Mute Monday: The Year I Was Born

King of Pop....

So, its over. Michael Jackson is dead and I'm not sure how I feel. I mean I know that Im shocked. I was just digesting Farrah Fawcett's death, which was expected, but still sad. I would be lying if I said Im not saddened by Micheal Jackson's death. I almost feel guilty for feeling bad, due to accusations about his conduct with children. They say that everyone has fifteen minutes of fame, and mine is connected with Michael Jackson. Someday I may even blog about it. The people that were present that night, are no doubt thinking about that evening today. Im a fan of music and a fan of dance, and so, I admired his art. However, being a mom to three, two who are boys, should I be sad, or should I look at like some of the others who have expressed the opinion that the children of the world are a little safer tonight? One of the most important things in the world is the safety of children...but still, Im a little sad. Doesnt make much sense does it? But Im being honest...

So Im going to repost something I put up back in March:

Ok, first thanks HEATHER, because now I have this song stuck in my head...I actually really like this song. We have a history together (To any of my New England girls reading..you know what Im talkin' about..was that me? Wasnt that crraaaazzzy?) Annnddd if it wasnt late at night and all my children and my husband and two lazy dogs and one evil, albeit lazy cat, werent sleeping...Id blast this thing RIGHT NOW. So, because I cant, Im going to get it out of my system. Right now. Here. Ready...

SHE WAS MORE LIKE A BEAUTY QUEEN FROM THE MOVIE SCENE...I SAID DONT MIND, BUT WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT I AM THE ONE?
WHO WILL DANCE ON THE FLOOR IN THE ROUND?
SHE SAID I AM THE ONE, WHO WILL DANCE ON THE FLOOR IN THE ROUND.

MAMA ALWAYS TOLD ME BE CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU DO. DONT GO AROUND BREAKING YOUNG GIRLS HEARTS, EEEEH, AND MAMA ALWAYS TOLD ME BE CAREFUL OF WHO YOU LOVE AND BECAREFUL OF WHAT YOU DO AND THE LIE BECOMES THE TRUTH..HEY HEY...BILLIE JEAN IS NOT MY LOVER SHE'S JUST A GIRL WHO CLAIMS THAT I AM THE ONE...BUT THE KID IS NOT MY SON,..NO...

So, child molester? Mmmm...looks that way, unfortunately. Great contributor to the world of pop music? Most definitely. If he ever puts an album out again will I buy it? Definitely not. I wont support him with my hard earned cash so he can build another Neverland or whatever he will call it and do God knows what...but I know a great song when I hear it, and for that I make NO apologies. There I have said my piece, and you know I feel much better!

Oh and Michael...Of course you danced on the FLOOR..because if you danced on, oh say the ceiling...you would be Lionel Richie now wouldn't you? Im cracking myself up...

People are strange.....

...when your a stanger, faces are ugly when youre alone....

Remember that Doors song? It has some truth to it. Take my lunch time experience today for instance. It's not that the lady wass ugly, but she was strange. Maybe I am just becoming intollerant.

Im in Subway, my FAVE place for healthy lunch, and I order my samich. She is in front of me and telling them what veggies she wants.

Her: Everything except for the green peppers.

The lady behind the counter passes over the green peppers and puts all the other veggies on, to include jalepenos.

Her: NO. I dont want those, I said no "green" peppers.

The lady behind the counter looks confused, and I cant blame her, Im a little foggy too. She puts the jalepenos back and says:

Ok so did you want these-points to the green (bell) peppers.

Her: Yes. I want some of those yellow peppers too (pepperoncinis).

Ok, so the lady doesnt know her peppers...AT ALL, evidently. Not, the crime of the century, not everyone is up on thier peppers like me. No biggie. It doesnt stop there.

I get my samich, pay and go to get my drink. This same doofus woman has her sandwich ON TOP of where you put your cups, to get your drink..like UNDER the nozzles that the drinks come out of. So no one else (meaning me) can get a beverage, because her jalepeno free sandwich is in the way while she gets iced tea out of the canister next to the drink thingy (dispenser?). I dont even WANT anything out of the dispenser, because I too want tea, however I do require ICE, which her sandwich is blocking the access to. So, I wait. She gets her tea and turns to pick up her sandwich and LOOKS right at me. A blind person could see I was waiting to get some ice...not her. She doesnt even apologize. I smother the urge to yell after her:

"They are called jalepenos. The yellow ones are pepperoncinis and the bell peppers are known as "green peppers". I see you made it past kindergarten!!!!! "

So, Im so annoyed that I end up getting lemonade (thats what the kids get when we go out, instead of soda), instead of the TEA I wanted....at least she will know the color of the traffic lights, she may not know what they stand for though.

