Driving

To school,
home,
to Dick's, to Target, to the grocery,
home,
to the school,
home,
to a birthday party,
home,
to baseball practice,
home,
to the party,
to football practice,
to baseball,
to drop off one kid,
home,
another kid gets picked up,
to get food for the baseball player,
to the football field,
to get the football player (and myself!) food,
home.

Me on Draft Day Suit

 I was over on DDS today, and here's a direct quote. By me.

“Don’t tweet about the Ryder Cup specifically but feel free to tell whomever is listening that you just took a crap.”

Did I just say that out loud? Oops!

Some People's Kids

There's this kid that I know. (If you read me then it's not your kid. Seriously.) This kid is friends with my boys. They are often playing together out in the neighborhood. This is a perfectly nice child, not a bad kid, not a bad influence, from a perfectly nice family.

You're waiting for the "but," right? Here goes:

This child, while perfectly fine, is the densest, most aggravating child I know. The kid has no manners, yet isn't impolite. (I know, total opposites.) For instance, if said child is over, child will help him/herself to something to drink or eat without asking or saying thank you. While I don't mind when the kids grab a glass of water, could you at least say thank you? Especially when I'm standing right there? When hopping in the car to go to school this child stands in the middle of the street or walks out in front of my car, all the while staring at me with a totally blank look. Isn't it basic knowledge to stand on the curb to wait? The blank look reminds me of a dog who will sit when told but doesn't know why.

I don't get it, actually. I know the parents. I know that they insist on  'thank yous' at home. I know that there are brains in their genes. I'm just not so sure that this one got any of the 'common sense' gene.

I suppose that this child could be intimidated by me but I find that so weird. The kids have played together for years, migrating between houses, with all of the moms taking care of the kids equally. It takes a village, right? I'm not about to stop the free-range-ness of it all, not by a long stretch. I think it's great for the kids to be able to wander in and out of houses in the neighborhood and play outside safely, at any of the houses and in the street. I just wonder about this one particular kid.
 
Gah! I hate complaining about children, but this one takes the proverbial cake, without saying 'may I', 'please', or 'thank you,' I might add.

I have my tickets, do you?

What do I have tickets for? Go find out!

(Not so) Wordless Wednesday: Jason and Me in NYC!

Jason Castro and ME! in NYC

Do you remember a few seasons ago when I fell in love with this guy during American Idol? I about fell over when I spotted him in New York last month while I was there for BlogHer. I was initially too shy to say anything or ask for a picture but my roommates Shannon and Diana insisted. So, thanks to them and Shannon's rockin' camera, I now have this awesome picture. He truly is so darling in person, in a I'm.old.enough.to.be.his.mother sort of way. Those baby blues? Totally match his shirt. Go ahead. Click the picture and tell me that they're not the bluest eyes ever.

Oh, and he's got a pretty cool website too. Check out Jason Castro Music. I think I'm going to stalk him on Twitter now...

pic by Shannon Entin. Don't steal it.

Disaster Averted

Yesterday we got an impromptu invitation to go to dinner with some friends. Without kids.

(cue Hallelujia chorus)

So rather that just throw on clothes, I showered, did my hair, took the polish off of my nails and repainted them, and put on something pretty.

We dumped the kids on, uh, took the kids to my BIL and SIL's house and went to dinner. Fun night! 2 of 3 couples we didn't know, but that was ok, we still enjoyed ourselves. No kids!

Anyway, I was tired so rather than stay up and mess around on the computer I went up to get ready for bed. I went to start taking off my eye makeup...and something smelled funny. You know, different. My eye makeup remover usually doesn't smell... AAAAAAACK!

Did you see it coming? Yeah, I tried to remove my eye makeup with NAIL POLISH REMOVER. Luckily I was right in front of the sink and was able to flush my eye with water. No harm done.

Yep, my "Duh" moment of the week.

Over There, Over There!

Sending you Over There to find out what this is all about..... I'll give you a hint. It's a long over due post about NYC and the BlogHer conference!

Just Curious-Pet Peeves, Part 4

You guys have sure had some frustrating retail experiences! I think that Sara's response was close to mine: a cashier that ignores the fact that a line is forming and doesn't acknowledge the other customers...or direct them to the closest open checkout line. Or they don't ask for help when they obviously need it. My other pet peeve is obviously looking for a specific product, i.e. shoes, and the sales people look at you like you're bothering them and still don't ask you if you need help. (I'm looking at you, Dick's.)

Onward, my curious friends. This week we're turning our attention to the evening news. Specifically, what things do newscasters do that drive you nuts? Is it an outfit? A hand gesture? An often used, gramatically incorrect phrase? Let us hear it!

Lunch Dates

I had to laugh yesterday when I read Jennifer's post on the subliminal messages that many of us SAHM's give to our husbands. "Gosh! I have so much time now that both kids are in school! And it's right at lunch time! How about that?!!"

