimulated me and gave them some time with daddy…much needed time with daddy. I can say that I had my husbands support in this. I can say that my kids are proud of me. I can say that I am happy I did it. I can’t say that I am done. I finish my last class for the visual impairments credential this summer. I still have another year of classes to finish my MA in special education. This is the really easy part. There are two big hurdles that have me nervous. First, student teaching. I have the option of doing 10 weeks of full time traditional student teaching, 16 weeks of part time, or get a job in the field and get credit while getting paid. Yeah, getting paid sounds nice but this family is not ready for me to be at work full time. I am not ready, my husband is not ready, and my kids are not ready. So I am pushing my advisor to place me in 16 weeks part time. Then I can focus on my kids, finish my MA with little added stress and get it out of the way. Except this week I learned that since MOST people get a job to get credit for student teaching, if you are not working, it is two quarters of student teaching. This is because VI teachers are so in demand that they need to push people to finish and get jobs ASAP! This means, I take a full time job, OR do 20 weeks of full time OR do 32 weeks of part time. Basically 100 of 180 school days full time OR the whole school year of part time FOR FREE! NO PAY! WHAT???!!! Why would I do any of this? It makes more sense to get a job. I am willing to get a part time job. All the jobs posted are full time. This is not good. I don’t know what I am going to do about it! The second hurdle is the Comps. Instead of writing a thesis, I have to take a comprehensive exam to get my MA. Basically all my BA stuff PLUS my MA stuff, PLUS my credential stuff on one test. I have a year before I take it. The problem is, how am I going to study for that, while finishing my MA AND student teaching for the entire school year. I have thought of quitting now and paying back my grant. I do not want to do this. I have considered just slowing down, doing 10 weeks full time student teaching now, taking my time to finish my MA and then get a job to finish the last 10 weeks of credit. I can’t walk until 2011 anyway so the only difference it would really make is money. I am only on a grant until August 2010. Anything after that I have to pay for out of pocket. If I had the money to do the MA, I would have started it a long time ago. I guess this gives us a year to start saving. I don’t know. I really don’t know what the best option is.

Reflection on the past 12 months:

I have accomplished many things in the past year. I did the mud run & muddy buddy, pushed my limits on my mountain bike, lost 35 pounds, taken care of my body, finished another teaching credential, led Daisy Scouts, worked in the classrooms, worked on committees, volunteered at Church, worked 2 part time jobs, learned braille, ran the streets of LA dressed like a chicken, made lunches, cleaned house, folded laundry, done dishes, driven carpool, cared for other children, shuttled kids to practices, supported my husband, loved my family, wrote papers, took exams, assessed children, made new friends, made virtual friends, connected with old friends, laughed, cried, planned, procrastinated, danced, sang, rushed. Yeah, it’s a lot. But there are three important things missing. I cannot remember the last time I read my Bible. I have opened it to look things up. I have heard something in a sermon and gone to Bible Gateway to read more. I have read chapters in my daughters Children’s Bible to her. I have been to Church. But I have not sat and read my Bible. Read it for pleasure, support, answers, connection. I need a place to start. Suggestions welcome. I have also not prayed enough. I talk to God all day long. In the car, while at school, while making dinner, while putting my kids to bed. I know this counts, however I also know that I need to sit, focus and pray more. Not just Sundays at communion. Not just in bed as I fall asleep. I need to pray for guidance, answers, thanks, praise, insight, reflection, and relationship. I need to reconnect through prayers. The third thing I have been neglecting is pausing. Pausing to rest. And I know if I would take the time to pause, I would feel the connection, I would use the time to pray and read my Bible. I have heard of people who put it on their calendar like an appointment. I never miss appointments, however there is something about scheduling time to rest that just seems odd to me. I was doing great at all this when we were in a couple’s small group. We set aside time each week to read the Bible, talk about it with other people, pray, focus, be together in the Word. I was almost a date for us! There were a few factors that led us to leave that small group. I will not go into them all here. I don’t miss he group per se, but I do miss where I was in my spiritual growth when we had that. This is something I need to pray about. It is something I need to think about. It is something I need to get back to.

Reflection on sleep:

It is overrated. At least that is what I am telling myself since I am getting so little lately.

Reflection on Girl Time

I have always shied away from close friendships with females. I can’t take the drama. I have always felt that with women I am walking in eggshell, never really being myself. I am always waiting for some to get hurt feelings or put the moves on my man. I have always felt that they are judging my clothes, my purse, my shoes…these things are not important to me. I don’t care what others think of me, I am who I am but I have just stayed away from it all because it is exhausting. I have been this way since I was 18. As I got into my 30’s, I have met a lot of amazing women with whom I don’t feel this. They love me in my jeans and messy hair, know that I will always tell them the truth and can count on me for anything. I have a group of people who I trust with my kids, who will make me dinner if I am sick and who will call me just to chat. I wish I could spend more time just hanging out with these friends. I was reminded of this when I went to bunco last week. I only knew 4 women there. But I had a great time! I want to spend more time like this with MY friends. I want to hang out and chat and laugh and just be us! So if I plan it, will you come??

Reflection on Serafina

Serafina has been sick for about a month now. She was hospitalized after what we were sure was a stroke. She was acting strange, walking funny, couldn’t see, wasn’t barking. They did an MRI, spinal tap and observed her for 3 days. They felt she had a seizure or stroke right resulting in the sudden change in vision and personality. They never investigated her vision since she is under a specialists care for her eye. It took her 2 weeks to become her old self with the exception of her vision. Her right eye went gray and she couldn’t see anything. It was sad to watcher her walk full speed ahead straight into a wall. I have a new compassion for the dog. As annoying she has been for 16 years, she is God’s creature and it is not her fault she was born with so many challenging medical conditions. 3 different eye drops, 2 different seizure medications, special diet and the barking have made for a lot of headaches over the years. The animal hospital recommended to follow-up with her doctor. A week later, her doctor suggested we follow-up with her ophthalmologist about the eye despite his belief that it was as we were told by the Doc. at the animal hospital, blindness caused by a stroke. A few days later, the ophthalmologist did a pressure test. Normal pressure is 25, she was at 44. Every time her heart beat, she was in tremendous pain as the eye pulsated. The lens had detached and was covering the eye, the reason she couldn’t see. It is likely this happened as a result of a stroke or was the cause of a seizure. Either way, the injury had happened almost a month prior at this point. We felt horrible for her. She was on medication to reduce her pain since my grandmother refused to consider surgery at her age. We really pushed for the surgery and after a week, grandma finally considered it. Once she made the call, the ophthalmologist said to do it right away, that day! However Serafina’s surgeon wasn’t available for another week. My grandmother did not want any other surgeon to touch her. So we waited. Her pressure went up to 55. Poor dog. Wednesday she went in for the surgery. The plan was to remove the lens and freeze the eye. After evaluating her that morning, they determined it had been too long and too damaged for this to be the best option. With this option she would still be susceptible to eye diseases and infections. They felt the best option for hr overall health was to remove the eye. This was a hard decision for my grandmother to make. But she did. So her entire eye is gone and sewn shut. She also had a cancerous mole removed off her back. She is full of stitches, wearing a cone and very confused. She has two additional medications I must give with peanut butter. So we have been a bit more patient with the barking, the smelly farts, the dribbling water as she walks about the house and the licking the floor. She is what she is. We inherited this problem. We will continue to treat her well. Even when she is keeping me awake with her snoring.

Reflection on the Gym:
I have been going to the gym during the day for the past year. Last week, my husband came home early so I could get out of the house. I had been housebound for 5 caring for my son with pneumonia. I desperately wanted to go to the gym. I went to an early evening kickboxing class. They gym is a completely different place at night. During the day, the gym is filled with housewives and people with alternative schedules (bartenders, realtors, students, bouncers, pastors, strippers etc.). All these people are there to work out, take care of their bodies, and have fun! There is a happy energy during the day! At night, the gym is a meat market. An angry meat market. The machines are full of people in makeup and cute gym clothes pretending to exercise while they scan the room for hotties. The class was full of working people who were there to blow off steam. There was no happiness in my class. No yee-haw’s or claps! No energy. I prefer the daytime gym where the happy people are. The daytime gym where I don’t have to worry about what I am wearing or how my hair looks. The daytime gym where I can have fun!

Reflection on food:

I love food. Everyday is a battle for me. One year ago this week I embarked on a life style change that would help me lose 35 lbs and gain back some confidence. But EVERY day I struggle with what I am eating, what I want to eat, and how I will feel about what I eat. I love to eat, yet I hate to eat. I DO eat. I eat a lot. But everyday I hate myself for either allowing myself to indulge a little bit or for indulging for the previous 10 years. If I had had more control in years past, I would not have to battle every day today. If I had never allowed myself to get so fat to being with, my body would not look like drapes today. Rows and rows of sagging skin. Skin that was taught when I was heavy. Ironically I felt more confident being naked in front of my hubby when I was heavy. This is a problem I created. It is my fault. Well, mine, pizza, tacos, burgers, onion rings, beer, bacon and popcorn. It’s a shared responsibility. Now my body is so sensitive, I can have a glass of wine and gain 2 lbs. Seriously. So I battle with food every day. I will repeat, I DO eat. I eat healthy. I indulge myself a bit (helllllloooooo Cheese It’s at midnight last night!) I work out. But I still struggle. I want to celebrate with a nice dinner out. I want to drown my sorrows in a bag of burnt popcorn. I want to go on a date with my hubby to a fancy restaurant. I want to eat nachos and beer at the ballgame. I want food. Lot’s of it. I love food!

Reflection on Housewives:

There is this silly show on Bravo called the Real Housewives of Orange County. Real? Really? I know this show has been on for a few years but after being quarantined for 8 days I finally had a chance to catch a few episodes. This show is ridiculous. Let me tell you about real housewives. I know a few. In Orange County no less. For example my friend…let’s call her Schmegan. Schmegan is a REAL housewife. She drives a used car with stickers all over the insides of the windows. Her car is never clean. Inside or out. She works in all 3 classrooms, volunteers for committees, helps PTF, is room mom. Schmegan has a pile of clean laundry on her garage floor through which her husband must dig for clean underwear. If there isn’t any, he goes without. Schmegan sends her children over with a measuring cup to borrow milk. When her microwave broke, she used mine for a year. Schmegan drops off dry cleaning, drives carpool, shuttles to 3 different practices at 3 different times. Most Friday nights, Schmegan is at a pizza party for one of her kids. She spends Saturday’s on the ball field. ALL day! Schmegan wears her hair in a pony tail, and sometimes drops of her children at school in her pajamas. Some days, she doesn’t get a shower. Schmegan’s floors are dirty, there are dishes in the sink and toys all over the living room. Schmegan feeds her family healy meals, changes their sheets, wipes their noses. Schmegan’s furniture has holes, and names written in sharpie. Her baseboards are dirty, her bed is not made. Schmegan will have all the neighborhood kids over for a play date. She’ll feed them snacks and popsicles and juice. She’ll send the home dirty, and sticky, and tired. Schmegan does not spend her days lunching with the girls or having coffee with her financial advisor. There are no martinis at the club after playing tennis. Her only shopping is at Target. She doesn't go tanning, get her nails done or have extensions. Her purse is not Prada. Her shoes are worn down. She wears an outfit more than once. Sometimes without washing it. Her breasts are her owns. She has never had botox. She has gray hair. Schmegan is busy. Schmegan is always smiling. She loves her job. Schmegan is a real housewife. And I am a lot like her. Perfectly imperfect!

Reflection on Cheese:

Everything tastes better with cheese. Everything.
Potato = cheddar
Crackers = sharp
Steak = blue
Pregnancy = lacy swiss
Ham = white American
Ritz = whiz
Bread = sharp swiss fondue
Chips = nacho crap
Salad = feta
Panini = gouda
Breaded = mozzarella
Snack = colby jack
Fish = crusted parmesan
Tomatoes = buffalo
Hot = Brie
Cheese makes everything right with the world.

Don't Forget To Stretch

2009-06-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

Me in 60 years. Thanks Heidi!

Fashion No No...

2009-06-08T18:05:00.000-07:00

Unless you are Fergie, do not leave the house in short shorts and heels. It doesn't look good on you.

Randomness

2009-06-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

I often don’t blog because I can’t come up with a witty title for the topic. Titles are important. They can make or break the whole piece. So sometimes I just delete what I wrote and figure I will tell you all in person what was on my mind that day. That never happens. So my thoughts just build up and are then spewed in one rambling blog I like to call…randomness.

I play little games with myself.
When I get gas, I push no receipt and then try to get back in my car and close the door before it beeps 3 times to tell me thank you. I am always disappointed when the beeps win. Sometimes I will flush the toilet before getting into the shower just to see if I can perfectly time when to turn the water temperature down so I don’t get scalded.

