We were out to eat this weekend and WiseGuy was placing his order. Reading directly from the menu WiseGuy told the waiter 'Cheeseburger with one side, please.' The waiter asked 'Which side would you like?' WiseGuy looked at the menu, looked at the waiter and replied 'The left.'
i almost peed my pants.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Poke What?
You Are Pocahantas!
Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.
Which Disney Princess Are You?
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Help Battle Cancer
Animals play a very important role in my life. When i talk about being a mom i am not just referring to my children with two legs and no fur. My four legged, fur lined housemates are just as close to my heart. They are my furbabies.
Back in May i lost a soul mate. My shepherd mix, Petey, lost his battle with lymphoma. He was diagnosed in February and the disease worked fast. He is one of those reasons i had mentioned for being away from blogland for so long. My heart is broken and i am still in mourning. The whole situation was a traumatic one for me and i was lucky to have one of very best friends, Kimmy, with me when Petey's time came to an end.
Out of this came a desire to help other people who are in the same situation i was. There were treatments, chemotherapy, that could've put the cancer into remission and given my boy several more happy, quality years. Those treatments, however, cost upwards around $5000 and we could not afford that. i was devastated and turned my sadness and desperation into action, researching online and calling different vets and clinics to get as much information as possible to help combat the disease in other ways and maybe find an organization to help with the costs of treatment. My vet was awesome and worked hand in hand with me to fill out applications and get info together. i heard back from every single organization with the same message 'Your dog is the perfect candidate to receive financial aid for treatment, however, we regret to inform you that we have no funds to give at this time.'
It was one of the most helpless feelings in the world. Knowing there were ways to help him but money stood in the way. i was blessed to be part of a very tight-knit online community who got together and raised $300 for Petey. It certainly wouldn't pay for the chemo, but it helped with purchased a better quality, grain-free, dog food, as well as supplements to support his immune system.
Having gone through the frustration and agony that i did i am trying to come up with ways to help other people in my situation. One of the organizations that i turned to was Canine Cancer Awareness.org They allowed me to post Petey's story on their website in hopes of getting financial sponsors. They are also doing lots of wonderful work educating people about canine cancer and raising funds to help families in need. Below is a button that links to the Canine Cancer Awareness website. Won't you please post it on your own blogs? Spread the word and help prevent others from experiencing the heartbreak i did.
Back in May i lost a soul mate. My shepherd mix, Petey, lost his battle with lymphoma. He was diagnosed in February and the disease worked fast. He is one of those reasons i had mentioned for being away from blogland for so long. My heart is broken and i am still in mourning. The whole situation was a traumatic one for me and i was lucky to have one of very best friends, Kimmy, with me when Petey's time came to an end.
Out of this came a desire to help other people who are in the same situation i was. There were treatments, chemotherapy, that could've put the cancer into remission and given my boy several more happy, quality years. Those treatments, however, cost upwards around $5000 and we could not afford that. i was devastated and turned my sadness and desperation into action, researching online and calling different vets and clinics to get as much information as possible to help combat the disease in other ways and maybe find an organization to help with the costs of treatment. My vet was awesome and worked hand in hand with me to fill out applications and get info together. i heard back from every single organization with the same message 'Your dog is the perfect candidate to receive financial aid for treatment, however, we regret to inform you that we have no funds to give at this time.'
It was one of the most helpless feelings in the world. Knowing there were ways to help him but money stood in the way. i was blessed to be part of a very tight-knit online community who got together and raised $300 for Petey. It certainly wouldn't pay for the chemo, but it helped with purchased a better quality, grain-free, dog food, as well as supplements to support his immune system.
Having gone through the frustration and agony that i did i am trying to come up with ways to help other people in my situation. One of the organizations that i turned to was Canine Cancer Awareness.org They allowed me to post Petey's story on their website in hopes of getting financial sponsors. They are also doing lots of wonderful work educating people about canine cancer and raising funds to help families in need. Below is a button that links to the Canine Cancer Awareness website. Won't you please post it on your own blogs? Spread the word and help prevent others from experiencing the heartbreak i did.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The New 'Do
Well, i just HAD to post a pic of WiseGuy's latest hairdo.
i didn't know until he sat in the stylists chair that he wanted a mohawk. We used to style his hair into one with his regular ol cut, but this time he wanted it SHAVED that way. Those who know me know that i'm not the most conventional person anyway, so i was happy to oblige. i figure it's only hair, it will grow back!
One of the little boys at the babysitter's house decided that he TOO wanted a mohawk...and a dye job! His hair is now a black and red mohawk. Of course, Gabriel wanted a new color now, too. Fortunately i have a few different colored hair glues that i used to use on occasion. It keeps the mohawk standing up and colors it until the next shampoo! He was tickled. Today his hair matched his shirt!
i didn't know until he sat in the stylists chair that he wanted a mohawk. We used to style his hair into one with his regular ol cut, but this time he wanted it SHAVED that way. Those who know me know that i'm not the most conventional person anyway, so i was happy to oblige. i figure it's only hair, it will grow back!
One of the little boys at the babysitter's house decided that he TOO wanted a mohawk...and a dye job! His hair is now a black and red mohawk. Of course, Gabriel wanted a new color now, too. Fortunately i have a few different colored hair glues that i used to use on occasion. It keeps the mohawk standing up and colors it until the next shampoo! He was tickled. Today his hair matched his shirt!
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Potentially Dangerous Revelation
The following information may prove dangerous in some households. You have been warned.
Not sure what the conversation was initially about but it eventually lead to baking. Particularly cookies. My boss reveals at some point that you can make cookies out of cake batter! Maybe this is common knowledge to all of you, but this is a new one to me! She said that if you add 1/2 cup of veggie oil and 2 eggs then bake they turn out like cookies. It can't be just that easy. Imagine using lemon cake batter....or strawberry cake batter....or party color chip cake batter. Then imagine mixing things into it! The possibilities are virtually limitless!
i tried out this little tidbit of culinary knowledge just this afternoon. A few weeks ago Giant had a 10/$10 on cake mixes....both Giant brand AND Duncan Hines! i used Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix and made some of the most delicious cookies i've had in a long time! i had some icing in the cabinet and spread some on the bottom of two cookies and pressed them together to make a large oreo cookie/whoopie pie sort of treat. YUM!
Now i can give you a little bit of good news about this. They do make Low Sugar cake mixes and frostings. This means you can feel a little bit better about giving them to the kids.
As for the baking directions, i put them in a 350 degree oven for 9-12 minutes. Just drop them on the tray with a spoon and pop them in the oven!
Now see how this could be dangerous?
USE THIS KNOWLEDGE RESPONSIBLY!
Not sure what the conversation was initially about but it eventually lead to baking. Particularly cookies. My boss reveals at some point that you can make cookies out of cake batter! Maybe this is common knowledge to all of you, but this is a new one to me! She said that if you add 1/2 cup of veggie oil and 2 eggs then bake they turn out like cookies. It can't be just that easy. Imagine using lemon cake batter....or strawberry cake batter....or party color chip cake batter. Then imagine mixing things into it! The possibilities are virtually limitless!
i tried out this little tidbit of culinary knowledge just this afternoon. A few weeks ago Giant had a 10/$10 on cake mixes....both Giant brand AND Duncan Hines! i used Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Fudge cake mix and made some of the most delicious cookies i've had in a long time! i had some icing in the cabinet and spread some on the bottom of two cookies and pressed them together to make a large oreo cookie/whoopie pie sort of treat. YUM!
Now i can give you a little bit of good news about this. They do make Low Sugar cake mixes and frostings. This means you can feel a little bit better about giving them to the kids.
As for the baking directions, i put them in a 350 degree oven for 9-12 minutes. Just drop them on the tray with a spoon and pop them in the oven!
Now see how this could be dangerous?
USE THIS KNOWLEDGE RESPONSIBLY!
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Independence Day At Independence Hall
SmartyPants has a birthday coming up. It falls towards the middle of the week and the following weekend she will be leaving for camp, so this year we decided to celebrate as a family the weekend before. The Fourth of July happens to occur that weekend, as well, which means most of her friends and some of our family members were out of town or had other previous engagements. Things were not looking good for a party for SmartyPants. After some brainstorming, though we came up with a few idea and presented the best, most affordable to her and let her choose our destination. She chose to spend the Fourth of July in Philadelphia.
i figured she would, you see, her class went on a trip to Philadelphia earlier this year and she came home VERY disappointed. They took the walking tour....which meant walking BY the landmarks, not through them. So she saw the BUILDING where the Liberty Bell is housed, but not the bell itself. The same with Independence Hall. She was upset, to be sure. So what better day to visit this historic city?
