IT'S MY HEAD

Here is what is in my head tonight.

MustbakecookieshopeIhaveenoughplatescupsnapkinspartyfavors
sleepysosleepyneedtocallgirlscoutleadermustfigureoutthegameneed
totakethegirlsbygrandparentsgreatgrandparentsneedtocallmybrother
canigetdinnerdonebeforewehavetoleaveforthemeetingmydeskisadisaster
onlythreemoredisksformylifeneedsomenewmusicforthecarwhenwillIhave
timetoexercisetomorrowtellbelovedabouthishaircutmustgiveunitedway
contributionchecktomorrowgottafinishmynotessleepysosleepygottofindtime
for#1topracticeviolinmusttypeinfoletterforgirl
scoutszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Step right up and make yer guess!

JUST opened some bills that came in the mail today.

What do YOU think the price tag is for two ER visits (each with x-rays), and a visit to the orthopedic doctor (included x-rays and splint)?

Any guesses.... anyone?

I'd tell you now but I have to change my underwear.

I miss good radio

I am really pining for my favorite radio station that went off the air more than a year ago. YOu can listen to the station on line, but that doesn't help me in the car which is when I most crave good music.

It seems like forever since I was exposed to any really good new music.

The radio stations in T-town just make me want to scream, cry, and tear at my clothing every time I try to listen. The capacity of these local radio stations to be repetitive and incredibly, unbelievabley boring is truly astounding.

I have looked at satellite radio, but I just can't bring myself to pay for it when there are only one or two stations I would be interested in listening to.

I suppose I could make myself some CD's to listen to in the car, but I don't really have the time it will take to accomplish that task.

Recently I have been listening to a book on CD. (My Life by Bill Clinton. Interesting listen. LOOOONNNGG. 21 discs, and apparently this is just part 1. I am on disc 15 right now. It is currently way overdue to the library. But I gotta finish it after going this far.) It has been enjoyable, but sometimes I just need some good tunes while I drive.

Hmmm...this has turned in to a pretty whiny post.

Some things you just don't get over I suppose. One of those things for me apparently is the loss of a really good radio station that I LOVED.

Help me.

It's our One Year Anniversary Sale!

Actually there is no sale, sorry to disappoint.

I just realized that this blog has been up and running for a whole year now.

Surprising.

I really thought that I would have given this up LO-ooong before now.

So what has changed n this here blog over the past year?

Let's see...

• Far less frequent posting
• Wa-hay fewer pictures
• I seem to have abandoned the ever popular Hottie of the Week(ish) entries
• I now have people making comments that are not people I have known most of my life

I think that covers it.

Wonder what changes the next year will bring?

Will I even continue to blog over the next year?

Hard to say. Life seems to get busier by the day. It is much easier and faster to just check other blogs and occasionally make silly comments, and then there is my ever waning confidence in my ability to keep this stuff even the slightest bit interesting.

Well I am not going to answer those questions now and maybe never will answer those questions. I need to go to bed if the construction of the last sentence is any indication. It is late, and my day starts ear-lye in the morning.

Hey Ma! I'm Doin' a show!

Hey all you T-town and general vicinity readers....

Get in touch with me if you want information about the upcoming production I am involved in. I decided that I am not comfortable with putting all the info out in to cyberspace. There is a very important event happening with the production tomorrow so get in touch soon!

Ta!

No surgery (Thanks for the chants Val!)

Well after two and a half hours at the orthopedic office we have...

a new splint
orders not to return to school until Friday. F-R-I-D-A-Y.
another appointment for Friday morning at which time we will apparently do the same thing that we did today.

So there you have it.

Good news..the bones are in the proper place to heal correctly so no setting was required. Getting the new splint was painful though. So if we are indeed doing the same thing Friday that we did today...I am not so much looking forward to it.

I personally am hoping for a cast Friday. I am really just not comfortable sending her back to school in a splint. Just walking to her classroom today to get school work I felt like I needed to be her bodyguard to keep her from being ran into or knocked over. Granted I am a bit hyper-sensitive to potential dangers for her right now.

Oh yeah...by 6:00 chocolate milk spilled on the newly wrapped splint.

Good times....

In Case I Forgot to Mention it...

I completely and totally hate this broken arm thing.

I hate seeing my child in pain.

I hate seeing her scared.

I hate not being able to truly help her feel better.

I hate giving her medicine with codeine in it.

I am beginning to hate re-telling the story to the many well-meaning people who have asked.

I hate that people have felt compelled to ask me if she is going to require surgery. I REALLY hate it that when I say the possibility was not mentioned to us by anyone at the ER the same well meaning people seem to feel it is necessary to offer their lay-person opinion that surgery is likely. I had not considered that thank you very much, and NOW I have one more thing to worry and fret about. Once the idea was presented oh... 5 or 6 times it was hard not to go there. Especially for me. I have discussed the very tentative hold I have on my ability to stay away from the crazy place when things like this happen in some previous post some months ago, so I won't bore you with it again.

This is only day two.

My Worst Fear

Since becoming a parent my worst fears have naturally changed quite a bit. I think every parent has their own particular worst fear about their children.

Mine happens to be getting a call at work from whomever has my child in their care and reporting that they have an injury of the type that requires a visit to the emergency room.

Yesterday afternoon at about 3:00 I am wrapping things up at work and very near to being on my way out the door when my cell phone rings.

I notice that it is the school calling. (Odd thing. I usually keep my phone set to the vibrate mode and keep it in my purse checking it from time to time so as not to have the disturbance during sessions. For some reason this week I have felt compelled to keep it on my person instead, which as it turned out yesterday was a good thing. Mother's intuition? (cue dramatic music) I don't know.....)

So I answer it:

"This is so and so from the school. We need you to come and pick up #2. She fell on the playground and we think she broke her arm."

Despite my shaking and horrific anxiety, I managed to convey that I was on my way, and even proceeded to call beloved and tell him that he needs to get to the school. Of course this was after I snapped at the poor innocent secretary who had the misfortune to answer my call. I told her from the get go this was an emergency. I waited while she paged him and waited...waited some more. She got back on the line and said that she had paged him three times and he was not in the building. I begged to differ with her and said he was at rehearsal and suggested she look for him there. Now I may have been a little shall we say....abrupt with her. I don't do well when my babies are hurt. Niceness goes Fuh-LYING out the window at warp speed.

