Thursday, February 26, 2009

Hey you! Yeah, you there, at the computer....

This is my plea for some lurkers to come out from the darkness and identify yourselves. I know you are there I can see you...sort of. I need some help. A lot of help...

Easter is approaching, and Im sick of all the candy in the house. I mean, I love candy...too much. Im always raiding the kids' candy and I need to stop. Oh, and they dont need that much candy anyway. I mean, Halloween, Christmas, Valentines day...it never ends. Now, the holiday that brings us chocolate farm animals, rabbits, chicks, whatever...or marshmellow creatures, that are fun to blow up in the microwave, but are no fun to deal with in the form of bad teeth...

So, I need some ideas...I will give the kids some candy...a little...but I want choices, darn it!!! Alternatives. Dont say stuffed animals either, they end up all over the floor or worse, drug out of doors to the yard by one of two, maybe both dogs, and get rained on, peed on, what have you...so I need suggestions. Think spring, think health, think fun, think pastel colors, think the resurrection but for heavens sake dont think candy or stuffed animals!!!

So, lurkers if you want to do something nice for me or for others who are reading (all 3 of them, lol), reveal yourselves and give me some suggestions (no, not those kind of suggestions). Oh and if I KNOW you personally and you just read but dont arent registered, then maybe you should register...its painless really and its free!! Ok, I wont bug you about it....very much anyway.

Freshly Baked Dog Poo

I apologize ahead of time for anyone who does not feel like reading about the subject matter in the title. So, if that is you, please feel free to step out of the room. This will just take a second.

The strangest thing happened at my house last night...and I have witnesses. Two of them, actually. One of our dogs had an accident in S's room. It must have been the Weiner Princess, my husband's dog (uh oh, by the time I get home the locks might be changed on the door if he reads this....Im just kidding honey, sort of), since my Joey bug would NEVER do that.

Anyway, S went to put something in her room and she came out and said that her bedroom smelled like something baking. So, I went in there to check it out. It smelled like freshly baked bread. I didnt bake any bread, no bread baked in my house in the past year probably. I looked around and noticed the doggie drops.

Why did it smell like baked bread? I called my mother, who was over visiting, in and asked her if it smelled like baked bread. She said it did. I showed her the doggy oops and she is just as baffeled as the rest of us.

True story. Cross my heart. Im still freaked out about it.

Animal Shelters

Im irritated.

I hate that song that goes, "In the arms of an (the?) angel(s?)" by Sara McLoghlin. I would rather go out and sit under a tree somewhere and stick needles in my eyes. In fact, I almost do that unitl I remember that despite the fact that it may relieve some of the pain the song is inducing, I do still need to see.

I know why I hate it so much too. Everytime I hear it I see big sad doggy eyes and pinchable, kissable doggy cheeks staring at me from behind the bars of some shelter who may euthanize the dog any second. I hate thinking about that or the fact that people are cruel to animals, so the song is just a big reminder of all that. OH, and the one eyed cat that they show..do I really need to see that? No, I do not. Thank you very much.

How did it happen that she decides to have her song used for that anyway? Was it like this:

Oh, I think I would like my song to be used to cause severe emotional and mental pain to people who are extremely sensitive to the plight of homeless or abused animals by linking my song to disturgbing visuals, yeah I think that I might really like that (picks up phone and starts to dial agent, or whoever...) Is that what happened?

Maybe the intentions were good...still, I had to hear the thing TWICE today which is probably why Im in such a state.

Anyway if you would like to add a pet to your family (or a demon in a fur suit, if your into getting a cat), please go here. And for crying out loud, if your about to embark on a career in popular music, please find some other way to help this cause, than torture the likes of me. Thank you.

SOS

My friend Erin has posted a pretty important blog post about another friends experience with the foster care/foster to adopt system. What is happening to her and the two little girls she is adopting is criminal. Please read if you foster/adopt issues are dear to your heart, or if you just want a reason to be angry, this should do it.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Yay for Mommy!

I went to a weight watchers meeting the other day, and A was with me, because he did not have school on that day. Anyway, I lost another 2.2 pounds and got an award. While I was making my way up front to recieve my little award, A says:


Mommy got an award! YaY for Mommy!