It was raining steadily when we got up, but we still had every intention of going. This was a rain or shine trip. We got out of the house only two minutes past our estimated time of departure, which is EXCELLENT for our family. The drive was uneventful (YESSSSS!!!) and we easily found the parking garage directly beneath the Independence Visitors Center, which was our first stop. Ok, actually the BATHROOMS in the visitors center was our first stop. Then over to the Liberty Bell.
One of the neat things about this trip was that not only had the kids never seen any of this stuff, but neither had Wayne. i had seen it all at least once over the course of growing up here. Now i got to watch my family have the same experiences for the first time. It was very cool :)
We visited Benjamin Franklin's grave(the first and only time i intend on paying to walk through the gates of a church graveyard), walked Market St, went inside Independence Hall and attended an ALL YOU CAN EAT ICE CREAM FESTIVAL. You gave them $5 and they gave you a spoon and access to a large tent filled with vendors trying to keep up with the demand of the attendees. Vendors like Ben & Jerry's, Haagen Das, Jack & Jill, Turkey Hill, Rita's and so many others. They had small cups with one good sized scoop in each and you could take as many as you liked as often as you liked. It. Was. Awesome. The proceeds all went to Lukemia research, so it was for a great cause! It was the first and probably only time that we had ice cream for lunch. The problem was that it didn't take us very long for all the sugar to burn up and we became quite hungry for dinner early.
We trekked around a LOT that day and NONE of us are really accustomed to that much walking. Ok, so maybe SOME of us aren't accustomed to that much physical activity altogether, but i digress. Our dogs were BARKING! Our feet were killing us and all we wanted to do was sit down and eat. So we walked the streets trying to find something nice, something sit down and something affordable. We got two out of three. It was quite a nice place called 'The Plough & The Stars' in Old City Philadelphia. We checked out everyone's type of dress and some were in jeans and shorts and tees like us so, as we were all tired of walking we stepped inside and got shown to our loft table. i could tell immediately by the place settings that we had stepped into *cue scary music* a NICE restaurant!!! i had a little bit of experience in the fine dining department while i was growing up so i wasn't so concerned for myself....it was the rest of my gang of hoodlums. My children have table manners, mind you, i promise you i have taught them both the basics. WiseGuy has some difficulty remembering some of those manners, as does SmartyPants. Come to think of it, Wayne doesn't always seem to remember HIS, either. i just sort of looked at the table setting, looked at Wayne and he said 'If we ever want to learn how to eat at a nice place we'll all have to GO to a nice place.' With that we sat and picked up our menus. So, two out of the three criteria had been met...nice place and sit down. The third flew out the window when i opened the menu and saw that the cheapest entree in the place at $18.50. Oh don't you believe the menu they have on their website...the prices have changed. i looked up at Wayne and he looked at me. 'We can always leave, honey.' he said to me. Yeah, right...that's just what i'm going to do now that i've been seated, had my napkin put in my lap and my drink order already taken. Let's just leave. No, we could do this, to be honest. The rest of the day was so inexpensive that i figured we could splurge. i looked over at WiseGuy to see him happily using his two forks as airplanes flying side by side and knew it could prove to be a long meal. Aside from a few silverwear faux pas here and there it went relatively smoothly and the bill wasn't as bad as i had anticipated, all things considered. YAY TEAM!!
We trekked back to the Visitor's Center only to find that most people had abandonded the area, heading down to the Ben Franklin Parkway for the parade, festival, concert and fireworks. Not to mention it had started to rain again. Gabe had been done for the day several hours ago, Wayne was ready to call it a day, Ivy and i wanted to go to the rest of the festivities. We stood discussing it when the rain started coming down harder and we watched one another get soaked. With tears in her eyes SmartyPants agreed that going home was the smart thing to do. When she saw the chaos happening down by the Ben Franklin she realized she made the right decision. Besides, there were still some fireworks happening locally the next night.
It had quit raining by the time we got home and both kids had fallen asleep in the car. We had to stop at my mom's to pick up the dog and home we went, everyone exhausted from the day.
We used disposable cameras to take pics so i don't have those yet, but will post some when i do.
Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!
i know we did!
i figured she would, you see, her class went on a trip to Philadelphia earlier this year and she came home VERY disappointed. They took the walking tour....which meant walking BY the landmarks, not through them. So she saw the BUILDING where the Liberty Bell is housed, but not the bell itself. The same with Independence Hall. She was upset, to be sure. So what better day to visit this historic city?
It was raining steadily when we got up, but we still had every intention of going. This was a rain or shine trip. We got out of the house only two minutes past our estimated time of departure, which is EXCELLENT for our family. The drive was uneventful (YESSSSS!!!) and we easily found the parking garage directly beneath the Independence Visitors Center, which was our first stop. Ok, actually the BATHROOMS in the visitors center was our first stop. Then over to the Liberty Bell.
One of the neat things about this trip was that not only had the kids never seen any of this stuff, but neither had Wayne. i had seen it all at least once over the course of growing up here. Now i got to watch my family have the same experiences for the first time. It was very cool :)
We visited Benjamin Franklin's grave(the first and only time i intend on paying to walk through the gates of a church graveyard), walked Market St, went inside Independence Hall and attended an ALL YOU CAN EAT ICE CREAM FESTIVAL. You gave them $5 and they gave you a spoon and access to a large tent filled with vendors trying to keep up with the demand of the attendees. Vendors like Ben & Jerry's, Haagen Das, Jack & Jill, Turkey Hill, Rita's and so many others. They had small cups with one good sized scoop in each and you could take as many as you liked as often as you liked. It. Was. Awesome. The proceeds all went to Lukemia research, so it was for a great cause! It was the first and probably only time that we had ice cream for lunch. The problem was that it didn't take us very long for all the sugar to burn up and we became quite hungry for dinner early.
We trekked around a LOT that day and NONE of us are really accustomed to that much walking. Ok, so maybe SOME of us aren't accustomed to that much physical activity altogether, but i digress. Our dogs were BARKING! Our feet were killing us and all we wanted to do was sit down and eat. So we walked the streets trying to find something nice, something sit down and something affordable. We got two out of three. It was quite a nice place called 'The Plough & The Stars' in Old City Philadelphia. We checked out everyone's type of dress and some were in jeans and shorts and tees like us so, as we were all tired of walking we stepped inside and got shown to our loft table. i could tell immediately by the place settings that we had stepped into *cue scary music* a NICE restaurant!!! i had a little bit of experience in the fine dining department while i was growing up so i wasn't so concerned for myself....it was the rest of my gang of hoodlums. My children have table manners, mind you, i promise you i have taught them both the basics. WiseGuy has some difficulty remembering some of those manners, as does SmartyPants. Come to think of it, Wayne doesn't always seem to remember HIS, either. i just sort of looked at the table setting, looked at Wayne and he said 'If we ever want to learn how to eat at a nice place we'll all have to GO to a nice place.' With that we sat and picked up our menus. So, two out of the three criteria had been met...nice place and sit down. The third flew out the window when i opened the menu and saw that the cheapest entree in the place at $18.50. Oh don't you believe the menu they have on their website...the prices have changed. i looked up at Wayne and he looked at me. 'We can always leave, honey.' he said to me. Yeah, right...that's just what i'm going to do now that i've been seated, had my napkin put in my lap and my drink order already taken. Let's just leave. No, we could do this, to be honest. The rest of the day was so inexpensive that i figured we could splurge. i looked over at WiseGuy to see him happily using his two forks as airplanes flying side by side and knew it could prove to be a long meal. Aside from a few silverwear faux pas here and there it went relatively smoothly and the bill wasn't as bad as i had anticipated, all things considered. YAY TEAM!!
We trekked back to the Visitor's Center only to find that most people had abandonded the area, heading down to the Ben Franklin Parkway for the parade, festival, concert and fireworks. Not to mention it had started to rain again. Gabe had been done for the day several hours ago, Wayne was ready to call it a day, Ivy and i wanted to go to the rest of the festivities. We stood discussing it when the rain started coming down harder and we watched one another get soaked. With tears in her eyes SmartyPants agreed that going home was the smart thing to do. When she saw the chaos happening down by the Ben Franklin she realized she made the right decision. Besides, there were still some fireworks happening locally the next night.
It had quit raining by the time we got home and both kids had fallen asleep in the car. We had to stop at my mom's to pick up the dog and home we went, everyone exhausted from the day.
We used disposable cameras to take pics so i don't have those yet, but will post some when i do.
Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July!
i know we did!
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Can I Be 'It?'
i wasn't necessarily tagged for this meme but i'm gonna be 'it' anyway...just cuz :D
A. Attached or single? Attached
B. Best friend? That's the guy i'm attached to!
C. Cake or pie? i must say that i prefer pie. While i like a good moist cake i prefer the fruit in the pie, as well as cream pies....mmmm and chocolate pie....and peanut butter pie....and custard pie....
