Tap Dancing and Crochet

Howdy!

It has been a while friends.

This exercising and trying to be more active in the evenings has really cut into my blog time.

Well that and I have not felt like posting just for the sake of posting either.

Several weeks ago I purchased a book that promised to teach me to crochet.

A few days ago I purchased yarn and crochet hooks.

I have successfully mastered the chain stitch, slip stitch, single crochet, and half double crochet.

Tonight I move on to the double crochet.

I tried my hand at crochet about 10 years ago with less than stellar results. Patience has never been one of my strong suits, and I was much less patient 10 years ago than I am now, so I dove into trying to crochet a blanket as my first project, without really trying to master the basics first.

Not surprisingly I never finished the blanket and got rid of my needles, yarn, etc, shortly after I had #1 and could not wrap my tiny brain around ever having time to indulge in something like crochet again.

This time I am taking the slow approach, and plan to do a very simple first project once I have the basic stitches down pretty well.

I will keep you posted and perhaps share a few photos of my efforts as well.

I will also be starting an adult tap class this fall.

Yup it is true. #2's dance teacher approached me about it today and I agreed.

Thought it might be fun, and hope that it will help #2 decide to stick with dance for a while longer.

Yet another tough parenting deal. When do you say, "OK" when your child says they want to stop an activity that they are good at, and is good for them to continue to participate in?

It's a tough call. On the one hand I want my daughter to feel that she has power and choice in her life.

On the other hand...she's 5. Dance is boring right now because the recital is a week away, they are rehearsing upwards of three times a week doing the same 2 dances they have been working on since August. The truth is that things you like and are good at are boring sometimes, but that is not necessarily a reason to stop. Building a skill takes perseverance, and at her age well..you are intelligent people so I don't have to spell it out. When we are not in heavy prep for performance she seems to enjoy herself and we find her practicing steps around the house in her free time. So this year parental rank is being pulled and we are signing her up for another year and myself for a class as well.

That gives us one more year to decide when is enough...enough.

For tonight I believe this is enough.

Ta.

Just in case you haven't wasted enough time reading my blog

I bring you this.

Just so you know, according to this little test I am a poor listener.

Not a very good thing for my chosen career.

Guess I had better quit my job.

It's probably about time for that anyway, after all I have been there a whole three months.

That is a long time when you measure in Missy Job Longevity Time (MJLT).

By the way credit for this little time waster goes to my good friend Tif.

Sometimes ya just gotta be direct

So apparently all I had to do to get Beloved blogging was to ask him directly, "So what are you going to title your blog?"

After a little back and forth banter he has up and done it, yes sir/ma'am he has.

Check it out.

I do believe it won't be your average blog.

Nuthin' wrong wtih that!

Bring it on sugar butt!

Further proof (not that I asked for or wanted it!)

Today at lunch #2 asks me, "Mommy what is the name of your friend who has the boys Alexander and Sebastian?"

"Her name is Valerie." I reply cheerfully.

"Does she take her boys to work with her?" Asks #2.

"Well, not exactly. She does not have a job that she leaves home to go to like I do. Her work is at home." I reply having NO idea where this is going.

"Oh. Then how do you know her?" Asks my darling child.

"Valerie and I have been friends since high school." Is my answer.

"WOW! THAT IS FOR A REALLY REALLY LONG TIME MOMMY!" Shouts my adorable daughter.

"Yes sweetie it is." I respond to her while trying to be heard over the hoots and hollers of laughter from my beloved husband.

People still think I am the younger one.

I plan to hold on to that.

Oh yeah!

Since school is out, I really think we need to step up the campaign to get my beloved to start up his own blog.

Pestering him to death here at Chez Us does not seem to be working very well. I can't imagine why.

Maybe I should invoke "the promise." (SPQ fans will know what I am talking about.)

It has worked before.....

You all need to put the pressure on too.

Get to work!

It's that time of year again!

Yes it is time for my annual "Let's get grumpy because everyone is at home but me" extravaganza.

This is the one where I (not so quietly) pout because I must go to work while everyone else in my house is off for the summer.

I think what I need to do is start planning some huge grumpy and whiny themed party every year to mark this occasion. Think of the fun to be had. There could be contests and prizes. Everyone loves prizes!

It does not help that since I changed jobs recently I can not take any time off until my probationary period ends on August 13. Of course by then everyone is back or soon to be back at school. Ah well. This time next year I hopefully will have al kinds of vacation time.

I must pack all of my summer fun into evenings and weekends so I will need to be well organized. I should make a list of the fun activities I would like to do this summer.

Hmmm....maybe I will save that for another post.

I should get going, the bike and treadmill call. So does episode 3 in season one of House. Apparently watching TV series on DVD will make it on my list.

What do you want to do this summer?

The Brangelina baby arriveth

I decided to take a quick surf of the good ol' internet before I shut down for the day and what do I see first off? The spawn of Brangelina has arrived! OOhh I was just giddy!