I totally remember that. I had one boy in Kindergarten, the other in preschool 3 mornings a week and All.The.Time.In.The.World!!! (Yeah, pre-blog days...that's important, folks.) I dropped hints like babies drop toys for the 'I drop it, you pick it up' game. Like, endless.

Headless Dad eats out at lunch, oh, about 99 out of 100 workdays. Not that I really want to eat out that much, but since I don't like sandwiches, and I hate cooking anything for just me, I would like to eat lunch out more than I do. Oh, and there is that little thing of budget. If one is eating out, I must.save.the.money, and end up eating leftovers or some other crap that I don't want just so I have nourishment. Call the WAHmbulance now...

Back to yesterday...I laughed as I read her post because I remember those days of desperately wanting to go out and have some adult time! Adult conversation! No Cheerios added! And during those days I didn't have any friends. Literally, I had no one to call for an occasional lunch out. (Actually, not too different from now. Most of my friends work, homeschool, or live too far away. Yes, thank you I'd love some cheese with my whine!)

On Thursdays I volunteer in #2's classroom from 9-10 helping with their writing assignments. (Heh. I know! It's like I have a degree or something...) So when I got home I sat down to write a post for IEF. I wrote. I linked. I resized pictures. I edited. I published.

Er, no I didn't.

Crap. Where did it go? NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!11!!!!!

Yes, it was lost. After over an hour of work it was gone. And like clockwork, or the biggest irony of the week? Headless Dad called to ask me to go to lunch with him.

AHahahahahhahahahaha... Yeah, like I have time for that today!??!! I have to get this post up, and finish the smelly load of laundry and figure out something for dinner and iron (that I should have done 3 days ago) and And AND!!!11!!!!!!!

So, that's the tale of How I Got What I Wished For, A Few Years Later. Good luck with that, Jen.

Family Fun Night...

...close to home!

Do you remember when we, as residents of the Inland Empire, had to drive all the way to LA or Orange county to see great shows with our families? Read more over at Inland Empire Family!

Frustrated!

Earlier in the summer when Headless boy #2 started conditioning for football I, too, got back on the fitness bandwagon. They met twice a week to run and do other exercise-y stuff. Me? I just walked around the make-shift 'track'. All .38 miles of it. (Yes, I make multiple trips. Duh.)

But a start is a start, right?

After the kids started practice for-reals, I started stepping up my routine, too. They practiced for 2 hours each weekday and I extended my workouts. I added running, more stretching, push-ups, etc. We've been watching what we eat, and with our garden, adding more fresh veggies, you know, just bettering the diet in general. I usually go for a full hour, with some days my walks lasting for up to an hour and a half. Some days I even work out twice: walking for a while in the morning when I walk the kids to school, and then again in the evening during football. TWICE!

You see where this is going, right?

This morning I got on the scale. (After my coffee and workout but before breakfast, mind you.) Not one pound lost. It's been over 2 months, people. I'm not looking for 10 or more pounds, but a few might be nice, right? My jeans are way tighter than last winter when I wasn't working out, (because I was simply lazy and didn't have football practice to push me to just.do.it.already.since.I.have.to.be.there.anyway.) I'm horribly frustrated. Not to mention that I don't have the money to go buy all new jeans for winter.

So tell me. When you've hit a plateau, what do you do? I don't belong to a gym, so I can't change it up there. Help a sister out, would ya?

Sweet Tea

Back in my 20's, single and having the time of my life, I lived in South Carolina. My group of friends traveled from city to city on the weekends, partying at the best bars, seeing live bands, eating breakfast at 2am, and passing out on couches and chairs.

One of my favorite spots was the Windjammer on Isle of Palms. This is where I first saw the band Cravin' Melon perform. Come to think of it, I think that is also where I saw Hootie and the Blowfish for the first time, but that, my dears, is a love story for another day. I saw this band countless times, and each performance was better than the last. I suppose I was a groupie of sorts.

If you're not familiar with the sweet tea from the south, then you may not 'get' this, but every time I hear this song and this album I'm transported to a time where my biggest cares were making it to work before 9 am, which bar I was going to watch Monday Night Football in, and making sure I had enough cab money in my pocket.

"Don't tempt me,
I'm where I wanna be,
Cuz on the 8th day,
God made sweet tea."

Sweet Blossom


(Forgive the quality of video and sound on these clips...they were recorded live from the audience. Just close your eyes and imagine holding a lighter in one hand and your beer in the other and you'll get the feel of a Cravin' Melon live show. Thanks to eddielaurie for my trip back in time!)

Just Curious-Pet Peeves, Part 3

Your responses on children were great! My pet peeves of other kids are when children rudely interrupt adult conversations (and their parents allow them to do it). They whine, pull on arms, yell... drives me nuts. This is something that I don't let my kids do...if they try, they get corrected. 

