tragically unhip

i don't wanna you can't make me, or, the one where I make way too many TV references.

2009-08-17T07:07:00.003-04:00

Can it really be back-to-school time?

I'm not ready!!!

I don't want my babies to go back to school. I'll miss them! I want more summer! For crying out loud, summer just freaking started, like, last week!

Not cool not cool not cool. I'm not ready.

I want to, like, hide under a rock in the hopes that if I'm not paying attention to summer, it will stick around until I finally come out. Or something.

I'm just not ready.

You know that commercial? The one where the dad is jubilantly riding the shopping cart through Staples and in the background is that song, "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" and then the kids come drudging down the aisle behind him?

That's so not me.

And I do love shopping for school supplies. Dork.

I just feel like, "OMG!!! We have to do stuff! and we have to go places!" I'm channelling Sandy from Spongebob Squarepants when she's about to go into hibernation and she's all, "Hi-ber-nay-shunnn!"

So. Today: beach with friends. Tomorrow: well, tomorrow's kinda cut because we've got two Zumba classes in the morning and one at night...so...Wednesday if it's not too hot we'll go hiking. Thursday...well, three classes on Thursday too so that's out. Then Friday we'll hit the playground that the kids have been begging to go to all summer but that is way the heck far away and maybe meet up with my sister. Then next week we'll swim at Papa's house. And then...and then...and then we'll have to go school shopping!!!

*sniffle*snort*

Effing school. It's this time of year that makes me think I could actually homeschool. Except what I'd really mean is, "I could actually keep the kids home and do whatever we want all day and maybe open a book once or twice".

that's it. i'm officially a grown-up.

2008-12-17T13:41:00.002-05:00

We bought a house!!!

We just closed on it!

I can go over and visit anytime I want!!

OK, I just used the word "visit" to describe what happens when I go to the house we just bought, so obviously it hasn't quite sunk in yet. I actually called my husband from work the other night:

Me: "So...I can just take the key? and go over? any time?"

Him: "Uh...yeah."

Me: "OK. Just checking." *hanging up, doing the happy dance*

So we don't have to move until next week, which is good because there are other important things to do in the meantime like pack and get the hot water turned on and Oh yeah!! Open presents!! Woo hoo!

And then PACK THEM ALL! YES!!!

Exciting things are in the works for once we're settled.

Like...a puppy.

And...me quitting my job. Maybe.

So...YAY! Happy 2009! ;)

thanks

2008-11-11T18:41:00.002-05:00

Kinda busy...but couldn't let today go by without thanking our vets.

I don't like war. I hate it, actually. It's unhealthy. It sucks.

But it's real life, and if there has to be war, then I'm eternally thankful that there are men and women brave enough to fight in it. Because otherwise? We'd have to reinstate the draft, and probably for guys and girls, and trust me--you don't want me over there. I freeze under pressure.

So thank you to anyone who is or was a part of our armed forces. You're the bravest people there are.

Halloween and, oh yeah, I'm outta here!

2008-10-28T13:36:00.009-04:00

Thought I'd show you some pictures of the Halloween costume. I got to test-run it at a Halloween-themed class the other day which, by the way, was some of the best fun I've had as an instructor. I got to teach with two other great girls, and we had a blast!

Didja notice the excellent purple dreads?

Leg warmers!!

Spider ring! Actually, this I don't have anymore; it looked better on my sister so I gave it to her. Forgot to mention it might turn her finger green...

Too much makeup. Cuz, y'know, what's Halloween without makeup?!

LOVE my armwarmers, and the funky bracelets. The big joke that day was whether this was really a Halloween costume, since I'm frequently seen wearing this stuff anyway...

Another shot of the armwarmers, just so you could see my skirt. That skirt! Got me in a lot of trouble with the hubby, what with how much I spent on it...and the frilly purple hotpants underneath--Darn you, Hot Topic!--but I have a feeling he'll get over it the next time we go out and I wear it for him, with fishnets, as opposed to more-Zumba-appropriate leggings. :)

So I'm sorry I haven't been in but what with convention coming, and throwing the girls a Halloween party and reading the Twilight series (I just need the last one! kind of like an alkie needs a drink...I know it's so bad but it's so good! LOL) and trying to buy a house which? OMG! is totally nerve-wracking...I just haven't been here.

But! I'll have lots to talk about after Convention, maybe even, like, the bank accepted our offer while I was in Florida...? maybe?

2008-10-16T00:52:00.000-04:00

So, I got my review from my boss at the Y, where I teach Zumba.

Hee!

I won't go into details--because, really, do you care?--but let's just say there were words used that I never hear in reviews for my other job. Words like "outstanding". And "excellent".

I almost cried. But um, I think that would have scared my boss.

See, I am so excited to teach Zumba--not that I need to tell you that, if you've been reading for any time at all--that I usually forget that it's my job, that it's "work", which, really, is a pretty good way to work, right? And when I stop to think about it, and realize that I finally have a job that:

I'm good at
I love
I never want to stop doing
Actually pays me

I can't help but get all misty-eyed. I mean, I've had lots of things that met one or maybe two of those requirements.

There was the time I wrote for the school paper, but that didn't pay.

There was the two seasons of working at the rennaisance faire. I played a pirate. It fulfilled numbers 2 and 3, anyway, but I don't know how good I really was--I was too busy playing around (and, um, flirting with cute rennie boys) to interact much with the patrons--and it sure didn't pay; I just did it for the fun.

I miss that job!

There have been all the crappy little jobs I've had since high school, which pay OK--and the crappy little job I have now that pays really quite well--but which totally suck and, for my current job, anyway, which I am not even any good at. I'm late all the time, I can't push a credit card application on someone to save my life, and I really don't give a flying crap about why you're returning it, just shut up and let me give you your money back already.

There was the brief stint as a PR peon, but every time a press contact rebuffed my advances I'd take it personally and have to take a break outside to collect myself. Too bad; there were other parts of the job that were most excellent, including my lovely, gracious boss and all the event planning stuff, which I totally have to delve into one day...

So anyway...here I am, completely stumbling into this Zumba instructor gig via a desperate attempt to shrink my ginormous...assets...and look!

I'm good!

People come to my classes!

We have fun!

I get asked to do parties!

I forget I'm working! That's certainly never happened before!

I'm--dare I say it, and risk sounding seriously stuck up--sought after!

I still can't believe it.

I knew back from the very first Zumba class I took that this would be a blessing. I just never knew how huge a blessing it would be. To have something in which I am competent...I can't even get into how big that is to me. I struggle a lot with being "just" a mom, which sucks--I want to be content because being a mom is awesome, a job in itself. I love being a mom, which is a large part of why I don't have a "real" job and why I was able to get into teaching in the first place--but having Zumba allows me to be a mom and still quiet that part of me that needs to feel important and smart and good at something.

'Cuz let's face it. Love it or not, I'm not so good at the mom thing. If you don't believe me, I'll tell you what I said just earlier today, when my husband told me there was a case of head lice reported at one of the Y's childwatch rooms:

"That's OK--lice like clean heads, so our kids should be all set." Which, incidentally, is just about the same thing I said when I found out that allergies are more prevalent in children living in very clean homes.

miss independent

2008-10-07T23:01:00.002-04:00

So...more about miss Bek and her little independent streak.

I've been sick. Did I mention that? Nasty-sick, complete with the expelling of large wads of green phlem.

You're welcome.

So, when I'm sick, I take lots of naps, partly because I'm convinced they'll help me feel better sooner, and partly because I love naps.

So the other day, I put Bek in for a nap, and then, after checking to make sure she was asleep, headed to bed myself.

Two hours later I crawled out of bed, thinking I would go in and get her from her crib.

Haha!

Bek was already downstairs, sitting quietly at the craft table--apparently her favorite I'm-not-sleeping place--talking to herself and playing quietly.

And this morning! She was sitting at that same table again, regardless of the fact that no one else in the house was up.

If this were either of my other children, they would--well, they wouldn't be able to get out of their crib; they would jump up and down yelling for me until I got them--but if they could have climbed out of their crib, they would have come in my room to get me so I could love on them and get them breakfast. They never would have just doen it all themselves.

There's a reason I have to think about it when someone asks me how old my kids are--my youngest is two but thinks she's five!

now that's attractive.

2008-09-28T19:25:00.003-04:00

I'm sick.

I'll be back to write some stuff later on.

Once the drugs kick in.

Now don't step on my pile of snot-filled tissues on the way out.

I could handle being UNDERwhelmed once in a while. Just for a change of pace.

2008-09-25T13:55:00.004-04:00

In approximately 24 hours I am leaving my family and driving three hours up to NH for a blessed, blissful weekend away.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah.

From Friday night through Sunday lunchtime I will not have to pick up anyone's dirty underwear.

I will not have to figure out what to feed anyone.

I will not have to entertain anyone. Well, my friends are expecting me to bring Zumba stuff, but I can handle that.*

I will not have to work.

I will not have to work out.

I will not have to convince anyone that bedtime is a good thing.

I will not have to shower. Although I will.

I will not have to convince anyone to let me please sleep just another two and a half minutes. As a matter of fact, I can do exactly what I like to do: stay up super late playing volleyball, get up super early before the sun for some coffee and reading, and take a two-hour afternoon nap, if that's what I wanna do.

Now, in order to prepare, I should be packing. I should be cleaning, so I can come home to a tidy-ish house. HAHA! like the kids aren't going to destroy it while I'm gone.

Anyway, I am neither packing nor cleaning. I'm simultaneously blogging, chatting on facebook, and checking out the new Zumba sneakers I want. I tried them on today. They're wonderful. And super-freakin cute.

Anyway, I'm off tonight, so I have plenty of time to do that other stuff after I teach Zumba.

Which reminds me--it's "Family Zumba" night tonight, so I have to go burn a CD of songs that don't involve quite so much hip thrusting and pony riding. Hm...

The list, it is never ending.

Thankfully, I have coffee. And two flavors of International Delight creamer. Which means I'm totally prepared.

*I wasn't really planning on bringing it all--I was planning on being a total lazy-ass all weekend, not even planning to dress up for the Saturday Night Fun. Me! The queen of OOH! Let ME dress up for EVERYTHING! Lazy lazy lazy ass.

i love the rain

2008-09-14T11:09:00.003-04:00

Oh man, I am lovin this day!

It's Sunday. I taught Sunday school to some cutie pie kids, then the hubby and our three girls went to soccer. So I skipped church service, came home, made myself some coffee (with dulce de leche international delight creamer, thank you God for that little invention) lit my favorite candle, took my laptop over to the girls' desk for a little change of scenery, and now I'm just sitting here, typing and enjoying the sound of the rain.

Anyway, on to what I came to write about...

Bek. She's our two-and-a-half year old.

She's going to drive me to drink.

Well, I mean, drink more. Cuz, y'know, I do enjoy a margarita.

OK so my little Bek, my little Bekster, all of a sudden refuses to stay in her crib.

I know, all you parents are out there saying, "Yeah? And? Is that it?"

I know! I know you all have probably dealt with this with every one of your kids and now you're all pros at picking them up, calmly putting them back into bed, and leaving. Repeatedly. Until they finally get the message. Or rather, til they collapse from exhaustion.

But [whining] I never had to deal with this with my other two girls!! They were so good! They never climbed out of their crib. Fifty. times. a night! They never climbed out, saw me coming, whirled around, went back to bed, only to come right the hell back out as soon as their bedroom door was closed and mommy was back downstairs! [/whining]

Grr. I swear, she waits until she hears my rear end hit the couch. Then she swings her leg over the rail--the rail that is as high as her neck, I don't know how the hell she does it--and drops down like a little ninja baby.

OK, so what's a parent to do? We took the mattress out of the crib and set her up on the floor, figuring since she's so adept at climbing and we are powerless to stop her (short of tying her down--I swear last night my husband was about to pull out the bungee cords), we might as well keep her from breaking her dang neck. So of course she just gets up and opens the door as soon as our backs are turned.

Last night I was on the couch, watching The Mummy Returns (what is it about Brendan Fraser and those movies? I stinkin love them!) and I thought I heard something...something about three feet tall, about 30 pounds...so I went to investigate. I didn't see anything. I went through the kitchen and thought I smelled...a smell that's, um, unique to babies and some old people...but didn't see anything so I continued upstairs.

Looked in Bek's room.

No Bek.

Big surprise there.

Looked in the sisters' room, where she likes to go wake up her sisters, to much protestation. No Bek. Just snoring sisters.

Now I'm all, what the hell?

Then I remembered the smell. So I backtracked through the kitchen to discover the culprit quietly playing with craft supplies at the art table.

And stinking up the place.

So we took care of the smell and headed for bed.

And darn the little manipulative creature! I'm trying to do like all the experts say, and show no emotion as I carry her up to bed and staidly put her down and leave. But she wants to cuddle me and hug me and I'm pretty sure she said "I love you," which she would have to do for the first time EVER while I'm trying to be all collected and cool.

Little stinker.

Anyway, she kept coming down. Going straight for the art table, ever so stealthily. And I kept putting her back upstairs. Until finally, at almost 10 o'clock, it occurred to me that I hadn't heard from her for a while. So I snuck up for a look, pretty sure that I'd open the door to her standing right on the other side.

But all was well. She was finally asleep, looking deceptively sweet in repose.

It's so evil, the way they make you love them so much. I left her room feeling all gushy with affection.

That lasted until 5 this morning, when she decided it was time to get up.

2008-08-19T01:06:00.002-04:00

This is my shiner. 30 years old, and I finally get my first one. I'm so proud. :)

The fabulous black eye you see here is courtesy of my two-year-old, who hit me with her head while we were playing. (I tried telling people I got in a fight, but no one freakin believes me! So much for upping my street cred...)

She was lying next to me in bed, when she sat up. I thought (silly me!) that she was done playing so I moved my head to where she was, when KA-BLAMMMM!! she threw herself backward with a force wielded exclusively by fearless two-year-olds, leaving her mother seeing stars, for realz.

In this pic it's a day old. You should have seen me yesterday. And I can't wait till it starts turning green! I'll have to wear matching eye shadow or something. It'll be a "look". :)

Aaaannyway, I wanted to come say hi, because I've been neglecting you. I know I've been neglecting you because my internet browser doesn't even prompt me with the blogger website address anymore. It has forgotten you. :( But no more!

OK, well, not for today, anyway. I'm still in summertime blog slump mode.

(Not for long though...two weeks til school starts! I can't decide whether to laugh or cry. Kind of a disappointing summer, this. It better not rain between now and school...)

SO hi. That's it; nothing much more to say for now. I'm supposed to be studying new Zumba choreography, so that's what I'm going to do. ;)

overwhelmed

2008-08-07T10:16:00.005-04:00

Wow, haven't been here in a while, huh?!

Well, I came here to vent, kind of.

I am so, so, overwhelmed.

I feel like I'm coming out of a cocoon, or a long hibernation or something. I'm looking around my house, and it is such a mess. Not like your average mess. A big, huge, hairy, ugly, unorganized, disaster mess.

Now, it's been like this as long as we've lived here, pretty much. But I'm realizing as I sit here that I've been in this daze of depression for so long that I just let it happen.

And now that I'm taking care of myself and feeling better? I can't believe this! I'm so disgusted and frustrated and...and...overwhelmed!

I get the mothering thing. I can do that. I love my kids and the time I spend with them is so joyful.

I get the wife thing. My husband and I are very blessed to still be deeply in love, and I feel like he and I are only growing closer as we get older.

I get the work thing. I mean, I do it, anyway. I hate my bill-paying job, but I do it because it pays the bills, and I pretty much do the bare minimum to get by. And I LOOOOOVE my Zumba job, but it sure takes up a lot of my time. Time I could spend on the house thing.

I do not--I repeat, DO NOT--get the house thing.

"You want me to what? Clean? Every day? And...cook? Every day? Who does that?!"

Seriously. I don't have time for this shit.

But! I'm learning. I'm learning that my attitude of "we're renting; this isn't OUR house" doesn't cut it because while it isn't our house, it is our home. And...I'm learning the cleaning thing.

Although, in case we needed evidence as to what a dork I truly am...I'm learning how to keep house...from...a book.

Gah, I'm such a dork.

My poor mother is groaning. You know, it's not like I didn't have chores growing up. I did! I folded laundry (although my husband will tell you I still totally suck at it). I mowed the lawn! I raked leaves. I cleaned my room...occasionally. I cooked dinner and cleaned the kitchen every night.

