Christmas music

I have loads of Christmas CDs but with the advent of cable systems that do just about everything but wash wash your dishes and the 24 hour Christmas music channel I have not drug a single CD out of my collection this year and well the season is waning as far as Christmas music is concerned..ah well maybe next year

racial identity

with as pale as I am the fact that C is a light skinned as he his was a shock to no one. I'll go so far as to say he is passin' well maybe not in the summer time when he tends to mocha up a bit but I digress. As a toddler he was confused by the 1/2 black 1/2 white thing he tended to view it in zebra terms "this half is the white half etc..etc" As he is growing up he is identifying more with his black half. Last year okay it was the elections and at school "the black kids were all voting for Obama and I am one of the black kids" of course I pointed out more importantly in that particular case we were democrats but again I digress. His video game avatar is always clearly black and no not African American my husband's family has never been to flippin Africa and yes I now how not PC of me well too bad. What I found amusing yesterday was the discussion of an older video game he played that had Derek Jeter and "did you know in the game he was BLACK" what the hell was up with that was the gist of that conversation so I pointed out that well Mr Jeter was indeed black just like you my dear boy.

sleeping in or not as the case may be

I have become an early riser not by choice mind you and I am still cranky as hell when getting up in the morning but I am generally speaking up by 6 in the morning each and every day even on the weekends when I can in theory sleep in..except I cannot. The only time when it seems like I could actually sleep in would be those odd Saturday mornings when David has to go to work and so the alarm has got to be set and well let's face it even when he is being quiet David is not so very quiet. So yes those mornings I am up early too although I will admit to going back to bed in the early afternoon when at all possible.
My dear sweet son C is not an early riser and school mornings are a bitch to put it mildly or for that matter any morning he has to get up and we have to be someplace in a timely manner. The exception being when we are headed to CT to see my folks then well then I wonder if he hasn't been in his clothes all night so he can hop up & jump in the car..love his grammy & grandpa he does. Of course weekends or any other day he does not have to be anywhere he is up by 6 reading and raring to play video games or be fed which luckily he is old enough to handle the food thing on his own.

damn the environment

so when I win the lottery I am gonna have some put freshly laundered sheets right out of the dryer on my bed every evening okay okay maybe not in the summer but all the rest of the year! gotta love clean warm sheets

just want to go live in a cave

because people are stupid and I just need a break...mind you I need the cave to have running water, electricity, heat and of course high speed internet access. Come on I may be teetering on the brink and all but I'm not completely crazy

my heart may very well burst

have I mentioned I have the sweetest most kind hearted kid on the planet?? I am sure some girl will come along some day and squash all that..but another blog for another day perhaps today today this Christmas my heart is gonna burst with pride and love for my son. Waiting on David to do Christmas I let C open 1 gift and he happened to choose a tech deck thingy they has apparently "wanted his whole life" I didn't get into the whole well they haven't been around your whole life why ruin a moment right? Evidently one of the kids at school John Doe had given one like this to C as a Christmas gift this year but John Doe did not get all the boys a gift so C gave his gift to his best friend..is that not the sweetest freaking thing ever?

happy belated birthday

well to me actually! David and I are headed to Atlanta for the weekend and there a million reasons why we should not go the weeekend before Christmas but we are and I am looking forward to it!

down to 9 days..

tree up. check
cards mailed....um not so much
cards addressed?...good question
cookies baked?..errrr uhh
gifts purchased..hmmmm
the ones you have to put in the mail?...uhhhh
the ones you have are they wrapped yet....well okay not so much
crap can we push back Christmas by about a week????

don't get me wrong I am grateful

to have health insurance really I am however it just changed and it isn't quite as good as it once was and I already have found myself not going to the doctor because I did not want to spend the money...which once again I know I am lucky to have insurance but I honestly don't know how those without manage....I don't even know where to start a tirade because it is pathetic that this nation can't get their head out of their butt's long enough to actually try and rectify this problem

almost like clockwork

I am a buyer for a stored have been for many many years now. Each holiday season one of the owners takes note of what other similar stores in other markets are selling in their gift guides & online specials etc and inevitably I get a cavalcade of emails asking hey what about this? should we carry this too? why don't we have this stuff? and the ever popular look at this....
And inevitably every single solitary flippin' year if he would take the time and look at the merchandise in his own store there would be no need to send me goofy emails a point which I make to him every holiday season but sadly it's a point he never actually gets!

the little germ factory I birthed

seriously I never use to get sick quite as often as I do now...I blame the kid

welcome to 42

had a birthday yesterday and this morning I go in for an ultrasound to take a looksie at my gallbladder....and I thought 40 was the new 30 not the new 60
and health issues aside I had a lovely birthday weekend, busy but lovely and I am so looking forward to the weekend in Atlanta with David!

this forecast brought to you by...

your local grocery store.
let the snow panicking begin

Christmas is how many days away??

crap now I am doing pretty okay in the gift buying department but hell the tree is not decorated, the yard isn't either, cards have arrived but I have not even begun to start envelopes, there are cookies to be baked, rum cakes to be made, cheer to be spread...damn I do not have enough time in my day 'cause I have a ton or stuff backed up at work not good product needs to be on the sales floor so it can sell, have a ton of school work due in less than 2 weeks including 2 exams, several social events are planned and then the big belated birthday weekend in Atlanta the very weekend before Christmas. I am tired just thinking about it all..maybe I'll go to bed now and gather strength for the coming weeks
I should really add Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year always has been even working in retail I love this season..I would really like to be able to enjoy it once in awhile because at this rate next time I blink it'll be Valentines Day

the snoring conundrum continues

after a rough night of sleep or rather lack of sleep one of the comments I always get from David is "why didn't you wake me or tell me to roll over"
So last night I did several times not even all the times..suffice to say he did not get up early for work as originally planned..I guess someone kept on disturbing his sleep...

redecorated the bathroom this weekend

okay so maybe I just bought a new bath mat & shower curtain
you say 'to-may-to', I say 'to-mah-to'

is santa coming to visit?

C has conceded there is "Mommy & Daddy" Santa but there is still Santa coming too..pretty funny I have even flat out told him it's okay Santa will still bring gifts but what the hell I still get presents from Santa well technically Klaus Von Bulow but that is another story unto itself

yay for the interweb

for someone who did a whole lot of scoffing at those black Friday and/or earlier Christmas shoppers I have an amazing..well amazing for me..amount of my shopping completed thanks to a few clicks here and there this weekend. Dare I say maybe I'll even start wrapping once they arrive?

going to have to be honest here

while I miss my parents terribly and hate living 800+ miles away from them and hate not being able to spend most holidays with them quite frankly I am grateful not to be shoved into a car for 12+ hours today on the return trip from CT. I hate that trip with a passion I am not a fan of the road trip or rather any road trip that lasts longer than well to be honest more than 4 hours...any much more than that and I would rather poke sticks in my eye
that being said I would happily have packed the car & headed to spend the holiday with them..it sucks living this far from my folks

dear black friday shoppers

I think you are nuts

Happy Turkey Day to you & yours!

the power of suggestion..or the start of the great eggo wars

big news story of the week would be the looming eggo waffle shortages and voila empty eggo shelves at the grocery store...I am gonna clue you freaks in you can buy pancake mix & a waffle iron and make your own waffles in minutes..and guess what they taste better!!!! I know hard to believe but it's true! You could also do something really crazy and make a double batch, freeze them and then toast them whenever you like..amazing homemade waffle what will they think of next????!!!

heading towards the finale..