I wonder…at what point are you considered “elderly”. Is it by the way you walk, when you retire, your age? Who determines that someone will be called elderly in a newspaper article about them?

Which reminds me, at what point does a garage sale become an estate sale?

I love that the mannequins at Sport Chalet have muscles. That is a realistic mannequin in my book.

I have recently learned that you do not have to be very smart to be a notary. All you need is an ink pad and a bunch of pens. No brains required.

My son wanted to see how the female gondolier’s dress in Italy for a school project. Without my knowledge he googled “Italy girls” then clicked on images. There were a lot of interesting pictures for him to peruse. Thankfully the one he chose to open was just of a pregnant belly. He thought it was funny enough to call me into the room where I quickly quit his search and reminded him he needs permission before Googling ANYTHING!. Close call!

I come up with some really good thoughts in the shower. I forget them before I am finished drying my hair. I will be very happy when they invent a water proof laptop I can use in the shower so I can share my randomness with you more frequently.

I scratched an itch. My Mom took me to Jimmy Buffet as a mother’s day treat to us. I have never been to Buffet. It was exactly as I expected. And I got to introduce concert Gina to concert Peg. WOW! That was interesting. Now I know where I get it! Except concert Gina never yells at the drunk teens dancing wildly next to her. She usually just joins right in and makes friends with them. Otherwise, concert Peg had a great time! So did concert Gina!

I don’t use Twitter. I signed up a few months back because the Great Urban Race was having a virtual race and you had to post your pictures on Twitter. I never did anything with it. But I do think it is cool that about once a week I get and e-mail that says someone is following me! WOW! My website with nothing on it actually has fans! I am awesome!

I love going to college! I got asked to join a Sorority a few weeks ago. I felt special! They didn’t want me when I was their age but they want me now! Do you think it’s because I am old enough to buy them beer?

My college houses the Los Angeles County High School for Performing Arts. You can imagine the colorful characters that go to this school. I say that with love because my younger siblings both graduated from this high school. Nonetheless, there are some interesting kids roaming the halls when I get to campus. They get out at 4:00 just when I am arriving for class. One of my classes is at the end of a long hall that is lined with lockers. On most Monday’s I spend my time walking that hall staring straight ahead. I just cannot bring myself to witness the saliva exchanges that are happening all over the place. Really, I am not a prude but there is something about watching teenagers with green hair making out. It is just wrong. So I avoid looking. But if by chance some decent youngster is opening their locker to get out the reading material which will be required if they ever want to graduate, I sneak a peek just to see who the hottie is right now. I see posters of “Twilight” and Marilyn Manson. But I am yet to see High School Musical. You would think at a school that focuses on the talents of impressionable kids, you would have a large fan base for this important cinematic accomplishment. I mean seriously, he plays basketball AND sings. WOW! How can they not like this movie???!!!

Oh and as a bonus, I am often treated to naked teenagers in the bathroom! I am rushing to class and they are in there changing into tights, costumes, whatever nonsense they can create. And they sing! YES! They make beautiful naked music! Can’t a lady use the restroom in peace?

FYI-today is Evan’s birthday, Prom tickets were reduced to $90 and yearbooks can still be purchased for $80. I can bring home a flyer if you are interested in any of this!

So here I sit, waiting for the most boring class of my college career to begin. I am remembering when I was one of those teenagers making out by the locker. Ick! I would like to publicly apologize to all my high school teachers for all they had to witness. And on that note…have a happy day!

Halloween

2009-05-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

I need help. I hate Halloween. I truly detest it. I hate spending tons of cash on costumes for my kids that will be used for about 2 hours of fun! I have never dressed up for Halloween. I loathe the idea of people looking at me and judging my (lack of) creativity.

BUT...I have a strange addiction to dressing up for MY events! I have done the mud run (I did not "costume" but I did run 6.something miles covered in mud!) I was a goddess in the Muddy Buddy, I ran the streets of LA as a chicken. I am seriously considering being a bottle of vagisil for the next GUR and tomorrow...well tomorrow I will be a Mom. My mountain biking group has an annual Mother's Day ride in El Moro. Then we hike to the beach for lunch. I arranged the kids schedules so that I can make both parts of the fun! Last year, first prize went to someone who wore oven mits and a bathrobe for the entire 10 mile ride. Not to be outdone, tomorrow I will be sporting a baby in my camelpack. I have a jar of food, a bottle, a burp cloth (with genuine nasty stuff on it courtesy of Miss Lexi...it is truely disgusting since it has been in my drawer meaning to be returned for about a year now!). My baby has a teddy bear with her and her own specially designed helmet. Of course I will have a pacifier necklace and Purell on hand. Every good mother always leaves the house prepared for a high intensity bike ride with her infant! I am so excited! I will post pics soon!

Gettin' Itchy!

2009-05-02T23:36:00.000-07:00

I am getting the concert itch as summer approaches. I need to lose myself in a crowd sometime soon! Anyone in???

Suggestions Welcome!

2009-05-02T23:14:00.000-07:00

Jon and I are doing the Great Urban Race in San Diego to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. I seriously get gitty every time I think about it! I don't think he is as thrilled but he will come around. We signed up as the "10 year itch" since it is over our anniversary weekend getaway. The trouble is, we can't come up with a costume for this that is fun! Yes, we thought of the obvious gross one ...
...but seriously...our kids are going to want to see the pictures!

So we either need a good costume idea OR a new team name coupled with a costume idea. Please support me in this! If Jon had it his way we would be drinking margaritas by the pool. We need to push him out of our comfort zone!

Pick One!

2009-05-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

A bit of advice...never eat at a place called Donuts and Burgers. You can specialize in donuts and you can specialize in burgers. But you can't specialize in both. That is just wrong!

Bock bock bock...

2009-03-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

It is not everyday that I dress up like a chicken and run through the streets of LA. Contrary to the look on this guys face, the city quite enjoyed our costumes!

GUR is basically a 1 day amazing race. There are approx. 20 events nationwide each year. 500 teams are given 12 clues to solve that take them all over the city of their event. You have to run or take public transportation everywhere (no taxis, cars, skates etc.) My brother and I have never done anthing like this together. In fact, we hardly do anything together, but when I heard about GUR in L.A., I knew he would be the right partner. He is an O&M specialist that works all over downtown. In a nutshell, he teaches blind children how to navigate L.A. on public transportation. Despite us being on opposite ends of the physical fitness spectrum, I knew that he would be a great teammate.

So I give you team "Spring Chickens"

The stories are probably much better told in person so come by with a bottle of wine and you'll get all the good details! Basically...IT WAS AWESOME! We covered Pershing Square, Mc Arthur Park, Olvera St and Hollywood. We probably covered 4-5 miles on foot and the rest on bus and subway. My goal was to come in the top 250. We don't know our place yet but when we came in they said only about 100 teams had checked in. So now we are hoping to be in the top 150! We'll know tomorrow! Most of our stops required digital pictures to prove we were there. Here are some highlights.

We danced with the Aztecs

We talked this guy selling Lakers Jerseys on the train into putting one on so we could take a picture holding up the answer to one of our clues. By "talked into" I mean we paid him 5 bucks.
Missing from this photo are the masty girls who were mad at us for swooping in on him while they were trying to flirt him into a picture. Ha Ha! Suckers!

We took a self defense class

We saw Rocky and Bullwinkle, met a tall man, and hung out with some stars

Not pictured are the boot camp obsticle course, a few monuments and the great big hill we ran up! But here we are in front of El Pollo Loco! Couldn't resist.

There were some other fun costumes, Octomom, one eyed onehorned flying purple people eaters, Miss Congeniality, Curious George with the Man in the Yellow Hat, and Power Rangers to name a few. Here we are with the contest winners (14 year old Chinese Gymnastics Gold Medal Winners) They deserved it...they wore leotards and did cartwheels. But people loved us too! For an hour before and all throughout the race people were stopping us to take pictures with is! We were like celebrities! So fun!

So we looked a little crazy when we were alone on the route, but in Hollywood we fit right in. There's a lot of crazies there. Spiderman even gave us directions...and he wasn't part of the race! We were right in the middle of the Anti-War protest. It was quite nutty! People are being interviewed by TV cameras and two chickens go running by. Nice.

We ran on one granola bar and pure adrenelin all day. It is just like you see on Amazing race, the bus doors open and you take off running. We bocked at every team we passed and anybody that bocked at us from their cars! Children were laughing, people were staring...it was a BLAST! Jon and I are doing the San Diego race in October to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. I think he is a bit nervous after all the stories I told him last night but I am a really nice partner. I didn't yell at my brother once (even when he was walking and I wanted to run! Arg!) We just ran when he could (and when it was crucial!) It will be a new experience for me and Jon. He has never seen me in race mode and we have never done anything physical like this together. I am really excited about it!

One last pic, for Thing Templetons

It's Wacky Wednesday!

2009-03-18T08:22:00.001-07:00

The Leprechaun Visit

2009-03-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

The Leprechauns were good to us this year. They recognized that this mommy is in the middle of finals week and daddy did not need any more work to do for her around the house. So this year they left treats on the table for the kids (a book monogrammed in gold glitter for each of the kid, green flowers and a box of lucky charms) Then they snuck into the kids rooms are rearranged things a bit. The night stands, bedding and clothing from the kids dressers were swapped. They also moved the laundry baskets, jackets, robes and a few other items that are significant in each room. Dylan woke up snuggling an American Girl and Megan woke up with a green comforter on. They thought this was so funny! I knew it was Leprechaun success when at 5:15 am Dylan stood by my bedside and declared "Mom! When I get through with those Leprechauns they are going to be dead meat!"

Funny Side Note: While investigating the rest of the house to see what mischief awaited...Dylan was so excited to discover that the Leprechauns had folded the laundry that was sitting on the couch! That was so nice of them!

Breakfast consisted of Green Ham, Green Apples w/ Carmel and of course the Magically Delicious Treat!

Here's some pictures from the rest of our day!

It's that time again...

2009-03-16T20:10:00.000-07:00

The signs are posted on the potty's

The nails are painted green and white

Tonight the Leprechauns come

Brain Overdrive

2009-03-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

These are the thoughts that plaque me in the middle of the night. I really need help.

I love the smell of pancakes

I cannot sleep with underwear on. Or socks. Even if my feet are freezing, I kick off my socks. They are annoying! At any time, you can lift up the covers at the foot of my bed and see a nice collection of socks.

I hate seeing whiskers in the sink. It gives me the willies.

I read magazines backwards. No idea why.

My house swallows clip boards. And scissors. I think I have bought 3,000 pairs of kids scissors in the past 8 years. I can find one.

I hate when you register for a website and then a box pops up that says “your password must be between 6-47 characters, contain letters and numbers, is case sensitive and will self destruct in 12.2 years” Why can’t you tell me that right there where I am expected to pick the password! In that case I would have chosen my old standby: YouRanobnoXious4headedAlienwebSite on my first try.

My husband cannot say “you’re da bomb” without saying “dot com” after it. It’s not so cute after a while.

I hate getting out of the shower. Hate it! Sometimes I actually delay getting into the shower as long as possible so that I do not have get to the dreaded moment when I have to get out.

I saw this on a church this week “Body piercing saved lives”. Love it!

I do not like to use the handicapped stalls in the public bathrooms. I just don’t want to be THAT person who held up the stall while someone in a wheel chair waited outside the door. Although some might argue they should wait in line like the rest of us poor souls, I just don’t like doing it. So the dilemma comes when I am in line and it opens up. Do I step aside as if you say to the person behind me “I will not take the handicap stall but if YOU want to be the jerk that does, be my guest”? Truth be told, when my kids were younger and I drove a stroller the size of a pony, I used that sucker every time I had the chance. I would even park in there for a while just to get some quiet time at Disneyland. What’s a mom to do?

What’s up with Target? They are out of everything right now! They did not have my lipstick, pushpins, dog food, “vitamins” OR rice cakes. So I bought exactly nail polish. On another note, message to Target employees: when someone is looking at laxatives, don’t ask them if they need help finding anything. They don’t want to discuss this with you. The same goes for hemorrhoid cream, condoms and tampons. Some things are private!

Deep Thoughts With Disco Mommy

2009-03-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

A little bit from my brain this morning.

Megan’s hernia hasn’t closed, going for a consult with the surgeon :0( We already know that this will mean putting her to sleep for the procedure. I am not comfortable with that idea. I might ditch the appointment and go to Disneyland instead! She will love me more for that!

Baseball is not Dylan’s strong sport but he sure knows how to hustle. And he is loving every minute of it. I am not happy about him sitting in tar on opening day in the $27 pants we were forced to buy (apparently the $9 from Sports Chalet are not good enough for Seaview). If you don't recognize him at the game, he is the one who looks like he had diarrhea and mom forgot to wash his pants. Yep, that's my son!

