My Latest Cupcake Creation

For Max's End of Year school party tomorrow!

My Blogging Companion

We've always known that Bunsen was an adventure kitty, but did you know that he was also a blog editor? Often you'll find him here perched above me, offering up edits as I shift in my chair. No, not really edits, more like complaints that I'm moving his comfy seat, but hey, he's a cat and he sticks to what ke knows.

How I've Spent My Weekends

For the past four years I've spent my falla nd spring weekends watching short folks play soccer. Can't say that I mind one bit - especially when one of those short folks is mine! This seasont he little boys played indoor and Max played outdoor, but next year they will all be in the same league. Doens't make it any easier as far as scheduling, but at least we'll be playing in the same city! Here are some Max soccer pics from two weekends ago, more to come of the little guys soon.

My Little Gymnasts

At the end of the year the gymnastics place that we go to has a class show for each level. max opted out, but Ian and Sam were SOOOO excited about it. They went through the exercises for the parents - the floor, bars, the trampoline, and the beams. Here are a few snaps:

Sam on the High Bar

Ian on the uneven bars

Sam

Ian

Going All Natural!

Well, not really. But I have found a new obsession of sorts. I picked up some interesting sounding chips at the store, mainly because they were on sale, and I LOVE them. Yes, enough to want to marry them so that they'll live at my house all the time!

And this is only one of several cool sounding flavors. I also grabbed the Buffalo Bleu, but there's also Cheddar Beer, Dill and Sour Cream, Island Jerk, Spicy Thai, and several other cool looking flavors. Who knows if they taste as good as the Honey Dijon, but they are dreamy indeed. And the best part is that they are all natural. Now, not sure if that means that they are good for me, but they are better for me and a whole lot better tasting than the other stuff we have in the house! If you see these, grab a flavor that sounds good - they are yummy indeed! (And no, I wasn't compensated for this endorsement at all - but if they feel like sending me a few bags I certainly woudn't mind!) ;)

Crazy Hair Day!

The school that Max goes to has a Crazy Hair Day towards the end of each year, and this year was no exception. Now, Max has a close cut buzz, so there's no Mohawk in his immediate future. We almost let his hair go last month, but that would mean that he looked exactly like a floppy dog, this dog to be exact for a majority of the month, and that just wouldn't do:

So we headed off to Sally's, grabbed some green and blue spray color, and ended up with THIS:

Max thought it was super cool, but not the absolute coolest in his class. He says that a little girl had cooler twisty hair that was all orange. I dunno - we did what we could - those darn girls just have more hair! I think it's super cool!

A Bum Season

Look closely and you'll see kids playing soccer. But don't blink, because this is their first and one of only two full games they've played so far this season. Not a big deal you say, but we are now in the 8th week of the season and the kids have only played two full games and a third that was called in the second half due to lightning. We've had such poor weather and bad luck this season that it's almost funny. The kids are so out of whack that when they DO play games, they are so far behind the curve because they've only practiced and haven't gotten their feet wet on enough real games this season to really gel as a team. But we have three more games scheduled this season, so we might hit the big old .500 mark - not for winning - but for playing games!

(And if you peek on the left side of the picture you'll catch a glimpse of the amazing Coach Tom. He's the coach of Max's team this year and he too is bummed about the lack of games. But hey - it's just one season...)

Girlfriends?

"Mommy - will you be my gurlfriend?"
"Sorry Ian - I'm already married. Go find yourself another girlfriend."
"OK"

Inchworm

Ahhh...the joys of boys. At least they aren't afraid of the little inchworm.

Have a safe journey through life little worm - I know it can't be easy when you're held captive by a five year old! But he's a good one, so you should be fine little worm. Enjoy your visit!

Posers

My big floppy hat!

Check out my new hat. I actually grabbed two - a white one and a multicolored one, but here's the white one:

Cute, isn't it? And you know that I look great in it! And the best part is that it keeps the sun off of my face. Yes, I need to keep the sun off of my face and this really works. Duh, who knew - a hat would do the trick. So far I've worn it to the mailbox, on the back deck, to the bus stop (twice!), to water the plants, and to grab the paper in the morning. Yes, my hat and I go places...no very many places and not very far from home, but we go places together.

Close the DOOR!

