Happy New Year everyone!

Here I sit in bed, sharing New Year's Eve with my date of the last God-knows-how-many years, Dick Clark. I lead such an exciting life, I tell you.

First, can I say just how excited I am to have Dick Clark back on the air?! It's not New Year's without him, and quite frankly, Ryan Seacrest and all the other fill in hosts while Dick was recovering from his stroke suck. Big time.

Second, I realize that my new time zone is an hour behind, but I still consider my New Years to start when the ball drops in New York City. There's just something about that beautiful ball in that fantastic city that makes everything else stateside pale in comparison.

Third, I really need to turn off the rest of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. I cannot understand why they have to make the rest of the show so lame with "pre-recorded" New Year's Eve party footage from some lame studio in Hollywood. Half the groups or singers that perform on there are people I've never heard of, nor care to ever hear again. And if I really wanted to watch the Pussycat Dolls writhe on stage, I think I'd probably find a strip club or invest in some pay-per-view. Ugh. I just can't stand this contrived crap. It's like suffering through the nightly New Year's Eve celebrations at Pleasure Island in Orlando.

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy 2006. I personally hope to have more friends and family visit us this year. I'm looking forward to meeting our new nephew later this summer; he's scheduled to arrive in very early June. And I'm looking forward to finding a daycare/preschool for the little ones and to getting unpacked and organized here.

I hate stupid people

I forgot to mention this classic story in my Christmas day post, so I'll put it here.

My grandmother lives in the Alzheimer's ward of a nursing home. This nursing home is one of those places with graduated levels of care: independent living, assisted living, and nursing care. It is run by a Church and they very nearly practice teetotalism. In my granny's ward, they serve a drink at happy hour maybe once a month. To say that these people are uptight would be an understatement.

On Christmas Day my parents went over to my granny's to have lunch with her in the Home's Dining Room. DH, my mom and I took the kids there for Easter and it was quite delicious. Eating in the Dining Room is a treat, and you are expected to dress for the occasion. As in all nursing homes, the temperature is kept at a sweltering 104 degrees or so it feels. As my parents and grandmother were eating their Christmas dinner, my father got hot and took off his suit jacket and hung it on the back of his chair. Mind you, he didn't loosen his tie, or unbutton his shirt; he only removed his jacket.

At the end of the meal an elderly gentleman came over to their table. My mother was expecting the man to say something about how he recognized my father (for some reason that family's face is distinctive and we all have it and you can tell any of us are related simply by looking at us); I was expecting my mother to tell me that he complimented her for her dedication to my grandmother. You see, my mom visits her mother nearly every single day; she's kind to the nursing staff, etc. What the man said was, "I want you to know that you ruined my dinner. You are supposed to wear your jacket. I even complained to the management about it." My parents were incredulous. In one of his finer moments, my father simply smiled at the rude man and said something like, "Have a nice day."

Okay jacka$$, from what I heard, you were only wearing a Western-style sport jacket, Western shirt, and bolo tie. Not exactly apparel befitting a fine dining experience.

Then this jerk had the chutzpah to remark, as my parents and granny were leaving the Dining Room (and dad had his jacket on at this point), "That's the way you're supposed to look in here." At this point, my normally patient father had had enough. And he smiled and replied, "Get bent, a$$hole!" and walked out of the room.

Happy

My dad flew into town today; he was picking up a passenger at the airport and then flying out of the country. We all drove to the airport, and after a little bit of searching, we found the terminal where dad was. It seemed like he had just landed, so we got to spend quite a bit of time with him while the plane was refueled. He had brought me my record collection and my ice cream maker. Another bag he had held Christmas presents from Santa that were delivered to my parents' house. The kids were thrilled to have something else to unwrap and play with while visiting with Bampa.

If they have to stay in the South on their way back dad is going to try to talk them into staying in our area, which will be cool. And soon enough my mom will be well enough to fly and then they can both come down and visit us.

Hope and excitement

My father is flying into town tomorrow and he has about a 20 to 30 minute layover. He's bringing my record collection with him. I can't wait to see him, even if it is going to be so short a visit. The kids will be so excited to see Bampa as well. Ah well, at some point my parents will be able to visit here together. First we have to wait for my mother to fully recover from her respiratory infection. Maybe in the spring.

Although I'm secretly hoping that they are surprising me with a visit, but I can't get my hopes up...

Phew...it's over

Christmas is over. Thank God. I am exhausted.

I think the kids got everything that they asked for from Santa. Of course, B saw the Chocolate Fountain that her cousin got and then asked me why Santa didn't bring her one. Of course, she never asked for one! I'd have loved one myself, but if I hardly know anyone down here, it's not like I'm going to be entertaining often. And I really don't need to be eating hot chocolate syrup all the damn time. My clothes are already getting too small. What I need to do is wire my mouth shut.

We opened gifts here and then got ready to go to my aunt and uncle's house in H-town. Late as usual, but it turned out to be a good thing. There had been a "plumbing malfuction" at their house, and the kitchen sink had to be taken apart to fix it. My cousin Joe and uncle were out picking up parts to finish up the repair when we arrived. We enjoyed a delicious dinner of beef tenderloin, and Moet & Chandon champagne. Wow. Between the bubbly and my Fruited French Brie (it has cognac in it), I was LOOPY!! So loopy, in fact, that I wound up napping after dinner.

