just enough time off

to make having to actually come into work absolutely excruciating. I'm off tomorrow but of course back at work on Friday...
Next week back to 40 hour work week and I am dreading it already!

because I would totally insure random strangers if I could

let me start by saying I am grateful to have insurance.
That being said what a pain in the butt insurers can be at times. David had the whole job change this fall my one request was that he make sure insurance would not undergo any major changes so of course insurance is completely new and different! Let's just say I am not thrilled to be paying for my own less than stellar insurance once again and I have not completely grasped exactly how David & C's insurance works quite yet. I do know it changes again in the new year because we got some forms to fill out and return with proof that C is our child. No no proof we need both a copy of last year's taxes showing where we claimed the kid as our kid as well as a copy of his birth certificate. Now don't get me wrong I would love to be a philanthropist but at this point in time I am currently not grabbing random children off of the street and paying to insure them!
I suppose I should be grateful we don't have to submit to a blood test

before I get in trouble for not having blogged about it

David once again continues to redeem himself for that first horrendous Christmas and the whole shiny track suit incident. Although said track suit is still in my possession and can be brought out at a moment's notice but I digress. This was the year David discovered ebay which quite frankly made me a little nervous but my doubts were all for naught and under the tree was a lovely Coach bag as well as a Francesco Biasia bag and of course my favorite perfume of all time Opium and then a pair of Michael Kors sunglasses that would have been under the tree had the US postal service not had a 1/2 day on Christmas Eve well and a 1/2 day in the 26th as well but by the 27th my Christmas was complete. So Mommy had the greatest Christmas ever as well!

who's punishing who?

C forgot something this morning so David blurted out "no ps2 this afternoon" of course David was not going to be home this afternoon, the boys are having their special first annual Christmas scotch tasting so I looked at both of them and said no C can play ps2 this afternoon we'll come up with something else to punish him with. I just had a nice lunch with MIL, SIL, neices, nephew & kids I am taking a nap and C will keep himslef busy and away from me playing his ps2 all afternnon for all I care!

it was the greatest Christmas ever!

but quite honestly C says that every year so his opinion might not be all that credible. However even the grinch David proclaimed it to be one of the best holidays he could remember. And it was except for this cold making it's way through the family & MIL being banished to her room with a temperature, luckily after she had made the dressing and sweet potatoes! It was just a great day of course we got the wake up at 6.30 and by 7:15 the boy had his ps2 hooked up & going. Around 10:30 or so most David's family came over for a late breakfast and to exchange gifts, it's amazing just how many folks you can fit into this house! It cleared about 2:30 with folks headed to MIL's house, to other in-laws and David & JJ off to spring their father from the nursing home for Christmas dinner. Amusingly David "forced" C to go with his grandmother leaving behind the ps2 but as luck would have it there was a brand new wii waiting at her house for him to play with. So he managed. As luck would have it Santa brought a wii game to our house gotta love that Santa!
It was a fantastic family day with no crazy to be found. Indeed the greatest Christmas ever!

never mind boxing day

henceforth let the day after Christmas be known around the land as pajama day!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my friends, family & readers!!!

twas the night before Chritmas

Make sure you check out Norad Santa today you can track his whereabouts all day long even click on the videos to get a live feed.
fun for kids even us old ones!

and then there are the calendars

several years ago I started giving my MIL a new calendar each Christmas and to be helpful and make it special I would add all of the family birthdays & anniversaries etc...A nice little easy but personal gift until everyone else on that side of the family decided they wanted one as well. So I still have 4 calendars to fix before Thursday morning on top of wrapping, baking and a few other dishes I need to cook. And laundry let us not forget my old friend laundry.

phase II of my master plan

if all of the Christmas gifts are purchased by the 12th that in turn means I can wrap at a leisurely pace instead of the frantic night before Christmas OMG I have so much stuff to wrap. On top of which I usually have to hide in the garage & wrap on the washing machine & dryer to avoid prying eyes. As luck would have it this years C is spending tonight at my MIL's house which means I can spread out in the living room and wrap hmm probably all evening long...

I know I say it every year but this time I really mean it

Next year I am not waiting till the last minute to Christmas shop!
There will be no more 7 hour panic shop extravaganza. I will be finished shopping by hmm okay let's give me until December 12th. The 12th is totally reasonable. You heard it here first mark your calendars folks. I really really mean it this time.
no really

99th percentile

C has been a big kid from the start. Always tallest in his class or on his team and he seems to grow like a weed so I learned very early on like when he was 6 months old not to expect him to make it through a season in one size. Basically to buy clothes a little bigger than he needed and hope for the best. Shockingly it seems like we are quickly transitioning to the men's department for clothing. The upper end of boys clothing are just fitting and as I look at clothing this Christmas some of it will be from the men's department. No really shopping the men's department for my 8 year old son.
Wonder if I could get him to start smoking? or drink coffee? will putting a heavy book on his head stunt his growth any?

snow!

oh um yeah no not here in K-town but up north they got plenty of it going on! We still have rain lots and lots of rain so it'll be not so much a white Christmas but instead a damp Christmas. As luck would have it kiddo & I are not traveling north today which was the original plan I have a feeling even if we got out of here we'd be stuck at an airport for a day. I suppose sometimes things work out for the best.
Hope my folks have enough milk & bread!

yes dear I am going to blog about it....

we got new phones yesterday. You don't even need to go to the store any longer you can order phones online and they ship them to your door and then program them with one easy phone call. You can even get them free if you promise to give them your first born or something like that could be a kidney not too clear about the details David ordered them. So new phones I got the pretty green one going to miss my pretty pink phone but I like the green one, David calls to program the phones starts with mine very easy boom done hands me my phone and then I spend the next hour transferring my contact list I think I could have done it online but that involved purchasing something and they already get enough of my money. David then moves onto to his own phone and they could not get it to load or work could not find a signal who the hell knows. Customer service tries a few things and then finally transfers him to another department maybe they could help. At that point I suggested that since he was calling from his phone perhaps that was why the new phone would not load his number properly.
I was then told not to blog about this.

file under questionable

sir you may be the nicest man on the planet and the meat you are selling from a cooler strapped into the back of your pick up truck might just be the best damn meat in town, but I am not purchasing meat from a man I don't know from a cooler strapped to the bed of a pick up truck.

what's in a name?

quite a lot actually and it makes me wonder what these parents were thinking when they signed the birth certificate.

alfredo ala mickey d's

nuggets alfredo? alfredo mcnuggets? golden arches alfredo? mcalfredo?
Many many years ago I had arthroscopic knee surgery that left me on crutches & not driving for 8 very long weeks. David was having to do everything including all of the shopping & cooking. One night after a long day of chauffeuring me around to my job & physical therapy as well as a full shift at his own job he served up a lovely alfredo dish made with yes McDonald's chicken mcnuggets. This was back before the frozen dinners included the chicken and he didn't have time to swing by the store buy chicken then cook it so he cut out the middleman and swung by Mickey D's for a couple of orders of mcnuggets. It was a source of food that evening, edible but far from incredible and thankfully never repeated.

must try of the day

eggnog yogurt from Target! it is very good and the crasin granola is a nice mix in as well. I need to pick up some more of this stuff and soon as I suspect it'll just be seasonal.

file under the thought was nice

but what was she thinking?
MIL returned a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt that C had left at her house um well ironed and on hangers. Has she met his little rumpled self?