If you don't want to read the story behind the link, it is a girl and they named her Shiloh and a few other names I can't remember except for Jolie-Pitt.

So there you have it.

I think that will end my celebrity posts for this week.

Good night!

Is it just me or....

Does Gwen Stefani look like she smells something really bad in every picture she poses for?

She sure does in this one.

Poop!

I was really hoping they would be able to pull it together, but alas (and not surprisingly I suppose) it apparently is not to be.

Darn it.

Hello..My Name is Missy and I am a Mutantphobe

This revelation comes to you courtesy of my beloved husband, a crusader against those who fear and repress mutants.

He being an expert on those things Mutant has conducted a thorough evaluation and indeed determined that I am a Mutantphobe.

We are in the process of researching 12-step groups to help me overcome this heinous problem.

The prognosis is fair.

The first step of course is admitting that you have a problem.

Now I am starting to feel for the girl

If they were getting silly before now it is ridiculous.

I want to hear from the parent who at some point during the "carrying years" has not fallen, tripped, or inadvertently hurt or nearly hurt their child while carrying them at some point, or while doing anything? Good lord help us if the girl slips with the nail clippers while trimming his nails, or if he scratches himself becuase she didn't out of fear of hurting him.

Ya won't see me cheering for Ms. Spears...well hardly ever.

But enough is enough already.

The girl is going to be so damn jumpy she really will hurt him.

Kung Fool

Props to my beloved husband and his you tube surfing ways for this HI-larious little gem.

Pondering

I was doing a little thinking and some slight self-evaluation on the way back to work during my lunch break today.

As you might know beloved and I have been trying to eat better and exercise more. We have been doing pretty well. The scale is showing lower numbers on a fairly regular basis.

This has been going on for roughly three weeks now, and I find myself getting down right pissed off because a lot of the things I like and want to eat, are not good to have if I really want to meet my goal.

I have for several days now felt quite justified in my anger. Until today.

For whatever reason as I was pondering this idea of being pissed off about the fact that I shouldn't eat total crap I quite suddenly felt guilty.

I am all pissed off about not being able to eat crap when there are millions of people who don't have the choice to eat regularly let alone eat crap or healthy food. Furthermore who is to say that we will forever have the abundance that most (but not all) Americans have enjoyed for so very, VERY long. It is not totally out of the realm of possibilty that for whatever unknown reasons we could be lucky to eat regular meals at all. There was much more detail to these thoughts, but I don't want to go in to them now. Hopefully you have got the jist of what I am saying here.

It is my wish that I can hold these ideas with me, can't promise my tendency to be shallow won't continue to shine through from time to time. I will try.

I continued my ponderings after I was back at work and my ponderings took a more psychological bent (big shocker I know!) I began to wonder if I was going throught the stages of grief over the loss of my former habits. It's a bit of a stretch, but interesting to think about.

I think I am at anger now. Maybe moving in to barganing.

I will probably keep you posted.

Looks Like I Maaaaadddee iiiiittttt!

I survived the dreaded final preschool program.

There were a few iffy moments where I was fairly certaing the waterworks were about to come on full force, but I powered through.

I might have made a quick trip to the bathroom before the program started and had myself a little tiny sobfest..but I am not sure.

!

No clever title in me today.

As you will discover should you choose to read on...there really isn't a clever blog topic in me today either.

Tomorrow is the day that I have dreaded for so long...the final preschool program.

My disguise is ready, kleenex stockpiled, and escape routes mapped out.

Lord...please don't let me be a total mess. That is all I ask.

Missed the season finale of Scrubs last night because our VCR decided it was through taping after a few minutes.

Damn i-tunes doesn't have it available yet either despite my obsessive checking.

They do however have vol 2 of the Scrubs soundtrack. Really worth the money.

Oh yeah....

Looks like we need to have "The Talk" with #2.

Crap.

Free At Last

This morning as I walked out the door to take the chiddlers (read the BFG by Roald Dahl if you don't get this reference) to school.

What do you think I saw?

My college frat boy neighbors out on their porch along with what looked to be furniture.

What do you think they said to me?

"We're moving out!"

What do you think I did?

Launched into a super powered happy dance in the middle of our front "lawn?" (I put that in quotes because it is a bit of a stretch to call what we have a lawn seeing as how there is little grass but an abundance of clover and assorted weeds.)

No! I did not..though the temptation was strong.

Make some marginally clever quip about them deciding to sleep on the porch from now on?

Yes. Unfortunately yes.

I was trying not to show too much glee and I am not at my most clever in the morning, so I settled for lame.

But still they're gone! They are gone!

No more screaming drunk sorority girls yanking me out of a sound sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

No more stray liquor bottles drifting in to my front yard.