I managed to get to the school without having an accident or getting a ticket. The drive (all of about 5 minutes give or take) was JUST enough time for me to go through about a bazillion different scenarios of what I would find when I got there. The most vivid being me hearing her screams from the parking lot because she has bone protruding through her skin.

Fortunately it was not that dramatic. What I found was a very sad and scared little girl with her arm in a splint sitting with her big sister. That diffused my anxiety by several levels. (Props to the school for thinking to get big sister right away.)

The nurse explained what happened. #2 had been trying to flips on the bars on the playground. She fell and landed on her hand with her arm fully extended. The first time she came to the nurse she checked her out and there did not seem to be any swelling, disfigurement or dislocation. She gave her some ice and sent her back to class. Not too long after that #2 was back still obviously in a lot of pain and crying so she splinted her up and made the call.

About flips. #2 has been trying to learn to hang from her knees on the acrobar on our swing set at home just like #1 can. After several attempts and at least two incidents of falling on her head I put the Ki-bosh on this skill building activity at home. Much as I wish I could, I can not control what she does on the playground at school, and unfortunately my predictions of dire and doom from continuing that activity came true. I like being right, but not about this stuff.

So we wait for Beloved/Daddy to get there and off we go to the emergency room.

Apparently when you come in with a small child who is crying and is wearing a sling you get speedy treatment. I have never been processed through an emergency department so quickly.

They gently examined her arm, gave her some Tylenol with codeine and an ice bag and we were off for x-rays. Fortunately Aunt J was working and came down to do the x-rays, which helped certain little people (and big) feel a lot better.

Shortly after that the doctor comes back with the bad news. We do indeed have a broken arm. Fractured right below the elbow.

One splint, prescription for Tylenol with Codiene, and an appointment with an orthopedic doctor for Monday...we're on our way home.

About an hour and a half later the fussing, crying begins. Unfortunately we are an hour away from another dose of pain medication.

Time for more pain medication and bed. We are fairly confident that soon our injured little angel will be out like a light.

Little more than an hour later we are stil waiting for that pain medication to kick in. We have more crying and complaints of pain. So Beloved poses the question to #2. Do you want to continue to try and go to sleep, or do you want to go back to the Hospital? #2's answer without hesitation take me back to the hospital.

I get the hospital people on the phone, explain what is going on and they tell me to bring her back in. So off we go. Of course once we get in the car she is down right chipper and chatty and I am thinking that this is about to be a wasted trip. It turned out it was probably a good thing we went ahead and went back.

Another examination shows a wrist that is swollen. We did not x-ray the wrist first time around, so more x-rays. No broken wrist. The first splint was kinda funky and had her hand at a strange angle and her fingers all squished. We decide to do a different kind of splint. We put this splint on and #2 seems more comfortable than she has since it all began. The doctor showed us in detail the x-rays from earlier and #2 did a pretty good number on her arm. Looks to be fractured in about three different spots right below the elbow. We are sent back home. More pain medication is given we are tucked in to bed and go right to sleep.

The rest of the night wasn't too bad, we did have one wake up when the pain meds wore off. The next dose seemed to last much longer, and she is still uncomfortable today which is to be expected, but NOTHING like last evening.

Today we are having a movie marathon so that we can keep the arm elevated and iced. I expect a repeat of these activities tomorrow. Keeping the arm propped is a bit of a trikc

#2 wants to go to school Monday morning, but I am more inclined to keep her home. Our appointment isn't until the afternoon and I will feel much better turning her loose among the kindergarten masses once we have a full report from the specialist and a full cast on the arm.

Ok, I gotta go. Keeping this kid's arm propped up is not as easy as I thought. She is slippery I guess. I have to help her sit up and readjust about every half hour or so it seems.

Hope all of you have a better weekend!

Now I am international

Apparently someone from Australia has checked out the blog.

Cool!

Can't get to sleep

I tried to be smart and go to bed at a decent hour, seeing as I was feeling pretty tired and everyone else was already asleep.

Unfortunately once the light was out and my head was on the pillow I went from drowsy to "Oh shit, how long am I going to lay here before I fall asleep?" After nearly an hour I gave up and here I am.

I HATE that.

I am guessing this is a result of the "medicinal" cherry coke I consumed mostly between 9-10 this evening. (Had an ugly headache, advil not doing the trick, so consumed a caffeinated beverage. Works almost every time. This one included.)

Question: Why is it that a mere week after I have switched out the summer clothes for fall/winter we get temps in the 90's again? Every damn time.

But on to bigger news. I have nearly finished my first crochet project. It is a belt. I just need to finish it off, find and sew on the beads. It doesn't look too shabby for a first ever project. Not sure what I am going to do with it because I don't care to wear belts much. All this down time at reahearsal helped me to get going with it. Now I am working on a bikini top. That will definitely be going to someone else because despite a drop in jeans size...I will not be appearing in a bikini ever. It is a fairly simple project stitch wise, and thus my reason for doing it.

We are about a week and a half away from the big TV broadcast of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Those of you who have ever been part of a production know that this is the point where things get stressful and people get bitchy. I don't much care for that. The show is definitely coming together and I think it will be OK. A lot of seasoned actors in this one. Be sure to tune in at 8:00 PM on KTWU (channel 11 here in T-town) or AM 1440 if you prefer to have the "real" radio show experience on Wed Oct 11. Don't blink if you choose to watch, as you could miss me.

Ok.. am feeling v. tired now. I think I will try to go to sleep now. Nighty night.

So little time..so little to say

I have been woefully neglectful you my faithful 7 readers. I can say 7 readers with confidence now!

I have added a little stat counter thingy which tells me all sorts of information. My favorite bit of info is the city and state my readers hail from. Apparently folks from as far away as Atlanta, GA and somewheres in Washington have stopped by. How exciting! Feel free to speak up and say who you are if you feel like it!

Rehearsals are on the increase..the show is coming together. I am going to try not to go crazy as I am onstage for all of about 10 minutes total, however unlike a "regular" show I can not hang out backstage during my off time, I have to stay onstage the entire time. B-O-R-I-N-G. I am hoping the director will let me crochet. Ladies in the 40's would have done that in their spare time. I doubt I will get to though. Bummer.

We did the Supper Thyme thing over the weekend and so far so good. The kids had great time helping us assemble the meals and what we have had so far has been right tasty. So easy too. Just throw it in the oven and VOILA! Dinner is served. I LOVE IT.