D. Day of choice? All in all, Saturday is the only day when all four of us are home at the same time for the entire day....so that would be it
E. Essential item? Computer, i recently learned. Our desktop died and i realized that i couldn't pay my bills or check on things in my bank account without it. There are certain things that i keep track of that i just can't do anywhere else but online or on the computer.
F. Favorite color? Violet....bright deep blue violet
G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms are the choice around this fish tank
H. Home town? Reading, PA
I. Favorite indulgence? Uhm....food? i dunno....when i indulge myself it usually involves something very rich or fried.
J. January or July? i suppose i SHOULD say July as that is SmartyPants' birth month, but if i'm being honest i'll have to go with January. i've had my fill of summer weather...
K. Kids? Two of 'em! SmartyPants will be 11 years old next week and WiseGuy will be 7 in August.
L. Life isn’t complete without? Animal companions...my life wouldn't be whole without an animal to share it with.
M. Marriage date? January 25
N. Number of brothers and sisters? One blood brother and a bunch of stepsiblings
O. Oranges or Apples? Apples make some wonderful dishes...pie, apple sauce, fried apples, apple dumplings...mmmm...however (what did i just say? HOWEVER!) When it comes to which i would prefer to eat straight up, i'd choose orange
P. Phobias? Any kind of free fall - the kids getting taken from me by a stranger (sounds stupid, i know, but i'm a FREAK when it comes to my children being out of my sight.)
Q. Quotes? Ghosts were people too.
R. Reasons to smile? my family
S. Season of choice? Autumn, hands down! Halloween in my fave holiday, i love the apple cider, the hay rides, the beautiful colors.
T. Tag 5 people: No :)
U. Unknown fact about me? i currently own the very first cat i've ever owned in my life and i've only had her for a few weeks.
V. Vegetable? peas
W. Worst habit? smoking...yep, i admit it...i'm a smoker...and it's by far my worst habit. i've quit 4 or 5 times already and i'm sure i could again...when i'm ready.
X. Xray or ultrasound? whichever one will give them the answer they need
Y. Your favorite food? cheese
Z. Zodiac sign? Leo :)
A. Attached or single? Attached
B. Best friend? That's the guy i'm attached to!
C. Cake or pie? i must say that i prefer pie. While i like a good moist cake i prefer the fruit in the pie, as well as cream pies....mmmm and chocolate pie....and peanut butter pie....and custard pie....
D. Day of choice? All in all, Saturday is the only day when all four of us are home at the same time for the entire day....so that would be it
E. Essential item? Computer, i recently learned. Our desktop died and i realized that i couldn't pay my bills or check on things in my bank account without it. There are certain things that i keep track of that i just can't do anywhere else but online or on the computer.
F. Favorite color? Violet....bright deep blue violet
G. Gummy bears or worms? Worms are the choice around this fish tank
H. Home town? Reading, PA
I. Favorite indulgence? Uhm....food? i dunno....when i indulge myself it usually involves something very rich or fried.
J. January or July? i suppose i SHOULD say July as that is SmartyPants' birth month, but if i'm being honest i'll have to go with January. i've had my fill of summer weather...
K. Kids? Two of 'em! SmartyPants will be 11 years old next week and WiseGuy will be 7 in August.
L. Life isn’t complete without? Animal companions...my life wouldn't be whole without an animal to share it with.
M. Marriage date? January 25
N. Number of brothers and sisters? One blood brother and a bunch of stepsiblings
O. Oranges or Apples? Apples make some wonderful dishes...pie, apple sauce, fried apples, apple dumplings...mmmm...however (what did i just say? HOWEVER!) When it comes to which i would prefer to eat straight up, i'd choose orange
P. Phobias? Any kind of free fall - the kids getting taken from me by a stranger (sounds stupid, i know, but i'm a FREAK when it comes to my children being out of my sight.)
Q. Quotes? Ghosts were people too.
R. Reasons to smile? my family
S. Season of choice? Autumn, hands down! Halloween in my fave holiday, i love the apple cider, the hay rides, the beautiful colors.
T. Tag 5 people: No :)
U. Unknown fact about me? i currently own the very first cat i've ever owned in my life and i've only had her for a few weeks.
V. Vegetable? peas
W. Worst habit? smoking...yep, i admit it...i'm a smoker...and it's by far my worst habit. i've quit 4 or 5 times already and i'm sure i could again...when i'm ready.
X. Xray or ultrasound? whichever one will give them the answer they need
Y. Your favorite food? cheese
Z. Zodiac sign? Leo :)
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Morning Coffee
Here i sit in front of the laptop at 7:11am drinking my coffee and eating my Activia Yogurt, pondering the prospects of the day wondering what awe inspiring task i'll be given at work today. Posting payments, maybe? Moving files, possibly? Maybe i'll continue my momentous task from yesterday....paper shredding!
*YAWN*
If i had my druthers i'druther be drinking my mocha, eating my bons-bons while awaiting the arrival of the cleaning lady and the pool boy. Suppose one would need a pool in order to have a pool boy. Lord knows i've got plenty for the hypothetical cleaning lady to do!
SmartyPants is still sleeping (i'm jealous) and WiseGuy insisted on an early morning shot of the Xbox. It's like his coffee.
Wayne is flipping through the morning news shows and drinking his coffee, no doubt contemplating what Comcast will throw at him later this morning. It ain't easy being The Cable Guy!
When life goes by so fast it's easy to overlook these seemingly mundane times. Taking a step back to look at the big picture....how 'quiet' the house is despite the beeps from the xbox and the news anchor rattling on. There's no yelling, no fighting, no barking, no meowing. Odd how the definition of 'quiet' changes after you have kids in the house for a while. But it's quiet...and peaceful....and i wish i didn't have to work today so i could stay home and enjoy this peace and quiet...until, that is, SmartyPants wakes up and begins picking on WiseGuy then Wayne chimes in telling her to leave him alone and she begins arguing that he started it even though we all know that SHE did and WiseGuy argues HIS battle with SmartyPants that SHE started it....
yeah....i gotta go to work now...
*YAWN*
If i had my druthers i'druther be drinking my mocha, eating my bons-bons while awaiting the arrival of the cleaning lady and the pool boy. Suppose one would need a pool in order to have a pool boy. Lord knows i've got plenty for the hypothetical cleaning lady to do!
SmartyPants is still sleeping (i'm jealous) and WiseGuy insisted on an early morning shot of the Xbox. It's like his coffee.
Wayne is flipping through the morning news shows and drinking his coffee, no doubt contemplating what Comcast will throw at him later this morning. It ain't easy being The Cable Guy!
When life goes by so fast it's easy to overlook these seemingly mundane times. Taking a step back to look at the big picture....how 'quiet' the house is despite the beeps from the xbox and the news anchor rattling on. There's no yelling, no fighting, no barking, no meowing. Odd how the definition of 'quiet' changes after you have kids in the house for a while. But it's quiet...and peaceful....and i wish i didn't have to work today so i could stay home and enjoy this peace and quiet...until, that is, SmartyPants wakes up and begins picking on WiseGuy then Wayne chimes in telling her to leave him alone and she begins arguing that he started it even though we all know that SHE did and WiseGuy argues HIS battle with SmartyPants that SHE started it....
yeah....i gotta go to work now...
Sunday, June 29, 2008
AWOL
It's been too long since i've made a post. So much to have blogged about between then and now. Of course, it's those very things that have kept me from doing so.
i don't know that i can post everything here in one, two or even three posts. The past 7-8 months have been pretty packed with events. Some life altering...
Our old computer finally took a dump. Regardless of what we decided to do to remedy the situation we were going to have to put out some cashola. So we decided to indulge ourselves and Wayne bought me a laptop. Now i am able to surf the web in bed, on the couch or even out on the front porch. This really sounds dangerous.
i've been keeping up with friends' blogs all along, sometimes posting comments. i hope you all know i've been keeping up with you and thinking of you. i suck at showing it but you ladies are often in my thoughts.
i look forward to reviving this blog....
i don't know that i can post everything here in one, two or even three posts. The past 7-8 months have been pretty packed with events. Some life altering...
Our old computer finally took a dump. Regardless of what we decided to do to remedy the situation we were going to have to put out some cashola. So we decided to indulge ourselves and Wayne bought me a laptop. Now i am able to surf the web in bed, on the couch or even out on the front porch. This really sounds dangerous.
i've been keeping up with friends' blogs all along, sometimes posting comments. i hope you all know i've been keeping up with you and thinking of you. i suck at showing it but you ladies are often in my thoughts.
i look forward to reviving this blog....