No more feeling like an old curmudgeon because those damn kids are keeping me up with their stinkin' jungle music, drinkin', and weird chanting. (Yes it is true chanting. Swear to God.)

Now...we wait to see who will inhabit the place next. I keep hoping to see a real estate sign, but rumor has it the owners have too much money in the house and they can't sell it at the price they need to get out of it.

I may have a conniption if one more set of college boys inhabit that house.

So, if any of you out there would like to rent a large house here in T-town let me know. I am happy to do some leg work to get the particulars for you. Nice neighborhood. Lots of trees and older houses with good character. Mainly young families with children and old people live around here. Good active neighborhood association (not the snooty kind that involves dues or anything like that.)

Let me know.

After two years Momma is ready for some quiet.

Peace In!

M is for...

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to all the Mama's who read this blog.

Hope you all got to do what you wanted to do today.

Actually, that sentiment goes for all the readers.

Later!

A suggestion

This suggestion comes via my beloved husband.

Check out the News of the Weird Blog. It is updated every day.

Beloved has decided that more of us should be reading it.

Why?

Ask him, which would be much easier if he had his own blog.

Right people?

C'mon! We need to exert more pressure.

I would right now, but I got some Scrubs to watch and sweating to do.

Oh My God Y'all!

Ms. Spears is pregnant with #2.

Needing a back up in case they remove #1 from her care?

(OOoh! That was a teeny bit mean of me!)

I will give her some small measure of sympathy, as my worst nightmare after having my first child was that I would become pregnant again before she was out of diapers.

Of course that is because it would have just been me and beloved providing care for home and babies. Somehow I doubt Ms. Spears has to keep up her big ol' house all by her lonesome.

Aaawww #@%$

I had to make a stop by home during my lunch hour today to get a couple of things I said I would loan to a co-worker.

When I got here I was quite happy to see the mail.

Looked like a good mail day for me too. Magazine, DVD I ordered last week, jury duty notice..JUR..WHAT THE F....?

Yes friends it is true I have been summoned for Jury Duty the week of June 5.

That means I only have a few weeks to develop my character and story that will get me out of this.

I am as ever open to suggestions.

Let it be known to those who know me only from the blog that I am not afraid of crazy acting, so don't hold back.

Naughty!

As I was on my way back from lunch today, I noticed the following window stickers on the truck in front of me:

I volunteer to fight fires (this was on the left side of the window).

Get 'em while they're hot and leave them wet (on the right side).

Whew!

Is it just me or is it warm in here?

Where is my husband?

Revelation

Since I gave birth to our first child I have lamented the fact that we have not ever been in a position that would allow me to be a stay at home mother.

The fact that I wanted to be a SAHM in the first place was a revelation for me. I always assumed I would work. My mother did, as did the mothers of many of my friends, to me that is just how things worked.

Then I actually had a baby and I realized that I really did not want to miss one minute of growing up.

Alas it was not to be, primarily due to choices I made before having that baby.

This evening Beloved and I got on the subject somehow of my desire to stay home with the kiddies. We were joking around about how I would share what I had done that day, remembering back to when I was in graduate school and did not work in the summer so that I could take more classes and finish school more quickly. I won't embarass myself by telling all of you about ways I passed time. All I will say is that in my defense we did not have much of a social life in California and I was not used to being home that much. So there.

Back to my point for this post. It dawned on me that being a SAHM wouldn't be the same for me now that the children will be in school all day.

I have now moved on to fantasizing about being a part-time working mother. It is quite a change. My whole reason for wanting to stay home up until now was to be home for the kids. Now they will be away from home the majority of the day, so I want to be home when they are and work when they are not.

Unfortunately this too will just continue to be a fantasy, since part-time jobs do not pay as much as full time jobs and we still need that full-time income from me.

Pooey.

Makin' Play-Doh

NO that is not a new way of referring to gettin' some, nookie, and etc.

I really did make play-doh tonight.

I think it turned out ok.

I have purple hands now.

Let's see, I believe I have seven clients scheduled for tomorrow. If they all show up I figure that is at least 7 times that I will hear the question what is wrong with your hands.

I could get all therapist on them and do some reflecting back shit, "Oh! You are curious about my purple hands." and never really answer the question.

That would get old pretty quickly.

Those kids can be pretty persistent too.

What I need is a good story.

Any ideas?

P.S. It is a good idea to wear some kind of protective hand gear when kneading dough that contains food color paste.

Oh WHERE to begin

Hello Charming Readers!

What is new with all of you?

Much is happening at Chez Us.

Let's see.....

Beloved Husband has been offered and accepted a new teaching job in a local school district that is not 501. He will be teaching primarily Theatre classes with an English class thrown in for good measure. He will also be directing the Drama productions. The whole thing happened rather quickly and out of the blue, as he was not looking to leave his current position. But these kinds of jobs don't come around very often and it was a VERY nice raise in pay and reduction in paper grading so he decided to do it.