But hell, that stuff was easy to do when I didn't have a job (ahem, two jobs) and a hubby and kids and a social life and hobbies and...the damn internet to suck up all my time!

OK, coffee break's almost over. Then back to cleaning. Possibly. I have good motivation: I want to have a yard sale to earn money for this and this and this and possibly these, and if I clean the house, I'll find more stuff to sell. I'm trying to do a two-birds-with-one-stone thing. Get yard sale stuff, clean and organize. All that = me overwhelmed, though.

S'all good. I'll just push off the yard sale another week or two.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

Although, can I just say? What is it with my kids that they ONLY want to play with the very stuff I'm trying to clean! I clean the playroom, they go, "OOhhhh, clean playroom!" and trash it. I clean the craft table? "OOooooh! We have paint!" and trash that too.

My next cup of coffee might just have something extra special in it.

happy Easter!

2008-03-24T16:07:00.001-04:00

OK so I'm a day late but I couldn't let my favorite day of all year go by without an Easter greeting so here you go! I tried getting the song to play but all I have for you is the lyrics so if you can, rent VeggieTales--An Easter Carol and hear this beautiful, glorious, joyous song yourself. :)

There’s a story that started on Christmas
When a baby was born in the night
And those who came far, who followed the star
Were seeing a heavenly sight ...
a heavenly sight.

Well the years hurried by, and the boy, now a man
Could make the blind see with a touch of his hand
He was born to be King -- he was Rabbi and Priest
But the best that he had, he gave to the least ...
He gave to the least.

He was born and he died, almost 2,000 years ago
He laughed and he cried, he felt all the fears we know
But what does it matter? A story so strange ...
Even if it is true, what does it change?
What does it change?

Well he spoke like a prophet -- like no one they’d heard
This simple young carpenter -- crowds hung on every word
He hated injustice -- He taught what is right
He said “I’m the way, and the truth, and the light.”

His friends soon believed that truly he was the one.
The Savior, Messiah, God’s one and only son.
But others, they doubted, they did not agree
So they took him, they tried him,
He died on a tree ...
He died on a tree.

God has made a way
for all who mourn and grieve
Death will never be the end
if you just believe.

There is nothing left to fear
nothing Heaven knows
For he died for us to give us life
and to give us hope He rose
He died for us to give us life
And to give us hope He rose.

this would have made college a WHOLE lot easier

2008-01-25T23:50:00.000-05:00

www.easybib.com . You type in all the information for the sources you want to quote in your paper or whatever, and it spits out the citation in MLA format.

I could have seriously used that 5 to 10 years ago. Internets! Where were you when I needed you?!

sad

2008-01-24T14:19:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here watching A Knight's Tale, one of my all-time favorite movies.

I can't freaking believe this kid isn't going to make any more movies.

He was a year younger than me.

With a daughter.

This sucks.

getting ready for christmas

2007-12-12T01:05:00.001-05:00

Just a few random things about this beautiful Christmas season:

Our house looks like a little kid designed it. Well, that's kind of true: hubby asked the kids how they wanted the house to be decorated this year, and they told him. So there are purple lights on the swing set, red and white candy cane stripes on the tree, red and green on the front stairs, and I don't know what else. It's very colorful--but part of me wants to rearrange it into something a little more aesthetically appealing. Like, oh, I dunno--all white lights. Boring! I know it! I caved on the Christmas tree this year too. We've had a white light tree forever, but this year the kids begged for colored lights and I said OK. Gag! Good thing the kids are so cute when they beg...
I'm wondering how much longer til Jo catches on with the whole jolly big man thing. We keep getting package delivery trucks--FedEx, UPS, DHL--all addressed to daddy, all from places like toycamp.com and discoverytoys.com so I'm just waiting for it to all click. Sigh...well, as long as she doesn't speculate out loud with her 5-year-old little sister. Let's preserve the innocence as long as possible, 'K?
Must. Resist. Urge to snoop for presents!!!
You wanna know what Santa's bringing the girls? I'll give you a hint: it's almost impossible to find in stores because it's always sold out. We've never let the girls have one of these before now. I'm going to enjoy it as much as they will. It's more money than we've ever spent on any one present before. I'm still not sure we made the right decision in getting it for them, because I don't want them on it nonstop. Or me, for that matter. Did you guess yet?!
Two words: Ice. Storm. One more word: Sucks.
Anyone got a good Christmas CD? I need something that's poppin--not something that's going to put me to sleep. I love my Bare Naked Ladies Christmas CD, and my John Denver and the Muppets Christmas CD and my Christmas Songs CD, but beyond that I'm struggling to stay awake listening to some of this stuff.
Is there some kind of conspiracy going on? I cannot find any good Christmas movies on TV. I want Scrooged, darnit!!

OK, time for bed. PS: It's my brother's birthday today, the 12th! He's 26, the old man. ;) Love you, Joe!

two more days, and a contest

2007-11-16T15:25:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to post this on my Zumba/weight-loss blog, but oops. Here ya go.

So...two more days until the most-excellent workshop with Tanya in CT. I'm excited!!!! I have to figure out what the heck to wear, since Tanya's email suggested bringing two sets of clothes.

Did I mention she sent me an email?!

Oh, alright. She sent the same exact email to everyone else who is going to the workshop, but hey, I felt pretty cool anyhow. ;)

So yeah--two sets of clothes that I can be comfy sweating in in front of lots of other people and my very favorite Zumba instructor. Hm...I'll definitely be wearing as much Zumba gear as possible--the tee and tank Lee sent me, my bracelets if I get them in time, my jacket...gotta represent! :)

Oh and the contest...Get a load of this! All us Zumba instructors have been challenged to a choreography contest. We have to pick a song from the new CD we just got and develop our own choreography to it. Then we videotape ourselves performing the song and send it in. There are five songs to choose from, and one person will win for each song. The song winners will win some Zumba gear and I think a chance to show their video on the instructor website, and the best of the five will win mucho Zumba gear (!!!) and a primo link on the general public's zumba website, or something like that. I forgot the rest besides $200 in Zumba gear. I want pants, shirts, bumper stickers, a bag... gotta get working on that choreography!

I've talked about how I'm not so great at doing my own dance steps yet, being new and all, but I think I might give it a shot anyway. Who knows, they might like me! :)

OK that's all for now. Gotta do chores if I want to get off with leaving my family all day Sunday.

2007-11-15T00:16:00.000-05:00

Holy freakin cow, I suck at NaBloPoMo. It's been a week since I posted! Oh well, it's still more than I usually post, right?

Now...what was it I came here to write about?

Um...

Hey, do you get a lot of catalogs in the mail this time of year? I swear, from October to March we must get like 20 a day. First it's "Buy me for Christmas!" Then it's "Buy me while I'm sale! Get your Christmas shopping done early!!" And rather than giving me good ideas on what to buy other people, they only seem to make my own wishlist bigger. ;)

Eeesh.

I'm thinking of drawing our Christmas cards this year. Just a thought, not sure exactly whether or how I'd do it. We usually do picture cards, but I figure we could just get pictures printed and stick them in the cards. The only thing is it is so EASY to get the picture cards--you just tell them what picture, what design, and what you want printed on the cards so you don't even have to sign them! Which is good, y'know, when you have like 200 cards to send. How the heck do we even know this many people?!

Our wedding anniversary was this week. Sadly, I had to work that night, but we're having a little mini-date here at home tomorrow night after my Zumba class to toast our eight happy years together. Awww. :)

Then there were those 12 miserable years together.... kidding, kidding.

Hey, so, I've pretty much given up on my NaNoWriMo novel for now, unless by some miracle I get an uninterrupted week straight in which to write. And let's face it, that's not happening. I do have several good ideas, though, so I might have my own little novel writing month in, like, February or something, when it's too cold and cloudy and depressing outside to do anything else. That was my friend Lynda's idea, so when I'm a famous novelist one day, I can dedicate it all to her. ;)

Speaking of novels, and catalogs that give me more ideas for my own wishlist, I'm staring at one catalog listing for a shirt that says, "Careful, or you'll end up in my novel." Hehe, I like that.

Oh, I know what I wanted to show you. If you're a fan of Harry Potter, and we all know I am, you'll love this:

I laughed so hard I thought I'd pee. Even the second time.

OK, I'm off now.

i'm renaming the blog "the stupid things i do"

2007-11-09T10:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was doing mad crazy laundry. Seriously, the clothes that five people go through! At some point I knocked a box of dryer sheets off the shelf above the washer and dryer. I figured it went behind the washer and dryer, but I couldn't see it anywhere. I thought I'd wait til hubby got home so he could move stuff around a bit and we could grab it, so I continued with the laundry.

Much later I came by to unload the dryer and switch out the stuff from the washer.

Yeah.

As I'm pulling stuff out of the washer and throwing it in the dryer, I notice there are dryer sheets stuck in with the clothes.

That's weird, I think. There shouldn't be any dryer sheets in there...

Then I notice there are bits of...stuff..in there too.

Oh no. Oh no no no no NO!

Oh yes. The box of dryer sheets fell into the freakin washer while I wasn't looking. And that washer did a job on that box too. Tore it to shreds.

So I had to take all the rest of the clothes out--and they were covered in cardboard box shreds, like the box just exploded in there--and vacuum out the nasty cardboard bits. Then I reloaded all the clothes and had to wash them again, hoping that a second wash would get rid of the box bits, rather than just turning them into cardboard glue or something.

The good news is most of it came off. The bad news is my entire outfit today smells faintly like dryer sheet.

Fun times! ;)

2007-11-07T12:45:00.001-05:00

Do you ever get to feeling like you would like to just tell the entire world to go shove it?!

I get like that sometimes.

I need a vacation.

I need for this school year to be over already.

For now I guess I have to settle for more coffee.

2007-11-06T12:34:00.000-05:00

Just some random things I'm pulling together and calling a post:

It's raining really hard. I just went to drop Devy off at the bus stop and got soaked. It reminds me of when I worked at the local renaissance faire (shut up, like you didn't know I was a dork by now!). When it rained like this, there would be puddles everywhere. But the ground was covered in wood chips, so unlike normal puddles, these puddles would have wood chips floating in them. So you wouldn't know there was a puddle there until you--whoops!--found it the hard way.
Bek is quite the escape artist lately with regards to her clothes. You put her in for a nap and before you know it, poof! Two seconds later you check on her and she is completely buck naked, the diaper is on the floor, and she's sleeping in a puddle of pee. She has to wear footy pajamas all the time so we can safety-pin them together so she can't unzip 'em. And even then she manages to get them seriously wrenched out of whack.
I just picked up this free "parenting magazine" from the rack at the supermarket. At first I was like, "Oh, nice, it is extolling the benefits of keeping your child from getting too overscheduled. How lovely." But then you turn to the back of the magazine and there are, like, a bazillion ads for ways to overschedule your child. And the article on balancing family time and work time is nicely balanced by tons of ads on how to buy back your kids' affection with crazy toys, parties that will one-up the neighbors', and of course, ads for the perfect preschool or private school, so as to assuage your guilt at not being home with the kids by sending them to the very best of everything. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a big advocate of unity between moms of all working arrangements. You should do what works for you and your family. But if guilt is a major factor in your family life? Then somethin aint workin.
The childwatch at the Y I teach for just had a case of MRSA Staph diagnosed in one of the kids. Now, part of me is like, "Aw, poor thing, he's OK now, right?" (Apparently he is.) The other part of me is all, "Decon! Decon!! We aren't going back there until the whole place is dipped in antibacterial hand sanitzer! Aaaarrhh!" So now I'm analyzing my poor kids to death. Every mole, pimple, cut, and bump are scrutinized to pieces before anyone is allowed to go anywhere. Grr stupid Staph infections.
Lessons in reading the label: I bought this baby bath wash by Johnson's. It's called Johnson's Naturals, or something like that, and it comes in soothing green packaging. But...I read the ingredients list. Now, I may have only barely passed Chemistry 101 in high school, but I'm pretty sure the only things on this list that were natural were water and olive oil. Or olive butter. Whatever it was. And I just made myself lunch, and OK, I'm trying to cut down on the sugar so I made myself a turkey, cheese, and pickle sandwich with some Polar Seltzer to wash it down. The pickles? Tons of sugar. And the Polar? Not seltzer at all, but soda with high fructose corn syrup. I'm so smart. :P Of course, we won't even go into what...um, goes into...my beloved International Delights seasonal flavored coffee creamers. Because they are necessary. Much like water. Or, air.

Now if you'll excuse me, this kind of rainy crappy fall day is my favorite kind of day for sitting in a comfy chair by a window, with a snack and a book. Kind of like this:

(I don't want to brag or nuthin. But, she's 5. And she's reading a chapter book.)
(Either that or she's just checking out the pictures.)

nanowrimo: day 2

2007-11-02T14:01:00.000-04:00

So, it's NaNoWriMo day two. I really really wish I could tell you that my novel is off to a great start.

I really wish I could tell you it was off to any kind of start.

But...I haven't written a single word. I haven't even opened a new Word document. I don't even know what I'm writing about. I wish I could take the novel I started last year, the one I had to abandon when my computer crashed. I really like that one, and I would love to finish it. But that would be cheating.

Maybe I could just wait until day 11 or so--that's when the laptop died last year--and take up my last year's novel from then.

Maybe?

Nah, still cheating. Tempting, but cheating.

This is the third year I have done NaNoWriMo. The first year I was newly pregnant with Bek and spent most of November sleeping. The second year--well, you know. So this year I am determined to finish my 50,000-word novel, if it kills me.

And considering the fact that each November the housework goes undone for a month, if the writing doesn't kill me? The husband will. ;)

I just have to stop thinking about how great last year's start was. It's hindering my efforts to brainstorm something new. Hm. OK, tonight, at work, I'm going to put a serious effort toward putting down some starting notes. Then I'm going to get myself jumped up on caffeine and come home and start typing.

I need some good writing music. Zumba music? The theme from Rocky? The Notre Dame fight song? Maybe some Dropkick Murphys.

That part would be a lot easier to put together if I hadn't promised to not steal music. Grr.

So anyway, yes. Tonight. I will write. I'm supposed to write 1,667 words a day to make 50,000 by the end of the month. Today is day two. So that's what? 3334 words by the time I go to bed tonight.

Erg.

2007-10-29T23:38:00.000-04:00

I told hubby we should have bought new furniture this year!!!

(Go Sox!!! I knew you could do it.)

pretty pretty links

2007-10-25T14:58:00.000-04:00

Hi, remember me!

OK, first thing's first. I would like to say:

GO SOX!!!

ok, got that out of my system. ;)

Hm...what else to write about? I've been kind of in a funk lately, which is why you haven't heard from me. I don't know what it is--I love fall, it is my very favorite time of year--but I think I am just overwhelmed, trying to juggle everything. So what better way than to deal with everything but to stay in bed late, not leave the house, and only shower when the kids complain?

OK, OK, kidding. I do try to shower once a week, at least. ;)

No really though--I've taken on too much stuff and I can't keep all these balls in the air. Got to learn to say no! And a several of my "things" keep me in close working relationship with people I don't like very much, which is stressful. Grr.

What I need is to get off my behind. Get organized. Get de-cluttered. Clean my dang house. I can't drop any of the balls neatly until the end of the school year so I just have to keep up and, God help me, not say yes to any-freaking-thing else. Haha, which is kind of funny since I'm looking to add some more Zumba classes to my schedule. I tell myself that doesn't count because I love my Zumba classes but let's face it--it's still more stuff. But I know from experience that trying to juggle in a cluttered, messy, energy-sapping environment is a lot harder than doing it in a peaceful zen garden.

Not that I have one of those.

But I could clean my dang house.

So tonight, after work (which I will not stress about or be grumpy for, even though I am not supposed to work on Thursdays because I teach Zumba on Thursdays and had to get someone to fill in for my class tonight) I will go to the store and buy myself some soy milk. I will come home and make myself a yummy soy pumpkin spice latte in a very very cute Starbucks halloween mug, and I will dig in to my house. Tonight: the kitchen and dining room. Tomorrow: the mess that has swallowed my desk. Early Saturday morning: the bathroom.

And so help me if I come home from working all weekend and my hard work is puked all over. That is the worst part of trying to clean! I come home after working so hard at home and working so hard at the j-o-b and stuff is tossed on my desk, dishes are sitting in the sink, toothpaste is all inside the bathroom sink and the last person to go didn't flush... Things like that are what get me so funk-y and down and then I don't do anything until it builds up so I don't know where to start so I don't do anything so it builds up so I get funk-y...

