Return of the Cranky Old Lady

Alright.

It is 11:12 PM on JULY 3, and I am still hearing the constant snap crackle boom of fireworks around the neighborhood.

The same constant noises I have been hearing since the damn things went on sale a week ago.

Enough already for the love of GOD.

I enjoy seeing fireworks. ON JULY 4 from about 9-10:30 PM. After that I have had my fill.

What I want to know is who has the money to buy enough to shoot them off every day for a week?

My kids get $10 each to spend and that is it. We shoot them off when it is dark on July 4. The rest of the area needs to follow my example.

OK then.

I will put the Cranky Old Lady back in her hidey hole for now.

On to more pleasant Fourth of July memories. We are going to go see the big fireworks display here in town this year. It has been several years since we have seen it. The event tends to be crowded with stupid traffic control causing a 15 minute ride home to turn into an hour plus ride home which turns Beloved in to Cranky Old Man. It is usually a decent display, but not worth the hassle. My brother has been so courteous as to move near where the display takes place, so we are able to skirt some of the traffic mess. Hopefully. This is the second year he has been there but our first to attend his bash so we'll see what happens.

The best fireworks display I ever recall seeing has to be the one I saw while on vacation in Colorado Springs as a child. The mountains make a lovely backdrop. Been a long time since I have seen mountains. I think that will be remedied some time in the not TOO distant future. I see a trip to Colorado and it's mountains perhaps next summer, if Beloved gets his way and at this time I see no reason why he shouldn't. Chez Us has not had a true vacation in a few years so I think it's time to go some place different and do vacationy things. Our only trips since a foray to Florida three years ago have been for family obligations, and those have been few and far between.

Well dear reader(s) it is getting late and I should say g'nite.

Have a happy and safe Forfin July.

(Forfin July is what #1 used to call the holiday when she was a wee lass, and the term has stuck with us ever since. Just in case you were wondering.)

My feets have grown!

So I went to buy some sandals this weekend since we have BOGO going on at Payless.

I was at the mall for some other items and decided to hit the Payless there. I tried on a rather cute pair of sandals in what I assumed was my size.

They were too small.

So I tried on a different style in what I was still assuming was my size, because of course the first pair was just a fluke.

Too small.

Apparently my feet have grown, or as my husband suggested they have resized at Payless.

I was confused by this need for a bigger size as one would assume that my other shoes in what I considered my usual size do not seem to be too small.

It is a mystery.

I gotta give props to good ol' Payless. Not only do they have a mean BOGO sale, BUT if the store does not have the shoe you wish to purchase in your size they will call other stores, hold the pair for you at the other store, still give you half off the second pair that is being bought at a different store AND give you an additional $1 off for your trouble. My second pair of sandals was under $4 and it wasn't so much trouble because I was going to the other side of town anyway. Go Payless. Their shoes and selection are much better than they used to be back when I was much younger.

In other news...

I keep having recurring dreams about Zach Braff wanting to be my boyfriend.
Not unpleasant...but weird.

Pictures!

I promised you all some pictures and by golly here they are!

#2 in her new favorite nightie

#1 in her brand spankin' new boots we got for Horse Camp this week.

Enjoy the cuteness that we get to experience on a daily basis.

Dancing Queen

Hello reader(s)!

Oh so much has happened since we last were together.

Where shall I start?

Dance Recital:
Yours truly participated in the yearly dance recital our particular dance studio puts on each year. I got up there and tap danced to a Bon Jovi tune while WEARING a Bon Jovi T-shirt. (I wore jeans too, lest you think we put a Risky Business twist on the ordeal). I didn't die from the exposure either. Never been a Bon Jovi fan so I am glad to be done with it. Y'all who have been readin' for a while know that ol' Missy gets picky about music sometimes.

Garage Sale:
Been planning on and pulling junk out for one of these almost a year now and finally got it done. Made about a $100 bucks. Kiddoes made out like bandits selling lemonade, bottled water, stuffed animals, and their old playhouse.

Saw a grown-up movie:
Took some of the cash from the abovementioned sale and went out to dinner and saw Knocked-Up. Enjoyable movie. Would have been even more enjoyable had we not been concerned about the family with children who were ohhhhh about 6-9 years old behind us. Much material that is inappropriate for children in this movie. Please note: If you are having to tell your child to cover eyes and ears every few minutes....probably not a good choice for a family outing.

Got a new camera:
7.1 megapixels, image stabilization, bells, whistles, and DUCT TAPE FREE. Soon as I get software and etc loaded I hope to post a few pictures.

That's all for now folks!

Heh heh...donkeyballs

Mops , brushes, poison.
Cleaning house sucks donkeyballs
and dries out your hands.

(From Haiku Mama)

This poem illustrates a few of the several reasons I invite the fairies to my house once a month.

One of the reasons I chose to share this particular Haiku is because I apparently am channeling my inner 12 year old boy tonight as the word donkeyballs has been making me giggle like one gone mad.

A little Haiku

From the book Haiku Mama (because 17 syllables is all you have time to read)

Like a badge of honor
our spreading hips unite us
asstacular moms.

I share because I have decided that asstacular is my new favorite word.

For anyone who is pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant

Don't want to look like just another pregnant lady why not do this?

Or perhaps this one is more to your taste.

Where were these ideas when I was sporting the gigantic belly?

Probably the same place as all the cute maternity clothes.

Save Now

Yes 'tis another one of my random titles that mean nothing.

So what is new with everyone?

Really. All I ever do on this blog is write about me and mine. It is just all about me me me.

Well tonight I turn over a new leaf. I want you to tell me about well......YOU.

I know you are thinking, "Wow Missy is it possible for you to be this lazy? I mean come ON. I(we) expect you to entertain us, not the other way around."

I prefer not to think of this as laziness but rather....ingenuity. A radical new idea for my blog and blogs everywhere. The reader(s) do all the work.

I think I may be on to something here.

I bet I don't get one comment to this post. Any takers on that bet?

Vigilance is called for

Boy that #2 is just full of interesting comments lately.

Here are 2 count 'em TWO just from today:

This one was directed at Beloved after he enforced the Snow Bear Stays Home Except on Overnight Visits to Someone's House Rule. After moments of pouty silence in the car..."Daddy you just don't have any room in your heart for love."

The next one was directed at me as we walked home from the grocery store. We are walking along and #2 is giving me some love pats on the stomach. Then....."Mommy your tummy looks like you are going to have a baby. I am not trying to say you are fat or anything...but your tummy does look like you could have a baby."

You had best believe I whipped out and completed the Pilates DVD tonight after a vigorous session on the treadmill.

If only she had said something BEFORE I consumed that half carton of Ben and Jerry's after dinner.

In the interest of equal exposure let us discuss #1 for a moment.

She is currently learning how to ride a bike sans training wheels. Yes I do recognize that this is a skill that should have been mastered a few years ago...but you must take in to consideration the fact that she has lazy parents. So stopping is a challenge for her. She tends to just try to jump off the bike instead of using the brakes. Something she comes by naturally. According to legend when I was going through the same learning process instead of stopping using the brakes I would steer in to the grass and jump off. She is making good progress. Only hit one parked car and tonight nearly rode straight on to a busy street. I have learned not to watch as she and Beloved practice. Unfortunately tonight I happened to look up just as she was about to go into the busy street. You probably heard me scream "OH MY GOD" at your house. Regardless of what state you live in. I gotta hand it to #1 once she gets her eye on the prize she sticks with it 'til she takes it home. So I imagine if her parents discontinue their lazy ways and keep up the practice sessions she will be riding in no time. If you see her ask about the Zen practices she uses to help her stop successfully using her brakes. It is facinating.

On a totally random note....check out this CD.

Be sure to listen to the samples. Everyone should have their veryown copy.

The True Meaning of Art

Bonjour Fair Reader(s)!

I know......it has been far too long. Alas my time has been occupied with all the events that seem to come at the end of the school year....more recently preparing for, taking, and returning from a 5 day trip to see Beloved's family in Ohio. That my friends is no small feat in my world. You see when I am preparing to travel my brain is overcome with the idea that if something is forgotten there is no way I can remedy the situation wherever it is I am going. I get some kind of weird amnesia-like syndrome that makes me think there are no stores wherever it is I am going. I'm working on it.