the latest Top Chef season is drawing to a close and what with Project Runway having finished this past week I am about to enter a reality/competition conundrum!
Eli my favorite chef to start out with was eliminated just this week and his former boss and former Top Chef-er Richard Blais wrote a really great blog about him. I still really want to try out ENO and will hopefully get the chance in the not too distant future. As the season has progressed my loyalties did change and I have been a devoted fan of Kevin Gillespie whose restaurant I will be dining at as part of my birthday weekend in Atlanta and hopefully again when the girls road trip again in the new year!

do we even have crime in West Knoxville?

okay so bad enough you are going to shoplift at a grocery store...then get caught...but what switch in your head says hey I know I will run over the cop trying to arrest me?!
and quite frankly I don't endorse shoplifting but times are tough maybe you need to steal to feed for your family but no no not these guys detergent, starter fluid and hot sauce? what the hell is there some new kind of meth made from hot sauce or something???
Glad we went shopping on Monday and missed all the excitement

it's Monday..again?!

so soon?!?!
really?????
did you know that next week is Thanksgiving? and gulp a mere 39 days till Christmas?
good grief we do even have Thanksgiving dinner planned or Christmas cards ordered....
ack let the holiday panic commence

so tired I could cry

what on earth was I thinking going back to school?!
I am in my 40's
FRICKIN middle aged
shouldn't I be hanging out in a rocking chair knitting or something?

can it rain everyday please?

now I like Coach just as much as the next guy um girl but I saw a Coach umbrella yesterday pricing them at upwards of $88..for an umbrella...sorry can't jump on that band wagon

and I fall for it every time

from FB and twitter: hey look here I wrote a blog about something interesting
looks at blog: um yeah I wrote something really really great but it's not on this blog you have to read about it over here

do you know where you're located?

asking someone yesterday where their establishment was located in the behemoth that is Turkey Creek these day
well if you are coming from 40 get off At Campbell Station exit
I'm not..
It'll be on the Farragut end
I guessed that based on the exit you suggested but what are you close to?
blah blah bank

okay let me tell you there are 50 million banks in this area if it isn't my bank I have no idea what it's name is..
I finally an with exasperation in my voice asked what store are you close to? and that finally got me to an answer that let me know exactly where this place was located

love is great and all

but next time I marry for money...

but what about the children????

I am not typically a mall shopper but have found myself in at least 4 different malls in 4 different states over the past 6 months or so and am intrigued by the Abercrombie phenomena..You know the one where you walk within a 100 yards or so and are overwhelmed with the smell of some perfume and I am not even going to mention the blaring music because the olfactory overload usually leaves me stunned and confused and I am not even walking into the store! The smell was burned into my nose to the extent that I could smell it in my car on the way home. It can't be good for the employees or customers..they are going to wind up with some weird lung disease years down the road they could call it what pink lung?

hope you all had a ghoulish evening!

we had a fantastic evening in spite of the torrential rains and not a bad haul of candy either

yeah I get it

in discussing a particularly horrible crime committed locally someone mentioned that the father of the female victim seemed particularly angry in a manner they could not understand...
personally I am amazed the father is able to comport himself as well as he seems to in the same situation I doubt I could be as graceful

2012

so is this happening for sure?
'cause I am thinking get a bunch of credit cards, quit jobs and school and we should go have some fun, shopping, eating out at really nice restaurants, travel whatever ya' know....

way to kick me when I'm down

I have been discouraged this semester and while David was quick to remind I am this way every semester I really have been doing poorly in class so much so that I am fairly certain I will be taking it again..anywhooo was going to ed feeling discouraged only to grab the latest alumni magazine that came in the mail you know the one-the oooh look at all I have not accomplished magazine

time to go shoe shopping

C got assigned a diorama for social studies which clearly means he needs a shoe box and hence shoe shopping for Mommy...I am such a good Mommy

my need for a sister wife

seriously it is my contention that I would accomplish so very much more every day if I had a wife to run all my errands...

so maybe I am being judgemental...

several years ago David had a high school friend who unexpectedly lost his wife and lo and behold he was remarried in under a year. Personally I thought it tacky yes he had small children blah blah blah but he couldn't wait 365 days?! I just noticed someone I knew in high school who was widowed recently just changed their FB status to in a relationship..seriously less than 6 months ago her husband passed away. Is it just me?! I know people deal with grief in all sorts of different ways but for some reason in my head a year is what I have deemed acceptable. Yes it is completely arbitrary and no I have no idea why one year respectable to me. I hope to never be in the situation where I have to find out what is and is not right for me.

is it all down hill from here?

what is it with the sickness??
As I crept into my late 30's and now early 40's I get sick all the damn time several times a season it seems. Colds, sinus infections, strep has been know to happen, the flu, the stomach flu I swear it seems like I am in constant need of medical care and I am over it! Why on earth am I still taking vitamins?! hell maybe that is what is making me sick?? MIL keeps threatening to buy my cod liver oil and I am starting to think I may need to give it a whirl
10/19 Monday P.S. forgot to mention the broken toe which as it is improving I do not believe to have been actually broken just very very bruised And then there was food poisoning suffered from some lobster bisque I think. I won't mention the restaurant 'cause I still really the place maybe will skip the soup next time though

why on earth would they make that?

David is sick again with some sort of crud so after C's baseball game I dropped by the grocery store to pick up some Nyquil as well as some Dayquil so he could function if he is up to going to work today. I just grabbed bottles and didn't really look at the Nyquil till I was opening it for him-they have made a less drowsy formula for nighttime um what?! why on earth would you want to be less drowsy isn't the whole point of Nyquil to knock you the hell out so you can sleep??? do I have my advertising campaigns correct? I gave him the less drowsy formula last night but I will pick up some of the original stuff for him today and
A) hopefully he will be on the mend soon
B) I won't catch whatever he has and
3) C won't come down with it either

happy birthday!

to my dear husband David who is the last of us to finally hit our 40s!

and he must be softening in his old age he willingly had this family photo taken and shockingly he suggested we have another taken one for Christmas.

He also proceeded to tell me we were invited to a Halloween party and did I want to go? it has me wondering has he been taken over by the pod people???

what is the world coming to

when even the rat is not safe anymore

the cell phone

my kid does not need one hell he is only 9 who is he going to call? C is however been absolutely salivating at the thought of having his own cell phone for about the 3 years now. He knows kids that do indeed have one and have had one since kindergarten but I have placed a unilateral ban which includes the possibility his grandmother purchasing him one until we deem necessary-the teen years or perhaps when extracurricular activities are such that he is in need of a ride or something. C is however slowly trying to take over my cell phone by texting his father & cousin, calling his grandmother etc..the amusing thing is when we are out running errands he is increasingly the one with MY cell phone in his pocket in case HE gets a text or call

Spent at least a mile wondering if that fou fou dog was going to fly out that car window right smack dab into my windshield

noxious fumes

vicks vapor rub to help with the wretched midnight coughs & icy hot to help with the why the hell does my back hurt like this back pains
not a good combination

pizza pig out

Love Gattis Pizza! the kid has had pizza, dessert pizza and 3 salads all for the price of a drink thanks to the school coupon book

funeral chicken phenomena continues

the sibling of a close friend passed away this week and David's first thought was to pick up chicken my goodness he is such a Southerner! Naturally I put together a ziti and my partner in crime(being a Northerner) was putting together a lasagna!

how do you detox?

right now the avoidance tactic seems to be my preferred method and while mostly effective I am sure it will catch up to me and in fact I suppose my current bout of sickness and the spate of aches and pains over above the norm are a direct result of stresses in my life. And they are many too many to go into here and from all facets of my life which makes for...hmmm wonder if that could be factor in my sleep problems? Safe bet who needs a sleep clinic for that diagnosis? So all one or two readers how do you de-stress? I have no free time and no extra money for a weekly massage but damn a spa day sounds like a lovely idea doesn't it?

spent the day walking in someone else's shoes

and that would be literally not figuratively.....