Fortunately I have some secret weapons. Or, y'know, not so secret:

Loud Zumba music.
an MP3 player for when loud music is not an option
yummy-smelling cleaning products
fresh air--I open the windows, even if it's 45 degrees out. It's SOOOO good, dontcha think?!

And I am going to throw things away.

Oh yes.

If we don't use it, out it goes. Maybe I'll find some things for ebay. Or freecycle. Or Big Sister Big Brother. But it's going. Dave Ramsey, the financial guy we follow, says to sell everythinig that isn't nailed down until the kids are afraid they're next. :) Well, the kids probably don't have to worry--we're kind of attached to them--but they'd better hide their favorite toys cuz Mama's on a rampage.

And then? When I'm finally done cleaning for the night? I'm going to work on ideas for my nanowrimo novel. Because I will finish this year, dammit. Provided my overworked, underpaid laptop doesn't bust down like last year.

So that's tonight. I'll probably be up forever but if it gets me ahead? Even a little? It's worth it. I just hope I don't get sucked into watching the Sox ~~beat the crap out of the Rockies~~ play because if I let myself sit down to watch it, I'll never get up again.

2007-10-16T12:57:00.000-04:00

I'm in geek heaven because November 1 (which is only 16 days away, people!) marks the start of NaNoWriMo, or, National Novel Writing Month.

For those of you not in the know, NaNoWriMo is an opportunity for literary-minded people to write a 50,000-word novel. So those of you who have always said, "One day...one day I'll write a novel!" can now put an end to the "one days".

The writing is fast-paced and crazy, which is great for people (like me) who tend to over-analyze to death the stuff they've written. See, when you only have a month to finish your novel (that's 1667 words a day, people!) you don't have time to sit back and criticize yourself!

So pick up a pen and a ream of paper, or set up your computer somewhere where there is easy access to the coffee maker and the bathroom. Lock the door. Count down to 12:00:01am, November 1 and start writing until your hands hurt.

Then meet me at the local coffeeshop. Preferably one with free wifi. For, you know, email breaks.

I'll be the redhead with the laptop, the huge coffee cup and the bags under her eyes.

2007-10-02T00:57:00.000-04:00

It's almost one in the morning. I was just lying in bed, completely unable to sleep. It might be all the things I have to do, circling around in my head.

Or...it could be that Diet Rockstar I drank a few hours back. Hm...maybe.

So while I was lying in bed for some reason I was thinking about my j-o-b. You know, the one I can't mention online under penalty of death.

I was thinking specifically about people who get paid a straight salary or hourly wage, as opposed to people who work for comission.

See, my company pays us REALLY good money to do what we do. It's ridiculous how much money we make, really. Not that I'm complaining! See, I make the same amount of money whether I'm working my rear end off trying to make mucho dinero for the company, or sitting around making photocopies.

That makes me a happy employee (I like my easy job, and I'm well paid!) and a competent employee (I've been there forever because they pay me too well to leave!) and it makes the customers happy because they get to deal with happy competent people, but it doesn't make me a very motivated employee.

We have a bunch of programs (that were not in place when I applied for the job, but whatever) that we're being tracked on. So if we're one of the lowest locations in the region for any given program, we get flack. But if what I just said about getting paid the same no matter what I'm doing is true, then why should I work any harder to reach our program goals, just for the bosses to say, "Good job. Now this time get this many."?

So then I look at people I know to be commission employees. Like at cell phone kiosks, retail clothing stores, that kind of thing. If you've got money, maybe you like shopping here because the employees are very attentive, and very careful to remember your name and what types of things you like to shop for. Maybe they even have your number so when something you might like comes in, they can hold your size and call you in.

But if you don't have money, like me, these kinds of employees come off as pushy, irritating, and self-serving. These kinds of employees make me want to yell, "Back off! When I want something I promise, I will come get you!" And I always feel like as soon as I walk in, they jump over each other to get to me first, and they're probably brawling while my back is turned. :)

So here you have highly motivated employees who don't seem too happy (that is, underneath their perfected customer-is-my-life's-joy facade), who annoy the customers, and who have a generally high turnover rate.

Nothing about this post is supposed to be particularly intelligent or persuasive--it's way past my bedtime y'know--it's just what I was thinkin about while I was lying awake, eyes refusing to shut.

shut down orkut

2007-09-26T00:05:00.001-04:00

Hey y'all:

There is this website called Orkut. I won't go into what it is but read up on what's going on with it here: click here and click here

And then click here to sign an online petition to get rid of it: petition

It's about protecting our children, so please check it out.

Thanks.

time off

2007-09-25T14:17:00.000-04:00

So I just got back from my retreat this weekend, and I have just one word.

Aaaaaahhhhhhh.

I love my annual women's retreat. It comes right after the most hectic time of year at the Tragically Unhip household--right when summer is over and school starts and we're all trying to work out our new routines. Right around now is when I'm just about to go over the deep end--and then comes my weekend away.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

So yeah. It was fun. We had a speaker, as usual, but this time it was my favorite speaker so far, Priscilla Shirer of Going Beyond Ministries. She spoke the first time I went to this particular retreat too, three years ago. She's a very engaging speaker--nothing is worse than a speaker who has a good message to give but who loses the message through a haze of too-quiet mumbling and foot shuffling. So yeah, she's good. I want to check out one of her bible studies sometime.

There was so much other stuff to do. I climbed a huge new rock wall and almost got to the top of the hard, jutting-out side! I could reach around the ledge and grab on...but then what?! :)

I shot guns: a .22 and a shotgun. I'm pretty accurate with the .22 (at the mind-boggling distance of about 20 feet, hehe) but bad with the shotgun, which kicks. I mean, the guy said there are a hundred bb's in the cartridge, and I only managed to hit the target with two. Anyway, I do have to say that rifle ranges are a good stress reliever! And archery, which I also did and which I also stank at. :) I could hit the target (which, again, was a mind boggling TEN feet away) but that's about all I could say about that.

Lets see, what else. I was wearing my Zumba instructor jacket all weekend so finally my bunkmates asked what Zumba is. I told them and they wanted me to show them. Wouldn't you know I just happened to have my music and a CD player in the car, so w had a mini Zumba class in the bunk, and again after playing volleyball that night.

We were up SO late Saturday night, eating ice cream, dancing, playing volleyball with the group of girls that play every year, Zumbando, talking...til 3 am. I made some great new friends, which is pretty much my favorite thing to do! :)

After coffee on Sunday morning (one of my favorite things on this retreat--all the coffee, tea, and hot cocoa you want, 'round the clock. Genius I tell you.) I had to leave for work.

Hahaha! I laugh just thinking about it.

I was such a grouch at work that day. I'd had like 5 hours of sleep all weekend, and was tired and sore and dehydrated. At least it was busy, which means it went fast.

So that was my weekend. Oh, that and I killed a spider yesterday that was about the size of a small dog, and just as furry. When a spider is big enough to have FUR? That's scary. *shudder*

I hate spiders.

Now I'm off to catch up on all the housework that didn't get done over the weekend. Whee!!

quick post

2007-09-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

I have a lot to write about--I just had a blast at my weekend retreat--but for here's something to tide you over until I get back from the bus stop with Devy.

some random observations from the tragically unhip household

2007-09-18T22:48:00.000-04:00

It doesn't matter how many Zumba routines, kids' birthdays, song lyrics, gossip details, or job prodcedures I can memorize--if it is a dentist appointment, I will forget it.
The fake cobwebs we put up for Halloween are competing with the ones the spiders left...and losing.
It doesn't matter how long or hard I clean the house all week long--after a weekend of me working and the rest of the family home, it will just look like it did before.
Just because a diaper is cheap doesn't mean you should buy it. In fact, diapers are one of those things you should really splurge on. Unless, y'know, you like cleaning up that kind of stuff. Freak.
Babies can't digest corn.
Goldfish crackers make good last-minute coating for homemade chicken nuggets.
I feel guilty spending $30 on fuzzy warm boots I will wear all fall and winter, but it's way easy to spend the same amount on a Halloween costume my kid will wear once for about two hours.
I seriously need to hire some 12-year-old kid to teach me how to use my new cell phone. Seriously. How the heck do I text someone? Get my pictures from my phone to my computer? Change my voicemail message? Anyone??!

2007-09-17T23:57:00.001-04:00

Craziness!

School is back in session, which means the Tragically Unhip household has been inundated with paperwork.

Cuz, y'know, it just wouldn't be school if they weren't sending home requests for volunteers for the school parent association (gag me), the library, the computer room, the school fair, the school store, the fundraisers, and the school walk; reminders to send payments for school lunches, school pictures, book fairs, and student magazine subscriptions (for which the teachers sign up the kids and then demand payment from the parents); memos on a thousand different school policies, and on and on.

Then, for parents stupid enough to provide their telephone numbers, there are the twice or three-times-weekly prerecorded telephone calls reminding parents of upcoming events. The upcoming events that we are also reminded of in the weekly emails we so foolishly provided addresses for.

When, exactly, do I start to just send my kid off to school without worrying about the homework she's going to bring me ?!

And now that two of the girls are in school, it's all doubled.

Sometimes I think those homeschoolers have got something.

Then the coffee kicks in. ;)

In other news...this weekend I am going away on my sweet, sweet annual women's retreat. Roughly 48 hours of no kids, no hubby, no chores, no diapers, no work...and I get to see my good friend Connie who, incidentally, I met on the retreat my first time there three years ago.

We always have such a great time--especially playing volleybally until the wee hours of the morning. Connie usually whoops my behind. I'm not too athletically inclined. ;) And there's crafts, a rifle range, archery, pedicures, quiet time, a talent show of some sort, and all the coffee and hot cocoa I can drink. All in the very beautiful mountain lakeside scenery of upstate New England in the fall.

Can't wait!!

people like me shouldn't blog, redux

2007-09-06T00:48:00.000-04:00

I posted this on my weight loss blog but thought I'd bring it over here too. It's two! Two! Two posts in one!

Why do some people just have to try to bring other people down? Are they SO miserable?

That's it. I'm way too sensitive for this internet crap.

I was on YouTube browsing through videos looking for choreography videos for Zumba class. There was this one chick who make a whole series of videos on how much Zumba sucks/is stupid/should tell people they look bad in tank tops before letting them up on stage. She was so mean! I couldn't help wondering what she was doing there if all she was going to do was make fun of people.

Oh. You mean, like, maybe that is why she was there? Do people really suck that hard?

Part of me really, really, wanted to comment and point out that she's no prize-winner herself. The better part of me argued that that would just make me like her. So I totally started a flame-war on her butt.

OK, kidding. I kept my mouth shut.

And then I commented on this other video to tell the girl how great a dancer she was and I would love to try some of her moves in my class. Someone replied and said "whatever, Zumba sucks anyway, it's not real choreography" except they said it in the too-cool-to-spell-correctly way that all the hip kids do (gag).

Like I freakin asked you?

GRR!

I would never dream of trying to cut down someone I don't even know. It's bad enough being mean to people in person who you might legitimately have some kind of beef with. But anonymously online? Pretty tough when you're just some empty faceless voice, right?!

Life is hard. Instead of making it harder for each other, how 'bout we go through life buoying each other up?

Just a thought. Oh, and have I told you I like your hair like that? You look nice. ;) hehe

And oh yeah!! School started today! I'm such a bad mom--I forgot the camera, so there are no pictures of my baby Devy's first day of school. I'm going to dress her up in the same outfit tomorrow and pretend it's today. I kid.

But oh my goodness did I CRY like a big freakin baby when she got on that bus! She just...ran up like she has been waiting for this day for three years or something. Oh wait, she has. I remember so well the day Jo started kindergarten and it was everything I could do to keep Devy from climbing up into the bus behind her big sister. She was only 2 but she didn't care. She wanted to go to school!

Uh...Oh, there I go again. *sigh*

But!! I had a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino today from Starbucks and while I don't think I'll go the frappuccino route next time--too sweet--the pumpkiny flavor and chilly air and the leaves that are omg already starting to fall made me all fall-ish. Yum.

i wanna be feared and despised when i grow up!

2007-09-05T11:44:00.000-04:00

I had a dentist appointment this morning.

The good news is, not only did I actually go, as opposed to the last two or three appointments that I skipped, but only once did I get poked in a place that sent me jumping out of my chair. I thought it was going to be much worse. I credit God for listening to my desperate prayers while squirming in the chair waiting to start. Thanks God, you're the Man.

The bad news is, I have so many freaking cavities that the dentist's office has to call my insurance company to schedule the treatments. You know, so the insurace will cover them all? Yeah. That sucks.

The other good news is I got a prescription for Valium! Real live Valium! Because if it takes me three or four tries to go in for a cleaning, just imagine how nauseous I get when the words "root" and "canal" come into play!

Now I just have to get someone to take care of my kids all day so I can sedate myself before my Appointment with Hell.

In other news...T-minus 24 minutes and counting until Devy gets on the bus. Somebody hold me!

colors of fall

2007-09-01T01:42:00.000-04:00

Signs that I am not ready to send the kids back to school:

I'm bothering to blog about it.
I still haven't bought school snacks because looking at anyting vaguely back-to-school related makes me all teary.
I'm pouting as I write this.
I refuse to go to sleep because when I wake up it will be one day closer to back-to-school and don't bother trying any of that "It's coming regardless of whether you sleep" logic crap.
There are large amounts of things not normally found in the Tragically Unhip household such as Pop Tarts (which suddenly come in delish ice-cream-y flavors like mint chocolate chip and cookie dough) and expensive sugary brand-name cereals and Oreos and five cartons of ice cream (although one is actually a box of ice cream pops, so there) partly because I want to give my children special treats--and we don't usually use food as reward around here, not healthy, don'tcha know--and partially (OK, mostly) because I'm all emotional and eat-y.

It isn't usually like this. Usually, by the second week of August I'm all, "Someone call the school! They've got to open early! Get these kids out of my house!!!" But this year I'm just not ready. I don't want my babies to leave me!!

Why? Well, I think there are a few things. For one, we had a great, fun summer. Last summer Bek was a little baby and I was overwhelmed and PPD and we didn't really do much or go anywhere or see anyone. This summer she's older, I'm healthy, we did lots of fun stuff, and I don't want it to end.

For another thing, this is the first year that Devy is going to school. She was my baby for four years before Bek was born, and now she's all...big. She's reading and writing and conversing and getting independent and where she used to be a little fraidy-girl princess, she's now braver and stronger and more sure of herself. And I put her hair up for the first time (ever!) today and I swear she looked 7, not 5. Not my baby.

...hold on...there I go...gimme a second...

OK.

And Jo, the oldest. She's 8. She's so great. I love talking to her, and she's not a little girl anymore. She's still young, of course, but you can see the young woman she's going to be. She's matured so much.

I am so, so thankful I get to stay home during the day to be with my babies before they're off to school. Cuz once they go to school it's like you're no longer their primary influence. Their number one concern is no longer whether they're pleasing you. The whole world comes into play. And it's wonderful, and I'm thankful that I can give our girls a solid foundation from which to launch them. It just stinks because sometimes it feels like that's it for me. I've done my job and now, because I work nights and weekends and don't get to spend much time with Jo during the school year, I have to release her to daddy and the rest of the world. Good thing hubby's there--what would I do otherwise?

Oh, the melodrama. I just had to get it off my chest. :)

Now I can concentrate on all the good things about school starting...like FALL!! My favorite season!! And pumpkins, ooh, and pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, and sweaters, and tights, and boots, and crunchy leaves, and the smell of fires burning, and HALLOWEEN! and crisp apples and apple picking! and cider and hay rides and haunted houses and hot cocoa... I love fall! Fall fall fall, fall fall fall...

From the archives

2007-08-30T15:37:00.000-04:00

Because I'm too sore to think straight, here's "one from the vault" (and OMG if you get that reference? We are totally BFF). And I'll try to write a real post later:

Is there anything quite so disappointing as when you get a craving for iced coffee and then you get some iced coffee and it's all burnt and bitter and nasty?! Then do you go back and ask for a new iced coffee?

What if you were driving thru when you ordered it? Do you go to the nearest dunkies and say, Hi I bought this at the last Dunkies and it sucks so I would like another please? Or do you just open up a vein and stick the straw in so you get the caffeine without the nasty taste?