He is used to us going to their awards at school, and cheering them on, so he was thrilled that he got to see me get one. It was cute. Of course the whole room laughed because he said it very loud. I like having my own little cheering section, its kind of fun.

So I had lost 36 pounds, then gained 9 back during this first nine months the kids have been home, now Im losing that. I hope I can keep it up. I can as long as people get the donuts, chocolate, skittles, starburst and all that yummy stuff out of my reach. Hmmm..I wonder if there is any Valentines candy left....

Diarhea of the keyboard

I think I have that tonight because Im just posting away, cant seem to stop, even though I really, really, need to. I have laundry to finish, I have a paper to turn complete for turn in, I need to let the dogs out, I need to go to sleep, but here I sit.

We just sent the paperwork with the kids' name changes to the lawyers. Im getting excited. This is actually happening, for real. They will be ours, forever.

Tomorrow is my last day of school for two weeks and Im dead happy about it! All that free time...maybe I will even read a book, theres a novel idea (ha! get it? read? NOVEL idea? I crack myself up). Maybe Ill do some more catch up on scrapbooking or scrapblogging. Maybe I will do nothing at all. Maybe, I will just read blogs in all my spare time, or maybe I will watch a plethora of tv. Maybe...the possibilities seem endless.

Slum Dog

T and I went to the movies last night and saw Slum Dog Millionaire, and it was very, very good. I gave it a ten, T gave it an eight. He is a tough one when it comes to movies. I think I gave the last movie I saw a ten too.

No, I dont give them all tens, I just dont write about them if they are only mediocre. I consider it blog worthy if they rock like Gran Torino and Slum Dog, or if they are real stinkers. I havent seen a real stinker in a while.

I guess Slum Dog is being nominated for all kinds of stuff at the Academy awards tonight. I wish it luck, Im not watching because it takes to long to get through all the other crud that I dont care about. I would like to see what Brangelina is wearing though, if they go.

Do you know who I really, really like? I really have a big ol crush on Gabriel Byrne. Not sure if he is even rellevant anymore, but boy I like him in all his movies. Especially as D'Artangnan (Im positive that is not spelled right, but you know who I mean right?) in Man in the Iron Mask. I love him as that character. Sigh. Dont know what made me think of him....anyway, kind of a useless post I know, but there you have it, Slum Dog is great and Gabriel Byrne is neato.

My son...Simon Cowell

I was sitting in church today during the worship service and singing and A was sitting on my lap...he leaned back and said in my ear, "Mommy, you would not go to Hollywood". Gee, thanks. I dont think he is allowed to watch that anymore.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Yippee Skippee

WARNING: CONTAINS EXTREME WHINING AND SARCASM; CONTENTS MAY BE DISTURBING TO SOME

Im so excited I can hardly contain myself. If you are not in the mood for whining, then you should probably not read any further.

In about 1 hour I get to sit for 3 hours in annual training at work. Same stuff every year, same exciting, informative instruction that is sure to make my life and all around me better. Im so happy my work provides this service, because I dont have any real work to do in my office (or blogs to read). Nope, nothing else to do today, so Im thankful for this opportunity.

The really cool part about it is that Im sure I will sit next to someone who needs to shower because most of them have been up all night working and now have to sit through this stuff. Oh and about 20 minutes into it I feel like Im in a Peanuts cartoon because the instructor starts sounding like Mrs. whatever her name is, the teacher from the Peanuts that sounds like this:

WAH wah wah wah wah wah. Wha wha wha? wha wha!

Argh!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Dog heaven and the best Mommy

A is so sweet. I mean it, sugar curdles in his presence. I just stole that from T who says that is what happens with our dachshund and sugar...anyway, it applies to A for me.

We got some paperwork in the mail meaning that the adoption will be final very soon. As I was tucking him in tonight he said that I he was glad I was his Mommy, and that I was the best one he has ever had. Its sad that his little life has been such that he can say that, but it warmed the crevices of my little heart.

Me: Aw, thank you. Why am I the best?
A: Because you dont make me take naps
Me: Is that the only reason?
A: Yes.

Oh, well it was still nice. Then he said how much he loved the dogs even Marco died before the kids came to us. He asked if Marco was in heaven. I said Yes, doggie heaven. Not that I believe in a literal doggie heaven, for sure, but what else do you say?

