ellipsis ellipsis ellipsis

Um.....

2008-04-18T14:27:00.002-05:00

*gasp*

*splutter*

*inhale*

*breathe out slowly*

I'm alive and the family is doing fine. This has just been one hell of a semester at work. I don't believe I have ever been this busy. Thankfully spring semester is quickly winding down and I'm waiting patiently for my calendar to start opening up.

The etsy shop is doing well (although I haven't listed any new markers in the past couple of weeks, I'm in the middle of felting 100+ beads to then embroider then wire up.)

Update:
Shelby is now 18 and has been accepted to UT.

Jed is 4 1/2. He is doing well overall although we have some concerns with some sensory issues. I've been battling with the decision whether or not to send him off to kindergarten next year. If I sent him, I would save gobs of money however I wonder about him being the youngest in the class and am seriously leaning towards keeping him out one more year. I've heard that parents can regret sending their child to kindergarten too soon but they rarely regret holding them back.

I finally got a new car. The old XTerra had over 207,000 miles and was sucking down gas at an alarming rate. Things were starting to rattle and fall apart. A couple of weeks ago I traded it in for a little Nissan Versa hatchback. It is so cute (although every other day I look at it and wonder if it is actually ugly) and the gas mileage is phenomenal compared to the old car.

Jay is working again which has been a huge relief although I'm a bit worried what I'm going to do for that week and half that Jed will be out of school in May.

We are getting ready to put the garden in and it is even larger than last year. I'm wondering at what point will my husband stop enlarging it each year.

I need to catch up with everyone else but first I have to get through Prom weekend. All this stress of corsages (omg what if is not a wrist corsage) to dresses is making me crazy but it should be over this weekend. However I'm guessing it will just be replaced with stress about graduating.

*deep breathe*

Okay that wasn't that hard. You know when you put something off for a long time and then you just keep putting it off longer because you have put it off for so long in the first place and it just keeps getting worse? Well that was me and updating the blog. Now hopefully the next update will be even easier and much more timely.

Jelby Update...

2007-11-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jen at Piddleloop, my etsy shop has taken off. By the end of the weekend I had sold half of what I had in stock and have that many more custom orders. I'll probably fall asleep while counting all of the sheep.

Here is part of my first shipment out.

I'm also now putting together some sheep stitch marker holders. They can also be used to hold keys, usb drives or whatever you feel like.

At this rate I think I am going to have to teach Howard and Jed how to felt and embroider.

No, Howard Did Not Eat the Computer...

2007-11-10T21:14:00.000-05:00

Howard really hasn't torn anything up! It is unbelievable. This is the best dog I have ever met. A friend of ours had found a bunch of abandoned puppies. He gave Howard to his dad but when his dad priced out a fence, he decided that he really couldn't keep him so he sent him back. My husband had his eye on this pup from the very beginning. So when the puppy was returned, my husband acted quickly. (Our friend's father is still regretting giving up the dog.)

He came to us already potty trained and knowing how to walk on a leash and how to sit. He has since learned Down and Shake. He and Jed get along fabulously although Jed tends to be a bit rough with him which is good in a way since it establishes Jed as more alpha. He takes a small interest in the cats but only when hyper otherwise he pretty much ignores them. He realizes when he is allowed on beds and couches (in the evening) and when he isn't (at night while we are sleeping). He is a bit mouthy however that isn't unusually for puppies this age.

Our two outdoor dogs have accepted him. There still is a little growling here and there but overall they are getting along very well. We are still feeding them separately and Howard does stay inside at night and during the day some while we are home.

As you can see he is totally at home here.

The other things which have kept me busy over the last few weeks too. Not just my wonderul new puppy. Weekend before last Jed and I went to visit my college friend Lori and her family. She has twins the same age as Jed. While there we went to a Halloween festival. There were hayrides, bounce houses and one of those painted forms where you put your face in and get your picture taken.

And there was pumpkin bowling:

Then there was Halloween. Thankfully Jed asked to wear his costume from last year. As you can probably guess the costume was HUGH on him last year. It seems to fit a bit better this year.

We also got Shelby's college application submitted. Now to wait until January to find out if she got accepted.

I've also been busy making felt beads and stitch markers. I finally opened my etsy shop. The sheep stitch markers seem to be a bit hit so this weekend will be devoted to making a few more of those. I'm also bouncing around an idea for Christmas ornaments with embroidered sheep. If you want to check out the shop, you can find it at jelby.etsy.com. While you are there, hop on over to Piddleloop and check out her wonderful project bags. There is one in my future once I sell enough markers.

Meet Howard...

2007-10-25T10:51:00.001-05:00

More info after I get back home. I hope the house is still intact.

And the Countdown Begins...

2007-10-16T10:54:00.001-05:00

...to the day my car falls completely apart.

I have over 194,000 miles.

The fabric panel on the backseat door is coming off.

The driver's side visor just broke over the weekend. Unless I tie it up, it dangles annoyingly.

I have a scuff of white paint on the front bumper from losing a battle with a pillar in a parking garage.

The trunk light is burnt out.

My driver's side window is now hesitating a bit before going up or down.

Every now and then the entire instrument panel will zero out, even when doing 60 on the interstate.

And I only have one more payment left.

Mediocre Wednesday...

2007-10-10T15:10:00.000-05:00

It was one of those good/bad days...

Good: Yesterday I received some previously thought lost cash. It was an old account that I had in college that I had completely forgotten about. This month has been a tight one so the extra cash is definitely welcomed.
Bad: I couldn't find the check this morning on the rush out so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to deposit it.

Good: I got everyone to school on time, including the teen who had to be there 30 minute early but neglected to get up in a timely manner. Jed is still insisting on being dropped at the door.
Bad: While waiting for drop-off time to begin, Jed and I sat in the car listening to the radio while he proceeded to show me every single one of his favorite Pokemon in his Pokedex. Unfortunately my battery died from the 20 minutes of radio listening (probably because of dirty battery terminals, an old car and the fact I had forgotten I had my lights still on.)

Good: I finally received my invite to Ravelry over the weekend (man is that site addictive if you have a love (or even an interest) for knitting or crocheting. I've already picked out my next project.
Bad: I won't have time to get the yarn until this weekend. Which in a way is good since I really should finish up the tank for Shelby, some reports and some felting.

Good: It is Wednesday, only 2 more days until the weekend.
Bad: Still two more days until the weekend.

Reputation...

2007-10-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

Today I stopped at my local Starbucks for my weekly treat. It was the usual location where I had "The Incident". I ordered "Caffe Latte", *pause*, "add Cinnamon Dolce syrup."

The barista looked up from the register at that point and said "Oh!". I sheepishly replied "Yeah it's me!"

So apparently the memo was sent to the store informing them that I am correct in my ordering practices. I'm not sure whether to be proud that I made a difference or embarrassed that I'm now known as a troublemaker.

Does It Make Sense...

2007-10-08T11:13:00.000-05:00

...for a 17 year old to be driving a Jaguar?

...that today's high is supposed to be 90 and it is October 8?

...that although it is already 80 outside, I am literally freezing in my office?

...that someone I know who is in jail has more spending money (for cokes, junk food and such) than I do right at this moment?

...that I have to lock my house down airtight every day now for fear that a family member might go in and steal yet more stuff from us?

...that it is only Monday and I really wish it were Friday already?

Spreading the Happiness...

2007-10-04T12:59:00.001-05:00

(otherwise called being lazy and borrowing from Cursing Mama's What Makes Me Smile Wednesday comments box and expanding upon it here, just may be a regular Thursday item round here...)

What makes me smile...

Yesterday we finally received the ACT scores we have been waiting on. The teen took the test back in spring and did pretty good however it was on the lower end of what the college of choice is accepting, about 4 points below the average incoming freshman. Since our list of colleges is short (due to location, in state tuition and the fact that we get a discount at a few) we wanted to up her chances of getting admitted. So we signed her up for an ACT Prep class over the summer. It cost an arm and half a leg but thankfully she dedicated herself to the classes, all 32 hours of it with nary a word of complaint about attending even though it did take up some of her free summer time. She worked hard and it paid off. She pushed her composite score up 3 points by increasing 3 of the 4 subscores between 4-6 points. Only one went down but that didn't matter since she rocked on that one in spring and the college supercedes the scores which means the top score out all attempts count. So taking the reading score from spring with what she got this fall she actually hit the target score, the exact average of the incoming freshmen. I am so proud of her (and so glad that the money was not wasted on the class). The next step is to get the application in before the priority deadline of November 1.

Add this also to my son who now INSISTS on being dropped at the door. He actually complains a bit if I even suggest walking him in which actually is a good thing this week. It is Book Fair week. It is ever so difficult to walk a child down a hall lined with new books especially when they include books with sharks, Pokemon, Transformers and fish on the cover. I'll probably relent on Friday and let him pick something out since he has ever so nicely asked to get something from the Book Fairy.

And to round out everything, this morning I bought my first latte in quite awhile from my usual location. And they rang me up just as I asked without a single argument. I wonder if they already received the memo from corporate.

Oh and one more thing that causes me to smile is just now remembering that it is Thursday which means a new Grey's, Ugly Betty and Dirty Sexy Money.

This,That and the Other...

2007-10-02T11:06:00.000-05:00

After waiting 2 weeks for another reply from Starbucks on my supposedly illegal ordering method, I finally broke down and called the 800 number. HA! The customer service representative completely and totally agreed with me. I have the right to add any syrup on the menu to any drink that I want without paying for the "Special" drink. He is supposedly sending a memo out to the location where the girl basically argued with me. Plus he offered me a couple of free drink coupons.

I have the hiccups right now. Blech.

Monday began the first day of No Smoking in any enclosed workplaces such as restaurants and bars (the only exception are those places 21 and up only). The local radio station had their General Manager announce early Monday that they were instituting a ban on smoking in cars while listening to their station. They also mentioned that they had equipment that could detect smoke in cars and in the future they would be able to disable their radio while the driver was smoking but until then everyone was on the honor system. To further their point, they started calling people on their cell phones telling them they knew they were smoking and asked them to refrain from smoking in the car since it was polluting the djs' work place. One guy called in and said that his co-worker was so mad upon hearing this that he went out his car and chain smoked 3 cigarettes, blowing the smoke directly into the radio. What amazed me were the the number of people who believed it and then got seriously angry.

My hiccups are now gone thanks to my (should be patented) hiccup removal routine. Seriously, I have found a way to get rid of hiccups 99% of the time. I unofficially collected during my college drinking days. I would see someone with the hiccups and would talk them through getting rid of them and it worked almost every time.

Found out over the weekend that our lawnmower is also equipped with Squid Power.

My Tivo is getting full very quickly. Too many good new shows and great returning shows. I'm trying to stay caught up however the last few evenings I've gone to sleep around 9:00, not to get up again until morning. Often I'll sleep a couple of hours and then when my husband comes to bed, I'll get up for a few hours and watch a couple of shows. I cherish those few hours. A couple of times Shelby will come down and ask to sit with me but I always run her off. After spending the day taking care of people I need my Me Time. No one there talking, asking questions, or anything. She doesn't quite understand but then again she can retreat to her room anytime she wants. For moms, it's just a bit harder to escape everyone (and being at work doesn't count). So hopefully tonight I can catch up with a few things still on my Tivo (Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, Heroes and last nights Dancing with the Stars.)

I really need my Me Time and possibly a second Tivo box...

Squid Power...

2007-09-26T23:02:00.000-05:00

We were driving home late last night when a voice piped up from the backseat.

"Mama, we have Squid Power."

"Squid power?"

"Squid Power Mama, we have Squid Power."

"What do you mean Jed?"

"See the picture Mama? It says Squid Power."

High beam indicator or Squid Power, you tell me...

After I stopped laughing, I found out that Squid Power makes my car go super fast. What are the chances that I'll be able to find another car equipped with Squid Power?

How's It Going?

2007-09-24T21:39:00.000-05:00

I am tired of surly teens.
I am tired of bills.
I am tired of sinus headaches.
I am tired of being grumpy.
I am tired of messy houses.
I am tired of driving.
I am tired of getting up early in the morning.
I am tired of cooking dinner.
I am tired of dirty dishes.
I am tired of pooping and peeing cats (that aim for the stairs).
I am tired of drama.
I am tired of my gas guzzler.
I am tired of obstinate pre-schoolers.

Honestly, I think I'm just tired.

(No worries though, since I'm sure everything will be a much better after a good night's sleep.)

A Stream of Conscience Ramble....

2007-09-21T17:52:00.000-05:00

Bullets disguised as paragraphs.

I finally got a response from Starbucks but it mainly said that my concerns had been passed on to the right people. I still didn't get my question answered although I did have one more barista mention that I was ordering my drink wrong however she did it my way.

I'm in the market for a new car. I have almost 200,000 miles on my gas guzzling XTerra. I can't believe that I'm actually considering something compact. I love the roominess of my current vehicle but with around 100 miles a day being driven I really need to find something more gas conscious.

Why am I suddenly concerned with how much I'm spending on gas? It is really starting to set in that the next 1 and maybe 2 years I will have two kids in school. Jed will be in Montessori for 1-2 more years and Shelby starts college next year. Even with the price break I will be getting if we get her in UT, it will still cost an arm and a leg since we promised her she could live on campus.

I've actually considered going back on the campus living thing until I realized that we will drive each other absolutely nuts (which in turn will annoy the hell out of my husband) if she continues to live in this house will going to college. The less I know will probably be better.

This weekend I'm needing to devote my time to finishing up Jed's carpet. I have a stupid cat that has chosen the alcove as a pee spot. I've gotten rid of half of it but there is still more carpet cleaning and enzyme soaking that is needing to be done.

I also need to attack my weed infested garden. We have not touched the garden in weeks and there are more weeds in there than plants. Although we finally got some rain last week so the okra is sending out new growth and the pepper plants are still going strong. The green beans even have quite a few new beans. I just need to work around the shoulder high weeds (and if you think I'm kidding, remind me to post a picture of it later.) Oh and the potatoes need to be dug up.