Started my day out as I do each Saturday this semester heading to lab except this week I was a little fuzzier than usual and had the added task of dropping the dog at sleep away camp for the night because we had planned on being out of town for the day & night. Got to campus walked into the building looked down and oh dammit sandals on my feet breaking rule one of lab-no open toed or open heeled shoes I also had coffee in my hands breaking rule two but that situation was easily remedied. I got stuck wearing the junky sneakers left in the classroom for such nincompoops that forget rule #1. Then of course our out of town plans were thwarted by the torrential down pours of the day sending us to the bowling alley for an afternoon of well bowling leaving me once again not in my own shoes

in case you didn't know

price upon request
translation you can't afford this

how hard is it to get some gas?

for me the answer would have to be very this week.
attempt #1 about 3-4 gallons in the pump reads error and stops okay fine but I am not going to play pull around and try another pump it'll do for now
attempt #2 the gas station is I suppose going out of business all of the pumps are covered
attempt #3 at a grocery store tried and tried and tried to get my shopping card to scan so I could save 10 cents that didn't work so tried and tried and tried just to get gas but the evil machine wanted my shopping card information finally I caved & went to the clerk as instructed by evil machine. 87 year old clerk cannot help from booth but must shuffle over to the pump and try and try and try to get my shopping card to scan it does finally I begin to pump gas just after the first gallon goes in the handle or something breaks and no gas will pump. I drive away in disgust
attempt #4 successful & I was finally able to fill the tank

where are all the game shows?

boy daytime tv is horrible and you'd think with all of the channels at my disposal I could have found something to watch this week. I miss old games shows, Sale of the Century, Card sharks the no Whammy one even Wheel of Fortune remember the Chuck Woolery version where you would take your winnings and go shopping at the end of the round?
I did manage to catch up on all my DVR'd shows and I rediscovered West Wing. I really liked that show when it was on and enjoyed watching a few this past week while home nursing this whatever this was. I was disappointed when the show went off the air I had hoped maybe they wee going to let the republican character so adeptly played by Alan Alda win and spend he next administration portraying the other side of the coin.

so what was that about?

C had to changed so he would "look nice"to go to the open house at school with David

can your nose fall off?

really I beginning to think my will....ugh damn sinus infection!! I almost wish it had been strep and then none of this yellow/green glop would be pouring from my nose. MIL has proposed I need to start taking cod liver oil every day I am beginning to wonder that myself

who died and made me cruise director?

our big conversation of the day was:
-didn't the coach say practice was early today?
how would I know? wasn't this the game that I had to drop our son over at your mother's house on my way to class so he would make his game time and it would allow you to work your full shift and sneak home for 10 minutes & grab a bite to eat before heading over to the rest of the game? This would have been the same day I left work early so I could pick C up and feed him something before drop off and game and before I sat through a 3 hour lecture on anatomy & physiology after a full day of work, a full day starting at 5:30 am after yet another crappy night of sleep one in a seemingly endless cycle of crappy nights of sleep
-yes
hmm...I was not at the game at all, didn't even drive by the ball field I did not see or speak to the coach and my clairvoyance seems a little off today so in my book practice is still at 3:30 unless I hear otherwise from the coach.
yes yes they managed just fine without me for 4 whole days but in the long run without me here these two would never leave the living room, would be wearing God knows what and eating canned goods & stale popcorn out of the pantry.

can't we all just get along?

okay fine I get it you don't like the the President but the vitriolic criticism is just a bit much....half of it doesn't even appear to be about his polices any longer. He went on vacation with his family?! Haven't all of the Presidents done that? And the political critics seem awfully busy comparing him to Hitler wait no no he is Stalin come on really??!? The nonsense appears to be getting in the way of true political debate which is a shame for supposed adults, supposed elected adults that are representing we the people. As I pointed out on twitter earlier today I never was a fan of President Bush but I never wanted the man to fail at his job.

who needs sheep

in that twilight of sleep I tend to blog..fantastic stuff..too bad I can never remember or recreate it when I sit down to a computer

God forbid kids should stay in school

I can honestly say I do not understand the controversy surround President Obama's speech to students planned for today...Was it inappropriate for Reagan? George H Bush? and even waaaay back to Theodore Roosevelt

We of an older generation can get along with what we have, though with growing hardship; but in your full manhood and womanhood you will want what nature once so bountifully supplied and man so thoughtlessly destroyed; and because of that want you will reproach us, not for what we have used, but for what we have wasted... Source: New York Times Archives - Roosevelt to Children

what are the odds

that I would have seen both the movie on the flight out and the movie on the flight back? pretty good actually with as infrequent as our cinematic experiences are these days these two I have indeed seen and enjoyed. Maybe it was a good thing as I fell asleep on both flights and would have missed over 1/2 of each.

signs of the times

-trade show seems lighter this year with many vendors foregoing the show all together
-the sales rep I use to spend the day with I spent all of maybe an hour with this year
-the penny & nickel slot machines once hidden in the back corners of the casinos are all over the place and very easy to find

travel day from...

well I was gonna say hell but maybe it wasn't that bad more of a comedy of errors really. Flying with sidekick to Las Vegas for work okay got to McGee Tyson all set board plane en route to Detroit even start to taxi out, I settle in with my book not really paying much attention until the captain explains we are heading back to the gate as engine 2 would not start and they do not know when they can get a crew to fix this or if they can fix this. An annoyance but bettered discovered on the ground than in the air. Back in airport flight re-booked after an annoying line I am not sure where the one man was trying to get to but it took an inordinate amount of time to rebook him. Jump ahead a couple of hours as we are close to boarding on our new flight headed to Atlanta except not so much as bad weather had shut down Atlanta airport so back to the counter we went. This time they booked us on United through DC yup had to travel to DC to travel to Vegas..I kept trying to push first class but to no avail in fact the United flight didn't even have a first class section. We did get put in the exit row which is roomier and so much more pleasant for lengthy flights who knew? But first we had to survive the flight to DC with 3 of the most ill behaved children in the universe sitting behind us and I'll call their parents ill behaved too as they did nothing to try and control their children ugh! I have a fairly high tolerance for out of control children but they were over the top I have never been so happy to get off a plane before! Thankfully a short layover & we were on our way again. Got to Las Vegas way too late to pick up Penn & Teller tickets but we planned on grabbing our luggage and then a decent meal. A solid idea in theory except our bags stayed in DC and would hopefully be on the next flight arriving at 10pm...good grief this has never happened to me ever so I had stopped packing an extra change of clothes years ago(but luckily still did pack extra underwear) and of course TSA prohibits just about every other toiletry & make up item under the sun anyway. We had to fill out some paperwork then we had to wait for the shuttle bus to the hotel. A lengthy wait as it turned out and then we were the last stop on the drop off route..of course we were...What followed was a really lengthy and slow moving line at the casino. At one time some of the casinos had check in stations at the airport that were wonderful I wish they had not done away with them. as a precaution we picked up some basic toiletries then headed up to our room and then dinner. This puts us at after 10pm and a call into United has out luggage supposedly still in DC and not leaving till morning so off to a cheap & tacky souvenir store luckily Vegas is lousy with them and a couple of shirts purchased to sleep in. There was concern about when luggage would arrive as we had a vendor appt at 9:30. Since it was so very late I was waiting to cancel till first thing in the a.m. as neither of us were going to venture out in our day old travel clothes. Thankfully upon waking around 5a.m. we saw the blinking message light and were pleased to find our bags safely at the hotel and were able to make the show as scheduled. So moral of this roundabout long winded story always pack a complete change of clothes in your carry on

however Fred Meyer all about the customer service

I will admit when the new super fancy Kroger opened with a jewelry store inside I did poke a little fun okay a lot of fun...
what a lovely diamond necklace where ever did you pick that up?
oh this 'ol thing it was just next to the dairy section yes take a left at the eggs
Anyway after about a year without my watch do to lack of battery I decided what the hell I would bring it along to the grocery store drop it off while I was picking up my milk & eggs. and so I did they were very friendly and surprise of all surprises when I went to pick up my watch the first battery was free yes free as in no charge for the battery or for putting the battery into the watch for me the real issue all along). The sales girl even reset the watch to the correct time. and quite frankly it looked like Fred Meyer had some nice stuff so with birthday and Christmas fast approaching I did mention this as a possible locale for David to scout out a gift or two for me..wonder if he should bring the kroger shopping card? will those count as point towards a gas purchase?