Y'know what else I love?? The cleaning fairies. They will be coming to my house soon. I am nearly giddy with excitement.

You know what else makes me giddy and nearly weepy? Going to buy jeans and having to by TWO SIZES SMALLER THAN I USUALLY GET BABY!!!!!

It may be a brand fluke, but I don't give a flying rat's ass. I'm going back to buy more next paycheck.

I nearly wept in the middle of Target people. Seriously.

Pirate for a day

Today as you may or may not know is National Talk Like a Pirate Day.

My place of employment decided to celebrate this important notsomuch a holiday by having a secret pirate...thingy.

Here is what happened. Three pirates were identified at each building. Employees ask other employees, "Are you the (insert my place of employment here) Pirate?"

If like ME you were the pirate, then you gave that person a $5 gift card to a local establishment and a badge saying they found the pirate. Then I got to put a badge on my door telling everyone that I was a pirate.

Kinda dorky, okay really dorky but it was fun, and the person who found me was very excited and happy to have won the gift card.

Always nice to improve another person's day don't you think?

Ask and ye shall receive

Ali asked for it and I have decided to deliver.

Things I am not particularly good at:

1. Tap Dancing
2. Crochet
3. Singing
4. Being pleasant in the morning.
5. Any thing that remotely resembles math.
6. Leaving messages on answering machines.
7. Thinking on my feet.
8. Taking tests.
9. Improvisational acting.
10. Impersonating Wolfman Jack.
11. Looking at people I don't like when I have to talk to them.
12. Drawing anything besides stick people.
13 .Photography.
14. Remembering to correspond with friends and loved ones who live far away.
15. Being nurturing at 2:00 AM when #2 has awakened me because she had a scary dream. Especially when that scary dream was she lost a marble and couldn't find it.
16. Being patient.
17. Following a budget.
18. Not procrastinating.
19. Debating.
20. Making fluted edges on a pie crust.
21. Solving riddles and brain teasers.
22. Anything that involves good spatial skills.
23. Saying no when asked to do something I don't want to do without providing an excuse.
24. Writing interesting, thought provoking, or creative blog posts.

I think that is enough. I begin to depress myself.

On Food and Feeding

It has been awhile since I have talked about food around here.

So let's talk about it tonight.

I love to cook. Really.

However in the 8.5 years that children have lived in our house, cooking sadly, and wrongly has been one of the things that seems to have moved way down on the priority list. When I speak of cooking I am referring to the preparation of meals that involves more than heating the oven, boling water in which to cook frozen processed ready to eat type foods. I'm talking chopping, marinating, and the like.

There are a few reasons we have let "real" cooking go.

1. We both work full time and are just damn tired when we get home.
2. We want to spend actual time interacting with our children, when one gets home at 5:00 or later and one's children go to bed at 8:30, time is limited.
3. Did I mention the damn tired bit?

Our decision has had some unhappy consequences:

1. Expanded waistines for the adults.
2. Children who have a very limited repetoire of foods they will consume.
3. Whining and rude comments when a meal is presented that does not fall on the very short list of foods the children will consume.
4. Once the whining and rude comments issue was taken care of it was replaced by silly and annoying behavior during meals that children won't eat due to the above mentioned list.
5. Our list of quickly prepared meals is small and we get bored, which leads to more decisions to eat out because we don't want or are sick of what is on the menu.

We eat out WAY too much and that has created the idea for my children that they should always get to eat what they like because that is how it is at restaurants. When I cook meals at home they do not always contain foods on the short list, and our rule is no special meals, you eat what is prepared or you wait until the next opportunity to eat. My children are nothing if not stubborn and regularly choose not to eat. We can't get past this because we are just not consistent enough with eating at home. It will take a long time of consistency in this area to effect change.

I have been on a quest to eat out less and cook at home more for the majority of these past 8.5 years and have never found any solution that seems to work. I haven't given up trying to find new ways to combat this problem.

So here is my latest solution.

I read about it in the paper, checked out the website and those of some similar places around here, discussed it with beloved and decided to give it a go. Our first session is in about two weeks. I will consider this a success if we can keep eating out down to once a week. It will be a roaring success if my children eventually increase their repetoire of foods they will consume. (I don't expect that for a long time to come however.) It addresses a few of our trouble areas in particular... ease of preparation, and variety. Overall the pricing was not terrible I did not think and I am pretty sure we will get at least two meals out of most of those available. Even when it is something they like, my kids aren't big eaters and the adults are being portion conscious around here. I am not opposed to paying a bit extra for convenience either.

So here's hoping. Rest assured I will be keeping you posted.

If this does not have the desired results........rest assured I will be asking for ideas.

The Best

Watching your veryown children get excited and enthusiastic about creating something with their own two hands and imagination.

To me it doesn't get much better than that.

Busy and plain ol' tired

I was doing better there for a while with keeping up on the posts, but I seem to have fallen off once again. Probably won't be much improvement for the next month or so, as my time spent in rehearsal increases as the weeks go by...and evenings are the only time I gots to do the blog thang.

Life is busy busy at chez us. Beloved has held auditions for his first show at the new school. Good turnout and he seems to be excited. He is still crazy busy with work. That will not be improving any time soon with the advent of rehearsals next week.

#1 has begun orchestra at school. She will be following in her mother's footsteps by playing the violin. (I tried hard to encourage the viola or cello, but it was a no go.) She is exercising her creative writing skills with amusing stories about grandma and grandpa's new kittens that include some darn impressive vocabulary words.

#2 is way pumped and ready to become a girl scout. Guess who is going to be an assistant girl scout leader? Yes...moi. When they asked at the informational meeting if there were any parents interested in being leaders #2 clutched my arm and looked at me pleadingly with those big ole green eyes and the deal was sealed. Because I don't have enough to occupy my time right now.

Moi...I rehearse for my 10 minutes (maybe) of stage time. Having fun working on the accent. Director is very pleased with my efforts so far, I am not sure why..still sounds off to me. Started my tap dancing class this week. I am not naturally gifted in this area it would seem. I will just add it to the list of activities that I am not particularly good at. I think I am old enough now and had enough experience for that list to actually be a long scroll. Had fun though.