I need the car manufacturers to invent a system that lets me know when my car doors are open. You see, I have a problem that I'm apparently incapable of fixing all by myself. Actually, I've gotten it under control somewhat, but here the gist:

Yes, I leave my car doors open - and I do so regularly. I'm not sure if I'm not hitting the door close button hard enough, or if it bounces open, but I regularly come out and find my doors open. Can't blame this one on the kids - they aren't allowed tot ouch the doors. Max is now allowed to close the door once he's in the seat, but that's when he's inside strapped in, and that's never been a problem.

I've even had a bird get stuck in my car overnight because the doors were left open once. So, you see, I'd love it if the car manufacturers would create something to take the responsibility of closing the car doors away from me. Then again I can just take an extra minute to make sure that they are closed and stop being such a ninny. Funny, that's what Tom says too - not the ninny part but the rest. Sigh...

American Idol Rewind?

So I know that I'm a few days late and I'm sure that this is a few dollars short, but I just watched the finale of American Idol last night(Go TIVO!) and I have a few observations (I know, complete shock).

Bryan Adams - Not at all what I thought. For some reason I thought that he was a bit, well, thicker. He was a skinny guy that I've apparently never seen before in my life.

Jonas Brothers - Cute now, but what about in 10 years? Their curly hair and cute dimples and squaky songs don't lead me to believe in any long term success. They are cutie pies though, and they do have a following...

And last but not least, George Michael? Who thought that THAT would be a a good idea? Sheesh.

I look like WHO????

How do i look like any of these folks...except for maybe Sir Elton...and that's kinda sad to say...

Sam's Plant

Sam planted a few seeds in a cup about a week and a half ago in preschool. Last week they sprouted up and ever since Sam's been checking on them to see how they are growing. The really cool part is that they WERE growing! In our house of things that don't live long, here we had a specimin that seemed to defy that dictum, and continued to grow well past the first few days of it's little life.

And then it turned south (not the direction, but downhill). As with any other cute plants in our house, it is dying an untimely death. This one was accidental, not due to my black thumb though. And poor Sam - he doens't have a clue because he didn't ask about his plant today...yet. Last night while doing hte dishes, I asked Tom to turn the cute little plant so that it would keep growing straight up - it leans towards the sun and while it's probably not necessary, I was doing this every few days. Well, Tom obliged me and then knocked the plant off the window ledge. And the plant...well...it broke. So now the plant that was healthy and growing, now looks like a stump.

The worst part - we're not sure what seed it was that took off growing, and so we can't easily replace it. There were three seeds that we know of in there - a pumpkin seed, a tomato seed, and a flower seed. I looked online and the pumpkinand tomato seeds produce diffferent leaves than what we saw. But a flower? Well that could be anything. So, when Tom talks to Sam tonight about this and explains what happens, I'm sure we'll end up planting a while field of flowers - wildflowers that is - and they'll most likely be outside, away from the sink, where neither Tom nor I can kill them.

Let's March on Meth!

"March on Meth Parade" I saw this on a flyer, I kid you not. We were in Sedona for Dad and Doreen's wedding back in March and I wanted ice cream. Well, Sedona rolls up the carpet at 9pm, so Tom and I found ourselves in the local Safeway buying these teeny tiny cups of Ben and Jerry's and Haagen Daas (for $1 a piece - what a deal!).

After running into my cousin and uncle, and after checking out, we saw these flyers sitting on the check-outs. See if it strikes you as odd as it struck us:

One has to read ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM before you realize that we aren't supposed to show up for the parade on meth. You'd think they would mention that up front. I'm sure that there might be some folks who would read this flyer as I did - and if they were ON METH while reading the flyer, might not even get to the end of it to find out that this was an anti-drug rally. Actually, an anti meth rally, because apparently the lovely little town of Sedona has a problem with meth (or so I'm led to believe by this flyer).

So, dear people of Sedona, next time you create a flyer for your parade, put the anti substance abuse tag line right at the top. And I promise, this time no one will show up on meth.

I'll blame Becky for this one.

I am not a girly girl. I don't have any sense of style, nor do I know how to accessorize (or wear lots of jewelry). When we lived in Texas I hung out with folks who had a much better sense of style that I did. One of those folks, Becky, collected (and actually used) purses. She had an undisclosed number of purses and they were of every shape, size, and color. Well, Becky, Kim, and a group of friends got me this GREAT FSU purse and I use it proudly during football season. But some of her purse loving has apparently rubbed off. I now hoard purses. Thanks Becky - if you're reading this I know it will make you proud! My collection is small, but I have many more purses than I have pairs of shorts, I surpassed my shoe collection a while back (it's pretty small so it's not a big stretch), and I have more purses than years I've been married. So, here's to the two newest addition to my purse family - an FSU purse and a coveted UT purse! Can't wait for football season to put them to good use!