Then he proceeded to explain that doggie heaven was on one side, cat heaven (I KNOW that doesnt exist!) was on the other and human (yes, he said "human") was in the middle. Maybe he is right, after all the poem says that the rainbow bridge connects dogs and their owners after death, so this would fit. That is my little man.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Tag, Im it!!!

Oooh my first blog tag thing. Cool, Ive been wondering if anyone was ever going to tag me. I love games. Anyway, Mary Grace tagged me. I had to go to the 4th folder where my pictures are kept, and then post the fourth picture in it and write something, so here it goes:



Ok, this is oh about four or five years ago, in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. That is T on the left and his son B on the right. It was at the Burrito Bar, a little restaurant on the beach there that we were fond of. Im so thankful the fourth pic didnt have me in it!!! Thats the benefit of always being the photographer.

Oh yeah, now I have to tag four people. Hmmm...I tag....Sharon...Erin....Mel and hmm...how about Corrine!

Who was right?

My husband has this cute little thing that he does. Some women might find it annoying, but it makes me laugh, so its cool. Only, it funny when HE does it and not every male in the house.

If he says something and I disagree with it, and it turns out he was right for instance if the store is out of an item he said they would be out of, it goes like this:

T: Who was right?
Me: You were
T: Who was wrong?

and because I dont like this part, I TRY to ignore him or justify why I thought what I did. However, he will not give up, hell keep bothering me until I say it.

T: who was right? C'mon who was right? Say it. Who was right? And because Im either laughing now, or because I want him to be quiet, I will say, "You were". Then its over and we move on. Its like a game, really. I do the same to him if Im right, and he is a good sport then.

So, the other day A and I were in the car and I was going to pick my mother up from a meeting, and it was a little early. The conversation went like this:

Me: Hmmm...I wonder if grandma will be done, or if its too early (really just thinking out loud, not expecting six year old boy to get involved)

A: I think that she wont be

Me: She might...

We get there and she's not waiting out there.

A: Who was right?

Wonderful. He doesnt miss a thing, that one. I promptly called T and told him what A had said, of course he thought it was the funniest thing he heard all day. Men.

Underwear Nazi

I was folding laundry the other day with S's help, and we were folding some Batman underwear belonging to one of her brothers, and she started making a big fuss about it. She informed me that when she gets married she will be in charge so her husband won't be allowed to wear Batman underwear. I think that is a good idea.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Check this out...yes, another one.

I am doing this a lot lately, I cant help it. If I read something good or enlightening in some way, or important I feel I MUST share it. Thats just what I do. You are welcome.

Im not really naive or anything, I know orphanages are horrible places, but for some reason reading it in Creating My Own Nirvana drove the point home as did the post before it about the state that many children are in. Im stunned, I was cruising along with my rosy colored glasses on, and kind of needed a shot of reality. So, Im sharing the link, just in case you are here because you are wondering about adoption, specifically international adoption.

Can I have the Deerhound please?

So, Im dog crazy. Anyone who knows me, or has ever known me knows this. Every year I make a huge deal of the West Minster Dog Show. It is my "superbowl". Last night the parental units (are you laughing, Jack?)came over for Subway and we all watched the first night of the shows.

If you could care less about this, I would understand...you may leave.

Ok, anyway, I was thrilled about the deerhound winning hound group although I would much rather one of the dachshunds would have won. The deerhound was cool though, Im scot from a long long time ago, so I was equally thrilled when the Scottish Terrier won the terrier group. I wont talk about the non sporting group. I didnt have a strong preference in the Herding group either.

Tonight, the rest of the groups and then best in show. Im psyched. If it goes wrong for me, and a POODLE wins, it wont be pretty. I have nothing against poodles really, I just hate that they win this show so darned often. There its out.

In 2002 T took me to NYC to see the big show in person. A poodle won. Yep. It was still a great trip, but why did a poodle have to win the year I was there? Go figure.

