No clever title today

Not much to report today. We are busy turning the homestead into Birthday Central. Number 1 turns 8 this Friday. Those who know number 1, know that she can be a bit shy and standoffish at times. When she has important information however she will share it with anyone who will listen. This evening we had several errands to run, and Number 1 felt that every cashier we encountered needed to be informed that her birthday is Friday and she will be 8 years old.

Every single one.

Four total.

Five if you count the guy at Sam's club who checks your cart contents against your receipt before you leave the store.

So my next few days will be filled with baking cupcakes for the "Friend Party", cookies to take to school Friday, Pumpkin bread for the breakfast in bed on your birthday tradition we have at our house, and a cake in the shape of a horse for the family party.

The theme this year is horses in case you had not guessed.

I will be throwing two parties on Saturday, here's hoping I stay healthy. I have been sick on party day the last three years. I have yet to beat the year I did two parties in one day while sporting a 102 degree fever. That was the day I officially earned Supermommy stripes. Or crazy in the head mommy stripes. Depends on who you ask.

Fair warning...

Please be prepared for a post lamenting the fact that my oldest child is 8, and reminiscing on the day of her birth. (Maybe, that one is tough.)

Ta!

Hottie of the week (Naughty Boy Edition)

I realized suddenly that due to my post-Thanksgiving Day be lazy and slothful festival this past weekend, I neglected to elect a hottie.

In honor of the beginning of the season where it is determined whether one has been naughty or nice,

I present this weeks naughty hottie.......

JUDE LAW!!!!!!

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Last night I took a poll after story time to see who was ready to go back to work/school today. Only Number 2 expressed any desire to return to the "normal" routine.

This morning Number 2 and I troop out to the car on our way to Preschool, only.....my car decides that today would be a good day NOT to start. Oh she tried....she tried so very hard to turn over. But alas it was not to be. There was also a distinct burning smell when I got out to head back inside.

That probably isn't good.

So we called Rescue Grammy to get the youngest off to school and I called Rescue Roadside Assistance to have my car taken by the car equivalent of the ambulance to the automobile emergency room, aka the dealer repair shop.

Now I await the dreaded phone call with the diagnosis. Fortunately this car has the automobile equivalent to health insurance...Bumper to Bumper Warranty.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery!

Do you think they have a get well bouquet for cars? Will the service center accept flowers?

Oh for the love of...

Why do I read this crap and let it irritate me?

And the Hottie of the Week goes to.....

Bono


Because I like him and his music.

That is all I have to say about that.

TGIF

TGIF is a phrase I have always hated. However I am almost always glad that it is Friday, I think it is just not something worth bugging the Big G with. I think he knows.

I don't have much to share right now, and I fear that babbling on and on about my anxiety over getting my house cleaned and a door on the downstairs bathroom before 25-30 members of my family converge on this house for Thanksgiving Dinner would be boring.

So...in anticipation that the days proceeding the above-mentioned event may not provide me with much time for posting I will list a few things I am Thankful for, because I know you all are DYING to know.

What I am Thankful For in no particular order...

By

Missy

1. Toasted Chocolate PopTarts and a cold glass of milk. (Just had this and it was GOOOOD)

2. My Beloved owes me two weeks of supervising bath time.

3. An end to my annual fall single parent festival. (Lasts from end of Sept-Nov, you should check it out)

4. Sitting idly by while my beloved, #1 and #2 catch up on play rowdy with Daddy time.

5. Two days off work baby!

6. I kept my promise NOT to get involved in a Christmas show this year.

and of course...

7. All my peeps who take time to read my babbling on.

and this goes with out saying, but I will say it anyway because it is important...

My honeys: Beloved, #1 and #2 because they mean that my life is NEVER truly dull.

Whew! That almost got all sappy and sentimental. I can't be having that on here. What would my public think?????

Ta!

What is the surprise?

Recipe of the week in today's Topeka Capital-Journal....

Surprise Balls.


Hmmmm...

BEWARE! This post contains the (belated and retro) Hottie of the week

I thought I should include a warning for those who have found my hottie of the week post's to be well...sexist.

So here I am! I figured if I could take time to read and comment on other blogs I could take a few and post on my own.

Also, I have a gross kitchen to clean up and I don't wanna.

On to the hottie. This week's Hottie of the Week posting is going to go a little retro. Back to that golden decade.. the 80's...when nobody put Baby in a corner (hint! hint!) This week we recognize a man who could take out Yankee forces with only one fully functioning leg....a man who made millions of teenage girls want to dance with boys in such a naughty way...a man who was by far one of the sexiest ghosts that I personally have ever seen....a man whose woman was Tyler with whom he shared time...

Without further ado I present this Retro Hottie of the week....PATRICK SWAYZE.

A shout out to my good friend Poopie (don't ask just accept) who gave the idea and inspiration for this week's hottie. My partnah in watching a bazillion hours of the North and South trilogy while our husbands do their Geek Thang.

I will do a real post eventually

I have either been busy or lazy for the past few days, and I am not sure at this point when that will end.

So stay tuned.

I Love Little House

We have been reading the Little House on the Prairie Series with the daughters since the summer. Right now we are nearly finished with Little Town on the Prairie, the third book from the end of the series.

I LOVED these books when I was young. I can not tell you how many times I read each one, but it was several. Somehow though, I never managed to own a set of the books, until shortly after my beloved and I were married, he bought me a GORGEOUS leather bound set for my birthday. I read them all again immediately after, and picked them up a few times here and there since.

This time reading them through with my daughters has been just as enjoyable as every other time I have read the books. It is interesting to see how my thoughts and perspectives on the stories have changed now that I am an adult and a parent.