Spring break starts for me in 11 days. That’s when I start operation purge. This house is bursting at the seams. I might even rent a dumpster!

I like the name Darcy. Can someone I know please name their daughter this?

My husband is awesome! I am so proud to be his wife!

Megan is sick which means I need someone to bring her some movies from Blockbuster…otherwise I will be stuck listening to Sponge Bob for the next 24 hours. Someone have mercy on me!

It also means the kids missed the last day in the old Treehouse at FCC since Jon is working. Both are really bummed about this. I am sure they will forget all about it when they see the new one next week! (Update: I am surrounded by amazing friends and want to thank Deena for taking Dylan with her family to FCC this morning. You are awesome!)

It also means I miss my softball game and Dylan’s basketball awards & party. Bummer for both of us. My grandma will take Dylan so he will have someone there to watch him win his award. He is gunning for most Christlike but will probably get most improved or most enthusiastic or something like that! Again, loves the sport but not really his strength.

On the plus side of the fever, I will have plenty of time stuck at home today to work on some school projects. Only 3 left to go for the quarter! (Update...2 left for the quarter! At this rate I might even get my taxes done in time! Whoa, slow down Gina, let's not get to optimistic!)

I got a new wardrobe this week. For free. Clothing swap parties rock! I want to plan one for this summer. Ladies, save everything you don't want! You WILL come to this! You can't afford not to!

Why do I waste my time playing bejewled? I do not have that kind of time to waste. But when the brain freezes, I go there to clear things up so I can continue working.

There is a strange phenonemon I experience every time the time changes. I walk around all day in a foggy state, questioning every clock I see. Time feels a bit surreal to me. And I am always hungry. Maybe I am just trying to justify that I am eating breakfast again at 9:30 because my body thinks it's 8:30 and I ate my last breakfast at 5:30 when my body thought it was 4:30 which is basically a middle of the night snack. And I am always tired. Granted my daughter had me up at 5:30 (meaning 4:30 to my brain) but I am still tired all day when the clocks change. No matter what time I go to bed or get up or think it is or think it's not. I just want to sleep. Boy do I wish is were raining and both kids were sick (Did I just say that?). Then we could all sleep all day. But now it's time to get back to work. Or is it time? I don't know. I don't really believe what the clock is telling me anyway.

Other than that…I got nothin’.

Freckles

2009-02-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

This picture is how I have felt all my life. I have always hated my freckles. I used to cover them up with tons of foundation but Jon despised that look on me so I stopped. But for years I have been tempted to return to my ways because I truly hate my freckles. I honestly wish I had the money for a chemical peel to just strip them all away.

I don't hate all freckles, just my own. I think freckles are actually very cute. But I have been scared for my son as he has gotten older because his have become so dark. I remember the child we made fun of all through school was the one red headed boy with a face full of freckles. I am afraid this will be Dylan someday. His freckles are great. And I love every one of them. Not everyone will feel the same.

Today I noticed Megan is starting to get a scattering of freckles across her nose. She was so excited! She wanted to tell everyone. They are the cutest little hints of freckles and she is just beaming about all the kisses God has given her on her nose! Despite her happiness, my heart just sunk. I do not want her to feel the way I do about my face. I hope she never does. It is horrible.

I have never said anything about hating my freckles in front of my children. I never wanted Dylan to feel they are bad. It is one of the things about myself I fail to take joy in. God made me wonderful in many ways and I would like to feel that way about my freckles. But I don't. I just don't.

My Night At The Oscars

2009-02-23T16:31:00.000-08:00

What I loved about the Oscars

I have no interest in fashion. I saw one of the movies and it was only nominated for 1 award. I care not about movie stars except a few heartthrobs from my teen years that still pique my interest. Nonetheless, I went to an Oscar party with some “friends”. Why in quotes? Some are friends I see and talk to in my everyday life. Others I know from Facebook and/or blogging and had never formally “met” before. I went for the social reasons. I went to hang with some ladies, eat way too much food and share in a few laughs. It was a great night! Here are the highlights for me.

KT…seriously the belle of the ball. So classy in her conversations. C.I., stinky p, and other personal info gave the night a certain je ne sais quoi?

Mandy…you ARE as funny as your blog. You really do say all that stuff! I love it! Clown car vagina. Awesome.

Heidi…you were such a good hostess. The food, drinks and prizes were great! You look amazing and should be proud of yourself!

Sarah...fun to hang out and get to know you more. Although the more we hang out, the less you may like me!

Jennifer R…you are funny. I like your stealth, under the radar humor.

Jennifer ?...I hope we did not scare you away with all our crazy talk and language. We really are good wholesome mommy’s!

Laurel…Laurel Laurel Laurel. You my friend are so cute with a few green drinks in you!

Christy…Fun getting to know you too! Although all night I kept wondering if you were making fun of my hair in your head.

And Stacey. WOW! YOU ARE A BLAST! I guess you have to have some sense of humor when your husband looks at naked women all day. I just loved hanging with you! Funny lady!

And I have to agree with Laurel, best part of the night was Jack walking in and saying “Hi Ladies!” TOO STINKIN’ CUTE!

Thank you all for a fun night! Why didn’t we take any pictures???

Winter Wonderland

2009-02-19T06:48:00.000-08:00

Quick Recap

1 1/2 hour drive turning into a 6 hour drive to the mountain house makes for one grumpy mommy. It was not a good start to our trip. It was an interesting weekend.

1st problem, pouring rain and traffic, the princess has to pee. Slowly merge. Run into Circle K, pick out some snacks, soaking wet. Ask clerk for bathroom key. Get told it is for employees only. But I am a customer I say. I am buying these snacks. My children have to go quite badly. NO, he replies. BIG MEAN MOMMY VOICE used to cause a scene...Well then we will NOT be buying this stuff here then. Get in the car kids. This place sucks. Not my finest moment but I was ticked. Cross the freeway to gas station. Run in, soaking wet, big sign...Restroom out of order. OH NO! Ask the clerk where she goes to the bathroom and throw circle K under the bus to a room full of people. Washington exit. 5 miles away. In the rain and traffic. With a child that has to go NOW! She made it. My mood was foul.

2nd problem, STUPID, yes STUPID people who stop in the middle of the lanes to put their chains on instead of pulling over. Creates a traffic nightmare in which it takes 2 1/2 hours to go 3/4 of a mile through the chain inspection lane. Did I mention my mood? Kids did awesome. Dogs, not so much. At one point, after being stopped for 10 minutes, I actually got out and walked the dogs on the side of the highway. Kept entertained by texting my husband about the insanity, talking to the little girl hanging out the window next to us and blasting some music my grandma didn't approve of. Her thought...play something calm so the kids will nap. NAP? Yeah right. I turned it up louder. It was my mood that made me do it you see!

3rd problem, arrive at mountain house at 9:30pm. Kids and dogs go wild in the snow. Did I mention it had been 6 HOURS in the car????? 22 degrees, car parked down icy steps. It takes 127 trips to get everything I packed up to the house. I don't exaggerate. Really!

4th problem, get all creatures dried off, feed dogs, crap, no meds for the white one. The one with special needs. Can't tell grandma, she will have a heart attack, literally. Formulated a plan which started with phone calls to the vets at 6 am, a Valentines Day visit to the Arrowhead Animal Hospital and Rite Aid, got meds, told grandma, are things going to get better now???

5th problem, fancy Valentines Day dinner scheduled at 6. Tired and grumpy kids who were up until 11:30 the night before, roughly 4 hours past their bedtime! Long wait for dinner. Falling asleep on table. Princess does her schedule BM at 7pm. It burns, there are tears. Another trip to Rite Aid for "tushy cream". Meals come. Mommy is up and down cutting food, they don't like it, trade plates, don't like this either. Eat your fries, that's dinner for now, I'll cook you something at home. Crying kids. Dad asks for check, I haven't eaten one bite of my meal. Boy do I miss my hubby!!! I want to go home!

6th problem, Princess wakes up with a cold, coughing, sneezing, raspy voice. Another trip to Rite Aid for comforts. Still couln't keep her from wanting to play in the snow.

7th problem, it is time to leave! There was a lot of fun before this point, however I was ready to go home. After 3 days of reminding kids to keep the gates closed, my wonderful brother forgets as he is packing his car. Where's Serafina? GONE! Back up...did I mention the storm had rolled in? The great storm of '09? Yeah, 45 minutes of running along the highway in the snow, while it was storming, in jeans. We found her, and pneumonia. I was soaked, SOAKED! Sweaty. MAD! And not looking forward to listening to grandma obsess over "what if" the whole drive home. Get in the car kids...it's time to end this nightmare!

So I swear we had a good time despite all this! Here are some pictures to prove it!

6am...The view from the guest house to the main house. I haven't seen this much snow there in years.

Building

"The Worlds Biggest Snoman ever made by kids!"

The end result...IT IS HUGE!

Snow stud at 7am

Snow bunny at 7am

Ice Skating

Sledding

See...I can have fun!

Romantic Valentines Dinner (gone wrong!)

All the kids in front of the lake! They are standing on snow that is piled higher than the fence, it is icy cold water straight below them!

Randomness

2009-02-19T01:31:00.001-08:00

When people bungee jump and say it was the most amazing exoerience of their lives, I just want to slap them. Amazing is seeing a child be born, not stepping off a bridge wth a rubber band around your waist like a jack ass!

Why can't the toilet seat covers be made so the circle part goes into the toilet on it's own. Why do I have to break the seal and push it toward the water myself?

Anticipation...

2009-02-19T00:47:00.000-08:00

I know you all have been waiting to hear my little nuggets of wisdom lately. It has been a while since I have read blogs. I tried going back a few tonight but I am further behind than I realized. Since I was planning on blogging and expect you all to read it, I thought I'd better make an attempt to read yours first. So here is my catsup:

Travis...this is for you!

The rest of the Baker clan...what is going on? I hope you can all get healthy and stay that way! Enough already!

Diane...Are you better yet? You seem to have been so sick. It is understandable that you have gotten so down lately based on how you are feeling. Hang in there!

Heidi...sniff sniff. Seriously, no more seriousness with you. Our babies grow up too fast. How exciting Jack is in his big boy bed but how sad that your "baby" stage is over. I hope he has adjusted now.

KT...YOU TOO! Stop with the cry fest already. I feel your ache with the whole transition to Kindergarten. It is rough. Especially since we are 4 months from the end and we agreed I would go back to work when our youngest went to 1st grade. Sounds like a perfect time to get pregnant!

Jon...meet me later????

Mandy...you don't know me but I read your blog and you are funny. You say everything I think but cannot say. I am so with you on the whole bathroom shoes concept. I need a pair for the library and grocery store, the places my anxiety causes me a bathroom emergency.

Robbie...you are such an awesome husband. You say great things about your wife. She is lucky to have you. Did you find out anything about your internship? Selfishly, I hope you didn't get anything, got kicked out of your program and are taking a job collecting pennies from fountains around OC...that way we can have you for our softball team full time! And if you did get something...well..good for you, bad for us! :0)

KT again...We had a boy that was made fun of. Dennis was his name. Everyone was so mean to him and he wasn't strange or anything. Just red headed with freckles. I feel so awful I never stood up for him. Especially now that I have my own freckled faced little guy who is so amazing and so handsome. MAN! I hope he is somewhere good and knows that because I didn't have the strength to stop others from saying awful things does not mean I believed what they were saying.

Jon...I am waiting!

Don...thanks for the movie reviews. I won't see anything until after the awards show but now have an idea of who to vote for at the Oscar party. I want to win prize!

Sarah...I am watching the Amazing Race as I type this and it made me think of you. I think you and I both feel the same pull to be a part of this type of experience. But our responsibilities stand in the way. Congrats on your personal amazing race (a month ago...I am late...I know!)

Jennifer...So glad everything worked out with Brian's job. And Emily sure is getting cute (a response to Don's Blog but shes yours so you get the shout out)

KG, CT and JM...until you post again, I got nothing for you!

Shhhh....

2009-02-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

I have a confession.

On Wednesday I worked out to Exercise TV in the living room. When I finished I thought I would do a few balance games on Wii fit just to work the abs a bit more. The batteries were low on the board. While I waited for the batteries to defrost (everyone keeps them in the freezer right?), I played Wii...by myself. I raced Mario Kart, went to the Olympics, played a few carnival games and destroyed some Boom Blox. I felt a bit guilty. The kids were working hard at school, Jon was working hard at work, and I was playing Wii in the middle of the day. I shamefully closed the blinds. And kept playing. It felt so good!