But more importantly Brittney had her baby..maybe. Whitney Houston is getting separated....Jennifer Aniston is the best-dressed...Patrick Dempsey is going to be a father again...Diddy is having twins. I just don't know where to stop! Luckily my fatigue and schedule have not affected my ability to keep up on celebrity gossip. That would be a travesty.

Love your word choice! 100% A+

8/25/06

Dear Plouto,

I am sorry you aren't a planet anymore. You must feel dejected. I still belive you are a planet, no matter what scientests say. I think its kind of silly. Not to mention unkind. Xina should be a planet to. How is Charon? I believe he is a planet to. These scientests are driving me crazy. Oh, Jupiter and Saturn the kittens like you. Your Friend,
#1

Plouto and Charon and Xina are

(insert drawings of planets here)

PLANETS TO ME!!

(Letter written by #1 at school to Pluto regarding her feelings on Pluto's new status.)

The pile grows and my glass is half empty this weekend. I should probably fill it with bourbon.

Yes our pile of crap from this long holiday weekend has and continues to grow.

So to add to the list:

• Beloved Husband spent $116 on donuts yesterday morning. That'd be $5 for the donuts and $111 for the ticket he got for making a bad left turn. (He turned into the right hand lane instead of the left lane (like most people do.) That horrendously dangerous move is apparently worth $111 to our city's finest. I guess they do need extra money right now to cover all these bad guys they have to shoot and kill. (I might be less antagonistic on a better day.)
• #2 knocked a nearly full syrup bottle off a shelf in the pantry and it broke spilling syrup all over the floor. I was less than nurturing and kind about the whole deal.
• Our washing machine is now leaking a pretty decent amount of water on the floor.
• We got sunburns at Worlds of Fun.
• Got our new dryer today, but had to dismantle parts of our basement to get it down there. (Took off two doors, and a ledge then the guys had to to carry it off the side of the stairs instead of going all the way to the bottom.)
• I spent 30 minutes waiting for $23 hotdogs/hamburger at Worlds of Fun.
• I had Republicans at my house.
• Two of the three stands I tried to purchase ice cream from at Worlds of Fun did not have the standard flavors one usually looks for when buying ice cream, then when we did find one we got surly wait staff who instead of asking what I would like just stared at me until I spoke up. This was after I watched one person take and fill the order of the person in front of me while another person stood and stared.
• It would appear that the DVD player we have downstairs (the one we use while we exercise) is crapping out now.
• My throat is starting to hurt, thus leading me to believe that I am starting to catch the yuck that Beloved has had all weekend.
• Once again the check engine light is on in my car because the gas cap refuses to stay tight despite the fact that I turn it the required number of times AND the gas cap has been replaced.

I think that about covers it.

I am actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow. Although I am afeared that this trail of crap is going to follow me in to my work week.

Here's hoping.

This is some crap I tell ya!

I feel it is my duty to warn you that the following entry will contain mass quantities of whining.

I am not sure what it is about this family and the long holiday weekends lately but we seem to be having a run of not so great luck on those precious occasions.

The last holiday weeked was spent traveling to attend a funeral.

This one is not quite as depressing, but irksome none the less.

So far:

• Beloved husband is ill with some vile cold - like illness, and we had plans to go to Worlds of Fun tomorrow.
• Our clothes dryer bit the dust last night and we spent this morning laying down some serious money to replace it.
• We had to replace our DVD player today because IT shot crap about two weeks ago.
• I had to drag two loads of wet laundry over to the in-laws because our new dryer won't be here until Monday. (Of course I did not discover the dryer issue until I innocently went down last night to change the laundry only to find that the clothes in the dryer were just as wet as they were when I started the thing.)
• My clever planning that was going to leave me a household chore free Monday has totally been blown to bits by all of this. I may have fewer chores howeever if Beloved is too ill to traipse all over WOF tomorrow, but I will still have to do laundry because of the stinkin' dryer situation.

I would really like to know how our major appliances and other expensive items seem to know when we get some extra money. I promise you every time that happens to us...something breaks down. Of course we always say, "Thank goodness we had that extra money to deal with the situation." But Damn! I would like to use that extra money for other planned things like....oh say... paying off debt, or doing something fun. Don't seem to work that way for us lately. I'm thinking we need to figure out a way to build up some excess good Karma or something.

On a better note, while we were handing out money by the fistfulls today we did purdhase Season 3 of Arrested Development. Perhaps roaring laughter will help ease our woes.

I did get a darn nice dryer though. Of course now I want the matching fancy washer too. I will live without it however.

Maybe for Thanksgiving. I think that is the next holiday weekend.

She has a slight Spanish accent

Hi.

I guess it is time for a what's up posting.

So here is what's up with me and mine.

#2 typically has some kind of transition issue when we transition from the summer routine to the school year routine. The transition reaction takes different forms, but it has usually been an increase in behaviors that require time out. Not so this time. This time we are fussy and annoying at bedtime. I think I prefer behaviors that require more time outs. Because after 8:30 it is MY TIME, and I get cranky when MY TIME is messed with. Thankfully the transition issue is beginning to wane, as it does every year.

#1 is kicking academic butt at school. Which she does typically. A smartie that one. Her teacher is on it this year and has already called me to discuss what to do about the issue. We are awaiting results of testing..that on the front end seem to indicate that we are again just a few points shy of the cutoff for the smartie kid extra stuff at school. Stinks, but her teachers are committed to working her on whatever it is she needs to get those last few points. We'll see. This is our second go-round with this stuff, so we need to decide when to cry, "Uncle!"

Beloved is adjusting to the new school. Lots more kids, totally different classes, and teaching younger students than he has in the past 6 years. Great response to upcoming auditions. He is working hard. This will be an extra busy year..like being a first year teacher all over again. I have no doubt that he will get things whipped in to shape like he always does. He has worked hard on the diet/exercise thing this summer and it is really beginning to show. If only his wife were equally committed...

Me...I am about to begin rehearsals for Hound of the Baskervilles. I love doing shows...but I hate rehearsing..mainly the giving up of my evenings. Karen Hastings Players is putting this one on..it is a radio show meaning when you see us perform it is like you are watching an old radio show being put on.. people doing sound effects as you watch and the like. These are pretty easy for actors in many ways, no memorization as you perform script in hand, no blocking other than walk up to the microphone. The challenge of course is that everything must be conveyed to the audience using only your voice. This particular show has VERY slim offerings for the females, so I don't have a lot of stage time. That is ok with me, I have never been one for the big roles anyway. I prefer small, interesting and memorable. The quirkier the better. No quirkiness in this one, but I get to do accents which I LOVE. (Big surprise to those who know me!) The other cool thing is that we are going to be broadcast live on KTWU on October 11. That should be fun and a different experience for me. I don't know what time we will air, but once I do I will let everyone know so you can watch if you are so inclined. We will also perform October 13, 14, and 15 at Helen Hocker Theatre where you can see us upclose and personallike.

