Monday, September 29, 2008



Today is Monday so let's talk about My Favorite Things!

We will start with this:


I LOVE Maddox Fresh Peach Pie! I have a great husband who knows what I like and this showed up on my birthday this year. Of course I shared with the fam, but the rest was mine....all mine!

I also love this:

Dark Chocolate!!! I don't think there is anything better than chocolate! Well, maybe there is, but this is a family show.

And since I obviously love food so much, I also love these:

These are my new running shoes....love them! If you have never been to Striders you MUST go! They do a computer analysis of your feet (standing & walking) and they suggest specific shoes that will work for you. I have never owned a more comfortable pair of shoes!
And they are "Mizuno" so apparently I have also never been more cool!

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Next time you better leave cookies!





It's official. I have a teenager. How else can you explain this? I know who it was and all I can say is, "Next time you better leave cookies!"
At aproximately 10:46pm last weekend my doorbell rang. Upon arriving at the door, this is what I saw! This is a first for us, and I'm afraid, not a "last". These were brave little souls because we still had our porch lights on, but it didn't stop them. It wasn't malicious and we KNOW they were girls! (They took the time to tear the plastic wrapper into strips and painstakingly tie bows on the railing.)

So, I took my "nearly 12" and "nearly 14" year old sons out to clean up the mess because clearly it was meant for one or both of them.
This is where things get interesting...

Son #2 is not known for his patience and he has reflexes like a cat. Anytime a car drove by during our clean up, he was SURE that it was the TP bandits coming back to mock us. There was one car in particular that slowed, turned off its lights and then stopped to watch. Like we couldn't see him? Anyway, the car eventually made what we thought would be it's final mocking drive-by so, of course, we all stopped to watch him watch us. Son #2 had apparently found a full roll of TP caught in the tree and now had it in his hand. When the car was directly in front of us the guy HONKED! Long and loud! Scared the pants off son #2 causing him to launch the soggy roll directly at the rear drivers-side window of the car. THUNK! Holy Crap! I though we were all dead! The boy is a pitcher and a darn good one at that! He hit his target dead on! Dangit! Well our not so happy rubber-necker proceeded to make a hasty U-turn and head back toward us. At this point my Mother Duck instinct kicked in and I ordered the kids behind me. I stood with my arms folded sternly across my chest (looking an awful lot like my own mother I'm sure) and stared down Mr Car. At some point he realized I was "a Mom" and he was "just a punk 16 year old kid", so he continued down the street never to be seen again. So the moral of the story is, if you're gonna toss things at cars, make sure your mom is there to back you up!

Not really....... I DID have a conversation with son#2 about his "rocket arm skills" and it went something like this:

Me - What the crap are you thinking? You don't throw things at cars!!!
Son#2 - I didn't mean to mom! It scared me and...and I just threw it!
Me - Well, don't EVER do that again!
Son#2 - Okay.
Me - Um..hey.
Son#2 - yeah?
Me - Nice arm.
Son#2 - Thanks.

Friday, September 26, 2008

"Welcome to Chase"



Washington Mutual was taken over by the Federal Government last night at 5:43pm. I believe they created a new entity keeping all the bad mortgage portfolios and selling off the rest of the company to JP Morgan Chase. It seems a little fishy to me due to all the pressure that Chase was putting on the Feds. But hey, what do I know?
Chase plans to eventually close about 400 branches (10% of the new combined total of the 2 companies) once they've researched where their branches overlap ours. The closest Chase Bank to KJ's branch is a few miles away. But he is still in a crappy location due to Road construction and the fact that he is in a strip mall. Not sure what this means for our financial well-being. Who knows! Its just a little stressful.

I have found that drowning your stresses in "Oreo Overload" from Cold Stone Creamery feels good at the moment and then comes back to bite you later. Oh well. Live and learn!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Once Upon A Time

Not long ago in place not far away, I had a little surgery. All went well (really it didn't, but it's all good now, so for the sake of time I won't get into it) and the nice doctor gave me nice pain meds and they made me feel...well, nice! I spent the next 8 weeks hopped up on painkillers. Now, I found out later that I talk alot when I am high on drugs. I also give "too much information", or so my sisters say. Anyway, in hindsight it's easy for me to understand now, why I ended up with a room in my house painted purpley red, lite yellow and baby-poop green. Yes, all those colors on the walls of ONE very small room! Blame it on the drugs, blame it on hormones, (or the lack thereof), but I decided that I needed a project to occupy my time during my recovery and that poor office got the brunt of my ill-conceived plans to redecorate. (I'm just glad it wasn't my family room, where everyone would see it.) Why did no one stop me? Did they try and I just don't remember? Or did they just secretly mock me while I painted each wall a different color? I don't know why it happened, just that it DID! And as Rafiki told Simba as he wacked him on the head..."it doesn't mattah, its in da past!"
So, for the second time in 18 months I am repainting that room. I am hormonally balanced (my husband would argue with me on that one) and drug free (unless you count caffine) and I think I'll get it right this time!
Stay tuned for photos......