Rant over.

An antidote to evil

So, my last post was a little creepy. I feel a little bad because its not my intention to make anyone feel icky when they read my blog. Sorry. So, here....I will try to make it all better with these:











***disclaimer: while I have included kittens in this barrage of cuteness, I must warn you that they can be sources of evil themselves, so use caution....

Mute Monday

This week's mute monday topic is "Visions". I think these people must have had some kind of visions...visions I never want to have.

Say What?

Im getting ready to send N to church camp, its in the mountains and there will be all kinds of cool things for him to do. Lots of sports, swimming, archery, etc. So, I took the list of things he was supposed to take and went shopping. You know, I got the little bottle of shampoo, small tube of tooth paste, comb, etc, etc.

My husband LAUGHED at me. He said I wasted my money.

Me: Why? It says to bring all this, and he has to wash and brush his teeth.
Him: Yes, ideally, that is what would happen, but you wasted your money.
Me: I dont get it, please elaborate.
Him: He isnt going to wash, or brush his teeth.
Me: Yes, he will, he will feel gross if he doesnt.
Him: Have you ever been a 10 year old boy?
Me: Well, no...
Him: Trust me. He's on vacation, he will try to get away with as much as possible.
Me: Ok, but he'll still want to wash and if he doesnt the grown up will tell him to.
Him: Nope. No one is going to make sure he washes or brushes his teeth.

My mom was over at the time this conversation was going on. This is what she said:

Mom: When I was little and went to camp, all the mothers got frustrated because we all came home with a bunch of clean underwear.

Me: So, no one even changed their underwear?
Mom: Nope.
Husband: See?

So, Im sending my son off to live like a pig for a week? Nice. Money well spent all the way around.

So, Id like to hear from mothers who have sent their sons off to camp. Is this true? Will I find a stack of clean underwear, dry, perfectly unused soap, and a tooth paste tube without a dent in it? Please say it isnt so.

Mute Monday: Textures

Im doing my mute monday post now. For the rest of the day and night Im going to relax......its raining, so I dont have to do any yard work. Im going to hand the kids wii remotes and say "knock yourselves out", and then I might.....NAP!!!!!!!!!!

Heres my MM pictures on texture:

Kindergarten Graduation Nightmare (as promised)

Last week was the A's Kindergarten graduation. It was a cluster from the beginning. First of all, I knew NOTHING about it, until the day of. He came home wearing a note that said, "Kinder graduation tonight 6:00 pm". Ok. A little notice would have been nice. I mean, some people may have known that kindergarteners HAVE graduation. I didn't. I've never had a kindy gartener before..so cut me some slack. Let me IN on these things.

So, anyway, I get home at 5:30 (T told called me and told me about the note while I was at work), shoveled some dinner in my mouth, got A changed into something cute, brushed my teeth and hair and flew out the door. So we had approximately 10 minutes to get there. No problem. We live literally 1 minute from the back gate of the school. That is one minute walking.

A, pre-Stoopit-Mommy-Moment. Isnt he cute? All ready for "graduation".

So, we go in the back gate, which is as always, unlocked. We always do this, so do about 50 other people who live around there and have kids that attend the school. I have been to MANY events at the school, in the evening, and we ALWAYS walk through the back.

So, A and I traverse the field, and the playgrounds and are making our way to the front of the school, and lo and behold, the FRONT gate is locked. Now it just took us about 5 minutes to make it from our house to the front gate. In 95 degree weather. So basically, we are at the school, but cant get IN the school, because our access to the front door is locked (all other doors are usually locked so we have to use the front door). This front gate is NEVER locked when there is something happening at the school. I mean, HELLO!!!! So we stand there. I see the parking lot FULL of people for this graduation, so Im faced with a decision. Do we walk all the way back through the field, in the HOT weather, AROUND TWO blocks, to the front of the school? If we do that he will probably MISS his graduation. Nope, not gonna let that happen.

Here's where stoopit Mommy moment, #1 comes in (Yes, there are more than one on this night). The stupid gate is only up to my chest. Its not like its six foot high or something, so I decide we are going over. I lift my innocent, extra cute 6 year old boy over the fence, and expect that he knows how to get to the ground himself. Nope. I guess none of his previous parents engaged in jumping the fence of state property before...or any other fence evidentally. Something I did ALL the time as a kid his age. Anyway, the fabric of the fence gets caught...on his belly..on his SKIN. So he's crying on the other side of the fence, with a big huge scratch down his tummy, which is bleeding. So, I go over the fence..and just as Im doing this, the numbskull janitor comes out. With the key to UNLOCK the gate...minutes before the ceremony. Bright one. I hurry past her, because Im afraid I will swear. We run into the school and into the bathroom, so I could attend to the injury I caused my child, which Im feeling absolutely horrible about.