Today I took Miss D. and Baby R. to McDonalds for lunch. We went to the one with the new playground as a reward for the girls' being so good on our errands this morning. I needed caffeine so I tried the new Newman's Own iced coffee and it was gross gross gross. Burnt and yucky. So I threw it out.

Why did I do that? Isn't my money worth anything? I mean, really, why don't I just take the two bucks and chuck them in the trash? Why am I too embarrased to go up to the counter and demand that the minimum-wage person behind it make me a decent freakin coffee?!

See, now I'm all upset cuz I was forced to get my caffeine from a diet Coke. And it just isn't the same.

I love when you go to Dunkies or Starbucks on a hot sweaty day and you're on your way to work and it sucks to have to work on such a beach day and you get your coffee and it is the perfect balance of coffee, cream, and sugar and you sip it and all your cares just floooat awaaay.

You know, Mickey D's, I'm on a budget here and I cannot afford any more nasty coffees.

I should go work at a Starbucks. Have you ever had a bad coffee from there? I don't think I have. Although I hate when I forget to ask for it "with room," you know, for the cream. Anyway, I should go work there. Although I hear they pay for their WiFi, which kinda blows. I mean, did you not just pay $8 for a latte and now they want to charge for their internet too?

(By the way, I was going to link to the nice blogger who first made mention that Starbucks charged for internet use but now I can't remember which one she was. Just a little sign that I might be addicted to other peoples' blogs.)

When I have MY own coffeehouse one day it will have FREE internet use, and lots of yummy, perfect coffee for less than 8 bucks a cup. There will be no bitter-coffee-induced depression when you come out of MY place. So there

stop the world, i wanna get off

2007-08-17T19:02:00.000-04:00

New designer eyeglasses: $300
Glitter paint for the girls: $5
Realizing you just set your new glasses down in the girls' glitter glue art: priceless

Agh, I'm so stressed. Why can't I be one of those together moms who is, like, organized and on time and with it and on top of things?!! I'd kill to be one of those moms.

Devy is starting Kindergarten in three weeks. THREE WEEKS. I haven't even registered her yet.

I agreed to help out as co-coordinator for the nursery and 2s and 3s room at church a while back because--well, basically because I was asked to and I was too chicken to say no because I was afraid that if I got a reputation for not wanting to do the dirty jobs no one wanted to do, I'd never be trusted with the fun stuff I wanted to do. Now you're probably thinking that it's pretty arrogant of me to label the position a "dirty job" because it might be right up someone else's alley and you'd be totally right. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking that way when it came up. And I'm also in charge of publicity for our moms group, which I admitted wasn't my calling but I was willing to help out. (If you're familiar with the concept of spiritual gifts you realize that some bells should have gone off--here I am with two ministries I feel no calling for.)

And now I'm kinda burning out, slacking off on the things I should be doing, and gaining a reputation for starting things and not finishing them. So now that I want to teach Sunday School (and yes, actually feel called to do it), my intentions are being doubted. I don't blame anyone--I've certainly given plenty of reason for people to doubt me--I'm just mad at myself for putting myself in this position.

So now I'm stressed cuz I have things to do that I don't want to do and that I've put off for so long that I need to do them now and on top of that I have other things that I do want to do and other things, like, oh say, cleaning my house, that need to get done...I've been up more nights lately trying to cram more hours into each day--it sucks.

I know I'm whining and that everyone else is busy and all but I should know better than to let myself get into these spots by saying yes to everything and yet I did it anyway.

Can someone just, like, take over for me for a little while? It's not all bad, there are some good things. I have good friends, great kids, plenty of fun things mixed in with the stress things. You can just be me for a while. I'll be back in, say, October. But, sorry, you're not allowed to share the hubby. He's mine.

post secret

2007-08-12T20:09:00.000-04:00

Have you ever checked out Post Secret? That's the site where people send their deepest secrets--the ones they've never told anyone--and they get anonymously posted on the site. Sometimes they're happy secrets, but they're mostly sad (and then there are the ones I think/hope are just sent so they'll get posted). They make me want to find these people and hug them. But then, that would defeat the whole anonymous thing.

New ones are posted every Sunday, and today's was in the form of a movie. Check it out: post secret

such a dork

2007-08-09T00:07:00.000-04:00

Do you ever find yourself saying "It bugs me when..." or "One of my pet peeves is..." and then thinking Gee, I kinda say that a lot. Maybe I need to lighten up.

Well, anyway. One of my pet peeves is when I go to a place that says "Open til Midnight" and I get there at 11 and I just got out of work and I'm starving and I have a lot to do and need some caffeine so I order a bagel, toasted, and a latte, but the bagel toaster is shut off for the night and the latte machine has already been cleaned so I have to settle for just nasty burned iced coffee and a stale sliced-but-not-toasted bagel instead and still have to pay the same amout I would pay for good food at 8 am.

I mean, I know you want to go home. But if your sign says you're open til midnight then I should be able to get what I want until midnight. And if you have to stay til 1 am to close up afterwards, well, that's what you're getting paid for isn't it?

Is it because not a lot of people come by for that sort of thing so late at night? Well then, why are you open so late? Is it because you get a lot of coffee orders that late but not much else? Then, maybe your sign should be "Open til 10. Just-coffee from 10 to midnight." Then you could just make it drivethru only from 10 to 12 because no one needs to go in to order just-coffee.

Is it just me?

Oh! And that reminds me of another thing that irritates me! Earlier today I went to get an ice cream cone before work. (I know, I need to stay away from the fast food places but it was a crazy day.) And I was helped by this guy who helped me the last time I went for ice cream in this particular place. And the last time I was there for ice cream, I licked it and it went plop! right on the pavement so I went back inside and ordered another one and was very thankful the dude didn't make me pay for it because it was his fault.

Why? you ask?

Because he didn't push the ice cream into the cone. He just let the big round scoop of ice cream sit on top of the cone. I hate that. You can't do that! Because then, when you lick it, what happens? Plop!

So today I went in for an ice cream and I was so excited because they had coffee-Oreo which combines two of my all-time favorite flavors so I got a single-scoop cone and was helped by that same guy and I walked out to my car and licked the cone and sure enough--plop! And of course I looked into the cone and there was no ice cream in it.

I was about to storm into the store and give the guy what-for--and now, thinking about it and getting all mad all over again, I wish I had--but the complacent part of me was pleading with the angry part of me, convincing me that we really had to get to work and did we really need that ice cream anyway?

So your lesson for today, kids, is push the ice cream into the cone, and don't tell me you're open if all I can get is burnt coffee.

no sleep for me tonight

2007-08-03T23:23:00.000-04:00

We've been having trouble with the air conditioning lately. Trouble as in, it's just not working. And we've called the landlord about a billion times, and he's called the A/C guy a billion times. Trouble is, we're on the bottom of the totem pole because for some reason that I've forgotten already, the landlord doesn't have to pay the A/C guy for service. So we get the shit end of the stick even when, oh, say, it's been 90+ degrees for like a week and there's no A/C.

So today, FINALLY, the landlord comes over and says the guy should be here to fill up the coolant tank or whatever and he's dying the coolant so he can come back in a couple of days and see where the leak is. Sure enough there was a noisiness at the back of the house indicating that either a small plane had landed in our nonexistent backyard or a very obese air conditioning service man was trying to fix our unit.

Then said service man came into the house to ask where the filter was so he could change it. I told him I didn't know where it was but my husband had already (gotten sick of waiting and) changed it himself.

That was about 3:30 this afternoon.

It didn't hit me until just now, at almost 11:30 at night as I was just about to fall asleep:

A/C guy didn't knock, or anything, to get in the house. He just opened the door to our garage from outside, and then went through our garage and opened the door from the garage to the house, and came in.

This is not a happy thought when it's late and dark and your hubby and children are sleeping and all your windows and doors are unlocked because it's been so hot that you've been keeping everything open all the time.

I just ran up and down the house in lockdown mode, visions of news stories in which children are snatched from their beds by skeevy service people running through my head. I was somewhat comforted by the fact that this guy would never fit through any of our windows, until I thought of accomplices.

It's times like this when an imagination is a curse.

Now I can't sleep.

I can't wait to see my landlord. Man is getting an earful. Friggin walk through my house.

mind yer p's and q's

2007-08-01T12:03:00.000-04:00

Is it just me...or is politeness way out of style?

It seems like everywhere I go nowadays, people don't look at each other. Don't smile as they pass. Don't say "excuse me" when they squeeze past you in the aisle at the store.

At my job there are a bunch of new hires--kids, all just out of high school. I smile, try to act friendly so they'll feel welcome in their new jobs, but apparently I am just too old and uncool to react to because they just stare straight ahead like I was Kimmy the Uncool Ghost.

And at the store! Just the other day I was looking for some stuff in Michaels and their aisles are really tiny and this kinda big tall lady squeeeeezed past me and didn't even acknowledge that there was another person in the aisle with her.

And at work the other other day I was helping one woman and there isn't much room at the counter so when she backed up to get away from the desk the other woman who was right behind her almost got stepped on and instead of saying "excuse me" she just gave the backing-up woman a rude look. When she came up to me I said "You could say excuse me," and she went off on how she wouldn't be stepped on by rude people. Is it just me? Is it too much to just be polite even if the other woman could have been more careful? I mean, the second lady was kind of up the first woman's butt--she was kind of asking to get stepped on.

So your assignment for today is to go out into the big wide rude world and go out of your way to put some politeness in it. Hang up the cell phone before going up to the clerk at the counter, rather than forcing her to guess what you want while you chat to your other party. Say excuse me even if the other person was wrong. Smile and make eye contact when you pass someone in the store aisle. Just be nice for cryin out loud!

I swear, it will make your life, and everyone else's, a whole lot better! Do it for me, OK? ;)

2007-07-26T15:10:00.000-04:00

We just got a call yesterday telling us that the father of one of Jo's classmates was killed in a really bad car accident. He wasn't even 40.

The phone call was to ask if we wanted to donate to a group donation in the daughter's name. Then we got another phone call today asking if we wanted to come to a big birthday dinner for the daughter. I guess her dad was planning a huge bash for her.

It's so sad.

I want to do something for the family that's a little more personal, and that might help with with what they really need the most, like making dinners or taking Jo's classmate out with us to the zoo for the day or something. But I feel awkward asking, since we really didn't know the family besides Jo going to last year's birthday party.

What do you think that family needs most? Money? Food? Time alone? Fun time? Right now, I'm just praying for their peace.

i'm done!

2007-07-24T15:50:00.000-04:00

Finally done with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and it was SO SO good. It ended just exactly the way I wanted it to.

I don't know anyone else who has finished it yet so I'm dying for someone to talk about it with. If you read the book and want to discuss, email me at kimberlypaine at comcast dot net and we'll chat. :) I'm reading it again, slower this time. That's how good it is--as soon as you finish you want to go back and do it all again. ;)

Well the downside of all this (besides no new HP books) is that I seriously have to go clean my house. Three days of reading nonstop except to pee and possibly eat means that my house is a total disaster. Fun fun!

get mad

2007-07-19T09:16:00.001-04:00

I am so mad about this. The New York Times somehow got its grubby paws on a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and has published a review, complete with too much information for anyone who wants to, oh I dunno, wait until they can read the book for themselves.

Who'd'a thought the NYT would stoop to scooping a story like HP#7 and spoiling it?! I'm in disbelief. That's something I'd expect from some trashy tabloid. Not that I read those. Well, OK, I might. I might even use them as my main news source. But anyway...back to the NYT.

The Leaky Cauldron has posted a letter you can send to the paper at letters@nytimes.com. You can use theirs, which I am reposting here, or you can write your own. Theirs is pretty good though. Here it is:

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to express my disappointment that your publication printed an early review and details of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This goes against the express wishes of the author and anyone that calls themselves a true Harry Potter fan.

It is hard enough for a Harry Potter fan to avoid spoilers on the Internet and news stations now that the book appears to have leaked; now we have to avoid trusted outlets as well. You’ve not only disappointed millions of children around the world with your actions, you have disappointed the millions of adults who look to the New York Times to be a bastion of good taste and standards. When the New York Times succumbs to such tabloid tactics, who won’t?

Many ask why we care - why fans aren’t all so rabid to get the book that we’ll sop up any illegal download or purchase. There’s one simple answer: We respect the author. We thought that a newspaper like yours, where so many of your reporters become authors themselves, would understand and respect that. We’re so saddened that we were wrong. We feel let down by you and your editorial board.

Sincerely,

Your name here
Harry Potter Fan, and member of Jo’s Army

So, go now, send the letter. It's your duty as a fan!

book 7 is coming. be ready.

2007-07-19T00:25:00.001-04:00

If you've been living under a rock for some time, I'm going to tell you: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the 7th and last book of the ten-years-in-the-making Harry Potter series, comes out at 12:01 on Saturday.

I'm very excited.

I get like this with any series of books in which I'm all invested in the characters. To me, any writer who can make me feel like I know his or her characters personally is a good writer--even when it makes me look superdorky, talking about (and caring about! and crying over!) the characters like they really exist. Like, they're real live people whose lives will continue on even if we don't get to read about it.

But this one gets me even more excited because there are movies! And merchandise! And book release parties! And billions of other fans who want to do nothing else but theorize on what's going to happen in the very last book!!! So, it's all pretty intense. Which cracks me up because if you're not a fan, you probably haven't even noticed.

"Hm? Harry Potter? Are those books still around?" :)

So yeah, the hubby and I went to see Order of the Phoenix the other night, which just served to feed my pottermania, and as I watched the movie that tried to cram the longest book of the series into the shortest movie of the series I couldn't help but glance over at hasn't-read-the-books hubby and wonder if he had any idea what was going on. Cuz, you know, there is just so much to everything. He said he liked it OK, but of course that's only because he has no idea of the vast array of information he is missing.

Like, OK. Where to start.

[Oh, and Spoiler Alert in case you haven't seen OotP yet, or read the book. In which case, get a move on already.]

[Ready??]

[I warned you.]

[OK.]

We never see Sirius's dear old mum. We just hear her mumbling behind her curtain. Frankly, I think this is a good thing. But still.
There's no sense of how they spend the entire summer cleaning the house, and how Kreacher sneaks stuff off.
The whole bit with Molly and the boggart? Not there.
No indication of the new Divination teacher or how he got booted from the forest.
No Quidditch. I know!!
Cho is substituted as the squealer, revealing the DA, courtesy of Veritaserum.
The fight at the Ministry is cut super-short. There's no brains trying to eat Ron (poor kid gets no scenes nowadays), no spinning hall of doors, hardly any evidence of all the kids' hard work in the DA paying off.
The whole bit with Rita Skeeter and the way Hermione blackmails her? Gone.

[/spoiler alert]

Basically, everything is on fast-forward. I know that they didn't cut out anything superimportant, but jeez, I could have standed it being like twice as long, at least. All the fun stuff was gone, like Ron taking the lucky potion (that was OotP, right? crap, I'm all confused. better read them all again.) All my favorite actors (Emma Thompson! Helena Bonham Carter!) and characters (Mad Eye! Tonks!!) were on screen for like, two seconds.

The wierdest thing about the movie, though? Everyone looks so old! I mean, of course the kids do. But in one scene there was a close shot of McGonagall and I wanted to cry, she looked so old! And Hagrid, and Snape...(My apologies to the actors--I should say you look older, not just old. It's just weird. It's like seeing your aunt when she's 38 and not seeing her again til she's 58.)

Ugh, I have to go. It's 1am and I have lots of ebay posting to do and I just don't make any sense at this time of night. But anyway, if anyone in my area is going to a release party on Friday night, take me with you!! Just give me notice so I can grab a Mischief Managed tee shirt beforehand. :)

summer movies

2007-07-09T23:45:00.000-04:00

Summer. I have a love-hate relationship with it. On one hand, summer means squeezing into shorts and tank tops and bathing suits and worrying about who sees me in them. It means sweating a lot. It means mosquitos. But on the other hand it means school's out, daytrips with the kids, summer camp and my favorite summer thing: summer movies!

I'm not really a huge moviegoer. Too much other stuff to do to get to the theater. But there is so much coming out that I just have to see.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Do I even need to explain this one to you? You know what it is. I'm dying to see it, and then to read the last book.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3
Just saw this. Loved it! I'm really really hoping there will be a fourth. Note to Hollywood: you keep putting Johnny Depp up on the screen, I'll keep paying hard-earned cash to see him.