That is all for me.

I should go to bed now.

I would rather be watching the second season of House, and I would be if someone had not changed the Netflix queue.

Some people think they need DVDs for classes they teach or some such nonsense. I say you take your life in to your own hands when you mess with my House.

Thank goodness I haven't lost my Mojo

My baking Mojo that is.

My past couple of attempts have been...how shall I say this?

Less than stellar?

Complete crap?

Nasty?

All of the above?

I dunno what the deal was, but tonight ...I'M BACK BABY!

Made some blueberry lemon muffins that were quite tasty if I say so myownself.

I am quite relieved, as it would be really sad for me if I lost my ability to bake.

The only unfortunate thing is that we have to go to church tomorrow and the muffins have to go with us. (Sunday school graduation or somesuch and apparently #1 is being presented with a Bible or something like that. Otherwise I would be sleepin' in tomorrow, and likely not enjoying any muffins at all.)

Huh......maybe it was DIVINE intervention.

My powerhouse did not get the attention it required

During my morning Pilates I had to pause for a moment to answer the phone.

Who do you think it was?

Well I'll tell you...it was a "friendly" solicitation from the Dove Foundation.

It seems that they want Hollywood to start making more "family" movies. (In my opinion what they mean by family is Conservative Christian.)

I think the lady was a little taken aback when I stated that I did not agree with her thoughts and was likely even more so when I hung up on her.

This shit gets on my nerves. You all most likely by now know that we are not big on the TV here at Chez Us and we keep a very tight rein on what the younguns watch. We do that because that is what we believe is best for our children. It has as much to do with what there is out there for them to see that we feel is inappropriate for a 5 and 8 year old, as it does with the fact that in general we think there are far better and more enriching ways besides zoning out in front of the TV to spend our limited time together. I won't even delve in to the research about it.. most of you seem to be well informed people I trust you know the gist, if you don't..think about finding out.

There is a lot of stuff out there that I am offended by and I consider myself to be a fairly liberal gal. If I am offended by it, I don't watch or read it. People have the right to film, and write what they want. I believe our constitution says it is so. I will certainly spout my opinion about it to others if asked or frankly if I feel they will be receptive to what I have to say..and occasionally even if I feel like they won't.

I do strongly believe that parents need to be aware of and monitor what their children watch. My parents didn't. Yes I believe I turned out ok, but I am certainly different with my own children.

So here is what I think...let's drum up some support for education and awareness building for parents about the effects of TV, movies and the media on their children. Give them the true information and let them make informed choices about what they feel their children should be exposed to. Teach them how to process with their kids what they see on TV, stir up some conversation between parents and their kids about what they believe. Where is that happening I ask you? Where are the annoying phone solicitors about that movement? Where is the organization?

OK. I have to get off of my soapbox now. I turn this debate over to you my faithful reader(s?)

That stupid phone call ruined my concentration on my powerhouse.

AND how in the hell did they get my number anyway? I am unlisted and on the state and national do not call list. I know I have not contributed to the likes of that organization.

Grumble!

Allllll byyyy myyyyseeeellllffff

So today was my first official "all by myself" lunch hour. (I worked through lunch yesterday so that I could come in late and leave early for the official first day of school drop off and pick up.)

I know that you are all waiting with bated breath to hear about what I did during this momentous occasion.

WELL! Let me tell you.

I came home.

Made myself something to eat. (Pasta Roni and some ice cream. It's grocery store time, so pickins is slim 'round here.)

Took laundry out of the dryer.

Put more laundry in the dryer.

Sent beloved husband an e-mail.

Felt a little lonely and wondered what the kiddies were doing at school.

Checked a blog or two.

Read some of a magazine.

Let the dog in.

WILD TIMES. I tell ya WI-HILD.

Is anyone still awake after reading this?

Whew!

The first day of school was a great success for all. #1 was very glad to be able to hang out with her best buddies again. #2 came out of the school smiling and full of excitement about her first day and even thinks that she has made a new friend or two. I also believe that she ate more of her lunch on the first day than her big sister has eaten at lunchtime during her entire school career thus far. Not having a morning snack for the first time in ohhh..her life makes for a hungry girl at lunch!

I BARELY made it out the door before the tears started. It was pretty crowded and I got stuck trying to maneuver around poky meandering parents who apparently were not the emotional mess I was about to become or, if they were they did not seem to be as concerned about a public display as I was. I did make it out the door before I succumbed to tears and I did not even have to elbow anyone to do it. I had just enough time before I had to be at work to get over it. (And thankfully my 9:00 did not show up!)

So the school year begins.

May it be productive, filled with learning and free of drama!

A tradition comes to an end.

Tomorrow marks the end of an era in our little family.

The end of daily lunch dates with my children.

I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but what I really wanted (much to my veryown surprise) once I gave birth to my first child was to be a stay at home mom.

Alas due to many reasons and all of them being financial, it was not to be.

My one way to compensate for this loss has been to spend my lunch hours with my children. As we are beyond fortunate with our daycare situation that has been possible.

That my friends is how I have spent the overwhelming majority of my work day lunch hours for the past 8 and a half years...hangin' out with at least one and for a few years both of my best girls.

Tomorrow will be the end of that tradition as #2 will march off to Kindergarten Wednesday in all her pink new first day of school clothes, leopard print backpackin', ponytail bouncin', Supergirl lunchbox totin' glory.

I have to say that in truth I am feeling much more emotional about this lunchtime thing than I am about the actual first day of KG itself. (Now come 8:15 or so Wednesday morning it may be an altogether different story as I am making my quick -before -the- tears- come departure from the good ol' KG room.) It may be a long and tearful drive back to work tomorrow. I will be sure and stock plenty of Kleenex in the car, as there will be much call for it over the next two days.

So now I have to figure out what exactly I am going to do with myself now that I have this huge expanse of child-free lunches ahead of me.