Things Kids Say - Part 5

Our kids attend a preschool at a United Methodist Church, but we are not religious people at all. This particular preschool is absolutely fantastic, and we are so happy with it and what the kids have learned there. Over the time they've been there the kids have attended chapel once a month. I always kind of wondered what they are learning in chapel as they aren't generally too forthcoming. But the other day Sam coughed up a little bit more info than normal:

Me: So what did you learn at chapel today?
Sam: Oh, just about God and stuff.

Yeah...God and stuff...

OH, the TRAGEDY!

Sorry to have neglected you for an entire week, but my hubby has been sick. This means that instead of taking time to share with you, I've been picking up his duties. Instead of sharing nutritious meals with my husband, I've been eating mac and cheese, PB & J, and frozen pizza. Instead of having relaxing time with my hubby I've been hiding from him. And let me tell you - so far so good. He's finally amongst the living (sort of) and hopefully coming out of the fog.

So this is why I've neglected you for an entire week. But the good part is, I do have some stories - and hopefully they will amuse you like they did for me! Have a great rest of the week and we'll see you tomorrow!

Go Speed Racer!

So Speed Racer was a total success, with a few minor exceptions (and it was eventually added to the calendar - lest I doubt them next time!).

The Good: We went to see it at theIMAX theater at the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum out near Dulles Airport, which in and of itself is cool. We had a plane fly right over us going in AND coming out. We got there with plenty of time to spare. We got an up close parking spot. We brought our own water bottles (no snacks allowed but water was, but no one touched it). The seats were comfortable and since no food in the theater, no sticky floors! The movie itself was GREAT! The kids loved it and the parents did too. I'd love to see a sequel, or prequel, or whatever they come out with - I really dug it!

The Bad: We got there about 25 minutes early, but we were near the end of the line to get in. We had to sit up towards the front and off to the side a bit. In an IMAX theater, not a good thing. We were WAAAAAY too close. The movie itself was almost sensory overload. When you add to that the IMAX size of the screen, well, it was almost too much to take. But we managed.

The Ugly: OH MY GOD. The kiddo in the movie flips the bird, and there are MULTIPLE utterances of the word A**. It's a PG movie, sure, but the violence alone would do that - shooting and fighting and a fish tank gone bad. But man, was the swearing and finger gesturing necessary? Hopefully me kids didn't notice - Tom nearly choked when he saw that middle finger come out, but hopefully none of our kids will bring that finger to school. (Double crossing my fingers on this one!)

Otherwise, it was a fantastic movie, and I'm sure we'll see it again. But next time, not in an IMAX. for that matter, if we do go again, we'll get there really early, and we'll certainly choose a less sensory stimulating movie than this one.

We procrastinated and it kicked us in the butt

A storm is coming, and this time we are prepared. There's a front headed here as we speak that has tons of rain and high winds. But in contrast to the last storm, we have two functional sump pumps, plus a portable back-up just in case one of the first two fails.

The reason that I mention this is that a few weekends ago, we were up until almost three AM attempting to rescue the basement from imminent doom. You see, we had only one functioning sump pump. Since we're in a rental and had survived one rainy season without said pump, we figured that we'd be OK this go round. Man, were we wrong. Let me explain why.

One gloomy Sunday afternoon we headed off to the pool for a swim (That's where you go when it's pouring rain outside, right?). We were there for about three hours and then headed home. At some point Tom wandered down into the basement and discovered a flood. So, we kicked it into high gear, got the kiddos in bed quickly, and tackled the problem. Long story short - we spent the next seven hours sucking up water, pulling up the carpet and the very wet pad, sucking up more water, drying towels that were used to suck up water, watching the radar on the Internet, and trying to figure out how the heck to deal with the incoming water with a well that was full and a wet-dry vac that was smoking. Our big problem was a cell that was heading our way at about 1am. We were tired but had basically stayed ahead of the water for most of the evening, and didn't want to lose the entire basement carpet as we had saved it thus far. So we decided to stay up and do what we could.