Transformers
My boss says this is the best movie he's ever seen. While I do think that might be overstating a little, I am excited to see this. Which surprises me because hello! Transformers are a boys' toy. Barbies are for girls. Duh.

Live Free or Die Hard
Love Bruce Willis. Love Die Hard movies. Probably wait to NetFlix this one though. Sorry Brucy, I can only shell out so much for movie tickets. I'm on a budget, y'know.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
I know, I know. I'm a sucker for the big summer blockbuster. It's not my fault; you think I could get my man's-man hubby to some indy film? Heck no. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

A Mighty Heart
I'm not sure this one is still in theaters. I really want to see it though. In the beginning I was kind of like "eh, whatever!" But I've read the things that Marianne Pearl says about the movie and about her friend Angelina Jolie's part in it and, taking into consideration that I'm getting my info from drugstore tabloids, I really want to see it now.

The Bourne Ultimatum
I had no idea they were making a third Jason Bourne movie until it's practically out. I liked the first two...but I'm going to have to watch them again right before I go see this one just so I can remember what the heck is going on.

Stardust
I've been a fan of Neil Gaiman's stuff since high school and, while I haven't invested as much time reading him as say, Stephen King (such highbrow, literary reading I'm into, no?), I just started a collection of his short stories that has reignited my interest in him. So I was excited to see that they're making a movie out of this book, Stardust. I'm going to have to find my copy, dust it off and reread it. Gaiman is producing, and we all know that including the author in his movie adaptation is a good thing, right?

It's kind of funny to look back on my days as a movie reviewer for my college newspaper. Seriously, I like pretty much everything. So every week I'd have to find a different way to say "I liked it." I'm just no critic. I do have to make time to go see something low-budgety, though, before the blockbusters rot my brain.

i'm back

2007-07-02T01:11:00.000-04:00

Well finally, after a whole week of lovely, lovely vacation, I am finally home with my family where I belong. Don't get me wrong--I had a blast in Orlando, hanging out with my hubby, going out exploring on my own, meeting new people and all. But it is so good to be home. Pretty soon I will be asleep in my own bed with the sleep-sounds of all my kids as evidence that we're all together, safe and sound and happy. :)

Actually, I don't think the kids wanted to come home. Bek, my little baby who is a total mush for all things mommy or daddy, barely even moved when we came in the house. I was expecting an ambush! And the girls had tons of things to tell me about their week--I hope they're not bored to be back to the everyday routines.

I missed them so much! I was pretty good most of the week but by the time Saturday night came, just watching someone else's kid cry about something or be happy about something or really, just exist and be cute, was enough to send me into melt-down mode.

Hey, on Saturday before we went to Universal (which was fun but I wish we'd had more time for Islands of Adventure next door, with its wicked-looking roller coasters), hubby and I went to a rock gym. I'd wanted to go the night before while hubby met up with an old colleague for drinks, but you needed to bring your own belay partner so he said he'd come with Saturday morning. We had so much fun! Fortunately we've both had a little bit of climbing and knot-tying experience, because the kids running the rock gym were kind of like, "OK, here's how y'do it, now go do it." I don't know how someone with no prior experience would learn so fast, but they must do OK because the kid pretty much expected us to know what to do.

Belaying hubby was way easier than I expected it to be, although I didn't know it was going to be such a workout on the arms. He fell off the wall once and I hardly even felt it. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to strap myself down so I wouldn't go flying up, slapstick-style. :)

We got a good workout. Right now my shoulders and legs are feeling it still. We're going to check out the rock gym near us and see about memberships for at least me and Jo, if not hubby and Devy too. I'd love to get the kids into it; there were some girls there who looked younger than Jo who were really good!

It's way past my bedtime so I'm not sure if this post is coherent, or if there's a point, or anything like that. ;) Just wanted to give you the lowdown on the last part of vacation. I really had such a good time. It was an adventure. Going out by myself during the day while hubby had his thing, and other stuff like riding single rider on the theme park rides and the plane, and going to unusual places and doing new things--they all allowed me to meet people and have experiences I wouldn't have had if I'd played it safe and stayed in the hotel or waited for hubby to hold my hand all week. And it was so, so incredibly good for the two of us to have time together as hubby and wife without also being mommy and daddy. I'm very blessed to have married him--my sweetheart and my best friend.

Sigh...that's the danger of letting me post this late. I get all corny. :)

So--whacha doing for the fourth?

tipping

2007-06-28T07:52:00.000-04:00

I would like to take this time to reflect on something that has popped up a lot over the last week of our vacation: tipping. It's everywhere. I want to know what you think about tipping. How did it start? Why does it continue?

I don't really get it. Aren't people getting paid? Why should I pay them more? Because I thought they did a good job? Shouldn't they do a good job because it's their job?! I understand that a lot of jobs don't pay very well, and that a lot of waitresses and stuff like that make much of their living from tips. But then, why don't you just charge me a little more for the service so you can pay your employees more, instead of involving me in this intricate game of how to tip, when to tip, and how much!?

So I mentioned I got my nose pierced the other day. They guy who did it was very nice, and very clean, and did a good job, so thumbs up. But all over his parlor there were signs about tipping--tip me! tip me!!! But um...they guy owned the place. Doesn't he get all the money anyway? If you want 5 more dollars for your service, charge me five more dollars.

I know I'm not the most business savvy person in the world, so by all means if someone has more insight to this feel free to let me in on it. And please don't think I'm a miserly tipper. I tip well when I eat out and when I get my hair cut or my nails done. But some other stuff just bugs me.

Like at the airport. Some guy took our bags for us and loaded them up on the x-ray belt. And stood there.

"I'm with [name of company]." he says.

"OK." we say. "Thanks."

"I'm with [name of company]." he says, smiling, and still standing there.

Hubby finally reaches in his pocket and hands him an indecipherable amount of cash. I wanted to puke. Because in my opinion, that was just nutty. Because as far as I could tell, all this guy's job consisted of was taking people's bags and putting them on the belt one at a time. So that is what he is getting paid to do. And that's what he did. So...what am I tipping him for? Not tossing the bags through the air or stomping on them before loading them?

Don't. get. it.

Any thoughts?

p.s. I would, however, totally like to give $1,000 to the pilot who successfully landed our plane that day. The turbulence on the way down had me gripping the seat in front of me with one hand and the frame of the window with the other. We were see-sawing back and forth, descending more steeply than I can ever remember doing in any plane before, and all I could say was "well, at least we don't have far to fall from here..." If I'm never on another flight that ends in applause, that will be just fine with me. ;)

things about florida (or at least orlando) that are really weird but that i love anyway, with the exception of exit only lanes and stripper joints

2007-06-27T10:16:00.000-04:00

The animals are crazy. If they want a piece of food on the ground and there are people all over the place, they totally don't care. They just march on up, look you in the eye, and say "step off my food, beeyatch!" and then run away with it.
There are lizards everywhere. Prior to this little trip I was under the impression that lizards came from the pet store. And if you wanted to find one in the wild you had to go to, like, Brazil. But at SeaWorld the other day there were little anoles all over the place! The people trying to catch them to bring home included a 12-year-old boy, his 9-year-old little sister, and me. ;) Well, OK, I didn't actually try to catch any, but I might have yelled out "Run, little lizards, or you're coming home with me!!" And they were sunning themselves on the curb between the sidewalk and the bushes, and as you walked by they'd scoot into the bushes, then as you walked and looked back, you'd see them pop out again to continue their sunbathing.
The signs here are all in English AND Spanish. I have 5 different Spanish radio and five different Spanish TV stations to choose from (love my Spanish radio!!). Everyone everywhere speaks Spanish.This would be fine, except I'm under the mistaken belief that I can speak Spanish too. So I make a fool out of myself trying to, say, order breakfast in Espanol. (I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't serve bald monkey fritters.)
I think I mentioned this in my last post but they let you just walk around with your alcohol. Now, for someone who has lived in Massachusetts all her life, this is just nutty. I mean, you can get arrested for walking around with a beer in your hand, can't you? Or at least sent home? I mean, we just started being able to buy liquor on Sunday. But only between noon and 6. And you can't get it just anywhere; you have to go to a liquor store. Otherwise known as a packie. But here we were, walking around Disney MGM studios and people were just walking around with it! And on the CityWalk at Universal, there are just stands where you walk up and get alcohol to go. Freakin nutty. So we went to a reception and a show at SeaWorld the other day and since we had some time to kill between the two, we thought we'd try out this crazy idea. We walked toward the entrance of the park with drinks in our hands, and we were sure they were going to stop us at the gate, right? Nope! Did not even look twice at whatever we were carrying. Craziness!
Friggin "Exit Only" lanes. They're everywhere. I hate them.
Stipper joints. Even more abundant than the exit only lanes. And anything else in that category: escort services, adult "!!!XXX!!!" entertainment, you name it. Gotta keep those traveling businessmen happy. (Ew ewewew ew skeeve ew ew ewww)
This hotel we're staying in? Doesn't let you park yourself. It's required valet. Which isn't bad or anything, just kind of a pain, and pretty unexpected since it's not exactly a fancy place. It just cracks me up though cuz here I am, here for over a week, coming and going as I please, running the valet boys ragged. Go get my car! Now put it away! Now get it again! Now put it back! Oops, forgot my coffee in there, go get it! Now! Now! Noowowww! :)
The speed limit signs, at least the ones in I-4, are digital, and they change. So, the speed limit today might be 50, then tomorrow it might be 55. They just change it. Kooky! Does that make it easy to fight speeding tickets? "Well officer, it was 65 when I passed it."
Another thing that's everywhere that is a lot more difficult to find in MA because it just became legal like, yesterday: tattoo and piercing parlors. The major thing keeping me from getting something stuck in some part of my body was the scarcity of parlors. We don't have any near my house--I'd have to drive pretty far away to get one. Here? They're everywhere. I know part of that is probably because I live in a suburb and I'm staying here in a major city, but still. So by the time I passed the 10th parlor I was like, "Heck! Why not?!" and went in and got my nose pierced. (The verdict? I love it. Hubby? Not so much. His approximate quote: "So, is this like a phase thing, or do I need to get used to it being permanent?" I said I didn't know.)
There's a big excitement over the fact that Blue Man Group has arrived. Their show just started this month over at Universal. The signs are everywhere, the radio keeps playing the ads, the whole thing. This cracks me up, because BMG has been in Boston for what? 10 years? I'm hoping we get to see the show here though. Love those guys. :) My brother wants to be a BMG. Maybe he could move to Orlando?

OK that's it for me. I have big plans for today: gym, shower, nap, pool, read, write, coffee, email the kids (my kids! I miss my kids! But not enough to come home yet...). Big day. ;)

de vaccaciones

2007-06-26T08:02:00.000-04:00

Hey people, long time no blog. Guess where I am? No really guess. I'm in F-L-O-R-I-D-A!

We've been here since Friday and (apart from the missing of the kids and the worrying of the mom) I'm totally loving it. I just dropped hubby off at his conference and now I'm sitting in BadAss coffee house, sipping a BadAss Mocha which is a very, very tasty mix of hot dark and white chocolate. Yum. So much for my light, lowfat breakfast. ;)

Hubby and I spent all Sunday at Disney-MGM studios. That was fun. I've never been to Orlando before so everything's totally new to me. We saw an Indiana Jones stunt show which was really nifty cuz they reenacted scenes from the movies with the actual stunt doubles (so...how long have you been doing this show, exactly?!) to show how they do everything. It was pretty cool. I was bummed we didn't get to go on any rides--these crazy summer t-storms kept washing through, which made for prime time to browse the streets while everyone else ran for cover but closed the roller coaster and big drop ride--but we shopped and saw shows and had a good time.

Yesterday we went to see Shamu Rocks at SeaWorld. I didn't get to go on that rollercoaster--the Kraken, which just tickled my little PotC-loving heart--either, because we were there with a group and didn't have much time, but the show was fun. Hubby and I sat in the very front row and got completely drenched by the whales. Fun stuff! I'm going to have to replace the library book that was in my bag though...

What else...we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe which I was afraid was going to be lame because aren't most things that all tourists do lame? But they play excellent music (I seriously thought "Hard Rock" was just a catchy name...I don't get out much, OK?) and there is rock memorabilia all over the walls--it was just cool. And my drinks were excellent and the food was really tasty and hot and we got to shop in the store afterwards...what more could I want? Oh yeah. Dessert. I was too full. :( So tragic. :)

I got an email from the kids yesterday, which thrilled the heck out of me so I replied with a total book on what daddy and mommy have been doing so far. I know my in-laws will get a kick out of that.

After my mocha and my blogging I'm heading back to the hotel to grab my art stuff then I'm headed to college park, the local bohemian hangout so I can release my inner artist. :) I'm hoping to have something to show you by the time I get back.

Themes of the week so far:

being led around in groups like cattle
please exit the ride through the gift shop
it's getting dark but the temperature hasn't dropped
please oh please let me try to speak to you in your native Spanish so I can feel cool and don't laugh at my American accent?!?!

**later.

Pst...guess who got her nose pierced?!

On a more serious note: Please click on the link under the new graphic on the side of the page. One of my biggest fears is that while I'm here in Florida, one of my kids will drown in the in-laws' pool. This blogger just lost his son to that exact fate. If you can help the family by donating $5 please do. And please pray for healing for the family in this terrible time.

My first troll, yay!

2007-06-20T09:36:00.001-04:00

Hey, I had to change some stuff on the blog because I started getting nasty stupid comments from nasty stupid people. So now you can only comment if you are registered with Blogger, and there is a word verification form too, which I hate, but I thought I'd get that in there while I was at it.

So I'm sorry if you want to comment, but can't because you don't use blogger. If we're cool, you can always email me! ;)

OK, back to packing for Florida. And cleaning. And packing and cleaning and cleaning and packing and cleaning...

Tag!

2007-06-15T14:40:00.000-04:00

I was tagged by KB and thought I would share, since y'all know I love memes.

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

Maggie at CoffeeShopMofia
Slacker-Moms-R-Us
Big Dreams and Pixie Dust
K.B. Squared
Tragically Unhip

Next select 5 people to tag: (that means you have to post this on your blog!)
Connie
Hilly
and um...you. and you and you. I don't have too many blogging friends. :)

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Let's see, 10 years ago I was 18. So that was a little before kids. I was just finishing my first year at college, trying not to fail too much but not really succeeding because I liked skipping class better than I liked going. I was starting practice for my second season as an apprentice actor in the local rennaisance faire (dork!). I played a pirate, and I totally totally loved it. I was living in an apartment with my family--we'd just moved out of the house I grew up in. I was working too many hours at Blockbuster as assistant manager.

What was I doing 1 year ago?

One year ago I was just finishing breastfeeding and was NONE too happy about it--it was all Bek's decision. She was only 3 months old but I'd been back to work for a month and a half and she liked the bottle she got while I was at work better than she liked my boob, I guess. So about one year ago is when hubby came in from work to me, rocking Bek, feeding her a bottle, crying, saying "Why doesn't she want me?!!" :) Ah, hormones.

5 snacks I enjoy

Nachos. Loaded. And if there is a margarita to go with? Even better!

Brownies

Ice cream

Blue tortilla chips and red pepper hummus

Peanut-butter-covered pretzels

5 songs that I know all the lyrics to…

Barenaked Ladies--If I had $1000000

Barlow Girl--On My Own

10,000 Maniacs--What's the Matter Here?

Panic! at the Disco--I Write Sins Not Tragedies

Ani DiFranco--Untouchable Face

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire

Give give give

buy a house!

go on vacation

open a coffeehouse

go shopping

5 bad habits

I'm bad at keeping in touch with my friends

I pick the nail polish off my nails as soon as it's dry

I eat too much junk food

I sleep too late

I swear too much

5 things I like to do

Hike

Camp

Be creative

Write

5 things I will never wear again

Two pairs of socks in two colors in a check pattern

crocheted sweaters

tapered leg jeans

my wedding dress

anything in navy blue

5 favorite toys

Laptop

My art stuff

face paint

roller blades/skates

my Dance Dance Revolution game

Well that was fun. Oh! Here's a drawing I did a while ago, before Bek was born, that I thought I'd share. It's supposed to be Jo and Devy, all dressed up:

to do

2007-06-07T22:44:00.000-04:00

So...I've been slacking big-time on my blogging. I vaguely remember a New Year's Resolution about blogging every day.

Oh well, resolutions are made to be broken, right? ;)

Well look. I've been busy, ok? Trying to get to the gym, spend time with my kids, actually clean the house and keep it clean... I have a to-do list a mile long, and my computer time is the first thing to go when the rest of my day is packed.