travelocity & customer service...not so much

so booked tickets to see Penn & Teller for myself & trusty sidekick for when we are in Vegas. Really we are going for work I swear and trust me the trade show is exhausting especially when you are cramming it into 2 days but I digress(cause we really will be working). Looking at ticket info etc we have to have tickets printed up for us by 1 pm day of the show even though we have purchased said tickets online already. As we land at 4:30 we seemed to have a problem with timing so I called to see what can be done and well evidently nothing can be done for us at all they could rebook for another night of course we would not get the promotional deal and tickets would be $94 each instead of the $60 we already paid. Did I mention we already paid for these tickets? oh and the pick-up time is really 4:10 so for a crappy 20 minutes they cannot help us. Some great customer service huh? I love how they keep telling me I can rebook but not at the promotional price online that was only online and only when you booked wow how very not helpful. what happened to the customer is always right? okay working in retail I don't entirely buy into that motto but from heaven's sake we bought the tickets we want to use the tickets we bought on the night we bought them for. Yes I am hot under the collar on this one guess we won;t be seeing Penn & Teller this trip.
bad form travelocity bad form and I will take my business elsewhere in the future.

meh kind of over it already the folks at Rio were very nice and told me to still try at travelocity when we arrive so we shall see. The whole nothing we can do mentality seems a bit precarious in this economy. and I mean nothing they did not to try and accommodate us to see the show we already paid for oh they could help us out if we want to pay more but...

from the are you kidding me files

-why did you not buy mayo?
because we still have mayo
-but it's the end of the jar
yes but there is still mayo and it's fine
-but it's the end of the jar
yes I understand but I used it just Monday and did not get salmonella
-but
but nothing the expiration date is several months away and we still have mayo
-but...

pasta wars

C and I are at odds he is firmly ensconced in the penne camp and I am in the rotini camp.
I am to the point where I alternate to keep the peace. Tonight is a penne night...

not really a commuter town

I grew up in a commuter town with the majority of folks including my father commuting each and every day 50-60 miles each way, all our Dad's did it was not exactly exciting or news worthy so it has always amused me the perception of distance that so many Knoxville folks have. The cool & trendy (insert tongue in cheek) view South & North Knoxville as the place to live and well West Knoxville pack a lunch it is sooo very far away East Nashville if you will hmmm come to think of it I have some friends that fit that description too...my daily commute under 20 miles each way not exactly at the far ends of the earth

swine flu

did I miss something? did it not go away? or we too busy discussing Michael Jackson's passing? it does seem to be making a comeback. Why H1N1? can't we keep calling it swine flu? we did not change the avian flu into an official type sounding designation

a tale of two grocery shops

the one without the kid...

-did not include a running commentary on life, liberty & the pursuit of pop-tarts

-not one requests for said pop-tarts, snack food, juice, toys or even magazines was heard

-no gum requests
-I did not have to have a lengthy discussion about what I was serving for dinner that night (does not matter if it's 2 am he is always concerned with what the evening's menu will be)
-shopping did not come to a halt so he could run after any & every friend he has ever made in his entire life
-not once did I have to utter the phrase "well when you are paying for groceries you can buy whatever you like"

the downside of shopping alone being...
-no one to fetch the bread or onion or can of soup that I forgot in aisle X Y or Z
-no one to reach down and get that can of refried beans I don't want to reach for
-no one to remember that I forgot to put dog treats on my list
-and last but certainly not least no one to help me carry all these bags into the house

has layers...like an onion

yes it happened I managed to drag both boys to the JC Penny portrait studio and we had a family portrait taken. It is like pulling teeth to get David to agree to do this evidenced by the fact that the last one we have was 4 maybe 5 years ago...Of course I did not want matchy matchy outfits like we were the Von Trapp family or anything but co-ordinating would have been nice that naturally went out the window fairly quickly but still everyone looked nice and presentable. Major problem would be the fact that David never smiles which makes things take longer and while the photographer wanted to shoot some more the boys were over it & done fairly quickly. My mistake scheduling this before dinner but okay fine I was hopeful we could find a picture I liked. Some were better than others but I found nothing overwhelming I settled on one I could live with but of course David did not and we wound up with the photo that the boys look good in but I hate the way I turned out. Oddly enough I though it turned out better in the sepia print so I did order a 10x13 for the wall but I should have gone back and ordered the one where David looks like Shrek 'cause that one that one was my best one! I still might because I think these are available for another 90 days online..

once again

the Atlanta road trip with the ladies this time with photo highlights

more can be found here

stalking Richard Blais

I really don't mean to but being addicted to Top Chef and all one of the ulterior motives of the girls trip to Atlanta was to dine at a Richard Blais restaurant which we did twice in fact-Flip being the one he is currently involved with as well as Home which he had been involved with in the past. Fast forward to this season with 3 Atlanta based chefs making my list of favorites after the first episode and coincidentally my favorite chef thus far worked under Richard Blais, leaving me feeling sort of weird and stalkerish and yet eager to return to Atlanta to dine at ENO

from the oh good grief who cares files...

first it was going sleeveless and now the poor woman can't even be comfortable on a flight? I honestly don't care that the first lady wore shorts it's not really news worthy.

customer service one can appreciate

just got a thank card from the girl at the Betsey Johnson shop where I bought some earrings this past weekend on our girls jaunt out of town. And I just thought I was being added to a mailing list.

stop the presses

we actually have an appointment to have a family portrait done on Friday evening....last one taken 4 years ago maybe 5?

a weekend full of fun & frivolity

the girl's weekend trip to Atlanta was fabulous there was much laughter, much shopping and all sorts of foodie experience the highlights are best summed up by Lady Retromodern over on her blog. I promise some photos one of these days

real housewives Knoxville head to the ATL

headed to Atlanta with my girls for a weekend!

when does modern technology hit the school system?

wouldn't it be great if there was some web site that I could log onto to find out my child's classroom assignment instead of having to wait till this afternoon where I will have to make may way through the throngs of other parents and search out my son's name on what like 20 other lists of 4th graders?

update: the kiddo was happy with his teacher, while not being in class with his bestest friends he does have some friends in class, his lone one "mortal enemy" will not be in class with him this year. I was happy to discover I guessed correct on most of the school supplies and won't be needing to pick up much of anything else.

going to the mall was a better idea in theory

but after waiting that long to get off the interstate, and getting into the parking lot and finding a parking space there was no way in hell I wasn't going to go in and shop some! Tax free is tax free and most stores were having some great sales to sucker entice the shoppers in myself included.
My afternoon jaunt was fraught with rookie mistakes there are several approaches I could have made to the mall that would have been easier than the interstate....come on what was I thinking?! and parking again I knew the best location I don't know why I tried closer or why I didn't go as planned first thing this morning?! But I did discover Auntie Anne's Pretzels yummm super delish why have I not had these before? oh yeah I hate going to the mall that may have something to do with it.

if only I knew which school supplies we needed..

tax free weekend once again and while the school has provided a very basic list (amusingly or well not so amusingly the list posted online isn't even as detailed as the one they sent home at the end of the year or the ones that can thankfully be found in Walmart for those parents that have misplaced the list sent home in May) of which supplies my son will need I know his teacher will have a more detailed list of things she (or he I suppose I think the intermediate school has a male teacher just one though wouldn't want to overdo or anything..and while I am at it what is up with that? is there a rule that male teacher can only teach high school and above?) the more detailed list I will see next Wednesday when they post the class lists.... mere days away would it kill someone to post this today so I could take better advantage of the sales this weekend?

tactical maneuvers

already I am spending lots of time trying to organize this Disney vacation of my dreams..there is a lots to ask about, know and book etc all these questions food plans, park passes, what sort of hotel do we book? Thank God my SIL has been like a million times no really maybe only 999,998 but close enough to a million to be of assistance. We are 10 months away and as much time as I seem to be spending on it you 'd think we were leaving next week...or maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part.