Our biggest problem is that the pump broke almost a year earlier - it actually hasn't worked since we moved in. This was a case of procrastination NOT paying off (No, Tom, it DIDN'T work this time). Anyway, when you call the plumber in the middle of the night asking for them to show up with a sump pump, they politely tell you that the plumbing supply place is NOT open at 1am on a Sunday, and that because of the flooding over the past few hours they have none left in stock. They also tell you that they would be GLAD to show up in the morning and get you all fixed up, and we tell them that we'd LOVE to see them then. I'd like to point out here that we live in the land of the 14 hour Walmarts, Targets, the 12 hour Home Depot, and the city that rolls itself up at about 9 on Sunday. This made out night VERY LONG because we couldn't go buy anything at 1am that would have helped us.

So, Tom hit Home Depot at 6am (three hours after we went to bed), the dryer ran all night, the rain stopped at about 3am, and the plumber came and fixed the sump pump at 11am. Then, the rain started again and it rained for three days, but never quite as heavy as that Sunday night. Oh, and did I mention the part where Tom leaves town for a week on Monday? Yeah, tired man on a plane, and tired woman left alone here with a damp basement and wet carpet. (I rented a commercial dryer, hired folks to replace the pad and reinstall the carpets, and had it cleaned. No toys were harmed in this flood - and we have a clean carpet!)

So I sit here now listening to the thunder rolling in, knowing that the pump, both pumps actually, work. AND I sit here knowing that I can go to bed whenever I want and my basement will be high and dry in the morning. Makes me smile - to myself of course. Don't want to be TOO obnoxious, we wouldn't have had this trouble in the first place if we hadn't procrastinated.

Two More Days!

In case you weren't aware, there are only are two more days until Speed Racer opens up in theaters. THAT'S what's occupying the brains of my little men these days. They have been counting down, tracking, planning, and getting worked up over this movie since they first saw the preview. No putting it on the calendar this time - they are very verbal about it though, and are continually reminding us and asking if we can see it on Friday when it opens.



The cool part is that the IMAX Theater at Udvar Hazy is showing the movie on the IMAX screen! HOW COOL IS THAT???!!! I know, I am a big giant nerd. But I am totally buying into what these three little men are selling. And yes, we'll definitely see it this weekend (but don't tell THEM yet - I can't handle the screaming and jumping around!

EARTHQUAKE in ANNANDALE!

This is from the USGS Website. We live all of about oh, ONE MILE from the epicenter. Would have been exciting except for the fact that a) we weren't home, b) I've slept through MUCH larger earthquakes than this in California, and c) it was a teeny tiny earthquake (1.8 magnitude). So, here are the details - not quite as exciting as one might think.

Earthquake Details
Magnitude
1.8
Date-Time
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 at 17:30:23 UTC
Tuesday, May 06, 2008 at 01:30:23 PM at epicenter
Location
38.828°N, 77.234°W
Depth
10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region
VIRGINIA
Distances
2 km (1 miles) WSW (250°) from Annandale, VA
3 km (2 miles) NW (320°) from North Springfield, VA
3 km (2 miles) SE (143°) from Mantua, VA
6 km (4 miles) NNE (32°) from Burke, VA
12 km (8 miles) WSW (242°) from Arlington, VA
21 km (13 miles) WSW (244°) from Washington, DC
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 1.7 km (1.1 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters
NST= 6, Nph= 13, Dmin=70.2 km, Rmss=0.3 sec, Gp=151°,M-type=duration magnitude (Md), Version=1
Source
Lamont-Doherty Cooperative Seismographic Network (LCSN)
Event ID
ld1022071
This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

EEEK! Mosquitos!

We've been hanging outside more over the past few days due to the incredibly beautiful weather here. But so have the mosquitos - and there aren't just a few of them. For some reason the mosquitos have bred like bunnies this year. They are in the trees, the grass, on the deck, even on the walls of the house. They seem to just be hanging out everywhere. Before we head outside we have to coat ourselves in bug spray, not really a big deal. But the bugs still fly in our faces, land on our arms/feet/necks/legs, and try to fly in our mouths and up our noses (yes, a mosquito tried to fly up my nose). But our big problem with mosquitoes is that we have kiddo that's allergic to them - Sam gets hives when bitten. So it becomes even more critical to prevent those darn bugs from getting to Sam. We have the Off! Power Pads that cover a decent area, but Sam and the other two are all OVER the yard, so it only works for a smallish area mainly on the deck.

I had pretty much had it with the bugs up my nose and having to come in early to avoid them, so Tom grabbed us some mosquito killer spray when he ran out tonight. Right off the bat I knew it would work for us - there's a warning on the can that says not to spray it near your car if you are using it in the garage - so it HAS to kill those pesky pesks. Well, tomorrow will tell - I coated all the obvious spots with the spray, but here's to NO MORE MOSQUITOS!