Saturday, November 03, 2007
My Halloweeners!
Just a few days late with the Halloween post. i've been one tired chickadee!
i took off from work for Halloween, which was nice. i did SmartyPants' and Wiseguy's Halloween parade, then Wiseguy's class party. Then picked up Wayne from work, got the kids from school (early dismissal) and then Wayne went to get two teeth pulled (yeowch!) i made the kids have some quiet time and let them veg for a little in front of the TV. i knew they were going to be up late and i also knew that after all the candy at school a nap would be out of the question and so they sat quietly and recharged their batteries in front of the ol tellie...so sue me.
Wayne came home and started dinner, swollen faced and numb lipped...the poor guy. He is quite a trooper! After dinner, the kids got back into their costumes and he let me do HIS makeup, too! When picking out the kids things he saw a makeup kit that he wanted...it included horns, too! Of course, he didn't expect that he would be having teeth pulled on Halloween, either. In spite of the pain, he allowed me to do his makeup and apply his horns. WiseGuy said he looked "Eeeevvviiiiiillllll!'
WiseGuy had decided on being a brown dog and SmartyPants quickly followed up with a black cat. Worked great since they fight like cats and dogs! When putting the costumes together i decided i was going to get things they would/could reuse. WiseGuy got brown carpenter pants, a long sleeved brown thermal top and a cheap $5 brown tshirt over top. A few white felt circles, a nose, some ears and a tail and he was a brown dog. SmartyPants got black sweat pants, a black turtleneck and a long sleeved black shirt for overtop. Add a kitty mask, a tail, some black gloves with pink felt pads on the fingertips and a pink ribbon collar with rhinestones and a bell....and you have a black cat.
Without further ado....the pics!
i didn't wear any costume....as a matter of fact, i never even put a drop of makeup on my face all day! Trust me when i tell you that THAT is a scary sight indeed!!!
i took off from work for Halloween, which was nice. i did SmartyPants' and Wiseguy's Halloween parade, then Wiseguy's class party. Then picked up Wayne from work, got the kids from school (early dismissal) and then Wayne went to get two teeth pulled (yeowch!) i made the kids have some quiet time and let them veg for a little in front of the TV. i knew they were going to be up late and i also knew that after all the candy at school a nap would be out of the question and so they sat quietly and recharged their batteries in front of the ol tellie...so sue me.
Wayne came home and started dinner, swollen faced and numb lipped...the poor guy. He is quite a trooper! After dinner, the kids got back into their costumes and he let me do HIS makeup, too! When picking out the kids things he saw a makeup kit that he wanted...it included horns, too! Of course, he didn't expect that he would be having teeth pulled on Halloween, either. In spite of the pain, he allowed me to do his makeup and apply his horns. WiseGuy said he looked "Eeeevvviiiiiillllll!'
WiseGuy had decided on being a brown dog and SmartyPants quickly followed up with a black cat. Worked great since they fight like cats and dogs! When putting the costumes together i decided i was going to get things they would/could reuse. WiseGuy got brown carpenter pants, a long sleeved brown thermal top and a cheap $5 brown tshirt over top. A few white felt circles, a nose, some ears and a tail and he was a brown dog. SmartyPants got black sweat pants, a black turtleneck and a long sleeved black shirt for overtop. Add a kitty mask, a tail, some black gloves with pink felt pads on the fingertips and a pink ribbon collar with rhinestones and a bell....and you have a black cat.
Without further ado....the pics!
i didn't wear any costume....as a matter of fact, i never even put a drop of makeup on my face all day! Trust me when i tell you that THAT is a scary sight indeed!!!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Pumpkin Pandemonium
Halloween is finally close enough that we decided to go out over the weekend and get our pumpkins for carving. We went to a nearby nursery that always has lots of fun activities for the kids (for those who know the area Green Valley Nursery.) It was a gorgeous day for it!
Of course, lots of people get one family pumpkin for carving and maybe a smaller one or two for the wee ones in the family. That would be just way too simple for our family, so we each pick out our own big pumpkin. Wayne didn't really feel up to pumpkin carving challenge at the moment so he decided he would just be WiseGuy's assistant later on and helped him pick out a rather small pumpkin (our intention was just for WiseGuy to paint and/or use marker on the thing.) SmartyPants picked out a fairly medium sized pumpkin and i picked out a monster of a thing (it weighed in at 20lbs up at the register!)
When we made it home (after a hayride, going through a corn maze and riding up to Skyline Orchard to pick up some fresh apple cider) we started prepping our work area on the table in the backyard. WiseGuy has no patience...and while we prepped he hopped on his scooter and took off. Thanks for the help, dude! SmartyPants couldn't stand to wait, either, clamoring to get her hands on the carving tools. Unfortunately, we only had one set of carving tools (save for the two pumpkin scrapers i just happened to have.) i didn't think it would be TOO much of a problem since WiseGuy was supposed to be painting his, but, since my family can never do things the EASY way that wasn't going to happen. WiseGuy wanted nothing to do with the carving session and Wayne decided that he wanted to carve WiseGuy's pumpkin. i reminded Wayne of the size of this dwarf pumpkin and he shrugged it off and chose a pirate ship pattern out of the carving pattern book. SmartyPants chose a ghost holding a candelabra and i chose a Jekyll and Hyde type of 2 faced thing.
We gutted our pumpkins, saving the seeds to make baked pumpkin seeds later. The carving didn't seem to take as long this year as it has in the the years passed. Even for SmartyPants...and this was only her second year doing the actual carving! i was thoroughly impressed with Wayne's pirate ship....he didn't kick butt job considering the size of his workspace. Mine didn't turn out too shabby, either.
i have yet to bake those pumpkin seeds. They are laying on a cookie sheet drying. Maybe later today....yeah....maybe later.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
He's The Man! Shut Yo Mouth!
i've not been writing anything of substance here lately. i'm one exhausted lady lately. So i've been counting on the different memes to give me some content. Here's the latest to run across my path!
1. Who is your man?
Wayne
2. How long have you been together?
for just about 14 years
3. How long did you date?
we never did officially 'date'
4. How old is your man?
33
5. Who eats more?
While we can both put away the food, Wayne eats more than me because he has more machine to fuel ;)
6. Who said “I love you” first?
i did
7. Who is taller?
At 6'3" Wayne tends to be taller than most...not ALL, but most
8. Who sings better?
Definitely me!
9. Who is smarter?
Neither - we each have areas where we excel more than the other which make us a very good compliment for one another
10. Whose temper is worse?
i would have to say mine...at least, mine is quicker, which can be considered worse
11. Who does the laundry?
we both do...although i despise it almost as much as doing the dishes
12. Who takes out the trash?
He does.
13. Who sleeps on the right hand side of the bed?
He does.
14. Who pays the bills?
we both have specific bills that we each pay
15. Who is better with the computer?
We both have our strengths and weaknesses here, too. He'll tell you HE'S better....and i'll tell you he's AWESOME with the computer, but i'm pretty good, myself. He's good with hardware, i'm good with software....so, again, a good compliment for one another, i think
16. Who mows the lawn.
The lawn boy *grin* (ah, the joys of living with my parents)
17. Who cooks dinner?
Most times Wayne, but at the moment, he and my mom share the cooking duties
18. Who drives when you are together?
Mostly Wayne...but, like Aimee, i use the 'seat setting' argument to get behind the wheel on family outings.
19. Who pays when you go out?
depends on who got paid most recently
20. Who is most stubborn?
hrm...guess i'll have to say me on this one, too....but he's pretty darned headstrong!
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
That's something we both hate doing, but will do eventually in any argument. i've said it more times than i can count and so has he.
22. Whose parents do you see the most?
Mine now because we live with them. A few months ago, it would've been HIS parents that we saw most....we have all since moved from Florida...us to PA and them to Alaska
23. Who kissed who first?
He kissed me while we were looking at pictures from his winter break trip to Abu Dahbi
24. Who asked who out?
We never did that part of it. We just...kinda...were together.
25. Who proposed?
i don't know that anyone proposed, really....there wasn't some big 'get down on one knee' moment...we just sorta started talking about a wedding.
26. Who is more sensitive?
Me without a doubt
27. Who has more friends?
we have a lot of mutual friends....
28. Who has more siblings?
we both have one blood sibling, i, however, have step siblings and he does not
29. Who wears the pants in the family?
We used to have an answer for that but these days we know that we both need to have input in most decisions.
1. Who is your man?
Wayne
2. How long have you been together?
for just about 14 years
3. How long did you date?
we never did officially 'date'
4. How old is your man?
33
5. Who eats more?
While we can both put away the food, Wayne eats more than me because he has more machine to fuel ;)
6. Who said “I love you” first?
i did
7. Who is taller?
At 6'3" Wayne tends to be taller than most...not ALL, but most
8. Who sings better?
Definitely me!