I think the bleeding has stopped so we run and find his class. His teacher wants to know why he is upset, so he shows her his tummy, which is bleeding again. I whisk him away to the nurses office, where there is NO nurse. The principal is there though and kindly bandages up his little tummy (A's not the principals). He asked if A fell. I said no...and proceded to tell him the truth. Luckily, he knows us and all about the kids, so he shrugs it off.

I thank him and we run back down the hall, just in time for A to join the line with his class to go into the gym. I go into the gym...and of course, NO seat. So, I stand in the very back against the wall, figuring Ill at least get a glimpse of him. Nope.

This is why I hate people: Apparantly some of the other people without seats decided they were going to stand too, IN FRONT, in the MIDDLE, so no one behind them could see OR get pictures of their children.


It got worse. Then people WITH seats stood up, one guy with a seat, stood the entire time...near his seat, so no one else could have it. Moron. Below is the picture of the moron.

Hey, I couldnt get a pic of A, so I made use of my time and camera for blog material. Im an opportunist.

To top it off, it was 110 degrees in there. I was miserable, I couldnt see my kid...I was guilt ridden for putting him over the fence, I was hot, and now I was irritated at the general public.

The ceremony ends and I go to the caffeteria to pick up A. Im trying to be in a better mood for him and its working until I realize I have NO idea where my keys are. This is where stoopit Mommy moment #2 comes in. I start to panic. My life is on my keys. My office keys for work...Im the only one that can get into 50 percent of the areas in my building. I AM the key holder (NO, Im not the janitor, not that there is anything wrong with that, UNLESS your one that forgets to unlocks gates during an event).

A in his paper hat. Smiling despite his Stoopit Mommy induced injury.

We, me, A, the Principal, and the Music teacher, search for my keys. Not in the gym, not in the cafeteria, not the bathroom, not anywhere in between those locations and not in the lost and found or office. Nice. So, I decide to retrace my steps outside. I walk through the gate which is now OPEN (grrrrr....)and across the field and back home, checking the ground for my keys. No keys. I go inside the house.where.I.see.my.keys. Laying on the counter. I never brought them.

Im relieved but frazzled. I quietly go into the bedroom and have a nervous breakdown. When Im done with that, I have to show the huge stomach gash across A's tummy to my husband. That was fun. The guilt from A's injury is still not gone, even though the injury itself is almost gone.

Moral of the story: Skip Kindergarten Graduation.

Summertime Rolls

So, seeing how it is summer I have created a new play list. It is made up of songs that remind me of summer; for obvious reasons and for reasons which are personal.

The first song, "Summertime Rolls", is a song near and dear to my heart, and reminds me of one summer in particular. I lived in the apartment below my friend J, who first played the song for me that summer. It wasn't an apartment building, but a two story home which was split into two separate apartments. Which was good, because had it been an apartment building, we would not have gotten away with many of the shenanigans we pulled.

We would play the song loudly and run around my couch, around and around, with our two dogs, an Italian Greyhound, Marco and a Siberian Husky, Nicolai, chasing us around and around, as we yelled: "Dogs!" It was a summer of pink vomit (don't ask), parties, bands, juvenile delinquent house guests, and new beginnings which we didn't see coming. Or maybe we saw them coming, we just weren't ready for them.

It was the summer she was a mad pruning woman, pruning every tree or bush in site. I was in between relationships and didn't know which way was up. It was a summer of late nights, and early mornings and a whole lot of laughs, and more than enough tears. We thought of a "walk-up treat window" for dogs and cats, using my kitchen window, as it was level to the ground. We sang loudly into microphones plugged into amps, singing along to Sinead O Connor, Korn, or Blondie. We cracked up about the drunk man, yelling ignorant rants for the whole neighborhood to hear. We wrote on our foreheads and went out into public. We became fascinated with "Gummo" and she watched me closely, so I wouldn't self destruct.

I don't know how many times we said "Go home, Milo!" to the insane omni present American Eskimo dog, who lived at the end of our dead end street with his largely irresponsible owners. I would see that dog everywhere, I even saw him downtown once....but he always made it home. He chased my cat Spock on more than one occasion.

She would stick pictures of Barbara Streisand on my front door to annoy me and I stuck maxi pads on hers in retaliation. I crashed on her living room floor on occasion even though I lived right down stairs.

The song "Summertime Rolls" is my theme song for that summer, like a soundtrack. I like the lines "...orange butter cat chasing after, the crazy bee mad about somebody, oh no...". It reminded us of her cat Chester (who I liked to call "Chet")and the lines "....if you want a friend, feed any animal.." because its true and I was volunteering at the animal shelter. The line "...theres so much space I can cut me a piece with some fine wine, it brought peace to mind, and the summertime...it rolls", reminds me of laying in grass and looking at the sky, or living in an apartment all by myself for the first time in my life.