So this post will be short-ish because we just arrived home late this afternoon after spending way too many hours in a car.

I just want to share this little bit of information courtesy of #2.

The other night she was drawing in a journal-type book. I asked her about the artwork and she replied that the book was the true meaning of art. I then asked her what is the true meaning of art? #2 stated that it was hard to explain, but the true meaning of art is doing art the best way that you can in the way that you like.

Works for me.

Happy Mother's Day

To all you mommma's out there...hope you are "honored like you are a queen" as #2 says.

To all you out there who are not momma's...honor the one you have like she is a queen.

Honoring like a queen is easy.

Just bow down to all wishes of the queen-like person.

No big deal.

nope I did not expire

I finally recovered from my ailments. Took longer than I thought it would/should but what are ya gonna do?

Not post on your blog in my case.

Just haven't been feeling it here lately and there is little to share.

My beloved husband did give me an idea, and that should be coming through soon.

In the meantime just thought I would let you both know that I am still among the living.

Now I must go and eat.

Apparently I have pissed off the Goddess of Health and Wellness

Because I know you on the edge wanting the latest update on my health, and seeing as I apparently have a need to vent let me tell you what is up.

Rash.
Covering.
Most.
Of.
My.
Body.

Come ON!

I seem to be developing an allergy to penicillan. How cool is that?

Almost as cool as this rash.

Fever is gone. So hallelujah for that I guess.

So now I wait for a call back from the doctor's office. I am pretty sure I have a day of being doped up on Benadyrl ahead of me. Which is good for all of you becuase it will mean I sleep instead of Blog.
Or if I am really dopey...some interesting blogging may ensue. You never know.

I just hope they call with instructions before the itching starts. Please!

Feel free to put me out of my misery

We are now on Day 3 with the fever, congestion, and general feeling like doo-doo.

My doctor thought it might be a sinus infection and gave me some antibiotics.

Apparently it is viral, as I have been on them for two and half days with minimal improvement.

Although today the fever is not as bothersome as it has been the past two days. I don't know if that is because I am getting better, or just getting used to it. I am going to be optomistic and say it is because I am getting better.

I am so unbelievably bored with lying around that I can hardly take it any more.
I did manage to shower and wash my hair before 10:00 today, for which my family is grateful I am sure. That didn't so much happen yesterday, When I came downstairs for dinner the girls shouted, "Yay! Mommy is wearing pants!"

It has been awhile since I have been down ill like this and the girls don't quite know what to make of it. They were concerned that I would have to go to the hospital. They have tried to keep me entertained with many stories, pictures, magic tricks and cuddles.

I just hope this one stays with me and doesn't move on through the family.

Well, I think it is time to try to take another nap.

Tales from a mouth breather

Friend(s) I have finally succumbed to the illness that has been stalking me all week.

I fucking hate being sick.

Especially when it involves me being unable to breathe through my nose, horrific body aches, and a fever.

Now I have to go to the damn Doctor and I hate that shit too.

There.... I think I have cursed and complained enough.

It is strange when I am sick with sinusey stuff I crave Mexican food and Tang.

Not together of course.

I really wish Chipotle had a drive through. It is on my way home from the doctor's office and I should be coming home right about lunch time. I just don't feel up to getting out of the car and standing in the long line that is likely to be present around the noon hour. Curbside service would be cool too. At least my pharmacy has a drive through. I am pretty sure I will have to stop by there on my way home.

Oh well.

Maybe somebody who loves me very much will bring me Chipotle for dinner tonight.

I'm sick so all of my demands should be met right?

I better go work on my list!

Things that would be helpful to remember

1. When using the self-cleaning option on the oven because butter from a cheesecake crust you made has dripped all over the bottom of your oven, it is helpful to remember to open some windows and turn on the exhaust fan over the stove. This helps prevent your home from filling with smoke and scaring the hell out of young children when the smoke alarm goes and they see said smoke filling the stairway and creeping towards the upstairs.

2. Getting internet access through your cable company works much better when there is a cable outlet in the same room as your computer.

I hope you all find this valuable information helpful.

I like to help others through the benefit of my own experience.

Now if you will excuse me, I once again need to go remove my head from my ass.

Disclaimer: I would like to have it be known that I am currently suffering from a head full of snot and that tends to impede my ability to think and act like someone with an ounce of common sense. Thank you.

Return of the cranky old lady

Did you hear about the 13 year old text messaging champion?

Now that is some ridiculous shit.

$25000. She won that huge load of money for text messaging.

Supposedly she sends something like 250 messages any day.

Good thing she won that money as in all likelihood she will need to buy some social skills if she is doing that much texting. It should pay for carpal tunnel surgery too.

Why does a child that age need a cell phone anyway?

Or better yet explain to me what my 9 year old daughter's best friend needs with a cell phone? She just called us on Friday from her brand new pink phone.

That is also some ridiculous shit.

Now I do not oppose cell phones like my good friend at Bald and Effective, in fact we soon will be land line free because AT&T pissed off Beloved for the last time very recently... but I sure as hell oppose them for young children. I do not plan to allow them for my children until they are driving, and GOD help them if I ever catch them talking while driving.

Crazy crazy crazy.

Makes me cranky.

Another installment of things that have made me laugh this week

Unfortunately I can not seem to get the comic strip itself on here so I will just give you a link. You want the strip from Wednesday April 18.

It is the stinky boy line that really gave me the giggles.

Because I am lazy today and I have mountains of laundry to fold

This is funny.

No More Tiny Bubbles

Apparently Don Ho has gone on to that big luau in the sky.

I think that is all I have for celebrity news today.

Wait no...Prince William and his squeeze are no longer.

Now you can consider yourselves up to date.

What is new around chez us?

While at the place that I like to call..Hell shopping for Easter Dinner fare last Friday #1 asks me if Daddy and I sneak downstairs after she and her sister go to sleep to fill baskets and hide eggs.

I was in no way prepared to answer that question so I did the good ol' answer a question with a question... and replied "why do you ask?"

Apparently a friend of #2 let the bunny out of the basket and of course felt it her obligation to tell her older sister.

I put them off until we were on our way home.

Long story abbreviated...the secret is out now.

Of course this lead to questions about the Tooth Fairy. #1 said that the tooth fairy is real because I know the tooth fairy's phone number. #2's reply to that statement? "I think I know the tooth fairy's number too and proceeds to recite our phone number.

So that secret was revealed too. I was really sad about that because #2 has yet to loose a tooth and experience the excitement of the tooth fairy coming. Not that it will stop me from putting money under her pillow when it does happen.

Santa Claus however is still going strong. They are firm in their belief for that one.

I was really sad by their discovery, much in the way I was sad when we put away the last of #2's baby gear, as it is yet another step towards growing up. I have to say that it kind of killed my enthusiasm a bit when it came time to fill baskets, there were no carrots to eat and no note to answer. (My kids always leave notes for the Easter Bunny and Santa)

Funny but not surprising really if you know my children....#1 was much more keen to hang on the idea than #2. Neither was terribly upset about it, and in fact when I asked #2 later if she was sad they weren't real she gave me that "you are a crazy lady" look and asked me why would she be sad about that?

Because I am dammit!

Perhaps he could take Beloved's Public Speaking Class

Now I don't get political too often here at B.O. (hee hee, that is the first time I realized what the initials are for my blog! I will have to find ways to use that more often.)

As I was saying, I don't get political often and for good reasons that I have probably stated in some previous post.

Truthfully I don't plan to get too political this time either, but I have felt the need to discuss the person most Americans supposedly thought should lead our country according to the last presidential election.

In case you were wondering I do not count myself among those who thought he should lead the country.

Today I happened to be in my car on the way to lead a group, and as is my habit I had the radio turned to NPR.

Apparently the above mentioned person was having a news conference this morning.

Typically when he speaks I don't listen. The reasons are many and I won't go in to all of them here, save for the main reason I don't listen to him speak.

I honestly feel that this man has to go down as one of the WORST public speakers I have ever had the misfortune to hear.