now it's beginning to look like Christmas

while my tree was up the day after Thanksgiving it sat undecorated until yesterday afternoon-hey give me a break I am a busy woman. I bought a new tree this year a pre-lit one to save me time except at home & out of the box it is a crappy tree so crappy I thought about using our very old tree & spending an hour detangling lights but we carried on & just used the not very heavy ornaments. I will be hitting the post-Christmas sales in search of a decent fake tree. For me one of the things that makes the holiday so very special is the ornaments. Growing up each year each member of the family got a new ornament then when I married I got several boxes full of a various assortment of my ornaments as well as other family stuff. Our first Christmas I dragged the Grinch David out to pick out his very own ornament for that year and after that I just started picking something for him, once C got to the point of choosing his own I have him pick something out to give David as a gift each year. It gives me great joy to look at our tree and see the bejeweled fan that was picked out for me when I was just a toddler (maybe an infant I just know it is near ancient) next to the snowman C made in daycare when he was only 3. It makes me feel happy and closer to my family and at the the same time a little sad that I won't be able to see them for the holidays this year.

snow day

hmmm yup did not get one. Shocking I know. Good thing I made my nine bazillion cookies last night although I believe I caused a rift in my marriage by telling David he could not sample any. Yes I should have made an extra batch but I had exactly enough for the teacher's cookie exchange. I suppose I will make more this weekend. So back to the snow day or rather lack there of.. I still turned on local news this morning because lack of snow is not necessarily an indication of school cancellation C anxiously watched with me and got excited when he saw Knox County scrawl across the bottom only to have his little hopes shattered at it being Knox County KY
maybe next time buddy...

rain rain and more rain

bleech I feel like a drowned rat and my house smells of wet dog. I am sick of standing water on the roads & in parking lots, my clothes being damp and looking at my yard full of muddy nasty puddles... I was going to say well at least it isn't snow but looking at the forecast it might be snow tonight. I hope we have enough bread, milk, eggs & toilet paper 'cause I am not going near a grocery store this afternoon! A snow day might be nice but I wonder if I should bake my 8 dozen cookies for the PTA for tomorrow? If I don't it'll stay rainy but if I do school will be closed tomorrow and I will have 8 dozen cookies at the house..maybe I should get more milk

grand theft baby Jesus

when we were first married like a million years ago one the the neighborhoods we would drive through would put a beautiful creche in their yard each holiday season. It was a very nice manager scene with what appeared to be wooden figures, maybe hand carved, just read as not plastic plug in kind. But what would drive me ever loving bonkers each year would be the fact the Jesus figurine was in the manger the entire season! You do not put baby Jesus in his crib until Christmas Eve!!!!! I always threatened to steal him then put him back when he was suppose to be there but I never did. Who knows I might run a reconnaissance mission this weekend...

cookie exchange

so I am kicking myself for not organizing one this year! My SIL seems to be frequently involved in them & they always sound so much fun. Maybe next year...I did however sign up to bake 4 dozen for the PTA sponsored cookie exchange at the school this Friday. Am I crazy or what? Luckily I found the easiest cookie in the world to make courtesy of Pillsbury-buy pre-made chocolate chip dough bake in mini muffin tins and as you pull cookies out stuff some chips of your choice onto the top of each cookie-I used the white & chocolate swirled this past weekend and they were very good. Just got an email that they were still short a couple of volunteers so like an idiot I will probably offer to make another 4 dozen maybe with the peanut butter dough for a little variety.

sentimental or just weird?

the collection of baby teeth in my sock drawer? why was I saving them?
Yup those have to go!

certain stereotypes die hard

Nazis were bad guys. Always the "good" villian on televsion or in a film and they should have sharp features, menacing eyes and a severe German accent. I just don't think Tom Cruise is going to fit the bill for me so pretty sure I'll will be skipping Valkyrie

the case of the missing gloves

let's get Nancy Drew on this asap!
I bought 6 new pairs of gloves in the beginning of November. New pairs because God only know where all of the pairs I bought last season went to. And yes C grabbed the last available pair this morning! This is not new and each year I threaten him with having to buy his own gloves if he doesn't start finding some of the missing gloves but it's not usually so early in the season.
He better watch out or Santa is only going to bring gloves not toys.

christmas request #276

C wants "one of those insect phones"

muffins for mommy

and more importantly they had coffee for mommy at school this morning! We must be moving up in the world it was actually good coffee & they had real creamer, unlike the primary school who only ever offered the powdered stuff. I wonder if we'll get flavored creamer by the time we hit the intermediate school? and then who knows Bailey's Irish Creme at the high school? I don't know if I missed an email or a flyer but they were also trying to raise money for the Empty Stocking Fund, a very worthwhile cause and I was grateful for the freak coincidence of having cash in my wallet that I could donate, it didn't look like they were taking credit cards. My only complaint would be some of the parents seemed unaware that the parking lot is considered part of the school zone. Wow slow down you idiots! and sadly David no I don't think they have a donuts for dad morning...dads once again the short end of the stick.

peanut butter

if I had only known the ridiculous amounts of peanut butter that would be consumed in this household I would have bought stock in a peanut farm. Personally I can't stand the stuff I'll eat it maybe once a year by choice or by necessity if I haven't been shopping. The boys on the other hand have been know to eat the stuff by the spoonful, C has it each & every day for lunch and it is a frequent breakfast ingredient as well hence the need for the 20 gallon jug of pb. Even oscar loves the stuff! After watching a program on sandwich shops this weekend the boys are all about Peanut butter & Co. A little pricey but luckily available at local supermarkets, it'll be be a treat and not everyday pb and most certainly not offered to the dog! The dark chocolate & cinnamon raisin swirl have been huge hits so far selection has been limited so we may have to order the maple, honey & spicy kinds online. Maybe Santa will bring some...

the wearing of dead animals

I am not taking any sort of moral stance here come on I wear leather, am a meat eater, in fact my favorite meat is little milk-fed baby cows that aren't allowed to walk so while I have zero desire to own one the idea of a mink coat does not offend terribly much. I am however curious about the when & where of well wearing them. the Kroger? or perhaps the full length mink on campus this morning? Now maybe she was going to a lunch
or something but the coat just seemed a little out of place on the campus of a community college. I'm thinking if I owned a mink it would only get worn on special occasions, out to dinner, social functions maybe church not just roaming around town but who knows if I had one I might indeed where it everywhere...

glad we only have the one

because he won't stop talking to me, following me, asking questions, asking for food, can he have a hug, what about television, can he play computer, can he join this web site, what about that one, ohhh what can he do now, is it time for dinner yet, what are we having? Oh my God if I had more than one person doing this today I would wind up in a sanatorium. Heck if the one I got does not stop soon I might wind up there yet. Although if there were another rugrat maybe they could bug each other and leave Mommy alone?

let the Christmas season begin

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we set & it forgot it

here is our lovely leg of lamb cooked to yummy goodness in our Ron Popeil Showtime Rotisserie. I made fun of David to no end when he first ordered this after a bout of insomnia back in the old days before we had a computer and he called one of the many operators standing by....however this was one of his genius purchases this thing is great and we honestly don't use it often enough now that is resides in the garage so I have forgotten how little muss & fuss is involved in preparing dinner.

food prep

I probably should have started some of this last night but where is the fun in all that? Deserts are finished and most of the sides are prepared and awaiting oven time. C is the official family brownie maker, he does a good job with very little help from me. The lamb is the main course but quite frankly and even if I do say so myself I make kick a** side dishes. The usual suspects corn casserole, creamed spinach, rice dish, green bean casserole and this year I am trying my hand at the southern staple of mac & cheese. No no real mac & cheese not the out of the box stuff I grew up on & usually prepare. It looks good and I used my cute turkey shaped pasta I'll let you know how it turns out...