The kids played so nicely together. It was refreshing not to have to tell them to play nice. As it turns out, only A, the youngest, wasn't afraid of the dogs. My aunt and uncle are currently taking care of my cousin's two dogs while she recovers from surgery, my other cousin's dog, and they have their own dog. Four dogs and while they were mainly crated while they were inside, the kids were staying away from them. A, on the other hand, was getting a kick out of sticking his finger in my aunt's dog's crate. Then the dog would come up and lick his finger and A would laugh gleefully. It was so cute.

All in all it was a great day. Now I'm off to bed.

Tagged!

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.
Kim's Blog
Planet Alien
Where am I going...and why am I in this handbasket?
Geena's Mind
Displaced Yankee Chick

Questions!

What were you doing 10 years ago? I was about to celebrate my first Christmas with DH. We were dating, and his sister and her boyfriend were talking marriage. They were setting their date even though she didn't yet have the ring. DH would give me skis, poles and bindings as a gift. (On our first date I broke my nose skiing, and hadn't planned on ever skiing again. I guess this was his way of trying to guilt me into improving my skiing.) It was also at this time that I would learn just how over the top MIL goes (and DH and SIL and BIL) with their gift giving. There was barely any room in the LR at MIL's house. Meanwhile I had brought something little for MIL and SIL/BIL and a few things for DH. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house. It was to be my grandmother's last Christmas. The best part of Christmas Day was when I asked DH why he had gotten me skis; he replied "Because I love you." It was the first time he had said that to me. I got goosebumps.

What were you doing a year ago? Christmas Eve we hosted DH's granny's 90th birthday party. We went to Mass at the local Shrine, not realizing that there were about a bazillion stairs to climb to get into the church itself. Not really a great thing to make a 90 yo woman who has had open heart surgery do... We also got to church late, so we all had to stand in the back of the church for the entire Mass. Again, not a good thing. Dinner was Italian take out from the local pizza place. That was a good thing. After dinner we had birthday cake, and granny opened the cards that were sent to our house for her birthday. She was quite touched. Christmas day we entertained a house full of people. MIL and her boyfriend came, and two nights prior, SIL had to let FIL know that he would be there. FUN! MIL made a turkey in a bag IIRC and I had prepared the ham. DNephew was spilling juice all over our basement thanks to his leaky sippy cup. Meanwhile we never allowed anything other than water to be consumed down there.

5 snacks you enjoy?
Key Lime white chocolate chip cookies
chocolate chip cookies
cheez-its
chocolate
brownies

5 songs you know all the lyrics to:
In My Life by The Beatles
Itsy Bitsy Spider
One Thing Leads to Another by The Fixx
Silent Night, Holy Night
Sleigh Ride

5 things you would do if you were a millionare:
Pay off my mortgage and other bills
Get a newer car just like what I currently drive
Start college funds for the kids
Donate some to charity
Help my widowed friend out

5 bad habits:
picking at my fingernails
twirl my hair
procrastination
watching too much TV
surfing the net too much

5 things I like doing:
watching TV
surfing the net
thinking about scrapbooking
spending time with my DH and kids
sleeping

5 things you would never wear, get new or buy new again:
coulottes
earth shoes
bell bottoms or flared jeans
anything polyester
two-c0lored dress shoes

Tag 5 people:
Squirrel
Dang, I thinkg my boardies got everyone else... Sorry, I suck.

Skiing

A house on the next street has an animated Santa decoration. The lights on it make it look like Santa is skiing. On our way to church tonight B started talking about skiing. She doesn't know how to, and has never been on a pair of skis. DH told her that he could teach her because he's a great skier. She then told me that he could teach me to ski. I told her that I've tried and I'm not very good. I prefer to stay in the lodge while DH skis. I even admitted to her that the first time DH and I went skiing I broke a bone. (It was my nose.)

After Mass we called MIL's house to say hello to everyone there. I was on the phone with DH's sister (SIL) when she told me some horrible news. The DH of one of her best friends passed away last Saturday. He had survived Hodgkins and had been in remission for years. He and SIL's best friend married, had two children, and things were great. Then he started feeling ill in the early fall. It wasn't Hodgkins this time but some other blood cancer. The greatest cancer minds at Dana Farber were stumped. The oncologists treated him as aggressively as his cancer was. However, even a perfect match for a stem cell transplant failed him. Matt was buried on Wednesday. His sons are 5.5 and 3.5.

Matt was a great skier too. So is his DW. DH and I were one of four couples that used to go skiing in Vermont every President's Weekend. The other three couples were SIL and BIL, BIL's best friend and his fiancee, and Matt and SIL's best friend. We'd stay in town, and ski Killington every President's Weekend. We'd all drive in together; they'd drop me off at the bunny slope and then we'd all meet up for lunch and dinner. They all knew I couldn't ski worth a damn and I was much happier on my little green trail while they tackled the black diamonds. Dinners were a blast with this group. We were lucky to spend this time with them.