It makes me crazy to listen to him stumble, stutter, pause awkwardly, mispronounce words (somebody PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help him with the word nuclear. Let him know that it is not pronounced nookeelar. I AM BEGGING!) I feel embarassed for the man and I LOATHE feeling embarassed for others. This PERSON IS SUPPOSED TO BE OUR LEADER. How did a man who can not put together a decent statement ever get this job? It is my opinion that he should never open his mouth without a script in front of him and better yet, just do a Cyrano and let some one else speak while he moves his mouth making NO sound.

Why I chose to torture myself this morning I have no idea, maybe I needed to repent or something, but it was PAINFUL. I can't recall the last time I cringed so often while listening to the radio.

However........ despite my pain I do not look at the time as a total loss. It finally gave me something different to blog about.

Ya gotta love 'em

Me to the Children this morning:
Can you please find an activitiy to do that is quiet?

The Children's response to my request:
Let's have a marble fight!

Me to the children (said in a calm yet firm tone):
Absolutely not.

AND Scene.

Happy Birthday to My Tiny Girl

Well #2 will officially be 6 years old in just under an hour.

Let me tell you, this time 6 years ago I was not a pleasant person.

Y'see #2 was two weeks early. Which in all honesty was FINE by me.

The reason I was upset was because I thought that I was not going to be going through the whole process of being in labor.

I had a c-section scheduled because #2 who started trying to be like her sister while still in the womb was in the breech position. Having already done the natural childbirth thing with one baby who was breech, an experience that did not go well and is by far the most terrifying experience of my life thus far.

Moving on...

I went through a procedure called an external version two days before #2 was born. If it had been successful they planned to immediately induce labor.

It was not, so I was ready to have my c-section thankyouverymuch.

The OB then informed me that they would schedule no c-section until 10 days prior to the due date.

Thus the beginnings of my unhappiness.

But I showed him.

Two days later... I find myself sitting on the couch and pop goes my water.

And Whammo... goes my labor process. Zero to God help Me in just a few minutes.

Apparently it takes a long time to get someone down to the OR when the c-section is not an emergency. For me...it was three hours before they got me in there. Contractions were strong and just under 5 minutes apart on the way to the hospital, three hours later you can better believe I was nearing insanity, and ready to rip the nearest head off of the next person who tried to speak to me or made ridiculous comments like..."wow you are really having some strong contractions!"

Finally three hours and a spinal block later I was in a much better mood....things were even better when they handed over #2. I kept hollering at people to bring me that baby, I didn't care what kind of goo she had on her and they could bloody well weigh her later. We had a couple of dicey moments when I began to feel pain while they still had my innards out on the table and the anthestesiologist was failing to register my panic. But a shrill tone of voice and a nice morphine drip took care of that issue.

So let the celebrations continue. We have survived round one. Round two is tomorrow. Round three Sunday.

Did I mention that all cake for these fetes are chocolate with chocolate frosting? The ice cream....
chocolate of course!

She is after all her mother's daughter!

WTF?????

Can ANYONE explain to me why BEANBAG CHAIRS cost as much as a damn couch?

Seriously. I can not find one much under $50.

WHY?? WHY?? WHY??

No title

I ain't got one in me tonight.

Man going back to work after being on vacation for a week sucks ass.

I really was meant to be a lady of leisure.

Not that my vacation was all that leisurely. We here at Chez Us were very productive once again.

Makes me wonder what I could accomplish if I was home all the time.

Not much I suppose. If I was home all the time I would not have the advantage of being motivated by a timeline like I am when I am home for just a week.

In other news...

My baby turns 6 at the end of the week. The party(s) are planned.

Somehow celebrating her birthday has turned in to a weekend long event. Not sure how that happened. But there is no changing it now. We have been getting the daily birthday countdown for two weeks now.

She has some good math skills.

Didn't get that from me.

Despite all my well planned birthday activities we still are lacking a gift for her. The reason why is a long story...so we will just say that I have learned to book mark web pages that have potential gifts on them because despite my confidence in my abilities I apparently can not access those pages again no matter how many hours I spend with Google.

Let's talk about FOOD

MMMmmmm....

I had a lovely evening out with Belovved Husband last night. We went to eat a relatively new restaurant here in town.

My it was delicious.

I had Fire Roasted Flattened Chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and marinated vegetables.

Even the next day nuked for a minute..the leftovers were delicious. I felt like I could eat it every day.

I have decided that I need a wood fired brick oven in my kitchen.

That is what is missing in my life.

Big Fire.
Big Oven.

Preferably we will keep the big fire in the big oven.

I will keep you posted on the details.

In other news...

I am ready to drop kick my cat out the attic window.

For reasons known only to her she has decided to boycott her litter box altogether.

Apparently the carpet in the hallway is a much better place for meeting her kitty toileting needs.
MY BRAND NEW CARPET IN THE HALL.

She has always been a bit prissy about her litterbox. We had to try a few different litters during kittenhood before we found the right one and God forbid if we go a day without scooping..she will leave her calling card right outside the box.

We got a new box a few months ago and she has never really taken to it. She is almost 12 years old, it is a tall box and she does not move as nimbly as she used to. Also #1 who does a great job taking care of the litterbox got pretty heavy handed and put a huge amount of litter in the box, which we suspect may not agree with our feline friend.

So we have purchased a new lower to the ground litter box, with less litter and gone back to what we did when we were litter training her as a kitten. When she can not be supervised she is shut in a room with her litter box, food, water and other kitty necessities.

If this doesn't work then I guess it is off to the vet to make sure we don't have some other issue at play here.

Now my hallway has the lovely scent of Nature's Miracle because I saturated that damn carpet.

If it doesn't get the smell out her kitty ass is going to find a kitty job and pay for the carpet replacement.

I have been telling her for years that she doesn't pull her weight around here.

I am sorry to say that it is going to be awhile before she is off my poo-poo list. We don't go in for prissiness around here.

I need immediate gratification

OK, in my world, when antibiotics are consumed immediate relief should happen.

I know this isn't realisitic, and it never happens that way but I want it to just the same.

I have had four doses and my throat still hurts. If I don't keep up on the Advil it is a down right ugly kind of pain.

What kind of crap is that?

I mean so what if the doctor said I would need to keep up on the advil for the next couple of days to manage pain. What does SHE know? I have antibiotics. I will be cured immediately.

I mean come ON. I am on vacation here.

This is 2007. Where are the magic pills?

Somebody?!?!!!

Just HRH for short

I had a lovely birthday yesterday.

Came home from work to find my honeys all showered and dressed to the nines.

Why....

Because #2 decided that they should, "Honor Mommy like a Queen on her birthday."

So exciting to see that all of my hard work and training has paid off.

I did feel queenly, had a delicious dinner with excellent company.

I was gifted with money and a fancy schmancy watch. (Fancy Schmancy is royal talk don't you know!)

Cake was eaten in my honor.

I was massaged one minute for every year of my life thus far by a handsome man.

Yup pretty queenly.

Today.....

Not so queenly.

Actually the tarnish was beginning to show on the crown throughout the day yesterday, but I was determined to hold it off.

I tried to deny it all day today....I went to work stuck out the whole day...but the body don't lie. The body aches...sore throat....

Next thing I know I am taking my queenly self to the medic to have a not so queen-like q-tip shoved down my throat to find out that I have a royal case of strep throat.

Bummer.

Not the greatest way to start my week-long vacation. But I am in posession of antibiotics and will hopefully be on the mend tout suite.

However I think the best remedy for my poor raw throat is some left-over birthday ice-cream cake from Maggie Moos.

I feel better already!

Go Missy! Go Missy! It's Your...

Birthday!!!

Yes dear reader(s) today is my (enter guess here)th birthday today.

I am not officially (enter guess here) until sometime this evening before 7.

I only know it is before 7 because my mother told me that West Side Story was on the evening I was born and she was determined to have me out before it started.

She made it apparently. This might explain my strong desire to be on stage.

Legend also has it that before being taken to the hospital she had to fix my grandmother's hair and then drive the two of them to my aunt's house so that my aunt could drive her to the hospital since my grandma did not drive.

There was much laughter all the way to the delivery room.

That might explain a few other things about me too.