More Basketball, housekeeping, more puke, and ammo

Ok so Im lumping a lot of posts together. Im sorry, I am...but Im BUSY people. And if you are someone that I should be calling because we are friends and all, just know that I do love you, Im just busy, so busy in fact that I am departing with hard earned money to have SOMEONE else clean my house. Well, not the whole thing, just stuff I dont have time for. Like vaccuuming, and sweeping, and the windows (well, just one window really). I wouldnt be doing it if it werent cheap either. Its a very good deal and Im going for it. Yesterday was the first time I had her do it and she did awesome and I feel a little guilty that I dont pay her more. But dont tell her that. Oh and she is a dog lover, which is perfect, because I dont have to worry about the dogs. I dont worry about the cat, she is evil and probably scares the poor girl. She scares ME. Oh and of course, later on after it was all clean and the dining room floor was shiny, I found what I presume to be dog puke on it. I suspect the cat put something in their food.

N had his basketball game, his first real game ever and the look of surprise at how tiring it was was priceless. His little face was red as he ran back and forth for an hour. Hee Hee. He asked for it. It is good for him though, and he IS having fun. Im not a sports crazy mom, Im really not. I just think that kids should have an opportunity to try new things that they are interested in, and he is interested in sports and has never had an opportunity to play anything. Now he does, and I hope he finds one that he likes best. We will do the same for the other two.

Yesterday I went to the big city to buy T a very special valentine/anniversary gift. I swear this kind of thing always happens to me. I wanted to buy him some ammunition for a gun he just got (which we keep locked up seperately, for those of you who are tsk, tsking)and I was going to put it in a heart shaped box and everything. He would have loved it. Every stinking place I went to was out of this particular kind. So, I told him what I had been planning and told him to buy it when and if it ever came in. He is thrilled, so thats good. Im just bummed that I cant suprise him. Oh well.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Im dying over here or check this out part III

Ok, ok. Now that I have spewed Diet Dr. Pepper from my nostrils, and had to clean off my sticky key board, I can post this. I love humor, especially if it is making fun of something. Theres a word for that...satire? Anyway...if you are a food freak like moi, and you like to laugh, PLEASE dont waste another minute without checking Cakewreck out. Seriously, if the post and accompanying photo about the Darth Vader baby shower cake or the one with the video clip of Victoria Stillwell and her victim of the day doesn't make you laugh, then you are probably dead. Or maybe your just not as twisted as I am, which is very probable.

Oh and am I supposed to be doing homework right now? Well, yes I am.

bonding over science

Last night, I helped N with a science project for the science fair. He has been working on this with about four other boys for the past few days, and two of them were over to "work" on it last night. All they worked on was shooting the nerf dart gun across the playroom...Anyway, after they left N had quite a bit of his portion that he needed to complete and was having some difficulty. I had only planned on sitting for a second in between laundry and cleaning, but I ended up being there for over an hour. It was a mundane task that we were doing; wrapping rubber bands around a wooden spool, and that kind of thing can be calming, to me anyway, and stimulates conversation, I have found. We talked about all kinds of stuff. Out of the blue he said something profound, that is not typical of him. He is such a "everything is fine" (whether it is or not) kid.

N: You know that movie, "Angels in the Outfield?"
Me: Yes, I do.
N: Everytime I watch it, it reminds me of my birthdad. You know when the kid is in foster care and he has visits with his dad, and then his dad decides he doesnt want to see him anymore? That part.

I was surprised and heartbroken. He has never let on that he even thought about that short period of visits. I was sad that he felt that the visits stopped because his "dad" didnt want to see him. In a way, this is true, but there was so much more to the story than that. I told him so. I told him it wasnt because he wasnt a good kid, because he is. I told him what happened did not have anything to do with him, but with his father's life.

N: I think it is weird too that S didnt visit with A and me.
Me; That is another story for later on OK?

The therapist advised that S is too young to know some things, at this point in her life and N would end up telling her, besides it is her business if she wants to share it with him. If she doesnt remember it is best, for now. In time, they will know everything. They know a lot more now than they did when they moved in with us. They did not know why they were in foster care. They know now, it is just that some details have been kept quiet until a later date.

It was a really nice time talking with him. We seldom have one on one time, N and I. I know we should. It reminded me of another nice time that we had just him and I. When we went to the fair, S, A, and T went on the ferris wheel. I wanted something a little more exciting, so I opted for The Zipper, an old childhood favorite. N wanted to come with me. We had a nice time chatting in line and on the ride in between screams. I need to have more of these moments with him, with all of them. But sometimes my old nemesis time gets in the way. As a wise (ok, maybe not wise, but interesting and famous) man once said, "Time waits for noone, and it wont wait for me"-Mick Jagger, sometime along time ago.