Sunday randomness

-dear neighbor who always leaves your garbage can at the curb I have once again resisted the temptation to knock the can over..is is so much effort to walk it to your house and then back down to the curb once a week...like all the rest of us do?
-dear lady in the grocery attempting to shop with 4 kids in tow thanks for reaffirming my decision to only have the 1
-dear parent who was no where in sight while your 2 boys were acting stupid and running around in the grocery maybe you should have stuck with none or maybe just control the 2 'ya got
-does it not figure meet the teacher day would be on the afternoon I will be out of town? not that 2-3 in the afternoon is a golden time for me anyway... much thanks to MIL for being able to pick up my slack
-dear work I do regard having to come in for an hour long meeting today as ruining my entire weekend. I have been at this job for over a decade and then some these meeting tend to be the exact same meeting no really the exact same meeting. and trust me they stopped being fun when alcohol was banned several years ago

summer camp

I always wanted to go to summer camp in a desperate sort of way growing up I remember pouring over my Ranger Rick magazines reading about all of the summer camps with cool activities in all sorts of places around the States. Alas it never happened of course I never quite considered the costs surrounding summer camp which is the safe bet why I never got to go. I would love to live vicariously through my son ands send him but again money is involved. He goes to a perfectly good day camp of sorts but it is in a daycare facility which means we only have a few summers that he can attend due to age requirements, two in fact I think. This camp has a set pricing schedule you pay monthly with only one week credit for vacation so side projects can be cost prohibitive for instance his week of basketball camp we paid for both camps that week. Once he is old enough we will have to look at variety of other camp alternatives and hopefully we will be able to swing a sleep away camp option at that point.

over scheduling

not a fan where my son is concerned for many reasons all the PC ones of course but the oft left out in fancy schmancy articles about how we are screwing up our children is that if he is over scheduled it makes me over scheduled..well even more over scheduled than I already am. I am also not a fan of him sitting in front of a television or computer screen every afternoon not that we allow that during the school year anyway but I digress. As he gets older he has more interests, interests I like to encourage, interests that will over schedule us this semester perhaps. He takes taekwando twice a week, CCD once a week, we are going to let him try baseball again this fall contingent of course upon his school work if it starts to suffer he will get pulled out again just like last year and last but not least his new found love of swimming with new classes starting in September. I am tired just thinking about it all especially when you add in my full time job, school, laundry etc etc etc
and yes I know I am whining over just one kid those with more than one God Bless 'ya I have no idea how you do it!

calorie "bombs"

who is walking into to any fast food establishment with the idea of getting a healthy meal? these lists are goofy and if you are stupid enough to think your eating healthy at the majority of fast food place you are dippy.

what age is the magic trustworthy age?

what is the golden number when children can be left home alone to fend for themselves? I have never left my 9 year old home alone for any amount of time in spite of the fact I think it would be okay and at that age I was babysitting home alone in someone elses home and responsible for their children no less. I believe there are laws now about that sort of thing, there might have been way back when too but no one paid much attention as far as I could see. We were not exactly latchkey kids growing up my grandmother lived in a mother-in-law apartment attached to our house and she was in residence most of the time but not all of the time and in the mornings my brother and I were responsible enough to get ourselves fed, dressed, lunches made etc...not once did we set the house on fire, let in a stranger or miss our ride to school. I do recall more than one sick day being left home alone to fend for myself. Again nothing earth shattering occurred. I am bemused by the David's Mom as she will not leave my 15 yr old nephew (Z) home alone even for the 1/2 hour it is taking her to pick up David. Z has given her absolutely no reason not to trust him for at the very least a 1/2 hour all by his lonesome never mind those time during the school year we get him overnight because no one would be home till 10 at night. I can't imagine that at 15 we won't be able to trust C home alone although knowing his father's and other various and sundry uncle's past histories he might not be left alone till he's 35
I should add MIL is particular about who is or is not in her house anyway so the fact she won't leave Z is not so very strange. It still amazes me after all these years we have finally been allowed a spare key to her place.

I never win anything

except today I did! I won a trivia contest on twitter from Buddy's BBQ! yippee! I won 4 tickets to a Smokies Game and a $10 gift card to well Buddy's of course.
Today was a good day now only if I could set my sights higher and win oh I don't know maybe the lottery or something now that would really make my day

sometimes bigger is not always better

okay you yes you get your mind out of the gutter I am talking about grocery stores here.
They built a fancy schmancy new Kroger complete with furniture, toys, linens and blenders fabulous to be sure but overall the selection of foods not so great. And not so great as in I cannot do a full and complete weekly shop at their store. Don't get me wrong they have some decent international foods, the Gorgonzola potato salad is to die for, they have a sushi bar for Pete's sake and they are great with wooing me mailing coupon after coupon suckering me back into the store only to leave exasperated because I will need to make at least another trip to another grocer to complete my list on any given week. Just down the road Ingles has put in a fancy schmancy new grocery store too with guess what..a better variety of food no towels or plates and silverware and not a couch or bunk bed to be seen just food and really really great selection of food....
Novel idea huh?

operation go on a real vaction is in effect

okay our goal is Disney.
yup that's right the big rat no no the other big rodent not that big rat.
I see a yard sale or two and some ebay auctioning in my future to help fund this expedition. School is out May 21st and I want to be in Disney May 24th. This is totally doable and I am opening up a special savings account for the fun and frivolities on Monday!

you'll break a hip

MIL has a birthday coming up a birthday she shares with a certain pug by the name of Oscar but I digress...
Normally gifts are not so very elaborate but this year she has requested a bicycle. My first thought being of course just how much do you think we have to spend on your gift? 'cause a bike is not in our budget. I work with bike geeks bikes are not cheap. Delving more into the matter she had found a simple one at Wally-world completely affordable as we could go halvesies with David's brother JJ. So get a phone call form MIL JJ does not think she should get a bike because and I quote "you could break a hip" really?!? that's the first thing you go for you could break a hip????
Hell she could break a hip falling out of bed which is how my grandmother broke hers..she could fall on a stick and poke her eye out too
whatever
after birthday update: JJ got her the really practical gift of a magnum of champagne which hopefully she wont drink while riding her bike or she really will break a hip

such a slacker

my big plans for a vegetable garden yes well it did not happen and to top it all off I managed to kill my basil plant. Trying to reconcile the fact that I may have inherited my mother's black thumb...no really she could kill a plastic plant....am now considering the topsy turvy gardening club it looks idiot proof

oh and the vacation from hell

you really don't want the exorcist type details so lets leave it at the highlights:
stomach flu for both C and myself and some sort of arthritic knee thing for David. total suckage of a vacation I so want a do-over but have no vacation hours left or maybe 3.87 vacation hours left as I could only manage a glance at my pay stub in disgust at the lack of vacation hours at my disposal.
On a slight positive note I did get to spend some time with my folks, my brother and his family, my cousin & her husband and one of my uncles so in all fairness it was not a complete and total failure of a vacation(just mostly)

calling shotgun

well not really we only have 1 kid he kind of gets it by default.... C has ever so slowly wormed his way from the occasional jaunt to the grocery store to sitting in the front seat all the time and it's fine except it puts him in reach of the stereo and I have no place for all my crap you know purse, cell phone, water bottle, which ever bags I happen to be toting along that day, inconvient I tell 'ya.