Boys are gross - really gross

They wipe their hands on the LID of the toilet seat.

And this toilet seat was only installed the day before.

They leave their electronics everywhere.

A peek under the kitchen table after the very first meal of the day.

No wonder we're on our third Swiffer Vac.

The Scaredy Cat

Our cat Bunsen has a hsitory of being terrified of any service or repair folks that come in our home. The babysitter doesn't scare him, the mailman doesn't bother him, but he growls at the bug guy and the UPS guy when they come to the door, and he cowers from everyone else - plumbers, electricians, A/C guys, and now, the carpet guys. Well, the carpet guys brought a big loud hose that snaked through the house, but the cat never even came downstairs. He hid under our bed (ignore the dust bunnies - he cleared a bunch out when he emerged):

and he is resting safely here now:

Years ago he climbed the stairs to the attic when the A/C was bring repaired, and it took cat treats, bacon, and about six hours to get him down. He was so freaked out that even after the repair guy left he was too scared to come down - talk about a scaredy cat...but we love him (and now we have clean carpets in the basement!)

Smells like love...

Ian: Mommy, these flowers smell like love.

And my heart melted.

My Watchdog

Periodically our cat Bunsen starts to hang out near something - a corner, a closet, an appliance. Most of the time he is chasing what we call "carpet snakes." A carpet snake is a common creature, found only in homes where crazy cats live (that's basically every cat out there), and runs under the carpet, wood floor, rug, pile of clothes, or whatever else it feels like. A carpet snake is an elusive creature - having never been seem by a human - ever, but they are hunted ferociously by the crazy cat.

But there are times that I wonder - wonder if he's seen anything under that stove, behind that closet door, and you get the drift. He's been stalking the wily carpet snake for a few nights now - under the stove this time, but I'm wondering if it isn't something more. The last time he took up station in one spot he hunted up a mouse. Here he is doing it again. And that's a bit creepy.

My tattoo, albeit temporary

While Tom would LOVE if I got a real tattoo, it was a five year old that actually convinced me to do it. Now, he was sly, but it was only a temporary tattoo - and a Transformers one to boot!

Don't be jealous - you can have one too if you hit Target soon! And if you want your cool temporary tattoo to stay, don't put sock on and them wear sneakers - it just rubs off...

I never in a million years

thought that this particular story would come out of Florida of all places. What is the world coming to?

State moves to ban fake testicles on vehicles
By Michael PeltierFri Apr 25, 12:03 PM ET

Senate lawmakers in Florida have voted to ban the fake bull testicles that dangle from the trailer hitches of many trucks and cars throughout the state.
Republican Sen. Cary Baker, a gun shop owner from Eustis, Florida, called the adornments offensive and proposed the ban. Motorists would be fined $60 for displaying the novelty items, which are known by brand names like "Truck Nutz" and resemble the south end of a bull moving north.
The Florida Senate voted last week to add the measure to a broader transportation bill, but it is not included in the House version.
In a spirited debate laced with double entendre, Senate lawmakers questioned whether the state should curtail freedom of expression in vehicle accessories.
Critics of the ban included the Senate Rules Chairman, Sen. Jim King, a Jacksonville Republican whose truck sported a pair until his wife protested.
The bill's sponsor doubted it would succeed.
"It's probably not going to make it through the process," Baker said on Thursday. "It won't be much of story in a few days."

So who really looks good in a skort?

I mean honestly they are an interesting idea, but who do they flatter? Me? No, not me. You? Well, that's your call, but the only one that I've seen that's cute (besides the random middle school cheerleader) is this critter:

They not only make my butt seem larger than it really is (and I don't need any help with that) they tend to ride up. Any there's no dignity digging out a wedgie when you are wearing a skort. So, my two skorts are hitting the donation pile. Bye bye my not so friendly friends. You won't really be missed. And if you have some in your stash and you aren't A) a cheerleader below the age of 18 or B)three years old, then you might want to consider tossing yours too.

Kisses

"Hey mommy - I kissed C. today!" - Ian
Sadly, my first thought wasn't about the kiss, or the fact that he had this big grin, but it was about whether or not he caught/shared something when he kissed her. It's cold season around here and I just finished up strep throat, so my mind immediately went to the germs passed along. Sigh...

"So where did you kiss her?"
Pause, bigger grin. "I kissed her on the lips!"
Bigger sigh...guess my mind needs to wander elsewhere, it was bound to happen one day.