I can't help but think how much more I'd get done if I didn't have to sleep, y'know?!

Here's just a little sample of the stuff I have to do:

go to the gym
email so-and-so about guitar lessons
finish mother & son drawing
find the next local Zumba certification class
bring books back to the library
print new schedule, nametags for nursery and toddler rooms at church and bring them there
blog
work
clean
pray
suck it up and call the damn dentist before teeth fall out
find presents for fathers' day, sister's birthday
look up that word my coworker called me
take kids to playground
buy milk. look into cow--landlord doesn't allow pets
groceries--plan menu, make list, actually go sometime this month
eyebrows--threatening to take over face
call mom
Halofest @ brother's apt
find brother's apt?
visit Jo's biography fair at school--look interested
write, print, distribute survey for employee club @ work
put together mailing list for MOPS* newsletter and send the damn thing out before the preschoolers are in high school
stop swearing so much--kids notice?
register Devy for Kindergarten--get name change paperwork back?**
pelvic floor squeeeeeeeze***
fix blogroll
transfer old blog stuff to this one
update dvd queue on blockbuster.com
pass out biz cards for MOPS promo
sell MOPS newsletter advertising
email old boss to say hi--send letter instead?
buy art
sell stuff on ebay
post free stuff on freecycle
teach Jo how to ride her bike--kid's 8, cryin out loud
swim lessons for girls
find out how to get paid for something I'm good at--writing? drawing? sex? kidding...?
get bloody organized--why 3 planners for same year, nothing in them?
email all the friends I haven't talked to lately. playdates? *cringe*

Wow, when I type it all out like that it seems...massively overwhelming. I swear to you, bloggy buddies, the next time I pop in, I'll have crossed half this list off.

Or...a third.

A quarter for sure.

What're you up to?

* MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers, and is a great organization for mothers of kids aged birth through Kindergarten. Check it out here.

**When I was pregnant with Devy I had this great idea of how I wanted to spell her full name. She was born, I filled in the great new name spelling on the birth certificate form, we took her home, and I promptly realized I was a hormonal idiot who totally misspelled our daughter's name. We're finally just getting it changed now, in time for her to go to Kindergarten. Seriously...change one stinkin letter and you'd think we were trying to smuggle her in from another country or something with the paperwork and lawyers and fees...

***If you haven't read I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson? You should. It will give stay at home moms a huge respect for working moms, and will make working moms laugh at their own crazy lives while being proud of what they do for their families. And when I'm a huge famous writer I'm totally denying ever reading chick lit. So there.

all done

2007-06-03T22:07:00.000-04:00

Here's my guitar drawing, all done. I know it's nothing spectacular, but I'm proud of it anyway. ;)

guitar

2007-06-01T08:48:00.000-04:00

Just some art I'm working on. I sketched it out at work last night, and then this morning I started experimenting with painting it in Photoshop. I've never done that before; it's kinda neat! :)

art in me*

2007-05-29T14:33:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited to tell you about this blog that I came across through this other blog. I just got the girl's zine in the mail and it's titled, get this: The Artist in the Office: Living the Dream with a Day Job.

If you know me, and especially if you work with me, you'll know why this is so thrilling to me. I am all about the art in the workplace--the inserting of my creative bits into an otherwise dull, lifeless job. And this zine I got (which was free when I asked for it but now costs a small bit, sorry) has all these little tidbits on how to own up to your creative side.

When someone asks me what I do I tell them I'm a mom, and I work at ***bleeeeeeep*** but what I should say is that I'm a mom and an artist. Well, that's the idea, anyway...I don't have the nerve to do that yet since I really don't produce much art. But that's ok because the zine addresses that too. How to actually stop feeling guilty, sit down, and produce! Forget "I'm too tired!" Lots and lots and lots of famous, creative people have or had "real," day jobs and just because I don't sit around producing art full time and just because I collect a paycheck from the man doesn't preclude me from being an arteest. ;)

The other thing that is so exciting about this is I have two friends I am dying to pass the zine on to. I might even suck it up and pay money for them each to have a copy. Because while it is very tempting to just photocopy the dang thing a couple-a times, that would totally go against the whole artist-community vibe.

I have no idea when I became so bohemian. :) hee

*a song by Jars of Clay

Oh and by they way--I'm working on preparing this blog to take over from my BlogCharm account as main blog, because I'm sick of not being able to log onto BC. So I may be changing things around. Here's hoping I don't erase my entire blog in the process! Hang with me, k?

bleach me baby

2007-05-02T11:10:00.001-04:00

Hey, remember when I tried to dye my hair purple?! Good times, good times.

Well, a few days ago I tried again, this time with some funky bleach-out highlighter. My goal was big, fat, funky, artfully-arranged chunks of highlights.

I followed all the directions. I even cracked a window in the bathroom because Dang! that stuff could kill ya with the stink. I painted the stuff on and didn't even get the bathroom looking like someone killed a bleach bottle in there. I sat there, reading a book, shaving my legs, drinking hot cocoa, for an hour and fifteen minutes.

Then I washed the stuff out, went to bed, and woke up thinking "Yes! When I go downstairs and take off this towel I'm going to have funky, artfully-arranged chunky highlights! Supercool!"

So I went downstairs and took off the towel and? Nuthin (you've probably guessed that already, right?). Not a single spot of anything that would indicate I'd spend over an hour with bleach in my hair.

I'm just about convinced that my head is undyeable.

But! I have CVS Extrabucks or whatever the heck they're called and as soon as I get some more mo-nay I'm going to hike on over there, buy another box of Super FX bleach-out highlighter or whatever it's called, sit in the bathroom and soak my head in the stuff (not my whole head, just artfully-arranged pieces of it) for as long as the directions say I can.

And maybe a little longer!

Then, I'm going to the nearest Hot Topic and getting me some more Manic Panic Purple Hair Dye and throwing it on some of the bleached-out parts. Cuz dangit, I'm determined to get this hair some color other than red some time before I'm old.

And by that, I do not mean gray!! Gray is not a hair color! And all you hairs better be listening because I see what you do in the middle of the night, don't think I don't notice!!

It's pronounced "meeeeeeeem"

2007-04-12T13:56:00.000-04:00

THE MOVIE MEME (stolen from snackiepoo)

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
Clerks. Disney's Robin Hood. The Princess Bride. Muppet Treasure Island. Muppet Christmas Carol. Nightmare Before Christmas. Chocolat. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Benny & Joon. Oh, I'm sorry, did you say a movie? As in, one?
2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater.
Titanic --yeah, I know. I can't even remember why I saw it twice in the theater. Must've been lots to see. :) Plus hubby and I were dating, we were all mushy romantic...
3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Two words: Johnny Depp. I will see any movie he makes. Then there are actors I'll go to see in movies that I wouldn't otherwise watch like Wil Smith. I really like him and will pretty much see a movie just cuz he's in it.
4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Who was that guy in the Deuce Bigelow movies? See, I can't even remember his name. And pretty much anyone who has ever been on SNL. I don't know why; I love funny movies but SNL alumni bug me.
5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.
Breakfast Club, Princess Bride, Pulp Fiction, any of the movies in #1, a bunch of other Disney movies...and I say I'm not a big Disney fan...Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail because I'm a closet (OK not so closet) dork...lots more.
6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Guys and Dolls, in addition to any musicals already mentioned.
7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
Oh please. Anything I've already mentioned? I sing to it.
8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
I've got two: Amelie, because it is such a sweet sweet movie, and The Prestige, which I just rented and have been telling everyone about. :)
9. Name a movie that you own.
Just one? Do you want a cool movie I own, a movie I have to have for the kids, a movie I'd rather not admit to...what? OK, one movie I own is Much Ado About Nothing, with Kenneth Branagh. Love him. And Emma Thompsen. Love her. Two more actors I'll watch movies for.
10. Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
I third Justin Timberlake. I didn't listen to him until Sexy Back (another thing I don't admit to many people, so keep that on the DL, got it?) but I actually like him! He's a decent actor!
11. Ever see a movie in a drive-thru? If so, what?
Oh wow, Ghostbusters, like eons ago when I was little. I fell asleep in the back of the car.
12. Ever made out in a movie?
Um, yes. Which is why my girls are not allowed to go to the movies until they're 35.
13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven’t yet gotten around to it.
Hrm. Can't think of one right now. That's not to say I watch tons of movies--who's got time to see everything they want to?!--just can't think of one.
14. Ever walked out of a movie?
No but I've come very close. Hannibal made me want SO bad to walk out but I was writing a review for my college newspaper so I had to stay. Then there was a freak snowstorm that caused the paper to not go to print that week, rendering my review useless. I might have cried. Just sayin.
15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Hey, that's not fair, I cry at orange juice commercials. So I cried at Titanic. Lion King. Prince of Egypt (sobbed at the scene where Moses' mom puts him in the basket and sends him down the river. Hey, I was pregnant and hormoney. It was sad!!)
16. What’s the last movie you saw in the theater?
I don't get out to the theater much. I think the last movie I saw there was Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
17. What’s your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Gah, I have no idea. It is either SciFi or Comedy or Romantic Comedy or whatever they make that is not shitty.**
18. What’s the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
Arachnaphobia, with a bunch of friends in junior high. I still remember the part where the spider came out of the shower. Unfortunately, I remember it while I'm in the shower.
19. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
Final Destination. Total waste of cinema space. Why this movie had two sequels is beyond.
20. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
A Spanish movie called--oh shoot. I can't remember. But it was subtitled and while that isn't usually a problem for me, this movie was so crazy, but fun!
21. What is the scariest movie you have ever seen?
See #18. I'm still afraid of spiders. Stupid spiders.
22. What is the funniest movie you've seen?
Eh, there is probably more than one....Office Space, Clerks,** and I'll add Bruce Almighty, which made me laugh so hard the first time I saw it that I couldn't breathe. :)

**keeping this answer, thanks snackiepoo. ;)

Hey, Bek is getting better, hallelujah and amen, so I should come up with a halfway decent post for you all sometime soon. No complaining, I swear! ;)

moving

2007-04-11T10:56:00.000-04:00

OK, I think this is it. I think that I'm moving my blog from blogcharm to here. It was the last straw when I tried logging on to say that I was moving and couldn't log on because they're having some kind of issue.

I've been avoiding moving here because, even though it would be easier for me to have all my blogs in one place, if I put my regular blog here and all my readers (all 2 of them) come here, they'll have easy access to my profile, which leads to my weight-loss blog, which has pictures...it's all scary stuff. :)

But that is actually the other reason for the move. I'm considering giving open access to the weight-loss blog because I really need the accountability and the knowledge that people I know are reading it and following my progress...or lack thereof.

Anyway I didn't want to write about that kind of stuff here. That's why I have the other blog, after all. So here is some randomness that has been floating around in my head since last I posted:

Has anyone seen The Prestige? That movie rocks! I wanted to see it again as soon as it was done (which, incidentally, is exactly what the movie cover promised I'd want to do)! I think I might even buy it! And I never buy movies anymore!
Why is it so hard for some men to say "sorry"?!! The last few times I've been mad at my hubby for something or other--nothing big, nothing we needed to talk out or anything like that, just little stuff that kind of pops up sometimes in day-to-day life--he comes home with a rose for me. I like roses and all, but is it so hard to just say sorry that you'd rather spend $2 on a flower than say it? Oh, and this time there was a 4-pack of Starbucks Frappuchino with the rose. Did I mention I'm trying to lose weight?! Good thing he's cute. :)
I just spent $45 on late fees at the library. $45!!! On late fees!! I could have brought in food-for-fees (they donate the food to the local pantry) but I've been avoiding the library for, like, six months now and Jo needed books for her school project and so I just paid it. There goes my allowance for the next month. Gah.
I'm slowly coming to the realization that spring is not coming this year. We're just going to go straight into summer, sometime in July. Winter was all late and stuff, not coming until like, February, and now it's all, Oh, you liked that, huh? Well I'm back and I'm not leaving, so there!!
I ordered some books from one of those buy-6-for-99-cents-each clubs and they're not here yet. I want my books. But that's OK because I just took out books 5 and 6 of the Harry Potter series so I could re-read them before the new one comes out in July.
Have you ever had a job with a really stupid boss so you think, Oh, man, this boss has to LEAVE and finally one day he does and you get a new boss and at first the new boss seems cool but then as time goes on you realize he's a lying, lazy stupidhead and you realize you were better off with the first boss? Yeah, that blows.
I need to spend less time on the computer and more time outside. That would be facilitated by spring but like I said, it's still kinda winter.
Hm, all these points are kind of negative. I blame it all on sleep deprivation brought on by a sick baby. She's sick again and guess who gets to stay up with her in the middle of the night and then gets up early giving her a bath to bring down her fever while she screams and her lips quiver and her body shivers violently and the other person leaves for work? I'll give you a hint! See point number 2! :)

But really, I am sorry this is so negative. I'll come up with something cheerier for next time. :)

a whole big bag of sore

2007-02-12T09:58:00.000-05:00

Go me! I have been to the gym, working out hard, for the last three days. Today will make four days in a row. Yay!

The only thing is...I hurt! All weekend I moaned around work like a lame-ass going "Ow. Ow! Oahhh. Wahhh. Ohh. Oww! Oh."

I'm pretty sure everyone there wanted to put me out of my misery.

I swear, I stretched and everything! That's what hubby asks me every time I complain about being sore. "Did you stretch?" And I say, "No," just like that, all condescending because why am I going to take the time out to actually stretch?! But this time I really did and I still hurt everywhere! Why the hell am I going to keep working out if it makes me feel like this afterwards?!

But the good news is I'm really proud of how hard I've been working. I've been, like, jogging and stuff. (Note to self: buy better jogging bra.)

There is a girl at work who is studying sports therapy and I keep bugging her with questions. "Why am I sore? Why does this hurt? What's this? What's that? Blah blah blah?!" I'm pretty sure she's going to start charging me by the hour.

Now if only I can keep this up.

hmm...

2007-02-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

I originally deserted my blog here at blogger for a new blog host called blogcharm sometime last october or so. The idea behind blogcharm is that they pay you a little bit every time someone views your page--no ad clicking needed. Sounds great, right?! So I've been there for a while and I am just about to make it up to the $10 minimum required for a payout when I get an email saying, surprise! We're having difficulties and cannot make payouts at this time.

Can you say scam alert?!

So I may be back here soon. Keep an eye out! ;)

chocolate

2006-12-13T14:40:00.000-05:00

In case I've never mentioned it here before, my goal is to one day open a coffeehouse. And one of the things I would like to have in said coffeehouse is homemade goodies. And one of the goodies I want to homemake is chocolate. Or should I say choooocolaaate. :)

And last night I was at Target (lurve Target) and I happened to be in their chocolate section (just happened to be, really!) and I saw this new Choxie bar called the hot chocolate bar. Here's the description:

"deep, dark truffled chocolate with chipotle chili heat"

That made me say things like YUM! and OOH! (and maybe drool a little) so I took it home with me and ate it while I made some other chocolates to bring to bible study tomorrow.

(When it comes to chocolate I say let the masses eat the cheap stuff while I eat the pricey mexican-spice-containing stuff.)

Anyway it was SUPER good and HOT! Like, you pop it in your mouth and go, "Mmm, smooth." and then in the next second you're reaching for your Dunkin Donuts Gingerbread Latte (which, while good, is not such a great combo with spicy chocolate, in case you were wondering) because HOT! HOT in your MOUTH!

So yeah, it was so good that I went online and googled the ingredients so I can make my very own delectible chocolates that will make my friends' mouths (and eyes) water. I'm hoping to find smoky chipotle powder in my stocking Christmas morning. :)

grr

2006-12-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

Stupid blogcharm won't let me in--it seems to be seriously messed up right now--so I'm fulfilling my blog habit here for the moment...at least enough to say I am locked out of my blogcharm account and they seem to be messed up. :) Hope to be back soon!

my other blog

2006-06-15T17:38:00.000-04:00

Oh, I wanted to tell you (last post today, I swear.) if you don't see me here for a while, check out my other blog here. Yeah, I wanted to see if I'd actually get paid to blog. So far I've earned $0.016! Yes!