9. Who is smarter?
Neither - we each have areas where we excel more than the other which make us a very good compliment for one another
10. Whose temper is worse?
i would have to say mine...at least, mine is quicker, which can be considered worse
11. Who does the laundry?
we both do...although i despise it almost as much as doing the dishes
12. Who takes out the trash?
He does.
13. Who sleeps on the right hand side of the bed?
He does.
14. Who pays the bills?
we both have specific bills that we each pay
15. Who is better with the computer?
We both have our strengths and weaknesses here, too. He'll tell you HE'S better....and i'll tell you he's AWESOME with the computer, but i'm pretty good, myself. He's good with hardware, i'm good with software....so, again, a good compliment for one another, i think
16. Who mows the lawn.
The lawn boy *grin* (ah, the joys of living with my parents)
17. Who cooks dinner?
Most times Wayne, but at the moment, he and my mom share the cooking duties
18. Who drives when you are together?
Mostly Wayne...but, like Aimee, i use the 'seat setting' argument to get behind the wheel on family outings.
19. Who pays when you go out?
depends on who got paid most recently
20. Who is most stubborn?
hrm...guess i'll have to say me on this one, too....but he's pretty darned headstrong!
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
That's something we both hate doing, but will do eventually in any argument. i've said it more times than i can count and so has he.
22. Whose parents do you see the most?
Mine now because we live with them. A few months ago, it would've been HIS parents that we saw most....we have all since moved from Florida...us to PA and them to Alaska
23. Who kissed who first?
He kissed me while we were looking at pictures from his winter break trip to Abu Dahbi
24. Who asked who out?
We never did that part of it. We just...kinda...were together.
25. Who proposed?
i don't know that anyone proposed, really....there wasn't some big 'get down on one knee' moment...we just sorta started talking about a wedding.
26. Who is more sensitive?
Me without a doubt
27. Who has more friends?
we have a lot of mutual friends....
28. Who has more siblings?
we both have one blood sibling, i, however, have step siblings and he does not
29. Who wears the pants in the family?
We used to have an answer for that but these days we know that we both need to have input in most decisions.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Not Christmas, Halloween!
My favorite holiday on the calendar is Halloween! This year it's even better being back up in a climate that actually HAS AUTUMN!
The pumpkins above were carved by SmartyPants and i last year. She did the face and i did the other one. We are still trying to decide what we will do this year.
Here is a cute Halloween survey/meme:
YAY! HALLOWEEN!!!
Ghosts or Goblins?:
- Ghosts
Zombies or Vampires?:
- Vampires
Witches or Hags?:
- Witches
Werewolves or Frankenstein?:
- Big old hairy Werewolves
Black Cats or bats?:
- Cats
Trick or Treat?:
- TREAT!
Candy Corn or Candy Apples?:
- Apples
Pumpkins or Squash?:
- Pumpkin
Orange or Purple lights?:
- Purple, if i have any.
Toads or Spiders?:
- i can handle spiders better than toads.
Lanterns or Lit-Pumpkins?:
- i prefer carved lit pumpkins....AND lanterns! Why not both?
Skeletons or Mummies?:
- Skeletons
Morticia or Lily Munster?:
- That's a toughie. A little of both, maybe?
Do you like to dress up for Halloween?:
- i have and will dress up for Halloween depending on the situation. No matter what, though, i at LEAST do some sort of freaky or creepy makeup job. Last year i rimmed my eyes with bright red eyeshadow and red eyeliner and made the rest of my face pale. Nothing major, but something a little unnerving nonetheless. This year i took off from work to take the kids trick - or - treating and am considering dressing in SOMETHING.
What were you last year for Halloween?:
- See above
What are you going to be this year?:
- i'm not sure...still pondering.
Favorite costume you have ever worn?:
- i'm not too sure on this one, either. It's a toss up between a mad blood-spattered scientist toting my husband around in a straight jacket as my patient and the year i dressed as a hippie when i was in high school.
How do you spend your Halloween?:
- These days we take the kids out trick-or-treating. Then when we come home, they go to bed and we go through their candy for the
Are you or are you not going trick or treating this year?:
- i'm TAKING the kids trick-or-treating....so kinda sorta
Did or do you pull Halloween pranks?:
- yeah, we used to go 'raiding. We threw uncooked hard corn kernels by the handful at people's windows and the cobs at their doors. Not quite sure when or how or WHY that started, but it was a tradition that took place the few weeks that led up to Halloween EVERY YEAR and the neighbors HATED it. We kids had a blast, though.
Do you believe in ghosts?
- Yes
Are you superstitious?:
- i am out of habit, not because i believe in superstitions.
Do you like caramel popcorn?:
- is the pope german?
Have you ever gone in the country to look for pumpkins?:
- Does the pumpkin patch at the nursery count?
Have you ever been on a hayride?:
- MANY many hayrides. i'm sure there are MANY more to come with the kids over the years.
Do you decorate your home for Halloween?:
- i LOVE to decorate for Halloween! i have to tone it down this year because i'm living with my mom, but she let me put these gel window stick ons of bloody handprints and blood spatters in the windows of my bedroom on the FRONT OF THE HOUSE! i also convinced her to let me put out some spider webs. i USED to have a foam tomb stone, but that got lost in the shuffle.
Have you ever been to a haunted house?:
- I have
Have you ever been to a graveyard on Halloween?:
- i think so...one time in college, i think.
Have you ever attended a Halloween party?:
- Several
Have you ever been to an amusement park's Halloween event?:
- There were probably some of THE best Halloween events at Universal Studios and Disney when we lived down in Florida....but do you know i never got to go to one in the seven years i lived there?
Do you watch scary movies on Halloween?:
- Oh yes...and for several weeks prior to Halloween, as well.
Have you ever had your candy stolen from you?:
- Yes! It was scary and it sucked. i was around 11 or 12 and someone ran up behind me and my friend. We were walking up the hill to our houses, our bags STUFFED after a night around town and all of the sudden i felt a sharp pain in my hand as the plastic candy bag handle dug into my skin. I pulled back hard as i could but the handle broke and the kid ran with the candy. A few of the neighborhood boys and one of the dads walked around the blocks for a little bit trying to find the kid but they never did.
Did you ever steal any ones candy?:
- No!
Has anyone ever gotten hurt due to your prank?:
- Nope it was always fairly innocent stuff
Have you ever dressed as a witch/warlock?:
- Somewhere along the lines i probably have....
Are your parents into Halloween?:
- My stepmom is a Halloween fanatic, but my mom and dad themselves aren't 'into' Halloween so to speak. My stepdad would rather we didn't even decorate to encourage trick-or-treaters.
What do you believe is the most common Halloween costume?:
- Ghost, maybe?
Who took an axe and gave her mother forty wacks?
- Lizzie Borden
Do you have a tradition for Halloween day?:
- Nothing other than the usual trick or treating
Do you know someone who was born on Halloween?:
- No
HAVE YOU EVER:
Passed out candy?:
- i used to.
Bobbed for apples?:
- Yes i have.
Gone to a pumpkin patch?:
- Yep
Hosted a Halloween Party?:
- i don't think so
Attended a Halloween Party?:
- Several
made pumpkin pie?:
- Nope, can't say that i have...maybe i should start this year
Raked leaves?:
- Unfortunately
Watched the Travel Channel with the Halloween specials?:
- You mean Most Haunted? Yeah, i've watched that. i flip back and forth between it and Ghost Hunters.
HAVE YOU SEEN:
Amityville Horror?:
- Yes
- House Of Wax?:
- Yes
- Tales From The Crypt?:
- My most favorite is Demon Knight! Billy Zane.....yummy!
- The Exorcist?:
- Yes
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre:
- i don't think so, now that you mention it
- Pumpkinhead?:
- Yes
- The Grudge?:
- i saw the first one
- The Sixth Sense?:
- Yes
- The Others?:
- Hmm...maybe
- All or any of the Nightmare On Elm Street?:
- Yeppers
- Practical Magic?:
- i don't think so
- Any or all of The Simpson's Halloween episodes?:
- Yes most, if not all
- The Munsters?:
- Yes
- The Addams Family?:
- Yes
- Elvira?:
- She makes me giggle. i love her.
-The Lost Boys?:
- Oh yes
-Hocus Pocus?:
- This is SmartyPants' ALL TIME FAVORITE HALLOWEEN MOVIE EVER!!! She'll watch it any time of the year, really, but for her Halloween just isn't Halloween without watching Hocus Pocus at LEAST 5 times!
There you have it. Some Halloween facts about me.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program already in progress.....