Puttin' on the Bitch

So today I made some hotel reservations online for a colleague and myself as we are going to a conference in Wichita in a few weeks.

Lucky for me I actually checked the confirmation e-mail only to discover that the reservation I made for my colleague was showing an incorrect check-in/check-out date.

So I called the customer service line for this particular internet travel organization was on hold for at least 20 minutes if not more while listening to the same movement of Vivaldi's Four Seasons over and over again. Once I was finally speaking to a person, I explained my dilemma. She put me on hold again, got back on and said they could fix the date, but I would be charged $50.

50 M-F'in dollars. To make the reservation one day earlier.

My reply was a very irritated, "that is ridiculous" and then repeated my request to assure that I had heard right, that it was really going to cost me 50 bucks to move a reservation up one day well in advance of the actual date of the reservation. (Voice tone and pitch rising with every word)

She put me on hold again (and I am pretty sure she heard me complaining with lots of profanity to Beloved before she actually put me on hold)

A few minutes later (and more Vivaldi)..... lo and behold! The $50 fee has been waived by her supervisor as a "one time courtesy."

Which just proves my theory that if faced with ridiculous things when making a purchase, getting in touch with and sharing my inner bitch usually makes the ridiculous go away.

I think it is the shrill tone of voice.

People will do just about anything to make it go away.

@#$%&! Time Change

Let me tell you that today I could gleefully cause great bodily harm to whatever genius came up with the DST idea.

All you out there with young kids know what I am talking about.

The reality of this change seems to have really kicked in today for my young ones.

This morning I had to deal with MASSIVE grouchiness, whiny, fussy, and rude behavior because the children feel as though I am waking them at the ass crack of dawn.

This evening I am dealing with more grouchiness, whining, and fussing and THEY ARE STILL AWAKE AFTER BEING IN BED WITH LIGHTS OUT FOR AN HOUR.

Typically these kids are out a few minutes after the heads hit the pillow.

Of course I am dealing with this on top of my own tired grumpiness as I deal with getting back on schedule after the show coupled with the time change.

I don't see why we can't just stay on DST year round.

It would just be better for me and it is all about me after all.

Anyway it is when I am tired and grouchy.

I'm Tellin' You

This should be the last post with an update about which song from the show is in my head as we had our last performance today.

I am usually a little bummed out after a show ends, it is so consuming that I often seem to be unsure of what to do with myself for a short while.

The previous two or three shows I was in prior to this one, I did not have that short melancholy period after they were over. In truth I was practically foaming at the mouth to have them over and done with and that worried me. I thought maybe I was growing out of performing or being possessed or something of the sort. I think it had to do with a lot of other things that I am just not going to go into here.

At any rate I find myself this evening feeling a bit melancholy about the end. I had a really good time, and overall I was pretty happy with the way I portrayed this character. I got a fair amount of good feedback about the shows and it was really cool that nearly every performance sold out.
I made some new friends and that is always fun, and I got the opportunity to socialize with them over the past three weekends and I really enjoyed that. Beloved and I don't seem to get out and be social with other adults very often together and for me to go out and socialize on my own has been virtually unheard of for the past ohhhh...9 years. I can probably count the times on one hand. I know it is not a great way to be and I have no one but myself to blame for the lack of socializing. I get lazy pretty easily about going out socially since the children have come along. I know all the arguments about "taking care of yourself so that you are in a better frame for your children" and all of that, but at the end of the day..week...month...year....I.AM.TIRED.
But I bit the bullet and pushed past my tired and went out with people. I am definitely out of practice. I don't know where people go to socialize after dark anymore. I do not recover as quickly the next day from staying out past 12 even when there is no drinking involved. I still seem to be able to converse and be mildly interesting however. Glad I still have that.
In a few days my melancholy will pass as I become immersed in the daily stuff that is my regular non-performing life. There is much to do and many things to return to that have been neglected for the past couple of months. One of those things is reasonable bedtimes. I must leave you know to pursue that right now. Nighty night.

Shout out

To my good friend Ali who has a birthday today. Ok technically yesterday, but since I have not been to bed yet I am calling it today. Hope it was a good 'un Ali!

No More Shows for 60 months

#2 informed me last night as I helped her with a shower that she did not think I should do any more shows for at least 60 months. I told her that was 5 years and she changed her recommendation to 60 years.

Wonder what good parts there will be for a 90-something woman.

One more weekend to go. We had pretty consistently good performances all weekend and every show was sold out. Looks to be the same for this weekend as well. Country music sure sells 'round these parts.

Did I tell you about how I learned that apparently country music is popular with the young people these days? I had no idea.

We went to see a variety show at a local high school a few weeks ago and I was shocked at the number of students wailin' away singing country music songs. (Of course I kept looking around for something sharp to slit my wrists with because about the La-hast thing I wanted to do was listen to a bunch of high school girlies sing bad country songs through their noses, especially since it happened to be my ONE NIGHT off from country music...)

Now maybe I am getting prudish and uptight in my old age, but there was one performance that I decided was offensive to me.

A young lady got on stage and proceeded to sing what is apparently a very popular country song about (big surprise here) a woman who finds out her man has been cheating on her. Now what I found offensive was the chorus to this song which describes how she vandalized this man's car because he was cheating on her. Describes in great detail seat and tire slashing, keying, taking a baseball bat to headlights and all that mess. At first I thought...hmm this does not seem like the best choice for a high school talent show. I thought I was being an uptight parent, but then after more thought I decided that it wasn't as a parent that I was offended, but as a professional. I spend a lot of time talking about appropriate ways to express anger, and here is a very popular song promoting violence and young girl(s) are singing their hearts out to this song. Didn't set too well with me let me tell you. I know many of you are probably thinking that it is just a song and all that, but I have worked with enough kids to know that many take the messages in songs to heart. Maybe I am over reacting, but I really think it was inappropriate for the venue. I just wish people would give more thought to the messages given to our children.

We need to be more thoughtful.
Period.
End of Story.

Now it is time for me to pull that stick out of my ass and get to bed.
Can't sleep well when there are protrusions.

Oh to be my dog for today

Then I would get to lie in front of the heater and nap until I was done.

Lovesick Blues

That is the current show tune in my head. I hoped that a couple days off would get them out, but no such luck.

Opening weekend went well. We had good crowds, and I think I did OK. I got applause here and there and that is usually a good sign. I am never truly satisified with what I do on stage. Probably a good thing...keeps me working.

I got really nervous Friday around dinner time. I said out loud that I had changed my mind and no longer wanted to do the show, and didn't want to go. My children were horrified. "Mommy!" said #1 in her most serious voice, "You HAVE to go! You can't stay home!" Then #2 chimed in with, "Mommy if you don't go do the show they might put you in JAIL." (she was dead serious, that is her new fascination..what you do to get in to jail and what happens once you are there.)

Needless to say I went and lived to tell about it, though I had my doubts there in those last seconds before I went on. THIS is why I don't do musicals. They make me too damn nervous and it don't always seem worth the nervy fits I get from them. Uggh.

I have had a good time and this has been a good change of pace for me. I needed to do something different. Next time though I hope to have a less cranky person to portray. I have done that a lot in the past couple of years, and I would like to expand a bit.

Not much else to tell right now... I have a pretty huge headache and I am sure that you all wanted to know about that.

What other mindless stuff can I share?

My camera broke right before #2's school music program. The lid for the battery compartment won't stay closed, which is problematic. Beloved suggested I duct tape it. That made me want to hit him and I told him so which offended him. I was taken back to the two+ years I had to live with a duct taped vacuum cleaner and got a little testy.

I got a magazine with a cover full of chocolate recipes I would like to make tomorrow.

I am thinking about doing the My Space thing. Someone I saw over the weekend suggested it and I have checked it out a little more in depth and it could be fun...I dunno....

It is my birthday in just over two weeks. I am going to be a certain age.

Did I mention that my head hurts?

5 more days

Oy.
I have absolutely no business composing a blog post right now, which is exactly why I am doing so.
5 more days and then I have three blissful days off from the show and country music.
In truth I wish that it were five more days until we open, but alas that is not to be.

The countdown on that is two.
2
Deux.
F-U-C-etc..etc.