So, on to this week's question.... Pet Peeves again. When you're out shopping, what's your biggest pet peeve with cashiers/customer service? (Let's limit it to retail stores this time.) Really bring it this week: rant all you want!

photo

Blocked

• You know how when you've been working at something for 30 minutes on the computer and then have to take a call? Blocked. (Or "timed out of your session." Whatev.)
• You have a sh**ton of writing to do and then it rains? Blocked.
• You have worked your tail off over the weekend, then on the weekdays you can't get motivated? Blocked.
• You *always* write out your weekly calendar but forget just one time? Blocked.
• You feel like you're forgetting something but can't figure out what? Blocked.

However, you can always make a blog post out of it and call it a day.

The Weekend

I started the weekend at football practice, again. Celebrating the fact that it was our last Friday practice. Thank God! We've been practicing 5 days a week since the end of July, so it was worth some celebration.

Saturday morning all 3 of my guys were scheduled for hair cuts...but only HD went. Both boys didn't feel well due to late summer colds so they stayed home. Once I actually woke up I was annoyed; this was the last Saturday in the foreseeable future that they were going to be able to go with Dad to get it done. Hmph. Now I'm going to have to find time during the week to take them, which is next to impossible with our sports/scouts/school schedule.

I kicked semi-butt on Saturday...finished some laundry, did some vacuuming. The best part about Saturday, though, was that we finally got a freezer! (That is a story of it's own. Remind me if I don't post it. It's good.) Since it was so bloody hot outside we didn't do much but bask in the a/c. I had a chance to catch up, by phone!, with a good friend that I rarely get to actually talk to, (we usually email.) We had a relaxing day... Thank goodness for NCAA football! I got my fix on Saturday, and good.

Sunday I really kicked house-cleaning butt. 2 bathrooms, vacuumed 6 areas of the house (including the stairs), mopped 2, finished 2 more loads of laundry, and (kinda) cleaned the kitchen counter. We're almost back to the "fake house" that we love so much. That evening the stars aligned (finally!) and we were able to have some friends over that we have been trying to get together with for quite some time. It was so great to be able to visit with them in such a relaxed atmosphere. Normally when we get to see The W's we are at someone's practice or scout meeting, passing each other while we run our kids somewhere. I love them, I love their kids, I love that everyone gets along so well. It was definitely an excellent evening. Thanks, W's!

Today was just relaxing, plain and simple. Headless Dad and I sat on the back patio all morning drinking coffee. I read blogs; he started a book. He went to hit golf balls; I took the kids to get shoes and a couple of other things on sale. (Yay for sales!) Tonight we're watching Boise State/VA Tech and had a yummy steak salad for dinner. Sitting on the patio with a couple of beers is rounding out the evening just.right.

Aaahh. Just what I needed! What about you? Did you get just what you needed this holiday weekend?

For your weekend reading pleasure...

By me: 

Have you answered this week's Just Curious question? There's still time!

Kodak Bus Tour: Easy Share is Easy!

Brett’s Back: Favre Retirement Watch, Part Too Many

NCAA Football Starts Tonight

Budgeting

8 Tips for Back to School Success

Minor League Baseball is coming to a close ...

Not by me, but still awesome:

Big Babies

Sexting: One more thing for parents to worry about

How to make your blog addictive like World of Warcraft

Oh my goodness, this recipe is SO GOOD! Tomato Zucchini Pie (This link wasn't working well. I'll check it again in a while....)

Non-Toxic way to Polish Silver Jewelery

The most amazing post, by Jodi. Obsession. If you haven't read it yet, you must. And send it to every teen girl and woman you know. It's been a VERY LONG time since a post has resonated this much with me. Srsly. I keep going back. Maybe it will soak in one of these days.

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

Waves

You know how you are going along in life and things are ok, good even. Then you get comfortable in the good. There are a few curve balls, but mostly life is just strikes that you're able to hit with no problem?

Yeah, you know what's coming.

Things are c.r.a.z.y. right now. If you are friends with me on face.book then you know what I mean. August, coupled with football, and school, and now baseball = all conspiring to kill me. Add in a car that wants to die but I think my sheer will it keeps going. Add also dentist bills. And tuition!

A good friend told me today that it feels like she's hemorrhaging cash. Yes, yes, and yes, times 20. I'm just glad to know I'm not alone. Because, man, it sure does feel like it sometimes.

(Lest you think it's reeeely bad, it's not. However, in this economy we're not putting all of our eggs {faith or confidence either} in one basket.)

It's like the ocean. You float along on easy swells for a while and when you least expect it, WHAM you get pounded by a wave that threatens you like no others have in a while. You're keeping your head above water, but the unanticipated wave has you shaken.

Yep. That's what August is like around here.