the mark of a crappy vacation

coming back to work more stressed and cranky than when you left...
more on all of that later I have a pile of junk to dig through that is even worse than the pile I left which is no small feat I might add

vacations

as much as I desperately want to take a real vacation some place touristy that does not involve visiting family there is just no place like home! I am happy to be here in the house I mostly grew up in visiting with my parents and watching my son trail around after his grandfather like a puppy dog asking ninety million questions a minute.

the kid loves his grandparents

the absolute only ever ever time C is alert and ready and raring to go in the morning is those mornings we are headed up to see my folks

it may have wi-fi

this is my fancy new washing machine with all sorts of knobs, buttons, cycles and choices to make and then it tells me how it will take my clothes to wash thank you LG and thank you Sears for delivering on Sundays for only $10 extra

vacation mode

I'm in it thank you very much. I also a bit whiny about the whole thing if truth be told. I hate car travel hate it with a passion I would rather poke sticks in my eyes than sit in a car for more than an hour at a time but seeing as we can not afford multiple plane tickets we are trapped in the car for like a million hours. No really it is a million at least. And I will whine and complain and dread the whole damn ordeal all of this week plus do massive amounts of laundry, pack, get my hair cut, maybe color it as well, hopefully find time for a pedicure, drop the dog at sleep away camp, buy snacks & drinks for the car trip, charge all electrical type gadgets that need it so C survives the trip without me tossing him it the trunk.
On the plus side I am looking forward to escaping Kville & work for a week, seeing my folks & some family and getting together with some very old and dear friends. Debating back and forth in my head about going to NYC for a day and taking C to the Museum of Natural History. It will be fun but we aren't even there for a full week I don't know...my decision was no yesterday but this morning I got train schedules so we'll see I suppose.

have I run out of things to blog about?

maybe so because I am about to weigh in on the whole Jon & Kate controversy because yes I watch the damn show and I have watched for forever now. It is a show I have loved to hate it since the first viewing but I find myself about to bid it a found adieu. Not for any moral reasons I like bad television-there said it and you know what millions of other folks do too otherwise this drivel would not make onto the airwaves to begin with. I am sorry they are having problems in their marriage it happens but quite frankly what do you expect when you choose to live your life as a reality show not just be on one. The show use to be about 2 crazy people raising their litter of children and the day to day challenges they faced. Now well good grief now it seems to be about all the free stuff they get trips, spa visits, playhouses, a motorcycle & scooter plus hanging out with Duff, Emeril as well as the boys from OCC. They don't even have to work anymore although have managed to find a whole lot great land with a great house but boo-hoo they have to do a book tour every now and again. I'll tell you what TLC give my family a show "David & Paula plus 1" for all the money, endorsements & free stuff I too can nag the hell out of my husband.

Happy Father's Day

to one and all but in particular some of the favorites in my life!

adventures at the laundromat

first off all I had to find on. Last week once I discovered the washer not functioning as it should I went on a quest for a place to do my laundry as the only local laundromat I knew of got bulldozed a few years ago to make way for a strip center that sits 1/2 empty. First I searched(in vain) for a cleaners that did laundry haha. Luckily one of them did know of a laundromat that had just opened and was close to my house. Now MIL has graciously offered to do our laundry for us and I did take her up on several loads this week but I didn't feel comfortable bring over all 9 millions pounds of dirty clothes that we seem to accumulate so I held some back for today when our washer was going to be fixed. Except not because it will be cheaper to buy an entire new washer rather than having the old one fixed..doesn't it figure?! So I carted 4 loads of laundry off this afternoon and got them all done in less than 2 hours which we be the only benefit to going to a laundromat. I was pleased it was fairly clean, well the machines were it did look like someone had gotten a hair cut and forgot to sweep up after themselves. Being late afternoon on a very sunny Friday I had the place to myself the entire time which gave me a chance to read in peace and quiet. Only got screwed out of a dollar with one faulty dryer and luckily had just enough quarters to get the job done. One load of shorts & capri pants were a little damp so I just popped them in the dryer when I got home. Technically I could have dried everything at home but who wants to lug 4 loads of wet clothes around?

washer repair '09

8:00am-have a nine hour window in which to sit watch for the repairman
9:30am-having Internet issues call cable company problem is on their end
9:45ish am-try to call Sears and narrow window get automated response you have a call scheduled for sometime between 8-5 today
11:09am-catching up on my DVR television shows
11:55am-annoyed thinking that I could have gotten in at least a 1/2 day at work by now if I had been given a shorter window for estimated arrival of repairman by Sears
12:32pm-repairman ETA 1/2 hour
12:53pm-repairman arrives
12:55-think it is the same guy that came out last year I guess this must be his route
1:15pm-will be cheaper to buy a new washing machine rather than fixing it
1:17pm-crap that is annoying
1:25pm- have a little laugh to myself. Each time we visit my parents I always do laundry before leaving and my father jokes that we bring our dirty laundry with us. This time not so much of a joke
1:38pm-whle my MIL has been a huge help doing our laundry I am going to go to a laundromat and get several loads done this afternoon after all the day is pretty much a bust anyway

pretty sure they are standard on vehicles these days

turn signals or directionals if you prefer.
The little stick to the left of your steering wheel you can flip the stick upwards to indicate a right turn and conversely with a flick of the wrist downwards you can indicate a left turn. And the beauty part.....wait for it......the turn signal will turn itself off after you have completed your turn.
Similarly they can be used to indicate any sort of lane change you may be making unfortunately you will have to turn the directional off yourself in this case but it will making a click click click noise to remind that it needs to be turned off

laundry dilemma

a dilemma because I can not do laundry....ironic huh? Washing machine is not working so well and of course the soonest Sears can come is Friday so what's a girl to do? I must say I am once again perplexed by the 8 hour window they gave me. In this day age with cell phones, computers, gps, chip under peoples skin why in the high holy hell can they not give me a shorter window of time???? I understand why they cannot be exact but an 8 hour option?!
A shout out to MIL for offering to do any laundry we need doing this week beacuse if we went a whole week without any laundry being done the house would explode

now you are officially 9 my dear boy

all 7 lbs 15 oz of you and that large head

that very very very large head

happy birthday

precious C you are loved more than you could ever know.