This weekend should be one more attempt at summer with temperatures nearing 90. Yay, just perfect for working in the garden (NOT!).

I also need to figure out a way to photograph my stitch markers and other felted goodies (I foresee a felted embroidered or perhaps beaded ring in the future.) I'm trying to get enough sets of markers finished before I open shop.

At least one good thing out of this entire week is that the new Fall season of shows are starting up. By the way have I ever mentioned how much I love my Tivo???

Oh yeah and another good thing is that I'm very close to connecting up again with a handful of people I knew in high school. I guess with Shelby being in her senior year has gotten me thinking about the people I ran around with my last two years of high school.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend that does not involve cat pee, 90 degree heat or a great potato scavenger hunt.

Dear Starbucks...

2007-09-14T16:19:00.000-05:00

(email sent to Starbucks today pertaining to this morning's visit)

I often stop by the Starbucks on Merchant Drive in Knoxville Tennessee. This morning I ordered my usual, Venti Caffe Latte with Cinnamon Dolce syrup added. I was told that I had to be charged for the promotional drink. I have been ordering it this way for the past 2 months with no problem and was very disappointed when I was told that I couldn't get it that way. The promotional drink comes with whip and sprinkles which I don't want, where as the Latte is simply the drink with flavoring. Why would I want to pay more for something I don't even want? I see no reason why cinnamon dolce syrup cannot be added to ANY drink on the menu. After all, it is listed on the Syrup Menu. I would not expect to be able to add any of the seasonal syrups (i.e. pumpkin spice) this way since they are not listed individually on the syrup menu. However, the cinnamon dolce was added to the permanent menu few months ago.

I have a friend who is a barista for Starbucks in another state and she mentioned to me just the other day how the company stresses customer service. I have always received excellent customer service from all of the other baristas at this location however this one person was a great disappointment. Instead of trying to remedy the situation, she argued with me about how impossible it was to ring it up the way I requested. I had exact change this morning and therefore not enough to purchase it as specialty. Her only suggestion was that I order a smaller drink. I left the store empty handed. On principle, I refuse to give a store my money if the service and product is of lower quality than what I usually receive.

As mentioned before, I have had repeatedly fantastic service from this location however today's experience has put a damper on all of that. I'm unsure if I will return.

(no response as of yet...)

Day 3...

2007-09-12T10:55:00.001-05:00

This morning he even asked if he could be dropped off at the door.

Like I would say No.

And the Boy is Four...

2007-09-11T16:29:00.000-05:00

We had a great time Saturday. He got is Rocket Fishing Rod (which was a HUGE hit with all the kids), a GameBoy, various Transformers, board games and a fish cake.

I was rather proud of the fish cake. And the avocado colored (not flavored) icing was tasty.

Now I never expected great changes at four however I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. We are only 4 days into 4 years old but I'm loving it. (Hopefully I haven't spoken too soon, hold on a sec while I find some wood to knock on.)

You see morning drop offs at school have been marginally rough. It used to be really bad when he was super clingy and at least once every two weeks one of us would be in tears when I left. Over the last few months it has gotten better. It was still taking me 15-20 minutes to extricate myself out of the classroom but at least it was minus the tears.

However Monday all of this changed. On a whim I asked if he was ready to be dropped off at the door like the big kids, after all he is four you know. He actually agreed. Since he never has shoes on in the car, we pulled into a parking spot in front of the school. He climbed up front and we put his shoes on and listened to one more song on the radio. Then after I got my hug and kiss I drove up to the front door. And off he went with nary a look back. And unbelievably he was willing to be dropped off again today.

I do have to admit on Monday as I drove away, there may have been a tear or two in my eye....

Where Has This Week Gone?

2007-09-06T11:39:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it is already Thursday. Where has the week gone?

Every night this week has been a late night. Tuesday night I taught my evening course. Yesterday was a doctor's appointment and a 2 hour ACT prep tutoring session that lasted until 8:00, so we didn't get home until almost 9:00. Tonight is another 2 hour prep session but unlike last evening I will have Jed with me. We will probably end up at a fast food place that has an indoor play area. I can knit while he plays. What makes this week all that more hectic is the Birthday Party on Saturday.

My boy turn 4 on Saturday. We are having his party the same place as we did last year, a small playground behind a local elementary school. They have two covered areas with picnic tables. It is a perfect setup. Entertainment is provided for the kids in swings, jungle gyms and slides. I'll send someone out to pick up 4 or 5 pizzas. We'll then have cake (blue of course).

The party theme is rather bizarre this year. Last year we did dinosaurs. Blue cupcakes with a plastic dino on top of each one, dinosaur noses for each child, dino plates and goody bags.

This year we have Transformer invitations, goody bags and plates but he has requested a fish cake. More specifically a Blue cake with a rainbow trout on it. Lord help me and I thought I was getting off easy with avoiding creating a Transformer on the cake. Now I have to figure out how to do a fish that resembles a rainbow trout.

I'm sure by now you have noticed the repetition of blue cake. For some reason Jed believes that all birthday cakes must be blue. Not just the icing but the cake too. Every time I bake a cake he is always disappointed that it isn't blue. So for his birthday it will be blue cake. (By the way the blue cupcakes were quite creepy last year as I'm sure the blue cake this year will be, but if that is what the birthday boy wants, I can oblige.)

So here it is Thursday and I feel that I am not the least bit prepared for this party (at least I don't have to clean house). Time is running out to get everything done. I've bought the goody bag stuff. I'm still contemplating on a pinata however knowing my son I fear that he will freak out when someone tries to break the fish or transformer pinata so I may just skip this for this birthday.

And to top it all off, I haven't decided what we are getting him yet. He has really only requested two things. First he has asked for is a Rocket Fishing Rod (the boy is OBSESSED with fishing) which is grandfather is getting him. The second item is a Game Boy Advance. His three cousins each have one and he has wanted one for quite awhile. However I'm not sure how adept he will be at playing it. And it is a bit too expensive to let it just sit there (although I am a game junkie so I'm sure I could put it to use). I've been looking around at a few games that might be appropriate for him such as Dora and Candyland (yes Candyland and Chutes and Ladders on a Game Boy).

So between now and Saturday, not only do I need to decide on the Game Boy or perhaps yet another Transformer (I'm finally getting adept at "trans-n-forming" them) but I also have to find a small window of time without small children so that I can purchase whatever I finally decide upon.

And another peek at what I finished over the weekend. Still need to work on photographing these things and color correction a bit more.

My Latest Addiction...

2007-08-31T15:15:00.001-05:00

...and no it is not a new Starbucks drink (although both the CDL and the PSL are now both vying for my attention).

No, my latest addiction is compliments of Jen who is part of the community. I've can't stop myself from checking the new listings on Etsy every now and then. Well, its more like every spare minute I find, I hop over to the Time Machine 2 page and hit refresh. You just never know what wonderful treasure or inspiration you might find.

I've already found two items that will be perfect Christmas gifts for the teen (one of which may be given early).

And the irony of it all is that before rediscovering Etsy, (I had bought some stuff around Christmas last year) I have had an idea wandering around my head for some little items I might like to make and sell. Because the initial investment is so minimal, I'm working on pulling a few items together and hope to post them in the next couple of weeks. If I enjoy doing it, then I will continue. If not, then I will not be out much. Especially seeing as I like to create. I like to make things just for the sake of making it. If I could sell it too, all that much better.

So this weekend will be spent gathering a few more supplies, creating and photographing some things. Well, this will be spaced in and around cleaning all of the upstairs carpets (thank you my dear cats for the stains and such).

Here is a little glimpse of what I'm working on...

A Gold Star for Jed...

2007-08-28T14:17:00.001-05:00

...but none for me.

Jed's dental appointment went far better than I ever expected. Doc decided to go with no gas and no Novocaine since the cavity was so small. Jed did very well through the drilling however as they were prepping for the filling, he started to close his mouth and somehow got his cheek pinched. He started, as he would say, freak out, just a bit and it was started to go downhill from there. However, Doc quickly put the filling in just as the tears were beginning the fall and we were done.

He calmed down rather quickly when he received his a new toothbrush and another thing of floss. He was so excited because the toothbrush was blue and he had just finished up his other box of floss (the one he received at his cleaning two weeks earlier). We then went to check out the Treasure Chest however the contents were very dismal. A set of Disney princess chalk, Eeyore chalk, a couple bottles of bubbles, a couple of candy necklaces (to keep the business coming in???) and a ton of cheap plastic kazoos and mini frisbees. He finally settled on some blueberry scented bubbles (blue of course) along with the promise a new Transformer.

As we were leaving the office, Jed asked if we could stay there for awhile and play with the toys. I took this as a good sign that he would not be scarred for life about dental visits. So while I called my mom to let her know how brave he was, I let him play in the waiting room for a short bit.

Now comes the bad mom part and where I lose my gold star. We were back home and it was after a lunch of applesauce and milk he asked if he could have a piece of gum. I was definitely NOT THINKING when I said sure. Two bites down and he was in tears because it hurt. Bad, bad mom. But it gets worse...oh, yes it does. Later that afternoon, after a nap he asked for another piece of gum and I thought about it for a minute, really I did. But apparently my thinking was too not clear or too in depth. Oh his jaw is probably not sore anymore from the drilling and filling insertion. Never did it cross my mind that the gum might be tugging on the new filling nor did I remember my previous visits when they advised me to avoid all things chewy and sticky for awhile (with trying to calm Jed down, they neglected to tell me to avoid these things.) Rinse and repeat the earlier scene but with much more crying. Stupid, stupid me...

Wel,l the bright side of it all, we caught the cavity very early and he isn't afraid of the dentist although he might now be afraid of chewing gum. Hey, it just might be a win-win situation!

Note for Kim: Seems like my Blogroll has all of sudden decide to work. Not only work, but it appears to be working better than every before. It is now detecting sites with new material that it never worked with before such as Typepad I believe.

Visitor...

2007-08-24T12:48:00.000-05:00

Last week I was digging up a few new potatoes when I lifted a bit of potato plant and jumped about a foot in the air.

A box turtle had found a nice shady cool spot to hide. Jed promptly picked him up and declared him his new best friend. The turtle, not to happy about being pulled out of his shady hiding spot withdrew into his shell, although he did keep an eye on us for quite a while.

(click on picture for a larger view)

Jed then asked me to take a picture of him and the turtle. (Please ignore the not-so-good pseudo haircut. I had just bought a new pair of hair scissors and he was in dire need of a haircut so we played barbershop the other night. I placed him on a barstool, clipped a towel around his neck and attempted to trim the hair around his ears and across the forehead. The front is a bit too blunt for my liking but it will do until we can get a REAL haircut. As a side note to this side note, the Barbershop game almost backfired on me. As I was finishing up his hair he asked when when is it going to be his turn to cut MY hair. I quickly dodged the bullet by explaining that mama's do all the hair cutting in the house. I'm allowed to cut his hair and Daddy's hair and no one else is allowed to cut hair. Thankfully he bought it.)

(click on picture for a larger view)

After hanging out for awhile, the turtle tried to make a getaway. I had to do a lot of persuading to get Jed to agree to let him go. He really wanted to keep him forever and ever. We finally moved him to the edge of the woods. We said our goodbyes for a good 15 minutes which including having the turtle promise to come back and visit. (See, the turtle was getting away so fast that my picture is blurry.)

(click on picture for a larger view)

Looking at all the turtle poses and pictures today, I started playing around. I'm always looking for photos that I can do black and white for my mantle. Here is what I started out with followed by the finished product. Not too shabby for someone who hasn't a clue what she is doing.

(click on picture for a larger view)

ETA: UGH! I have got to figure out how to keep the formatting of the paragraphs changing mid-post.

And the Raccoons Won...

2007-08-23T14:39:00.000-05:00

We planted our corn in two waves. 8 rows in the first planting and then another 6 rows about a month later. The reason for this is that last year I did not have enough time to freeze all the corn before it went bad. We had those nasty little corn worms eating away at the juicy kernals. One weekend we picked everything we saw with the intention of freezing all of it over then next couple of days. Well the basket of corn was accidentally left in the sun so by the next evening almost all of it was history.

So 2 waves of corn should be better. The first crop came in and we had corn for dinner a few nights. After fixing dinner, I would blanch 5-10 ears and then freeze them. However we did not count on the raccoons. Within a couple of nights they had wiped the stalks clean. Not a single cob of corn was left.

The second batch is just coming in and between the raccoons and the worms, we may be able to salvage 2 or 3 servings of corn off the cob. We will be picking ANYTHING that is left this evening. We borrowed a live trap however I think it is too late now.

Here I was worried about having too much corn and now I'm stuck with too little.

P.S. Anyone want a nice cute furry little raccoon, or twelve?

P.P.S. How about some worthless dogs who are too lazy to run off the raccoons?

P.P.P.S. Actually we may have to keep Hank since he did go up against one raccoon 2 weeks ago and won. (Thank goodness I was at work when it happened.)

P.P.P.P.S. I'd offer you some corn, but you know....How about some salsa instead?

A Vundoful Weekend...

2007-08-21T13:41:00.001-05:00

Now Vundo-less.

Last week I was bogged down with a trojan on my computer. Well not one, but many. One somehow snuck in and then invited all its friends to come and play.

McAfee was unable to get rid of it although it did block some of the newcomers. Adaware got rid of some of it but not all of it. FixVundo and VundoFix did their thing but still I was getting non-stop pop-ups.

I wandered around the net some, looking for some advice when I stumbled across SuperAntiSpyware Free Home Edition.

After running all the previous scanners and fixers numerous times, I ran SuperAntiSpyware. At the end of the quick scan it found 85 bits and pieces to get rid of or fix. I am now trojan and pop-up free. I am now using this daily to check for spyware. It seems to be catching everything that Adaware did.

Not a very exciting post however I figured this may help someone in the future. (No affiliation but definitely a happier person.)

Ramblings...

2007-08-16T15:04:00.000-05:00

You know it is too cold in your office when you walk outside in 99 degree weather and completely relish in the warmth.