I know that the magic of theatre will happen soon. It always does. I just hate that time before it is true.

Yeah I need to go. Cause I am rambling now, and I have 12 hour staying power lipstick to sandblast off my mouth. I am a few short words away from starting to talk about Britney in rehab, and no one else needs to talk about that.

You might be tired if...

Your 9-year old daughter looks at you and says, "Wow Mom you have really big bags under your eyes!"

Awesome.

Loading....

Wonder what would happen (and I mean this literally) if I just climbed in to my bed, turned of the phone, fell asleep, and did not go back to work today.

I would go in tomorrow business as usual and just tell them I was tired, I turned off the phones and took a nap while I was home for lunch.

I really wonder what the response and reaction would be.

Too bad I'm too chicken to find out.

I have given it serious consideration however.

I'm glad I wasn't disappointed

I have been looking forward to seeing The Police perform on the Grammy Awards ever since I heard about it a couple of weeks ago. I was a tiny bit apprehensive as sometimes these things just don't live up to my expectations.

My worries were:

1. They would sing Every Breath You Take.

2. The performance would be a medley of hits. (I hate a medley)

3. It would just suck in general.

4. Sting would no longer be a hottie.

Most of my worries were dumb and not likely to occur I know, but sometimes I am just unreasonable.

Supposedly they are going to embark on a tour.

If they are near I will be seeing them.

Beloved has been prepared for this, and the savings will now begin as I don't imagine this will be a cheap show.

Now I need to find something to eat. I am trying very hard not to become sick and it has got my appetite out of whack. So I must locate something for dinner that is not crazy to eat at 9:00 PM.

Damn germs.

Things likely won't improve over the next month

I know posting has been spotty lately, leaving the two of you who read this in the lurch and for that I apologize.

Things aren't likely to improve much over the next month or so.

I rehearse every evening M-F until the show opens at the end of Feb, which significantly interferes with my ability to waste time on my computer.

Not much is new. The show is coming along I suppose. I really have forgotten how much I hate the blocking process. The past few shows I have done have not required it, so it has been awhile.

I have successfully avoided leaving the house all weekend. I am not sorry about it either. #2 is illin' so we laid low.

Guess what!

Beloved just confessed that he watched some of You're the One That I Want. So Ali, you have a partner in shame now.

Beloved also has let me know that he is ready to pester someone after spending the last hour flipping through TV channels, and I am the only one up. Seeing as how I am a good wife I will say Adios and let my honey commence with pestering me.

Nighty night!

I prefer to catalog this under multi-tasking

Oh dear reader(s).

I am sad sad pathetic pathetic person.

I have reached a new low.

I...I know they say confession is good for the soul so here it goes.

My story begins at about 1:00 yesterday afternoon. I go in to work later on Thursdays and thus take my lunch hour a wee bit later as well.

On with the story.

When I got home I was hungry. VERY HUNGRY. Mind consuming hungry. Need food immediately hungry.

You get the picture.

I also needed to clock some exercise time. I don't like to exercise immediately after eating for obvious reasons, but today I just could NOT wait that long. I needed a snack.

There were many options, apples, carrots, a little juice perhaps to boost the ol' blood sugar.

OR

the men who come in second to my husband for my love...Ben and Jerry.

Now you don't know me at all if you think I did not grab that little carton of heaven here on earth.

I did.

Here comes the pathetic part.

I am pretty tight on time if I am going to exercise and eat lunch, so I decided to do a little multi-tasking.

You can probably guess what I did but I am going to tell you anyway.

Lady(ies) and Gentleman(men) I proceeded to polish off the 1/4 pint of ice cream WHILE I WAS RIDING MY RECUMBANT BIKE. And it was GOOD. Ohh so so good.

It is true. I wouldn't make this shit up even for my blog.

I think that I need to write some kind of manual or book on the art of multi-tasking 'cause baby I got it DOWN.

It's National Pie Day

Woo Hoo!

At Chez Us we will be celebrating with a Marie Callender Chocolate Satin Pie, to be consumed post-exercise whilst viewing season 2 of The Office.

What better way to honor something we all love.

We are choosing to ignore the bad for us part of this experience.

It has a cookie crust! A COOKIE CRUST! Health be damned!

Didja notice the whipped cream and chocolate curls????

What kinda pie did you/would you eat?

File Under Stuff I Did Not Envision Including My Participation

So I find myself doing another show.

Had no plans to participate in any shows in the near future.

BUT a local director called and asked if I would audition, and when a director calls and asks me to audition or offers a part I automatically turn in to The Girl Who Can't Say No.

So I said yes I would audition, I followed through and now I find myself with a role.

IN. A. MUSICAL.

Y'see those who know me know that I don't do musicals. Until now apparently.

I should probably mention one more thing about the show.

It is all about a dead country music star.....
and I play his wife.

That's right folks not only is it a musical, but a whole entire show dealing with country music.

Y'see I don't "do" country music either. Until now apparently.

So beware children..these are the things that can bappen when you become the girl/boy who cain't say no.

Where can I find Cat Barf Barbie?

Tonight we had to do some grocery shopping at The Place I Most Hate to Shop.

Whilst on our quest to get groceries we had to make a detour to the toy department to get a birthday present for #2's bestest friend who is having a big birthday bash on Friday.

#2 has decided that her bestest friend would like nothing more than a Barbie.

Not my favorite gift idea, but...

So #2 picks out the Barbie she thinks Bestest Friend will like best.

I gave it a rather cursory glance and made a comment along the lines of, "oh look Barbie has a dog." and tossed it in the basket.

You see whenever I have to shop at The Place I Most Hate to Shop it is my goal to get out of there ASAP because..I HATE IT.

On with my story.

The checker handed #2 the bag with the Barbie in it and #2 starts talking about how when she gets in the car she is going to take the Barbie box out of the bag and tell us what it can do.

Now you see that should have been my first inkling that sumpin' warn't quite right.

However.. the checkout line at TPIMHTS is surely one of the gates to hell and again I was not giving my full attention seeing as we had been in line checking out for AT LEAST the same amount of time we spent filling our cart throughout the store. For at this place you must pass an exam and skill test proving that you are the slowest and most annoying person on earth but I digress again.....

So after 8 or so hours we are finally in the car on the way home and #2 begins to tell us what the Barbie and her dog do.

What they do is doo doo to be precise. (The dog anyway not Barbie.)

Yes dear readers we have purchased Dog Shit Barbie.

Barbie's pooch eats a little snack and then..

Oh-Oh! Poochie does a doodie.

THANK GOD as #2 pointed out, Barbie is provided with the appropriate tools to clean up the dog doo doo.

THIS is the gift my child will be giving to her Bestest Friend and she is SURE it will be considered the best present at the party.

I have managed to rein in my compulsion to call the parent ahead of time and explain the whole story. I imagine that compulsion will happen at either drop off or pick up at the party.

Maybe I can just give them the blog address. It would be easier.

Haaaapppyyy Biiirrrtthhhddaaay toooo...

My most beloved husband. He is now as old as moi. So for the next two months and one day he can not make jokes about his wife being older than he is.

Because now we are the SAME AGE.

I don't care what all you math minded people out there say.

Since it was cold and very sleety out we opted to stay in most of the day. I am trying not to complain about the weather as I am somewhat relieved to see that we are actually experiencing a little bit of winter. Disappointed that we did not get the snow they had predicted as it would have been fun to play in over this three-day weekend.

Not too much happening. It always seems that we hit a lull in activity after winter break. I don't mind much really, as it seemed that since school started we have been crazy making busy.

Stuff I have been thinking about:

The environment, and personal changes me and my family need to make in regard to reducing our negative impact. Mostly in the thinking stages now. We have been doing a few things such as buying more organic products. Being conscious of shutting off lights. (This may not seem like much but we got a lotta rooms in this house and we have not been so good about keeping unoccupied rooms unlit.) Like I said..still in the thinking stages here's hoping for more action soon.

Goals. I have set some and so far I am making progress. Woo Hoo.

Brownies. There are some downstairs and I want one with a glass of milk.

What exactly

IS a Nymphomania Saber?