We thought that we would be transferring the girls to a school in the district where he will be teaching, but they don't have all day kindergarten, which we feel is important for #2, so transferring will be looked into again next year.

Only a few weeks of school left. I am still preparing for #2's last day of preschool and it ain't looking good folks. I continue to tear up at the mere thought, so I am going to have to sport sunglasses and sit in the back with my economy size box of Kleenex and try to sob quietly. Maybe a hat with a veil... there is still time to decide. Goddamn emotions. I hate being a weepy weenie. Then I have only a few months to prepare for Kindergarten. Shit.

We keep trying to put up a new swing set, but have run in to a few road blocks. First it was the missing board and bolts. Got those and then it was the rain...good God the rain. It may still be too wet to put it up this weekend because we apparently are only allowed short pauses for commercial breaks this week. I know I shouldn't complain..we need the moisture blah blah blah. BUT WE HAVE SWING SET ON THE FLOOR OF THE GARAGE!!! C'mon!! There is no fun in that. Just torture for our poor children.

I am sure there is more to tell, but I must be off to bed.

P.S. The perfessor needs to start his own blog. This is my new ploy to get him going. Feel free to join my cause.

This one is for you honey

Some people who shall remain nameless. (Beloved Husband) had some remarks about the original post I intended for today.

Now I can say this for Beloved, he doesn't criticize without offering alternatives.

So here we go with his idea for today.

I have big boobs.

It is true.

It wasn't always this way, but everything changes and this is one change my beloved hopes is here to stay.

I will do my best to accomodate him as I do try to be as agreeable whenever possible.

That is all I have to say about that.

Hmmmm...that helps explain a few things

Well the Angelina half of the couple is apparently ready to speak out about a few personal things.

Sort of.

Apparently Ms. Jolie does not talk about her relationships to ANYONE. Not even the person she is with.

Perhaps maybe..JUST MAYBE that is why she has had so many unsuccessful relatioships. Just a hunch.

Now there are a lot of things I don't know much about...but one thing I do know a little something about is relationships.

However it does not take any specialized degree in anything to know that for a relationship to flourish and be healthy ya gotta jaw about it sometimes.

I could get all psychological and discuss my theories on why it is not discussed in the Brangelina world but it would be pointless and boring. (Although I am sure that more than a couple of you out there consider the entire subject of this couple pointless and boring. That's OK. I am not offended in the least. I get some sick entertainment out of this crap for reasons I don't begin to understand, but I digress....)

Learning this interesting fact today has confirmed my belief that this relationship is doomed. It is not the adults I feel for of course, but the children who won't have much chance to learn about how to have healthy relationships on top of all the other crap that makes up the life of a child with famous parents.

Rich, poor, famous, or unknown...I just hate to see kids grow up without those basic life skills.

So sad and unnecessary.

I will step down off my soapbox now.

I gotta Scrubs I downloaded from i-tunes to watch!

SOME people should keep their comments to themselves

At dinner this evening we were having a discussion about recess at school. #2 (who will enter Kindergarten this fall) asked her older sister if the entire school has recess at the same time.

I shared with MY CHILDREN that when I was in grade school the entire school had recess at the same time and our playground was divided in two on one side was K-2, and on the other...here my so called husband interrupts and says, "dinosaurs?"

Certain male members of this household can look forward to a comfy night's sleep upstairs on the futon tonight.

Never joke about a lady's age.

Especially if there is a CHANCE that lady might have been born a FEW months prior to your own birth.

Conspiracy Theory

I am likely late on this one, I recently learned that apparently there has been some buzz that the Tomkat pregnancy was a hoax.

Perhaps that is why the birth was indescribable.

Hmmmmmmm.....

The questions just keep on comin'.

I went to Wal-Mart tonight..

and it sucked the life and all intellegent thought from me.

Check in tomorrow.

I should be recovered by then.

Hopefully.

Now this is just sad

More crazy and delicious Tom Cruise gossip.

If the gossip is true I can't even begin to describe the levels of pathetic that have been achieved.

Let the countdown to breakup begin!

The spawn of Tomkat has arrived.

Glory be!

So who wants to start a betting pool about how long we have until break-up?

Anyone?

C'mon! It will be amusing!

I wonder if this will help?

So I am thinking about photocopying pictures of this dress and taping them up all over the house to motivate me to exercise and eat properly so that I could wear that dress or one similar to it to my brother's wedding in June.

I was thinking of adding some tasteful jewelry and some kicky strappy sandals (sans pantyhose of course!)

Does doing shit like that really work? Anyone?

I gotta go exercise. June 24 will be here really fast and I gots LOTS of work to do to pull off a dress like that.

Yeesh.

Look out ol' Missy she is back!

Helloooo...

We are back from our VERY brief trip to Missouri.