You know that it is too hot when that enjoyment lasts all of 6 steps away from your building. My little Weather Channel icon just informed me we have just moved into the triple digits.

Maybe being a little cold isn't that bad as being hot especially when you have to sit through many hours of virus scanning. My virus software started to blink and flash at me this morning, notifying me that my computer was infected. (I blame the Automatic Windows Update from a couple nights ago which seems to have broken my virus software.) A uninstall and reinstall of the virus softare followed by two security scans (1 hour and 40 minutes each) and 5 spyware scans. Things are starting to look better. The pop-ups have stopped and I am not longer getting virus notifications. (Will be scanning again tonight just to make sure).

Did you know that almost 3 hours of virus scans can easily be turned into some sly knitting time?

Speaking of knitting, I'm looking forward to a couple of hours of hanging out this evening, sans kids, either at Starbucks or perhaps my local LYS* while waiting on ACT prep tutoring to be over. I am locking my money in the car if I happen over to the Yarn Haven. Perhaps a stop through Starbucks on the way to my LYS just may be the way to go.

I found a way to knock 40 cents (and 100+ calories) off my Starbucks latte. They added the Cinnamon Dolce Latte to the menu earlier this year. Just last week I did a little figuring and started ordering a Caffe Latte with Cinnamon Dolce syrup instead of the official Cinnamon Dolce Latte(CDL). The difference between the two is the CDL comes with whip cream and cinnamon crunch sprinkles where as the Caffe Latte doesn't. I always ordered my CDL without whip anyway so why pay 40 cents more for something I'm not getting?

Of course I know I would save a heck of a lot more money if I just skipped Starbucks instead of just skipping the whip cream.

But everyone needs a guilty pleasure every now and then. Such as tonight's Tivo line-up. So You Think You Can Dance season finale (not sure who I want to win) and to find out who will be voted out of the house tonight on Big Brother. I completely realize and freely admit that I am a sucker for embarrassingly bad reality shows (although I do draw the line at any of the Bachelor(ette) shows or anything on MTV/VH1).

*LYS - Local Yarn Store

Mother's Guilt...

2007-08-14T13:58:00.000-05:00

I took the kids to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning. This was Jed's second visit. Our regular hygienist was not there so we had a new girl. Poor Jed. The new girl was not as gentle as our usual hygienist and continually gagged him while trying to brush on the fluoride treatment. But he was a trooper and made it through without tears. And most importantly, he still a good perception about visiting the dentist.

But I wonder if this will continue. They found a tiny cavity in one of his molars. And now my guilt has wiggled in. Is it my fault he has a cavity even before he is four because he isn't brushing like he should? Or is it that he has inherited my teeth (which still makes it my fault in a mother's guilt kinda way)? After all he has inherited my lips and my wide chubby feet.

Then I have to sit here and worry about him getting the cavity filled. Will the whole procedure scare him of the dentist? Will I be able to be strong for him and be in the room with him while they work on it? (I'm such a wienie about it all and was in near tears yesterday just thinking about the possibility of my son being scared.) I've already mentioned to my husband he may have to go with him because I know me being in tears will more likely scare Jed than anything else. But how can I not be there for him? Then there is the question of do we use nitrous (laughing gas) to calm him or will he not need it? How will he feel afterwards if we do (or don't) use it?

All this goes through my head and then, to keep myself from going absolutely crazy, I have tell myself it is just a tiny cavity. Not a big deal. It is even in a baby tooth so he will get a 2nd chance at having a cavity free mouth. And many kids have had dental work done at a young age and lived through it. Plus he has a high pain tolerance especially if you promise him a new Transformer toy.

Back and forth, up and down, around and around my mind goes and it has only been 24 hours since we scheduled the appointment. I have to deal with this for another 2 weeks. I may have to take a sick day that day, not to take care of him but to recuperate from my nerves.

Oh the joys of being a mother...

Hot Dogs...

2007-08-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

I always forget about August and how damn hot it gets here in East Tennessee. Right now it is 96 degrees (but feels like 101...oh the joy!). For once, my office is not cold.

I was walking across campus the other day, thinking about the heat. I then started thinking about when I was a student here and lived in the dorm. Massey was one of the few dorms still without air conditioning. We relied on oscillating fans, open windows and open doors, hoping to catch a bit of a breeze. The day that was the worst was always the day we moved into the dorms (which is right around the corner for Fall semester).

It is even too hot for my hummingbirds. The front feeder is still completely full from when I filled it up 2 days ago! Just last week they were draining it in under 24 hours. Over the weekend I was trying to get a picture of one of the hummers in my Rose of Sharon tree (yeah yeah Kim, old I know) however I became bored rather quickly due to the lack of birds. So instead I took pictures of the dogs, who were following me around the yard.

This is Newt. He is a chocolate lab that we adopted from my sister-in-law. He is the sweetest dog in the world, unless you are an unknown person coming up our driveway. I had to have my Avon shipments sent to my mom's house since it was too much of a risk to have the UPS guy at my house every two weeks. He dealt with the dogs well, tossing treats while quickly setting my boxes just outside his truck but I didn't want to take the chance. Oh and then there was the time I was home during the week and Meter Reader Guy came by. I peeked out to see him with a closed push button umbrella in between him and the dogs, finger on the trigger, ready to create a shield. Man I'm glad I don't have his job, reading meters in the country.

And this is Hank, our most obnoxious Blue Heeler (or Australian Cattledog). He is so smart yet so dumb it is amazing. He will play fetch for hours on end even if he is too tired to stand, he will force himself to continue playing. He loves rolling in fresh cow manure (yippee!) and barking at the birds in the sky (usually buzzards). He is terrified of thunder but not scared of a raccoon. He loves biting the water as it comes out of the hose and when my husband is outside, the dog is velcroed to his side. He has the most annoying shrill bark and he barks a lot. But look at that grin!

Usurped...

2007-08-07T10:21:00.000-05:00

The little female hummingbird that used to control the front feeder has been run off. Over the weekend, a new little bird took over the front feeder. I believe he is an adolescent, a very brave, bold adolescent. He has taken roost, literally, on the feeder. He rarely leaves his roost except to run off anyone that tries to sneak a sip of nectar.

Here is a picture of him where you can see most of his front. He is so fluffy compared to all the other hummers I see which leads me to think he is adolescent. Plus the boldness that he displays (and his clumsy flying) would reflect that of a teenager.

Click image for larger view.

Here is a view more of his back where you can see the lovely iridescent plumage. Last night I tried to help him out by moving a citrus tree under the feeder to give him a more comfortable roost. He either hasn't noticed it, or feels that it is too far away from his treasure.

Click image for larger view.

One thing though that has come out of his vigilance is that the nectar is lasting much longer than it used to.

Who Are These Kids?

2007-08-03T10:19:00.000-05:00

I am questioning if these kids are mine. Their tastes in things are really making me shake my head and wonder if someone has abducted them in the middle of the night, brainwashed them and then returned them to their bed before morning.

While shopping for new shoes at Kohl's the other day, Jed picked up a Skechers box and proclaimed the following shoes as something he "really, really, oh please, really wanted". The picture does not do them justice as it does not show the high shine of all the silver detail. (I don't remember all this black trim so it may have been another pair. Perhaps I was just more focused on the silver or there is another all silver pair out there). Had I let him get these, my husband would have left me and disowned Jed.

And just last week, Shelby proclaims that she thinks he is HOT.

Okay so maybe that isn't exactly fair. She was referring to Mick Jagger when he was younger and commenting how hot and sexy is...was....but anyway, ewwww.

Of course this is the same girl who finds the Weasley twins hot in the latest movie.

The War At Home...

2007-07-31T14:16:00.000-05:00

No, no, all the family members are actually getting along quite well. The War is taking place outside.

We have had hummingbirds in the past but nothing compared to this year. I have 3 feeders available however they tend to prefer the one in the front (maybe it is the flower shapes on the side.) Anyway, they will drain this feeder in less than 24 hours. The other ones have been up for weeks and are just hitting the halfway mark.

Usually a single female stakes out the front, running off any intruders however the number of competing birds is so great, that as she chases one off, 2 or 3 more will sneak in for a drink. I have see up to 7 birds at one time at the feeder.

In the evenings, Jed and I will sit on the porch about 3 feet away and watch them. It can be dangerous though, with how fast they zoom around. Over the weekend I had just finished filling the front feeder when a female flew up. I was just a foot away. I froze as she checked it out. She looked me for a moment and as if shrugging her shoulder, proceeded with her snack. I was even able to get a nose scratch in there without disturbing her.

I have also pulled the camera out to see if I could get a decent picture. The first day was disastrous. Very blurry and grainy. I did a little research the next day and started using the flash. Much better results. Here are the two best ones from yesterday.

This first one is the female who has claimed the front feeder (I think, there are so many females it is hard to tell them apart.) It has taken me almost a week before I finally found the right settings on the camera to get a non-blurry wing picture.

The second one is the male that has claimed the feeder on the side of the house. He is much more territorial and will not let anyone feed at all. He likes to sit at the top of a nearby pine tree or even in the middle of my Rose of Sharon bush. From my chair in the living room, I can often spot him hidden in the middle of the bush protecting both the feeder and the flowers. Greedy little thing. He is also known to sneak to the front feeder (as pictured here).

I'll probably be outside again tomorrow trying to get a picture of multiple birds at once. It might help if I could track down my tripod.

(note to self: buy more hummingbird food on the way home today)

Open the Box...

2007-07-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

Here is a little something to play around with while I write up a few of my dreams that I have had lately (Lori you are going to "LOVE" one of them!)

I have finally found a little bit of time to explore Pandora. It is fascinating. It allows you to explore all kinds of music. It is part of the Music Genome Project where each song is analyzed based on over 400 musical characteristics. Using these characteristics they can suggest songs by artists you never imagined you would like.

Pandora allows you to create stations and refine them. For example if they play an artist you can't stand or a song you hate, you can click on it and mark it as "don't play again." If you are just tired of it but don't want to drop it from the rotation you can tell it to not play it for a month. You can create as many stations as you wish or play the preset stations (while refining them to your taste) all for free. The collection of music seems reasonably updated (at least through 2006).

I chose a Jewel station and heard a couple of her songs along with Santana, Madonna, Jonatha Brooks, Alyanis Morrisette (skipped that one), Marly, Hootie and the Blowfish. The Kelly Clarkson station gave me of course Kelly, but also Ashlee Simpson, The Veronicas, Celine Dion (skipped), Pink to name a few.

Check it out!

.

Spiderpig, Spiderpig...

2007-07-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

For the past week Jed has been walking around the house saying "Spiderpig, spiderpig" and neither my husband or I could figure out where it came from until I was watching TV last night and it all fell into place.

Spiderpig

Apparently I need to pay a bit more attention to what my son sees on TV (if only to know where he picks things up from.)

33 Hours and Counting...

2007-07-19T14:11:00.000-05:00

...until I am stuck in the middle of a bunch of Hogwarts crazed people

I hadn't planned on going, however Shelby is really wanting to go to the Barnes and Noble shindig for the release of the last Harry Potter book. The only other one that we went to was the first year that they did the midnight release and I hope this one goes smoother.

Last time Shelby had been complaining of a stomachache and headache but she didn't want to leave so we stuck it out. This was right before we finally figured out that the child suffered from migraines and before we knew that just couple of Excedrin Migraine usually took care of it. Prior to figuring out all this migraine stuff, she would suffer the head and tummy ache until she threw up. So yeah, right around 11 pm or so that's what she did...right between two aisles of books.

So we ended up sitting out in the car for the last hour because she REALLY wanted the book and heck we had been there for over 2 hours and didn't want to go home empty handed. I ran in right before midnight to see if I could snag a book. I mentioned that I was the one with the vomiting kid and that I was really trying to get us out of there. They kindly let me slide in line near the front (with only one grumpy woman complaining).

However I am thinking about changing my mind about taking her. I started Book 6 but only made it about half way through it before caring for a small infant got in the way. It is still on my list to finish. Yesterday though, Shelby let slip out quite a few things about the ending of Book 6. Thanks a lot!

I'm the type of person if I turn the TV on a movie 30 minutes into it and I haven't seen it, I will turn it off and wait until a time I can watch the whole thing. If I have miss 30 minutes in the middle of a movie because of the phone or whatever, I will either turn it off or rewind if possible. I never skip to the end of the book to see what happens. Although she has practically ruined it for me, I will still read it.

Hmmm...if I get her Book 7 and let her read it first I think I need her to sign a contract that has her promise not to tell me a single thing from the book. And if she does, I'll have her pick the rest of the beans this year!

(By the way I was able to sell both boxes of beans for $12 a piece. That's pretty much paying for Harry.)

Guess What's For Dinner Tonight?

2007-07-14T15:30:00.000-05:00

...and for every night for the next 2 months?

Here is where I spent my Saturday morning.

At least I had company.

3 hours later. Doesn't look like that many, does it?

How about another angle? (The box is about the size of a printer paper box)

And I only made it through 1 1/2 rows. The other 1 1/2 await me this evening. (I wonder if I have another box?)

UPDATE: I found another box and filled it to the top. Being curious I stpeed on the bathroom scale with and without the box in hand to get an estimate of the amount of beans...20 pounds of green beans in total. And this is just the first round of beans.

Digging Out...

2007-07-13T09:46:00.001-05:00

We're back from vacation (and have been for a week). However I am still digging myself out of the pile of work, the garden, plus a bunch of other things that have accumulated lately.

The week was fantastic. Probably one of the best vacations I've been on in a long, long time. All of the good definitely outweighed what little bad we had. Let's see there was an ashtray broken at Cracker Barrel (thanks Jed), the DVD player broken on the way there (thanks again Jed), couple pretty good scratches and scruffs on the front corner of my car (thanks Me and stupid garage column), about 2 hours each way on the drive which were complete hell (thanks Jed and Shelby*).

But we made it home happy, exhausted and tan (not a single sunburn**).

Now back to my shovel and the big pile of Things To Do...

