the girl who is sharing *THE* picture

So what is so special about this picture? I can hear you asking yourself this very question. Yeah, it's a cute billboard, but really...it's just a billboard. Well, the answer is really not so much in the picture but the story behind it.
You see, right before the Tampa trip, I got a new camera. A really cool 8 megapixel Kodak in cosmic blue. It's really, really, really, outstandingly awesome. The entire drive to Tampa I was taking random pictures just for the pure joy of using my new camera. (see previous post) Well, Island Jen's love of Starbucks is well documented and when we passed this sign she wanted a picture. Unfortunately, the camera was put away at that point and I wasn't able to get a shot before we had passed it.

I'm not sure if it was Starbucks obsession or wanting to be part of the fun of random pictures, but Jen made a U TURN, drove past the sign in the opposite direction and then u-ied again. Yes she did. Then she found a handy storefront with a parking lot almost underneath the sign and stopped, so I could get out and take my time getting a good shot.
The girl is just plain obsessed with Starbucks! lol! So anyway, that is the story behind *the* picture.

Happy now?

the girl who has random pictures

Random pictures of a road trip with Island Jen. She was seriously laughing at me, esp when I took the picture of the puppy! That guy probably thought I was flirting. I was--with his dog!

(Jen, *THE* picture deserves its own post! Don't worry, its coming!)

the girl who is feeling cute

It's this pretty spring dress, courtesy of Island Jen. She was generous enough to "lend" me her maternity clothes. I am under the impression getting them back is more important to her husband than to her, but she likes to let him think they're going to have another kid. lol! So, since I was feeling all cutesy and awash with preggo feel good hormones, I thought I'd try out some settings on my new camera. I also need to figure out how to not make myself look so pink. Unfortunately, that's probably my mother's complexion peeking through and not a setting malfunction! I hope I end up with her tendency not to wrinkle, that will make the ruddiness worth it when I'm 60 and look as good as she does.

Anyway, I TRIED to take a self-portrait belly shot. This is 17 and 1/2 weeks worth of baby here. I can still get away with,"Is she pregnant or just fat?" if I'm careful with what I wear, but it's going to be a little bit too obvious before too long.

And for everyone I've been promising: meet Parker, the newest addition to our family. He's growing on me (how can he not? Look at that FACE!) despite my efforts to resist his puppy charm. Little guy makes an awesome heating pad too.

Went on a fun road trip with Island Jen yesterday. Will post that later. Just thought I'd try and parcel things out in dribs and drabs to possibly encourage myself to post more. I will say this, the next post will be quite picture intensive!

the girl who loves Photoshop

Look at this! The cutie picture of my little guy fixed with the modern wonder that is PhotoShop! I will link a proper thank you to the wonderful Pea who helped me out once 2Peas is actually up and running again!

And in other news....the prodigal son returns! Yes, after two weeks Maceo has returned. And let me tell you, that old cliche, "Don't know what you got 'til its gone" (Thank you Cinderella) is very true! I didn't realize how much love and affection I had for my furry son until he disappeared. Exactly two weeks after he disappeared, he shows up at the back door yowling his head off. We don't know where he's been, but he wasn't starving when he got back (although he had lost some weight), he was filthy dirty, but not alot of brambles and such stuck in his fur, he seems fine, really. We took him to the vet on Sat just to be sure and he got a clean bill of health. So all is well. He has been spoiled ever since!

the girl who is such a mom

Who else but a mom would be so proud of her son's potty accomplishments? lol! Really, I just wanted to share!

So--for those who want to know--Matthew's normal potty routine is to first get completely naked (I'm telling you, this kid loves being nude) and then place his feet firmly on either side of the seat and squat down, hovering his little tushie over the hole in the seat. He then will make some random faces and sound effects (without actually doing anything at all--this is purely for effect), drop a smidgeon of toilet paper in the bowl and flush, proclaiming, "I'm doooooooooooone!!!"

And then ten minutes later I'll be changing a diaper.

And as a note, let me assure you, this will repeat itself even if I make him stay on the potty until I"m forced away by some scream from the other room. So at a newly minted three years old we're still trying to figure out this whole potty thing.

Tonight he started to make exaggerated faces and sound effects and I asked him if he was going stinky. He said yes so I encouraged him to go stinky in the potty, not in his pamper. (Yes, tmi, but this is proud mama talking--wait for it)

Moments later I hear a jubilantly triumphant cry..."Mama! IT'S WORKING!!!!!"

lol, that's the punchline, you can stop reading now. Yep, he finally achieved full potty status! And he continued to announce (and flush) after each little pellet. (Ok, so that's really tmi.)

Proud Mama moment over.

And if you are wondering about his face in the picture (what a cute expression!) this is what happens when you catch someone in the act. Any new mothers out there, let me just give you a piece of advice: when you catch your toddler in the middle of a potentially dangerous act--say climbing from the step stool into the open freezer to use it as a stepping stone to the stuff that is out of reach on top of the refrigerator--DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT yell at them from across the room! This will have the effect of startling them into losing their grip and (if they are anything like my son) hitting everything possible with their face on the way down before landing with a thud on their--yes, you guessed it--face. If you find yourself in this situation, sneak up on your child and deftly remove them from their precarious perch. THEN feel free to admonish them as much as you'd like.