Music Fun

2009-01-23T12:04:00.001-08:00

I saw someone do this on Facebook. Gave it a whirl. Pretty interesting stuff here. And no, I didn't cheat.

INSTRUCTIONS

1 Put your ipod or other music player on shuffle
2 For each question, press the next button to get your answer
3 You must write that song name down (no matter how silly it sounds)

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY", YOU SAY?
-Centerfield (John Folgerty)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
-Cream (Prince)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
-Promises In The Dark (Pat Benatar)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
-Witchy Woman (The Eagles)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
-I’d Die For You (Candlebox)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
-How Great Thou Art (Gospel)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
-Saturday Night Fever (The Bee Gees)

WHAT IS 2+2?
-Creep (Stone Temple Pilots)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
-Barbara Ann (The Beach Boys)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
-Livin’ On The Edge (Aerosmith)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
-The Way You Move (Outkast)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
-Funkytown (Lipps Inc)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
-How You Ever Really Loved A Woman (Daughtry from AI)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
-Surf City (The Beach Boys)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
-Hold Out Your Hand (Nickleback)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
-Since You’ve Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson)

Culinary Adventures

2009-01-22T21:21:00.000-08:00

We decided to eat out tonight. We owed my husband a dinner out so we told him he could chose the place and we would go without complaint. For many reasons, this is his night and it needs to be right.

He decided to step out of the box and try someplace new. He consulted a friend who shall remain nameless. This friend lives in HB, is on a budget like us, and has young kids. Jon asked for a recommendation for good Chinese food, kid friendly with reasonable prices. The friend was quick to respond with the name of a local place that will also remain nameless. This friend likes to eat out and has really good taste in restaurants so we thought this must be the place for us!!

When we walked in there were only 2 tables seated in the large restaurant…bad sign. But one of them was a family so we weren’t too worried yet. As we waited to order (about 10 minutes), we noticed the other table storm out for unknown reasons. They had received their crunchy noodles and dipping sauce (kinda like chips/salsa at Mexican joints) but had no drinks on the table…not a good sign, looks like service was slow. The place began to fill up…good sign. When we received our noodles, they were stale. The kids didn’t mind and they were really hungry so we kept them (although I did notice the table next to us sent theirs back and then didn’t like the replacements either…bad sign)

I got my water, the glass had lipstick on it. Not a huge deal…it happens. Got our soup, my spoon some type of food still on it…looked like a big booger. Sent that back too. Got our appetizers, Dylan grabbed an egg roll, and a long black hair. Now things are getting icky. While we were waiting on the food, Jon took the kids to the bathroom and we tried playing some games. The kids were restless, there was a lot of whining and it was starting to fall apart. At this point, our friend texts to see how we like the restaurant. We don’t answer that question. We avoid it by talking about how the kids are bugging us and will they take them off our hands. (turns out they can’t because they are having a hot date for their anniversary. But remember, I will not tell you who they are so don’t ask).

Dinner arrives. It was ummm…fair? I guess I can call it that. There was little flavor. Kung Pow had now “pow”, sweet and spicy had no “spicy” and the broccoli chicken, guess you can’t crew that up much. The fried rice was good though. But overall…not really good Chinese food. Not really good food period. In fact, about half way through I literally start to feel ill. The kids ate the white rice and broccoli, didn’t like anything else we offered. It looks like I am going to be making them dinner after all. Throughout the meal we got several more texts from this friend and his wife. Through the “conversation” it was revealed that neither of them had eaten there since High School…18 years ago! WE CAN TELL! This is not the type of place they would go, or take their kids, or ever recommend to anyone. It’s dirty, it’s old and it is not worth the money.

All of a sudden, Dylan has to go…NOW! Jon says “you take him, the men’s bathroom was disgusting”. Nice. We take Megan with us. The women’s bathroom…also disgusting. Megan went while Dylan did the dance and I cleaned the light switch with a wet paper towel. Whatever nastyness was on there was not coming off. I immediately washed my hands and vowed to leave the light on when we left. Dylan asked for Privacy which meant #2. I helped Megan wash her hands and started gagging at how gross the sink was. Dirty! Just dirty! I wouldn’t let her touch anything while we waited. I was starting to feel worse. The mood was lightened when Dyaln sighed “Oh Poop” after a big plop. We giggled. His belly was not happy. It was gross. He flushed. It rose. We laughed and backed away. We tried again. It rose again. The dirty, disgusting toilet was not going to take the poop. I told the kids “just pretend it didn’t happen. If Daddy has paid the bill we can run out of here and they will never know it was us.” And that’s exactly what we did.

I am getting more and more queezy each minute. Jon drove separate from us so he leaves while we eat our fortune cookies (the best part of our meal by far!). As we are pulling out of the parking lot, Megan screams “I have to go poop right now and it is an emergency” SCREAMS! I said “you have to wait until we get home because we are not going back in there!” She starts crying the words you never want to hear “Mommy, I swear it is an emergency. I am going to poop my pants”. She was serious. I pulled into In-N-Out and we ran in while she literally held her hand over her rear. She went. Again, it wasn’t pretty. I am gagging again. My belly is getting worse. She says “Mommy, my belly did not like that food at all”. Mine neither.

On the drive home I have three nasty burps which pretty much are the prelude to a violent eruption of the belly, through the mouth. When we walk in, Jon announces his eyes hurt, from pushing out all the vomit. Guess his belly didn’t like it either. Now I really want to blow. I am gurgling and burping and just…ICK! Unfortunately for me, my body does not like to vomit. I sit here 2 hours later still feeling ill and wanting to be D-O-N-E with that meal. Just burped again.

The evening wasn’t perfect for my hubby, but it was memorable. Burped again.

Thirty Five...

2009-01-15T21:19:00.001-08:00

...And Still Alive!

WARNING...THIS IS LOOOONNNNGGGG!!!!

I have had some memorable birthdays in the past.

There was my 14th birthday when my mom/hairstylist gave me a HORRIBLE perm, cut my hair SUPER short and then threw me a surprise party! It wasn't pretty. Although I was totally blindsided by the party. That part was fun (once my entire 8th grade class got over the SHOCK of my hair!!)

There was my 6th birthday when we had the party at Chuckee Cheeses. My BEST friend showed up in her BEST party dress and fancy shoes. She cried for and hour when she saw we were all in jeans. My step-dad nick named her Mun Chee Chee because she looked so cute like one of those dolls (this continued to be her nick name for the next 20 years!). She gave me a Sesame Street Record that we would listen to for hours! I still have it! Awwww.... (unfortunately the last time I saw her 9 years ago she asked me to do something immoral. I said no. That was the last time we spoke. sniff sniff.)

There was my 21st birthday in Vegas (the time I REALLY turned 21). I slept in the car in the parking lot of the hotel because my friends were being total asses and I had to get away from them.

There was my 20th birthday when we couldn't get into the Eagles Hell Freezes Over concert because 2 of our 4 tickets were fake. As I pitched a fit in the parking lot, a cop grabbed my boobs and told me to chill out. (I was VIOLATED!) Since we'd rented a limo we had to all leave together and forfeit our good tickets. We went to TGI Fridays where my friend got trashed. We spent the 2 next hours hosing vomit off her driveway, her neighbors lawn, her bedroom floor. Ick.

There was my 30th birthday when I babysat all the nieces and nephews because Jon and his sisters had to go to a funeral.

There was my 27th birthday when I was in the hospital after delivering Dylan. I spent the majority of the morning vomiting from the anesthesia. My step-mom got in trouble for lighting a candle and singing me happy birthday (something about fire and oxygen tanks. Big deal). I burst into tears for no reason (the nurse said something about my milk coming in but I think it was because someone took all the estrogen in the entire COUNTRY and shoved it into my body). Then the Nazi nurse molested me while trying to show me how to nurse my baby. She was creepy.

There was my 32nd birthday when my Mom called me up and said "What are you doing for your BIG 30th?!" Ummmm...it was two years ago...thanks for noticing Mom.

So I figured it was up to me to make my 35th memorable. The odds were stacked against me. The kids had school, I had school, and Jon had to work. Not much to do with that. BUT I did my best to have "me" day.

I woke up to the same mess I had left when I went to bed. The birthday fairy hadn't come. Although the house was still decorated form when she appeared for Dylan's birthday so at least it felt festive. My kids didn't remember it was my birthday. No biggie, except that meant they were on their usual behavior which included not listening to me, not clearing their plates and bickering about EVERYTHING! Off to a good start huh?!

I took the kids to school and took myself for an awesome bike ride. I rode to the beach, spent some time at the water enjoying the AMAZING day God had created (just for me I'm sure!). Catalina was at my fingertips, the weather was a perfect 75 degrees and life was good. Riding back up the trail with the ocean at my back, I enjoyed the amazing view of the snow capped mountains. I rode up to the park and rode the dirt trails and jumps for a little while.

After riding home I organized a few things for school, packed up and headed to Disneyland (where it was a not so perfect 88 degrees). Since it was my birthday and I am a pass holder, I got a "Fun Card" for $69! YES! Free money! I browsed World of Disney but nothing really grabbed me. I did do a bit of shopping for some upcoming birthdays but I spent real money on that...no way was I spending my free birthday money!

I decided to treat myself to a late lunch. I have been craving Mexican since losing weight but have never let myself indulge. I decided it was time. But I couldn't fathom sitting alone in a restaurant on my birthday so I opted to go to their carryout window and enjoy a little people watching. Bad move. First, the takeout window did not serve the good stuff. The food was made with nacho cheese, fake guacamole and chips straight off the shelf at Smart and Final. Big disappointment. A nice (and by nice I mean strange) lady sat down in my personal space and whipped out her own beverages, a mini DVD player and kicked back with her cowboy boots on the table. She tried to engage me in some type of conversation about "weed" and the very good possibility we would both leave with a contact high from all the people smoking weed around us. We were completely alone and I didn't smell a thing. Time to go.

I drove to school for braille class. My classroom is right next door to my step-mom's office so I stopped in to say Hi. While I was there the following happened
phone rings
Her office Mate answers the phone
"Oh hello Vinnie" (my brother)
"Yes, Diane AND Gina are right here"
"Are you sure that's who you are calling for"
"You know, don't you want to talk to your sister instead of Diane?"
"Vinnie, I am trying to cover for you. Don't you want to wish your sister a happy birthday?"
So I get on the phone and listen to my brother scramble to cover up for the fact he had no idea it was my birthday. He said something about calling me being on his "to do list" (I know him better than that) and something else about not being able to remember me because his dryer broke. OK...Sibling #1...busted.

I suffered through an INSANELY boring guest speaker. I really like this class but the speaker just did nothing for me. Not the way I really wanted to spend my evening.

When I got home, I had to pee so badly. I ran to the bathroom and found my birthday surprise...a visit from an old relative (let's just say I'm not pregnant...happy birthday to me! NOT!)

But things were looking up...the birthday fairy had come with her! YAY! My kids had made me some cards and decorated my bedroom all by themselves. Look what a good job they did!

My amazing husband had cleaned the house and started laundry (YES!) He was also making me an artichoke and some spinach dip. I enjoyed every fattening bite. We drank a bottle of champagne and spent some time together. It was a great ending to a birthday that I can't exactly call memorable, but it was as good as it can get under the circumstances.

A few side notes.

Another shout out to my Mom. TODAY she sent me a very nice e-card talking all about how January 14th is the most important day of her life and I am he best thing that happened to her. I was so planned and wanted and yadda yadda yadda. Hey Mom, the most important day of your life was YESTERDAY!!! I love you Mom! Thanks for always thinking about me (even if it is always a tad bit late!)

An honorable mention to my other brother who called me today and said he knew it was yesterday but he still wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday. Awww...so sweet.

And a special thank you to my baby sister who was my only sibling to remember me! She rocks! WAIT..actually I called her to ask her about the weather. Ah Hem.....

FINAL NOTE: From the pages of Balloon Babes (a new porno magazine)...I give you..ME!

A Shout Out

2009-01-06T12:13:00.001-08:00

I just want to give a "shout out" to my hubby. He is spending his entire day off doing projects around the house. SO FAR he has cleaned the gutters, built a basketball hoop and taken down the Christmas Lights. He is a stud. And I thank him!