Bubble Juice

How sad. I used the last of the dish soap to use bubble juice - those darn kids. Now I can't finish the dishes, but I can blow lots of ginormous bubbles. Hmmm...sounds like a good trade off to me...

Dear restaurant owner - DON'T LET US IN.

Once again one of the restaurants that we frequent has closed. This happens over and over again, going back YEARS. We find a great restaurant, start going there regularly, mention OUT LOUD to each other that we like the place, and it closes. I'd post links to these places, but only one was part of a chain, so the rest have just up and disappeared (one did move really far across town and we count that).

So if you have a favorite restaurant, it's best not to tell us. If you owna restaurant and would like to stay open, don't invite us in. And if we do come in to eat, certainly don't have good food and service - that might draw us back in and you'll risk going out of business. And no, it doesn't work the other way. You get no boost if we don't like your food. And having us pretend doesn't seem to work either - those nasty or gross places are all still there, even though we pledged our undying love for them.

So, we are the harbingers of doom. If we come in and like our meal you don't have long...

Aggressive mothers more likely to conceive sons

Aggressive mothers more likely to conceive sons
Washington DC News.NetMonday 21st April, 2008 (ANI)

Washington, April 21 : Women with dominant nature have a higher likelihood of conceiving more sons, according to a new study. The study report says that a growing body of evidence suggest a maternal influence on sex determination. The study showed that the sex of bovine embryos positively correlates with pre-ovulatory follicular testosterone. It, however, remains a mystery as to how exposure of oocytes to follicular testosterone may influence the ability of a metaphase II egg to be preferentially inseminated by a Y-bearing sperm. The study has been published in the journal Biology of Reproduction.

Hmmmm....so what are you saying?

Not my kid!

Yesterday at preschool a woman hollered at me for not stopping her kid from pulling up a flower - several flowers actually. Let me back up and explain. After preschool most days the kids run around and play for about 10 minutes while the parents visit. About two weeks ago the church planted some beautiful flowers out where the kids play and they are now in full bloom. Thus far the kids haven't messed with the flowers and they still look lovely. That is, until yesterday. For some reason a little man went right up and plucked two of the flowers off and was walking around with them. The woman whom I was speaking to and I kind of giggled a minute after after seeing him with the flowers in hand, knowing that he probably shouldn't have done that, but hey, he's four.

Then the mom of said little boy walks over and yells at us for not telling him to stop. She tried to crack a smile, but you could tell she was serious. The woman I was talking to told her that we didn't see him do it in the first place, and the mom corrected us again and told us that we SHOULD have stopped him - yelling at him if necessary. I held my tongue - I don't know this mom other than seeing her at preschool, and she's pregnant, so I wanted to cut her some slack. But she kept on us and the amazing part was - she never spoke to her kid about not doing it again. I dunno - I'd at least pull the kid over and explain about the pretty flowers, and not to touch them, or anything. Don't holler at another mom - because lady - it isn't my job to police your kid. Now, if he was going to run out in the street or was picking up a knife, certainly I'd say something. But honestly, plucking flowers while his mom stands five feet away? And yelling at me - what's that going to accomplish? If you want me to keep an eye on your kid just ask. But seriously, hollering at me for your momentary lapse in kid care isn't the right answer.

$200? OUCH!

I have to start this post off by admitting I do something - apparently something that I should not be doing. Our house has wooden floors everywhere except for the basement. I like, well, I love to slide around on them - I call it sock skating. (And I'm not the only one in the house that does this!) Sock skating simply involves wearing socks, and then propelling yourself across the floor similarly to ice skating. It's a ball - try it sometime when you are alone. You don't have to admit it to anyone, but it's fun.

Now, the $200 and the problem comes in when I was sock skating a few days ago. I was in the living room zipping around turning lights off before I left, and I whacked my hand on the back of the couch. I knew immediately that I jammed my fingers as they swelled up and one turned a bit blue where my ring was - my wedding ring. So I whipped the ring off and made no notice of it's condition...until two days later. I was putting lotion on and put my ring back on and noticed that the diamond on my engagement ring was about 2 mm off to one side. No wonder my fingers hurt so much - they had the heck smacked out of them!

So I took my ring into the place that cleaned it about six months ago, reduced the size of the rings because they were falling off of me, and repaired two of the tines that were crooked. That cost as much as our first couch. This time though, fortunately, my diamond was still in place and my wedding band wasn't damaged. (The rings are attached to each other.) It just needed a few tines straightened out, and oh while you are at it can you clean the rings? No problem, the jeweler will call you with an estimate of what the repair cost will be they said.