I promise you, it actually looks worse in person.

And, might I mention, he started a new daycare on Monday and did this on Saturday. I was afraid that they would think I beat my child, but when they asked me on Day 2 if he had any balance problems, I knew they understood. To borrow a phrase from the Princess, he trips over dust molecules. He then cries for about a minute, gets up and is fine. I assured him, he has been given a clean bill of health (from a pediatric neurologist no less) and is merely clumsey and has no fear. A dangerous combination.

He inherited his grace from his mother, who inherited it from her mother. Hopefully he'll discover grace when he starts playing football. (He's the one I've chosen to be the pro-footballer.)

the girl who is missing

her furbaby. He went missing sometime on Tuesday and it took me until yesterday to realize it. I feel terrible and I miss him! I hope someone returns him, I put up fliers, hopefully someone will see it and call. In the meantime, I'll just hope it turns out ok.

the girl who is having a...

c'mon! You really didn't think I'd know already? Nope, sorry. At least two more months until we get to find out what this little bean is. But, for the time being, let's just assume that its a boy, since everyone else has been a boy. Anyway, so here is Eli's first picture:

All is well and I my ultrasound matches the Dr's prediction of Estimated Due Date to the day, so pencil in August 29th!

the girl who swears (again) to organize

I'm thinking that organization is not my thing. Some friends I have might laugh at that since they consider me to be a touch anal retentive, but when it comes to my house, it's a mess. I can't keep any system in place. Mainly because nobody seems to adhere to my system once I put one in place. DH has the same complaint. Of course, his organization system is to get rid of everything so there's nothing TO organize. Great plan, but he shouldn't have married a pack rat.

So I've made a list of things to buy to help me get this place under control. I'm considering a storage unit. Not that that would help the pack rat issue, but some things NEED to be saved and closet space is at a premium in this tiny place. So why not put the stuff like the Christmas decorations and clothes that are saved for hand-me downs and such away somewhere off site and clear up that space for the stuff I need here?

Of course, I think I just like buying organization stuff! That, too is my pack rat nature!

the girl who is missing Jen

This is for you, girlie!

the girl who is down

Hmmm...last post January 26th? And that one was a cheat anyway. I suck at this, lol!

So yeah, I'm down. Lots of uncertantity at work. I don't like uncertainty. I like things spelled out. These are your goals. These are your tasks. This is what we expect of you. None of this, "Just wait..." I suck at waiting. So it has been a little bit stressful.

Oh yeah, and Jen isn't there to make it any better! She moved. I'm sad. It sucks. Girl, don't think you are getting out of throwing me a baby shower THAT easy! You still owe me that! (lol, like you owe me anything, I owe you for being so cool!)

But, on the up side, we did have a fabulous final day out: me, Island Jen and Princess Jen. First, we went to First Watch and had a yummy breakfast/brunch/lunch. It was breakfast food, but it was closer to lunch time. The first time we all met to scrap together we went out to eat there. Memories! The girls totally got on my case because I ordered TWO breakfasts, but I was VERY hungry and the food was really good! Things I'll always remember: How much Island Jen talks with her hands, how much Princess Jen enjoys making Elsie faces, and "a-salt and battery" of the cantelope! Laughing this hard when you are pregnant is not recommended unless you have clean pants somewhere nearby!
And lets not forget the obligatory run to Starbucks! We all nearly mugged this girl for her coat from Anthropologie. Yeah, it rocked that hard. Princess Jen was disappointed there were no black and white cookies, but managed to suffer through their absence by taking pictures of us on this chaise in the corner. I don't remember what had Island Jen laughing this hard, but I promise you, it was HILARIOUS!

Next we went across the street to Studio 6. It's a fun little paint your own pottery place. Fun! Island Jen broke out the Heid Swapp mask, Princess Jen got funky (and glittery!) and I...well I made a mess. I'm better off when I plan things but I just tried to do too many things with this teeny little creamer jug, lol. The Jens were super nice telling me that it'll look great when its fired, but its sorta a mess now. Oh well, it was time well spent. And talk about time! We spent at least three hours there and never realized it! The birthday party starting, going on, finishing, leaving and the next one coming in to set up and start welcoming guests may have been a clue now that I think about it. I'll post our lovely creations sometime next week.

So the day wasn't over yet! At least it wasn't supposed to be. We headed to my van to go to our next destination, only to find that I had a flat tire! Closer inspection revealed a rather sizeable slit in my sidewall. And this is in a NICE (aka...$) part of town. Nice. But, no fear! I know how to change a tire! Yup! I know nothing about oil changing, tire pressure, air filters or any general maintenance at all. (that is what Daddies and Husbands are for!) But I *DO* know how to change a tire.