God Is Testing Me

2009-01-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

This year, I decided to try to be a nicer person. In general I am really nice, I babysit on a moments notice, I cover for people at school events, I take food to sick families, I volunteer for everything...I am your go to girl! But there are things that I am just not very nice about. It is in those ways I hope to change and become a better person this year. For example, I will no longer assume you are a bad mother when you are dragging your screaming child around Target by their hair...I will just know you are having a bad day and pray it gets better. I will no longer call you a dumb ass when you forget to pick up your kids from school...or even forget that today is a school day. I will simply remember that you have been busy volunteering at some very important event and your child was not in the forefront of your mind. The biggest way I am challenging myself to be nicer this year is to stop laughing at people when they fall down (or even stumble). I am trying not to laugh now just typing this because to me, it is simply funny when people trip. I am mean. I know it. But I am working on it. Since making this commitment, I feel like God is testing me. Everywhere I go He is just knocking people down right in front of me. Seriously! It happened 3 times in two days...and I didn't even crack a smile. I did not laugh at the lady who ran across the auditorium to turn in her offering at Church and then turned around and tripped right into the front row of seats. That was really hard for me! But I did it! I just said WOW! She is really anxious to give! At the bank this guy waited for me to cross the parking lot and get in my car before pulling into his spot. I was thinking what a nice guy he is when he stepped out of his car and ate it on the speed bump in the parking lot. I just pulled out and drove away, still thinking he must be a nice guy (with a brand new hole in his jeans)Then yesterday when the stud in the tank top with his guns blazing (you know the type) was rushing down the sidewalk and stepped to the curb to pass a group of old people walking really slow fell off the curb and bumped into a car and then pretended he was going to open the back door anyway...I didn't even chuckle. I just thought, he is in good shape (for someone who can't walk) UH OH! I feel myself slipping already! I am trying really hard not to laugh at these misfortunes. My question is...if I laugh 10 minutes later when I replay it in my mind does it count?? How about 5 or even 10 years later when I retell the stories of my husband falling on his ass twice and I laugh so hard I pee my pants...does that count? Does it make it even worse that one of the times he fell, I wasn't even there to witness it but it STILL makes me laugh? Seriously! This is a hard hard task for me. But you can help me...please don't ever fall in front of me. It is even funnier when it is someone I know! You all can help me by just staying on your feet, watching for imaginary pebbles in the road, staying on the curb and picking up your feet when you walk! Thank you for your assistance!

You Know Me...

2009-01-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

...full of random thoughts.

Did you know Target gives you a 5c discount for every reusable bag you bring in on your shopping trip? I am going to save millions this year!

Does anyone (in driving distance) want to read this book?

It is not my type of story but it is a nice heartwarming book. My MIL left it here for me to read so it is time to pass it along.

I am so glad today looks like this:
I want to play games with my kids all day and enjoy having Christmas behind us. On the agenda, Farkle, Fancy Nancy Puzzle, Legos, Picturika and of course some Wii. I am thinking I need to take them down in a little Mario Kart racing.

I can't wait for Monday! The rugrats will be back in school! I love schedules and routines. I do not function well with no plan. I am also looking forward to having them out of the house because I am tired of cleaning. I have vacuumed, mopped and/or swept every day since they went on break. I had forgotten how many crumbs these guys leave behind all day long! I also can't wait to go back to the gym. My kids hate the child care there so I am locked out until they are back in school. 2 days and counting!

We saw some movies this break:
Bedtime Stories (two thumbs up)
Marley and Me (cute romantic comedy...not for kids)
Despareux (eh...I could take it or leave it but I am not much into animated films anyway. The rest of the family liked it)
We rented Step-Brothers (rude, crude and funny. Must have high tolerance for F-bombs)
The kids rented Monster House (they loved it!)
I rented Mamma Mia (I really enjoyed it! Of course I am an Abba fan so it was bound to be good!)

I only had time for this randomness right now. Coming soon:
Christmas Recap
Megan's Birthday
New Years Eve (including incriminating photos!)

Streamers Are Your Friend

2008-12-29T00:27:00.000-08:00

You all know I go a little over the top for holidays. Not in an extravagant, spend a lot of money kid of way, but a bit excessive nonetheless. The Leprechauns visit, Santa rides in on his sleigh, the Easter Bunny has a key to the front door, the Tooth Fairy flies in through the windows, and the house is always decorated for the first (and last) day of school. But for birthdays, I get a little bit nutty.

It all started with the Birthday Fairy a few years ago. She would sneak in the night before the kids birthdays and create a bit of mischief with streamers and banners. Eventually she bought some window markers and started writing on the windows and mirrors. The kids know its me now, but they still expect, and anticipate the whole affair. Part of the fun is that they never what I will do with the streamers. One time, I trapped Dylan in his bed with streamers. I have blocked their doors, wrapped their chairs, left streamers hanging through doorways for them to run through, and one year decorated Dylan's Razor for his ride to school.

Mock all you want, but to me, birthdays are special for kids. It is one day a year that is all about them. It is THEIR day! And they love it! This is especially important for Megan whose birthday falls 4 days after Christmas (strike 1). She also shares her birthday with my Mom (strike 2). My Mom always remembers my grandma pulling a Christmas gift out from under the tree and declaring it a birthday gift too. It is a painful experience for her. I will not do this to my daughter. Most years I bust my rear to get Christmas down before the 29th. It didn't happen this year but the house is still all about Megan tomorrow! Of course there are the streamers, banners and window messages...but this year there is a new addition...balloons. I used balloons on chairs, windows and created some barriers in doorways for her to burst through in the morning. Just adding a few balloons made it even more fun (and more work...but every minute was filled with JOY)

Sometimes I wonder if it is time to end the decorating and chaos. Tonight I got my answer. All week we have been making a big deal about Megan's last "day" being 5. We acknowledged that it was her last Monday being 5, her last Tuesday, etc. Today started with Megan racing into my room, declaring "It's my last day being 5!!!!" It was a really nice day. After Church, we celebrated her last Sunday being 5 by going to my Mom's in San Diego for our 6th (and final) Christmas celebration. After a fun day, we drove home. Despite being in jammies and having her teeth brushed, Meg was too amped up to go to sleep in the car. She rested for a while but then declared "I can't go to sleep!". She was so excited for her birthday! I had to stop to get some whipped cream (her request for the topping on her strawberries on top of the waffles that will be sitting on a bed of powdered sugar and next to some bacon and fruit). At 10pm, she skipped through the store with me, giggling about how much fun it will be being 6. As we pulled in the driveway she ever so sweetly said, "Mommy, I would really like it if you decorated the house with streamers tonight!" Sigh....how could I even think about ending this tradition?

So I am here to tell you, streamers are your friend. it is a cheap and easy way to spread some birthday cheer around your house. I wish I could share some pictures of tonight's Birthday Fairy shenanigans, but sadly the MAC died (another story for another day). Friends, it doesn't take a lot of money to make a birthday special for your children. And I am happy to be the Birthday Fairy...even if it means being up 'till 1AM.

In Awe

2008-12-22T23:35:00.000-08:00

There are times in my life when i just have to STOP and say THANK YOU! You know who you are and even if you are not reading this, and are not getting any public recognition for what you have done...I thank YOU! Sometimes my life just comes to a standstill and I am in AWE of the generosity and love of our Church. It just amazes me. Thank you to all of you that have done what you can to make life a little easier for one of OUR families in need. Thank you to those who have set THEMSELVES aside and taken care of others. It is YOU who will be rewarded in Heaven. YOU are what it takes this World a better place. Thank you for making me a better person this Christmas.

Merry Six-Mas!

2008-12-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

There are many highs and lows of having divorced and remarried families. One of the great things is having a lot of grandparents to choose from when you need a babysitter. There is also the awesomely large family we have. Jon and I both have 4 siblings (blood, half and step combind). Add in all the nieces and nephews and you can imagine how much family we have!

At Christmas, we find ourselves splitting events so that we can fit in all sides of the family. This year, we will have 6 Christmas celebrations.

The first one took place this weekend. We went to San Diego to celebrate with Jon's Mom and sisters family. This was a huge treat as we have never been able to celebrate with his Mom. She came out from indiana to have her first Christmas ever with her 2 children and 5 grandchildren. She loved every minute of it. The kids enjoyed getting to share their joy with her for the first time. It was an awesome brunch and a wonderful day spent with that side of the family.

Last night was round 2. We went to La Canada to have our annual pre-Christmas dinner/trivia party with my Dad and brother's families. This was out 20th year of doing this! We exchange a few gifts and my dad makes a trivia game about all the years events. I came in third which stunk BUT I did win a picture frame and some Altoids which are both very useful for me. We were expected at 5. We left early to avoid traffic and were subsequently a bit early. We took advantage of the daylight by driving all though the hills where I grew up. We saw my grandmas old house, the tree where my grandpa had his car accident, some enormous houses and a few spots the kids wanted to see (the hospital where I was born and the pizza place where we would go after games...which is now a skateboard shop) It was a good night!

On Christmas Eve, we will celebrate at my grandma's house with the rest of the Fazzi family. This year we are breaking tradition and going out to dinner in the Newport Harbor. The theory is, that saves cleanup time and we get more time to enjoy the gifts before the kids get too tired.

Christmas morning we have our own celebration at home with just the 4 of us. Nothing out of this world, but we open Santa's gifts and exchange amongst ourselves. It is just a nice morning to stay in our jammies and be together.

Late in the day we go to Jon's Dad's house for dinner and gift exchange (whoever decided to draw names at this event is a saint as his 3 sisters each have 3 kids! To many to shop for!) My mother-in-law always gets the most fabulous tamales. And in addition to dessert, there is always something special for the 3 birthday girls on Dec. 24th, 25th and 29th.

And a few days after Christmas we go to my Mom's to combind her and Megan's birthdays with Christmas with her and my siblings. The past few years my sister has flown home from New York to be with us which is awesome. She comes in on Sunday!!! We do a fun thing at my Mom's where instead of exchanging gifts, we do an ornament exchange. Each year we pick a theme for the following year. Every person brings a wrapped ornament. They go in a pile and then we each get to pick one. This year our theme is Angels.

It may seem like a lot to some, however it is what we are used to. We run around all season seeing everyone and then crash on New Years Day! So this year, we wish you a Merry Six-Mas!

Taking The Plunge

2008-12-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

I went back and took another 3 1/2 inches off my hair. I feel much better about things now.

Megan followed suit.

Regrets

2008-12-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

I made a mistake. I hate my hair. I do not like my haircut. I wish I had gone short. My first $100 winnings in Vegas is going toward taking it all off at a salon. If I come back with the same cut, you know the tables were not good to me in Vegas.

What A Week!!

2008-12-07T19:10:00.000-08:00

'Tis the Season to be Busy!

Wednesday night was the HCS Christmas performance at FCC. The kids did a great job! Dylan played Simeon in the speaking portion and did it flawlessly. He has an amazing memory. Tonight he recited all the verses of Luke telling of the coming of Jesus as told in the Peanuts movie. Just whipped them out of nowhere. He is gifted in that department. At the recital, Megan sang her heart out. She refused to look at us and smile. She would smile when her teacher told her to, but for us, she refused. I know she had a great time though! She loves performing as much as her brother.

Megan sings "Baby Jesus We Love You"

The other kids are singing. Dylan is entertaining the crowd!

Saturday night I took the kids to dinner at Daddy's work and then the Metrolink Train Toy Drive. The train pulls in decorated with thousands of lights. They do a little show including singing reindeer. So cute! We donate toys to the Irvine firefighters Spark of Love Toy Drive.

The firefighters handed out hats and candy canes. The second picture is my grandmas attempt at taking a picture of me and the kids. Beautiful angle don't you think?

This afternoon we went to the HB Art Center to help with the preparations for the HB Rose Parade Float. I wanted the kids to be able to say "I decorated that!" when the float goes by. We chopped papaya that is being used to decorate the coral at the front of the float. Yeah, we did that! So fun. They also cut a few flowers that were then put into a blender and bagged up to be used in some unknown spot.

From there we walked Downtown and sat in our usual spot for the HB Christmas Parade. We ate a picnic on the sidewalk which was gross but still...tradition is tradition. The lady next to me overheard me talking to the kids and determined we were an FCC family. She is too! You never know who is watching! Thankfully my kiddos were on perfect behavior.

After the parade we froze our rears off at the pier watching the little show they do. We stay for the snowflake lighting, enduring the show is the cost of admission. It was a beautiful night. But the wind was biting cold. My toes are still trying to warm up.

It was a fun night!

So another story...during the entire hour we waited for the lighting, there was this guy watching us. I actually thought he was watching Dylan. He was right in my line of sight when I looked at the kids. I kept catching him staring at us. At one point he moved a bit in front of us and continued to look over his shoulder at us. I was very aware of him. So after the lighting, I took the sandwiches and cookies we had not eaten on our picnic and gave them to the homeless man that was sitting next to us during the show. When I stood up from the man, creepo was standing right in my face. He said...and I quote..."I do not want this to sound strange, but I have never seen such an amazing hunk of woman and family." WHAT? Hunk of woman? That's new. I smiled and said thank you. He was blocking our path. He said "don't be shy about it. You are obviously a good Mom and I enjoyed watching you and your children tonight". OK, still creepy but at least I am no longer a piece of meat. I said "Thank you. We try to shine from the inside out." That's when he leaned in close and said "Oh you do shine. Very brightly." I quickly stammered "Merry Christmas" (no longer smiling at him) and pulled the kids the other way. They were protesting that they had to go to the bathroom but I was taking the long way there for sure. The way that walked past a few dozen HB police officers. Take a look at these pictures, you can see him in the background looking at us. Needless to say I was looking over my shoulder the whole walk to the car! truth be told, I checked my rearview mirror the whole way home too.