A good time was had by all. The children ran around all day and well in to the evening, stayed up late and got up early both days. Little and big people are tired 'round here.

I made progress on the paranoid mother front this weekend and allowed the children to do things that went against my paranoid better judgement. No serious injuries so all is well.

There were many children about and it is always interesting to me to see other people's parenting strategies in action. Made for interesting conversation on the way home.

There is post-trip laundry awaiting me so I must bid you all farewell for this evening.

Hope you had a happy Easter!

I Shall Return!!

I want all four of you faithful to reading this blog to be strong over the next few days.

Babble On will be having a bit of a hiatus (planned unlike the other gaping holes between posts recently) while I take a little trip to good ol' Jackson, Missouri for some fun with Beloved's side of the family.

For those who are curious Jackson is about 2 hours south of St. Louis.

My precious laptop is coming with me, but I don't know that I will have the time or internet access to post.

Be well, have a lovely Easter, Passover, weekend, or all three.

While I am gone please enjoy this.

I can't believe I left this out of my birth plans

I know that the Pitt-Jolie's don't do the Scientology thing, but I can't help but wonder what the Scientologists standpoint would be on this one.

Don't read this if you don't wanna hear me whine

Crap.

That is what I feel like today.

Crap.

I knew this was bound to happen after about 14 different young children coughed, sneezed, and what not directly in my face several times over the past week and a half.

But I tell you what...


I can thank my friend Ali for perking me up with the fabulous video that she posted today on her always entertaining blog.

That is some funny shit.

Check it out.

Whooooohoooooo NO baby please don't go

I just got to remember a fine and humorous moment from New Year's Eve.

We played a game called Songburst, (I believe that I am the only person in the world besides an old friend named Cindy who truly likes the game. Occasionally I can con others into playing but not often.)

One of the songs we had to sing the absolute correct lyrics to was "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago.

Pretty well known song. The team of all girls.. we thought we had the lyrics DOWN.

Well... we fell down.

In case you were wondering the line goes, "Wooooooohooooooo no baby please don't go."

It is not, "Wooooooooooohoooooo oh baby please don't go."

A fine line to be sure.

Anyway the reason for this post....and there is one, maybe even two.

1. I always like to recall fun moments with friends.

2. I have had that song in my head on several occasions since and for the first time since New Year's I just heard it as it played on Beloved's Launchcast station.

3. It is probably the only song by Chicago that I can even begin to tolerate hearing.

Please all of you fans of Chicago do not take this personally. It is not intended to be an attack on your personal taste. I just don't care for Chicago. Never have. I don't care if you like them. I will not think less of you. Frankly I hope that my opinion on such a trivial matter does not mean that much to you.

Just know that if you ever come to a party that I host, you will not be asked to be in charge of keeping the CD player stocked and running.

Oh what a busy weekend it was!

Whew.

We had birthday parties to bake, clean, and decorate for, manicures and pedicures to get, ears to be pierced, really long naps to take...where do I stop?

A full weeked at Chez Us.

So I am tired because my full weekend was followed by a full day at work today.

So I leave you with a picture that portrays the beauty of my recently pedicured feet.

I gotta find a way to make this mani/pedi thing part of the regular routine.

Ta!

A Shout Out to My Husband

Not only did my beloved husband get a letter printed in issue 90 of Ultimate Spider-Man..he is also a kick-ass Daddy.

How many dads out there would put on a Spa-Evening for his little girls complete with a bubbly foot soak, cucumber slices on the eyes, backrubs, finger and toenail polishing, a girly movie, AND a snack?

Not too darn many. He even included his wife in the spa treatments, minus the nail polishing.

Why I am sure you are asking was I left out of the nail polishing?

Because.....

He made an appointment AND paid for my mani/pedi which happens tomorrow morning.

He's a mighty good man, my beloved.

I think I will keep him around.

My (sniff) Baby (sniff, SNIFF) is 5 today (Bwahhhhh!!)

#2 turns 5 years old today. 5 YEARS OLD!

This has been REALLY tough for me to accept.

As she is still attending pre-school I can still technically call her a pre-schooler. However, in a little over one month's time I won't even be able to say that. She will be a.. a...(GULP) Kindergartner.

I won't be calling her that until she walks through that classroom door, you can bet on that.

Meanwhile I must continue preparing myself for the last day of preschool. I have been preparing since her last day of preschool last school year. I only have about 8 weeks or so left to prepare.

Some of you are probably wondering what I could possibly be up to that is requiring so much preparation.

My goal..to refrain from being a complete and total blubbering mess that day. They always have a family sing along and show all these pictures of the kids from the school year while some sappy song plays. I have to say that things are not looking good for me. Not good at all. I am getting all teary now just thinking and writing about it.

So I suppose I should start coming up with my excuses, ploys to cover my crying, and plotting out quick escape routes from the preschool if things reach total crises.