At least I can change a tire who's lugnuts weren't orignally fastened by a Formula One Racing pit crew. Damn! Those things were tight! Come on, sing it with me! "Loosen up my lugnuts baby" If you look amongst the three of our cameras, you'll get pictures of each us trying to loosen those damn nuts! And the English guy who helped us out when we couldn't manage it on our own. And the Latin (?) guy who helped us out again when the spare that the English guy put on was flat and we had to take it off again. I should have taken pictures of Larry putting on the newly bought tire the next day when I returned having given up and been brought home by Island Jen. Then I'd have the complete set!

So Island Jen brought me home and I kept telling her I was too embarassed to let her into the hellhole that is my home. But she wanted to meet my kiddos, so in we go. Matthew comes running up, "Mommy, Mommy!" Yeah, his face was COVERED in something. Turns out while Daddy was watching the boys while I was out and about (ie: sitting at the computer playing World of Warcraft) Ian the Artist and Matthew the Human Tornado got into my craft cabinet and proceeded to paint their bedroom door, Ian's bed, the wall and themseves. Ian only got it on his fingers and toes. I think he was going for nailpolish. Matthew had it all over his face. Luckily it had dried because he attacked Jen with demands to be picked up and hugged. She melted. (They always do.) She told me later that she "understood" now. Understood why that kid is trouble, because he does this really destructive stuff, but then charms his way out of it because he is so gosh-darned cute! I am so in trouble when he turns into a teen! No way am I EVER letting him drive my car!

Anyway, Dr's appt tomorrow to find out what's up with the little bean in my belly. I am going to ask about a more permanent solution to this "don't sneeze around me, I'm THAT fertile!" problem I have. I'll also get an EDD, so I'll share that. Oh and if anyone has some maternity clothes you don't need anymore, could you please send them my way? I'm already in need, lol!

(Oh, and sign up for Dream Street's newsletter! I'm guest designer this month!)

the girl who lol

hee hee...stay with it...

the girl who needs a place to hide a body...

Conversation with DH tonight, talking about his WoW character. It's his first female toon and he let me build her.
DH: "My Blood Elf is hot!"
ME: "Of course she's hot, I built her!"
DH: "She's hot because she looks like you."

awwwwww....

ME: "I wish I looked like that!"
DH: "Well, you're pregnant. You'll look like that again. One day. With a little work."

At this point something mysteriously hit him.

the girl who is nesting

Sick kiddos and DVD's. My house is full. Currently have on sick kid tucked in my bed watching "Cars", another sick kid playing his DS and one sick kid playing in the tub. And me? Well, I'm sick too, but from an entirely different cause. (blech!)

Rented three movies this weekend and can't really recommend 2 of them. You, Me & Dupree...meh. Ok, but not stellar. Definitely glad I didn't pay money to see it in the theatre. I think the funniest part was the "spoof trailer"

Next was Clerks II. The first was definitely better. The first was EXCELLENT! The second was terrible. An insult to the first.

The last movie I rented was Monster House. I've got high hopes. Please don't let it disappoint!

The big new for me today is that Tara from Dream Street called me today to say she was sending me ONE OF EVERYTHING from the new line! I am so lucky! So, since I only have to do 2 layouts and one project, I am sure I will have plenty leftover. So keep an eye out for a RAK!

the girl who went a scrappin

My mojo came and kidnapped me and off we went into a wonderful land filled with pretty paper, wavy journaling and funky good times. It started with just doing my Al E. Challenge slash Effer Dare (they dovetailed nicely), then I moved on to doing one of the kiddos, then a picture I've had hanging up for awhile suddenly matched itself with some pp in my stash, then I decided to squeeze one more in just to keep the mojo happy. When I started to pack it in, I realized I had done everyone in the family except one kid, so I decided to throw one last quick one together. Started packing it in again and the photo that inspired me before? Well it was covering another photo of my kitty and that clicked with some paper in my stash too and then my rationale kicked in and said "You can't leave Maceo out of things" so that one came together quickly too...15 minutes I think. Of course, while I was finishing the clean up job I kept sneaking over to add things to that last layout, lol.

Anyway, as Jen would put it, you can see the results of a creative mess here. I love scrappy jags! (Of course, I was up until 4:30 with the lo's and then up another 45 min or so scanning them so I had to deal with scrapover the next day.)

What did you get done this weekend?

the girl who is starting a new year

So far this year I have done three loads of laundry (but haven't folded them or put them away)

I have cleaned the kitchen.

I have made New Year's Day breakfast (ok, brunch...) scrambled eggs, cinnamon rolls and bacon.

I have cleaned the kitchen again.

I have not had a cigarette.

I have watched Disney's High School Musical. Yes, I tivoed it. I wanted to see what it was all about. It was Grease, the sanitized version. Really. Except the girl didn't go all slutty in the end to get her guy, this is the year 2007 after all. No, the two of them worked together to win their friends over so nobody had to change who they were.

Grease was better.

I have really wanted a cigarette.

I hace prepared a fabulous New Year's day dinner that no one but myself appreciated: roast beef with au jus, scalloped potatoes (homemade, not the box kind), roasted carrots, and Yorkshire Pudding. For dessert, homemade apple pie.

Now I need to go clean the kitchen again.


And I need to finish a project that I started last night that I'm probably going to use as my Provo Craft entry.

And all I want to do is go back to sleep.