having to head to the store

yes I did jinx myself we do need a few things this morning. We could honestly make do for dinner lacking the couple of things I added to my list but we absolutely can not survive without trash bags! I suppose that would be the one drawback to C having chores he doesn't think to tell me when we are running out or have run out of something.

taxpayer field

one of many things that irk me is the seemingly endless practice of corporations getting stadiums & arenas renamed after them. I understand corporate sponsorship, lots of money blah blah but can't they find another way to get their name out there? naming every skybox or parking garage after the sponsor? or even street names perhaps? plastering logos over everything? something, anything other than taking away the personality & history of these venues. After all it did not work out so well for Enron field and now the diabolical plot to rename Shea Stadium is in question. With the current bailout some NY politicians are suggesting renaming the stadium Taxpayer field!

third grade extortion racket

in the midst of getting ready and trying to get out the door yesterday C comes into the room, closes the door over and does his serious face and the dreaded I need to talk to you about something. He then proceeds to spill a story about how he had pushed X but only in self defense but that T was demanding one dollar and a bakugan or he would tell Mrs H. I did refrain from laughing but told him it would be okay and tell T to go ahead and tell on him he wasn't going to get in any trouble a day later. I think T's career path as a mob enforcer might be numbered as he had apparently forgotten about the entire incident.

probably jinxing myself

but I have all of my grocery shopping done for Thursday-even the wine! I can avoid the craziness of the stores tomorrow & just get the house cleaned up and maybe just maybe get some laundry done.

the pumpkin pecan cake

almost did not make it to the school this morning! The PTA was throwing a pumpkin themed snack thing for the teachers so I pulled out my bundt cake recipe book and found the only pumpkin cake recipe listed & signed up to make that. For some strange reason my regular sized bundt pan as gone AWOL so I used the more decorative but smaller sized one which meant leftover batter and I made a couple of muffins and OMG they were so good. So good in fact I will put a pumpkin pecan cake on the menu for Thursday, maybe the problem being David & I also make a kick ass rum cake and it is rum cake season...

Turkey Day

several years back situations changed and the big family holiday defaulted to us and while we have in the past hosted the whole damn family as they say most Thanksgivings are an amalgamation of friends that generally wind up here after their own turkey day festivities. As we stick with the non-tradional type fare-leg of lamb this year-everyone is usually interested in have a second meal over here which is always fine except for I have no idea how many or if we are going to have anyone over this year which makes my shopping list and food prep a little tricky...

anyone have a daughter I can borrow?

in my overly enthusiastic Christmas spirit mode I really want to go to the Fantasy of Trees this year and maybe even go see the Nutcracker which was annual holiday fare for me for many years. I could drag C along to this stuff but I fear it would indeed be dragging.
I might be able to talk him into Fantasy of Trees we've only been to that once when he was 2 maybe 3 his daycare marched in the little parade dressed up as penguins it was cute as hell. He wasn't technically old enough but the daycare was short a kid and since he has always been so big for his age they snuck him in to the lineup. He even got Santa's autograph big doings I tell 'ya.

saturday breakfast

growing up we would always go out to breakfast on Saturdays and I miss that! We would go to the diner-and boy do I miss those living in the South-my brother I would sit on either side on the booth and feed quarters into the jukebox courtesy of our grandmother and enjoy our pancakes or french toast. When we got older my parents found a new haunt(and yes Chris you guys should go next time you are in Dbury)where you can still find them each and every Saturday. It is always a highlight of the trip up North although I wonder if is more family tradition than anything else because while my brother & I will always get up & drag kids along our spouses always prefer to sleep in. For years now poor C always tries to order biscuits, he does not understand the North/South divide just yet.
I keep thinking we need to start getting up and going to breakfast but for some reason on the weeks we have nothing going on we are very lazy on Saturdays and breakfast is pretty far from an organized event. Maybe next weekend...

christmas cards

not only have they been ordered, they arrived on my doorstep yesterday! No expedited shipping costs or mailing them out on December 23rd hell I even have the holiday stamps in my possession. Can I really be that organized this year? It is really a wonder we still get Christmas cards at all as last year was the first time in 4 years I had sent them out. I finally just gave in and send out the photo cards, honestly people just want to see how much the boy has grown since last year and who needs idle chit chat on a card? Personally I am a huge fan of the Christmas letter. I love them! I used to pour over the ones my parents & grandmother received whether or not I knew the sender because they are just hysterical.It must be a generational thing because we only get maybe 1 a year and only from a friend of my folks. My own father apparently did a letter several times, he might still I can never get a hold of one to read it!

what is up with fall break?

now you are going to change it? I have been a critic of fall break being a full week off in October since they started it two years ago. For my student is has been disruptive academically. And quite frankly it means I have to pay for childcare for a week in October, we don't have the money to jet off someplace for a week in October or for that matter in March but I suppose they can't do away with spring break as well what would the Florida economy do?
That being said David & I decided to start saving for a proper vacation. Not that I don't enjoy visiting family for vacation but it would be nice just once to do something touristy. Maybe involving libations with little umbrellas for a change. Anyway the plan was to go to Disney next fall break.
For a week.
Fall break has been reduced to 2 days. Could they not wait just 1 more year to change the schedule?

Twilight

do I give into the hype? I suppose I should at least give the books a try. Hell I still need to read the Harry Potter series. Seen all of the movies but not read any of the books as of yet. hmmmm that might be a great Christmas idea for a certain young man that I know and that way Mommy can borrow them when he is finished.

just do not like his music

Tom Petty
and while I am at it not all that keen on Bob Dylan. Oh and The Beach Boys, Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd sooo do not get them either.
So there it is then it's all I got tonight....
I really need XM radio.

no feminism around here this morning

it is the man's job to clean up the dead mouse

some sort of goldfish moment?

My crazy little boy..okay so he is not sooo little good grief he gets bigger every day I think. Anyway..we popped in to the grocery store yesterday and the lovely new mega-mart Kroger has toys yay what a faboo idea folks. Like an idiot I left him in the toy aisle and when I returned he was trying to talk me into some nerf gun thingy and he "would pay me back when we got home" I of course reminded him that his money was restricted for the time being and besides Christmas was coming really soon, maybe he should consider a list of things he was interested in receiving. Okay fine until literally a foot down the aisle Star Wars action figures appear he "really needs Commander Gree" and the conversation from just seconds ago is regurgitated almost verbatim.

if retail sales are down....

they forgot to alert the folks at Turkey Creek this afternoon! good grief after I picked C up from his soiree we were going to prowl around Borders for a bit and by the time I realized what a mistake it was I was committed to trying just to get to the store, which we did but then could not find anywhere to park. Literally no where to park!!!
I bribed him with a magazine from Kroger and a promise to go to Borders again maybe in January

birthday party etiquette

before I knew what was coming out of my mouth I had somehow let David off the hook and offered to take C to a birthday party today.
My dilemma being do I stay for party or just drop off and pick up? When he was younger I stayed. I stayed but unhappily when did the parents start staying for those things? As he got older I started just dropping off and escaping on my own for a hour or 2 but this is a 3 hour extravaganza at a fun center with lots going on and I don't know how much help the mom is going to need. Hell there are some years when if I could skip C's party I would happily do it those places are so very noisy and filled with annoying children-my own included I might add..
Oh well guess I'll grab a handful of ibuprofen and be on my way

evidently I need a time out

just hollered at C for moving the gift card for tomorrow's birthday party...except I had not taken the gift card out of my purse.