$200. To straighten my poor little ring out. Not even the whole ring, just the tines. Well, apparently four of the stones in my wedding band are also loose, and both need to be cleaned again. Geez louise where does it end? So instead of paying the $200 and getting the repair, Tom and I are setting off on the grand ring adventure (we're illogical like this occasionally). You see, this year is our 10th wedding anniversary and we're getting me a new ring at some point, so why not now. And since my poor engagement ring had been repaired about 10 times since he gave it to me, we're thinking that maybe a different, more substantial mount is in order.

So, back to the jeweler to get my poor little ring back and see what they can do for me. Our little $200 expenditure turned into a whole new animal, hopefully one that is a little less delicate. I'm not so much the delicate type.

The difference between me and my oldest son

is oh so apparent in our dreams.

Max: "Hey Mom - I had a dream last night about black holes!"
Me: "Cool! I had a dream that Daddy bought me a riding lawnmower."

Sigh...

One year ago today

I was sent home from the hospital to recover from a major surgery. I had a breast reduction and a tummy tuck, and man was I uncomfortable. I was swollen, had several drains in that made me uncomfortable, was heavily medicated (thank goodness) and couldn't have been happier (see my big drug induced cheesy grin?). About three months later, all was back to normal, or what the new normal would become. It took me another few months to completely recover, but I was up to regular speed at six months - and much faster on the go. I could now run, jump, and do a lot more without having those girls in the way. But a year ago today I was heavily medicated and in a bit of pain - and very doped up. Fortunately my in-laws here here running the house and taking care of all of us so Tom could continue working and we could all maintain our sanity. Fortunately my husband 'got it" and encouraged and supported me through this whole process. But still, a year ago today I was on the couch, not yet taking showers, and not allowed to stand up straight or lift anything.

I can't be more happy with how it all turned out, nor can I say that I have any regrets. Take a look at the difference and you'll see what I mean - can't ask for anything more:

The first one is the night before the surgery. The second is from six weeks after, and I was still swollen in spot. At about six months the swelling went away completely, and my shape changed dramatically when I started back exercising, and running. The last picture is from last month, but you get the drift! I can't say that it was an easy recovery, but like anything this radical, it was a family decision and one of our best if I say so myself. I'm sure that the rest of the family would agree - I'm in a much better place overall these days, and have this surgery to thank for helping to get me there.

Let the CRAZINESS commence

So tomorrow these two (but not Flat Stanley Elvis):

begin soccer. They've played soccer before, but this is going to get interesting as Max has soccer on Saturdays and Tom coaches that team. Hopefully the games won't collide too many times, and hopefully the boys both enjoy their soccer experience. My guess, from their sheer joy at being able to wear shin guards, is that they will have a ball. So, we're off tomorrow to a whole new experience - Max has to wait around while his brothers play soccer!

The craziness comes in as we have to manage travel to and from the games. Fortunately the little guys should be on the same team, but we'll find out tomorrow how much craziness we will have to deal with this season. And I'm sure that this is nothing - the really crazy schedules are looming just on the horizon.

Hot Computer!

No, it isn't stolen...but this could be bad. Should I be concerned that my laptop is about 105 degrees? Should I worry that this is it's normal state after four years? Yeesh.

I had this great idea for a blog post...

...and I completely forget what it is. It was all of five minutes ago, so I must be tired. Whatever it was struck me as a great blog post, but it is gone. It simply vanished. So, a quick kiddo story and I'm off to bed as I'm obviously tired! And I won't even get into a big old discussion of why I think it is so terribly wrong to disrupt the Olympic Torch or the Olympics themselves for political reasons.


My kids do chores, and this week Max has Sock Patrol as one of his chores. This means that he scours the house for socks (our original problem was socks being left EVERYWHERE) and any other dirty clothes. He also has to put away clean clothes, but I generally have all the kids do that together to spread their pain. Anyway, the hamper was downstairs in the laundry room, so Max had to, with his own hands, pick up my underwear and carry them down to the rest of the laundry. My underwear, along with a few other pieces of clothing, was sitting where the hamper lives normally. So, he picks up my undies and yells at the top of his lungs to his brothers (imagine the tone here - he's a 7 year old boy)


"OOOOO. Mommy's underwear. I have mommy's underwear! OOOOO"


Yeah, nice.