This year seems to be exactly the same as last. And I'll probably bitch about the same things on New Year's Day 2008.

The difference right now is that I'm getting my soon to be fat ass up off this chair and go finish this stuff, rather than just complain.

Really.

the girl who is hinting

the girl who's house is TRASHED!

What is it about Christmas that just generates more work? for me! Who bought all the presents? Who braved Wal Mart on Christmas Eve to get something for the unexpected guests so they'd have a present to unwrap? Who cleaned the house prior to guests' arrival? Who wrapped all of the presents? Who refereed the Christmas chaos? Who made a big ass breakfast to follow? Who got stuck with cleaning it up? And who is stuck with cleaning up the rest of the house today? I'll tell you this...it wasn't Santa Claus!



Yeah, I know...bitch, bitch, bitch. Hey, I'm entitled!

Anyway, here is a little photo essay of making Christmas cookies for Santa. Evidentally, to make the proper cookie for Santa, one must do a LOT of tasting. My Zack quote to go with these pictures is: (after hearing Mommy admonish Matthew for the umpteemth time NOT to stick his fingers in the dough, Zack says) "Yeah! 'Cuz you'll get your DNA in the cookies and then Santa will eat your DNA!!! Right Mommy?" Um, yeah...right. lol!

Enjoy! I hope everyone else had a great holiday...in spite of my whining, I did!

the girl who is getting ready for Santa

presents bought?

well, um, mostly

house clean?

well...sheesh...not really

presents wrapped?

lol! that's funny!

cookies for Santa baked?

I bought dough in a roll, does that count?

um, yeah...I'm totally ready!

I even need to take a better pic of my tree! it kept coming out blurry...I suck, lol!

For fun...track Santa here and play some cool holiday games here (go to the office max tab on the bottom right...they are so much fun!)

And just to enable my scrappy buddies, beautiful stuff here to drool over!

Have a very Merry!

The girl who is looking back

So...back on January 11, I blogged about a few resolutions. Lately Life has been going pretty good and its all happened towards the end of the year. I've been thinking about those resolutions and thought I'd re-read that post and see where I am now.

Resolution #1: when certain circumstances have been resolved, I am looking for a new job. If I have to work, let it be a nine to fiver, Mon-Fri.

Well, thanks to the fabulous Jen, I have accomplished that. True, I did it with two weeks left in the year...but I did it! And,might I say, after a mere two days on the job I can already tell I am just going to love it. Everyone I've met has been so welcoming, my new boss is incredibly understanding and funny (even if she does wear a tiara and expect to be addressed as "Her Royal Highness") and I have such confidence in what I'm doing. Ok, so I've learned maybe five things in two days, still...it's just nice to be doing something where I feel like I'm useful, not merely a babysitter. Maybe that's why I started hating my old job so much...it wasn't difficult, anyone with a week's worth of training could do it. I'm going to feel useful at my new job, like my skills mean something. And that means alot.

Plus the pay is TONS better and the schedule (once we figure out the babysitting) will be much better too!

Oh, and those "certain circumstances" those were my husband and his employment. I'm happy to report that THAT has been resolved as well, to the very much better!

Resolution #2: I will try to scrap, and I will try to catch up, but I will not feel guilt if I cannot attain my goals.
I'm really not sure if I've "kept" this resolution or not. I've scrapped, but not regularly and lately for calls and contests. But...I've been good with that. So I just finished scrapping Halloween from 2005? What's wrong with that? I've done more recent stuff to. I've been scraping what I've "felt" like scrapping, not chronological. I'm resigned to never "catching up" and I'm totally fine with that! I did just complete 10 layouts over the weekend plus an altered box and 2 altered calendars. (check out here...praise me,love me!) And I did most of it for a call. But you know what? That call motivated me to scrap. It had a deadline and I put it off and finally scrapped in a mad, manic three day stretch. It was wonderful. You know what? Yesterday I did a little mini-album in an altered box for DH's b'day. In TWO HOURS! It was a mad rush, and there are a few things I'm going to "fix" now that I've already given it to him, but it was AWESOME to just let go and be spontaneous. I'll share a secret that will shock and amaze my scrapping buddies...I didn't pre-plan it or sketch it a bit! And it turned out rockin! So much so, I might use it as my altered item for Provo Craft. I'll post pics after I "improve" it.

Resolution #3: get published

At the beginning of last year I had already had one layout requested. In September, I finally got to see it in print. Wow! Since then, I've made it to the finals (along with the Jens) in the Effer's Last Scrapper Standing and had 4 layouts requested for pub as well as receiving an assignment for a layout from a publisher. I'm not bragging or gloating, I'm just ecstatic that it's happened and want to share. I may never get anything else pubbed again, and I'll be happy!

Resolution #4: try and find ways to get the happiness back.

I think that resolution 1 & 2 really are ways to accomplish #4. And I am happier now. I will be happier a month from now when we've had time to kick out some debt, and even happier six months from now when I look back at life a year prior. Things are looking up and I'm looking forward to more happiness.