Any ideas?

I should be so lucky

Now this article begs the question, "Why NOT me?"

THIS is exactly the kind of crime I would LOVE to be a victim of.

Tee Hee!

Here is the partial headline on my little SBC news headline thingy at the side of my computer screen:

"Malaysia fines Pussy...."

That is all that shows up until you hover over the headline and then you find out that in fact Malaysia is fining the Pussycat Dolls organizers.

Still makes me giggle.

Beacause sometimes I am immature that way.

Only three more days 'til I'm off papers

(For those who may not be in the know.. being off paper is slang referring to getting off of probation. A bit of a throwback to the days when I was working with Juvenile Offenders.)


Yup I am in the last few days of my probationary period at my current place of employment. I am proud to say that I have not updated my resume, and have no plans to do so. As you may or may not be aware 6 months in MJT (Missy Job Time) is like 5 years to people who actually stick with their jobs. I am still happy with what I am doing and really am committed to staying put for a while.

Unless of course someone comes to ME and offers me a position with great money, benefits and summers off.

Since that isn't too likely, I will keep my resume un-updated.

The good thing about being a non-probation status employee is that I can now use vacation time. As my employer is rather generous with the vacation time right off the bat AND the fact that I have been able accrue time since day one I am already in posession of enough time to take more than a week off if I so choose.

Unfortunately everyone 'round this hizzouse is goin' BACK to work and will be of course unable to take any time off. Of course that person will also get a hefty chunk of time off at the holidays and a day or so before then.

Too bad too because I am ready for a vacation. The kind where you travel far beyond your home state and stay in hotels and eat out for every meal. And I wanna go someplace I ain't been before. Preferably in a direction that is generally west of Kansas. Or East. Really I don't care.

However.... whenever we take that next trip (God only knows when that will be because travel requires more than just paid vacation time ya know.)Beloved Husband gets to pick our destination, and I will happily go where he wishes.

So in a nutshell dear readers, do not fear that you will soon be seeing the required "I won't be posting for a while because I am goin' fishin'," message that we bloggers so politely post when going away.

But maybe I will do that anyway and then have a bunch of posts telling you about my fake vacation when I "get back." Perhaps that will take the edge off the itch in my wanderin' foot.

Nighty night!

I'm a survivor..

Whew! Made it up and out the door on time on our first day back in the real world.

I was damn tired today though.

That hour after lunch was the WORST.

Has anyone besides me and beloved seen the Northern Exposure episode where Dr. Fleischman runs into pole, knocks himself out and has a dream that he has an evil twin? During that episode, Fleischman and his "twin brother" decide to switch places and Fleischman ends up in jail. While in jail he just happens to run into Sigmund Freud and has a few sessions, at one point when Joel is rattling on he discovers that Freud has fallen asleep. I fear this. I do. So tired not a good thing during a really quiet session. Which happens sometimes with the population I tend to.

I just remembered another funny thing from that same episode. Joel is getting all uppity with Freud and ranting about all the research out there refuting Freud's ideas. At the end of his rant Joel gives Siggy baby a version of the good ol' "what do you think of them apples?" question to him. There is a fair sized pause, then Freud shrugs and says in a rather off-hand manner, "It's just a theory." Much more humorous when you watch it. One of my favorite little scenes from that show. You can watch it on DVD. Season Three, I think the episode is titled "Jules et Joel." Watch the entire series for that matter. Very clever show. There is another funny scene with Jung in a later episode, but I will spare you my retelling here. Go rent the DVDs. It'll be good times I promise.

On to other things, I am a bit rambly tonight.

I am thinking it is time to engage in a grown up night of board games. I spend A LOT of time at work and home playing children's board games and I am ready for some adult games. (NOT THOSE KIND!!!) I am talking of the Trivial Pursuit, Balderdash, Monopoly variety. I promise I will not even bring up my personal favorite...SONGBURST. It seems to turn people off, though I don't know why. It's a very fun and extremely challenging game. You get to sing with your friends.. what more can you ask for? But I promise to keep it buried in the closet.

There might even be cookies. I have been known to make cookies when I play board games.

I'd like to order an alternate reality please!

Well for those residing at Chez Us summer and it's carefree days officially end today.

My Beloved must return to work tomorrow, and the school year begins for all in just over a week from now.

No more "lazy" mornings "sleeping in" until 6:30.

No more freedom from the weekly trek to the dreaded life sucking machine that is Wal-mart for groceries.

No more weekends free from housecleaning.

No more loving husband and children to greet me with love, excitement, and tales of what they have done that morning when I come home for lunch.

Summer is always kind of confusing for me emotionally speaking. It is hard to be the one who goes to work everyday while my loved ones are at home, but at the same time having everyone else at home significantly reduces my daily and weekend chores. Since the end of May I have not had to do any significant cleaning of this house, and I have only had to make ONE trip to the grocery store. My participation in the laundry has minimal at best. Dinner is usually on or near to being on the table when I get home most evenings. Conversely I do not get to participate in nap time, no extra fun play time stuff, I still have to get up at 6:30, and everyone else is home but me.

So you can see why this is difficult. I have some major summertime perks that I do appreciate and enjoy...but my jealousy and resentment over having to go to work every day is tough to deal with.

The transition from summer to school year is always a little rough around here. We do what we can to make it easier. Making sure for the past few weeks that the kids have gone to bed on time, making them get up at the same time they do during the school year...things like that. Now everything in the morning is back on a time table, and we have to get things ready to go the night before...blah..blah..blah.

This school year will bring more changes than usual with #2 starting Kindergarten. Going to school all day every day will be tiring for her and will take some getting used to I am sure. For the first time in 8 1/2 years my lunch hour will be my own...no kids to visit at a grandparent's house. Not sure what to do with myself, but I'll think of something.

I am trying to prepare myself for the waterworks that will be #2's first day of school. We are ready. New clothes have been purchased and the school supplies just need to be marked and put in spanking new backpacks.

Look for the photos in about a week and half.

Well, I should tie this up. Got an early start tomorrow morning.

I must prepare.

Anyone

Checked out the My Space thing?

I'd be interested to hear about it.

I do loves me some crazy

My beloved husband has named his pectoral muscles.

One is Gregory.

The other is Bushel Anna.

That made me laugh so loud and long that I got in trouble with #1 for keeping her up when she is trying to go to sleep.

I can't....I MUST go to the pool!