Dear Mr Pillsbury

or can I call you doughboy?
I have a problem, I can not find your microwave biscuits in any of my local grocers any longer, did you stop making them? I am a Northerner(read as never learned how to make biscuits from scratch) so your biscuits are a hit in my household. The regular frozen biscuits are great & do taste better but they involve cooking. Have you ever tried managing that at 6 in the morning while trying to get yourself ready for work and your 8 year old to the bus by 6.50? 30 seconds vs. 16 minutes? Microwaving does not involve opening eyes to get the correct temperature on the oven set, forgetting to remove the cookie sheet from the oven when it is already hot, waiting for preheat to finish, remembering to put the biscuits in the oven to cook, doing simple math so you can tell when the biscuits will be finished, I am not a morning person these are not simple tasks while sleepwalking!

the impossible assignment

checked C's agenda on Monday to find a writing assignment that he had 40 minutes to work had not been finished in class and was being sent home so he could finish that evening. My gut reaction was oh hell no this s**t was not starting again what would the punishment be? I was relived to discover the assignment had been how I prepare a turkey for thanksgiving or some such nonsense...
Quite honestly how in the hell would he know? We never have turkey for thanksgiving! I am not sure when or why but David & I usually have a rib roast or leg of lamb for the holidays and I might throw a small ham into the mix if we are having a crowd but never turkey. I reminded C of some preparations that happen at Grammy & Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving but in retrospect I should have just pushed him to write what we actually prepare.

maximum caffeination

my favorite 20 oz weekend coffee mug....

anyone have a bridge they want to unload?

my dear sweet son's latest caper involves joining a band.
Evidently his only expected contribution is buying the instruments. The lead singer was going to hold onto the money. I only got wind of this because little Esmeralda's mommy called me asking if I knew anything about this because C gave up all of his cash.
all $180 of his cash
Oddly enough I would have discovered the problem on Friday myself because I was taking him to the bank to deposit his money into his savings account. His biggest concern last night was that he was going to get kicked out of the band. I pointed out that he already has a guitar and can start his own band.
Niece #1 summed it up well "it that was nice, dumb, cute and innocent all at once".

hope

I have all sorts of things whirling around my brain this morning not much of it cohesive at this point. I did not get enough sleep last night or enough coffee this morning. I hope and pray for President-Elect Obama he will have a difficult road ahead and like so many black men before him he will have to work harder and do it better.
For me one of the most moving parts to the evening was watching Jesse Jackson with tears running down his face witness to the very history he helped make possible. Somewhere along the line his thinking and path derailed into nastiness but last night all was forgiven and he was I hope remembering his roots and passion and all the sacrifice of so very many that made all things possible last night.

VOTE!

come on people not just a right it is your responsibility to vote today!
Plus you can get a free donut, coffee & ice cream. Unless you already early voted like I did and did not get an I voted sticker ahh well all of the shops would involve trips out of my way but I am thinking the Ben & Jerry's would be a worthwhile excursion.

it's beginning to look a lot like...

I was horrified at Wally-world yesterday to walk into the store and see smack dab in the middle of the entrance a decorated Christmas tree. And if that was not bad enough Christmas music was playing in the store. Now I love Christmas. It is by far hands down my favorite time of year but growing up Christmas was strictly forbidden until midnight on Thanksgiving. It is a policy I adhere to in my household but this morning I found myself looking through holiday cookbooks thinking about menus and perhaps a little cocktail party as well as the New Years Eve annual bash. At least I have resisted the urge to throw a Christmas CD on!

decent haul

considering halloween is on a Friday night this year. Come on folks we live in the south Friday night means high school football games, and there were lots of dark house along our normal route let me tell 'ya! But a good time was had by one and all, we hooked up with one of his buddies and walked with them for a bit & C got more than enough good stuff that mommy can pilfer he can enjoy!
btw helpful hint kids always say thank you it scored C an extra piece of candy at one house!

All Hallows Eve

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15 years and counting

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Happy Anniversary to my brother & his wife and here's to another 15!

Dewey defeats Truman

the latest scuttlebutt 'round the interweb is the fear that this election might turn out like the one in 1948. Had Dewey won our family history might have taken a distinctive turn. My great-grandmother was an early feminist, suffragette and all around incredible woman, widowed at a young age raising her daughter with her 2 sisters they ran the store as well as the newspaper in the little Missouri town of Martinsburg. Gran was very involved in politics and a frequent delegate for the Republican Party, nominating Dewey, Eisenhower & Nixon. Family lore has always been that if Dewey had been elected my grandfather would have become Surgeon General. What an interesting twist that would have been.

Jimmy Hoffa might be in there

really need to clean out the freezer this weekend. I am guessing we probably have enough meat I could do without shopping for a week or two at the very least, we have copious amounts of popsicles leftover from last year's tonsillectomy and several tubs of cookie dough from last year's buy cookie dough for the school or you are a bad parent sale. In an ideal world I would really like to inventory what we have and have it written down someplace so I can check my list before grocery shopping. hmmm that would work really nifty for my pantry stuff too. Can you imagine how much easier life would be if I would just try to be a little organized? and we might not have 20 cans of cream of mushroom soup on hand either.

and this is why I hate fall break

or at least a full week of fall break...
-first day back 3 assignments he has not finished in class today, he only brought one home tonight to work on not all of them although he swears he did start the others, he just didn't want to have tons of homework
-he at least admitted it was because he was talking to his friends that he did not finish his work
-one was cut & paste a bat together or something equally challenging why you can't do that & talk is beyond me
-forgot his glasses at daycare so he won't have them in school tomorrow
We had him back on track before break them wham bam a week of vacation and he thinks he can goof off again at school. Luckily we are doing the agenda so we can rectify the problem straight away
My learning curve seems to have kicked in(or so I hope) instead of yelling & threatening I think my calm & rational I am very disappointed tone hit more of a nerve with him (again so I hope)

happy monday!

fall break is over & back to reality thank you very much. C did not want to go to bed last night I know he was still up when I went to bed around 10, no idea when he finally went to sleep. I briefly toyed with the idea of letting him sleep in & then driving him to school but hell no if you stay up that late suffer little boy. I have avoided the drive into the Intermediate school thus far-3 schools feed into essentially 1 entrance so I vowed early he would be taking the bus every day for the next several years. Somehow he managed to get ready in time and we headed down to the bus stop. Idle chit chat with some of the other parents, just waiting for the bus, and waiting, and waiting. Once the bus was 15 minutes late we headed back to the house for the car & I drove C in, so we totally could have slept in a little longer..who knew? The drop off was no big deal the other 2 schools do start at different times and it was still very early so the car lines were not crazy yet. Although I will say it doesn't seem to be handled with the precision you see at the Primary School so we'll continue to avoid it as much as possible.

cheeks..not just for pinching anymore

okay who knew that lamb cheeks would be so down right melt in your mouth tasty? Honestly not me but when we heard that was the appetizer du jour last night at Northshore Brasserie we thought WWBD(what would Bourdain do)? We agreed he'll eat anything so we should be adventurous & order them and of course the escargot for David, followed by pork tenderloin & lamb shank then apple crisp & creme brulee. Start to finish the meal was exquisite far better than one would expect of a restaurant in a strip mall despite ringing endorsements by Missy and many many folks on twitter. I am anxious to try the mussels next time as well as try their brunch and quite frankly have already picked that as my birthday dining experience even though we have a few weeks to go on that!

terrible mother alert!