Friday, September 21, 2007
Twu Wuv
I recently came across this meme that others of you had done and needed something to post! So here it is! The Marriage Meme!
1. Where/How did you meet? We met in college. He was friends with my roommate. When my bf at the time broke up with me i was HEARTBROKEN and my roommate would drag me out and about with her to keep me from ending up in a sobbing heap on the dorm room floor. We would go hang out with a group, of which Wayne was a part of. We became good friends. There were times when he would make me go to dinner with him because he knew i hadn't eaten all day (still mourning the ex) Once, he even took me in his arms and held me as i cried. There was no interest other than friendship, but over the course of time we became closer and closer...and the rest is history.
2. How long have you known each other? almost 14 years
3. How long after you met did you start dating? i'd say it was probably 3 or 4 months
4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 3 years
5. How long was your engagement? i don't remember
6. How long have you been married? almost 11 years
7. What is your anniversary? January 25th
8. How many people came to your wedding reception: i dunno...it was very small...maybe...30?
9. What kind of cake did you serve? it was a lemon cake with cream cheese icing
10. Where was your wedding? The church where i had received every other sacrament in my life
11. What did you serve for your meal? We didn't have a meal, we had a buffet with smaller finger foods and such
12. How many people were in your bridal party? just the maid of honor and the best man
13. Are you still friends with them all? we have lost touch with the best man, but yes, we are still friends with him, should we ever find him again. My maid of honor was my sister, so yeah, we're still friends ;)
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? He definitely teared up
15. Most special moment of your wedding day? When we got to the back of the church afterwards and we had a few moments alone to hold one another and breathe a sigh of relief that it was over
16. Any funny moments? Not that i can recall
17. Any big disasters? No, everything we as planned
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We spent the night at a little bed and breakfast up the way from where we held the reception....that was it
19. How long were you gone? 1 night
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? i can't so i won't go there
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? If you’re laying on your back on the bed I’m on the left side...right now...this can change from month to month
22. What size is your bed? Queen
23. Greatest strength as a couple? We never run out of things to talk about or do. We're never bored together.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple? Finances - one can handle them, one can't
25. Who literally pays the bills? At the moment we have certain bills that we each pay
26. What is your song? Well, i walked down the aisle to 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' from The Lion King, so that is pretty much 'our song' but there are many out there that remind me of Wayne and vice versa
27. What did you dance your first dance to? We didn't have dancing
28. Describe your wedding dress: Simple, cream colored ankle length slip dress covered by a cream ankle length lace 'jacket'
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Roses and Stargazer Lilies
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say? We bought our rings separately, not showing them to the other until they were placed on our fingers. He had mine engraved 'To My Beloved, Eternally Yours, Wayne' - i had his engraved with the date and our initials...yeah, i felt small ;)
Ok, so, now those of you who have yet to do this one, TAG YOU'RE IT! You know who you are, so get to it! ;)
1. Where/How did you meet? We met in college. He was friends with my roommate. When my bf at the time broke up with me i was HEARTBROKEN and my roommate would drag me out and about with her to keep me from ending up in a sobbing heap on the dorm room floor. We would go hang out with a group, of which Wayne was a part of. We became good friends. There were times when he would make me go to dinner with him because he knew i hadn't eaten all day (still mourning the ex) Once, he even took me in his arms and held me as i cried. There was no interest other than friendship, but over the course of time we became closer and closer...and the rest is history.
2. How long have you known each other? almost 14 years
3. How long after you met did you start dating? i'd say it was probably 3 or 4 months
4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 3 years
5. How long was your engagement? i don't remember
6. How long have you been married? almost 11 years
7. What is your anniversary? January 25th
8. How many people came to your wedding reception: i dunno...it was very small...maybe...30?
9. What kind of cake did you serve? it was a lemon cake with cream cheese icing
10. Where was your wedding? The church where i had received every other sacrament in my life
11. What did you serve for your meal? We didn't have a meal, we had a buffet with smaller finger foods and such
12. How many people were in your bridal party? just the maid of honor and the best man
13. Are you still friends with them all? we have lost touch with the best man, but yes, we are still friends with him, should we ever find him again. My maid of honor was my sister, so yeah, we're still friends ;)
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? He definitely teared up
15. Most special moment of your wedding day? When we got to the back of the church afterwards and we had a few moments alone to hold one another and breathe a sigh of relief that it was over
16. Any funny moments? Not that i can recall
17. Any big disasters? No, everything we as planned
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We spent the night at a little bed and breakfast up the way from where we held the reception....that was it
19. How long were you gone? 1 night
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? i can't so i won't go there
21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? If you’re laying on your back on the bed I’m on the left side...right now...this can change from month to month
22. What size is your bed? Queen
23. Greatest strength as a couple? We never run out of things to talk about or do. We're never bored together.
24. Greatest challenge as a couple? Finances - one can handle them, one can't
25. Who literally pays the bills? At the moment we have certain bills that we each pay
26. What is your song? Well, i walked down the aisle to 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' from The Lion King, so that is pretty much 'our song' but there are many out there that remind me of Wayne and vice versa
27. What did you dance your first dance to? We didn't have dancing
28. Describe your wedding dress: Simple, cream colored ankle length slip dress covered by a cream ankle length lace 'jacket'
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Roses and Stargazer Lilies
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say? We bought our rings separately, not showing them to the other until they were placed on our fingers. He had mine engraved 'To My Beloved, Eternally Yours, Wayne' - i had his engraved with the date and our initials...yeah, i felt small ;)
Ok, so, now those of you who have yet to do this one, TAG YOU'RE IT! You know who you are, so get to it! ;)
Monday, September 10, 2007
If it's TOO LOUD you're....
...TOO OLD?? i beg to differ. WiseGuy has this 'problem.' Certain noises send him into hysterics. They are generally loud noises, but not ALL loud noises will do it. We can't take him to parades because of the fire, police and ambulance sirens. When they pass by and sound their sirens he screams and cries uncontrollably as i stand there with him holding my hands tight to his ears while he presses against them to hold them on even tighter. So we don't take him. He likes to WATCH fireworks....NOW. It took us until this summer to get him to watch them on TV. He can't stand to be within a mile of them. He stills states that he HATES July 4th and wishes we could all celebrate quietly. So we don't take him to fireworks displays.
There is one particular noise that sets him off more than any other. The fire alarm at school. He has ALWAYS hated the fire drill. His first day of kindergarten they thought it would be a good idea to have a fire drill....his FIRST day of KINDERGARTEN! Ok, so, i can see a bit of logic in that...getting them used to it....but that's not how it worked for my WiseGuy. The noise terrified him and he screamed for over an hour. As the months wore on he continued to scream and cry when they had the fire drill, it just took less time for him to get over it once he realized they were outside, away from the noise and that soon the alarm would get turned off. Then Tornado Awareness week came along. The fire alarm sounds but you DON'T leave the buidling. You duck and cover in the midst of the noise. i had to go pick him up from school that day as he cried and screamed so much that he made himself throw up. He did the same thing the next day....and the day after that...and the day after that. He would cry randomly at home and talk about the fire drill with a terrified look on his face while i tried to reassure him that they weren't going to do it the next day...or the next or the next....but i knew, eventually, they would do a regular ol fire drill again and it would start again. It did. And the time after that and the time after that. Yeah....they had a LOT of fire drills. Eventually, we worked out that the teacher kept a pair of wax earplugs in her desk and when the bell sounds, she is to give those to him to put in his ears as the children line up and walk outside. We told him they were there....but he didn't need to use them the next time and calmed down quickly once they left the building.
They had a fire drill at his school last week. He cried outside for a half hour and REFUSED to go back into the school. They finally convinced him to go back inside but he still wouldn't go back into his room. After another half hour he was back in the room and sat with his fingers in his ears while they resumed the school work. The teacher called me. Turns out at his school they just redid the fire alarm system in the school and it IS quite loud and VERY piercing. Since they didn't want to TERRIFY these little primary schoolers, they make an announcement over the loud speaker telling the children it is a fire drill and to line up and exit the building slowly. They never sound the alarm. So WiseGuy was confused once they went back in and started their school work and had never heard the alarm. The teacher said he sat and looked around and asked 'Where's the fire drill??' The teacher told him they already had it. He wasn't really sure what to make of that.
He didn't talk TOO much about it. i was SURE it would be the topic of discussion the rest of the night, but he barely mentioned it.
i wasn't sure what to make of THAT.
i look things up online. i research some things. i see that there might be medical causes for some such behavior/reactions. i also see that the cures are few and far between and most say that over time he will be accustomed to the sounds he hears. He will learn to tune them out...or down...just by experiencing them time and again and again.