Well it's gonna be another hot one in T-town today, already about 95 or somethin' and it ain't even noon yet.

AHHHH! (Sorry for the interruption, but I was just hit with a surprise goatee from my beloved husband. Sexy ! It come to us as the result of a beard trimming mishap.)

Anyway back to my posting. I don't mind the heat much. Except for getting into the car and having to drive. I hate that hot steering wheel and gear shift.

I especially don't mind the heat when I have free access to a semi-private pool. Which I do. HA HA!

So friends we are off to spend the hot afternoon in the good ol' H2O!

Yeeee Haaaaww!

Could I BE more lazy?

Dang.

My posting ratio could not be much worse unless I just shut the blog down altogether I think.

Many reasons why this is so I suppose, however none of them are terribly good or interesting so I won't trouble you with them (much).

In a nutshell I am having some angst about my life being a bit on the dull and repetitive side right now. Whining is excruciating to read frequently so I choose to keep my blog quiet for fear that I will not be able to resist the siren's call to purge myself in this so-called forum and incite a universal (can I call it universal if I only have 3 or 4 readers?) ban of this whine-fest.

There you have it.

Good news!

Tonight after putting it off for ohhhhh...nearly 6 months I have completed my training plan so that I can begin my travels down the road to becoming a licensed clinical professional counselor.

In two years after completing 4000 hours of supervised clinical experience I get to take yet another licensing exam and then add an extra C to my licensing credentials.

What does that mean?

Well in theory it should mean that I could practice privately if I so choose. However since many insurance companies apparently have not bothered to look into the difference in credentialing for my sect as opposed to ohhh... say the licensed clinical social worker (there is really little to no difference in the process of attaining clinical licensure between the two, I have NOTHING against those who hold that license and have many friends who are LSCSWs I just get pissy when there is a failure to recognize the skill level of those who share my type of license) many will not accept LCPCs as providers so that cuts in to the private practice thing. That and the fact that it is more personal responsiblity than I care to have for my career at this time. A regular paycheck with paid time off and cashola to help me keep that license is pretty important to me.

Soap box aside..it will mean more autonomy and possibly more money (although I won't hold my breath) in the future. This has been a goal for a long time, I have been an LPC for almost 4 years now and I will be glad to at long last have this hurdle jumped. Here's hoping for smooth sailing. I also think this process will help me stay put jobwise, because to change it is a large throbbing pain in the boo-TAY.

Well.. I think that is all for now. It is getting late and I need my beauty rest.

Happy Bastille Day (also our cat's birthday)

We gave her a can of tuna as a special birthday treat.

Other than that....

I am bored.

Bored bored bored bored bored.

I can't seem to think of anything that even slightly resembles something interesting to do.

I think it is something going through our house right now, kind of like a virus.

Bored.

Blah.

I am going to stop writing now because this post is as boring as I am.

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! Guess What!

I was checking out the Zach Braff blog/website this evening and discovered that I can pre-order the soundtrack to his upcoming movie on Amazon.

Of course I took care of this task IMMEDIATELY. I may be more excited about the soundtrack than the movie itself. I love me some Zach as you all know, so that is saying something.

I know I have said it before but I will say it again because it is important to listen to good music. (Good of course means music endorsed by me.) If you have not done so you need to waste no more time in checking out the following:

Scrubs Soundtrack
Garden State
Scrubs Soundtrack vol 2. (I can't seem to give a link for this one, it is only available on itunes)

I am pretty sure that you should check out the soon to be released Last Kiss soundtrack, but as I have not officially heard it and loved it I will not insist just yet but rather make a strong recommendation that you look in to the matter once the soundtrack is released in a couple of weeks.

You won't be sorry. I promise. If you are sorry then I suggest you have some kind of complete medical work up done as soon as possible because something is not right in your world.

I am pushy about those things I believe in.

Listen to me. Then get over it.

Hot Damn!

Can you believe this?

Really I could care less. I avoid rollercoasters with the same vengeance that I avoid right-wing overzealous Christian conservatives. (That is kind of a a repetitive description huh?)

But for some reason thinking about Dollywood give me the giggles.

I...uh...erm..well...

I am pretty sure I had something charming and witty to say, but I can not recall what it was.

Damn.

Better luck next time.

How about a rant instead?

Yesterday morning as I was sweating away to the Today Show (too lazy to find a DVD to watch) I happened upon the announcement of the Emmy Awards.

Now I was glad to see that a few of my favorite shows got nods. (Arrested Development, Scrubs and House to be exact.)

What I was unhappy about was that none of my favorite actors from those shows got nominated with the exception of Will Arnett (He plays Gob on Arrested Development for those who are not in the know. If you are not in the know about that show I strongly recommend that you do so. You won't be sorry I promise!)

I was particularly unhappy that Hugh Laurie was overlooked. I feel this is a wrong that must be righted immediately. He is an outstanding actor (VERY easy on the eyes too. I think that should figure in somehow.)

OK, I am surely about to risk offending someone (Let us not forget the Kenny Rogers debacle a few months ago.) But I have to ask how the guy from the King of Queens got a nomination? I can not figure that one out at all. I have to be honest and say that I have never watched an entire episode, or more than two minutes of an episode for that matter. Obviously I do not find the show or it's cast to be entertaining, and if I don't find it entertaining then of course the rest of the world should have the same opinion. I don't know why it doesn't work out that way often, but it should.

I have not yet decided what to do about this gross oversight on the part of the whatsit academy that decides who gets nominated. When I do you can rest assured that my faithful reader(s) will be the first to know!

Together we CAN make a difference.

Beware the eggshells

Well it is about 8:30 PM and I think it is safe to say that my loved-ones are what we like to call, "done."

"Done" at Chez-Us means that the ability for a reasonable response to just about any type of stimulus is near impossible, or in lay terms, "everyone 'round here is pretty f%$#@&*g grouchy."

In our defense we had a long day. Truthfully we have had a long couple of weeks. Today was long because we spent pretty darn close to 8 hours in the car traveling back from Missouri where yesterday we attended the funeral of Beloved's grandmother who died on Sunday. We have known this was coming for about two weeks now and it was just one of the many things that have been going on the past few weeks that have contributed to the doneness of this evening (and a few others truth be told.) We have just been loaded down with extra-curricular family activities between weddings, funerals, visiting great-grandparents,camps, all along with our regular daily living.