And to leave you with a happy smile on your face...this ornament makes me smile.

the girl who knows

My response to an older Effer Dare, an entry into the Pub Calls Blog for the Dream Street album, a tribute to both Kristina Contes and Island Jen, and one of my favoritest layouts ever!

the girl who is FREE

Yep. Last day at the good ol' HRH. As much as I grew to loathe the place, I will be missing alot of the people there. I'd still refer people to work there and I'd still visit if I had the moolah (and didn't mind paying $6 for a liter bottle of water). It just didn't work for me, personally.

But, damn! Am I glad to be out of there!

I get to be unemployed for FOUR WHOLE DAYS! Woot!

the girl who is sharing a public service announcement

This is for the Jens and their Star Wars obsessed hubbies.

Just doing my part to educate the public!

the girl who is determined to have a date night

So, since I am leaving my job I turned in all my "star cards" (hey, nice job! cards) and got dinner for two at the restaurant in the hotel. DH and I were all set to go out on a "date" yesterday and we just couldn't find a babysitter!

So I changed the reservation to tonight and lo and behold, no sitter again.

Well, I needed to use this up before my exit so I asked hubby about taking the kids with us.

***insert evil look of death here***

So, no go on that but I really wanted to use this up! So I went and got take out. Hubby had the kids fed, bathed and in bed by the time I got home. We ate our dinner and then...well, then he went to his computer to play WoW and I went to go try out my new sewing machine courtesy of Santa Mom.

Sigh! The romance never stops in this house!

lol! Really, I'm fine with it. We're spending time together just doing our own thing. So its cool. At the risk of TMI, we sort of took care of the romantic end of things already today.

Now I'm off to practice sewing hearts and junk on paper.

the girl who is counting down...

A week from today will be the last day at my current job. I've been letting people know slowly, but surely and it's kind of nice to hear the sincere, "We'll miss you!'s" A couple of people have even pulled me aside to share their "escape plans."

And still work insists on trying to take advantage of me. I give a final date and they ask "as a favor" could I extend that date?

Really!

I'm thinking not so much. No incentive you know. Plus all the "favors" I've done for little or no thanks and the fact that my "favors" became taken for granted...well, these are just a couple of the reasons I was looking for other employment.

5 more shifts and I am outta there and off to alter staplers and roladexes and tape dispensers!

the girl who is in awe

I could never be so coordinated! My Dad originally sent this to me with the heading, "This guy can sure handle his balls!" I saved it and watch it every now and then, and now I'm sharing with you!

Of course, I had to go look it up on YouTube to link it here and discovered something...high school is playing out on the internet. (Big surprise, huh?)

Here is the back story. Chris Bliss is a guy who became famous for his juggling in the '70's. So much so, that he opened for musical groups on their tours, including the Jackson 5. This particular routine has always been popular--so much so that it is his signature piece. Imagine, 22 years of doing the same routine over and over. Yet he still makes it look impressive.

Enter Jason Garfield. He is a juggler for the 21st century and Chris Bliss is nothing but a "hack" to him. I'm sure that if I were a professional or serious amateur juggler I would know his name, but he's just a big, beefy, balding guy with a chip on his shoulder to me. Oh yeah, and he juggles. And he's impressive too, however...he cannot resist "dissing" Chris Bliss. (Say that 5 times fast)

From Jason:

It's fine if people like watching chris bliss's routine They should just understand that they are not seeing great juggling. They are seeing a performance that they enjoy for other reasons. Nobody should come away from his video thinking that they have seen a great juggler. His routine isn't about demonstrating how good of a juggler he is, yet people think that he is because they don't know any better. If you understand that his juggling skill is very basic, and that you like his performance because of any other reason, then we agree. Although his choreography is also not the best of its kind and with three balls it's very easy to choreograph a routine with tricks as easy as the ones he's doing in his video. And he lacks grace, and it goes on too long in my opinion. But if you like it for any other reason, maybe you liked the song, then it's perfectly fine for anyone to get enjoyment out of it as long as they understand why they like it and know that his juggling skill is very very basic and the routine is not technically challenging. If you think he's a good juggler, you are wrong. I taped a 5 ball version because...well because Penn asked me to. It is a parody and nothing more. A lot of jugglers have been getting emails from their friends telling them to watch the chris bliss video, thinking that we'll like it. It is upsetting to a lot of us that our friends would think that we would like chris bliss's routine. We know better. We see it for what it is and are not fooled by the music and the sloppy choreography. So now we direct our friends to this video to set them straight in case any more of them tell us how great he is.

Really? Is that necessary? That would be like me saying that Lisa B. is a hack because she uses stickers on her layout and nobody does that anymore, we make our own embellishments now. (keep in mind, this is just an example using the first scrap celebrity name that popped into my head!) Ok, fine. That may be the case, but Lisa B. helped bring Scrapping into the mainstream and helped popularize it among our generation as a fun past-time, just as Chris Bliss helped popularize juggling and earned a name for that routine. Expectations have changed, horizons have broadened and yet, he still does the same routine. Why? Because it is a good routine that people like. Professional jugglers may not agree, but do you juggle for professional jugglers or do you juggle for your audience? (Keep in mind, Chris Bliss is really a professional comedian now, who just happens to juggle)

So in a roundabout way, I'm sort of sharing a lesson. Do what you love for you and for who your intended audience is. Somewhere, someone out there will think you're amazing.

the girl who knows something

I know how Miss Jen solved her little problem.