Can i tell you that it breaks my heart? When i'm standing there holding his ears as the fire trucks pass in a parade, there are tears in my eyes as well as his. It pains me that he can't enjoy something that should be so fun. It makes me sad that he and i sit inside on the 4th of July and New Year's Eve and we can't go out with the others to see the beautiful fire works.
i've had him to audiologist. They did a hearing test on him. Guess what the result was?? He has PERFECT HEARING! No kidding, chief, i already knew that. They ran a few other tests and they basically told me it's on the neurological level and how he is PERCEIVING the sound.
The neurologist was never able to get me in for an intake appointment before we left Florida.
Many family members think that it's all in his head. They say he doesn't react as strongly when i'm not around. Or sometimes not at all. But the incident at school with the fire drill is proof positive that he DOES react when i'm not around.
i guess i'm not sure what to do, to be honest. Seek out answers to the cause? Or just work with him for a solution that we can see already is working to some extent?
i've struggled with this for a while now and am no closer to coming to a resolution.
There is one particular noise that sets him off more than any other. The fire alarm at school. He has ALWAYS hated the fire drill. His first day of kindergarten they thought it would be a good idea to have a fire drill....his FIRST day of KINDERGARTEN! Ok, so, i can see a bit of logic in that...getting them used to it....but that's not how it worked for my WiseGuy. The noise terrified him and he screamed for over an hour. As the months wore on he continued to scream and cry when they had the fire drill, it just took less time for him to get over it once he realized they were outside, away from the noise and that soon the alarm would get turned off. Then Tornado Awareness week came along. The fire alarm sounds but you DON'T leave the buidling. You duck and cover in the midst of the noise. i had to go pick him up from school that day as he cried and screamed so much that he made himself throw up. He did the same thing the next day....and the day after that...and the day after that. He would cry randomly at home and talk about the fire drill with a terrified look on his face while i tried to reassure him that they weren't going to do it the next day...or the next or the next....but i knew, eventually, they would do a regular ol fire drill again and it would start again. It did. And the time after that and the time after that. Yeah....they had a LOT of fire drills. Eventually, we worked out that the teacher kept a pair of wax earplugs in her desk and when the bell sounds, she is to give those to him to put in his ears as the children line up and walk outside. We told him they were there....but he didn't need to use them the next time and calmed down quickly once they left the building.
They had a fire drill at his school last week. He cried outside for a half hour and REFUSED to go back into the school. They finally convinced him to go back inside but he still wouldn't go back into his room. After another half hour he was back in the room and sat with his fingers in his ears while they resumed the school work. The teacher called me. Turns out at his school they just redid the fire alarm system in the school and it IS quite loud and VERY piercing. Since they didn't want to TERRIFY these little primary schoolers, they make an announcement over the loud speaker telling the children it is a fire drill and to line up and exit the building slowly. They never sound the alarm. So WiseGuy was confused once they went back in and started their school work and had never heard the alarm. The teacher said he sat and looked around and asked 'Where's the fire drill??' The teacher told him they already had it. He wasn't really sure what to make of that.
He didn't talk TOO much about it. i was SURE it would be the topic of discussion the rest of the night, but he barely mentioned it.
i wasn't sure what to make of THAT.
i look things up online. i research some things. i see that there might be medical causes for some such behavior/reactions. i also see that the cures are few and far between and most say that over time he will be accustomed to the sounds he hears. He will learn to tune them out...or down...just by experiencing them time and again and again.
Can i tell you that it breaks my heart? When i'm standing there holding his ears as the fire trucks pass in a parade, there are tears in my eyes as well as his. It pains me that he can't enjoy something that should be so fun. It makes me sad that he and i sit inside on the 4th of July and New Year's Eve and we can't go out with the others to see the beautiful fire works.
i've had him to audiologist. They did a hearing test on him. Guess what the result was?? He has PERFECT HEARING! No kidding, chief, i already knew that. They ran a few other tests and they basically told me it's on the neurological level and how he is PERCEIVING the sound.
The neurologist was never able to get me in for an intake appointment before we left Florida.
Many family members think that it's all in his head. They say he doesn't react as strongly when i'm not around. Or sometimes not at all. But the incident at school with the fire drill is proof positive that he DOES react when i'm not around.
i guess i'm not sure what to do, to be honest. Seek out answers to the cause? Or just work with him for a solution that we can see already is working to some extent?
i've struggled with this for a while now and am no closer to coming to a resolution.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Sleeping....Ugly??
Well, my computer (actually internet connection) is finally fixed.
In the past few weeks, school has started, my sleep schedule is interrupted yet again. Horror of horrors! But you don't understand....i LOVE to sleep. No, really....i L-O-V-E my sleep! i've quite often made the statement
It was hard when i first started this job back in June. My shift is 6pm - 1am Monday through Friday. Sometimes i get home a little early, sometimes a little later. It took several weeks for my body to adjust to being up this late, but it helped that the kids were home from school. SmartyPants would get breakfast for both her and her brother and would keep him occupied and let me sleep in. Now, there is no more sleeping in.
Wayne is up and out the door by 6:30am to get to his job, which means i'm generally on my own with the kids in the morning. It's up as late as possible for me, which is usually 7:30. Get the kids fed, dressed and out the door by 8:30, not a real big deal. Get home around 8:45 and sit in front of the computer for a few minutes to check things without child interruption. Lay down and try to sleep some more. Get woken up by well meaning mother and other phone calls. Get up and eat. Take shower. Go pick up kids. Do homework. Finish getting ready for work. Go to work. Get home around 1 or 1:30am. Get to bed by 2am. Get up around 7:30 and do it all over again.
Another wrench gets thrown in the works on Monday when SmartyPants starts chorus practice before school from 7:45 - 8:30.
i miss my husband, err, uh, i mean bed!!!
In the past few weeks, school has started, my sleep schedule is interrupted yet again. Horror of horrors! But you don't understand....i LOVE to sleep. No, really....i L-O-V-E my sleep! i've quite often made the statement
"If it were normal and socially acceptable to marry inanimate objects i would marry my bed so i could tell people i needed to go home and spend time with my husband!"
It was hard when i first started this job back in June. My shift is 6pm - 1am Monday through Friday. Sometimes i get home a little early, sometimes a little later. It took several weeks for my body to adjust to being up this late, but it helped that the kids were home from school. SmartyPants would get breakfast for both her and her brother and would keep him occupied and let me sleep in. Now, there is no more sleeping in.
Wayne is up and out the door by 6:30am to get to his job, which means i'm generally on my own with the kids in the morning. It's up as late as possible for me, which is usually 7:30. Get the kids fed, dressed and out the door by 8:30, not a real big deal. Get home around 8:45 and sit in front of the computer for a few minutes to check things without child interruption. Lay down and try to sleep some more. Get woken up by well meaning mother and other phone calls. Get up and eat. Take shower. Go pick up kids. Do homework. Finish getting ready for work. Go to work. Get home around 1 or 1:30am. Get to bed by 2am. Get up around 7:30 and do it all over again.
Another wrench gets thrown in the works on Monday when SmartyPants starts chorus practice before school from 7:45 - 8:30.
i miss my husband, err, uh, i mean bed!!!
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Sesame Me
i know i haven't blogged in a bit, but, unfortunately, my wireless link to my computer isn't working. At the moment, i am using my mom's computer...fun stuff!
Since i felt the need to blog SOMETHING but don't want to use up too much of my parents computer time, i figured i would go ahead and do the Sesame Street Persona Test that i found over at T with Honey! i'll blog more when my internet connection issues are resolved!!!
Since i felt the need to blog SOMETHING but don't want to use up too much of my parents computer time, i figured i would go ahead and do the Sesame Street Persona Test that i found over at T with Honey! i'll blog more when my internet connection issues are resolved!!!
Your Score: Kermit the Frog
You scored 45% Organization, 60% abstract, and 71% extroverted!
This test measured 3 variables.
First, this test measured how organized you are. Some muppets like Cookie Monster make big messes, while others like Bert are quite anal about things being clean.
Second, this test measured if you prefer a concrete or an abstract viewpoint. For the purposes of this test, concrete people are considered to gravitate more to mathematical and logical approaches, whereas abstract people are more the dreamers and artistic type.
Third, this test measured if you are more of an introvert or an extrovert. By definition, an introvert concentrates more on herself and an extrovert focuses more on others. In this test an introvert was somebody that either tends to spend more time alone or thinks more about herself.
You are mostly organized, both concrete and abstract, and more extroverted.
Here is why are you Kermit the Frog.
You are both somewhat organized. You have a good idea where you put things and you probably keep your place reasonably clean. You aren't totally obsessed with neatness though. Kermit is also reasonably tidy. He'll even dress up for interviews. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Kermit starred on Sesame Street years before The Muppet Show.