that's me, bad bad mommy at your service. Got a phone call from MIL first thing this morning, first thing in as I had not even walked into the kitchen to make coffee yet first thing-
"C has been coughing & wheezing he sounds asthmatic and that could lead to pneumonia and you have to take him to the doctor"
now I am well aware of the cough he has had one for a week or so as well as some allergies which is why when I dropped him off yesterday I pointed out the vicks vapor rub to put on last night & the OTC allergy stuff for evenings & mornings, which is when he is at his worst. I have finally learned a thing or two in my 13 years of dealing with MIL so I said sure I will make an appointment this week. Well that was not good enough I needed to take him to one of those weekend clinics which quite frankly I do not do-look at what happened last time! I am just not the type to run him into a doctor at every sniffle and lo and behold he has made it to 8 in fairly decent health, he never did contract TB! I managed to get off of the phone without calling her a loon and called David at work so he could deal with his mother. David didn't give me details but I think we are planning on dropping off a humidifier for her house which should help. Hopefully she has been pacified but I guess we will see, I half expect her to drop him back home putting a crimp into date night.
afternoon update: dropped humidifier off & he seems fine so I have cancelled the order for the iron lung

taking to my sick bed

hahaha pretty funny stuff. No went to class, I am at work now, have lab this afternoon, pick up C, get Halloween costume, make dinner, do dishes if I remember to get soap for the dishwasher and probably laundry thrown in at some point for good measure. I miss the days when I got a cold and I could go back to bed and have people fetch me juice and ginger ale, ginger ale with the bendy straw no less 'cause that is the true testament to being sick, the bendy straw.
My voice is starting to catch a little so I am hoping that does not mean laryngitis, always some fun stuff. It reminded me of when C was a toddler and he heard that I had lost my voice the funny little quizzical look on his face "where did it go mommy? I will help you find it" ooo why is my cute little monkey growing up so fast?

spoiled much?

so the C missed winning the baby board by 20 minutes. But no no wait MIL announced he came in "second" and won $50. I'll let him keep the money in his wallet a few days longer but then I am cleaning it out and we are putting it into his bank account. I swear most days that child has more cash on hand than David & I ever do.

what do you call your MIL?

no no I mean to her face.
It never occurred to me to call MIL anything but her given name. She isn't my mom, I have a mom that I call mom why would I call MIL mom too?

fall break

not all it's cracked up to be when you are a "mature student" or non-traditional student that's the nice way of putting it isn't it? Since I am so incredibly part-time all it meant for me was no class on Tuesday & no lab on Thursday and all that really boiled down to was more time I could spend at work so no real vacating on my part.
Now C has a full week off for fall break this week. Crazy no? a full week! I do not like it one bit give them a long weekend for Columbus Day or something okay fine but I think a full week off now is disruptive. Why not give the full week at Thanksgiving? Quite a few children(including my own)usually wind up taking it anyway so people can travel or have their tonsils out or something. We have nothing on tap just paying for his care for 4 days this week and he'll get 1 day with MIL which is a vacation onto itself for him.

day of reckoning

by the by I am happy to report the report card was decent! I was relieved B & C mostly but a fair amount of A as well and I was happily surprised it was better than we had expected so yay C job well done my boy

blog geek

it's what David is calling me lately, well today and it's because I am heading to Nashville very last minute, spur of the moment with Missy to attend Blissdom tomorrow! he thinks I'm a geek now can't wait till I broach the subject of attending Blogher next summer

baby baby baby

okay I have no stats what so ever but he was born just after midnight last night. I got to hear it thanks to modern technology & MIL who called me just before the blessed event happened. Yes just after midnight poor C did not win the baby pool.
I am looking forward to meeting my grand-nephew later today! Many more pics to follow
got some info born at 12.20 am he is 7.5 lbs & 20 inches long

costume time

let me start by saying that I am not the sort of person who dresses their pets. Not judging anyone who does I just don't. But Lord help me at Target I actually browsed through the pet costumes. And not just browsed I almost bought Oscar a costume.
A pig costume
Puggy the pig.
I refrained but don't be terribly surprised to see puggy the pig staring back at you on Halloween. And quite frankly I blame C I got exactly 2 Halloweens of picking out his costume. 2 that was it! By the time his third Halloween rolled around he was 2 and in daycare and when I came home with the cutest Kermit the frog costume(if you follow the link I did not pay the $89.99 they are charging for it this year I won't pay over $30 for a Halloween costume, 89.99???), he took one look at it and ran into the other room. I couldn't even get him to try it on so back to the store we went and exchanged it for a Bob the Builder costume. Ever since then the costume is entirely his decision so really it's his fault if I had a couple more years of picking out cute costumes I wouldn't be considering torturing the dog.

and still no baby update

thought I was going to be able to tout the latest for bringing on labor-raspberry tea evidently helps bring on the contractions and apparently it did for a little bit, enough for the entourage to set themselves up a the hospital at 9 pm last night but alas they sent the gang back home because niece #1 was not dilating or progressing. She amusingly had convinced herself they would just induce her why I do not know. She started hitting the tea again last night and I suppose a call to the doctor is first on the to-do-list for today. C is hoping she holds out till Thursday that's his pick on the board.

afternoon update: they are back at the hospital did a stress test on niece #1 and an amnio to check on the baby's lung development. Just heard want her to incubate a day or two longer and if she does not go on her own will induce on Thursday. Now a word or two on the baby board that was started-I did not buy in but was offered the 16th last Friday when she was dilated to 5cm and we thought she was going into labor ha ha no thanks. Joking about it yesterday & C piped up he wanted the 16th he had money and that was going to be his day. I tried to talk him out of it, that it would be a bad bet & a waste of money but to no avail and Meemaw offered to put the $10 for him. Anyone care to check and see what date Thursday is?

random Saturday

-looks like the baby is actually going to make his arrival this weekend luckily much closer to his due date. Niece #1 is dilated to 5cm had a few contractions yesterday but her water has not broken yet. Her husband is on his way from Oklahoma today. She was keeping her legs crossed or something to prevent giving birth last night
-it must have worked we did not get any middle of the night text messages or phone calls
-MIL is very happy she can't wait to send everyone on their way and have her house back although personally I think she will miss the chaos
-C is doing better at his school work & managed an A on a social studies project. He also did a little report on tigers for extra credit that turned out really well. Big thanks to his teacher for giving him the opportunity
-I on the other hand should have studied better for my last exam-got a C but lowest exam score does get dropped and she is giving us extra credit so I will take advantage of that.
-the lab practical I rocked-very happy with that grade!
-my brother mentioned his 9 year old(she would be niece #4 chronologically) has a email so I asked C if he would like one and signed him up this morning.
-thinking about letting him start a blog
-David's birthday was kind of quiet he was suppose to go to Florida again but with the recent job change it was not possible
-we are planning a Sunday brunch with the family but baby birthing may throw a wrench into those plans
-my birthday is next and I am thinking something girly like a spa day
-wish I was headed to blogher with missy & cathy! But I am seriously entertaining the idea of the possibility of blogher 2009. maybe.
-my house needs a good fall cleaning
-I still have way to much laundry to do
-C is trying to convince us wesss is a curse word, but as David said is is just the opposite of east. We think he might be going for wuss? but who knows C certainly doesn't

happy birthday!

lordy lordy look who's forty 39!
Happy birthday David!

that one

I don't think it was meant to be necessarily insulting. To me it seemed a little bit more like when your grandmother can't remember which one of the kids or grand kids she is talking to and goes through a list of names before she settles on the correct one.