*It is amazing how quickly a 17 yr old reverts back to being 3 years old when cooped up in a car with a 3 yr old brother. Law of Lowest Common Denominator I guess.

**Shelby's cousin and his friend joined us mid-week and refused sunscreen the first day in order to "catch up". By the second day, the cousin gladly took up my offer of spf 30 while the friend settled on some 15. Youngsters, hmph.....

Simpsons Me...

2007-06-28T15:33:00.001-05:00

Here is what I might look like if I were on the Simpsons.

From http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html. I had to do a print screen to get the image.

Good News, Bad News...

2007-06-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

Good News: Cinnamon Dolce is now on the permanent menu (at least until they discontinue it) at Starbucks. Both the regular and the sugar-free syrup. Look for it on the syrup list at the bottom (sidenote: the pronunciation of sear-up (instead of sir-up) annoys me for some reason, like fingernails on the board and oh lord my use of parentheses are getting out of hand with parenthetical thoughts inside parenthetical thoughts).

Bad News: There is a lift outside my office window that beeps everytime it goes up or down. They are going up and down A LOT today caulking the 37 windows they have installed (thankfully there are another 10 that are not installed yet...and yes I counted them). Did I ever mention that repetitive noises drive me absolutely batty?

Good News: My yarn and beads are picked out for the Melanie's Mystery Stole.

Bad News: The ballwinder still hasn't arrived. I am not really looking forward to winding 1400 yards of yarn. (It took me over an hour to wind about 250 yarn for my Branching Out scarf.)

Good News: The first clue of the stole will be released tomorrow.

Bad News: I have a gazillion things to do tomorrow before we leave on Saturday (plus see Ballwinder)

Good News: Vacation just 2 sleeps away

Bad News: Vacation just 2 sleeps away with 5 sleeps worth of stuff still left to do!

Good News: Ah, vacation...........

So Much To Do....

2007-06-27T19:23:00.000-05:00

...that I think I'm experiencing a mild anxiety attack. Which is really ashame seeing as I'm getting ready to go on vacation. A few thing on the list:

Get new tires
Pack Jed's and my stuff
Clean out all the old Avon brochures from back of the car
Pick up the skim board from my sister's house
Run to Old Navy so we aren't walking around with holey clothes anymore
Pick up Shelby's contacts
Drop off 3 Avon orders
Add more ties to the tomatoes, spray for bugs and run more twine for the peas and beans
Wash clothes and dishes

That is just the list off the top of my head. The other thing that is bothering me a bit is worrying about one of my cats. He tends to get literally pissy when we leave. When he gets that way, he pees on my bed. We will be closing all of the bedroom doors before we leave and my mother-in-law will be stopping by but she isn't really a cat person so I don't see a ton of attention paid to them.

But I'm going to try and not worry about any of this. I'll just deal with it when we get back. I need to just redirect my focus to the image of me hanging out on the beach next week. The sun, the sand, the waves, the fireworks...

There Are Few Things...

2007-06-24T15:33:00.000-05:00

...that are more disgusting than cleaning in, around and under a child's car seat.

A call to Mike Rowe just might be in order.

goodreads.com

2007-06-22T15:30:00.000-05:00

Kim made me do it again.* This time it was to sign up for goodreads.com, not that I've read but perhaps 3 books in the last 4 years.

If you love to read (or used to love to read like me) check it out. If you want to add me as a friend (or to see what I am NOT currently reading but would like to) I'm here.

Now to see if I can steal my copy of The Cell back from the teen this weekend.

*Oh my, what if her next suggestion is to jump off a bridge? What will I do?

The End of this Week...

2007-06-22T08:44:00.001-05:00

...and the beginning of something new and stuffed in between the two a bunch of rambly bullets.

I am so glad it is Friday. This week hasn't been that bad but for some reason it has felt like is has just crawled. It must have been the little things such as this morning and my Sonicare toothbrush. While brushing my teeth this morning my toothbrush kept turning off every 5-7 seconds. So I spent a couple of minutes repeatedly turning it back on to clean 2 teeth at a time instead of using the stupid brush to do it the old fashioned way. (Is that lazy or what?)

We harvested our first squash this week. I fixed some Wednesday night. It was pretty tasty however I should have put a bit of cheese on the steamed squash. Steamed with cheese is one of my favorite ways of fixing squash along with grilling, frying and steaming with a tiny bit of green pepper, onion and zucchini.

I was racked with Mother's Guilt all day Tuesday when Jed was sent home from school with a temperature over 101. My mom picked him up but because I had to teach that evening, I spent most of the day wishing I could be home with him.

8 more sleeps (Jed's reference for counting days) before we head to beach. Still haven't finalized cat/dog care.

I've spent the last two days looking outside the house. There has been a bear spotted in our area (less than a mile away eating blackberries). We have a lot of wild blackberries and I am hoping he will come and visit during the day when I'm home.

Our garage is filled with frogs (maybe they are toads) which come out every evening. In the past two days I've seen a large yellow one (which Jed picked up and then promptly scared away), a little red one that tried to hide behind a 6 pack of beer when Jed approached, a teeny tiny green one and a medium addled one that fled under the shelves when I went outside last night. Every evening now we either have to search for frogs or catch lightning bugs before bed.

Speaking of lightning bugs, I need to get Jed a new bug box. Last week we caught a couple dozen lightning bugs and brought them inside at bedtime. The next morning the box was empty, thanks to a small hole in the wire frame. Since then, I see a flash of light dart across the living room or bedroom every now and then in the evening.

I am eagerly awaiting 2 packages in the mail. I've signed up for a Mystery Stole knit along. This is Melanie's third mystery stole. After seeing her other patterns I jumped at the chance to do one. You can see her patterns here. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hanami. I have even coerced my mom into joining. I have a skein of black Lane Borgosesia coming from Loopy Ewe (my mom chose pearl) and some wonderful beads from BeadWrangler. And my mom, being the wonderful mom that she is, agreed to purchase a ballwinder so that I could borrow it. (I was not looking forward to winding 1200 yards of yarn into a ball. My last ball of 400 yards took over an hour to wind by hand)

And no I haven't finished any of my other projects. But you know what? I finally decided I don't have to. I can finish things as I wish. And if I get the greatest joy out of starting new projects, so what. As long as I'm not going broke starting new stuff, then it will be okay. Hobbies are for enjoyment and I suppose my hobby is actually starting crafty/creative projects. It feels good to let go of the guilt of leaving other projects behind and to be able to fully enjoy the start of something new.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Procrastination Pays Off...

2007-06-18T15:06:00.000-05:00

...again. (I do have to note though that this was intentional procrastination.)

Remember last year when we decided to go to the beach at the last minute and snagged a condo for 50% off? Well we decided to intentionally wait to the last minute to see if we could get another great deal. I've been checking the realty web page every day to see if they have lowered their prices and to see which units were still available. We decided to upgrade to a 2 bedroom (since I wasn't really looking forward to sleeping on the fold out couch or sharing one (1!) bathroom with 2 teen girls.) They were down to 2 2 bedroom units left so I broke down and called today even though the best deal advertised was only $200 off (which isn't even $20 off).

When the realty agent asked if we have rented from them before I mentioned the great deal we got last year and damn if she didn't match it! So once again we are going to the beach for 50% off the rental price. The condo is a block from a grocery store, a beach store, a liquor store, an ice cream shack and a fantastic pizza place. Our condo (beach front of course) should be within view of the dock where they shoot fireworks off on the 4th (hopefully we can enjoy the show from our balcony and not have to sit next to the group of rednecks from last year who were shooting off their own illegal fireworks show which nearly hit us). The covered garage is nicely situated so that I can park near the beach access so we can store the beach paraphernalia each night and we won't have to lug it to the 11th floor every night. It has a nice pool and there are floodlights on the beach each night until around 11:00 or so.

Now I just have to find someone to watch the animals and garden while we are gone...

Weight Loss...

2007-06-15T12:51:00.001-05:00

Just found out that I have lost 5 pounds over night. So has everyone in my family. A new focus on healthier eating you say? A family focus on more exercise? No, just the realization that our scale was off 5 pounds.

At least this now explains the sudden increase in weight that I noticed a few months ago which I didn't really question even though all my clothes fit the same.

(Still working on the swim lesson update and hope to get it done before I have a heart attack about said lessons...)

Kim Made Me Do It...

2007-06-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

I have swim pictures and swim stories but I suppose it can wait for tomorrow. To quote Kim "if you read it, you must answer it--either in comments or on your blog. even if you've already done it, dammit. play along, play along."

Does this mean she has to do it a second time if she reads mine? Then I have to do it again after I read hers? Where will it end???

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. You're single/taken? taken

3. Your hair? shorter

4. Your mother? saint

5. Your father? Hawaii

6. Your favorite thing? creating

7. Your dream last night? vivid

8. Your favorite drink? fattening

9. Your dream car? Pilot

10. The room you're in? office

11. Your ex? dentist

12. Your fear? loss

13. Where were you last night? home

14. What you're not? neat

15. Muffins? yummy

16. One of your wish list items? computer

17. The last thing you did? walked

18.What are you wearing? heels

19. Your pet or pets? multitude

20. Your computer? laptop

21. Your life? satisfied

22. Your mood? even-keeled

23. Missing some one? no

24. Your car? trashed

25. Your work? decent

26.Like someone? absolutely

27. Your favorite color? red

28. When is the last time you laughed real hard? unsure

29. Crush's first name? Steve

30. Dream job? flexible

First Day of Class...

2007-06-05T15:23:00.001-05:00

Today is the first day of my evening class plus Jed's first day of swim lessons.

Although I always get nervous the first day, I often walk out of class feeling a little exhilarated. I really enjoy teaching although I hate the grading. And the extra money at the end of summer ain't bad either. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the classroom. Last year the air wasn't working well in the class and we about smothered each and every class. Since it is an evening class, there has been plenty of time through out the day for the heat to gather in there.

Since it is Jed's first day of swim lessons, the class may be a little shorter than usual so that I can go with him. I'm sure I won't hear a single complaint from the students.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a wonderful report of a successful first lesson.

Drama Free...

2007-06-04T15:24:00.000-05:00

...for the time being.

The teenager is off to the beach for a week with my sister. The phone has been amazingly quiet since she left. The amount of arguing that I do in a day is insanely small. The lectures about the cell phone have all but disappeared. The tantrums experienced within 24 hours have been cut in half (after all the 3 year old is still here). The music under my roof is below ear-splitting and headache inducing levels. My chauffeuring duties are ridiculously light.

Damn, in spite of all that, I truly miss her. Only 5 more days and counting...

Five Years and Counting...

2007-06-01T10:31:00.000-05:00

Or is 12 years and counting?

Today is our 5 year anniversary. For the life of me I have the hardest time remembering our wedding anniversary. Seriously...year before last I COMPLETELY forgot. Hadn't crossed my mind at all until that evening when my husband handed me a small box. Inside was a small anniversary band with 7 diamonds. Yes I completely forget and he buys me a diamond ring. (I did make him brownies that evening in hopes of atonement...which worked. You know what they say, "The way to a man's heart is through is stomach.")

So it isn't too surprising that I was thinking about our summer vacation on Wednesday when I remembered we had an anniversary coming up and realized OMG it is this Friday. I mentioned it to him that evening and he told me that I could have evened things up for the "Forgotten" year since it hadn't crossed his mind. We ended up deciding to go out for a nice steak dinner last night (with Jed in tow since Shelby is out of town). I told him not to bother getting me anything since I was planning on stopping at the liquor store this evening for a nice bottle of pinot noir (yes Lori, the 47 pound rooster) and was also going to track down one of those vacuum sealing cork stopper sets.

I'm not sure why I have a hard time remembering our anniversary. However I should note that I'm really bad at remembering my own age. Seriously! It's crazy but I have to stop and think what year it is to remember that I'm 37 (one of the benefits of being born in a year that ends in zero...it's 2007 therefore I must be 37. I then add and subtract from that to remember everyone else's. Jay is a year old, my sister is 2 younger, etc...). I'm not a time counter. I was never one to keep track of how many months, weeks, days and seconds we had been going out. And to me, the last 5 years is just in a drop in the bucket of our relationship. I met him 12 years ago, with the exception of the year I lived in Michigan (2 or 3 months of which we were broken up) we have been together. 12 years, damn, that's an amazingly long time. Almost 1/3 my life.

But I foresee many more years. We are opposites but opposites that compliment each other. He is outdoorsy, I'm very indoorsy. He is pessimistic, I'm an optimist. He listens to Pink Floyd, Metallica and White Zombie, I prefer Jewel, and whatever is on the local country and pop stations. He prefers dark beers, I gravitate to light American beers, red wine and margaritas. He watches Married with Children, Ultimate Fighting and hunting show whileI watch Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and just about any reality show known to man-kind, even the bad ones. (The only two shows we watch together are Hereos and Lost.) For two people so different, we get along remarkably well. I think is is because we both live life in a similar fashion: with honesty, focus on family, avoidance of drama, trying to do what is right.

We rarely argue. Granted we disagree on things, but we rarely argue with one another (arguing with the teen is a whole other story). His friends are amazed when I "let" him go riding, fishing, hunting almost any every weekend without a fuss. They are so used to their wives/girlfriends throwing a fit and complaining. As long as he is willing to stay home when I need him to, I would just as well have him out of my the house for awhile and happy.

And to think, had I not picked him up in the bar that night, I might have missed out on all of this...

When Fairy Tales Become Real...

2007-05-30T10:32:00.001-05:00

Last weekend Jed and I went to visit some friends in North Carolina (Hi Lori!). We were still on the backroads heading toward the interstate, about 30 minutes from home. As I turned a corner Jed started hollering.

"Look mama, it's Tow Mater!!! It really, really is Tow Mater."

"What honey?"

"Look over there, mama!!! Tow Mater! He is real mama! Tow Mater is real!"

I glanced over to the corner and lo and behold was a real live Tow Mater.

On our way home, as the light was changing from red to green, I stuck my camera out the window and got of picture of the real Mater. *

What do you think? Is it really Mater?