(See him blurred in the background looking right at us??)

Now look right between the kids. There he is again. He just couldn't stop looking at us. (shiver)

AND Finally...This my friends is the face of someone who is happy to be done with her Vision class! It is also the picture I am asking Dr. Accetta to use on the cover of his next brochure advertising wrinkle cream and chemical peels. Maybe I'll give him one of my belly too! Just so he has a good sample for this Liposuction campaign.

Comments

2008-12-06T06:20:00.000-08:00

So as you know I have not been good about commenting on your Blogs lately. I would like to thank you all for continuing to grace me with your support while I seemingly shunned you. It is not that I have not been reading your Blogs, I have. But to comment I have to sign in, then it redirects me to my Blog, then I have to click back over to yours. This is a process I had little patience for in the 2 minutes I had allotted to Blog reading during the torture week they call "finals". Then there is the fact that as time went on, there was more and more I need to type to catch up with everything. This required more time, which i didn't have, so I would continue saying nothing. So today I start a-new. I do have a lot of nuggets I would like to share about Blog posts past, but I think this is the best way to go. There are a few things, however there are a few things that cannot go unnoticed:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAMILA! May your teens years be as fun as your childhood!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI 35 is such a magical number! (I am trying to spin it for you!)

My husbands post on fall warmed my heart!

Diane-looks like a wonderful trip to Disneyland. Sorry I didn't get to "meet" you. Hopefully next time. Hey, Maybe KT and I can take a Road Trip sometime!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CURTIS! Hope it was filled with love, laughter and of course a night of Karaoke!

Awesome job on the Triathlon Sarah! You are very studly! And I totally laughed at your description of the swimming experience. I think I would have been the same!

Don, where did you find that Star Wars jacket and did they have kids sizes?

Heidi, that is an AMAZING picture of Hope.

Kristi-I am so glad you got a pass out of your crazy day! You certainly sounded stressed when I talked to you, and it was only 2pm. Hope your week got better!

Bad Hair Day

2008-12-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Help! I have been having a bad hair day. No, scratch that, I have been having a bad hair life. I have really bad hair. I have no interest in having to style it, I have no fancy do, I have nothing. It is either down or in a pony tail. I can't even do my hair for a fancy event if I want to.

So I got a gift certificate for a haircut and highlights from a fancy salon. I have not been in a salon since my wedding 9 years ago. I hate sitting in chairs. I hate people I don't know telling me what would look good on me. I have the bright lights showing every one of my gazillion freckles. Salons give me nightmares. But I am going anyway. Any suggestions for what I should do? I am not a flip through a magazine and find the celebrity hairstyle I like type of person. Suggestions welcome and wanted. PLEASE HELP MY HAIR!!!

A Bit Of Everything

2008-11-30T22:48:00.000-08:00

FYI-If you need exactly 1 square foot of fake grass, it will take exactly 5 Ace Hardware employees to figure out how to cut it.

FYI-If you are without cable, internet and phone service, save yourself some time, don't call Time Warner, jump off a bridge instead.

As an Undergrad, my motto was if you study drunk, take the test drunk...I got a 4.0
I am curious, in Graduate School, if I study in my jammies, should I wear jammies to my finals?

We saw Bolt last week. It was the best $12 nap I have had in a long time. I highly recommend it! Go to the 3-D theatre. The glasses cover your eyes and the kids don't even know you are alseep!

FYI-Sometimes your fuel tank is like a chocolate shake. That was the way the nice man put it when he told me there's nothing wrong with my car. It was way over my head.

FYI-I am up to date on my Blog reading but have no time to comment. There is a lot to say about the nuggets you all have given me lately. Be patient. I will get to you!

I am done Christmas shopping AND wrapping but still need to buy something for Meg's birthday. It is 4 days after Christmas so it's best to lump it with the rest spending. This is late for me. I am usually done by Halloween. I am slipping people. Slipping.

In Sunday school today, I caught a certain someone sticking her tongue out at a girl she had just tattled on for doing the same offensive act. And she was really mad I caught her! If you think this is your child, you are probably right!

FYI-I FINALLY lost that toenail! Now I can get a pedicure. And a haircut. A wax. A facial. Everything revolves around a pedicure.

Anyone know where I can buy loose tea?

FYI-Red crayon VS. Laundry in the dryer...always bet on the crayon. BUT W-D40 takes the race because it will remove said crayon. However you will stink for weeks.

I also had an unfortunate incident with a sharpie today. It might have involved a small child. It was ugly.

That's all the time I can afford right now. You people will get sick of me when I go on Christmas break!

Thoughts On Last Night

2008-11-22T08:50:00.000-08:00

Last night our Church put on a night of worship. It was exactly what I needed. I needed to take a break from the restless and sick week I have had. I needed to be surrounded by love and joy. It was a perfect evening.

Kristi, Jeff, Robbie, Jennifer and Heidi did amazing on vocals. Don was rockin' the keys (is that the right term?) I don't know any of the other musicians but they were all awesome! I loved the way the choir was used. And it was as if they looked at my list of favorite worship songs and decided to just do those! All my faves were sung last night! The best part of the night was the end when "You Are Good" was sung. That is our family's worship song. The kids use my lipstick as microphones, I tun up the volume all the way and we sing it loud and proud! I have a really great gospel choir version. I wish the kids had been able to be there.

I have been fighting a cold all week. I cough every time I try to talk. But I was singing my heart out last night. I think this was a great way to spend a friday night. Much better than sitting on the couch, watching brainless TV and eating TJ's chips. Thank you FCC for doing this. Let's do it again soon.

PS...not to be forgotten are Billy who was doing something very fancy with a bunch of buttons, and CT who I am sure was somewhere with a clipboard making sure everything was running smoothly. Well done boys.

Quote Of The Day

2008-11-22T07:31:00.000-08:00

Me: "Megan, here is your cell phone. Your friend called while you were at school " (as I hand her a pearler bead phone she made)

Megan: "Great! I'll just text her back!"

She's 5 people. 5.

Lakeshore Rocks!

2008-11-21T23:29:00.001-08:00

Earlier this year we took a break from the kids agents and managers and the endless drive to LA for auditions and photoshoots. One place we didn't give the boot to was Lakeshore. I highly suggest you all get your kids on their list. They only use local children for their catalogs. They also own Toys To Grow On which is also shot with local children. They do not pay anything you can put in a college account but they do give each child $50 gift certificate to their stores.

Dylan shot for them the other day. With his $50 we were able to go to the outlet store (right next door to the shoot) and buy 3 new games, a ball, an excavation kit and something else I can't remember right now. nonetheless, We got $100 in merchandise for free ($50 plus the outlet prices).

Dylan did awesome. Seeing him in there I was asking myself why we stopped going on auditions. The kid is a natural performer. Megan wroks the camera better, but this kid has stage presence. In fact, he has a speaking part in the HCS Christmas show coming up. He is really excited that he might even get to carry baby Jesus across the stage as he delivers his speech. He is a natural performer and I couldn't be more proud of him.

So I got a bit nostalgic and almost called his agent to say we're back in...then this happened...
TRAFFIC! I hate traffic! It took us 1 1/2 hours to get home from the shoot, and it was only in Long Beach. And sitting in LA traffic everyday for auditions sucked. So I am reminded why we took a break and thankful for the occassional bone Lakeshore throws is. Sign your kids up. It's worth it!

Free Clothes

2008-11-19T08:28:00.000-08:00

I have been saving a box of clothes in my garage since losing weight. I was waiting for a good cause to give them to someone. When someone posted on freecycle that her sister lost everything in the fire and had nothing for herself and two daughters I thought I had my cause. But the lady never showed up for the clothes. So on my porch sits a box of size 8-10 pants and large shirts. Some of the stuff was barely worn since I bought it as interim clothes as I was losing weight (I started bigger than that). If you know of someone who is in need of clothing in this size, let me know. I would like it to go to good use.

Vegas Baby!

2008-11-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

When Jon and I were roommates we went to see Swingers. A few days later I offered him to create an e-mail name on my AOL account. It was the mid 90's, we were just catching onto this Internet thing and I had just gotten a computer as a college graduation gift. (Side note, I wrote Legal briefs on a Brother word processor on which I could only see 2 lines of text at a time for 4 years. I could have used this gift a bit earlier!). Anyhow, Since we had just seen Swingers and Jon had been using the key phrase "You're so money" for days, he picked the name jonmoney. Ring a bell?

A few years later we were dating and going to visit his parents for Thanksgiving. On an extended layover in Vegas I had blackjack on my mind, but Jon decided to get me drunk and propose. Or was it propose then get me drunk. Either way, he got down on one knee in the middle of the casino and begged me to be his wife. I said yes, yadda, yadda, yadda.

We have been back to Vegas twice since then. Once when I was pregnant with Dylan and once when he was very young. For YEARS I have been itching to get back there again. So we decided for our first ever escape from the insane asylum called my house, we would go to Vegas. I have been secretly saving money for about 1 1/2 years to try to plan a disco party for our 35th birthdays in January. We decided to do this instead. We'll spend the same amount of money, and we might find some disco music somewhere in town, but it will be better because we really need a vacation...alone.

So my awesome mother-in-law is coming in town to stay with the kids for our adventure in Sin City (we will be sinless I hope). I have booked everything. Rooms at the MGM Grand (the scene of the blackjack vs. engagement ring experience), 2 Cirque Du Soleil's in one night, Penn and Teller the next night,drinks with my cousin, spa services, and of course I have left some free time for BLACKJACK!!! I am very excited. And nervous. I leave my grandma a 1 page note every Wednesday to get her through 3 hours with the kids until Jon gets home. I am going to need to buy a ream of paper to make all the lists for those 3 days! We are going right after finals and coming home in time for the Drive Through Nativity. Squeezing it in when we can!

On a completely different note, when we came home tonight at 9:00pm, it was 83 degrees. It is so windy my home is shaking. Last week when it did this Dylan and I were awake all night. Literally.

Again I digress, as I type this I am finishing a bottle of great almond champagne from Trader Joe's which only cost $6. We were celebrating Jon's work accomplishments and the end of an an amazingly long work week (I think he worked 3 13 hour days in a row). I made some appetizers and put in a movie. The night is ending with me turning off the movie after about 20 minutes and me drinking the champagne on the couch, watching Boston Legal, listening to Jon snore nearby. Next time we'll save the celebration until his day off!

Disclaimer!

2008-11-14T21:36:00.000-08:00

My husband wants me to disclose that I did not write the previous post. He is afraid you will all think badly of me for all the naughty words.. It wasn't me people.

Over 30?

2008-11-14T12:25:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning ... uphill BOTH ways

yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ's usually talked over the beginning and @#*% it all up! We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever!

And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died!
Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating! All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed!

Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no on screen menu and no remote control! You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there e was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire. Imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and shake it over the stove forever like an idiot

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!

Regards,

The over 30 Crowd

Total Randomness

2008-11-12T12:45:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how many random thoughts can pop into your mind during a traffic filled drive to Tarzana. Where is Tarzana? Nowhere near where I live. But it is near Reseda. Name the movie. It is an all time favorite of mine. Here's a hint. Reseda vs. Encino.

Reseda is also the scene of a crime I commitment in Jr. High. It is where I was when I lied to my parents to cover up for my brother. A cover up I maintained until well into my 20's. And to this day, my parents do not believe the real set of events. They cling to the story as proof I was a horrible girl, flouncing around in Reseda. But I wasn't, and my ungrateful brother pretends he doesn't even remember the night. Terd.

I am wearing a belt for the first time in years. Exactly 6 years actually. The last one was a maternity belt when I was ginormous with Megan. This one is not as big. Or as stretchy. And it's pretty!

'Tis the season to spend too much money at Target. Speaking of which, they are out of bags today. They have the size for a pack of gum and the size for a bicycle...nothing in between. I guess I know where everyone was on Veterans Day!

Serafina sprained her shoulder. She's on an anti-inflammatory. That brings hed medicine count to 7. Just keeping you all up to date.

A few days ago I forgot to wash the conditioner out of my hair. I didn't realize until I was drying it with exactly 2 minutes until I had to be in the car. It ended up being the best hair day I have had in years. I even got 2 compliments. Interesting.