Grease is the word..

one of the benefits to working in a music store would be well the music! Saw the Grease soundtrack and decided it would cheer me of my rainy day blahs and indeed it has.
The film brought controversy to the neighborhood back in the day, there were 3 of us that were BFFs on my street and our mothers had collectively decided the film was not for our 10 & 11 years old selves. Except one of my school friends was having a birthday party and sure enough it involved going to see Grease and a sleepover(there were always sleepovers at that age) so my mother relented and let me go see the banned movie. It took quite awhile for the girls to get over my betrayal

patience

it's a virtue.
it's a virtue I do not possess.

some more SNL fun

first of many friday nights to come?

had to stay up and wait for C to get home from a football game.

bless her heart

I don't think the Governor answered a single question put forth to her did she? I gave up around 10 o'clock and went to bed. She clearly can handle herself in a debate but come on the bar was set pretty low. I seriously doubt any one's mind was changed last night but they should have been. If republicans wanted a woman in the VP slot they could have poked around a little more to find a more qualified woman to fill the position.

not getting away with nuthin'

so little boy didn't hand something in yesterday-I guess all he can manage of behaving & doing all of his work is 1 week at a time. I must admit I probably did overreact & lit into him then I made him call both of his grandmothers to tell them he had a bad day. For the past week he has been calling them to let them know how well he had been doing so I wanted him to know the flip side was going to happen when he screwed up. And I keep saying screwed up but it was 1 assignment and I know this will be an ongoing issue but I would like him mostly on the straight & narrow as far as school is concerned.
the funny thing is C "accidentally" called and left the message on my mom's cell phone not the home phone which is the only number we ever call when calling my folks. My mom has a cell really only for emergencies she hardly ever uses the thing and never mind texts or even checking her voice mail for that matter!

I thought the boy was cured

from the whole allergies thing! Wasn't the surgery last year suppose to fix everything? No apparently not because the debilitating allergy season in K-town conquers all in it's path. Got a phone call from the school clinic this afternoon at around 2.15 C had a belly ache-it's all about the sinus/allergy crap we go through this every fall so I told him to go back to class for the last 1/2 hour & I would leave work to pick him up from daycare early. There was no way to make it from work & pick him up without getting caught in the bus & car lines at pick up and quite frankly no not for a vague sort of bellyache anyway. I fell for that once just once last year and no more. And he knows that so I was concerned he was already back to slacking off at school but a quick email from his teacher reassured me he had a good day academically. He came home & slept for a bit had the "sick" dinner of toast, applesauce & ginger ale then after a shower declared himself cured.

who says

everybody should own a home? I know someone who should not have been given a home loan and surprise surprise surprise they defaulted on the loan & lost the house not at all shocking when you look at their financial history. I am by no means perfect and am well aware circumstances for folks can change on a dime but a little common sense would not hurt the industry!
When we married both David & I had less than stellar credit but we worked to improve it so we could buy a decent house. And when the time came to purchase we bought a house we could afford not the mortgage we were approved for!
oh and stop asking me if I would like to open a credit card every time I purchase something! First of all if I wanted a credit card I would ask and secondly 10% which while is a discount it's only the tax so not much of a savings in the long run!

too much time checking my email

because I have 6 accounts including work school & personal stuff!
Seriously it seems a bit excessive..not to mention trying to remember what password goes with which email.

little boy is growing up

the big bedroom purge on C's bedroom has begun!
We are cleaning out everything so that the bunk beds & desk MIL is purchasing for him will actually fit into his room. There are tons of toys that he just doesn't even look at any longer never mind play with. C has the ball rolling with 3 garbage bags full, if I had the time I would do a garage sale but we are going to stick with Goodwill this time. I did have to rescue a few items Shrek & his little elephant/rattle were 2 things I couldn't part with!

so much for family time

C is off hanging out with his grandmother
D has gone to watch the football game with some friends
and I am stuck under house arrest(light switch on my car is broken)
I thought we were going to go to a hot air balloon festival this evening my mistake
guess I'll start another load of laundry

it must mean something?

so I am checking in some election relates merch I brought into the store both the same I {heart} and whichever candidate you are hearting, I bought both however cost on the McCain sticker is a quarter more than the Obama one.

I am only half kidding

when I say my mother wouldn't be nearly as upset if one of passed away.
Sadly their pooch Bonnie is going to be put to sleep in the next couple of days. Of the 3 dogs they have had this one is the one most like a person, she will be missed.One my favorites memories of her was when C was a toddler (maybe 3?) mom & I were cleaning up after dinner and heard peels of giggles coming from the other room we went to investigate and found that "doogie likes pizza" C was chewing a piece then spitting out on to the floor for Bonnie to scarf down
I wish I had a decent photo of her but she was always absolutely freaked out by cameras

updated Wednesday

baby news-is there is no news neice #1 went from contractions every 1/2 hour to nothing and now she is only allowing us to ask once a day if she is having contractions-she is very cranky
kiddo news-meeting went ok but to be quite honest some of the behavioral stuff I just could care less about he is an 8 year boy and while not "good" it's age appropriate behavior and things that can be handled at school
raise your hand during class instead of blurting things out
kicking ball in a tree-don't do that again
taking someones magazine-don't do that again or damn it child don't get caught, not a sneaky bone in the boy's body but again that is more her problem in my opinion.
As far as the school work is he is doing the bare minimum(or less)not something we haven't heard before but it seems that there is more leeway to dick off in 3rd grade. He is barreling through worksheets(again when he does them) so he can sit in the reading area with his friends and read books. So as far as I am concerned he can't do that any longer I sent him a workbook to work on today if he has "free" time. We are putting more checks and balances into place for him that will involve all of us. Creative writing seems to be a bit at issue as well so we are going to do some work with that as well-luckily David is the writer in the family, but if he has trouble with math or science I'm his girl! We shall see I am quite sure this will not be the end of it all but we are taking it one day at a time

the parent-teacher thing

with well C's teacher-I'm doing fine at at school & seeing as my parents live in CT a parent-teacher meeting would be a little difficult to coordinate, but I digress.
The short version of the problem is C is not finishing or in some cases doing his work in class and when given the opportunity to take it home and finish he well did not do that either. He also tends to be very chatty & disruptive in class. This first came to light a couple of weeks ago we hoped to avoid the go to school meeting and thought we had resolved the issue in emails, C was talked with, punished, allowed to make up his work etc. The next week he had a great week there were just a few worksheets that came home Friday to finish and he got A's in his weekly folder. Great we thought problem solved. But no last week it was back to slouching off, talking during class times, work not turned in etc, he was getting a zero on 1 writing assignment but is heading to a lot more zeroes if he does not start turning this stuff in with no opportunity to make up the work. So more talking, more punishments and we have to go have a meeting with the teacher.
I am really hating this part of parenthood and yes in the grand scheme of things this is not such a big deal it is only 3rd grade but it has me very stressed out. He does have new glasses and the teacher moved his desk closer to hers which will hopefully help plus my mother gave me some ideas and the teacher seems willing to help so I hope tomorrow goes well. I must admit some amusement to the whole permanent record which has been floated about several times now-for God's sake could they not come up with something new? I promise my 3rd grade permanent record has not to date affected my life at all!

glasses update

it has apparently opened up a whole new world for him!
Just wish we had realized how much trouble he was having, now I just hope this helps improve things at school!
and can I just say(yes I know I'm partial) but is he not frickin adorable?

the shysters are at it again

just got back from grocery shopping and sure enough just like last fall there were kids out in front of the Kroger selling their $10 coupon books for $6.50. It just does not seem very sporting to me.