I used to be rock before I had kids. Rarely had a crying spell. Immediately after giving birth to the first one the floodgates opened and I swear to God they have not shut since.

Sigh.

So Happy Birthday #2.

She is not officially 5 until 10:04 PM CST.

So I can pretend she is still my tiny little 4 year old for another hour and 8 minutes.

Hottie of the week (Long overdue edition)

I have been far too neglectful about my hottie posting.

But I am back today baby!

This week's hottie has a somewhat interesting criminal history, that tainted my admiration of him for awhile.

I got over it, and see no need to dwell on his unfortunate incident.

He is still darn cute, and his charming little stutter sets my heart aflutter.

So may I present this week's hottie......

Hugh Grant.

Maybe I should offer memberships

My treadmill was looking a little lonely, so I decided to spend my birthday money on a new friend to add to the dungeon gym we are developing here at Chez Moi.

Today the UPS person brought my new recumbent bike!

My Beloved Husband..gem of guy he is, hurried to put it together before I got home from work.

I just finished my first go..and I love it!

It is pretty much silent, which is nice (I don't like loud and the treadmill with the TV...you can hear it clearly on the second floor and we have our "gym" set up in the basement) and the best part is that I can read comfortably while exercising which is very exciting to me. (I have trouble reading on the treadmill, too bouncy and we don't have good light overhead.)

For my first go round I biked for half an hour and according to the digital readout I was ranging between 10-12 MPH, biked the equivalent of 6 miles, and burned almost 400 calories. That was at the lowest resistance level.

They weren't lying about working your thighs, hips, and butt. Walking may be a challenge tomorrow.

The quest for fitness continues!

They still allow him to perform??

What the hell?

Doesn't he just eat chicken now or something???

Why did anyone think this was a good idea?

Anyone??

I need to understand.

While I am on a movie kick

I really REALLY enjoyed Ocean's 11.

I didn't hate Ocean's 12.

I can not get enthusiastic about Ocean's 13.

I loves me some Clooney, Pitt, and Damon action but enough already I say.

I will however

Recommend Garden State. I watched it again last night for the second time and liked it even better than I did the first.

If you don't see the movie at least check out the soundtrack.

I have had it for at least a year and it STILL gets played all the time.

Buy it now.

You won't be sorry.

Addendum

Apparently the comedian listed in the post below has a movie coming out this week.

I believe he plays a health inspector if I heard the advertisement correctly.

I will not see nor recommend the movie either.

Eh

Not sure what my deal is, but I am just not feeling it with the blog postings these days.

I have really been struggling coming up with even semi-interesting things to write about.

Must be blogger block or something. (That sounds like some colon-related disease to me.)

Stuff I have been thinking about:

Beloved and I watched a Larry the Cable Guy stand-up DVD the other day. Beloved had added it to our Netflix queue a while back, because he wanted to see for himself what all the fuss was about.

It was interesting... I'll give it that. I didn't laugh much. That brand of humor is just not my cup of tea, and there was a definite conservative bent to it that I found off-putting. Beloved was correct in that he had a very interesting style of delivery. He did not say Git r done every 30 seconds as I feared he would. I just don't get why he calls himself Larry the Cable Guy.

I won't recommend that you go out and rent it. I don't plan to seek out any more of his specials or DVDs.

It is spring break around these parts and I have been a bit grouchy about going to work while every one else is home. With my new job I can't take any time off until I have been there for 6 months. That will be August. It's gonna be a long summer for me.

Well folks I think that is all for now. Hopefully my blog doldrums will abate with all due haste.

Ciao.

Bad BAD Blogger!!

Yeah I have been really crappy about posting recently.

So let's get the excuses over with...

I have been busy.
I have been tired.
I have just not felt it the past several days.
I have been exercising.

That should cover it.

I have some things I have been thinking about, so there should be more posts in the future.

Meanwhile....

My treadmill awaits.

What have you been up to since we last talked?

Why didn't someone stop me?

Oh.My.God.

I totally need some sort of painful electric shock administered to my ass when I go out to a good restaurant that stops me from eating once I have reached capacity.

I think that would be a great thing for restaurants. "Smoking, non-smoking, or ass-shock section?"

That is all I am saying for now. I gotta get out of these jeans and lay down. It makes the overindulgence pooch look smaller, and need I even mention the comfort factor?

Help me.

Shout out to....

ME!

Yes friends today is my birthday.

So happy birthday to me.

I've been thinking

about taking up some kind of hobby.

Something creative-like.

Ideas I have had...

Knitting
Crocheting
Scrapbooking

Yeah that is about as far as I have gotten. Nothing outlandish in that list, but I am ok with that. I am just looking for something different to do that is on the crafty side of things.

I will keep you posted as to my decision as I know that all three of you who read this blog will be beside yourselves with anticipation.

I am also open to ideas and suggestions.