Now quit growing up so damn fast!

he is well on his way to a law career

or perhaps a hostage negotiator?
I have no idea all I do know is C seems to under the impression that everything warrants a discussion and is open to some sort of negotiation process. And quite frankly it is driving me absolutely crazy. I find myself pulling out the tried and true "because I am your mother that's why"
not exactly original but effective

why yes he does need a bath now that you mention it

Oscar has this odd habit of very carefully stuffing his toys into his water bowl...my only guess is he is trying to to me that not only does he need a bath but his toys do as well?

we are cinema going fools

3 weekends in a row...it is almost like old times you know "BC" before child if you prefer
it's nice now that we don't just have to see the kiddie cartoon movies anymore we have enjoyed Star Trek, Night at the Museum 2 and just yesterday Wolverine. We are looking forward to the new Transformers, GI Joe and well Ice age 3 we all still enjoy the kiddie cartoon flicks as well

comin up on birthday party time

hard to believe that another year has passed and C will be turning 9.
Good grief 9!
My plans for a small sleepover and a movie were soon thwarted by a party he attended at Laser Quest so C is having his birthday party at Laser Quest...
I am such a pushover really!
I have sworn off gift bags as well I mean come on am I not spending enough on the party, pizza, drinks and cupcakes that I have to give each kid a gift bag as well?! As much effort as I have put into gift bags in the past I might as well have just handed each kid a five spot on their way out the door. And yet C has already started clamoring for just tattoos and maybe a pencil what about gum or bubbles?
UGH

NO I do not want a credit card!!!!!

so many of the stores I frequent are hassling me and now even Kroger is getting in on the act and I am so very tired of being asked if I want to apply for a credit card and save blah blah% today....
NO! and quit asking if I want a credit card from your establishment!!!!
I would apply for one if I wanted it so no no thank you I have absolutely no interest in a credit card today.

old people pains

there are certain aches and pains that have developed through the years that while I do not enjoy I have grown accustomed to....I am not however fond of the news ones that are increasingly cropping up-the left hip thing for the past year or so when I am really tired or sick or it's raining or it's Tuesday yeah don't like that one. And the residual on that weird shoulder injury from April while the shoulder is all better there are certain positions it does not want to be place in while I am sleeping c'mom sleeping on my stomach with my arm stuffed under the pillow should not cause this much grief. Then of course the random shooting pains in various parts of your body for literally no reason whatsoever. I suppose my warranty must be up or something
This getting older stuff is for the birds.

bestest of buddies

when C started school almost 4 years ago now we had to switch his daycare to one that would pick up at his school each afternoon. Once the first summer rolled around we decided to leave him at the new location for continuity and location purposes and quite frankly it is a larger daycare with more field trips and activities than the smaller one provided. He was not thrilled with the idea because he was the only boy in his grade attending the summer camp, after a bumpy start he managed to make friends with some younger & some older boys and he made due the next couple of summers. Until last summer that is when D came on the scene OMG a true "bromance" kidmance was born the boys were inseparable the entire summer. As D does not live in the same school zone they boys have been separated during the school year(and why we did not exchange phone numbers I am not sure but ah well we will this summer).
First day of summer yesterday....I was having car issues the plan was to have MIL get us when car was ready take C to summer camp & me to get car so we go to sleep in a bit yesterday. First thing out of C's mouth when he got up, even before he asked for food was(no small thing if you know my son)
I'm late I need to get to summer camp
And once we arrived at 10:30 the teacher was so happy to C as D had been asking every 10 minutes since he arrived where C was.
way too cute

Meatfest '09

prepping everything this morning, already made one grocery store run David has offered to make the next one for odds and ends as well as ice. Sickness threw a wrench into my planning but thankfully I am better but way off schedule as far as where I wanted to be organizationally(is that a word?? spell check likes it so must be). I am not doing any of the recipes I had wanted to try but 'ol standards are out in force, rice dish, corn bread, baked beans and ugly pie of course. I am totally cheating with lemonade mix but promise the real deal next summer! and last but not least meat lots and lots of meat, ribs, chicken, pork butt, hotdogs and hamburgers...
I am looking forward to a fun day with with friends even though we will be missing more than a few today..

my new favorite store

alright so Target is not my new favorite store..my love of Target is well documented. My love of the reusable shopping bag also well documented....and so thank you Target for the 5 cent credit for each and every reusable bag I bring in! You guys totally rock and I love that you have started to do this. My love of the 5 cent credit also documented. A gesture that in the long run costs the company nothing I sure they save so much more by my not taking a plastic bag this is good PR folks and I am glad one of the places I frequent has jumped on the band wagon.
Kroger are you listening?

last day as a third grader

and we all survived it!

as much as I complain about not having enough time at home

why is it I am about to climb the walls this being only day 2 at home? tomorrow will be day 3 because yes I have strep throat. Of course I do.. I have a million things to do before Sunday's annual Memorial Day Meatfest celebration and an unknown number of folks gathering to attend and I have strep throat.
UGH!
and this was the year I was going to have everything shopped and prepped before the weekend so I would not have to run around the day before like a chicken with my head cut off...ah well not so much this year maybe next?

just how appreciative do I need to be?

got an email from he classroom mom about a pizza lunch for the kids and while she was not going to collect money for a year end gift for the teacher we were free to purchase something individually for her....
Don't get me wrong I appreciate the hell out all teachers period end of story. I come from a family of teachers I am all to well aware of how much blood, sweat and tears as well as cash out of their own pockets goes into teaching. This year, as in years past I have happily contributed my fair share of hand sanitizer, clorox wipes, tissues, pencils anything she has asked for as far as classroom supplies, I have contributed to her birthday gift, Christmas gift, got her chocolate for Valentines Days and supplied a weeks worth of gifts for teacher appreciation week. I was also on the PTA hospitality committee donating food items throughout the year for special days and special treats for the staff. I am tapped out, done, exhausted sorry I do so very much appreciate you I truly do but at this point in the school year I am drawing a line in the sand......till August I'll be more than happy to start donating to the cause by then!

cleaner than most...

I am fairly certain that it should not be your criteria for selecting a motel however today I saw not 1 but 2 count them 1, 2 motels that advertised themselves as "cleaner than most"

ipod touch

I have decided I need one so I think ipod should send me one and I could extol it's virtues on my blog. Seriously how do these crazy mommy bloggers get on the free stuff train? I could use some free stuff! Ah well I suppose I'll just have to hold out till my birthday...

irreconcilable dish washing

It makes my skin crawl to let David do the dishes really from washing to putting them up he drives me batty. First he never really rinses stuff off which I do, he then throws as much as physically possible into the machine not concerning himself with items that do not belong in the dishwasher or only belong on the top shelf or blocking where the water streams. Of course it is generally quite full because instead of emptying a clean dishwasher he will empty just a few things in order to fit in the newer dirtier dishes and then re-run the load and he would do this continually if I didn't step into to actually empty the dishwasher. Of course when he does put things away he puts them in the wrong places and never can manage to put the plastic ware with it's corresponding lid resulting in many many mismatched and completely useless plastic containers.
So if we ever divorce the decree is certain to read irreconcilable dish washing!

my further misadventures with the teenager species

nephew coming here again this evening, we will pick him up after a scrimmage.
Just got the text
on my way to the school
I replied with from where with the hope of a locale in order to properly gauge the time I left until I had to head over to the school
from the game
good grief no shit Sherlock!
There is a part of me that thinks we need to send C to boarding school or the French foreign Legion or something before he actually turns into one of these teenage beings on the other hand I will have an even more constant flow of material for the blog....

Monday morning xenophobia

bumper sticker seen
"Uncle Sam wants you to speak English"
no bitch Uncle Sam wants you to drive the speed limit

Happy Mother's Day

to one & all and a special thank you to my special and precious little monkey who gives me my very own day

my aren't teenagers annoying?

and I don't even have one yet but God help me those years are not so far away are they? anywho MIL is out of town and we are helping with nephew Z. He had a football scrimmage this afternoon and we were working with the expectation he would call some time after 9ish when they arrived back at the school and then come here to spend the night. With the wacky weather in the area today scrimmage got cancelled and I got a text around 1 that he would need a 3:30 pick up. Not a big deal as I had come home with a sick C earlier in the day. We pack up and head to the school just before 3:30 and get into the pick up line which at this point was not so very crazy. I get a text from him that he has practice for a little bit. After some cursing under my breath C & I head to the grocery store to pick up something for tonight's dinner and then plan on heading back home except we get the the grocery store and oh well I don't have practice can you come get me? My first thought was hell no are you crazy but I refrained from verbalizing that sentiment and picked him up after we were done at the store

party at MIL's house

MIL is very weird about giving out the key to her house..no no I mean really weird when David moved out of the house he had to hand in his key. When we moved out of her house(although not her house at the time it belonged to FIL who was letting us live there and there is waaaay more to that whole story but we'll save that for another time) she actually had the locks changed. When family would visit she wouldn't hand out a key they had to rely on her being home and if she went out well they had to vacate as well. She has lightened up somewhat on that especially with BIL & nephew living there currently, I believe they are allowed keys(although nephew is generally not allowed to be there unsupervised if she can at all humanly possible help it) I have bugged her for years that we should have a spare key in case of emergency and she agrees in theory but nooo never actually produces on for me. Locking herself out and having to call a locksmith has not produced a key for us and even when several years ago when she had a freaky eye problem and temporary blindness she would not cough up a key...like I said she is freaky about giving out the house key so when she gave me a key for just in case because she was going to be out of town for a few days I about fell over. And yes I am heading to walmart to make a copy I can put up just in case of emergency

damn gnomes

glasses found this afternoon in a spot all three of us looked this morning....several times.
A spare pair of glasses will however be purchased in the near future for just such a future occasion.