Mr. Clooney

don't want to like his films but almost always do!
I finally saw Michael Clayton last night and shock of all shocks enjoyed it. Once it was over David & were discussing why we liked it and decided upon the 70's film making it seemed to project we could totally see Robert Redford in the George Clooney role, maybe Gene Hackman and of course Max van Sydow would have been some sort of villain.

baby update

so my last update a few weeks ago was incorrect I misread the text message niece was at point that is .6 cm so not so close to birth, whatta expect the phone screen is small! Jump ahead to now and about 33-34 weeks she went off bed rest last Friday, finished up with steroids over the weekend then stopped the anti-contraction medication on Thursday. She has been having some contractions and is dilated to 2cm so it does indeed look like we will have a new baby in the family this weekend!
Of course we are hoping that active labor does not start during the UT game or she might wind up delivering the baby on Alcoa highway....
UPDATE 12:30-contractions are every 20 minutes or so!

so much for baseball season

this was next punishment on the chopping block
3rd grade may very well kill me

mom of the year

yeah still not me...
C recently complained he was having trouble seeing the board so I made an appointment with the optometrist for both of us, I was due for my annual anyway. Honestly I had considered it might be a bit of subterfuge on his part as he seems to be having trouble with the 3rd grade transition(deserving of it's own blog one of these days). But good grief the minute I saw him trying to read the eye chart poor kid yes he indeed is in need of glasses! They should be here in a week or so pictures to follow.
I of course needed a stronger prescription on my contacts, wonder how Oscar would fair as a seeing eye pooch?

feeling left out

I might be the only blogger in K-town to have not blogged about the gas gouging going on here in tow...oops not any longer.
Hot on the heels on the sky is falling method of pricing can we expect the same at the grocery stores when Mr Howell calls for a flake or two of snow?
I don't know that I am prepared to pay $8 for a loaf of bread or $10 for a gallon of milk

cannot remember

last time I watched SNL but this is some funny stuff

never mind

what I said last year!
fried oreos are the way to go!

tooth fairy

oops forgot to leave her a note or send an email last night.....
C swallowed the one he lost yesterday so she had know way of knowing to stop which is what indeed happened with the very first tooth he lost when he was 4 yes he started early, my mutant baby.
So what does the fairy leave at your house? personally I got a quarter when I was a kid but with inflation and all she leaves a dollar at out house these days

9/11

today has been a day like any other in my life lately, get kiddo up, breakfast,lunch, on the bus, go to class, work, back to school, grocery store, make dinner, start laundry...life goes on.
I was fortunate not to have lost anyone that day but if you are up for a good cry(and we all know I can tear up at the drop of a hat)head over to a beautiful letter /metrodad wrote to a friend he lost in the Twin Towers a mere 7 years ago.

the stuff they don't get

C was singing or his version of "rapping" something about mother with a different mother yesterday morning, I believe it was meant to be brother with a different mother but it was not something I was going to correct or explain at 6.30 in the morning.
This morning he was going on about mother of a different color so I pointed out the he indeed had a mother of a different color and wherever he picked that up it wasn't meant to be nice thing

do you ever lose blogs?

or I should say bloggers that you enjoy reading?When I am stalking reading blogs I follow I tend to follow links or check out what other people like to read and quite often I find new people to stalk follow my problem comes when I forget to bookmark them and then there is the some are bookmarked at home, some at work and some I think oh I'll just remember them and in fact I rarely do. I thought about adding a bunch to my blogroll and I still might but that might takeover my whole blog all by itself

kids are stupid

so C is friends with a boy who is disabled/developmentally challenged I have no idea what PC term is currently being used. I was talking with the boy's grandmother this morning at the bus stop (she is raising the child and in my opinion should be up for sainthood!) and she asked if C had mentioned anything about the older kids taking pictures with a cell phone. The bottom line being the older kids are making fun of this little boy taking his photo, having him laugh into the cell & recording it and maybe taking pictures of the other little kids as well. So I need to ask C about it this afternoon and I tell you I am tempted to tell him to kick somebody's a** tomorrow but I won't for many reasons. I am not concerned with C's ability to take care of himself he has been well versed never to start a fight but he damn well better finish one if someone starts in with him. Ultimately he is very sweet natured & mean kids have always seem to bewilder him. C just can't understand what they have to be nasty about and admittedly neither can I. And while we're at it why does anyone that young need a cell phone?

fall ball

C had his first baseball game of the fall season yesterday he had base hit, a walk & hit by a ball, it was a good game and his team managed to come from behind & tie it up 10-10 apparently a tie being as good as a win in this league. He has moved up to the Roberto Clemente which is coach pitch for 2 innings then move to kid pitch. It really changes the game for them as they learn, I suppose the key is to score as much as you can the first 2 innings or hope you can get runs walked in as the kids start to pitch which helped our team, that one child was a pretty bad pitcher. You had to feel sorry for him he was trying but it just wasn't working out for him. C knows he is not very good at pitching and shows no real interest which is good David & I have seen way too many episodes of Real Sports that have focused on how pitching hurts young kids! Plus it seems to fall under the odd category of things David did in his youth that he doesn't want C to do-pitch or play football in that category currently. I think he plays 3rd base very well and David thinks he is better in the outfield, although he is pretty strong as catcher I guess we'll see they still move the kids around each inning in this league.
I am curious about the no gum rule this is the first time we have come across it chewing tobacco ok but gum?

the fair is back!

it started last night and we all know how much I love the fair! TVA fair was loads of fun and we had a great time last year. Why on earth had I not gone before? Plans are for a trip next Saturday with the gang I kinda wish we were going today but C has a baseball game this morning and I think we are cooking out this afternoon weather permitting I suppose. Not to mention he has school work to catch up on(more on that a later time) It was such a crazy summer that we didn't get the chance to cookout half as much as we usually do. I think we are going to try to put together one more big cookout it won't be a Meatfest but we'll see what we can come up with.

a little political snark to start the day

I can't take credit one of my friends posted it on facebook and he heard it from someplace else so no idea where it originated but it brought a smile to my face this morning
Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a governor

fried chicken phenomena

shortly after David & I married his grandmother died and I was introduced to the fine Southern tradition of showering the grieving family with buckets, boxes and hell maybe even bags of fried chicken. Seriously there was chicken for days! Being a northerner some sort of pasta dish was always the covered dish of choice for a grieving family. Anytime I send something down here it is generally a baked ziti because I know they'll have plenty of chicken, ridiculous amounts of chicken The added benefit is that the recipe is easy to double and it'll take care of dinner here as well. And I guess I'll be making one this week as a friend of David's family passed away suddenly last night. I did not know him very well I usually saw more of the wife but it is shocking to think wow 58 he was so young...

but isn't it Labor day?