But really, I plan on that being my "keeping family informed" blog, while this is my "no-holds-barred, venting" blog. I don't always want my family and friends knowing the stuff I don't mind telling total strangers. :)

Postpartum rant

2006-06-15T16:47:00.000-04:00

OK people, my birthday is in a week and I want my birthday money NOW because there is a sale on Victoria's Secret stuff and there are some dresses that I hafta have for summer. Cuz in case no one's ever mentioned it before? Dresses are a new mommy's best friend.

They slip right over your head, skim right over bigger bellies, and poof! You instantly look like you showered and are somewhat together!

Get me this in white, please, so the spitup doesn't show too much. :)

Oh and speaking of new mommies. Y'know that period when your baby is a few months old and your prego hormones are wearing off and your hair--all your gorgeous hair that your pregnant head saved up--starts falling out in gigantic clumps?

Yeah, going through that now.

I pull humongous rats out of the drain every day. Well, every day that I get to shower. And then in between showers I can't run my fingers through my hair or take out a ponytailer without huge clumps coming out.

GROSS!

And you know, when you're a redhead it's really hard to blame all-over-the-place hair on other people. It just doesn't work.

And while I'm on the subject, my face is a mess. I'm breaking out like crazy. WTH?! It's a good thing I'm too busy cooing with baby R to notice too much. Until I need to, like, go somewhere. Then it's like, break out the makeup! And guess what that does?! Yeah, it's a vicious cycle! :)

Dang hormones. :)

I hate salespeople

2006-06-15T09:46:00.000-04:00

Hehe, second post in 10 minutes. I'm just procrastinating going to the gym and cleaning my house.

Have you heard the commercial on the radio for the "See Clearly" method? It's something about how to improve your eyesight so you don't have to keep getting thicker glasses every year.

I thought I'd call the number, since the fact that I need a new prescription every year kind of freaks me out.

The woman who answered asked me some questions, then declared I'd be an excellent candidate for the see-clearly method (surprise surprise).

She got me all convinced that I needed their free video, then told me it would just be $9.99 for shipping and handling.

I was like, "Whoa, whoa whoa." I've mailed videos before and I know for a fact you can ship it media mail (haha I wrote media male. Can't wait til hubby comes home Friday!) for like 2 bucks. And if the extra is to pay someone to wrap it and ship it? Then it's not a free video! I mean I know ten bucks isn't a lot but it's the principle of the thing.

So then she tells me I can just go to seeclearlymethod dot com and watch the video online. Scammers! Charging me $10 when you're giving it away free! :)

Anyway I'm going to check out the video sometime when I have time to sit and watch it, and I'll tell you what I think.

2006-06-15T09:33:00.000-04:00

My 7-year-old daughter, J, has her "celebration of learning" ceremony tomorrow.

Celebration of learning? What the hell is that?

The kids had to bring in stuff to make posters with that shows what they're interested in. That's fine, J likes doing stuff like that. Of course, it's up to me to find all the stuff, but whatever. And they are putting on a play version of Where the Wild Things Are. J is all upset that she's just a tree, and she doesn't even get to say anything. I got to give her the "There are no small parts just small actors" speech so that was good. Maybe she'll go on to follow in her mother's drama-geek footsteps.

But then I got a call from the room mom (if I knew who the room mom was I woulda checked my caller ID and let the machine get it) who wanted to know if I could bring a snack and some juice for tomorrows celebration. *sigh* OK. Then she wanted to know if I could also donate to the fund for a gift for my child's teacher. I said no.

I mean, maybe I'm totally off base here, but why should I give my child's teacher a gift for teaching my kid? Isn't that her JOB? Isn't that why she gets PAID? If I'm not mistaken, teachers get the summer off with pay. I think that's gift enough, don't you?

I just get so irritated when we are constantly asked for stuff. Donations for this, dollars for that, it never ends! And check out Rockstar Mommy's post on today's kids and the constant reaffirming we give them. Bloody celebration of learning. I'm just glad her school doesn't do things like graduation ceremonies for Kindergardeners or something.

I guess I'm kinda being bratty about the celebration of learning thing. J and the other kids will love showing off what they've done all year. I just don't want my kids growinig up thinking they should be celebrated excessively for what is, essentially, their job. I praise J for the stellar report cards she brings home, isn't that good enough? :)

But you know I'm gonna be all, "Wow! You were the best tree ever!" :)

what's that giant yellow thing in the sky?

2006-06-14T10:19:00.000-04:00

The sun finally came out Sunday! I am so excited; it's been so long!

I get so depressed when the weather is bad. I think I need to participate in one of those sleep studies I hear about on the radio for people who get depressed all winter.

But now that the sun is out I feel like me again! Of course, it helps that I have the week off of work while hubby is in CA on business. I actually get to go to bed at a reasonable hour (read: right after my kids) and get up early like I like. I'm such a morning person, and I don't realize how much working at night, going to bed so late, and getting up late really affects me until I get a break from it. I cannot WAIT to quit my stinkin job and stay home!

Speaking of home, my house is such a mess! I'm going to be up all night just trying to clean it...which kind of goes against what I just said about going to bed early and getting up early. Since baby R.'s been here it's been almost impossible to get anything done. I end up spending one night a month up until sunrise cleaning, folding, mopping, while listening to my downloaded music.

That'll be me tonight. Fun fun!

scary underwear

2006-06-07T08:37:00.000-04:00

so glad my hubby wears boxer briefs!

Found this pic here (not sure how) and here are some more scary things about them:

Why is there a model wearing them? Wouldn't a simple picture of the underwear suffice?
Why do they come in a zillion different colors?
I see they are available for screenprinting and wholesale orders. Is there a large demand from companies wanting to put their logos on mens' briefs?
Did this model shave his legs?

I have to stop idly browsing the web.:)

good morning to me

2006-06-07T06:38:00.000-04:00

Yay, it's 6:30 and I've been up for an hour! I have always been a morning person but since I don't usually get home from work until almost 11pm I always miss my favorite part of the day. I love when I'm up to see the sun come up and hear the birds start singing. I really need to get up this early every day. It's like working out--it feels so good but the act of actually doing it is so hard sometimes. Bed is so comfy! :)

So I had a very pleasant hour of coffee, email, and cleaning the kitchen (ooh exciting) before the girls got up.

I'll probably be back in bed for a nap later. :)

2006-06-06T23:16:00.000-04:00

hm, How should I say this? Why is it that some of my favorite girlfriends have kids I can't stand? And you know, when you have little kids it's hard to get together without the kids. So, like, I can't be friends with these girls til their brats--I mean, kids--are all in school.

Of course, my kids are all perfect angels. And did I mention beautiful and exceptionally intellegent? ;)

OK OK I know brat is in the eye of the beholder. But this beholder can't stand her friends' kids. Like this one girl? Her daughter gets upset at the tiniest little imagined infraction, and then stars whining and crying in this hysterically high voice that is impossible to understand and her mother, my girlfriend, totally caters to it.

"Oh, what honey? She breathed on you funny? Well I'm sure she didn't mean it. She won't do it again. OK?"

Meanwhile her son is upstairs in my bedrooms tearing stuff apart. Mind you, he had to unbuckle the safety gate to get upstairs.

And this other girl whose relationship to me will remain unmentioned lest she find out I'm talking about her (cuz I'm so anti-confrontation)--her son gets together with my kids and all hell breaks loose! They're running all over the house throwing things and tearing things off the shelves and screeching at the tops of their little lungs.

And the time last month when I met a girlfriend at Target. Her kids are running all around, picking stuff up off the shelves and stuff and my friend is just like, "Oh, don't do that, please give that back, OK?"

I don't spank my kids. I just don't want my kids to live in fear of me like my sister and brother and I did of our parents. But man, I don't let them do whatever they want! Aaahhh!

OK I'm off my high horse now. When I first had Miss J. at age 20 and had no mommy friends I dreamed of the day I would have some. Now I have lots of mommy friends that I just love so I should count my blessings. I'm going to call them all...in about 5 years. :) Kidding!

***

Oh, here's the latest fun return from my lovely customers at work. This guy came in with a big ol' iPod--you know, the 20-gig ones we sold about a year ago that are much bulkier and heavier and less-cool than the ones we sell now--that was a year old and all scratched-the-hell-up. I suspected that he only wanted to return it so he could buy a cooler one so, since we don't get credit from the vendor for the antiquity, I told him we would not take it back (shut up, I'm not powertripping).

Well, he went to the manager (I put that in italics so when you read it, it makes that whiny sound a customer makes when he wants to "talk to the manager"), who told him SURE we'd take it back as long as he went home and got the earphones and software. Sure! Why not?!

I tell you I am going to start tearing my house apart looking for stuff to return. Who cares if I got it at my wedding shower 6-and-a-half years ago?!

another lovely day

2006-06-05T14:48:00.000-04:00

A recent exchange with a potential member at work:

Him (while standing under the HUGE sign that says how much a membership costs): How much is a membership?

Me: Fifty bucks.

Him: How much if you pay in cash?

Me: Um, fifty bucks. Wanna know how much it is if you pay with a check?

Him: ...

Me: or a credit card?!

Why haven't I been fired yet?

2006-06-03T22:08:00.000-04:00

You Are Miss Piggy

A total princess and diva, you're totally in charge - even if people don't know it.
You want to be loved, adored, and worshiped. And you won't settle for anything less.
You're going to be a total star, and you won't let any of the "little people" get in your way.
Just remember, piggy, never eat more than you can lift!

The Muppet Personality Test

2006-06-03T19:28:00.000-04:00

I have found chocolate heaven, and it is Green & Black's.

I was at the grocery store the other night after work and I wanted chocolate. I figured since I am a wife and mother now I should treat myself right by only eating GOOD chocolate from now on (goodbye stale hershey's kisses), so I picked up some organic chocolate bars. I couldn't decide on one so I got the "Mayan Spice", the caramel and the mint bars. I wanted the espresso and "70% Dark" bars too but at $3.50 a bar I already had almost 12-bucks-worth of chocolate so I'll try those next time. :)

OH MY HEAD are they fantastic. I was planning on making them last until my next grocery trip but it's pretty hard, they're so good. Oh, and I think the hubby discovered my stash so that didn't help. Good God thats good chocolate. I'm never eating cheap chocolate again. Of course, I may have to get a second job to support my new habit...

baby teeth

2006-06-01T16:32:00.000-04:00

My baby will be three months old on the fifth. Already! And for the last couple of days she's been acting, well, not herself. I'll try to nurse her and she screams bloody murder until I give her a bottle. Not every time, but once or twice a day. And that is after I check to see what else might be wrong, you know, diaper-hot/cold-lonely-bored-tired. And when she gets the bottle and drinks a few ounces she starts chomping on the nipple. And then she does this bite-pull, bite-pull thing that I am SO glad she doesn't do while she's nursing! And now she's crazy drooling everywhere.

Is my baby getting teeth already?!

The other girls got teeth at around 6 months, I think, which I guess is kind of early. Especially since I didn't get teeth til after my birthday. Please don't tell me she's getting teeth already, I've never nursed a baby with teeth before, having stopped before my girls got theirs, and I'm not ready for Miss R. to give up the damned-convient boob just yet!

grad photo

2006-05-31T22:40:00.000-04:00

grad photo,
originally uploaded by tragically unhip.

This is an old picture of my hubby's high school graduation. He's the one on the right. No, that's not me in the middle. Yes, I know they have dorky haircuts and dorky clothes but hey, this was the 90s. And we were dorks. :)

Why I might just lose all faith in humanity

2006-05-31T22:04:00.000-04:00

Man, I can't even read the news anymore. I just can't!

This guy took his 13-month-old baby out of her crib, realized she'd spilled something on herself, and put her in the dryer and turned it on.

Could you imagine?! Good God.

On a lighter note...

I've worked in my crappy part-time customer service job for about six and a half years. Part of my job is to take customer returns.

I'm always saying that, with all the crazy stuff we see coming in, I'm going to write a book and make tons of money off of the crazy crazy people. And I've decided to start telling you all about it for free! Don't say I never gave ya nothin! :)

So yesterday was SUPPOSED to be my day off but I got called in anyway because one of my coworkers--oh, let's call her Ma, cuz that is, in fact, what we call her at work--forgot she was supposed to be closing that night even though she writes the schedule for our department and came in for the opening shift by mistake.

Holy run-on sentences. Anyway.

As is usually the case when you're NOT supposed to work but end up working anyway, it was a crappy night. I had the craziest people. Like one guy? Returned a huge $2000 flat screen TV that was a freakin year old. Why? Because he wanted a newer one, of course!! And being the store that we are, we happily gave him the refund so he could upgrade his television. He'll be back in another year to do it again.

I can't believe what people return. Another woman returned a rose bush that she bought last year. It never blossomed so she dug it up and returned the dead dry mouldering stump. I mean, I can't blame her for wanting some stinkin roses for her money but ew.

And another guy had his watch--his relatively cheap, $50 watch--for 3 years and when it stopped keeping the correct time did he buy a new battery? No, he just returned it and got a brand new one! And the lady with the cordless phone. She had it for a year and the battery died. Did she buy a new rechargeable battery, since they do occasionally need to be replaced? Why would she?! She returned it and got a new one.

Then there are the people who return and re-buy stuff they dropped out in the parking lot, the people who keep salad for two weeks and then wonder why it's all wilted so return it, the people who repeatedly return computers the very day before the return policy ends so they can upgrade...

This stuff happens all the time. I've stopped even trying to care, although I don't know where these people get the balls to return this stuff. We take it all back, and it's not my money, so I just have to keep my mouth shut. I like to think of what I'd say to these people if it were my store. :)

Wouldn't you like to know where I work?! Unfortunately, while I do hate my job, I still need it for a while longer so I won't be telling you. :) Sorry.

melodramatic me

2006-05-31T12:54:00.000-04:00

ugh, OK. I don't want anyone out there in blogland to get the wrong impression of my hubby, or our marriage. When I wrote that post yesterday I was upset and disappointed and mad and, while I'm not apologizing for how I felt, I just want to say that I have a tendency for melodrama when things don't go my way.

Hm, that might even be an understatement. :)

So please don't think my hubby is a total jerk--would I be married to him if I was?! (Um, no.) We're a pretty good team, him and me, and we very rarely row. It's just that when we do, I go all j.lo on him. (What do you mean there's no sparkling water in my dressing room?!)

Oh and do I have to mention that he doesn't read this blog? I mean, where would I vent then?! :)

the birthday party that wasn't

2006-05-30T22:26:00.000-04:00

OK, so imagine you're my husband, a very family-budget-minded fellow. My birthday is fast approaching and I have taken a day off of work to throw a party. I call you from work and say, "Hey, honey, I have the Saturday before my birthday off from work, would it be all right with you if I threw myself a party?" You say, "Sure, why not?"

Am I WRONG in thinking it's OK for me to throw a party? Am I wrong to start inviting people to said party?

So why would you, as my husband, come home today and tell me that maybe it isn't such a good idea to be throwing a party, since we've been trying to not spend money?!

Here's a little background; see, we've been trying to pay off our debt so I can quit my stupid job and stay home. And I'm really looking forward to being home and not worrying about balancing schedules and missing fun weekend stuff and all that. This is a noble goal to which I am dedicated. But the whole POINT of me CALLING to ASK if the party would be an OK thing was this very point! No, I didn't say, "Hey, honey, do we have money to throw a party?" but I figured it would be ASSUMED that that's what I meant. I mean, HELLO, what else would I mean? Did he think I was just asking for the hell of it?!

So now I have to cancel the party and uninvite all the people I've already invited. Sure, you say, I could make a budget and try to see where the money would come from but I don't want a bare-bones tiny little shindig, I want a huge, loud, fun blast! So screw it, I'm just going to cancel the party so I don't have to listen to the complaining. And while I'm at it I'll just ask to be scheduled for that Saturday after all so I don't have to be home remembering why I had the day off in the first place. And we'll just forget I'm even having a birthday.

quick post

2006-05-27T09:25:00.000-04:00

Ok, I don't have much time to write right now, I'm off to work in like, 5 minutes, but I just wanted to share:

Clerks II is coming out in July! I didn't even KNOW they were making a Clerks II!!

I LOVE the view askew movies. They are SO funny as only Kevin Smith can do funny. And Clerks is, I think, my favorite one. So I'm so excited that they are making a sequel. It's not going to be the same--for one thing, it's in color--but I'm sure it'll be great.