*The crazy things we do for our kids!

The Garden, She is Growing...

2007-05-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

I went on my evening stroll through the garden last night. We have the bare beginnings of corn, cucumber, squash, beans, peas, and I think carrots. The tomatoes and most of the peppers are doing well (except for the 4 banana pepper plants I bought, the rest were given to us by a neighbor). The okra is looking a little pallid but I think that is due to over-watering (not that it matters since I don't care much for okra, I was just growing it for my mom and mother-in-law). We are still waiting on the lettuce, dill and potatoes, all of which were planted late. We have a couple of ripe strawberries with the promise of more to come.

Most of the stuff is really too small to get pictures of, but in the next week or two we should be rocking.

I love when stuff starts coming up. Then when the plants start producing flowers, fruit and vegetables. The weeding it totally doable right now (the crab grass hasn't made it's ugly appearance yet). Its starting to get fun and I am now just realizing that somehow I've turned into a gardener.

(I can tell you though the one thing I am NOT looking forward to is the blanching and freezing come late summer.)

Believe It or Not...

2007-05-17T08:43:00.000-05:00

I have finally finished something.

I am notorious for starting projects and the sad thing is because I have so many crafty interests (knitting, crochet, cross stitch, quilting, rug hooking, doll making just to name a few) I have many started projects.

Just in the past month, my creative juices started running again and I have started a handful of projects. At least, unlike the past, I have been rotating through them. Currently in the rotation is a 15 page cross stitch project stitched 28 stitches to the inch (just moved onto page 4), a lace knit scarf from knitty which is a little over 1/2 done, and a knit cabled hoodie from knitty (sleeves are 1/3 done).

However last weekend, during our Girls Day Out, I picked up a copy of Knitting Universe and found the cutest felted bag that I had to make. They have a doohickey thing on their site where you can see a picture of all the items in the current magazine. It is the black bag page 20-21 (be patient as the pictures may load slowly).

I picked up some wool and headed home. I finished knitting it a couple of nights ago and threw it into the washing machine last night to felt it (for those unfamiliar with felting, if you put 100% in hot water and agitation, it causes the wool to shrink and meld together into felt.) It was so cool!

The bag is made with 3 hexagons which create a very asymmetrical bag. Here is a picture of the unfelted bag from the flat side and the pointy side.

And here is a very bad picture of it post felting (I was running extremely late but was able to get a very bad picture this morning as I was running out the door. After it finishes drying, I'll take another picture.)

I already have plans (and yarn) to start another one. However, I think I'm going to make a much larger version for myself (this one was for Shelby). I think it would make a very cool project bag so it seems another yarn run to Michaels is in order this weekend.

On Borrowed Time...

2007-05-16T11:18:00.000-05:00

I stopped at Starbucks this morning for my usual Cinnamon Dolce Latte (2% no whip please). Since yesterday they have changed the menu and it is no longer listed. However they still have some of the flavoring left so I should be able to get them for a tiny bit longer. It will be a sad sad morning when I have to find something else to get (I'm such a creature of habit) and will have to wait another 9 months for it to reappear.

Oh why oh why do some products have to be seasonal? I'm looking at you Cadbury Eggs, Cinnamon Dolce Lattes and McRib.* What is on your list of seasonal products that should be offered all year?

*Okay so I've never really had a McRib, I just needed to find a third seasonal thing to add to my list.

Cocktail Anyone?

2007-05-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

This morning, Shelby was drinking a Jones Soda with her pop-tarts for breakfast (healthy I know...but at least she is eating). She told Jed to come over there and get a sip. I told her not to give him any since it is a soft drink. Jed walks up to me in the kitchen and says "Mama, I can only drink Hard drinks, right?"

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this weekend. We went out for breakfast and then came home to work in the garden most of the day. We still have potatoes, a few rows of corn, green peppers, lettuce and dill to put in but other than that, it is all planted. Not much to see now. (Actually as I uploaded the picture I realized that this was taken first thing in the morning prior to anything being planted. But all in all, it looks the same since everything is so small right now.)

Note: Brother and sister hanging out on the trampoline.

I received a new pair of gardening gloves from Jed (who promptly took off with them to do his own digging) and a new hair dryer from Shelby which is a really good thing since my old one keeps threatening to electrocute me (a loud grinding noise tends to be a bit scary as you are trying to dry your hair.)

Jed also made a Mother's Day card for me at school. He may be logical and smart but he isn't much into precision right now. The front is supposed to be a flower with his picture as the center.

The inside is even better:

"I'm going to Hawaii on a plane with her. I like to
play trucks and dinosaurs with her. I love my Mommy
that much!" (insert stick figure with open arms)

Side note: We are not going to Hawaii. The morning he made the card, Shelby has sent him into the bedroom to ask if we could go to Hawaii on a plane. I told him No, which he passed on to Shelby. But I guess it was still on his mind. But if we ever do go back to Hawaii, Jed already has the perfect outfit for the trip.

Interview Me...

2007-05-05T18:54:00.000-05:00

My first official completed meme. Interview questions compliments of Kim.

1. You can relive one day over and over a la groundhog day--which one would it be?

I have thought about this one since I received my question on Tuesday. My first thought was the day Jed was born but then I realized I don't really want to relive the physical pain of that day. My second thought was my wedding day which was almost perfect except for 3 things: I missed talking to Lori and Stephen, my aunt missed the day due to my cousin's knee surgery and the video camera had already been put up when Shelby and her two cousins joined the blue grass band in sing "You Are My Sunshine". But I'm not sure I want to stay there without Jed (plus it was a very hot day). So if I must choose, I would pick just your average mundane day, a Saturday or Sunday when the kids are behaving and the weather is nice and we are all together. But heck, I can't remember if we have ever had one of those for me to relive.

2. Peanut butter: creamy or chunky
Without hesitation, creamy.

3. What is one television show that you loathe and one song that you love and why?
One television show I loathe would be the Ultimate Fighting that my husband watches. Too much violence.
One song that I love is Good Bye Alice in Wonderland by Jewel. I love just about anything by Jewel and could probably list dozens of favorites. However this one is my current favorite.

4. What is your middle name and how did your parents chose it?
Michele, with one L. I haven't a clue why they chose it. Now on my first name, I found out that after years of denying it, my mother finally confessed that Cary Grant was the inspiration.

5. How long have you known me and how did we meet?

Fall of 1988, my freshman year of college. I don't remember the exact day we met but I'm sure it was because I was living right smack in the middle of a bunch of your sorority sisters (which shortly became mine too). I can't remember if you lived on the same floor but down the other hall or if you were on an adjacent floor. But I do remember my poor little fish dying and everyone feeling sorry for me and asking me to attend an informal rush. And the rest is history...

The rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

One of Those Weeks...

2007-05-03T13:59:00.000-05:00

...you wish you could avoid.

It started out with me coming down with a stomach virus which kept me home on Monday. My stomach is still a little funky. Next came a teenage broken heart...let me rephrase that a broken heart of a dramatically emotional teen girl. Throw in an unexpected wedding announcement (not one I'm particularly thrilled about) of another family member and top it all with a dollop of a 3 year old tantrum (complete with tears, yelling and screaming) in the middle of Walmart (which continued for 30 of the 40 minute drive home).

At least Lost last night was able to distract me from all of that for a while. And tonight I should have plenty to distract me (Ugly Betty, Survivor and Grey's Anatomy). And even better I'm taking the day off tomorrow for Jed's final parent teacher conference of the year (I missed the first two conferences due to being out of town).

If things don't start looking up soon, I may have to take up drinking. Can anyone recommend a good (inexpensive) red wine?

Shopper's Shuffle...

2007-04-26T17:32:00.000-05:00

Why is that that 9 times out of 10 when I run into a store, usually the grocery store after work, and I am juggling a rather large handful of items (usually without a basket or cart) I am suddenly overcome with an extreme need to pee?

Peace and Quiet of Country Living...

2007-04-25T09:16:00.000-05:00

...is really a misnomer.

Last night as I sat on the front porch, I was amazed at all the noise around me. My husband had heard a turkey gobble over the ridge so while he ran to the store for milk, I sat listening for it. Every 5 or 10 minutes it would gobble. This was intermixed with the neighbors dog barking, my stupid dog barking whenever a large bird flew over, a distant lawnmower, birds chirping, tweeting, eee-errring, hummingbirds zipping to our feeder just to my right.

I love hummingbird season. Saturday, while sitting outside, I heard the buzz of our first hummingbird, a large female I think. I immediately took the feeder inside to fill. So far we have had mostly single birds visiting although there was one chase. By mid-summer there will be full fledged hummer wars going on. You actually have to be careful in the front yard that you don't get in the way of the chase. I usually have 3 or more feeders available to minimize the territorial fighting but I usually have 3 males camp out one per feeder. (All of this reminds me that I need to pick up some more hummingbird nectar and a couple new feeders.)

Now the only thing I need for my evenings on the porch of peace and non-quiet is a porch swing (and a case of mosquito repellent.)

Frogs, Snails and Puppy dog tails...

2007-04-24T11:38:00.000-05:00

...don't forget the worms!

This weekend Jed and I replanted the lilac bush. It is about 3 years old and just isn't growing fast enough. So after digging it up, Jed and I set to the task of making the hole bigger so that we could enrich the ~~clay~~ soil with compost. I am looking forward to the day that I can step out on the front porch and be enveloped with the sweet scent of lilac. Here is my poor replanted lilac.

Jed's job was to cart away in his big dump truck all the rocks and slate we found. He was also on a mission to find every single worm in that hole. I think we found at least 30. Now if my lilac dies, it will be due to lack of worm aeration. Here is our fantastic worm farm. (I tried to get him to catch and release but he just wouldn't go for it.)

The cold temperatures from the last couple of weeks have taken a toll on my strawberries (even though I tucked them into the garage during the worst of it). I need to go find a few more plants to replace the ones that didn't make it. You can (barely) see the one on the bottom is doing far better than the one on the top. I think the one on the top has maybe 2 plants still alive.

The pansies however weathered the cold snap wonderfully. Every time I tried to get a picture of the pansies, Jed managed to get in the frame somehow. I finally gave up.

And I ask you, how can you stay mad at a face like that???

Double, Triple, Quadruple Crossed...

2007-04-19T23:20:00.000-05:00

...one way to sum up this week's Survivor.

Best tribal council ever would be another way. There was so much flip flopping, criss- crossing, back stabbing which all ended so deliciously. Seriously, even if you don't follow Survivor (or even reality tv) much, you really should take the time to watch this episode* if nothing else to watch looks of smugness slowly melt to realization which transform into shock and finally morph into horror. I'm still reeling.

Current episodes can be viewed for free at CBS.com . Click on the Survivor link under Innertube: Watch Full Episodes here found on the lower left.

Thank you America...

2007-04-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

It was fun while it lasted*. Good luck in your future endeavors**.

*Well it was somewhat fun before it got tiring, especially the ponyhawk.

**Okay, so I felt a little bad when he had tears in his eyes but not so bad that I want him back.

***Is it a blog faux pas when your footnotes are longer than your entry?

Figures....

2007-04-14T20:30:00.000-05:00

Just this morning I was examining my fingernails and noted to myself that they are actually looking good. They were all a decent length that was actually even across all my nails. I made a plan to paint them this evening.

Then lo and behold, this afternoon as I was grabbing a blanket (I've been freezing all day) when my thumbnail broke...all the way down to the quick.

Stupid Dogwood Winter and Murphy's Law...

My Little Pickled Bullfrog...

2007-04-12T16:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday when I picked Jed up from school I thought that his face looked a little odd. More specifically his neck. It looked like his glands were swollen. When I touched them, they were like two little ping pong balls. I had to check my own next to make sure his were as abnormal as I thought.

So off to the doctor we went his morning. I dropped Shelby off at school and then started calling the doctor's office. We live 45 minutes away from the doctor (30 minutes from town). I really didn't want to go home and then have to come back for a doctor's appointment. The office was supposed to open at 8:30. At 8:45 the phone was still playing "Our office is closed. Our office hours are 8:30 to 4:00 Monday through Friday...blah blah blah". I hedged my bets and drove to the office. Even though they don't normally do walk-ins, I figured I could at least get in before 11:00 (Jed and I could always get breakfast if we needed to). They were able to see us a little after 9:00.

The diagnosis? Strep. It barely showed up on the culture so we caught it early. Which is good. He is still in a great mood and eating well. Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in and prevent him from getting worse.

On our way home, we stopped at Hobby Lobby so I could pick up a set of knitting needles (the set I had been using for my lace scarf were too long and heavy). Jed picked out a miniature volcano. The best $1.99 I have ever spent. It is about 2 inches high and is hollow. You put a tsp of baking soda inside the volcano and then pour vinegar into the top hole. Instant faux lava (or as Jed says "waba"). We have gone through 1/2 cup of baking soda and an entire quart of vinegar. But he has been entertained for 2 hours in total (with a dinner break in the middle). He has now progressed to playing with just the vinegar, two bowls and an old medicine dropper. I need to go find him another activity because if he plays in that vinegar any longer, I fear he will turn into a little pickle.

Blingo Baby!

2007-04-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

Remember a few months ago when I won a $25 Amazon gift certificate for searching the web using Blingo?

Well my friend signed up using my link and won a $10 Amazon gift certificate today which means I won a $10 Amazon gift certificate too!!!

If you aren't Blingo-ing...you should. Click the button to join the fun!

(Clicking on the button will sign you up as one of my friends. If you win, I win. Come on, you know you want to play...)

Under Construction...

2007-04-09T13:35:00.000-05:00

Excuse the mess while I try to figure out the new (and improved!) Blogger template doodad thingy. It was time for a template update anyway, however I'm having a heck of a time trying to figure out how to incorporate my Haloscan commenting function.

UPDATE: Found a convenient update tool on the Haloscan webpage. Now onto the cosmetic changes...

Happy Easter...