Please know that I plan to virtually slap anyone who suggests underwater basket weaving.

'Cause it's my blog and I will virtual slap if I want too.

I seem to be getting a little cranky in my old age.

Checking in

Nothing much of note going on around here.

Beloved is knee-deep into production week for his latest directorial venture at the high school.

That means extra parent/domestic duties for me.

Having said that I must leave you to wash the laundry that didn't get done over the weekend and fold the laundry that did.

Ta.

No Whammies!

Definitely no more whammies now.

My thoughts on animation

I never was a kid who got up at the ass crack of dawn to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings.

(I never was a kid to get up early for anything truth be told.)

The problem I think is that I was born too late for the cartoons that I appreciate. The ones that appealed to me were done from the late 40's-60's.

I recall the before and after school children's TV offerings on good ol' Channel 41 when I was in grade school. They showed the old Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, and my all time favorite...

Tex Avery!

Y'know Droopy, and the opera singing dog, the wolf, the flea circus?

Classics that can still make me nearly pee my pants from laughing so hard.

The Cartoon Network used to have a half hour show just of Tex Avery classics, I don't know if that is still the case. If not I know you can find collections on video.

I highly encourage you to check them out.

The Pirate's Life For Me!

Thanks to the Girl In Black for this little bit o' fun.
I do try hard not to smell bad by the way.

My pirate name is:

Dirty Bess Flint

You're the pirate everyone else wants to throw in the ocean -- not to get rid of you, you understand; just to get rid of the smell. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Sports: A Rant

I notice that it is time for the Big 12,13, 14 whatever it is basketball tournament.

This crap really gets on my nerves.

Sports, sport teams, and people who try to impose their sports fanatcism on me REALLY annoy the bejesus out of me.

The truth of the matter..... I just don't see what the big deal is.

I simply can not and will not get worked up about it.

What truly astounds me is that there are a LOT of people out there that just assume that everyone has a team that they root for. Many is the time I have been asked, "Are you a KU or KState fan?" I always reply, "Neither." Then I am asked, "which team is "mine?" I alway say, "none." To which the person making the inquiry nearly always gasps in horror, "None!? What do you mean none?!!" I usually take this opportunity to inform the person that I do not care for sports. I don't watch and I don't follow any of them. If I am lucky I have so stunned the person they just walk away mumbling to themselves. Sometimes the person will try and bully me to making some kind, ANY kind of committment to a sporting event. They do not succeed, unless I am feeling like a smart ass and name something obscure.

My one and only year as a KU student the basketball team went on the final game thing in the tournament. The day of the game I happened to have my French class. The T.A. asked me in french, (wish I could remember how to say it!)"Who will KU be playing in the game tonight?" I replied, "Je ne sais pas." (I don't know.) I swear that what happened next is true. The entire class gasped out loud in disbelief. I was slightly ridiculed by the TA for my ignorance. I was also the recipient of many confused stares for the remainder of class time. Personally I was confused that I raised such a fuss with my answer. I was only interested in the promised day off if they won. (They didn't, but we still got the day off.)(My apologies to those who have heard my KU story before.)The experience at least helped me confirm that my decision to move on to a different school was probably the right one.

I don't even know if I should get into my confusion over people who will let the failure of their favorite sports team ruin their entire day. I can not wrap my little pea brain around that one at all.

I am always a little tempted to start going on and on about the activities I enjoy and are passionate about, like theatre, books, independent movies, foreign films, music. Part of me wants to yell at the sports insistent people and demand that they state their preference about MY passions. Not because I want them to be like me, it is mainly a pathetic little desire to do unto others so to speak. I manage to hold back, or talk about it with someone else who is of a mind similar to mine own.

So...sports fanatics beware. I am imposing a don't ask don't tell policy on the subject of sporting events and sports teams.

Maybe I could get that information put on my business cards.

I'll have to look in to that.

Shout out!

To my friend Ali. Who enters her mid-late 20's today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Don't Judge!

Just looks like a lobster in drag to me.

Or maybe it is just cold.

I don't know. I make it a point to try not to judge sea life.

Get the story here.

Yay! First Thunderstorm Watch of the Year

Since we apparently are not going to have any more winter weather...

I will be excited that we are apparently in our first severe thunderstorm watch of the year.

Living in Kansas for the majority of my nearly 3_ years I have grown used to extreme and ever changing weather patterns.

So this winter was damn boring in my opinion.

Bring on the storms I say!!

Give me wind, hail, and heavy rain!

I want weather appropriate to the season.

Because I have said it before and I will say it again..this atypical stuff gives me the heebie jeebies.

Just wondering

I was thinking today about the Blogs I read, but never comment on. I suppose you could say I am reading them in "secret."