Check this out, Part II

If you haven't already, check out J's blog. Its a neat blog by an eight year old girl with RAD. Her honesty and bravery amazing. Read about her quest for a life without RAD.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Creepy Kitty...

...I hope I am imagining things, but Im probably not. I think our cat is opening doors. Doors that are completely shut. I close the door to my bedroom when I go to sleep because I do not enjoy being woken up in the middle of the night by a kitten who decides she is going to play and climb on everything she possible can and sing the entire time she is doing it. Oh, and because T is working and if an Axe murderer gets in the house, I have an extra second maybe to get to a gun, load it, and protect myself and the kids, but thats besides the point. So, I close the door, click. It is shut. The past few nights, I am awakened by...you guessed it, the cat. She goes by many names but the one that I have been using lately is Rotten-ness. We have door knobs that you dont turn but that you press down on, handles. I think she is jumping up and hitting them with her rotten little cat paws. N says he saw her open the accordian door at the bottom of the stairs by jumping up and pushing back on the part of the door that connects with the wall, causing it to open.

What am I going to do with a cat that I cant shut out of rooms? I guess I will have to LOCK the bedroom door. That wouldnt be such a bad thing, it would give me a lot more time to prepare for confortation with an axe murderer. Great, time to go to bed and I have axe murderers and evil, smart cats on the brain...Im locking the door.

Revelations, teeth, puke,basketball, nachos and nice drives

That pretty much sums up my weekend. I had a revelation a couple of days ago. I finally got some of the biology crud that I never seemed to grasp in school, probably because I just did not care. I could not understand why I needed to know what was inside a frog or what a sheep eye looked like when you cut it open (Jack, I hope you are reading this!) In biology in high school, I remember I was going to fail if I did not do my frog discection over again...so my best friend, who was a very good student, stayed after with me and helped me. The teacher allowed this, which was very cool. Anyway, I passed thanks to Jack. So, the other day Im reading material in one of my classes about Neurons and the brain and all that jazz, and I actually GOT IT. Yep, and what is scary is that I enjoyed it too.

A lost his first tooth and unlike N's tooth fairy experience here, the tooth fairy actually came that same night. He had been walking around wiggling the tooth all day long, and said it bothered him. So, T tied a string around it, and gave it a tug, and it came flying out of his mouth. I had to nose dive to the floor to save it from Joey (my dog), who was going to eat it...A then informed me that he was "exhausted" from all that worrying about his tooth. He cracks me up.

N came into my room at 2 am on Friday morning, just as I was falling asleep, and said he threw up. People...it was extremely frustrating to see that he made it all the way INTO the bathroom, but couldnt hold on for another nanosecond to lift the toilet lid up. So, I had to clean about an inch deep puddle of puke off the toilet seat lid. Oh and off the floor, walls, and sides of the bathroom. It was like I was living with Reagan McNeil from the Exorcist. The next morning he said he was fine so we went to his first basketball practice, where we noticed he was pale and looked terrible. He was still not feeling well, so we took him home and he chilled on the couch. He is better now.

Today, of course was superbowl Sunday, not that it is a big deal to me, because its not. OH, except for the half time show with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, Ive always been a fan, so that was cool. We are big Sopranos fans too, so seeing "Silvio Dante" again after the show ended (Im still not over this fact), was a treat. After church I came home and made a huge thing of Nachos and they were awesome. The team that this household was routing for (as much as someone who doesnt really care can route that is) did not win. Oh well.

After I put the kids to bed, I called my parents to see if one of them would come over and hang out while T and I went out to run a quick errand, and go for drive. My dad came over. It was really nice, going on a nice drive with him, no kids, just us, the darkness, the truck motor, the radio and the stray dog I tried with no avail, to coax in the car (like we need that, but I cant help it). So, that is it in a nutshell. Im so sick of school and not having time for a lot of things...more whining, I know.

I took a couple of cute pictures over the weekend, but no time to transfer them to my 'puter. Maybe tomorrow, maybe not. Tomorrow back to work, yippee skippy. I hope you all have a merciful monday!