2007-04-08T00:14:00.000-05:00

We dyed eggs this evening however I didn't get a single picture of the process. Jed had a friend over and it was all I could do to keep the two 3 year olds from drinking or spilling the dye. We only broke 4 eggs in the process, not too bad I think.

So instead of a picture of our wonderfully colored eggs which included the yellow cracked one with dinosaur stickers all over it, a lovely brown egg (who in the world would think to make a brown egg dye, yet someone did) and a deep green egg which we forgot to remove from the dye until I remembered it about an hour or so later, we shall revisit Shelby's egg from last year.

May everyone have a wonderful Easter Day and if the Easter Bunny hides real eggs at your house, may you be able to find each and every one of them.

Sendjaya Home...

2007-04-05T13:50:00.000-05:00

...please.

I am so over all this Sanjaya hype. Every year we go through this. Some mediocre to marginally talented American Idol contestant sticks around while other more talented singers go home.*

In season 1, we had Nikki McKibbin who lasted until Top 3.
In season 2, we where hit double with Carmen Rasmussen making Top 6 and Josh Gracin** making Top 4.
In season 3, Jasmine and her flower stuck around until Top 3 and John Stevens III (bless his little red headed heart) lasted until Top 6.
In season 4, Scott Savol lasted until Top 5.
In season 5, Kevin Covais lasted until Top 7.

And every year around this time everyone starts talking about how AI will be ruined if the less talented singer wins the competition. But it won't happen. Sanjaya will be with us for a few more weeks but I am pretty confident he won't make Top 2. The numbers won't work.

In the beginning there are so many contestants that the votes tend to be widely spread allowing the race to stay close. Some people really vote*** for who they think is most talented or who they like the most. Others vote to 'stick it to the man', to try and 'break' AI.

I believe that the people who vote honestly outnumber the anarchists. So in the beginning all the anarchist votes are piled onto one or two of the lesser talented singers. The rest of the votes are split across all the others. During the beginning rounds, everyone is pretty close, with the Great singers getting marginally more votes which leaves the Mediocre singers falling just below the Bad. But as the Mediocres get picked off one by one, the people who originally voted for them now have to choose someone else to vote for (unless they are so angry that they stop voting and/or stop watching). It is highly unlikely they will move their votes to the Bad. At this point, the Great singers will continue to gather new voters while the Bad are stalling out. During the last few rounds the Bad will start getting voted off. Some seasons it takes a bit longer to get rid of them, but by final 2, they are gone ****.

At least this is what I need to believe to keep watching this crap...

* Not that the mediocre singer has a chance to win, just that they go home earlier than they logically should.

** I have to admit that while I think Josh really didn't perform well on AI, I really enjoyed his songs that hit the country stations afterwards.

*** I do not vote. I have voted in the past but usually only 1 or 2 calls for a single contestant during the first couple of seasons for the finale.

**** In my opinion the best singer did not win each year but at least each winner (and runner-up) has pretty much fallen in the Great category, well okay maybe Better Than Mediocre category.

***** Yes it is a relatively quiet day at work today.

Procrastination Sometimes Pays Off...

2007-04-04T09:00:00.001-05:00

What happened to Global Warming? There was evidence of it the last couple of weeks, temperatures in the mid-80's. But the forecast for Friday? High of 49 and a low of 29 with threats of rain and snow showers!!! SNOW?!? What!?!

Procrastination sometimes works in my favor. My Christmas decorations are still sitting in the corner of the dining room (note to self to get them put up before coloring eggs so there won't be garland and red and green bins visible in the background when I take pictures). So it shouldn't be too surprising that all our winter clothes haven't been put up either. Good thing, as we may need them Friday to build a snowbunny in the front yard.

I did snub Procrastination last night and went ahead and pulled my citrus tree (can't remember if it is an orange or a lemon so I just refer to it as the citrus), newly planted strawberries and pansies into the garageway* for safe keeping.

*Jed has always referred to the garage as the garageway. You know the big building connected to the driveway, must be the garageway.

My Weekend, My Garden...

2007-04-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

...and my shitty dog.

Saturday, Jed and I were overcome with Spring Fever (not to be confused with the Creeping Grunge Jed has had for the past week and has finally shaken). We started out at the local gardening store where we bought a ton of seeds, compost and starter sets. So far we have seeds for 2 types of cucumbers (one viney and one bushy), carrots, zucchini, straight neck squash, watermelon, broccoli (even though I swore I wouldn't grow any more broccoli because my fear of being unable to remove all critters from in between the florets), 2 types of corn (we're going to grow a lot of corn this year), okra, green beans, sweet peas, 3 types of onions and 2 types of potatoes. I still need to get starter plants for the tomatoes (big and cherry), peppers (green, red and banana) and lettuce seeds.

How are we going to fit all of this in the garden? Well it is half again larger this year as it was last year. Now I just have to wait for the neighbor to till and then the planting can begin. (I left half of the trampoline in the picture so you can get an idea of the size. I'm going to be weeding forever!)

After lunch at Cracker Barrel, we wandered to Lowes where we bought new gardening gloves and some flowers. Jed had the flowers in the basket before I knew it and who am I to turn down a pretty batch of pansies? I was able to turn down the request of a Venus Flytrap though, at least for now. My excuse was that I have already killed one of those. I do have to admit it was harder to pass the orchids without picking one up but $24 is little too expensive for me to spend on something I will just end up killing.

We then headed home to do a little planting. We first planted the pansies which will adorn our front steps.

Next we planted some hanging strawberries that I had found the previous week. My plan is to hang them in front where I usually hang flowers (usually Million Bells). I've always wanted to grow strawberries but don't want them in the regular garden due all the rabbits and other critters. Plus it is easier to keep them watered at the house. They were a bit of a pain to get them planted in the bags.

We'll see what they look like in 2 weeks when I am able to hang them (have to wait for the roots to set). Here is what they are supposed to look like. I'm not holding my breath or counting my strawberries before they ripen. (Of course Jed woke up this morning and asked if the strawberries were ready yet, he wanted them for breakfast.)

While planting the flowers and strawberries, Jed was hard at work. (You can see how hard Newt was working too.)

Of course Hank was in the middle of everything, trying to help, trying to get us to throw his stick, trying to eat the water coming out of the hose. Be thankful that smellovision has not been invented yet. I tried my best to ignore the smell of cow shit eminating from his fur. The joys of living in the country is the close proximity of cow pastures and and owning a dog that loves rolling in it. Needless to say, when he started biting the water spray, I finally turned it on him and grabbed a bottle of dog shampoo, which was probably a wasted activity. He smells like green apples now but by mid-week, he will have had rolled in another pile. Good thing he is so darn cute! And considering all the dirt scattered everywhere, its a good thing Jed is so darn cute too!

The Scent of the Past...

2007-03-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

This afternoon Jed and I went to Basket of Robins*. He insisted that we sat outside while we ate our ice cream. The metal table and chairs were located between a deli and a new restaurant that is not open yet. The door were open to the new restaurant, probably because they were painting the interior. The scent of paint drifted outside bringing back sharp memories of college during Homecoming week hanging out at frat houses painting banners and creating floats. The smell of paint always takes me back. The all-nighters, painting banners and windows, stuffing crepe paper squares into chicken wire. The joy of meeting new people. The frustration from those who went to bed early or got too drunk to help. The panic wondering if everything would get done before the deadline. Yeah I actually kind of miss those days.

The only other smell that never fails to take me back to the past is the strong smell of fresh cut grass. That always takes me back to last period in 7th grade I believe. I was sitting in English class and we were discussing "The Last of the Mohicans". The windows were open and the sound of the lawnmower buzzed outside. It was one of those really warm days that you wished you were anywhere but school. And as I inhaled the scent of fresh grass, I recall thinking that this was a moment in time I would always remember. And thankfully it is.

Are there any smells or scents that always take you back in time?

*Borrowed from a child that I knew when I worked in daycare.

testing...1...2....3

2007-03-30T10:05:00.000-05:00

Just checking if this still works while I compose a few thoughts...It's been a long month and a half.

Chocolate Over Roses...

2007-02-16T16:26:00.000-05:00

Before I left for work on Valentine's Day, my husband handed me a heart shaped box full of chocolates. One of my favorite things is a box of chocolate. I can ration a box out for a month or two, eating 1 or 2 chocolates every couple of nights.

He called me later in the afternoon.

"Um honey? The chocolate I bought you, I'm not sure you're going to like. I just noticed the box said Strawberry Truffles."

"Well I'll give them a try."

"Are you sure? What if you don't like them?"

"If I don't, then you can give me $10 and I'll stop and pick up a box tomorrow when they will be 50% off."

So I tried them, and well, I've never been a fan of fruit flavors, especially strawberry flavored items. I might have been okay if they were cherry filled. (Boy do I love me some chocolate covered cherries.)

I'm now a happy recipient of a large discounted box of assorted chocolates. Perhaps next year, he should just hand over the 10 bucks and I'll go shopping the day after. The box is still in my car unopened. The thought of it makes me happy thinking of the possibilities inside. Choosing one piece at at time to savor and wondering if it will be a tasty one (caramel or coconut) or something less desirable (fruit flavored chewy stuff or nasty orange cream).

Forrest's mama was dead on....

Heart Shaped Boxes...

2007-02-14T09:45:00.000-05:00

...of chocolate. Who could not love a holiday that is centered around chocolate. Oh wait, its supposed to be love you say? Love can be over-rated, chocolate never is.

I had wonderful intentions of taking my camera with me when I dropped Jed off at school so I could take a picture of his Valentine bag (which is taped to his locker). I was going to post the picture here to collect my Valentines. Never plan to do extra things on a school morning.

Speaking of Valentines, we received a class list of students who celebrate Valentine's Day. There is one child that does not. He even told me today that he doesn't celebrate Valentine's Day, that he doesn't celebrate anything. I've felt a little bad for him. How hard is it to be 4 and have all your classmates gathering cards in a bag taped to their locker and to be the only one with a bag on his locker? Oh, he made a bag but he took it home to put action figures in. What is the harm in participating in other people's holidays? What harm are a few paper cards and candy treats? I went to Catholic school for 2 years and am not Catholic. I sat through all the masses and even watched everyone practice for their 1st Communion. I was so excited the one practice day when someone was sick and I was allowed to walk through with all the others. Of course I don't know his family's beliefs or his religion but that doesn't keep me from feeling a little bad that he feels that he is being left out.

Wow, did I just digress. I was actually going to provide a bit of advice on addressing Valentines. Last year it took me over 20 minutes to sort the cards into all the individual bags. Time I didn't want to take this year. Plus they kept sending home amended lists. So to make it easy, I addressed each card To: My Friend, From: Jed. It took Jed and I less than 5 minutes to deliver all the cards. He placed cards in the bags taped towards the bottom of the lockers and I took the top row. And until Jed is old enough to do his own cards, this may be the way we go from now on.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. May you get a wonderful box of chocolate (even if you buy it yourself at half price tomorrow morning!)

Beep, beep, beep....

2007-02-13T16:25:00.000-05:00

...beep, beep, beep right out of my mind.

You know that sound that large trucks make when backing up? I've been listening to it ALL day. They are reconstructing a building right outside my window. All day long they have been using a genie lift to put the wall board up on the 3rd floor. Whenever that thing goes up or down it beeps. Do you know how long it takes to reach the 3rd floor? Long enough to drive me completely crazy.

There is still a lot of wall left to cover. Time to either take a day off or at least dig out my earphones and ipod.

Is it Friday yet?

Magnetic Personality...

2007-02-12T13:36:00.000-05:00

Jed was sitting on the couch yesterday playing with a toy crane that can lift little plastic barrels.

"Mama, this won't stick to my tongue!" (as he pulls the crane line with a magnet on the out of his mouth).

"Honey, that's because your tongue is not made out of metal."

"Oh, okay."

Well Rested...

2007-02-12T13:22:00.000-05:00

I did not manage to accomplish everything on my list from Friday. Jed's hair is even longer than it was on Friday. The dining room is still piled up. Grey's Anatomy is still unwatched.

But I did manage to quilt two fish fins on Jed's quilt and made a decision on how to quilt the rest of the fish. I am almost done with the first page of a cross stitch pattern I received for Christmas. It is done 28 stitches to the inch and the pattern overs 15 pages. Here is approximately what I have finished (not a real photo of my work).

The full pattern can be seen here.

I also managed not the leave the house the entire weekend, not even to get the mail (which I am now just realizing I never got the mail on Saturday.) I stayed in my pajamas all day Saturday but decided enough was enough and finally got dressed on Sunday. And I was asleep Saturday night by 9:30 pm. A few dishes were washed and a couple easy meals made but overall it was a very low key and refreshing weekend.

Which I needed, because now I need to tackle the taxes. *shudder*

Recovering from Vacation...

2007-02-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

Last week I had the pleasure of leaving family and work behind to go a quilting seminar for a week with my mom. It has been 3 years since I last attended and it was wonderful to return. I don't have much quilting completed or even started from the seminar (although I've picked Jed's baby quilt back up to do the rest of the hand quilting. I need to get this thing finished while it will still cover his little toes.) But I do have 2 little beaded knit bags completed. Yes, rebel that I am, spent the week knitting at a quilting seminar. But to my defense, I purchased the knitting supplies (including the 0000 sized needles) at their quilt shop. Pictures will be forthcoming as soon as I get around to taking them.

And this week I've spent scrambling to get caught up at work, made only more difficult with sick kids and doctor's appointments midweek.

Why is it that you always feel like you need a vacation AFTER a vacation?

Therefore, the only plans I have for the weekend are: (1) get Jed's hair cut, (2) catch up on the last 4 episodes of Grey's Anatomy (along with a few other random shows) (3) clean the house enough to make a path through the dining room and (4) get a crafty fix (knitting and/or quilting come to mind).

Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop....

2007-01-12T12:13:00.001-05:00

or the sky to fall, or the world to end....

Things are going to well around here. I know that something bad is around the corner. And its going to be a doozy. And it scares me. Here is what I've been dealing with this past week...