For some reason I have this silly rule for myself about blog commenting where I feel that I can only comment on someone's blog under these conditions:

1. I actually know the person.
2. I don't know the person, but they have commented on my blog.

As I thought more deeply on the subject I began to wonder if there were others out there like me..secretively reading blogs and holding back from the comments because of self-imposed rules and regulations forbidding them from doing so.

I realize that my self imposed regulations go against the very soul and purpose of blogs open to comment, but I can't help it. Most people have some kind of neuroses and this is but one of mine.

So I am extending an invitation to all "secret" Babble On readers (assuming perhaps wrongly that there are some out there.) I hereby invite any and all secret readers to make a comment to this one post. There is no obligation for further comments. The comment need not be lengthy, witty, so please don't feel pressured in that respect. A simple hello will do. Identify yourself or just be annonymous, doesn't matter to me.

If you have a blog..I promise to return the favor if you choose to identify yourself and your blog.

This is what happens when I get to thinking, I get to asking.

Also, I hope that this little pondering post helps everyone be able to see without difficulty the beauty that is George Clooney down below.

Hottie of the Week..Homage to the Oscars Edition

Ahhh....there is just something about George Clooney.

He's attractive, talented, witty and now.....

An Acadmey Award Winner.

Sigh....

I would help him polish his Oscar any time.

This does not fit my definition of Overheard

Now correct me if I am wrong...but doesn't overheard imply that you heard something a person was saying and that what you heard was not intended for you to hear? Or something like that?

So explain to me why these quotes, are said to be overheard when: 1)Everyone who watched the Academy Awards heard them, and 2)The people speaking intended for everyone to hear them?????

The title is misleading. I was looking for some good gossip, or at the very least some humorous comments that happened off camera! Not a replay of what I heard while watching the broadcast.

COME ON!

(Exercise Update: I know all of you have been waiting for this. Yesterday: 30 minutes on the treadmill, and then I hauled about 3-4 baskets of laundry from the basement to the attic. Those of you who have been at my house know what a trek that is. Oh yeah I folded the laundry too. Maybe tonight I will put it away. I dunno though, this is my day off from exercise.)

Very Frightened Here!

Has anyone else gotten a pop-up ad that starts speaking to you without provocation?

I just did and it scared the poo right out of me.

On the positive side I apparently have won TWO I-Pod Nanos.



(Exercise update: 1 hour total on the treadmill and I cleaned house. Go Missy.)

Exercise Shmexercise

Beloved and I are very aware of the fact that we are not as fit as we once were or could be.

We have many discussions about the topic as we sit around consuming fast food, and while we engage in sedentary activities.

We own a treadmill, several exercise videos, a few weights, and all in the family have bicycles.

So we do not lack equipment.

What we lack is discipline and drive.

There are too many evenings that it seems so much easier to go out as opposed to cooking and cleaning. I personally will NEVER get up early to exercise. I am not a morning person, I never have been. Even as a small child my parents had to wake me up to do Christmas presents, my thought (and also what I screamed at my younger brother every year when he got every one up at 4 AM was that the gifts weren't going to be any different at 10 AM) it warn't me getting up at the ass crack of dawn for anything. As far as the evening goes....our time from arrival at home until bedtime is family time, errand time if we have to. After the kids are in bed at 8:30 we are tired. We are up and going all day starting no later than 6:30 AM. It sometimes seems like a long way to the treadmill or exercise video. Staying in bed with a book is much easier, and the computer is just a few short steps away, and you get to sit. Or lie in bed if using the laptop. As you can see we have many vaild excuses.

We go through periods of time when we are quite faithful to exercise on a regular basis. Those are followed up by usually longer periods of cheating and being unfaithful.

I am always so proud and feel so good when I have stuck to the routine for the week.

Then....

I realize that I have to do it again. And AGAIN, and AGAIN. This should be something I do regularly for life. It takes shine off the prize for me.

So we try to come up with motivational things like rewarding ourselves for every week we make the exercise goal. We generally have good success, but it can get expensive after a while and we stop out of consideration for the bank account. My most recent suggestion is a good naked look in the full length mirror. That is just depressing however.

So I don't know. There must be a solution out there, I just haven't found it.

Apparently a long, healthy life, increased energy and the knowledge that we are setting a good example for the children just isn't enough.

Maybe I need to self report on the blog.

That would be some exciting reading.

Sigh.....

Gotta go. It is my turn on the treadmill.

We got a LONG way to go baby!

Found this article while reading another.

I think the title would be more accurate if it read, "How to live ridiculously well in __________ (insert region of the U.S.)"

Guess I better ask for a raise. Or Ten.

When exactly...

Are you considered to be in your mid-30's?

Not that I need to be concerned. I am a looonnngg way off from having to worry about that.

I was just..........wondering.

So what did she think would happen?

Those of you from around these parts likely heard the story of the dog trainer who helped the prisoner escape from Lansing.

I really doubt that her desire to stay out of jail is going to happen.

A woman can dream I guess.

Wonder what her defense will be?