You both are sometimes concrete and sometimes abstract thinkers. Kermit spends a lot of his time as a reporter collecting facts, but he is also the author of the dreamy song "The Rainbow Connection." You have a good balance in your life. You know when to be logical at times, but you also aren't afraid to explore your dreams and desires... within limits of course.
You are both extroverts. Kermit gets along with everyone. Sure a few folks annoy him, but that's just because they are annoying. Kermit likes to meet new people when he does his job as a street reporter. You definitely enjoy the company of others, and you don't have problems meeting new people... in fact you probably look forward to it. You are willing to take charge when necessary or work as part of a team.
The other possible characters are
Oscar the Grouch
Big Bird
Snuffleupagus
Ernie
Elmo
Cookie Monster
Grover
The Count
Guy Smiley
Bert
Hey, don't be a grouch! If you liked the test, let others know by rating it below. Feel free to vote for your favorite character too.
| Link: The Your SESAME STREET Persona Test written by greencowsgomoo on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
Friday, August 10, 2007
i rock?! WOOHOO!
T over at T With Honey apparently thinks I ROCK!!! She has dubbed me a Rockin' Girl Blogger! Very awesome, T, thanks!
Now for the fun part, awarding OTHERS!!!
First, kimmy at blog my memory. She totally rocks! This i've known since grade school. And when i say she ROCKS i mean she REALLY rocks! i've got the audio tapes to prove it!!!
Aimee from The Mother Load ALSO rocks! Grade school once again was when i discovered that fact. She also rocks because if it weren't for her, i would've never started my own blog. Of course there are many other reasons she rocks, but you'll just have to go and read her blog for that one.
Billie is new to the blogosphere. Her new blog, Life in the Circle, is already shaping up to be a great read. We have only recently gotten back in touch after years and years of no contact and that in itself ROCKS!
Of course, i must give rockin props back to T! She thinks i rock and, well, that just rocks!!! HA!
That, my friends is the extent of my rocking blogger girls!
This totally rocks! LOL
Now for the fun part, awarding OTHERS!!!
First, kimmy at blog my memory. She totally rocks! This i've known since grade school. And when i say she ROCKS i mean she REALLY rocks! i've got the audio tapes to prove it!!!
Aimee from The Mother Load ALSO rocks! Grade school once again was when i discovered that fact. She also rocks because if it weren't for her, i would've never started my own blog. Of course there are many other reasons she rocks, but you'll just have to go and read her blog for that one.
Billie is new to the blogosphere. Her new blog, Life in the Circle, is already shaping up to be a great read. We have only recently gotten back in touch after years and years of no contact and that in itself ROCKS!
Of course, i must give rockin props back to T! She thinks i rock and, well, that just rocks!!! HA!
That, my friends is the extent of my rocking blogger girls!
This totally rocks! LOL
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Wine Me, Dine Me
So my birthday is on Tuesday, but since the rest of the fam will be working all day and i'll be working all night we celebrated it today. There happened to be a winery tour going on today and my mom suggested we get a sitter for the kids and me, Wayne, her and my stepdad all hit a few of the wineries. Now, i'm not very big on wine, to be quite honest, but it sounded intriguing, adult, and something we could do together without spending lots of money, so i agreed. It turned out to be a lovely day and i discovered a few wines that i DO enjoy!
i got pics of the day and included them below
In the car on the way:
(that's my mom!)
i took a self portrait, a la MySpace ;)
and had my mom take one of Wayne and me
The first winery left a lot to be desired. It was tiny, empty and the girl behind the counter was cute but it was obvious she would rather be somewhere else. We tasted a few different wines and bought a bottle of blueberry dessert wine, though. The only thing of note there was in the parking lot as we left. There was an original Mini Cooper, complete with right hand side steering and Brit flag painted on top.
The next winery we hit was French Creek Winery.
Inside was very nice, but the best part of the inside was a sign hanging over a door. Unfortunately, the only shot i got of it came out fairly blurry, but you can still read
The wine there was NOT to my liking....very very dry. So instead of buying any wine we bought a pair of wine glasses with the name of the winery on it.
i got a pic of the vineyard there.
Our last stop was my favorite of the day. It was Manatawny Creek Winery.
Obviously, the theme color was purple, but it was so tastefully done. The people there were wonderful, helpful and friendly. The inside of the store had much more than wine. There were jellies made with wine, infused grapeseed oils, vinegar, wineglasses and all sorts of wine related items.
We taste several wines that i REALLY liked. We ended up purchasing a bottle of Autumn Blush for Wayne and Mason's Mayhem for me. The neat thing about Mason's Mayhem was that Mason is the owner's cat. We were told we could only taste it after seeing the bottle:
Cute, huh? It ended up being my favorite and a MAJOR plus was that they donate a portion of each purchase of that wine to the local animal rescue.
We also bought a small jar of blueberry wine jelly.
They had this wonderful sangria popsicle, as well, that they gave us as we left. It was so delicious and very refreshing and we sat and ate it on the porch overlooking the vineyard.
The pic of Wayne enjoying HIS pop made me laugh hysterically
Here are my mom and stepdad, Jim, out on the porch, as well as the vineyard below:
All in all it ended up being a wonderful day. We had a good time and i discovered that i DO like wine....just the sweet ones ;)
Below are my birthday gifts....the bottles of wine, the glasses and the jar of jelly. Wayne also got me two pieces of jewelry, a pink leather and pearl necklacke as well as a delicate silver cuff bracelet.
i would love to hear a recommendation from others who enjoy wine! i'm sure i can find all sorts of different kinds as we only hit three of the nine wineries on the tour today!
i got pics of the day and included them below
In the car on the way:
(that's my mom!)
i took a self portrait, a la MySpace ;)
and had my mom take one of Wayne and me
The first winery left a lot to be desired. It was tiny, empty and the girl behind the counter was cute but it was obvious she would rather be somewhere else. We tasted a few different wines and bought a bottle of blueberry dessert wine, though. The only thing of note there was in the parking lot as we left. There was an original Mini Cooper, complete with right hand side steering and Brit flag painted on top.
The next winery we hit was French Creek Winery.
Inside was very nice, but the best part of the inside was a sign hanging over a door. Unfortunately, the only shot i got of it came out fairly blurry, but you can still read
The wine there was NOT to my liking....very very dry. So instead of buying any wine we bought a pair of wine glasses with the name of the winery on it.
i got a pic of the vineyard there.
Our last stop was my favorite of the day. It was Manatawny Creek Winery.
Obviously, the theme color was purple, but it was so tastefully done. The people there were wonderful, helpful and friendly. The inside of the store had much more than wine. There were jellies made with wine, infused grapeseed oils, vinegar, wineglasses and all sorts of wine related items.
We taste several wines that i REALLY liked. We ended up purchasing a bottle of Autumn Blush for Wayne and Mason's Mayhem for me. The neat thing about Mason's Mayhem was that Mason is the owner's cat. We were told we could only taste it after seeing the bottle:
Cute, huh? It ended up being my favorite and a MAJOR plus was that they donate a portion of each purchase of that wine to the local animal rescue.
We also bought a small jar of blueberry wine jelly.
They had this wonderful sangria popsicle, as well, that they gave us as we left. It was so delicious and very refreshing and we sat and ate it on the porch overlooking the vineyard.
The pic of Wayne enjoying HIS pop made me laugh hysterically
Here are my mom and stepdad, Jim, out on the porch, as well as the vineyard below:
All in all it ended up being a wonderful day. We had a good time and i discovered that i DO like wine....just the sweet ones ;)
Below are my birthday gifts....the bottles of wine, the glasses and the jar of jelly. Wayne also got me two pieces of jewelry, a pink leather and pearl necklacke as well as a delicate silver cuff bracelet.
i would love to hear a recommendation from others who enjoy wine! i'm sure i can find all sorts of different kinds as we only hit three of the nine wineries on the tour today!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Life in Hi Def
i figure i should start to prepare for the winter when we stay indoors. This was not the case in Florida, we could go outdoors almost all year long. The kids are going to be bored, i'm sure, particularly when it is COLD but there is no snow. So, what can i do NOW to prepare for THEN? ENTER A CONTEST TO WIN AN HDTV!!! That will keep them occupied, don't you think?
Over at 5 Minutes for Mom they are having an awesome contest. It's very simple to enter it, too. The winner will receive an Insignia® 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV from Best Buy! Sounds great, right? Well, go on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check it out and enter!
Over at 5 Minutes for Mom they are having an awesome contest. It's very simple to enter it, too. The winner will receive an Insignia® 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV from Best Buy! Sounds great, right? Well, go on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check it out and enter!
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