this kid is going to make me crazy

C has lost his glasses and I suppose I should be grateful that it has taken this long I mean he has had them for a whole 6 months already without incident...Guess who is going to have to pay for new glasses with his own money?

my 15 minutes....

okay okay so more like 15 seconds!
Yup got to try the rare & ridiculously over priced Kopi luwak coffee yesterday and while it was just fine in the future I will stick with my Kona for a mere $7.99 a pound

sail camp at the yacht club

yeah right um so...
C is not signed up for that but thank you yacht club for the handy bookmark that came home in his backpack

and yet another day of phone calls from the school clinic

day 3? day 4? I have lost count. I finally have called the office and requested he be allowed to go to the library for recess instead of outside. I hate to do that but I am not about to drop everything and bring him home suffering from just allergies, nope not going to happen and I warned him of that this morning. Yesterday the Doctor gave us a nasal spray to go along with the Allegra they had already prescribed(and declared him asthma free thank you very much) but this is the worst bout he has ever had to deal with. I hate that he feels miserable and hope these meds start kicking in soon. I do feel mildly guilty but come on he can not just lay out of class for the entirety of allergy season which in K-town seems to be the better part of the year!

get sick on your own time kid

C is notorious for getting sick at the very end of the school day..you know that last hour that it is physically impossible for me to make it across town to pick him up before the insanity of buses & cars are there at dismissal. I felt only mild guilt at cutting him off and telling him to get his butt back to class for the last 45 minutes of the day. And it's just allergies(although MIL is convinced it's asthma as she has been for several years now and I will have to eat crow if it is asthma so I am really really hoping it is just the allergies again) but as we saw the nurse practitioner just last week & got allergy medicine that does not seem to be helping so much I got an appointment for this afternoon

how lazy can you be?

when the line at the drive thru is 3, 4 or more cars deep I park and go inside and not once has it taken me longer than waiting in line burning up gas

sunset

Rossini Festival

I was shocked to read that this local street fair was in it's 8th year..how is it we have never gone before? After a false start or two we finally made our way downtown for the fun yesterday afternoon. I of course worked a few hours in the morning and if I had been thinking about it would have had someone deliver C & his cousin Z to me but no I trekked back out west to pick up the boys. In all fairness I did swing by the house to change clothes & purses as well as pick up the sunscreen then to MIL's to collect the boys. We then headed to the bank where I discovered much to my dismay the bank card was at home in the other purse. On the plus side I had not waited till we got downtown to get cash I would have been even more pissed off at myself had that been the case. It also provided the opportunity to give C his allergy medicine & eye drops to help get him through the afternoon and then we were off. I made what I am guessing to be a rookie mistake by grabbing an Italian sausage with peppers and onions at the first place we came upon because I kicked myself up & down Gay Street for not waiting to see my other choices there was so much good food! I also regretted being the driver because some of the wine tasting looked good as well..maybe next year. Two boys one 15 one 8 were probably not the best of companions and although they seemed to have a good time they were not so interested in the opera performances or all the artsy & crafty booths. The medieval sword play and food however held their attention pretty well. C normally is all about the face painting but sadly they only had creepy clowns doing face painting and well he does not like the clowns so much so that was definitely skipped. On our way to find funnel cake we discovered and opted for a fairly newish coffee house on Market Square. Okay so I saw they had cannoli and to be honest a bathroom that was not a port-a-potty but it was although it was a smidgen pricey they had decent pastries and a good cup of coffee. It was all in all a lovely afternoon and I look forward to making this an annual event for our family!

another annoying exchange with the doctor's office

after my third phone call of the day about C having pink eye and then having to explain no it is just his allergies I decided perhaps it might be a good thing to visit the doctor and see if we could get some medication that will work a bit harder than the OTC stuff we have been using..
it started out with me saying I wanted the first appointment of the day with anyone available
"who is your doctor"
um Doctor X but I'll take anyone
"He does not work on Wednesdays will R be okay?"
yes did you miss the part where I said anyone available? and we proceed to make the appointment of course nothing available first thing in the morning so I have to settle for afternoon but at least they can fit us in.
"what is your son's id number or ss#?"
I am driving, have no idea what his id number is and cannot access his ss# while driving. Using his name and birth date did not appear to be any sort of problem and took mere seconds and yet..
"when you come in I will circle his id number on your receipt"
that's great but not something I will memorize or be able to access while driving..still driving the car

already I regret not going the nap route

found in C's bedding
-a pack of gum
-and spilled red gatorade on the sheets, bed and a towel

what to do, what to do

a rainy Sunday morning and I have about a dozen things that need doing
-dishes
-clearing off the dining room table and while we are at it why in the high holy hell does it get so cluttered so fast?
-laundry & ironing
-organize coupons
-make menu for week and then grocery list
-go grocery shopping
-change bedding
-get some studying in
maybe not quite a dozen but these were just the first things that came to mind..
I do have the house to myself for a little bit so a nap might have just vaulted to the number one priority on the list

still celebrating Christmas

or at least my mail is.. somehow managed to over buy stamps for the holidays and since I don't mail so very much anymore letters leaving my house are festooned with nutcrackers. I suppose I need to try and use them up before rates go up again.

you know allergies are bad when

C is asking for eye drops
C who when he had pink eye I about had me with a knee on his body to try and hold him down so I could get eye drops into his eyes
C who I considered using duct tape on to keep his eyes open so I cold get those damn drops in his eyes
yes C asked me for eye drops

Happy Anniversary to us!

13 years and counting!

hate long car trips

I do I hate them with a passion. Generally speaking I am in charge of collecting all of the pertinent snacks & drinks, gum, entertainment etc. Not fun I really detest the whole process and then sitting in a car endlessly with nothing to do because yes if I read in the car I get car sick...
Blah oh well at least we have garmin to navigate the trip. I never thought we needed one till we had the use of one no I am wondering if I can even make it around town without it. Luckily the car trip today was not so terrible even though I started the day feeling dizzy and light headed due to a lack of sleep..sucks getting older kids.

which is worse

-my co-worker watching this dvd at lunch
-my recognizing the film at first glance
or
-the fact that I saw this movie in the movie theater back in the day
you be the judge

are you at least going to buy me a drink first?

registered for my fall class this week. I am taking the first of the Anatomy & Physiology classes it should be an interesting class and we get a cadaver for lab so big fun next semester. Unfortunately I have lab on Saturdays at 9 in the morning so kind of curious how that is going to work out for me but I digress(but when don't I?) Out of curiosity I was going to see what text book we would need with plans on buying in online for a ridiculously less amount of money than the bookstore wanted me to pay for it only to find that the A&P classes uses on of those bundles for lab & class that is specific to the course being taught so specific meaning I have to buy the frickin text book at the bookstore for..wait for it...300 hundred dollars. Craziness!