12 Years and Counting

The Mister and I have been married for TWELVE YEARS as of today.

T-W-E-L-V-E

Our marriage is entering adolescence.

We still have an awfully good time together and I must say that Beloved is still my favorite person to hang out with.

Our usual celebratory dinner and movie took place last night. (Oh yeah we admired our living room area rug too as anniversary was part of the package justification for buying it deal.)

Am I really old enough for all of this?

I ask that question A LOT lately.

But more on that another time.

Here's to another twelve years (plus many MANY more of course) with my SB.

With an incredible abundace of love,

NP

It gets better from here on out I am sure

I have to say that our New Year is not off to the most fantastic start.

It started off on New Year's Eve with a sickly child.

The first and second days were fine enough.

Today or more specifically tonight not so good.

Car accident.

Everyone is ok obviously or I would not be writing this entry, but I have to say it was the worst accident I have been in since high school.

We were going down a fairly busy street here in town when a young man in a SUV got confused and thought that he was at a four way stop sign and it was his turn to go. Problem is, it was a two way stop and he did not have a clear intersection because we were in it. So he slammed in to the driver's side of the car.

Driver's door is smashed in totally and it broke the window on the driver's door. It was dark so there may be more damage we weren't able to see. Frankly what was visible was enough for me. The car was driveable, but it was a chilly ride home for my honey. Grandma and Grandpa came and took me and the littles home. Beloved was driving so took the brunt of the impact and he is fine thank the Good Lord. The girls are fine. They were a little shaken up, but have handled it very well.

I suspect there may be some stiff muscles tomorrow, but that is ok. Better that than something else.

Now I am off to recouperate from our trauma with a little Office (American version, we just finished the BBC version. HI-Larious. Check it out if you haven't yet.) and something that resembles dessert.

Happy New Year Etc..Etc..

Yeah I might be more enthusiastic if I had not had to return to work today.

That is the thing about vay-cay. You hafta go back and that is just wrong.

Spent the day trying to get back in the swing of things, it may take me a couple days. Maybe when everyone else in da house is back at school and work it will be better.

Had a good time over the past week. It was a very good balance of fun stuff and being really productive. Got several projects completed. The most embarassing being the three years worth of school pictures we finally hung on the wall last night. Three years. That is some kind of lazy.

Got to see our good friend Ali while she was home, and she brought her husband too as an added bonus. We had a lovely visit with them and there were cookies!

Our New Year was low-key. Unfortunately there was some illness back with #2, but she seems to be better now. We ate too much food and played with friends and family which is always a good thing.

No resolutions this year. We have decided to go with goals. Measurable outcomes. I will keep you posted as I know all three of you are on the edge of your seats.

Hmmm....what else.....

Heard on NPR today that there are new regulations being put in place for people looking to adopt children from China. Apparently if you are a single parent, obese (BMI of 40+), are currently taking or have taken anti-depressants in the past two years you will not be eligible to adopt.

Don't seem quite right to me.

G'night.

Do Not Enter. Coyote Working.

This is the newest sign #2 has designed for her door. Just so you know ...he will be out working tonight. That information is also on the sign along with a picture of the coyote howling. I believe that is his job. Howling.

The coyotes have been working like mad here at Chez Us. The basement and garage have been cleaned out and look migh-T fine. We have found some time for fun, and soon will be off to KC for a little jaunt to Dave and Buster's with the grandparents.

So many famous deaths this week. So if Sadaam is to be executed tomorrow and the rule is that deaths of famous people happen in threes, does his count as #3? I didn't know if it really counted since it is a planned event. According to my ever accurate internet news sources the TV networks plan "tasteful coverage" of the event.

Now maybe I am just being picky here, but to me the mere fact that there will actually be TV coverage of the event automatically cancels the idea of tasteful. Tasteful and watching an execution on TV just don't go together in my book.

The only other musing I have is WHERE THE HELL IS THE SNOW?

Call me crazy but I could really go for a serious snow event the likes of what is happening west of here. I need it just to affirm that winter is a season that still exists. I am having my doubts these days. If I could request that the giant snowstorm happen just in time for me to get a few more days off work at the agency's expense. So it could hit Monday...that should work well.

That's all I'm asking.

I AM ON

VACATION BABY!!!

First time I have taken more than a day or two off in a year and a half.

My plans you may wonder.


Uhhh...

clean the basement and garage.

Also at some point hang out with some cool friends who are home for the holidays.

I would like to print a retraction please

Today I said something that in retrospect I can not believe the words came out of my mouth.

I don't even have any kind of excuse either.

I am sure many of you will likely feel that I am over reacting once I finally get around to telling you what I said that I want to retract. That is ok. You are more than willing to think what you will because I can not stop you.

So on with the story.

My mother called as she was out Christmas shopping for our two little darlings, and had some questions about gifts for them. As we conversed we both commented on the fact that their lists were pretty short this year. About 3 or 4 things each. After that these words came out of my mouth, "You know they don't watch a lot of TV and what they do watch is for the most part commercial free, so they don't have the exposure that leads to a long list of wants. I guess this time of year that is kind of a disadvantage."

Good. God.

You know what is worse? I repeated this conversation to my husband and it was shortly after I told him that it dawned on me what I had really said. I took it back while I was talking to him, immediately after I pulled my head out of my ass. The crazy in me nearly called my mother back and retracted the statement with her. I did manage to hold myself in check.

I can't believe I said that! One big part of our strict TV rules is totally due to the blatant targeting of young children by advertisers. The fact that my kids do not have a raging case of the "I want that's" should be celebrated, not apologized for.

Therefore let it be known that I do not find it a disadvantage that my children do not have a huge Christmas List, and have not been exposed to the constant barrage of ads for all things toys and whatnot on TV. I am proud to say that their lists were small and relatively simple.

I vow from here on out to check my ass for the presence of my head prior to making any such observations in the future.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I figure at some point I would need to comment on the holidays, so let's get it out of the way.

I am one gift and a couple of stocking stuffers away from being done with shopping. As I have done in the past couple of years I did almost all of my shopping online. This year I did my shopping a bit earlier after my close call last Christmas. I guess Amazon was having some issues last year. I did my shopping within the first few days of December and was sweating Christmas Eve morning until the last of the gifts arrived.

This is looking to be a pretty boring Christmas under the tree for Beloved and I.

Why I am sure you are asking?

Well let me tell you.

It all started with a silent auction. My in-laws and I attended a fundraiser for my job and there was a silent auction. There was an item I very much wanted to bid on, but ran out of time to go do it. My in-laws decided they would give it a go and give the item to us for Christmas if they won, and in all honesty they did not expect to win.

Well they did. The item was a large gift certificate to a local store that sells Oriental Rugs. What we did not know is that the store is closing and the certificate had to be claimed by December 31. Not wanting us to be rushed or have a poor selection to choose from my in-laws gave us the certificate at Thanksgiving.

It was a large certificate, but not large enough to get the rug we really wanted and truly needed. So we ended up paying a large amount out of our own pocket and decided that was Christmas and Anniversary gift for us this year. We got a gorgeous rug at a really good price, and I am quite happy with it. Just means that there won't be much happening around the tree.

However we do have a purty rug to admire while the girlies open their gifts.

Not sure how we will incorporate it into celebrating our anniversary, but hey we are creative people so I am sure we will think of something.

I am really looking foward to holiday baking which I plan to commence with next week. I am really hungry for frosted sugar cookies. I am going to try and be fancy and detailed with my icing this year.

Yum!

A Jinx of an update

I know this is gonna kill it but I am gonna do it anyway.

We are on day 5 of no waking at night due to bad dreams. Woo Hoo!

I am the only one in the house who has not fallen victim to the barfing bug.

So in other news....

I was thinking about music this morning while I was drying my hair. I have some of my best thinks whilst drying my curly locks.

Moving on...I was thinking about how growing up here in T-town I was not exactly exposed to a lot of different types of music. Top 40 or (gag, yak, ergh) country music were about the only options around here. We had MTV I guess, but I wasn't allowed to stay up late enough to watch the shows that featured more alternative-type bands.