I watched the preview today on youtube and it had Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran and...they look so...OLD! Well, you know, not OLD like gray hair but oldER. I mean, I know that's what happens after 10 years but it's just weird...well, anyway.. I have to get to work. Fun fun! :)

2006-05-27T00:05:00.000-04:00

Ok, so, I'm new to the whole blogging experience, right, so I thought it would be fun to check out other peoples' blogs. Specifically other blogs by fun young mommies like me. So I click on one, I read that, it's funny, and then I click on one of the links to the blogs she reads, and that's funny too, so I click on a link to a blog that THAT girl reads, and on and on, and instead of reading them all right now I'm reading a little and then bookmarking them for later.

And my bookmark list is growing and growing...

And then there are all the links to other kinds of stuff I didn't know like, what's a blogroll? and how can I get a cool background for my site? and where should I host my blog? and this and that and finally I've got a list of sites to visit that is SO long, I'm never going to read it all! I'm totally overwhelmed! Aaaah!

So then I remind myself to breathe. I do this a lot--get caught up in something and get ahead of myself and get overwhelmed. So I just have to take this blogging thing one step at a time. Like, let's try actually posting something with some regularity, before we start worrying about making it pretty or where to host the dang thing. :)

anyway...

I was at the gym today (something else I totally get overwhelmed about; I really have to stop reading fitness magazines before I go crazy) and there was a reminder about high school reunions. Then it hit me. Holy cow I have my 10-year high school reunion this fall!

Hubby had his last year, and we didn't go. I was hugely pregnant and no one we knew was going and it seemed like too much money for something we weren't too thrilled about. So I don't know if I'll end up going to my own reunion, especially considering I hung around with a lot more people from his class then my own.

And...well, ok, I'll admit it. I'm a LITTLE reluctant to go to my high school reunion as a stay-at-home mommy with a no-brainer part-time job. I mean, I went to college! I was going to have a CAREER!

This never bothers me except when it comes to seeing people I went to school with. I'm GLAD I get to stay home with the kids all day; it's the choice I made over getting a full-time job. And sure, I hate my job, but again, it's the choice I made that allows me to be with my kids. But when I see people I knew in high school I get all insecure. I'm sure that they must be thinking awful stuff about me. I don't understand it; I am SO not like that!

At least it's getting better; the first year or two out of college was the worst. I guess that becoming more comfortable with my position in life must come with old age. ;)

Speaking of old age...my birthday is coming up in a month!! whee, I'm throwing myself a party! Every year I say I'm going to do something fun for my birthday and every year I get caught up in whatever and forget all about it until it's too late. But not this year baby! I took a Saturday off in June and I'm planning a big barbecue. Now I just have to convince hubby to do some grilling! Shouldn't be hard; a man and his grill is a beautiful thing. :)

celebrity baby names

2006-05-23T14:47:00.000-04:00

for cryin out loud, are these people trying to outdo each other?!

Geri Halliwell's daughter is going to have to go through her life with the name Bluebell. That's the name of a freakin COW! Do celebrities TRY to outdo each other with the baby names just to get their names in the tabloids? Don't they even stop to think about the poor kid who has to go through life with that name? Poor kids. At least they won't go through the confusion of having the same name as ten classmates every year, I guess.

babies forever

2006-05-23T14:13:00.000-04:00

you know, on some days, like today, i feel like i'm going to be changing diapers and nursing and burping and rocking forever and ever, world without end, amen.

i didn't sleep last night--my own fault, of course, but anyway--and then today miss r. was so fussy! i could NOT make her happy. she doesn't want to eat, doesn't want to sleep, won't burp, doesn't want the swing...

we were lying in bed, she's obviously exhausted, rubbing her eyes, and i'm staring at her as i'm nursing her, thinking "go to sleep. go to sleep. go to sleeeeep."

i'm trying the gas drops next. i was nervous to give them to her, she's only 11 weeks old, but i'm at the end of my rapidly fraying rope.

by the way, my four-year-old? has been on nickjr.com ALL DAY. i'm SUCH a good mommy.

and if anyone suggests that i should "enjoy this time while it lasts cuz it goes by so fast" i will seriously scream.

here duck ducky ducky

2006-05-23T00:34:00.000-04:00

here duck ducky ducky,
originally uploaded by tragically unhip.

um, hi, i'm still not in bed. i think i'm addicted to blogging. yeah, that'll wear off in a week or so. it's that whole, good at starting, bad at finishing thing.

anyway, let me introduce you to our pet ducks. most of the houses on our side of the street--all of them, in fact, except for ours--back up to a little pond. from that pond came two little ducks--a mommy duck and a daddy duck. our neighbors think they're looking for a place to lay their eggs. i'm secretly voting for our yard. how cute would that be?! :)

the ducks started coming by a couple of weeks ago. we fed them some bread and then they started coming by every day. :) they were SO cute, waddling side-by-side, quacking to each other.

sadly, only the mommy duck has been coming by lately. i don't know what happened. do ducks break up when it's time to lay eggs? i almost hope that's the case cuz if not, i have to assume something happened to daddy duck. :( does anyone out there know anything about ducks?

miss d. is so funny; she loves the IDEA of the ducks, but when they get close she freaks out and runs away, screaming, like they're going to peck her eyes out. ew. not that i can blame her. i swear, if they thought there was bread inside, they'd come right into the house.

ok ok i swear i'm going to bed.

next february

2006-05-22T23:36:00.000-04:00

ok, i know, i really need to get my butt to bed but i just remembered something i wanted to write about! i'm so excited, i can't believe i forgot to mention it earlier!

sunday, in church, we found out that the missions team is putting together a group of people to go down to louisiana in february to help out with the aftermath of katrina. i am not sure what it will be like in february, 18 months after the storm, but i am very excited about the opportunity. since starting at this church in '03 the desire to perform on some kind of missions trip has been growing on my heart. but i'm not sure uprooting my family and moving to zimbabwe or something is quite right for us. so when i heard about this trip i got pretty excited. and guess what? when i mentioned it to the hubby he said he might want to go too!

hm, that means we have to get someone to watch our three kids for, like, four or even five days. the flier said a minimum of a three-day commitment was requested but i don't know if the group will be staying longer, especially since they are DRIVING down to louisiana. anyway, if we split up the time between my mom and hubby's parents and my sister, it might work, especially since miss r. will be almost a year old, and out of the baby-baby stage. i am so excited!

the other thing that i'm excited about, besides the chance to help people and maybe witness to them, is that this trip is motivation to get my big rear end to the gym. i mean, what help will i be on this trip if i can't even keep up, y'know? SO...i just got together my clothes for tomorrow so miss d, miss r., and i can head out to the gym after miss j. goes to school. whee! :)

my crazy job

2006-05-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

hm, i'm beginning to think i need to shut up at work. cuz, you know, my lousy customer-service job really sucks and in order to make it somewhat pleasant, i chat up any customer who seems in the least bit chat-uppable.

well, last night i mentioned to someone who was returning some san pellegrino bottles that i keep meaning to try the stuff, but at about ten bucks a case it's a bit pricy for me when i can buy the crap at the supermarket that comes in the PLASTIC bottles.

yes, well. this gentleman proceeded to tell me how AWFUL plastic bottles are for me and do i do anything good for myself like reading up on nutrition? and well i should check out this site and this site and read this book and his wife is this amazing nutritionist-slash-chiropracter and he used to be addicted to all kinds of paraphernalia until he met her and now he's a healthy athletic superman, and i swear he had me pinned there for twenty minutes! and my dear coworker? just kept on taking customer after customer around me, not bothering to catch my "help me" face, which just figures cuz she NEVER does any work until i actually need her!

man, i gotta stop talking to people. :)

oh hey speaking of "crap," my kids were cleaning up the playroom (after i asked for only the fifteenth time) and miss j. found a bracelet she'd been looking for. i asked her where it was and she said, "oh, under some crap." LOL i almost busted a gut but of course, as her mom, i'm not supposed to laugh so i said, "under some what?!" and she said, just as nonchalantly as the first time, "under some crap," only this time with a little impatience, like, hello ma, didn't you hear me the first time? now, if this was my fifteen-year-old or my 12-year-old or even my 10-year-old, the use of the word crap would not have so offended my delicate sensiblities, but this is my seven-year-old we're talking about! so i suggested calmly that next time maybe she might say "under some STUFF." then i promptly called my mom so we could laugh about it. :)

crap, i'm hungry.

hey did anyone else read about britney spears? her loser hubby wanted to sell info to the tabloids about her new pregnancy but she told before he could sell the info.

that poor girl. she reminds me of some girls i work with who keep going back to the same loser guy, or who are trying to get pregnant so their boyfriends marry them, who basically don't realize they're worth much more than that. i get so frustrated with girls like that--i just want to shake them and yell in their faces, "you don't need that guy! get your own life! step back and take a look at what is going on!!"

sigh... sorry; normally i don't go on about what celebrities are up to (unless that celebrity is johnny depp, then i could go on for days and days...lol) but i have a spot for people like that. :(

ok i am off to bed. hey, remind me to take some pictures of the kids and stuff. i'm being put to shame because my flickr account only has like six photos. :) i need to get a more portable camera...so if anyone wants to get me this for my birthday next month (in vivacious violet, please), that would be ok.

rebelling

2006-05-21T23:19:00.000-04:00

ok, i think i want to get something pierced. probably my eyebrow. this was something i always wanted to do in high school and college, but i never had the money, or i was afraid of what my parents would say, or i didn' t want to scare off my conservative boyfriend (now my conservative hubby!) or i didn't know where to go, or whatever.

but now i have the money, i don't need to worry about getting grounded by my parents, my hubby is stuck with me for richer or poorer, pierced or unpierced; i can easily find a place to go...so now the only thing i'm worried about is if my church family will flip out on me. :)

i might have mentioned that i'm a born-again Christian. normally us christians don't go around piercing ourselves; it's seen as self-worship to care that much about your apperance, i guess, or something like that. but i seem to be having a little rebellion problem lately, it's so bad! the rebellion first masked itself as doubt in my faith, but to be honest with myself, i can no longer doubt God's existence; he has simply made himself far too clear to me. but it's like i wanted to rebel in that way, and now i want to get my eyebrow pierced. i've been praying for this rebellious feeling to GO AWAY but apparently it's just changed focus. :)

so...i'm still thinking of doing it. maybe for my birthday. i'll call up my sister and brother and get them to take me as a birthday present.

then, of course, there is the issue of what kind of example i am setting for our children. i want to tell them that, as an adult, i can make decisions on what to do with my face. i know that is irresponsible though. grr, i KNOW it is but i want to do it anyway!

well anyway, stay posted and we'll see if maybe this just goes away. my birthday is in a month, so i have a while to mull it over.

by the way, i was researching online and i cannot BELIEVE some of the things people get pierced! i mean, MAN! :)

and another thing

2006-05-19T03:35:00.000-04:00

while i'm waiting for pictures to upload i just thought of something else to write about! yay!

i love TV. i don't get to watch much, mostly just kids' stuff and what i catch while on break at work, but i have my shows i'll watch if i can. one of those, will & grace, just ended tonight, and i missed the finale! wah! i LOVE this show, love debra messing (she being a sister redhead dontcha know), love the laughs, love the show. and now its over! it ended so sweetly too--i got to see the last two minutes or so. will & grace parted ways and didn't see each other for years and years--i think cuz grace got back together with leo or something. anyway i came in on the part where will's son and grace's daughter meet at college (SO cute--the kids looked just like their parents), they go to get coffee and then will & grace meet up while they're bringing in their kids' stuff. SO cute. so sad to see it go.

the other show that just ended for the season (not for good) that i like is america's next top model. i have no idea what got me hooked on this show, i am so not a reality tv person, and hello, models? who cares, right? well, i LOVE this show! and i am so excited that danielle won! she and joanie both really deserved it, they are both so beautiful but danielle is just a great personality. i was so happy for her; so many times i thought she'd go home cuz of that crazy southern drawl. good for her though, she'll do well!

OK serioiusly? i NEED to go to bed. do you realize it is 3:40 in the MORNING?! what am i doing? just when miss r. starts sleeping, i start not? zzzzz.....

me

2006-05-19T03:19:00.000-04:00

me,
originally uploaded by tragically unhip.

i'm trying to get this as my profile pic. you know, before i started blogging, i never realized how very computer illiterate i've become. i never USED to be this bad...must come with being old and out of school. :)

copying off some other blog

2006-05-19T02:27:00.000-04:00

ok i saw a bunch of other bloggers doing this and since my blog is new i thought i'd take their idea. we used to call that "biting" like, i am so totally biting this idea off those other blogs. do they still say that? oh i'm old. :) anyhoo:

I AM: a wife, a mom, a daughter, a friend. an evangelical christian. a pain in the butt. a redhead. an ex-mensan. a geek. ticklish. a big fan of coffee and chocolate.
I SAID: I'd never drive a minivan. well, i'm no psychic.
I WANT: my children to grow into well-adjusted, kind, fulfilled, healthy, thoughtful adults
I WISH: i could lose 50 lbs by eating chocolate. that'd pretty much rock out loud.
I HATE: people who give christians a bad name. people who blow up abortion clinics, shoot up gay bars...those people are not truly christians but they become what most people think of.
I FEAR: that something will happen to my hubby or our girls. sometimes this fear is near-crippling in its intensity. life is so great right now...sometimes i feel like job right before the bad stuff.
I HEAR: my baby girl on the monitor. she's a-fussin'.
I WONDER: what my kids will be when they grow up. sorry, i know that's a lot like one of the other answers!
I REGRET: nothing
I AM NOT: motivated by money
I DANCE: like a white girl. no, worse; like a white GUY. a white guy with no rhythm.
I SING: in the car, as loud as i can. and then i laugh at the people from the other cars who see.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: obedient. sometimes i just wanna go out and get something pierced.
I MADE: some dang pretty kids. well, i had help. ;)
I WRITE: like i talk, which is good sometimes and bad sometimes.
I CONFUSE: my husband when i argue with him sometimes just for the sake of arguing.
I NEED: to lose 50 lbs. :)
I SHOULD: call my mother more, and my friends
I START: lots of things
I FINISH: a lot fewer things than i start. NOT a good trait in someone who wants to work for herself i might add.
I BELIEVE: in God
I KNOW: a lot of stuff but have no common sense.
I CAN: climb a tree, hike a mountain, put on a staged swordfight, say "do you have your license with you?" in spanish and sign language
I CAN’T: whistle
I SEE: very little of my hubby. we work opposite schedules to be home with the kids.
I BLOG: because i want to get back in the habit of writing, and because i believe keeping some kind of journal again will help me stay sane and not drown emotions with food.
I READ: harry potter, stephen king, my bible (niv and the message), blogs by other young moms like me
I AM AROUSED BY: my hubby; he knows just what to do...
IT PISSES ME OFF: when my boss tells me to do something just cuz he doesn't want us to see how incompetent he would be at it
I FIND: amusement in simple things
I LIKE: being alone sometimes
I LOVE: my little family.

first post

2006-05-19T01:38:00.000-04:00

It is almost two o'clock in the morning, what the heck am I doing up? I got it in my head to start this blog while I was at work tonight and I've spent the last 3 hours trying to find pictures to model the design after. I'm looking for something retro, and I know the look I'm going for but I just can't find it. Why can't I be artistic? Then I could just draw the design my damn self! :)

Anyway, speaking of work, tonight was the easiest night I've had in a while. Every year my bosses ask me to make a display showcasing our graduation cakes and every year I make a really great-looking display, if I DO say so. (Well OK, last year's kind of sucked, but I was rushed, OK?! You can't rush genius!) And every year they throw my display away after all the graduations go by, so the next year I always have to make a new one. Ha, like I'm complaining!

So every year I get to spend pretty much my whole entire shift shopping for supplies at the party store and the craft store. Did you hear me? They're PAYING me to SHOP. And I actually have the nerve to complain about this job?! So that's what I did tonight. The only sucky part is walking in, through the store, with all these balloons and shit and the LOOKS I get from my (extremely jealous) coworkers! MAN! I didn't ASK to be sent all around town for the fun stuff. I didn't ASK to be somewhat talented in the creativity department and thereby become the go-to girl for any type of anything that needs to be made around here. It's just the way it is.

I do think maybe it's about bloody time I started charging for my creative services. I mean, sure, I make good money for my job, but this kind of stuff is kind of above-and-beyond, don't you think? :) Let's say $30/hour for whatever I'm doing on company time, $50/hour for whatever I end up taking home to do. Cuz it's SUPERfun trying to build my display in the bloody breakroom with all the jealous coworkers making snarky comments.