Friday, September 19, 2008

Ode to the 80's


I am blognapping this whole post from Tiburons blog, so I must give her credit. It is totally hilarious.....

Many a valuable life lesson can be learned from watching 80's movies. Here is a list of things that I learned as an adolescent raised on 80's flicks:
1. Goonies never say die.
2. The Alamo does not have a basement.
3. Joan of Arc was not Noah's wife.
4. If you can sand, paint and wax you can become a karate master.
5. When skiing, just hurtle yourself down the mountain really fast. If something gets in your way - turn.
6. Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
7. Mess with the bull and you get the horns.
8. Nobody puts Baby in the corner.
9. When diagnosed with a "brain cloud" seek second opinion.
10. Those.aren't.pillows.
11. Blaine isn't a name - it's an appliance.
12. Even in the future nothing works.
13. If you build it, they will come.
14. How to dance the African Anteater Ritual.
15. Don't buy a house built on an Indian burial ground.
16. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep.


And while we are at it, here is a list of universal truths that you should remember if you ever wake up and find yourself in a movie:
1. Large, loft-style apartments in New York City are well within the price range of most people--whether they are employed or not.

2. Cars and trucks that crash will almost always burst into flames.

3. Should you decide to defuse a bomb, don't worry which wire to cut. You will always choose the right one.

4. Most laptop computers are powerful enough to override the communications system of any invading alien society.

5. It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts--your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors.

6. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your bedroom will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish.

7. Honest and hard working policemen are traditionally gunned down three days before their retirement.

8. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their archenemies using complicated machinery involving fuses, pulley systems, deadly gasses, lasers, and man-eating sharks, which will allow their captives at least 20 minutes to escape.

9. During all police investigations. it will be necessary to visit a strip club at least once.

10. All beds have special L-shaped cover sheets that reach up to the armpit level on a woman but only to waist level on the man lying beside her.

11. All grocery shopping bags contain at least one loaf of French bread.

12. It's easy for anyone to land a plane providing there is someone in the control tower to talk you down.

13. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off--even while scuba diving.

14. The ventilation system of any building is the perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building you want without difficulty.

15. You're very likely to survive any battle in any war unless you make the mistake of showing someone a picture of your sweetheart back home.

16. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to speak the language. A German accent will do.

17. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window in Paris.

18. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

19. Any person waking from a nightmare will bolt upright and pant.

20. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.

21. A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

22. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.

23. If being chased through town, you can usually take cover in a passing St Patrick’s Day parade - at any time of the year.

24. When paying for a taxi, never look at your wallet as you take out the bills - just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.

25. Creepy music coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.

Friday, September 5, 2008

And how about this one?....


Silence is golden. Duct tape is silver.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Ha!

Found this little gem on Tiburon's blog!

WAHOOO!

If I were to take a picture of myself, you would see me doing the "happy dance"! All 5 of my kids are currently AT SCHOOL!!!!! Today was my baby's first day of Pre-School. We did a Joy School with our neighbors last year, but this is official! I don't know what I will do with myself for 2 mornings a week while I am A-L-O-N-E. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. But I haven't had much time to myself in the last 13 1/2 years. People keep telling me, "Oh, enjoy them because you blink and they are all grown up." At 4pm everyday, you can find me curled up in a corner going, "BLINK, BLINK, BLINK...." You get the picture. It's like my life begins at 4:00pm when everyone rushes through the door, and no matter what I do I'm never quite prepared for the chaos! If anyone has ideas on how to deal with the afternoon mad-house, please share!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008


Today is the first day of my journey to skinny! My sisters & I have a blog where we track our progress and record our food journals and basically inspire each other to get healthy! (No you can't see it, don't even look for it, cause it's hidden! I don't want everyone knowing how much I weigh! ) So anyway, I feel a little like this cartoon only mine is self imposed! Wish me luck!