And I am EXCITED!!!!

I am sooooooooo looking forward to work tomorrow when I get to give my notice.

I just gotta say....Thanks Miss Jen for thinking of me and having confidence that I would be the right person for the job. Not only do I get to go back to an office environment, at higher pay, 9-5 no weekends and holidays off...but I get to work with one of my best scrapping buddies!

Presents for the boss are going to be so easy!

WOOT!

the girl who is still in love

I say it every year: "I feel like I've known you forever, but we just met yesterday..."

Happy 8th Anniversary to us!

the girl who is twisted

My mother sent me an email with this video today. This is the text that was included with the email, which was a forward of a forward of a forward...

University of Iowa Farm Machine Music

This incredible machine was built as a collaborative effort between the Robert M. Trammell Music Conservatory and the Sharon Wick School of Engineering at the University of Iowa. Amazingly, 97% of the machines components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft, Iowa, yes farm equipment!

It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration, and tuning before filming this video but as you can see it was WELL worth the effort.

It is now on display in the Matthew Gerhard Alumni Hall at the University and is already slated to be donated to the Smithsonian.

So, after watching it again and again and again, I was entranced, but skeptical. Is this thing for real? It looks CG to me. So off I went to Snopes to check it out. And I was right! Further investigation reveals that I was right, it is CG.

So I get to pat myself on the back for being shrewd and observant, but at the same time...still be amazed! I mean, all the detail that is in this piece is completely AMAZING! Just being able to sync everything up sound, music, shadows, light...this is a completely astounding piece of computer art! So, enjoy it...but know what it is.

And while we are on the subject, let me just say, this is a weird quirk of mine. When someone sends me a forwarded email, I usually check it out. Not to truly share in what the sender is trying to share with me...but to prove them wrong. Twisted, yes I know. Snopes is one of my best friends on the web. If it's incredible or unbelievable, it probably is and Snopes has checked it out. Ironically, my mom is usually the one forwarding this stuff to me, but my Dad is the one who introduced me to the Snopes site. I find that funny.

Anyway, to continue with my twisted personality...I usually email a link from Snopes to the person who originally sent me the email. I guess I like to be able to say "I told you so..." indirectly because it's something that I try very hard not to do in person. Now what does this say about me and my personality?

Yeah, that's right. I'm twisted.

For the record, this isn't a new quirk. In Jr. High during the infamous "note wars" that pre-teen girls are prone to have (You know, the ones that read "you think you are so smart and so pretty, but you're NOT and nobody really likes you!") I would correct the note sender's spelling and grammar and send it back to them.

So I guess twisted goes back a long way!

the girl who is exhausted

4:45 am alarm goes off, drag self to bathroom to get ready for work

5:15 am leave for work, pick up Larry and Judy so Mom can go to dialysis

6:00 am arrive for work, go make coffee, pick up pastries and fruit cups, get store ready for opening

6:30 am open store

6:30 am - 1:00 pm whole lotta nothing, slow day, not much to do, leave early...but with a purpose

1:00 pm Larry comes back to pick me up, kids stayed home from school today...they caught my bug...the one I've had for two weeks. The one I won't go to the Dr. for because I'm afraid of antibiotics getting me pregnant again (explanation for Matthew)

1:48 pm arrive home, check mail on the way in--new CK and MM. Sweet! Change into something that is not a uniform and shoes that are not non-skid, steel toed...but look great and feel terrible after an hour

1:55 pm go to school for IEP meeting with speech therapist and school counselor

2:00 pm meeting: Ian's language development refuses to be categorized. He has an extensive vocabulary that he uses when asked to identify pictures....he even can grasp abstract concepts on the high end of his age range. However, he can't seem to use these words to put together sentences and follows no "normal" pattern. Therapist is determined, but frustrated.

2:35 pm leave meeting feeling frustrated too. Have copies of IEP report to give to independent speech therapist I have appointment with tomorrow

2:40 pm arrive home, call pediatrician to see if she can possibly squeeze kids in before closing time. No dice.

2:50 pm load kids into car to take Larsons back to their place, decide to take kids to After hours pediatrics nearby. They don't open until 5 pm soooo...

3:00 pm take kids to Great Clips in Target shopping plaza before Coo Pa is inspired to give them haircuts too. While there, stylist convinces me that she can fix Ian. (Did I mention Ian got a third haircut after Coo Pa's and Daddy's? Yeah, he took scissors to the remains of his hair--or someone helped him--and gave himself little leopard spots in the back. No pictures of that one. I'm DONE on the subject of haircuts) Zachary gets his Ashton Kutcher do trimmed, Matthew gets his surfer cut cleared from his eyes, and Ian...Ian is now a jarhead. Perhaps I will get a picture of that one.

4:00 pm didn't waste enough time, so off to Target (we happen to be next door, why not?) Stop by $1 spot and resist. urge. to. clean. place. out.