Taxes - DONE!

Yes, you read that correctly, our taxes are done. A few years ago we did or taxes in early February. The last two years we did them in mid March. This year we waited until, well, yesterday to get started. Yeesh, April 7 is not the best time to start your taxes. Waht if we were missing a form? Fortunately we had everything and finished them yesterday as well. Yes, finished - in all of 1.5 hours.

I remember slaving over my first few sets of income taxes sweating whether or not I got the details right and the numbers in the right spots. I was a student and worked, and only had one W-2, but man oh man it took me HOURS to get those forms filled out. And I remember my Dad setting aside a full weekend to do his and mom's taxes for years. At some point though I got married, started working regular jobs, had investments, had kids, and our taxes got complicated. We struggled with those early forms, not knowing exactly if we filled everything in in the right spot or not. Then along came our savior TurboTax online.

We are now able to complete our taxes in all of about an hour (last night it took longer due to some debate on accrual methods for my business). This wonderful program pulls in the info from the prior year, goes through step by step and asks if there are changes, and is easy enough for someone who is tax impaired (like me) to navigate it properly. I can't imagine how long it would take us to do our taxes by hand - or why on earth anyone would even think of doung that these days. Computers are our friend, and that mass of paper that TurboTax filled out for us, well, I might just want to marry it.

Max In Goal

Ahhh...another indoor soccer season comes to a close.

Yes, he was indeed scary.

Dear scary man who came to my door mid-day,

When you approach someone's door in the middle of the day, there are some basic etiquette rules that you need to follow.

1. Ring the bell and WAIT. Yes, wait. It might take a minute for the person answering the door to get there.
2. Don't POUND on the door. Pounding never scores points. And there may be someone sleeping - you wake me up, you make me mad. You wake my kid up and we're going to have a "little talk."
3. Certainly don't ring the bell them IMMEDIATELY pound on the door. This borders on creepy and it might change my mind about the whole answering the door thing.
4. And if the person does answer the door, DON'T YELL AT HER - she's slow (or busy) not deaf. Speak in a regular voice and be polite. Don't make faces or STOMP off across the lawn if you don't get the answer you want either. That's just poor form.
5. If you POUND, RING, YELL, or STOMP, you will FREAK OUT the person in the home that you are attempting to get to hire you. Never works. Never, ever. Doesn't matter how dirty my gutters are - you scared me and I hate that.

And note to the next person that comes to my house mid-day and pounds, rings, knocks, walks up to the door, or even sniffs around my house, I am NOT going to answer the door. The scary man that swung by today in an attempt to clean out my gutters blew it for you. You and the next thirty people that come by. (So sorry favorite UPS guy - this means you too.)

Signed,
The woman who is now jittery mid-day

This is cross posted over at DC Metro Moms.

The grass isn't always greener

Today was one of those regular days, with the exception of a scary encounter with a loud man at my front door, was just regular. However, as the day wraps up I am longing for something different. I'm ready for a different pace, a change of scenery, a new locale. I want a change, but not a break, an actual change. But then I realize that I'll miss my lifestyle. If I jump ship and move out to the country, then we'll have a different load of work, a new set of challenges, and a whole mess of stuff that we don't know about. If we were to move to, say, a beautiful island in the Caribbean, there would also be issue with employment, education, etc, along with a whole new set of challenges.

So, you see, I'm not terribly motivated to change or do something different. I suppose it was just one of those days that was the same as another day and I wanted something a bit different. As for what I actually want? Who knows. Tomorrow it will be a bowl of ice cream, or perhaps world domination. For tonight though, I'll just go to bed and see what tomorrow brings.

Calendar surprises!

We have a calendar on our pantry (along with the chore charts) so that everyone knows what's going on and everyone knows where everyone else is or is supposed to be and when. Generally it works, and it's the best method that we've found thus far to make sure that we show up where we are supposed to. It is generated in MS Outlook and is all color coded. The kids know their colors, and can track their own activities. We also add activities as the come up instead of reprinting the whole thing. But this morning I noticed an addition to the calendar that wasn't in my or Tom's handwriting:

Yes, Max added to today "Alvin + the Cimpmunks out on dvd." Not only did he succumb to ads on TV (which he hasn't seen for a week because he lost the privilege) but he also thought enough of the event to add it to the calendar. Wonder if he thinks that this means that I will buy it as it is on the calendar? Too bad he can't watch it though - he's still in trouble until Thursday...