These thoughts led me to think about what was my initial foray in to music that was not Top-40 and at least around here you had to dig a little to find. I think my answer to this question is that my first foray was the Violent Femmes. If I recall correctly my good friend Kayla had a tape of a tape that we listened to on a very small tape player that she had in her car as I don't think it had a working radio. My friend Jennifer also had a copy that we listened to on a boom box while driving around in her parent's ancient and gargantuan station wagon that she could paralell park without blinking an eye. I was always jealous of that skill.....but I digress. Upon my first listen I was not overly impressed. But in a remarkably short time I had to go find my own personal copy.

(Saw 'em live too in the Ballroom at KU during my VERY brief stint as a student there. GOOD TIMES.)

That took me to recall how very little my parents censored what I listened to. There was profanity on that particular Violent Femmes recording. I turned it down around my mom at first but that didn't last long, especially since I cursed around them with fair regularity it seemed kinda silly. When I was in the fifth grade I believe it was, I recall my family listening to the soundtrack from Purple Rain with it's wholesome ditty Darling Nikki on a pretty regular basis. It was one of my favorites to listen to while doing the dishes for a long time. I think my parents were just banking on my not getting the sexual references in the song. (They were right. I was 11 for God's sake.) You can bet your sweet bippy that won't be happening with my kids. I run a tight ship when it comes to the inappropriate material for children.

So these are the thoughts I had today 'bout music. All that thought took about 10 minutes. I do run on a slow clock in the morning.

Crap

We seem to have a barfing virus making it's way through our family.

Beloved was the first to fall...this morning it was #2.

So I am home today, running wee ones to the bathroom at lightning speed, holding back hair, and generally trying to soothe barfing beasts.

I HATE the barfing illnesses. HATE THEM. Hate sitting around wondering when the next victim will succumb, being afraid to eat due to the certainty that sometime over the next few days it will be me making the vomit sprint.

At least the kids are old enough now to actually make it to the toilet.

Damn flu season.

Hopefully this will mean we get to have an illness free Christmas Break for once.

I gotta go find some wood to knock.

Nightmarish Experiences

We are having some bad dream issues here at Chez Us.

#2 is on a bad dream tear these days.

Common themes: Bad guys, dinsoaurs, harm to loved ones, and our favorite lovey being torn apart.

There are a lot of theories about dreams out there ranging from dreams have absolutely no meaning/significance to every single thing in a dream being significant and having deep subconscious meaning.

I think the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

She almost always gets up and lets us know she has had a bad dream, and rarely does she seem overly upset. She will usually come in and tell us, and then we send her back to bed. We used to let her get in to bed with us, but that is more disturbing to everyone's sleep so we have stopped that in the past year or so.

As she seems to go through little episodes from time to time where the dreams are frequent we have at times out of sleepiness been less nurturing than we could have been. I particuarly struggle with the middle of the night nurturing as I have always been very slow to wake up and am at my least pleasant when first awakened.

Right now as we work are trying to work through the latest episodes we are trying a few new things. First instead of just sending her back to bed one of us goes in and reassures her and stays with her a few minutes until she feels better. My research has shown that we were right not to continue letting her get in to bed with us. We did that for a long time and it is biting us on the butt now I think.

Today I had her draw pictures of her dreams, and then we talked about what we could do to "fix" the dream and then draw that. We talked about real life application to, (i.e. if "bad guys" are around we call the police and things of that sort.) This really seemed to be empowering to #2 and she totally got in to it. When she was done with her drawings she tore up the pictures, threw them away and said, "take that you bad dreams!" She made plans about what she would say to those bad guys if they showed up in her dreams again.

Then came the epiphany for me as a parent. I got to thinking about things as I watched her draw one dream involving dinosaurs and her lovey being torn apart, which has been in nearly every dream recently. I explained to her that sometimes people have bad dreams because they are worried about things and those things come up when they dreamed. So I asked if she was worried about her lovey. She said yes that she worried he would be lost forever. I was totally awash in guilt as I thought about how many times we have made comments that to us seemed harmless about how fragile and tattered her lovey has become and joking about not wanting to wash it because we are afraid it will fall apart and things of that nature. To us...comments that are just us joking around and trying to be funny and not meant seriously at all, but to her....awful and anxiety provoking. I reassured her that her lovey will in all likelihood be around until she is a grownup and that we will keep fixing it as long as it needs repaired. I promised to do the repairs I have put off for so long, and that she has asked for more times that I really want to admit this very night. She was willing to give him up at bedtime to allow me the chance to complete repairs, and seemed reassured that we would make every effort to keep the lovey around for a very long time to come.

She is also having to learn to cope with things without using her lovey and that is hard to do, but she is trying hard.

Will all of this take care of the nightmare problems we are having? Weellll...probably not right away.

I hope that at the very least it will help our child know that we value her feelings and take them seriously.

I also hope that I will be more thoughtful of my child's feelings before I make comments about things that are important to her. It is too easy to always look at things like a grownup and forget how the wee ones view the world. Sometimes "small stuff" is a big deal to little people. I guess I needed a boot to the head to remember that.

So I guess we can chalk up one more lesson in this journey that is parenthood. Hard as you try...there are always screw ups made and damage control to be done.

Pleasant Dreams!

Baaad Combination

I am currently suffering from what Beloved and I have decided to call "The Winter Hungries."

Our definition of "The Winter Hungries" is: An onset of cold and winter-like weather coupled with a strong desire to consume larger amounts of food than normal. Desired foods are generally from the category of food commonly known as "crap-ass bad for you." A secondary symptom may be a compulsion to make phrases seem more clever by the over use of quotation marks.

The other side effects of "The Winter Hungries" (I can NOT stop with the quotation marks I only wish you could hear the musical sting that offers further punctuation as I type "The Winter Hungries.") Anyway the other side effect seems to be a general lack of desire to exercise. So there you see where the bad combination comes in.

Truthfully my lack of desire to exercise actually came about two weeks ago after my team kicked some ass and won the office exercise challenge. Yours truly logged the most work outs in said office.

Can you guess what the prize was for each member of the team who had the most workouts during the competition?

Why a $35 gift certificate to Johnny Carino's of course!

I guess I am going to have to come up with some kind of challenge for myself at home.

It will involve prizes you can be sure!

Maybe I should make it a cross country blog wide thing...just to up the anty.

Who's in?

Meemmmoorrriiiiiieessss

9 years ago at this time I was running (well maybe not exactly running) around the house we had just moved in to three days before trying to find all the gear I needed to go to the hospital and have a baby, since my water had conveniently broken a few minutes before.

What were YOU doing December 1, 1997 shortly before 9:00 PM?

Fresh Air

I have been trying to think of fresh new and exciting posting ideas for this blog. I have been inspired by a blog that I secretly read. (Definition of secretly read: I read the blog on a regular basis but never comment because I don't know the person. I have only recently started very tentatively to post comments on blogs of people I don't actually know. Just one of my many nerouses.)

So I think today I will post a fairly easy and somewhat common question then of course answer the question myself. Then if you are so inclined post your very own answer in comments.

So here is the fairly easy and somewhat common question.......(ooh aren't you excited?)

What is your earliest childhood memory?

Mine happened on the way to my parent's wedding when I was about 2 1/2. On the way to the church my Aunt slammed my fingers in the car door. I don't remember the actual slamming, but I remember the pain, and my refusal to let anyone look at my fingers because in my two and half year old mind squeezing them with my good hand made them feel much better. My aunt still has some residual guilt over it too.

Now share yours while I go watch the season premiere of Scrubs that I have been looking forward to for sooooo loooonnnggg. Ah ZB...it has been too TOO long since you have made me belly laugh out loud.

Stuff I Don't Believe

I don't believe:

That we are going to get tons of snow today.

Greg has left the Wiggles.

More than a couple of my clients will show up for appoinments today.

That I have to leave for work in 15 minutes and my husband gets to stay home all day.

I shoulda been a teacha.

She can not speak so she writes

Day 3 with little to no voice.

I do not feel bad atall.

I do not even have a sore throat.

I DEFINITELY do not have a voice.

Over the weekend it has been annoying,but not terribly problematic. Tomorrow however I must return to work. There it could be a problem.

Y'see I am a therapist and I kinda need my voice to do my work.