4:05-4:45pm wander Target aimlessly and somehow walk out $45 poorer.

4:45 pm attempt to leave Target...the Starbucks by the door lures me in for a Gingerbread latte. How did I spend another $21.00? Oh yeah. Advent calendar.

5:06 pm arrive at After Hours Peds after breaking Target spell

5:10 pm fill out three separate forms for three boys with one set of symptoms, one insurance carrier and one address, phone number and guardian info.

6:00 pm get called into exam area, Zack 51 lbs, Ian 35 lbs, Matthew 32 lbs Why is there only a 3lb difference between my 4 yo and my 3 yo? Is one too heavy or is the other too skinny? Should I find something real to worry about?

6:20 pm Dr. comes in. He is not one we have seen before. He probably shouldn't be working with kids. Diagnosis? Upper respiratory infection and Reactive Airway something...whatever, it sounds scary for kids who just seemed to have colds. Nebulizer treatments all around. Luckily, I still have a nebulizer from Ian's previous asthma therapy.


6:35 pm Doc leaves and we wait for prescriptions, excuse notes, etc.

6:46 pm leave AHP office and drive to...Target. Hey! It's close and their pharmacy is open until 9pm. Plus, I like the color coding and the cool red upside down bottles.

7:00 pm drop off prescriptions and go in search of something quick to eat in the Aisles of Target. Get distracted by their AWESOME soda selection, but disappointed they don't have Grapefruit Izze, just Black Currant and Pomegranate.

7:25 pm go back for prescriptions...they aren't ready. Decide at that point it would be a good idea to refill migraine medication. It is ready before kids' stuff is. I am starting to lose it but trying to avoid yelling at the little monsters who were too sick for school but well enough to rampage the aisles of Target when Mommy is running on little sleep, no food, lots of coffee and tight (but sexy) high heeled boots.

7:45 pm finally receive kids' medication. IT IS IN PREPACKAGED, SEALED BOXES!!! Why did it take 45 f*^&ng minutes to put this stuff into a bag?

8:08 pm arrive home again to 15 messages from hubby wondering where the hell I am.

8:15 pm kids are eating Spaghettios. Yes. I know. But THEY WANTED IT and it only took 45 seconds a pop to make them (and Mommy) happy. I am loading the dishwasher with last night's dishes.

8:30 pm the kids are done eating. The two youngest go off to the bath, the eldest sits down for his nebulizer treatment. This cycle repeats until all kids have had their turn. Realize that they will need to repeat this before and after school as well as the evening. Also realize that I will be leaving this up to Daddy and Coo Pa.

8:45 pm call out to work

9:16 pm Pajamas, lovies and tuck ins

9:28 pm call Mommy to gripe about bad day. Realize I am still wearing tight (but sexy) high heeled boots. Decide to leave them on because I know I will just be going out for Micky Dee's when DH gets home.

9:31 pm tuck kids in again after the last-ditch-attempt-to-stall potty run.

10:00 pm Hubby comes home starving because 1.) he didn't eat before work and 2.) I forgot to give him lunch money so he didn't eat AT work either. I am unsympathetic as I have yet to eat anything other than a single glazed Krispy Kreme sometime around 6:15 am.

10:05 pm leave for Micky Dee's and to fill dh's gas tank

10:19 pm arrive home with food, eat and watch dvr'd Criminal Intent. Very Good episode!

11:15 pm finally crack open CK. I debated between which to open first. Do I go for what I know will make me happy, or do I go for what I want to make me happy since the last issue sucked so hard core? I go with the known. I'll leave the unkown for when I'm bored.

12:35 am Suffer a hyperventilating episode. could. not. catch. my. breath. It freaked me out! (and totally ruined the mood of what was making me breathe heavy in the first place)

1:30 am quieting guilty voice in my head, I take a nebulizer treatment myself. Just in case. After all, the kiddos have 180 doses A PIECE, they can spare one for Mom.

It is now 2:20 am and either the Albuterol has made me hyper, or I am running on some weird sleep deprived high. I have just realized I have been up for nearly 22 hours. I'm off to have a smoke, look through my CK some more and try to go to sleep!

the girl who is just wrong

is it really wrong to think he would make a beautiful little girl?

shh...don't tell hubby I said that!

the girl who is thinking

Perhaps it's the spirit of Thanksgiving, but as I was reading the paper today, I was struck by how good I have it. Civil war is about to break out in Iraq, a 63 year old GRANDMOTHER blows herself up in Pakistan and her family is "proud." A guy takes two women hostage in Chicago on Thanksgiving--it ended badly. The usual "human face on the problem" stories about hunger, loss, abuse.

I have it pretty darn good.

I have three beautiful, smart children.

I have a husband who loves me (even if he doesn't clean house without a cattle prod)

I have a hobby that I love that allows me a creative outlet as well as a little bit of recognition.

I have friends who support and encourage and yes, gossip (we all need that!) with me.

I have a family in Florida that isn't by blood, but treats me as if I am.

I have a family in Texas that I miss so much, but who loves and supports me as if I was still under the same roof.