Here's hoping your summer is a good one, and full of memories, hoping it is a summer that rolls.

Tuesday Post

Creative huh? Im just having a hard time with titles, OK? I dont know whats with me. Im just running out of....thoughts. Or whatever. Im telling you, if your not a mom yet, be warned: Brain Cells WILL die. Thats not a threat, that is a promise. And NO I havent forgot to post my Kindergarten Graduation Nightmare post complete with "Stoopit Mommy" moment(s), I just need to download some photos first. Ill be getting to that sooner than later because

I have another week off of school. YESSSSSSSSSSSS. I was supposed to go back today, but there was a mix up. Dang.

Anyway, tonight is the LAST little league game for N. So, Ill be doing that. I have melons and peppers to plant in the garden tonight too. No rest for the wicked. Ever.

I have seen a couple of movies over the last week or so. First we rented Hotel for Dogs for the kids (Ok, it was for me too). First, let me point out the obvious. Though they DID feature two dachshunds, they were in it very little and Im afraid the Wiener Princess is very upset.
If your going to do a movie about Dogs, you best have equal billing for the wieners, or life in my house is unsettling. WP is unhappy, the hub is unhappy, and it just goes down hill from there. Anyway besides that it was OK, completely unrealistic in everyway imaginable, even the parts about the social worker and foster kids (Im not even going there). It was cute, and I even laughed a few times. Besides if it has dogz in it, Im pretty much there.

Ok next (after the kids were asleep) we watched "Defiance". It was good. Im amazed everytime I hear of yet another WW2 hero, who hasnt got due credit for what they did to save many lives from Hitler's clutches. If you are into WW2 true stories, see it. It is a bit gory (duh..its about war, not kittens), but utterly worth seeing.

Next was "Taken", with Liam Neeson (or the great Robert Roy MacGreggor-I probably spelled that wrong, so dont kill me). Im not usually an action, explosion, car chase-just-for-the-heck-of-it kind of girl, but this was decent. The main character (Neeson) was interesting and there were some real slime ball characters and disturbing happenings in it, which is always intriguing to me for some unknown reason. I liked it. I didnt fall asleep, which a lot of movies with senseless explosions and a bunch of testoserone inflated characters running around tend to make me do.

There theres my two cents of nothing. Maybe Tuesdays will be "Two cents Tuesday". Until I can scrape up the interest in more Toy Reviews, that is. Which is also "two cents" of nothing anyway.

Ho hum....

I havent posted in a while. Im in a funk. The kids are almost done with school. They want to have a "camp out" in the living room. That's do-able, I guess. They want to see "Jaws". I think thats do-able too. I dont remember if there is anything in that movie that they shouldnt see. Its so old. I mean other than people getting eaten alive by an insane great white, but whattaya do? Its a fact if life, maybe...if you go swimming at the ocean enough, in the right places. So, maybe its not a fact of life for everyone. Its certainly no worse than the "Untamed and Uncut" from Animal Planet that they love, right? Beast beating up on man. I think its good stuff myself. I mean, you go messing in their environment its a risk, right?

Ok. Now Im just rambling. So, I think I'll serve up some gold fish crackers, or some other snacklidge that has an Ocean, Sea Creature theme. Could be fun. Any ideas? Too bad our stoopit pool is not fixed yet. We could swimming and scare ourselves. I dunno, I think Ill watch it first (its been forever and a day since Ive seen it) to see just how gory it is first. I dunno.

So, I have some stuff (not much) to post about later when Im NOT at work, supposedly WORKING (I just cant get INTO it). I need to post about my Kindergarten Graduation Nightmare. I have pictures and EVERYTHING. It was horrible. I need to decide if Im going to tell you my "stupid Mommy" moment or not.

Watch this...

...if you are in any way, shape or form involved in the life of a child/children who have been in or are in the foster care system. Even if your not and your curious about what they go through and their perspective on things. I got this from Lisa. I for one am grateful to her for posting this. It was a reminder. Chances are you may be grateful too.

Patterns

So, I was tucking A in and he, once again, cracked me up. I went to turn his baseball light on. Its this baseball that glows like a night light, but its fairly large and sits on his dresser. This is what he had to say:

A: Mom, don't turn that on.
Me: (somewhat surprised) What?
A: I dont want that on tonight.
Me: Oh, okay (I began to leave the room)
A: I'll have it on tomorrow.
Me: Ok.
A: So, tonight its off, and tomorrow it will be on. Its a pattern, Mom.


Where does he get this stuff?