Here's hoping for the best!

Enuff 'bout 'dat.

We DID NOT have 46 people here for Thanksgiving thankyoujesusmaryandjospeh.

We DID have more than thirty. A good time was had by all and thank the abovementioned bible dwellers for good weather so the kids could run and play outside til it got too dark.

Now we must prepare for our next event....#1's birthday party. 'Twill be a tame event just family and a few friends of the family. It is 6 days until her birthday. We get the count down first thing every morning. She has also prepared a list of things she would like to do that day. Apples don't fall too far from the tree as they say.

In other news:

Movie you shouldn't see: Deck the Halls. Truthfully I did not want to see it, but it was one of those family in town pressure things. I am still upset that I spent 8.25 for that waste of film. I am a bit grumpy because I can not remember the last time I went to the movies to see a film that I was interested in seeing. It may have very well been Capote. So I have stated clearly to Beloved that the next time I set foot in a movie theater it will be to see something I am interested in. So there.

Speaking of Beloved. Go to his blog. He has posted after a VEEERRRRYYY long absence. In my opinion it was worth the wait. I laughed. Or rather I shook and odd squeaking noises erupted from my throat.

Alrighty then. I am gonna go. Perhaps adequate sleep will help heal my vocal issues.

TA!

William wants a doll!

I VOWED that I was going to go to bed on time tonight if not early.

So here it is 11:41 and I ain't even taken out the contacts yet.

I have developed a very bad habit of going to bed really late recently, and sooner or later it is really going to knock me on my ass I am sure.

Until then...

Had our little mini-vacation this weekend. It got off to a bit of a rocky beginning but we had a good time despite the less than stellar start.

Long story made short:

#2's Dr. appointment took far longer than we expected and we were not fully released from restricitons. We hit the road as soon as the appointment ended and decided to stop for gas outside Lawrence. Filled her up..turned the key. No go. Tried in vain a few more times and spotted a tow truck behind us. Tow truck guy offered to give a jump, it was successful but we decided we had better go back home and switch cars. No other major mishaps after that thankfully, we got there later than planned but all was well.

We watched Free to be You and Me tonight with the kiddies. I used to love it when we got to watch it every year in grade school. It stands the test of time..the girls loved it. I think the soundtrack will be my next itunes purchase. I did have some funny grownup thoughts about some parts. Especially the scene near the end where Marlo Thomas and all of her "friends" were sitting around a fire with guitars singing a song. I imagined what really went on with Marlo and her friends.

It had nothing to do with guitars and singing.

So I can not get enthusiastic about the upcoming Thanksgiving Holliday. Let me clarify I am enthusiastic about the 5 days off, I am NOT enthusiastic about the actual day, dinner, and upcoming preparations. The festivities are at my house again this year and at last count if everyone shows up who has said that they intend to come we should have about 46 people at the house.

That number could have something to do with my lack of enthusiasm.

I am worried that there won't be enough chairs.

My beloved suggested that we pretend we are at Sonic and just deliver food to people and let them eat in their cars.

My mother did not find that idea amusing.

I thought it was funny as hell.

Thought I prolly oughta check in

Hi!

It's me!

Been awhile hasn't it?

So what's new?

With me?

Not much..things have been busy. Beloved's high school musical performed last weekend so I have been busy being a single mother for the past two weeks. The show was a fantastic success and we couldn't be more proud of him and his students. We are glad to have him back at home more. The girls have been busy catching up on rowdy playing with Dadoo, although #2 can't have the full effect yet as she is not totally released for full contact activity yet. I have to say if you are going to break your arm do it at age 5 because healing is quick. She has been out of the splint for almost three weeks now, and pretty much gave up the sling altogether last week. Our (hopefully) final orthopedic appointment is scheduled for Friday. As soon as we get the good word from the Doc we are off to Great Wolf Lodge for the weekend. We are so darn excited about it you would think we were headed to Europe or something. It has been a long while since this family has had anything that resembles a vacation, and we need to celebrate the healing of #2's first major injury. My tiny ones are so excited about the room we are staying in. They are thrilled about the fact that their sleeping area has it's own TV. I am sure this will prompt much begging for their own TVs, but we WILL stand firm on our no TV in the bedroom policy. We ain't got one and they ain't gonna get one. #1 and #2 have already determined that grownups can only come in to their den if they know the secret password which of course has already been decided upon. We have also deterimined that bedtimes will be extended for this weekend to 10:00, a concession we may very well regret by Sunday if I know my children at all. I am sure we will have a lovely time and if all goes really well Mama will come home with some new fancy shoes because someone has said he will take the children to a humongous arcade while I browse the shoe store. What a man I have.

In other random thoughts....Tom and Katie getting hitched...don't really care. We still have two years before the presidential election and I am already tired of hearing about it as I need to recover from mid-terms....there is an intriguing headline on the left side of my screen that I am feeling compelled to check out..something about a wax wedding of Brad and Angelina...and NOW I am creating in my head my own special version of a Billy Idol tune....when is it a nice day for a wax wedding I want to know!

For once it is fun to be a Democrat in Kansas

Well I think I have O-ficially burned myself out on election results.

Good news here:

We are saying buh-BYE to Phill Kline.

Hooray!

Looks like the same will be said for Mr. Ryan as well.


Hee! HEE!

Kirstie Alley Dons Bikini....

Yeah, once again this post title comes to you from the first thing I saw on my sidebar.

I won't lie and say that I didn't check out the article.

I did.

Really was not worth the time it took.

SO..

Tomorrow is election day!

Please get out and take care of your civic duty.

There is actually a tiny bit of hope here in Kansas that we will see some conservative losses. I am by no means holding my breath...but this is the most hope we lone liberals out here have had well...I think just about since I was old enough to vote.

So I likely will turn on the ol' boob toob tomorrow evening to watch the results.

I will be watching the results in the comfort of my freshly cleaned house courtosey of some people I lovingly refer to as the cleaning fairies.

Yes dear readers I have bitten the bullet (it was sweet and rich my friends like a bar of Ghiradelli Dark Chocoloate) and hired a cleaning service to come and spread their magic over our abode once a month.

Y'see having a house that is not clean causes me UNDUE stress. I blame my mother who never allowed our house to be dirty when I was growing. Now my standards are no where near hers (as I am sure she would be glad to tell you) but I gots to have it clean 'round here or mama gets cranky. Since I often forgo cleaning so as to actually try and spend quality time with the kiddos or just to get other things done. Hence Mama was getting cranky a lot.

My house is not small, and it takes Beloved, the kids, and I a couple o'days to get it cleaned IF we have kept things straightened up. If we have to straighten it'll take a week.

Speaking of...we have lived in this house about 4 years and man have we acquired some CRAP. Massive loads of it that must go soon. I dunno how we did it. We moved here from a MUCH MUCH tinier house, our belongings no where near filled out this place. That ain't so now. We need a garage sale and big ass trip to the dump soon.

So now the fairies come and do the tough work once a month and we do maintenance in between. Mama is less cranky now. Although it has not afforded me the massive amounts of extra time that were so sweetly present in my fantasies about the cleaning fairies. Oh well....I ain't complaining mind you...merely........noticing.

Now I must end my blogging. I have two more rooms to make cleaning fairy ready (it is hard for the fairies to work their magic when all surfaces and floors are covered with stuff), 20 minutes of exercise time to get to yet tonight and YIKES! It's already 9:30. Crap.

Don't forget to vote!!

A very interesting combination

Perhaps you have already seen or heard this, but JUST in case you haven't..

Check this out!

File Under Things We Already Knew

This bit of information hasn't been known for years?

Really Doogie.

Korea and the Daisies

Well my readership continues to expand to.....the Republic of Korea.

Via a link from someone in Indiana apparently.

Not sure how that came about.

In other news...

We held our first Daisy Scout meeting tonight and there was a whopping three girls there. Which was fine really, seeing as how much of this seems to have had to come together very quickly and with little notice.

I don't think it will go down as the greatest meeting in the history of Girl Scouts, but #2 reported that she had a good time.

By the way...according to #1......... I think of everything.

Pretty high praise for an overbooked and stressed out working mama.