The teen is being agreeable, doing what she is supposed to be doing, behaving and not driving me too crazy.
My fuel pump went out on Monday. A bad thing you would think. While getting estimates on the price for a new fuel pump I found a link about Nissan recalls. My fuel pump was recalled. Called the dealership and the next day I had my car back with a new fuel pump and it cost me $0.00.
Not only did Nissan fix my pump, they washed and vacuumed my car for me. Okay they did spray some horrible orangeish scent in there but that is quickly dissipating.
While my car was down and out, I borrowed my mom's car. A Lexus. Last night as we were on the "valley road" (a narrow curvy rural road that leads to my house) a new red Mustang came flying around the corner. He layed on the horn and the brakes, I hit the brakes. I swear the cars stopped with less than 2 inches between them. 2 inches!!!!!!
I won a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate through Blingo while searching for some information about substance addiction.
The family member with the addiction problems signed up for outpatient rehab yesterday.
On Saturday, Jed woke and and decided he was a big boy who had no need for pull-ups anymore. Just big boy underwear. He went to my mom's on Monday with NO accidents. Tuesday was one accident in the evening at mom's house. Wednesday was a horrible icky accident in the afternoon due to not pooping for two days. Thursday was one minor accident at at school. At home, he is jumping up in the middle of play yelling "Gotta potty". And although there have been a few damp pairs of underwear, he is still able to get to the potty before anything major.
And last night was the final sign that he is there! Not only did I here "Come on Mama, let's run to the potty" a couple of times last night. When he first got in the bathtub he told me he needed to get out to potty and then went again when he got out. But last night, while I was cooking dinner he disappeared from the living room. I asked my husband to go look for him and a few minutes later Jed comes running up to me to tell me he had pooped in the potty. (Earlier we suspected he need to go so I told him he could have a Popsicle BEFORE dinner if he managed to go although after the big event he forgot about his Popsicle until after dinner)

One one hand, I am almost afraid to go anywhere over the weekend although I have a birthday dinner tonight and a birthday lunch tomorrow and a birthday on Sunday. On the other hand, perhaps I should run out quickly and buy a handful of lottery tickets.

Are You Playing Blingo?

2007-01-10T15:43:00.000-05:00

If you aren't, you should!

Back in March 06, Heidi introduced me to Blingo.com. It is a search engine that randomly gives prizes to searchers. I figured what the heck, I'll sign up.

I added the little blingo search thingie to the top of my browser and use it every time I search for something. (It's hooked to Google.com so you get the same results.)

And today, as I was typing in my search items (which is a topic that I really don't want to know about but feel the need to read about due to a family member going through said problems) I thought to myself wouldn't be really weird if I won something with this search.

And damn if a big red box didn't pop up saying I had won a $25 Amazon.com gift card. Which means the person who referred me (Heidi) won the same exact prize!

So if you would like to join us in searching and possibly winning, check out blingo.com.

(Clicking on the button will sign you up as one of my friends. If you win, I win. Come on, you know you want to play...)

Picking Up Where I Left Off...

2007-01-04T10:56:00.000-05:00

...with nary a skip in beat.

Jed has been plagued with a cold/allergies for that last couple of weeks. Thankfully he is on the tail end of it with just a little bit of a runny nose left.

Night before last, he and his daddy were sitting in the floor playing Hi Ho! Cherry-O! when Jed leaned over and wiped his nose on the carpet. (Yes the carpet!!!)

So I asked "Jed do you need to blow your nose?"

Without looking up from his game he confidently replied "No, not any more."

I would like to know when I started raising a heathen and a smartass.

(I'm not even going to the list the predictable list of excuses why I haven't posted. You have all heard them from countless other bloggers: the craze of the holidays, the numerous witty posts written in mind but never make it to keyboard, laziness, sickness....so I'm just going to continue where I left off. Hope everyone had as wonderful of a holiday season as we did.)

Home for the Holidays

2006-11-30T15:15:00.000-05:00

The other day Shelby's grandparents mentioned they were going to Orlando for Christmas. Shelby's aunt's family has a condo down there that is available. They said they wanted to take Shelby along.

I have to admit that I start to feel physically ill at the thought of her not being with us on Christmas Day. I cannot imagine having a decent holiday without her. The guilt is starting to creep in. Are her dad and I being too selfish if we say that she can't go? She only has 2 more Christmases at home before going off to college (which may actually be just to the other side of town from where we live but still). And its Christmas Day people!!!

So would you let your child go out of town with another family member for the week of Christmas?

Oh the guilt of a mother...

Note to Self...

2006-11-16T15:58:00.000-05:00

After washing your hands in the office restroom, it is okay to pump a small amount of hand lotion in your hands however please remember to wait until AFTER opening the bathroom door before rubbing into both hands.

(Twice this week, I've had to use a paper towel to open the door because I needed the traction and also needed to remove the excess lotion off the doorknob so the next person does not have the same slippery problem.)

Retraction...

2006-10-19T08:31:00.000-05:00

Remember last week when I said that nothing in life is free? Well, I was mistaken. Just a couple of days ago I went over to the University Center and came back with a pair of iPod in-ear headphones, a 256k usb drive, a large salad, a piece of cake and a sweet tea all without spending a dime, or even a penny for that matter.

The headphones and usb drive were compliments of a $50 gift certificate for the campus computer store someone had given me. I spent all but 86 cents of it. After leaving the computer store, I wandered over to the cafeteria to grab a bit to eat. I looked around for someone in charge. The previous Friday was Fall break on campus so it was slow and only one cafeteria in the UC was open. Even in then, only half the stations were open in the cafeteria so I grabbed a premade turkey and provolone sandwich and brought it back to my office. After the first bite I knew something wasn't right. provolone should be a very mild cheese and shouldn't resemble the taste of swiss cheese in any way. I opened the sandwich up to make sure it was provolone and not swiss. It was provolone alright but it was provolone that was turning blue! There was a blue spot the size of a quarter right in the middle of the sandwich. I promptly threw it away since it was too late to take back since the cafeteria had just recently closed.

I finally found the head chef and explained about the horrid sandwich and he apologized profusely and offered me a free lunch.

The lessons learned here are that sometimes things in life are free (that is if you ignore the price of taking a bite of a gross sandwich) and to NEVER EVER buy a premade sandwich during any of the student breaks. (Did I mention that this is the 2nd time that I have experienced this? The other icky sandwich was a wrap that I bought last Christmas break.)

Lost...

2006-10-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

I am going to be walking around all day feeling lost, incomplete, out of touch.

Half way to work this morning, I realized I left my cell phone at home. The withdrawal symptoms are slowing beginning to set in.

At least I can keep telling myself that Lost* is on tonight so that I will be able focus on that to get me through the day.

*Part 1 of of Project Runway's finale, America's Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars boot-off show. I heart Tivo!

Nothing In Life Is Free...

2006-10-09T15:04:00.000-05:00

...including circus tickets.

Well okay the circus tickets themselves were free. But then add in the cost of the elephant rides ($7), pony rides ($6), multiple inflatable jumping things ($6 for each), toys ($5-$15), cotton candy ($3) etc...it gets to be expensive.

Thankfully we got out of there with spending just around $25. Shelby finally got to ride an elephant which she has wanted to do since she was 6. Jed decided against the elephants, instead choosing the jumping tent. I forked over $6 so he could jump only to have him bounce 3 times and immediately exit. Thankfully the attendant returned out ticket and he had a much better time riding a pony.

The best acts included the scarf/ribbon dancers (who spun, flipped and twirled while hanging on to a tremendously long scarf), the tightrope walkers (with 3 near falls that left Shelby nervous as all get out) and the steel ball filled with motorbikes (they started with 3 bikes riding within the ball and ended with 5! bikes in there all at once.)

It was a nice way to spend the afternoon even though Jed got antsy the last hour. Now I have to remember that Nothing in Life is Free when we use our free aquarium tickets in a couple of weekends.

Tic Tac Toe...

2006-10-06T21:28:00.000-05:00

The beauty of blogging is that it allows people to easily share things. Thoughts, feelings, events, pictures, stories, milestones, secrets, wishes, dreams...

With all this interconnectivity, often you learn that you have a lot in common with other people.

Take for instance Amy's big toe.

"Okay, let's be honest here. Does anyone else have hair on their big toe? And does anyone else maybe occasionally shave that hair off?"

After reading through all the comments to her post, it is a bit reassuring to know that Amy and I are far from the only ones dealing with this.

15 Years Later...

2006-10-05T11:08:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I received an email from a long lost friend. She was looking to reunite a bunch of our sorority sisters for a weekend retreat. Very quickly emails started bouncing around as a handful of us began catching up. It was crazy to think I hadn't talked to some, well most of these women in 15 years.

We picked a weekend when UT played an away game (traffic and crowds get crazy during home game weekends) and rented a lovely cabin in Gatlinburg which was perched atop a most unlovely driveway (picture a very STEEP and moss/leaf covered driveway at a funky angle from the road.)

As people arrived, we quickly fell into very comfortable conversations. Catching up on kids, families, jobs, gossip, tv (especially Grey's Anatomy). We stayed up until 2 am Friday night talking which was extremely late for many (me not included since I'm such a night owl). We all slept in which was a decadent indulgence for all. No kids waking up early, crying, fighting, demanding, needing... All weekend there were no tvs, the wine and beer flowed freely although very responsibly (unlike our college days), there was a great abundance of outlet shopping, wonderful food, many laughs, a few tears, and revival of memories (some of which are best left forgotten). Three people were unable to make it this time. We promise we didn't talk about you....much. *

It was wonderful to catch up with all of these wonderful women. It was amazing to see how so much as changed yet so much was still the same. It was as if we left off mid-sentence 15 years ago and just picked right back up with hardly a thought.

So girls, let's not wait another 15 years to pick up where we left off. And the three who couldn't make it better be there next time!

*Seriously we missed you very much and hope that you all will be able to attend next time!

Distracted by New and Shiny...

2006-09-21T11:04:00.000-05:00

My little posting area on Blogger has the starting dregs of a few entries saved however before I ever get around to finishing them I would get distracted by someone else's new and shiny new posting. So yeah, I'm blaming my laziness on those listed on the right. (I made a point of not reading a single new post today until I finish this. Oh the agony.)

So anyway, last week my house was overcome by the creeping grunge. My allergies went haywire and I lost my voice for 2 or 3 days. Talk about frustrating. Every time I tried to tell anyone something, they kept asking me to repeat it. Finally I gave up trying to talk to anyone.

Jed, too had the creeping grunge, however his was in the form of a spreading rash which started on his bottom and spread a little down his leg. After conferring with my sister, WebMD and the CDC webpages, we finally diagnosed it as Hand, Foot and Mouth (not to be confused the Hoof and Mouth disease.)

I called the doctor's office on Monday to see how long I should keep him out of school since I was 99% sure what he had. They insisted I bring him anyway. The doc came in and in 10 seconds confirmed I was right. Well there goes a copay (good thing our family doctor is so easy on the eyes...) Had I looked in Jed's lunchbox from Friday I would have found the exposure note informing us that a classmate had Hand, Foot and Mouth and could have saved a copay.

Thankfully he only ended up with a few Polka-dots on his hands and feet. The rash on his bottom disappeared quickly. His cousin and one of is classmates had more of the bumps in their mouth which made it very uncomfortable to eat.

We were all mostly healthy by Saturday which is when we did Jed's birthday party at a local park. Made blue cupcakes (both cake and icing blue as requested) with little toy dinosaurs atop each one. The kids also each got a dinosaur nose to wear. Since my (expensive) camera was stolen a few months ago (remind me to tell you the story of my stupidity on that one) I put my sister in charge of the pictures. I need go get them from her as there is one of Jed, with dinosaur nose, stopping to smell the flowers in the park.

Now I have to get ready for tomorrow and the weekend of a pitiful and pathetic teen. She is getting all 4 wisdom teeth out tomorrow. Not only is she likely to be miserable from the surgery, she is also missing out on A BIG PARTY. It's going to be a great weekend!

1....2....

2006-09-08T11:45:00.000-05:00

3!!!!

Today is Jed's 3rd birthday. He woke up this morning in a great mood. On our way to school, we stopped by the grocery store so he could pick out what he wanted to take to school for snack (kids rotate through snack duty and the teachers try to align birthday's with snack day.)

He had his heart set on bananas and strawberries. (The teachers probably hate me right now since I was not so organized to have bought the fruit last night so that I could bring it to school already sliced.) And to drink, he chose a tasty bottle of watermelon Juicy Juice.

Before I left he walked around the sun 3 times (a candle on a stool in the middle of the room) while holding a small globe. Then his classmates sang Happy Birthday to him (which he allowed...more on that in a minute) and then took turns giving him birthday hugs before returning to their "work".

Somehow I was able to leave without fussing, tears, tantrums or screams. I had to go back into the school to put his cement truck in his locker for Show and Teach (I guess Show and Tell is a little too bossy) and peeked into his classroom. He was busy placing banana halves into each snack bowl.

Earlier in the morning, Shelby tried to sing Happy Birthday to him and he was adamant that she stop. "No Bee, you are supposed to sing that at my party later." Uh oh. Being the procrastinator that I am, I had waited to the last minute to figure out what to do about a party. I finally settled on recreating last year's party at the local elementary school park (which has 2 gazebos and picnic tables). I'm inviting the cousins and 3 or 4 kids from school. Let them all play on the playground perhaps buy bubbles and waterguns or sidewalk chalk. Throw some cupcakes and ice cream cups at them and call it a pray. However I've scheduled it for NEXT weekend.

After Jed mentioned "his party" for the third time this morning I knew I was in trouble. I called my sister and asked her and her 3 kids to meet us at McDonald's for dinner. I'll stop for a dozen cupcakes and we'll call it a party. He has 3 presents to open there. A small Hot Wheels set, a hunting jacket from his dad and a gallon fish tank. After our impromptu party, I figure we will run over to the pet store for him to pick out a small frog (I've been researching on the internet to make sure I know how to care for one of these creatures.) I hope the excitement of the frog will make him forget the giant excavator he has asked for but will not get until Sunday.