I have lived in K-town for 16 years now and I have never quite understood the concept behind Boomsday(huge fireworks display set off of the bridge downtown for the uninitiated) I get the ohh & ahh of the fireworks but why Labor day? I have been a few times and it is fun but the traffic sucks and my job being on the south side of the bridge it's mostly a minor inconvenience each year. It also affects business which played a part in the decision to close today and do inventory, oh joy, I hate inventory but being salary and having worked each and every inventory since the beginning of time I sort of had no choice.
What sucks was my boss was unloading two passes he had for tonight on the Riverboat it included free drinks, dinner and a river view of the fireworks..oh the really sucky part was I couldn't use them!

sequels

just caught the tail end of Ocean's Eleven which I find to be a cute, silly and an enjoyable film. I also enjoyed Ocean's Twelve although I find it comes off as a hey let's all hang out and make a movie again sort of movie. But by the time the got to Ocean's Thirteen good grief that one was just horrible and a waste of time even with Al Pacino! I sincerely hope they won't even consider a Fourteen

funny the menu was not mentioned

the past few friday nights we have wound up at MIL's for dinner. I was so tired I couldn't see straight yesterday afternoon and C had some sort of stomach thing going on so I told her the 2 of us would pass, David went and casually mentioned something about lobster this morning.
No one said anything about surf & turf....

four eyes?

one of the things C brought to my attention yesterday afternoon was that he was having difficulty seeing the board at school so I called and made an appointments for both of us at the eye doctor. fun fun I got my first pair of glasses when I was in third grade. I was sort of hoping that this was one genetic trait that would not get passed along...

left sheep of the family

back to life

well sort of I took today off from work mainly because it the first of my crazy Thursday adventures this semester. I am taking a basic biology classes as a pre-requisite for micro-biology next semester. I took an Advanced Bio in high school many many many moons ago so I am hoping the class will be more review type stuff for me and based on today's lecture this will hopefully not be very taxing it seems pretty basic. Originally I had registered for a Saturday lecture which of course got cancelled because I was only 1 of 2 to register for that lecture. That would have made my life so much easier but no such luck so I picked a twice a week early lecture which should hopefully work well for me, I can get C on the bus then head out to class and be to work by 9.30ish. Being an early class meant that parking was not too difficult a nice benefit I did not originally consider. I am taking a lab on Thursdays as well from 3-5 which means leaving early from work and going to that as well as having MIL pick C up & drop him at tae kawn do for me, where I will collect him after my lab.
I took today because well I'm tired, need to do laundry, collect Oscar the superpug and run a few other errands plus the whole class/lab thing as well. I sort of hoped to grab a nap someplace along the way but don't see that happening

home again home again

I am looking forward to seeing my boys, sleeping in my own bed, doing laun..alright not looking forward to that but I have a suitcase full of dirty clothes & I suspect a basket or 3 at home as well.
It's been a good trip we found some good new lines & products to bring into the store. The past several years I have travelled by myself so it was nice to have company & she has a good eye not to mention she is 14 years younger & knows better some of the things I might have passed on. As far as Vegas we didn't do so much which was disappointing and to be honest I like to travel on my own even when David & I have been out here we tend to split most evenings when we are gambling the only time co-worker actually wanted to go out on her own was about an hour last night when I was ready to go back to the room. So I did not do too much gambling because I don't like someone hanging over my shoulder hell even at slots I doubled my money and she urged me to cash out, I didn't think it would be very nice to tell her to buzz off so we went to see the water show at Bellagio-which has the best dinner buffet in my estimation. Paris is the best breakfast and had I been on my own I would have headed over this morning early before we have to head to the airport but I am being polite & we'll grab something at the airport.
So another long day of travel ahead which sucks but hopefully the little televisions in the seat work better this flight, plus I have a book or two to keep my occupied then back to crazy buys life tomorrow!

dinner

getting old

or just pathetic?
after a long day of travel co-worker & I grabbed dinner and turned in by 9 granted it was midnight for us but the clock said 9! I didn't gamble a dime! although one of the machines did call out to me so might need to visit that today.
Good night sleep woke up early but having a roomie meant I couldn't turn on a light & read or turn the tv on finally logged on around 5.30 local time-again 3 hours behind what our bodies are use to. She is ok to travel with but had called boyfriend 1/2 dozen times yesterday-isn't young love grand? I talked to David once and texted him once, still love & miss him but we are only gone 4 days not 4 weeks.
Bally's is good but we got a crappy crappy view ah well at least beds are comfy!
Now we are going to get ready grab breakfast at the buffet in Paris and off to the show to buy some cool stuff for the store!

fun filled friday

an fun indeed it was.
C woke complaining of a sore throat I essentially told him that's nice have some tylenol & juice you'll be fine when you get going-it is allergy season & all. He ate breakfast just fine and was his normal crazy self at the bus stop with his friends. I went off to work only to get a call from MIL the school had called her and C was sick needed picking up. Now she is an emergency contact for him and in fact was available to pick him up but I was a little put off that they had called her first I am his mother and all..So called up to the school only to find out C had suggested calling her first because I was at work. Alright fine in the future I get the first phone call.
Work was busy especially since I will be out for 4 days next week. I think I covered most bases although I need to shoot off a few emails at some point before Monday. The co-worker I am traveling with was getting on my nerves a lot I really hope she snaps out of it before we travel. I was dithering about what time to meet in the morning you see this is a Bristol weekend and it always is or at least has been for the 10 years or so that I have been traveling to Vegas on this specific weekend. This means the airport is a little bit crazy with race fans returning to whence they came. I mentioned all this and later in the day got the "Bubba(her annoying boyfriend also a co-worker) well he's from Bristol and says we shouldn't worry about the extra people" really does he fly this weekend every freaking year? dumb a**! We are still gong early to the airport.
Ran a few errands pre-travel stuff I have more today after David gets off work. C just has a cold nothing too exciting but no need to drag him around K-town.
Dinner at MIL's-shrimp, fried fish(snapper maybe) & oysters very yummy stuff hung out with nieces and nephew plus BIL & SIL an enjoyable evening but I took the kiddo home around 8-ish to get him home & in bed. Got home let superpug out to romp in the yard, got knock on door several minutes later he had escaped and neighbor call caught him. No biggie saw where I thought he had wriggled out of gate, fixed area put him back out. David came home we watched some tv about to head to bed, went to let Oscar in and no Oscar. I luckily noticed the message light flashing on the phone-someone the next street over had found him wandering and took him home so he did not get run over! so I went and met them half way to retrieve our crazy pug. This morning I discovered the other gate a little askew which I was his escape route so fixed that and no more Houdini tricks. I hope.
Lot's of laundry on tap for today, need to clean some, pack and still do some shopping. i really need a pedicure & maincure but am thinking I might splurge at the spa at Bally's tomorrow afternoon.

Vegas baby! Vegas!

I must admit Swingers was one of those OMG what a great movies that eh I can take it or leave it I don't really get the appeal.
Now Vegas itself I get the appeal. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to go on a buying trip there each summer. Although industry and store situation being what they were I didn't get to go last summer so I am excited about this year's trip! And in spite of what the naysayer hubs says I do go for work 4 convention centers worth of product in fact. It doesn't all apply to our store but it is so much fun to wander the booths. So work during the day and at night it's Vegas the restaurants, shows, casinos and gambling-the grown-ups Disney. I am not exactly a card shark but blackjack is fun and in spite of slots being a waste of time I am under the (probably misguided) impression that one day I will hit it big-I did win $400 once not exactly really big but better than a slap in the face 'ya know.
Pre-C days David would come out with me but for the past several years I have been going by myself which does not bother me in the least. I actually enjoy the alone time but this year I got talked into bringing along a co-worker and I am really hoping that won't be a mistake. Oh well I suppose if it is it'll be just that much more to blog about right? positive spin right?
So have a million and one things to do before we leave on Sunday both here at work and at home not least of which is deciding the wardrobe and co-ordinating shoes. MAGIC is a major fashion event can not show up looking slubby, need to hit the bookstore long travel days need some new stuff to read plus I need to get a bag for the laptop can't leave home with out that now can we? And to top it all off C got sent home from school early with a sore throat today, no fever or anything so I am hoping it is no big deal!

15 years old

just children, boys, really babies one ends his day in a pine box the other a jail cell.
This morning's shooting has let me very disturbed and unsettled.

will Barry be playing?

there is a new establishment going in next door to us at work seeing how the last one didn't work out so well...
we are getting a sports bar and night club the Copacabana no less!