Since living here I have always gone to EZ Lube. It was truly EZ when it was in the Target parking lot because I could kill two birds yadda yadda yadda. But then they tore it down which forced me to go to Jiffy Lube because it is not so EZ to go to EZ Lube when the only other location is on the other side of town. So I make the move to Jiffy Lube which is fine because it is by the new Smart N Final. So again, two birds...
So last week, I run a few errands on the other side of town and hit Jiffy Lube on the way home WAY overdue for my oil change. I get home to a message on my machine from EZ Lube. As a thank you for my loyalty, they are offering me an oil change at 50% off. CRAP! I was just on their side of town. I was literally JUST at Jiffy Lube! Do they have a tracking device on me? Why didn't they call my cell. Why did I just pay full price somewhere else? Why why why????

If it is still dark out, go outside and look at the moon. it is AMAZING tonight! I looked at it the whole way home from Tarzana. Did you think of the movie yet???

I also think it is amazing that the songs my kids were born too are both #9 on their CD's. That means my OB is so precise with her surgeries that she performs them in perfect time. And their songs fit their personalities perfectly. It's cosmic. Dylan's song is How Sweet It Is by James Taylor and Megan's is In The Long Run by The Eagles. When they were younger we used to dance around the house to their songs for hours. Now we only get to it every few months but they both still think it is really cool!

So one time we were dancing to Megan's song and just let the CD play. That's when it happened. I can still clearly remember the moment I first saw the Dylan dance. It came out of nowhere at the first notes of Heartache Tonight. It is truly a sight to behold. Everyone should experience the Dylan dance once in their lives.

Speaking of music...I have the FISH at the end of my pre-programmed selections for a reason. I go there last. I go there last because I feel horrible turning off a worship song. I feel so bad cutting someone off in the middle of their praises. But there are just some songs that are not my style. Or I don't know them. Either way, I only go to the FISH when there is nothing on the other 11 stations. And I hold my breath as I push the buttons. I am usually pretty safe at night because it is usually John Tesh just giving us some top 10 list, so I turn it off right away (no offense but his lists bore me). Which leads me to wonder, why do I even hit the button if I know that I will most likely turn it off?

Megan is a name we picked randomly just because we liked it. Dylan actually picked it out of our list of names. I always knew that Megan is a variant of Margaret but I had never put something really cool together. My Mom's name is Margaret. She goes by Peggie which is possibly why it took me 6 years to make the connection. Anyhow, Megan and Margaret mean "pearl" which happens to be the ring I have always remembered my mom to wear. AND ....... they share a birthday. Again...Cosmic.

Today I held my breath and looked at the eye...an actual eye. I hate medical stuff on live people. I love forensics...can look at dead bodies all day...but the live ones gross me out! Tonight I looked through a thingy and saw the back of the eye. It is gross to think about but it wasn't half bad to look at. I still think medicine is for someone much stronger than me, however now I think I can get through this program without vomit ting on my vision professor.

One final thought...can deodorant actually make you smell? I got a free deodorant with a coupon. it is not an "off" brand, but it not the same brand I usually wear. And for some reason I feel like I stink every day. Maybe I am just not used to the smell. But I think I stink even though I shower and clean my pits daily. Someone please tell me if I stink OK???!!!

Was that RANDOM enough for you???

WAIT! A few more thoughts. In the background I am catcing up on DVR. James Taylor is playing on a show. That's the CD Dylan was born to. Hmmm...

AND...can you name my movi yet????

By The Light Of The Moon...

2008-11-04T07:22:00.000-08:00

...I try to sleep. But it doesn't happen.

12:15am-I crawl into bed. Fall asleep watching Chelsea Lately

1:32am-Boy child crawls into bed claiming a scary dream

2:13am-Girl child crawls into bed claiming a scary dream. I am sensing they are playing me for a fool.

2:38am-White dog barks to go pee. After discovering it is raining she starts playing. I am forced to go out in the cold wet grass to drag her in. I return to my bed only to discover the creatures have moved themselves into the small hole I was sleeping in. I have a choice of sleeping at the bottom of the bed or finding another place to go. I opt to sleep in D's bed.

3:09am-Cute dog barks to go pee. Seriously...you couldn't go half an hour ago? He is not fond of the rain. Stands at the door hesitating. Tired of waiting for him to stop being a wimp, I push him out into the rain. He does his business and I go back to Dylan's bed.

4:23-White dog wakes me up while trying to jump up into bed with me. What??!!!

5:30-on the nose...sub line calls to see if I can work today. NO!!!!!!!!!

6 o'something (I have no decided to stop looking at the clock) boy child discovers I am gone and comes to sleep in his bed with me.

6 o'2 minutes later girl child makes the same discovery. I am now squished in a twin bed between these monsters.

6 o'snuggle time, I remember that this won't last forever. Someday the dogs will be in heaven and the kids won't want to snuggle me anymore. Then I will be left with nothing but my snoring husband to keep me awake.

And you all wonder why I am EXHAUSTED!

Dirty Disco Mommy

2008-11-03T22:54:00.000-08:00

I had such and awesome time at the Muddy Buddy. It is by ar the best race I have ever done. I LOVED the biking. The running was tolerable but the biking was AWESOME! My only complaint...all those darn people going so slow down the hills in front of me. Release the brakes people!!!

I had set the alarm for 4:30 then remembered that I needed to shave before the race. So 4am it was! We got there by 5:45. We wasted some time until the costume contest. Despite out best Egyptian dance across the stage, we did not take the prize. A very unPC Border Patrol agent and his partner in a sombrero and blanket won. They were a ton of fun.

At 7:00 it was time to line up. The waves were broken down by ages, the combined age of you and your partner. I am not saying that my partner is old, but she does mark a different category in the age bracket then I do. So we were in wave 12...12 of 13! YIKES! So after a LONG wait, we finally got going around 8:15. That was a seriously long wait. We met some fun people in our wave, had a few snacks, went potty a few times, and even got a few sprinkles on us.

After each leg of the race, you transition from biking to running or vice verca. Theoretically when you run into a transition station, your bike should be there waiting for you. I never had a bike. In fact, I always had to wait more than 3 minutes for my partner to get there with the bike. This means I ran faster than she biked. She was scared of the riding. But she did awesome and I am proud of her.

We finished 9th in our division (out of 58), which I think is awesome. Our time was 59:25 which I am sure we could shave down by 6 minutes if she can get over her fear next year. At the end of the day I felt it was so much easier than the Mud Run, she thought it was more challenging than the Mud Run. Hmmmm....

The HIGHLIGHT of the day for me was coming around a curve and hearing someone cheering for me! Sarah B was there to support her husband but managed to find me on the course and give me a bit of support! It was an awesome feeling to hear my name coming from the crowd!!

We ended the day with a few beers in the beer garden, some laughs about our crazy family, and an awesome meal at Don Joses. Cheers! Enjoy the pics. (There's more at jonmoney.blogspot.com)

Before the race

After the mud pit

An awesome picture taken by Sarah B. (pirated from her website!) This was my reaction to hearing my name in the crowd! THANK YOU SARAH!!!

The view from on top of one of the mountains

This reminds me of something you would see in a movie about some dorky college boys who are trying to get some girls. They are watching this scene from the bushes thinking they have found heaven. It is a bunch of muddy women hosing each other off! Sure, there are men there too but that doesn't fit so well in the scene.

Must finish with a beer!!! (Check out my shirt...that was totally unintentional)

Halloween '08

2008-11-03T06:54:00.000-08:00

This year we did the usual.
Pre-Halloween visit to the Costa Mesa Haunted House (Megan actually got out of the car this year)
Halloween fundraiser benefiting CASA a So Coast Plaza
Halloween night dinner at BJ's downtown followed by Main St Festivities
Trick-Or-Treating around our neighborhood then rushing home to give out candy.
Daddy falling alseep in the couch at 8pm
That's a typical Halloween for the Michell's

I only LOOK sweet and innocent!

2008-10-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes something that looks easy, is really the hardest thing you have ever encountered in your life. Meet the Slate & Stylus. My NEMESIS!

2 hours at the table, not one sentence completed correctly. This sucks.

By the way, I had a shirt that said that in high school. I wore it all the time. It was true.

One other note, in this picture, it isn't even being used the right way. See, it's hard!

Randomness

2008-10-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Here's some random thoughts for the day:

I think it is suspicious that KT has lived 1/4 mile away from me for 4 months and I have never seen her house. I think about crashing through the door everytime I drive by coming home from school. But it is 9pm and I don't think she would appreciate that.

Quote of the day: "Mom, why is your tummy all shrivilled up like that?"
Anyone have the number for Dr. 90210?

My goal is to make it from Halloween to My Birthday without gaining 1 lb. OK...I can gain one, as long as it is one each in my girls. They need help.

Is it ironic that the minute I start trying to plan a Vegas get-a-way, only to be stonewalled by calendar, work and school issues, I hear 45 ads a day for Vegas?

I love the Goodwill. I got two pairs of Old Navy pants with the tags still on and a black shirt for $13.

I am so overworked I am staring to make mistakes. This is not like me. I am seriously slipping. I sent a CD of photos to be printed. Only I DIDN'T send a CD of photos. I never actually burned the CD. I just took out a CD, labeled it, packaged it up and off it went to the photo lab. Duh! It was nice of them to call and remind me to burn some images on the new one I send them!

I was outted by my brother last night. I was trying to see how long I could go through the program I am in before someone connected me to Dr. Fazzi (My step-mom who runs part of my program). My brother had to blab to someone he works with that his "little sister" is also taking the braille class right now. So in class last night she asked me if I was "Vince's little sister". 3 people around heard us talking and suddenly it was just like high school again. "She's Vince's little sister." "You are? We love Vince!!" I will FOREVER be "Vince's little sister"! I made it 5 weeks. And then they realized that meant I am connected to the boss. I won't have any friends in class now! Nice.

One of my professors said the other day "The definition of intellegence is holding two opposing thoughts at the same time". She broke it down like this...it's about getting outside of your own head and gaining a new perspective. Listen to both sides, think about what each is saying, process it, talk about it, debate it, weigh it with morality, THEN when you make a decision it is an intellegent one. It may still be the same decision you had a gut reaction to. OR you may find that sometimes what you thought you believed doesn't align with some of the other things you beleive. You might change your mind. Either way, you have now made an intellegent decision! Obviously in Religion and Politics this could be very useful. When she was talking about this I was reminded of sitting in my sister's graduation form a very liberal college a few years ago. The Keynote Speaker was John McCain. We were fully prepared for the protesters and media coverage at this event. What I was not prepared for was the complete lack of respect from some of the audience members. There were some that stood with their backs turned to him. OK, not to bad. The ones that I was bothered by were the ones who sat with ipods on, talking on their cell phones, or having loud conversations with their friends while he was speaking. That to me is not an intellegent way to make a point. I think the more intellegent thing to do would be to LISTEN to what he said. Actually listen. Think about it, weigh it, talk about it, debate it, etc. How can you have an intellegent respone to anything your opposing view says when you don't actually listen? I am not endorsing McCain here. Just using this as an example of what she was talking about. Sometimes you have to shut up and listen. THEN you can make your point with INTELLEGENCE!!! That was deep for me huh?

On a lighter note...I am addicted to hansens Diet Creamy Rootbeer. No carbs, calories, asperatime or sugar. While reading the side of the can to research what it DOES have in it...the can flew from my hand, hit the batroom door and sprayed everywhere. Nice.

Which leads me to this...why can't politicians change theuir mind? I have certainly made some bad choices in the past, hung out with some truly awful people. But I have changed. I have changed my views on a lot of things as I've grown, toothpaste, abortion, salad dressing, homosexuality, favorite flavor Hansens (it used to be black cherry), etc. etc. Why aren't politicians allowed to change their minds as they grow?

And on an even better note, as I was typing this my mother-in-law called to say she booked a flight to CA to watch my kids for 3 days so Jon and I can have a get-a-way to VEGAS!!! YES!! YEEE HAW!!!!

Life is good!

Silly Boys

2008-10-28T10:00:00.000-07:00

I tried to get a nice photo of my boys together. This is what I ended up with. BOYS!!!

I Suck!!!

2008-10-28T00:04:00.000-07:00

I do not work at 'C' level. I am a "get an A, never a B" sort of girl. I do not expect this of my children, however I DO expect it of myself! I know I have been out of the school game for 10 years but I still work ahead of schedule and expect a lot of myself. So I was not happy after my midterm last week. It was a medical exam and I just cannot wrap myself around thet type of stuff. I had read the mterials, done the assignemnts and studied for hours. This is a lot more than I can say for anything I did for my pre-law degree from 10 years ago. Anyhow, I was extremely disappointed to get my grade. 78/100. I do NOT work at C+ level. I was ticked. BUT today life took a turn for the better when the grades were posted for the whole class. I was third people. Third in the class. Which leads me to say this...I suck! BUT so does everyone else!!