Sadness...

2006-09-05T12:23:00.000-05:00

We got a call last night from Shelby's grandmother. The boy next door had been in an accident. He, along with 2 friends had taken a dune buggy out 4-wheeling. Apparently the engine died and they decided to try and coast back down. They hadn't realized that the power brakes or power steering wouldn't work without the engine running. Too much speed for one of the turns in the road and they went down a 100 foot embankment. The two boys will heal. One with a broken neck (thankfully not paralyzed) and one with many, many broken bones (6 hours of surgery, a rod in his leg, a plate in his hand). But the girl received massive head injuries. She never regained consciousness. They removed her from life support last night. Kids with so much life in front of them, 2 seniors in high school and one recently graduated.

Things like this scare me to the core. That could have easily have been Shelby or might happen to Jed in the future. Back when Shelby was in 9th grade, one of her classmates was skateboarding, went too far out into the road and was struck by a car. He did not survive. Jed was just a few months old. I asked Shelby if she wanted me to go to the service with her. I hate to admit it but I was thankful she didn't need (or want) me to go. I didn't realize how hard it would have been for me to go until I dropped her off at the service. I sat in the parking lot looking at my little boy and cried and hurt for that boy's parents.

As I now hurt for the girl's parents.

Fine Line Between Innovation and Insanity *

2006-08-27T23:09:00.000-05:00

Last week we stopped to get pizza. While Jed and I were waiting to take it home, he bought a tattoo from one of the quarter machines. I told to him to let me hold it since he would more than likely lose it. Guess what...I left it at the pizza place.

In order to calm the fit that getting ready to explode, I grabbed some markers, my special tattoo markers and told Jed that I would draw him TWO tattoos. He was the happy new owner of two rocket ships, one on the back of each hand.

The following night we were able to barter snake tattoos on the tops of his feet in exchange for a shower. (The tattoos were drawn after the shower.)

This weekend I planned on the Great Potty Weekend. I was determined to get him to use the potty more than once a day. We started Saturday morning with a fight to get him on the potty. It was not going well. He wasn't interested in anything I had to offer when a lightbulb went on...At that moment Super Potty Tattoo Day was born. We made a deal, every time he peed in the potty he would get a super special hand-drawn tattoo.

I figured if I sent him to the potty at 10, 12 and 2 (around the time he goes at school) we might have some luck. Unfortunately we were in the car at all three of those times and by the time we got to a potty it was too late. By the end of the day he hadn't peed once in the potty. However the Super Potty Tattoo Day was not a total bust. I was able to get him to sit on the potty 5 times with NO FUSSING. That in itself was a great success. So before he went to bed, I let him choose one tattoo for trying so hard all day long. He asked me to draw a dinosaur...on the bottom of his left foot. He was tough and hardly fidgeted at all while I was drawing it, well except when the tail curled into his instep there was a little giggling.

Sunday was a little bit better. He sat on the potty 4 or 5 times and actually peed once to get the matching dinosaur on the other foot. And he earned a shark bicep tattoo for taking a bath. My husband is trying to talk him into a MOM tattoo on the other bicep if he hits the potty tomorrow morning.

I could either be a genius or an idiot. This is a inexpensive way to reward good behavior and limitless in the types (well as long as I can figure out a way to draw it) and location of the tattoos (although I told him today when he asked that I was NOT drawing a tattoo on his talley). Or I could be a total idiot in that my son will be a painted man by the age of 24 with tattoos covering him from head to toe.

I guess I will figure out how to deal with a painted son when the time comes because right now I am SO tired of buying and changing pull-ups.

*apologies to Michael Kors and Project Runway

Dream a Little Dream of....

2006-08-24T10:50:00.000-05:00

...Brangelina.

I love dreaming. I feel lucky that most of my dreams are not the nightmare kind. Oh I've had my share of those but most of the time my dreams are just strange. (Remind me to tell you of the Killer Sock dream I had in college.)

Night before last I dreamt that Brad and Angelina came to visit. They brought their new baby however in my dream, their baby was actually Suri (Tom and Katie's bundle of joy and no she did not look disformed in my dream). Brad was getting ready to go somewhere (I think to shoot a movie) and Angelina and Suri were going to hang out for awhile. We contemplated going outside but when we looked out the window there were thousands of people filling the yard, most of them were dressed in concert tees or in black. Apparently there was to be some kind of concert outside. I don't remember the music however the crowd surged toward the house and next thing I know the house is turning. The crowd had picked up the house and was rotating it. I don't know if I called someone or if Angelina told me or if I just knew but the music was causing the people to be so aggressive. The last bit that I remember is that we were walking outside around the house making sure no one was hurt and I was amazed how the crowd which apparently included children as young as 5 could lift a house not hurt themselves.

Perhaps I need to step away from the gossipy news and avoid pizza before bedtime. Nah...that combination makes for some interesting dreams.

So tell me, what is the strangest dream you had about a famous person (that you can actually write about)?

No Boundries...

2006-08-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

...to what I will say or do to get clothing on an almost 3 year old.

Hey Jed, let's get you dressed. Let's put on this shirt.

What shirt is it? What's on it?

It is just like Daddy's shirt, a plain white shirt.

(Jed grabs the shirt from my hands)

Where are the planes, Mama?

Um...oops, I mean it is a basic white shirt honey.

But what IS on the shirt?

Um, polar bears...yeah polar bears hiding in a snow storm.

But I can't see them.

That's because they are hiding in the snow.

They are hiding in the snow? Oh, okay.

Important Dates to Remember...

2006-08-18T14:57:00.000-05:00

September 2 - Football Time in Tennessee

September 14 - Survivor : Cook Islands

September 17 - Amazing Race 10

September 20 - America's Next Top Model Cycle 7

September 21 - Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy

October 4 - Season 3 of Lost

Sometime between now and September, I need to clear stuff off the Tivo from last year...

Pandora's box...

2006-08-14T15:26:00.000-05:00

I just made my first ebay bid and purchase. Now I'm scouring for more great deals, hitting refresh repeatedly. Trying to decide what I can sell on ebay.

Why did I have to go and open that addicting box of commerce? Oops I don't have time to answer that question because I have to check on another auction that is about to close...

Love is Fickle...

2006-08-11T07:42:00.000-05:00

I love you, Jed.

Um, okay.

Jed I love you.

Okay.

I said I love you.

Um okay.

Do you love Mama?

No, I love Daddy.

Hmph...this is the result of me having to go to work for the past 2 weeks leaving Daddy at home in charge.

Why Me?

2006-08-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

I knew this day would come but why did it have to happen now?

Because it was bound to happen eventually. It might as well be now rather than later.

Why?

Well this way we can get it over a lot sooner.

Why?

The sooner this is over, the better.

Why?

Because it is NEVER ENDING!!!!

Why?

Just the thought of infinite the spiral this thing takes on can cause a parent to shiver in despair.

Why?

Because when a young child enters The Why Phase, there is absolutely NO WAY to completely provide a satisfactory answer to quietly and peacefully end a Why conversation.

Why?

Any answer given would still be confronted with yet another Why. You can try replying with a simple "Because." but they still want to know Why. You can try "Because I said so. " which will be followed by Why. You can even try "I don' know!" but then you will still be asked why you don't know.

An almost 3 year old will never tire of asking why mama is about to go crazy. Or why she will explode if she hears the word Why one more time. Or why her sweet darling is driving her to an early grave. Why why why?????

So, does anyone have a clue on how long this phase lasts????

May I Just Say....

2006-08-01T11:52:00.000-05:00

....eeeeeewwwww!!!!!

I had to go to my car at lunchtime. As I was walking past the Money Wall (a wall full of ATM machines near the Univeristy Center) I glanced down. I was walking down the 5 steps that go along the front of the Wall, looking where I was stepping and saw a toenail clippings strewn about. How did I know it wasn't fingernail clippings? The one that caught my eye looked like it was about 1 1/2 inches wide and 1/4 inch long. ICK! What would compel someone to sit out in public and clip their toenails? It must be the same thing that compels this young woman. (Thanks for the nightmare fodder Lynne.)

Ready to Leave the Nest...

2006-07-28T21:16:00.000-05:00

You would think that this would be about the 16 year old and how she is all ready to be out on her own. Oh no, I was just informed that Jed is ready to move out.

"I want a cat house. This isn't my house. This is your and daddy's house. I want my own house."

"Honey, this is your house too."

"No it isn't! This isn't my favorite. I want a cat house."

"Don't you like this house?"

"No, I need my own house."

Not a clue what is a cat house. All I know is we were watching a cartoon cat and a panda jumping on a trampoline when the conversation started. Not even 3 and he is ready to be on his own. It's going to be a long 15 years...

Never Say Never...

2006-07-25T11:56:00.000-05:00

...when it comes to your kids.

I am about to eat my words and shell out $100 on a DVD player for the car. For the longest time I laughed, scoffed, and joked about any car that would pass that had a kid watching a DVD. Don't kids watch enough TV these days at home? Do they really need to watch more while in the car? Then Jed and I went on a trip. Okay so it was only 3 hours to a friends house but still the thought of me and 2 1/2 year old enclosed in a small inescapable space for 3 hours was enough for me to ask to borrow my niece's portable DVD player. We watched Chicken Little both going and returning and it was the smoothing traveling ever.

We returned the player only to borrow it again last month to go to the beach. 9+ hours of driving, one way, a delight!!! (well except for the hour long span of traveling 5 mph which wasn't a delight however it wasn't torturous either). I've yet to return the player so every morning on our way to school (easily a 40 minute drive) Jed asks to watch Chicken Little. We have watched it so much he now sings along with the songs and will speak some of the dialogue along with the movie. (I need to try to record his version of One Little Slip). I've tried to get him to change movies but all he wants is Chicken Little. Which is fine by me. We no longer have fussing, whining or complaining during the drive. (And I still laugh everytime I hear "Ok kids we're playing Dodgeball. It's Popular versus Unpopular!")

So when I get paid this weekend, it is off to find a decent priced DVD player for the car. Now all the other parents driving non-DVD equipped cars can laugh at me while I get to enjoy my commute and being serenaded by my son.

I wonder if summer vacations as a child, traveling from NY to TN in the back of a Datsun (Nissan) 280ZX would have been more bearable if my sister and I had access to a DVD player?

Baby Steps of Motivations Leads To.....

2006-07-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

...baby steps of success.

There were two days of missed water and 2 extra elevator trips. Next week's goal is to improve on that.

I should be able to make up for the two extra elevator rides between taking down 2 of the 3 beds in Jed's room (crib and toddler bed) and putting together his car bed that I got from a friend's yard sale for $5. I also picked up two NICE wood dressers for $15. I need to wipe those done and decide which is going in Jed's room and what color I want to paint it. (I'm thinking white frame with colored drawers or maybe black frame with colored drawers.) I also need to try and fit in cleaning the carpets upstairs and in the master bedroom. Four cats and two kids can really wreck havoc on a cream carpet. That may be put on until tomorrow or next weekend. Of course next weekend is the Grainger County Tomato Festival as well as a birthday party for one of Jed's classmates so I doubt I'll get much done next weekend what with the Tomato Wars and all...

(In the next couple of days, I'll tell the story about the one time Shelby and her friend entered the Tomato Wars .)

Baby Steps of Motivation...

2006-07-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

Jenny, over at Big Slice declared a Month of Motivation. Okay so that was 3 weeks ago. Due to my tendencies of procrastination, I am just now jumping on the band wagon. And because of my fear of commitment (okay so it is not so much fear of commitment as a lack of will power), I am going with a Week of Motivation at a time.

This week I have committed to using the stairs at work, instead of the elevator. The only time I will allow use of the elevator is when I first come in to work, carrying my gigantiton laptop and other various junk. All other trips to and from the building will be elevatorless. I was going to allow myself to skip the stairs when leaving too, however I'm pretty I can manage to lug all this stuff downstairs. It's the UP that is the killer. The second item is to slowly start replacing my beverages of choice throughout the day with water.

Day 1: only one trip on the elevator (when I arrived), one round trip on the stairs and a bottle of water with lunch.

My plan is to add something new each week. Let's hope the will power can last a week at a time...

Green Thumb...

2006-07-13T12:30:00.001-05:00

...and yellow squash.

I now consider myself a gardner. Not only are my fingers stained brown and green, but I was worried about how the garden would fare after a week being unattended. Seriously, I really wondered how it would do without our daily walks through and loving care.

This is my first real garden and it is big. A friend of ours plowed the plot for us and said he made it large but we didn't have to use it all if we didn't want to...we did. 24+ tomato plants, 20 green pepper plants, 4 banana peppers, 3 beds of lettuce (only one of which I like), 8 broccoli plants, many rows of corn, 1 watermelon (which Jed picked out), 1 honeydew (planted more but I think only 1 survived), 3-4 cucumbers, almost 2 rows of beans (half of which were eaten when young), 2 rows of carrots, onions, 2 zucchini, and a hell of a lot of squash (like I said, it is our first attempt at gardening and we wanted to make sure we had squash). I think we are at around 15 or so squash plants.

So do you want to see what happens when you plant too many squash plants and then abandon them for a week? It took me almost 2 hours to cut and gather all of the squash.

I had 3 zucchini that were HUGE. The crook neck squash were grotesquely lumpy, bumpy and large. I even had a siamese twin squash (which I need to get a picture of).

The squash are still sitting in the wagon. I think this weekend we may have a squash throwing party and see how far the kids can throw them into the field.

Squash anyone?

Wish You Were Here....

2006-07-02T23:46:00.000-05:00

...at the beach!

I lucked out. Not only did we get a great deal on the condo, I am able to pick up somone's wireless connection in the building. Not only is this a vacation from home, it's is becoming a vacation from dial-up.

I'll try to get together a little better post tomorrow night. I'm quite worn out, probably due to the 3 trips (walking) to the grocery store that I had to make. (And I have to go back tomorrow!)

I'm going to hurry up and hit the Publish button before my free wireless ride gets shut down for the night!