It is hard for me to imagine and harder still for my children to imagine the life Laura led. This was a girl who was thrilled and thought she was incredibly lucky to get a tin cup and a penny for Christmas. She was ecstatic about getting an orange at a party, and was sad that she could not take it home to share with her family. An entire winter was spent eating nothing but brown bread and potatoes, and they had to grind the wheat for the bread, because no trains could get through due to blizzards that started in October and lasted through April with only a day or two between storms. Things we can not even fathom, and certainly would not take even half as well as she and her family, because complaining was not tolerated.

I also find it interesting to see the huge difference between Almanzo and Laura's upbringing. If you ever read Farmer Boy which is entirely about Almanzo when he was a young boy, the descriptions of the meals he and his family ate are incredible. I can not imagine putting on this kind of spread three times a day, let alone on a wood fired cookstove.

Some things have been difficult to read to the girls, mainly some of the not so kind references to Native Americans as Ma hated them, and a description of a minstrel show was a little hard to get through as well. It does help promote good discussion about diversity at least.

All and all this has been a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend time with #1 and #2. If you have children, I highly recommend these books as they provide so much to talk about. If you don't, give them a read just because they are good, and classics among children's literature.

My big dream now is to go and visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder homes in Missouri and South (or is it North?) Dakota.

I just bought....

A 22 pound turkey.

That is one big motherf$#@&*! bird!

Wonder how long it will take that bad boy to thaw out.

I probably should have started today.

It will probably take me three days just to roast the damn thing.

Oh yeah! I nearly forgot!! I also get to peel, boil, and mash 10 pounds of potatoes.

(and make two pies, and two pans of my famous hashbrown casserole. We like to have a variety of starchy foods at my family feasts. No such thing as too many potatoes!)

Now can anyone tell me why I thought Thanksgiving at my house was a good idea?

I had to think about this one

I awoke to this comment this morning....

There are more smokers in China than there are people in the US.

Damn.

If I may be shallow for a few moments

I know the 90's are over but there is still a part of me that REALLY wishes I had Jennifer Aniston's hair.

(Watch the video clip to see what hair I am talking about. Couldn't get the link to be direct to the video clip. Sorry.)

However I am stuck with my curls that resist being straightened.

Sigh.

What is this S@#%????

I need to register a complaint with mother nature.

What the hell is this 80 degree high in November crap?

It is fall and I want some fall temperatures dammit.

We need to be wearing jackets and long sleeved shirts. I want the air to be crisp when I walk out that door in the morning, afternoon AND evening.

If I wanted this balmy off season B.S. I would move to Florida.

I want my seasons to act appropriately dang it.

AND I MEAN IT!!

Hottie of the week

Credit for this week's hottie must go out to my good friend at Lies! All Lies! Her experience with this week's hottie winner inspired me. Also the music industry has been woefully overlooked in the hottie department on this blog.

So without further ado may I unveil this week's hottie..........

STING!!!!!!!!!!!

I think this is what they call one of them there "senior moments."

So I am on my way back to the office from a therapy appointment that stood me up. I am listening to the radio, and amazingly enough I was able to stay on the same station for more than 5 minutes. Not happening to me very often since I lost my beloved 97.3 the Planet.

Anyway as I am driving "Head Like a Hole" comes over the airways and I am instantly transported back a "few" years to my freshman year of college, when this song along with the old standard "Beers Steers and Queers" by the world famous band the Revolting Cocks were staples at the club my posse and I used to frequent in Lawrence. Ahhh the good old days of dancing and drinking at the......the.......th............

I can NOT remember the name of that club to save my life.

Please help me.

Poopie...I know you have the answer to this one so please respond. (Anyone else who remembers is welcome to help too.)

Respond soon or else I might well drive myself crazy.

One more time on trees.....

This evening I learned something new to me about trees. You have to be careful standing under pine trees at certain times of year, or you can get sap in your hair.

How did I learn this? As #1 screamed while I combed through her hair that was scented with pine and sticky with sap even after washing it. Her shampoo is scented with Raspberry by the way.

Good times.....gooood tiiimmmees.

Fall Color...It's a Good Thing

My job requires that I do quite a bit of driving around town. As I have been making my daily treks across our "fair" city it has come to my attention that we have some gorgeous fall color going on around here right now.

If you have the time may I suggest taking a drive down Burlingame Rd? The trees along the stretch that begins at about 27th street and on past 29th has some beautiful looking trees right now.

Going along I-470 there is also a beautiful stretch of trees around the 21st St exit to the Gage Blvd exit.

When I was a kid every year around the end of October we would take a trip to visit my great-grandparents who lived in Joplin and Webb City, Missouri. For those who are not familiar with that area it is quite near the Ozarks, not far from Branson. We made our trek at that time specifically to see the trees. So a love of fall colors was instilled in me early on.

Unfortunately we generally don't have the time to take a road trip to "see the trees." So I am glad that we have our fair share of autumn beauty right down the street.

So I encourage you all! Take a drive! Find pretty trees and leaves! Press them in a book! Make imprints with crayons and construction paper like we did in grade school! Find some clear contact paper and make some placemats!

In short...get your Martha Stewart on!

No More Halloween

I was officially done with Halloween at about 11:00 AM yesterday.

Unfortunately Halloween did not officially end for everyone else until about 9:00 PM.

We now posess one extra large mixing bowl full of the chocolate obtained by #1 and #2 at the three different trick or treating opportunities they had, and class parties. My large stock pot contains candy obtained by #1 and #2 at the above mentioned opportunites that does not fall into the chocolate category.

We got a lot of f&%$#@n candy.

Pictures of the loot will come later. We have yet to advance to the digital age for cameras.