It's Over-Part 2

2008-10-27T08:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend I cleaned out Dylan's drawers. Part of this process included throwing out all the underware from the movies Cars and Toy Story. They were replaced with plain white tightie whities. Sniff sniff. He's a big boy now!

It's Over

2008-10-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

It is with a sad heart that I tell you, my daughter has officially grown up. Yesterday she told me she is no longer "interested in taking pictures with any Princesses" because she knows "they are just people dressing up" Sigh. It lasted such a short time.

SPIDERS!

2008-10-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a field trip to the Spider Pavilion. Check out this crazy spider by Dylan's head.

2 minutes later, Dylan was forcibly removed from the Pavilion for throwing twigs to destroy the webs. His defense, Patrick and Gavin were doing it too. My answer, well you were the only one dumb enough to get caught. I was one embarrassed Mama!

Oh Crap!

2008-10-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

Did I really marry this man????

Happy 9 year anniversay my love!!!! XOXOXOX!

Coffee And Ice Cubes

2008-10-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

Jon and I are celebrating 9 years of marriage this week. Add to that the 2 1/2 years of dating before that & the 3 years as roommates/friends, his quirkiness has been in my life for almost half my life!

There is one thing about him that I think is so strange, it is actually cute. He has to drink his coffee with an ice cube. He pours it straight out of the coffee pot, puts a cube in it and claims it to be the perfect temperture. If he is reheating coffee, he heats it up, then sticks a cube in it. Once I asked him why he doesn't just heat it for less time and he said it's because his way makes it perfect.

I guess it is one of those things I will never understand. But I always put a cube in it for him when I pour him a cup.

So...what about you? Does your spouse do anything strange like this that makes them unique? Lets share!

Scary!

2008-10-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

It is 11:45 pm. For the past hour I have been listening to doors slam, hammering, and power saws coming from next door. A car just pulled out of their driveway. I think my neighbor is pulling a Scott Peterson. You heard it here first!

Giggling Girls!

2008-10-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

I have to do a language sample for one of my classes. The other day I left the video camera on while Megan and one of her friends were playing. Today I spent a few hours transcribing every word they said. It was very hard to do since a lot of the time was filled with giggles. Lots and lots of giggles!!!

Here are some of my favorite tidbits from their time together:

Jon came home from work and went in to talk to the girls.
m-daddy can you get um some duct tape?
j-duct tape?
m-the yellow type.
j-are you gonna catch ducks?
m-fake laugh
l-fake laugh
Jon walks out.
l-that’s not funny of your dad.

The girls were blowing up balloons and letting them fly all over the room. There was a lot of giggling and laughing going on.
m-Don’t blow it up. Don’t blow it up. I’m going to go to the bathroom because last time we did it I laughed so hard I, I, some of the you know what, the bathroom came out. Sometimes if you laugh too hard it just, swish!

m-There. Ok. So. This is gonna be a machine to blow it up, put it down, blow it up, put it down. So it’s gonna fly and then we tie it again. OK, so. It’s gonna, so we’re gonna have like a pump and we’re gonna step on it to make the balloon fly when it’s all pumped up OK? And then we’ll get all of our silliness out and then we can do it because fake laughing, it just, I, I can’t. I can’t help it, so. Um. So, we’re gonna tie this to here. Oh no, we’re not tying it there. Ok. Do you know where. Do you rem. Do you remember when I had that thing when you step on it and a rocket shoots up

HUH???? What were they doing?

Le Coq

2008-10-18T08:30:00.001-07:00

This weeks Boston Legan was laugh out loud funny! I am going to miss Denny Crane.

My Petals Are Perky

2008-10-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

Got your attention didn't I?

I am the new Daisy Leader. Enough Said.

For Heidi

2008-10-13T22:31:00.001-07:00

My mother in law has this hanging in one of her bathrooms. Reminded me of you.

The Kindness Of Strangers

2008-10-10T23:23:00.001-07:00

So I have been training for this race. We have a few problems going into it. 1. We really have no idea what is in store for us. 2. We have a borrowed bike straight from a garage sale with no shocks. Who knew they made a mountain bike with no shocks? 3. My "buddy" hates biking. Hates it. She is terrified! 4. I haven't run since the first week of June. The few times I tried my bursitis hurt too badly so I stopped.

So we have a few strikes against us. One thing that we do have is a sense of adventure. It is that adventurous side of me that has me going out to ride the mountains with a group called "Trail Angels". This great woman started the group almost 10 years ago as her ministry. She is sharing her love for mountain biking with women all over So Cal while at the same time leading by example, and just spreading joy and love for God and Jesus. It is simply a great group of women who took me under their wing on my first ride, taught my about my bike, encouraged me, and took me down some fun hills. Slightly embarrassed by my ghetto bike and lack of funds to buy proper biking equipment, I took what they taught me and have been riding on my own for the past few weeks. But the e-mails have been speaking to me, calling me out and making me crave another ride with the Angels. Today I decided to suck it up and ride with them again. I am so glad I did!

First, I was pushed, hard. It was done with a lot of love and encouragement, but I was pushed. After a nice 4 1/2 mile warm up I went 1/2 mile up hill. Straight up hill. I only stopped once when there was some sand I couldn't get through. I need to practice that. At the top it was decided to go down a hill called "Rock It". I thought they meant "Rocket" as in speed. I am naive. It was as in rocks! Lots of them! I was guided down by someone who saw me ride last time I knew I could handle the challenge. During this time she saw my love for the sport and my (in her words) "natural ability" and decided to give me a bike. Literally. She gave me a $1400 bike that her son outgrew within a few months of buying it. It's my size. It has shocks. It is awesome.

For me this is a big deal. I am a giver. I give and give of myself, my time and all I can afford. I do not receive well. This was hard for me to accept. But when she said it was headed to the Goodwill I drove her home and picked it up. I am incredibly grateful for her generosity. I am so thankful that there are people like her in the World, who sincerely care about others and are willing to give without an expectation of anything in return. Of course I will do something in return, probably in the way of a gift card to the local cycle store I know she goes to.

The Trail Angels are truly Angels. I have enjoyed riding with them, am grateful for their instruction, and love riding with women who do it for the love of the sport, in the spirit of The Lord!

And now that I have a real bike with real equipment, I will be anxious to ride with them again soon!

BTW...My ass is killing me! Uphill is hard!!!

Shhhhhh.....

2008-10-10T16:35:00.001-07:00

This is what I did today when I should have been studying.

This isn't me (obviously) but it gives you an idea of how steep the hill was. It was also very rocky!

Sweet Home Indiana

2008-10-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Dude...I am drinking red wine out of a styrofoam cup and eating salad out of a coffee mug. I am in Indiana afterall. I love my Hoosier!!!!

Is Home Really Sweet?

2008-09-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

I don't get that Home Sweet Home feeling about going back to where I grew up. This is an arial shot of my High School. It is in a beautiful town nestled in the Foothills. I am heading there tomorrow to watch my nephews play football and then go swimming at my Dad's Country Club. Just saying that makes me cringe. I am not a Country Club person. It is not my style. I am so out of place in this town. I don't get nostalgic when I return, mostly I just feel lonely. Lonely because that is how I felt living there. Maybe I will go deep into why sometime. It has to do with the contradictions that were my childhood.

My friends lived in houses like this...I did not.

My friends families looked like this...mine did not.

My friends drove cars like this...I did not.

I didn't fit in then, and I don't fit in now. For some reason this stupid town still makes me feel like a loser! I am not saying I had a bad childhood. My childhood was colorful, amusing and at times fun! But it was very lonely to go 12 years through school in a small town feeling like an outsider. I was always totally and completely different. Maybe I will explore it someday. For tonight let's just say, I am not looking forward to tomorrow...and it's not just because I hate football!

White Trash

2008-09-19T10:21:00.001-07:00

I have a white trash crush on Kid Rock. He is disgusting but there is something about him...

Gina Says...

2008-09-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

Gina Says...
...The crazy lady flying down Adams on her bike singing Come On Eileen at the top of her lungs was me
...The crazy lady doing dirt bike jumps while singing All summer Long at the top of her lungs was me
...The crazy lady going across the rickity bridge on her bike singing Life in the Fast Lane at the top of her lungs was me
...The crazy lady zipping through the neighborhood singing Sister Christian at the top of her lungs was me

I think they but some crazy juice in that shot I got in my ass the other day. Something has come over me.

Random Thoughts For The Day

2008-09-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

1. Is it wrong that I Googled Raspberry Vodka to see how many carbs/calories and then did a happy dance when I found out I could have 2 drinks, mixed with club soda and only have to vacuum to work off the calories?
2. Is it wrong that when we found out my husband's brother is engaged his first words were "is she pregnant" and mine were "Crap. Guess we are going to Ft. Wayne indiana for our vacation next year".
3. Is it suspicious that while putting away laundry I found a card hubby left for me when he left for his 3 day conference. It wasn't tucked under the pillow for me to see when I crawled into bed after an exhausting day without him. It was staring back at me on top of his t-shirts. Almost like he was saying "you only get to have this sweet card if you are being a good housewife and doing my laundry while I am gone"
4. Is it bad that now that my kids are both in school I find myself wondering "what DO housewives do all day?" I can only cook and clean so much! With them both out of the house all day I actually have been a bit...dare I say it...BORED! I start school next week...that will fix that really quick!
5. Is it bad that I secretly hope they do not accept me as a Daisy Troop leader. I am not into Girl Scouts and their cursed cookies but my daughter has her heart set on me being the leader. I guess I owe it to her but I really hate being in charge of things. I am so relieved to not be coaching this year. i am just ready to be a Mom that supports and cheers! I do not want to be in charge this year.

Grrrr....

2008-09-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

My children have decided that unless I am angry (AKA YELLING!) OR have repeated the same request at least 35 times, that they do not need to listen to me.

And FYI...new definition of the word "No" when I say it to my children...
ask me again in a different way and with a slightly different set of options
and again
and again
and again.

Seriously, doesn't "no" mean NO anymore???!!!

Blessed Beyond Belief

2008-09-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend I had!

FRIDAY!
Took the princess to

Then went here to stock up for the week

We then went home to do a little of this before bed

SATURDAY
We got to play here all day with friends! It was heavenly!

SUNDAY
Early morning

Then off to

Home for a bit more of this

Time for a bit of this for Mommy

Came home to find the babysitter had offered this for dinner

Which meant I did not have to do any

Now that the kids are

I will watch this and other non intelligent programs

While I do this

I might even treat myself to this

Really...can it get any better than this??? Only if hubby didn't have to work and could have enjoyed it all with us. I am blessed in so many ways!

Crunch Crunch Crunch

2008-09-05T21:44:00.000-07:00

I cannot stand the sound of someone crunching food. My husband does it like no other! I cannot get far enough away from him and his Wheat Thins right now.

For The Record...

2008-09-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

...Mountain Biking TOTALLY ROCKED! I could get addicted to this sport!

The Cat Is Out Of The Bag!

2008-09-05T11:58:00.000-07:00

well....I thought I could hide it from you all with the whole "I'm going back to school thing". But things have gotten out of hand and now it is public. This is what I am really up to these days!

For Diane

2008-09-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

Brian aint' got nothin' on my son! He is a world class sucker. I pay tuition for him to sit in class and do this to himself...nice.

Katsup

2008-09-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

I keep trying to Blog. Honestly I do...but things have been a bit hectic lately so I just haven't had it in me. This is my feeble attempt at Katsup!

*Summer ended with a bang. Our last attempt at a family get-a-way was ruined by a freak hail storm and a wet dog attack. Next year, I want to go to Hawaii! Don't you think I deserve a vacation???

* School started today. Both kids got the teachers they wanted. That made for happy parents too!

*Where there's a will there's a way. I found a way. I start a MA/VI Specialist program on 9/22. I can't believe I am going back to school too!

*I began biking to get in shape for the Muddy Buddy. I found a group to train with and have my first ride with them on Friday!

*Summer recap-lots of camps, VBS, skate park, water slide and fun! (No vacation though. grrrrr.....)

*I am too tired to write any more...except this...anyone who truly knows me knows that I HATE talking about myself or having people look at me. But I do have to admit, I am proud of myslef...I lost 30 lbs this summer. It's been said. You can look once and then forget about it. I don't want the attention. Move on.

My Kiddos

2008-08-29T07:50:00.001-07:00

Dylan circa 1952

Megan circa 2000

High School Yearbook

2008-08-21T22:46:00.000-07:00

Which look do you like best for me? Check out this site!