catching up

just thought I'd drop in and dust the cobwebs a little bit around here

long time no see!

It's been a while and my excuse is.....well, I have no excuse, other than sick children and busy-ness. Like we aren't all busy, right? Lame, I know....to be honest I've not felt inspired or witty or anything lately.

Put on your big girl panties and deal with it, right? I know I know. Anyway, while I try to come up with a better tomorrow you can enjoy these pictures of my minis at the pumpkin patch yesterday. Me and my BFF took all the littles to the pumpkin patch/hayride/petting barn place. You would have thought it was Little One's first public outing...she was beside herself.

Big One spent the majority of her time chasing Little One and "protecting" her from all those mean big kids that don't watch out for little ones in the hay mazes and stuff. It was fun.

I can't breathe today. Not sure if it's all that damn hay or if the girls have given me their creeping crud. Either way my sinuses are having a bad day. Sucks to be me. Send in the Waaaambulance.....

A Thousand Word Thursday - the BFF edition

2 1/2 yrs.

3 yrs.

4 yrs.

4 yrs.

4 1/2 yrs.

5 yrs.

5 yrs.

6 yrs.

7 yrs.

Big One and her main sidekick....her BFF if you will. These two have known one another since they were 6 weeks old and been inseparable since they could talk. They have literally grown up before my eyes (and now yours too!)

Join Jen at Cheaper than Therapy for more Thousand Words Thursday!!

or maybe she's afraid of my driving? hmmmm.....

We have to bring a blanket to daycare for Little One every week. Normally we just take it home on Friday, wash it and throw it back in the car so as not to forget it the following Monday. Some days Little One will not leave the classroom without her blanket. Why is unbeknownst to me because she's not particularly attached to any one blanket, stuffed animal or anything else....but we now have a small collection of them in the car.....some washed, some not.....it's hard to say which is which.

Anyway, the past few days she's decided she needs a blanket over her head while we are riding in the car. Not to play peekaboo or scare me or any of the normal blanket-on-the-head reasons. I am kind of intrigued by this new development. She does it every day now when we drop of Big One at school and rides from Big One's school to the daycare with a blanket over her head. Once in a while she'll giggle....but that's it. Strange. Can't face the morning without Sissy? Can't face the morning period? I'm with you kid, only I don't think they would condone my wearing a blanket on my head while driving my mini's around. Every time I stop at a stoplight I just hope that the people in the car beside me are distracted by something and not noticing my blanket covered kid in the carseat next door.....

Photographic evidence of this new phenomena (all separate days):

WHAT?!!! Can't a girl get her Blanket On in peace????

a Thousand Words Thursday

It was about this time of year 4 years ago when Big One started ballet......the cuteness almost killed me

visit Jen at Cheaper than Therapy for more Thousand Words Thursday

the one about watching recording too much TV

Do ya'll do a lot of tv watching? I like to say I don't.....you know "I have two minis that keep me running crazy....who has time to watch tv?". Well honey, I must find the time somewhere because my -I Have To Record This Program Or My Life Will Cease To Have Meaning- list is not just long....it's holyshitthat'salonglist long. I don't think I realized just how many things I record until my beloved TIVO, the one I've had for (pinky swear) 11 years just died. DIED I tell you. Dead. Gone. Finito (is that how you spell it? I know ZERO spanish....or is that even spanish?)

When it died it took with it all of the programs I had recorded but hadn't gotten around to watching. Some of them were embarrassingly old but I had never deleted them because one of these days I'd get around to watching them, you know maybe when I'm at home sick one day or something.....Yeah Right! All my sick days are burned when my minis are sick, when I'm sick I just have to suck it up and soldier through....and at night I usually watch the newest stuff instead of going back and watching the older stuff. I have a sick little TIVO rating system in my head based on importance of the program. For instance I am now hooked on True Blood and had to watch all of season 1 in order on Netflix (which greatly reduced my recorded program watching time at night leading to a full TIVO which is now DEAD dammit!) before watching all of the Season 2 episodes that were patiently waiting their turn on the TIVO. All the while my TIVO is filling itself with The Cleaner and Intervention and Dateline and 20/20 and Chelsea Lately, etc. (in case you are wondering I would be flipping through all the Chelsea Lately's first to see who the guest was and deleting or watching accordingly then same with Dateline and 20/20 and then watching all the Cleaner's in order and then moving on to Intervention) and to make matters worse all the fall shows are starting back up and I'd need to make room for them as well.

Anyway, Direct TV and TIVO apparently can't come to any type of agreement and so you can't get TIVO for Direct TV anymore. You have to get a DVR. Fuck a DVR. A DVR is not a TIVO. Yes, I KNOW they do the same thing. I KNOW they are essentially the same creature. The DVR is not as user friendly as the TIVO and dammit, I miss her already. I got the TIVO back in the very beginning. I have the first model of the TIVO. I paid a wad for it and it lasted me forever. Everyone used to look at me like I had three heads when I raved about my TIVO....."what the hell is a TIVO"...the concept was just bewildering. Now I don't think I know anyone that doesn't TIVO or DVR. I begrudgingly ordered the stupid DVR and packed up my sad old TIVO, but not before writing down my Season Pass list. That's where the holyshitthat'salonglist list came from. I never realized I was recording that many programs and to be honest there was nothing I left out when programming the DVR. They are all must see's for me, or at least must-see-who-the-guest-is-or-what-the-topic-is. I record Ellen and Oprah every day but I'll bet 50% of the time at least I don't watch them.