Hopefully things will be a little slower now and we can get back to our regular routine, which should help eliminate the grouchies.

I also hope that I will be able to get back to blogging about important and vital issues such as Hilary's big confession that the reason she and Chad divorced was due to his "addiction problem."

What? Addiction problem?! My cute boy has an addiction problem? Why am I only learning about this now? This is an outrage! No one will even tell me what he is addicted to! How can I offer help and support on so little information?

Heads will roll over this one people.

HEADS. WILL. ROLL.

Free Shipping!

Sometimes when I can't think of a title for a blog post, or a subject for an e-mail I just type in the first thing that catches my eye on or around the screen of the computer I am working from.

It kind of confuses people at work sometimes.

The wedding went off quite beautifully. #2 was too adorable for words of course and did a great job in her first (and likely only) stint as a flower girl.

I found just the pair of shoes I was looking for mere hours before the ceremony, so everyone can rest easy now knowing that I did not show up in my "fancy goin' to a weddin' dress" sporting my Old Navy flip flops. (OK. Technically I did show up at the church in my dress and flip flops, only because my toes had just been painted moments before our departure. I changed before the ceremony into my fabulous new silver strappy sandals. I love them. I want to wear them with everything, but they look a little funny with my work out clothes. They also aren't too comfortable for treadmill walking. Maybe if I didn't do the incline....)

I am ready for some down time now. We have had something family oriented going on every night for a week now. I can't remember the last time my children got to bed on time, and it is beginning to show in the nightly performance of, "I am so past the point of exhaustion that everything makes me cry hysterically" show starring #2. Playing at the same theatre is the, " I am really tired and refuse to admit it therefore I am going to grouch and give everyone who speaks to me the stink eye" show starring #1. The performances start at about 7:30 every night at Chez Us. Call now for tickets before they are gone!

That is all I have friends. Not much to blog about these days it seems. So much so that I have pondered putting this blog to rest lately...since I seem to have slurped up what little creative juice I had stored in the refrigerator of my mind.

Eh..who knows..maybe I can just run out to the store.

Because I KNOW you have been on the edge of your seats

My dress arrived today.

It fits, and does not make me want to retch while wearing it.

I am still a bit boobilicious in it, but since I don't have time for a reduction I will just have to live with it.

Oh yeah..it will look even better with a pair of strappy sandals.

Silver I think.

Only for the very brave AND definitely NOT for the easily offended

I extend a very cautious invitation to some guy's latest blog written by the obnoxious and really disgusting character Chad.

Oy.

Beware reading it around those who can't see the humor.

You may wish I had put off posting for another day

Hi.

Sorry it has been so long, but you can't say I didn't warn you.

Have I mentioned that I have not enjoyed the process of buying clothes for a while?

That fact still appears to be true.

I spent far too long schlepping around today in search of a dress to wear to my brother's wedding next week.

Wanna know what I came home with?

Bupkis...nada..no dressy.

Why?

Because everything was ugly, too expensive, or made me look like I am made of nothing but ass and boobs. Lemme tell you NO ONE wants to look at that. Not that people are going to be looking at me in particular, as it is the Bride's day. Thank God all I have to do is show up with #2 dressed and ready to drop flower petals on time. Once she is delivered I just get to sit back and watch, then eat some cake. My kind of wedding participation.

So I came home shopped online, paid and outrageous amount of money to have the dress shipped before Saturday and get to sit and fret about the dress arriving and not looking atrocious on me.

If not I will recycle the dress I wore to my other brother's wedding three or was it four years ago?

Their pictures didn't turn out so no one will be any the wiser.

Either way I am buying new shoes.

Perhaps I should work on this procrastination thing.

That's my girl!

It's done!

Frames were picked out in 15 minutes flat.

They are fun, with little flower beads on the temple pieces, yet simple and quite becoming to my darlin' #1.

We did a great big comparison and I did not make comment when the funky pair made it in to the pool.

If she is like me, (and Lord I hope she isn't because I will have to take on a second job) we will be picking out new glasses at minimum every two years.

Seeing as I only buy glasses for myself every 10 years or so I forget how much more they cost as opposed to contacts. I had to go home and change after we got the total.

June is starting to be a very eventful month for this here family.

Dance recital next week, followed by a visit from great-grandparents from Ohio and an great aunt, uncle and cousin from St. Louis. THEN the next weekend my baby brudder gets married.
MARRIED, and #2 is on to be a flower girl in the cutest lil' red dress you everdidsee.

That being said I don't think my posting ratio will be improving any time soon.

I do encourage you to check out one of the many blogs beloved has going on.

Klawhammur Wade through the spelling it is worth it I promise.

JP Sousa Political and witty.

I am pretty sure there will be at least two more coming soon.

You ask a guy to start a blog and wind up with 6 of them.

Overachiever.

I have to get glasses!

This is what precious #1 has been telling everyone all evening.

Because it is true.

According to the optometrist whom she saw today the time has come.

We weren't taken at all by surprise, given her family history it has never been a matter of if, but when.

When is now.

I was not able to attend this appointment so no frames were chosen today, as #1 and Daddy felt that choosing of the first pair of glasses is something for which I should be present. So we go tomorrow afternoon to make the big choice.

I have to admit that I am a wee bit nervous about all of this. Those of you who know #1 are aware that she is not exactly...well...how can I put this?

She is generally not too terribly concerned with her appearance, but on those occasions where she decides that she is going to be concerned the choices are...wellllll.....interesting.

I know there are many out there who would disagree and that is perfectly ok. However when your parents is po' and can only afford to buy you one pair of glasses I think neutral is the best choice. Stylish..certainly, but neutral. If we could afford more than one pair then by all means go crazy on the second pair, alas that is not the case for #1.

I am so glad that it is actually kind of cool to wear glasses now, because #1 is actually not at all bothered by this and is actually looking forward to wearing glasses.

Amazing to me. I was exactly her age when I got my first pair of glasses and I was horrified. Of course the first day I wore them to school some jerk of a boy made fun of me within 10 minutes of my arrival on the playground. I had to deal with ugly thick glasses until my parents gave in and got me contacts when I was 15. To this day I rarely wear my glasses in public. I gotta have serious issues for that, even with the new technology that means my glasses no longer resemble the bottom of a glass Coke bottle.

Ahhh..the adventures in parenting never stop.