I have a job--it may not be the best, I may not be happy, but I am employed. And, I'm pretty confident I can get something better when I really pit my mind to it.

I have a place to live that is pretty nice (regardless of what my kids have done with it) and a pretty good landlord besides.

I have toys. These aren't "necessities" but I have them and they make me happy. A nice stash of sb'ing supplies, a dvr to recors shows so dh and I can watch them together, and a puter to surf the net.

I am thankful for all of these things and more. When I think about what I DON'T have, I am thankful too.

I don't have a terminal disease. I don't have an abusive relationship. I don't have an addiction (unless you count sb supplies) I don't have frostbite from sleeping on the streets. I don't have war in my front yard. I don't have danger in my life.

I am truly thankful for what I don't have.

And I pass that little nugget of philosophy on to you.

the girl who is planning

So apparently I have just agreed to host Thanksgiving dinner. I was planning on a small dinner for just us, but my bro-in-law and his girlfriend have no plans, so they are coming over. It was going to be simple and small and now with just two guests I feel the need to be more elaborate. I just made my grocery list and it feels enormous! Plus I work that day! But I'm out at 2 (possibly I can get out earlier) and I have Mon and Tues off, so it should be doable.

I hope.

So between now and then I need to go shopping, prep as many dishes as possible in advance and clean the house enough I'm not embarassed to have people over.

I will concede to paper plates and plastic forks though.

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

hee hee! I totally stole this off of Elsie's blog when I was doing my daily stalking. I guess that would be better than, "Beloved wiper of snot noses" I'm tagging the Jens to post their obits too!

the girl who is being quiet

My voice is fading in and out. It goes from husky/sexy to adolescent voice-changing-squeaky from sentence to sentence. DH says it's like nails on a chalkboard to him, so please don't talk.

Hmph!

He doesn't know me that well, does he? Its so damn hard NOT to talk!

lol!

Breaking out the NyQuil and the vaporizor with Vapo Steam.

the girl who mourns the loss

of her baby's beautiful hair! Friday, one of the teachers--with the best of intentions--mentioned to Coo-Pa that Ian was rubbing his eyes alot, it might be time for a trim. This is Ian before that comment. A little long, but beautiful!


So Coo-Pa--also with the best of intentions--decides that trimming bangs should be no big deal and he'll do it as a favor to me. Uh, yeah. This is Ian after Coo-Pa.


Then Aramis comes home, sees the hack job on his boy's hair (and we both loved Ian's hair) and goes ballistic. Next thing I know, he's hauling Ian off into the bathroom and I hear the "bzzz bzzz" of the clippers. This is Ian after Daddy's haircut.


The moral of the story? DON'T TOUCH MY KID'S HAIR!!!! Good intentions or no, just don't do it!

the girl who has decided

I'm no longer happy.

I am quitting my job.

Do you know what it's like to go in to talk to the higher ups about an issue you feel isn't being resolved and then have the issue dismissed and the meeting turned around into "you're on thin ice"

I've never been on thin ice before.

And it isn't even my performance...it's tardies.

And being put on the spot and asked, "what are you going to do and fix this?"

and only being able to answer "try harder to be on time?'

and not wanting to tell them everything that goes on in your life that makes it so damn difficult to get to work early--which is the expectation. And not wanting to say "if you dealt with what I did, you'd just be happy I got here at all!"

because you know they don't want excuses. Because you know that they don't really care. Because you really don't want to tell them anyway. And because you know you have been trying your ass off to get to work early even and it never happens.

And because you know you're at fault anyway and wouldn't accept these excuses from anyone else.

And still..you're so damn angry at them that they dismissed your problem entirely to focus on your faults you feel like just storming out right then and there. In fact, when I presented my problem, not only was it dismissed, I was told "I really thought you were going to talk to me about your attendance, not this."

I have never stormed out of a job.

But I so wanted to say, "You've made your position clear. While you're sitting there and telling me all the ways I'm a good worker. Alll the things I've done to make this place better. All the recognition and acknowledgement I have been craving for the over two years I've worked here and never gotten..you're still telling me that I'm close to losing my position for a non-performance based issue. Therefore, I should leave before you let me go and save you the cost of fighting my unemployment claim."

If I'm such a good worker, if I am so valuable, if I have contributed so much...why have I been denied SIX transfer requests?

why was I nominated for Employee of the Month by default?

Why was I never paid or acknowledged for work I did for the company AT HOME?

Why was I taken advantage of when "doing favors" and "just this one time" deals were tossed aside and it became expected, not rewarded. to such a point that when I complained I was told "well, we need to think of the business first."

I am not a valued employee. I am a position that they don't have to train someone else to do.

and I am pissed and upset.

and I am leaving.


*******
edited: ten minutes later, the world is a happy place again.

I got another pub!

toot!

the girl who runs a looney bin

So the kids are running around wild in the house playing "zombies" and Aramis stops Zack and asks him:

"Do you love your brothers?"

Z: "Yeah, I love them. Even when they cause trouble, they're pretty cool"

A: "You know you've caused some trouble yourself!"

Z: " Yeah, I know. Sometimes I stumble."