Me and the DVR are just getting to know one another. I don't like her nearly as much as I loved my TIVO but since we have Direct TV I have no choice. It's DVR or nothing. Bitches.

I guess maybe I'll like her better once I get to know her better and maybe I'll love her more, but I doubt it. I'll miss you TIVO. I'll miss you like a long lost friend. A sister even. (okay I don't have any sisters, but if I did, I'd bet her name would be Tivo).

R.I.P. my dear sweet TIVO, you will forever be missed.

On a side note.......do you like spoilers? Do you watch a lot of TV and record stuff all the time? I have a site for you to visit, but if you don't like spoilers, then DON'T go there.....it's addictive. It covers these shows: 24, Bones, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, Greek, Ghost Whisperer, How I Met Your Mother, 90210, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, Heroes, Lost, Smallville, Super Natural, Ugly Betty and has a This Week On TV section. All Spoilers, so beware.....Spoilerfix

we will not forget.....

a re-run from last year....

Thursday, September 11, 2008

always remember.....

do you remember where you were? what you were doing? who you were with?
I certainly do.....and since you asked.......I was at work typing (on a typewriter no less) a Fed Ex International label for a shipment to our head office in Japan. I was 5 months pregnant with Big One. The office I worked in at the time was located about 3/4 of a mile from the airport in Charlotte NC. We got a phone call from a co-workers wife just after the first tower was hit and she told us to immediately stop what we were doing and go to our computers or a TV.....we made it just in time to see the second tower hit......not something I wish to see ever again.....not something you want to see when you are pregnant or working so close to an airport, because at the time who knew that they weren't pulling this shit all over the USA? Who knew what would happen next and where? No one. No one knew and it was scary. It is still scary. It is still heartbreaking and mindless and confusing and seems incomprehensible. I remember almost every single second of the remainder of that day and if it tells you anything, I have a TERRIBLE memory. I was deeply affected, as most people were.
They closed the airport and evacuated everyone within 2 miles surrounding the airport, so we were forced to go home (which was fine with me) and couldn't come back the next day either. It was a terrifying time. It is difficult to find the right words to describe the feeling of that time.
So tell me, where were you? What were you doing? I know you remember, I think we all do.
God Bless the USA

A Sparkely Tip for You

You learn something new every day right? Or so they say.....whoever "they" are.

Today wasn't a big learning day for me but I did manage one really seemingly small tidbit that I thought was cool. If you already know this then why didn't you tell me sooner and if you didn't then you should try it because, pinky swear it works better than any ultrasonic fancy schmancy jewelry store cleaning machine ever did.

I don't think my diamonds sparkled this much when they were new. I find myself looking at my rings again where normally they are just there, you know one of those things that's just been there so long you don't notice it anymore. I probably wouldn't have thought to mention it honestly but I got two compliments on my sparklers today. I'm now convinced.

I was with my Mom today at the manufacturing jewelers picking up some of my Grandmother's jewelry they were having appraised for splitting amongst the son's wives. There is controversy. Personally I could give a shit, didn't care for her all that much anyway and I'm positive the feeling was mutual, but that's getting off topic. While we were there (since I don't frequent jewelry stores..being that I can't afford nice real jewelry....I'm more of the jewelry-section-in-Target kind of girl) I asked them to clean my rings. They were happy to oblige but the owner brought my rings back out to me and told me that the absolute best way to clean your rings, better even than their machines is to get a microwave safe tupperware bowl and fill with water about 1/4 full (medium sized and not a lot of water, but enough to cover what you'll be putting in the bowl) squirt a small amount of ORIGINAL BLUE (not scented green or yellow or any of the others) DAWN (has to be Dawn) dish liquid in the bowl. Do not put your jewelry in yet. Microwave the bowl until boiling or almost boiling (2 or 3 minutes or so, sometimes less depending on the amount of water and size of bowl) and take out of microwave. (you can put soap in before or after microwaving, but I do it before) Drop your jewelry in immediately. Cool to see it foam up when your dirty jewelry hits the hot water! Leave the bowl and go about your business. Later when you come back to rinse in cool water your diamonds will be so sparkly you'll think someone came and stole yours and replaced them with brand new ones!

The Dawn (as explained by the jewelry goddess) gets the dirt and grease from your body and daily wear off safely and more effectively than any other jewelry cleaner there is and leaves no residue, just like when you use it to wash the dirt and grease off your dishes with no spots!!

Love her......might go back and give her a hug.

Got a tip? Share a tip! I love tips.......but not "I heard" tips.....only ones that you use and know work!!