God bless you Matt.

It gets me, every single time...

I finally got to sit down and put on the TV at about 9:40 tonight, which is 20 minutes before the late news. I discovered that my favorite movie, "It's a Wonderful Life", was on. So I half watched the last 20 minutes of it while checking my email. And then it happened. Just like it always does. Harry Bailey races in the crowded house, toasts his big brother George, "the richest man in the world." And I start to cry. Every. Single. Time. I don't know what it is, but I am always brought to tears at the end of the movie. If it hasn't happened before, then I start crying when George finds Clarence's book, which is inscribed, "George, Remember no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings. Clarence" It gets me every single time.

God, I'm so lame *blush*

I'm going to embarrass myself and publicly admit that I'm currently watching "A Very Brady Christmas." It's so cheesy and campy, but it just gives me the warm fuzzies. Recalling my childhood, I wanted so much to be popular and confident like Marcia and adorable like Cindy. All my problems could be solved in 22.5 minutes.

Then the Brady Girls and these reunion shows added another dimension: marital strife and other, more serious problems. It became more like real life. Still retains some of its cheesiness, though. Like when Carol Brady went to the travel agent and introduced herself to the agent as "Mrs. Carol Brady." WHO does that anyway?? Not a single soul that I know. Oh wait, there was that nutcase who was married to some poor idiot that used to work with DH...she enjoyed referring to herself as "Mrs. Michael Hislastname." Otherwise, I can't think of anyone who does that in this day and age, nor can I think of anyone who did that in '88, when this movie was made.

Now to go see if "the children are nestled all snug in their beds" so I can begin tonight's portion of the wrapping marathon. I went to bed last night at 4am this morning... I still have a ridiculous amount of gifts to wrap, since FIL and GrandMIL and my parents asked us to get the kids their gifts. Then SIL sent her gifts unwrapped via amazon. Nevermind that DH is still feeling ill, after puking up his guts last night and then sleeping like a baby (who snores). Ah well, I'll wrap and watch Bennifer in action in Jersey Girl. Oh wait, J Lo just died in it, so I get to watch Ben and Liv. Kevin Smith and George Carlin...can't be too bad, now can it?

Where are those elves??

Don't you just wish that Santa would send an elf to your house in the days or weeks before Christmas? Then said elf could help you with all the last minute things you need to do around the house. Me? My elf would help me wrap all the presents so I don't have to pull an all-nighter to get that done. Of course, the elf would also help me to clean the house.

Or maybe I just need to get the kids in daycare...

I love days that start like today

It was after 8 when I first looked at the clock. We hadn't heard any footsteps, or coughs, or even the TV. Finally about 9:30 DH got up and found B in the family room watching TV. She'd gotten up at God-knows-when, came downstairs and decided to let us sleep while she watched TV. What a sweetheart!! I dunno about DH, but I felt great after such a long and great night's sleep.

I can only hope tomorrow is as nice.

Scrapbookers heaven!

Friday afternoon I took our oldest, B, shopping with me. I bought these fabulous shadowboxes for cheap and need to add some pictures to them and send them off as gifts to FIL/grandMIL and my parents. We went to the LSS to see if they had some embellishments that I could use for the shadowboxes.

This place is amazing. Most recently I've been to craft stores like Michael's or ACMoore to purchase supplies. Over the summer DH actually went with me into a scrapbook store in his hometown while we were there for his 20th HS reunion. That place was nice, but I think it had recently opened because they told me that they were getting more stock in every day and a lot of it wasn't out yet.

This place has everything and I mean EVERYTHING. They have a section just for the colleges, with papers, borders, tags and embellishments. Your kid plays a sport? Well they've got everything for every sport and color coordinated for the local schools too. I could have spent hours in there, except that I left the younger two napping at home while DH was working. I'd have had heck to pay if they woke up while I was out. So I grabbed a few embellishments with B's help, and we hurried home. Did I mention this place has Friday night crops?

I can't wait to go back. I hope I can talk our best friends into visiting us soon so the guys can golf and she and I can scrap.

Watch me go crazy over the next three weeks

My oldest had her last day of school yesterday. She's now out until late the first week of January, nearly 3 weeks away. I'll have the pleasure of dealing with three young kids all by myself for approximately the next 500 hours. Can you imagine just how much I'm looking forward to this? Most espeically since the girls seem to be coming down with colds...

Let's see, if I want to torture myself I can: (1) take them all to the grocery store like I did late yesterday afternoon (A threw things out of the cart while S leaned her entire body out of the side of the shopping cart), (2) bake cookies (and have them all sneeze or cough on the cookie dough, or wipe their noses and then touch the dough or decorations), or (3) go to the playground (while it is in the mid-40s here). Don't all of those sound like great ideas?! Really, it sounds like a BLAST to me.

Let me know if you have any ideas on retaining my sanity.

Congratulations Randal!

I'm so happy that Randal won The Apprentice. I was worried that without a plan B and the rain, Rebecca would blow him out of the water. Approaching the end of the show I was convinced that Mr. Trump was going to hire both, most especially after he asked the candidates which location they would prefer. Since they didn't want the same location, I was certain he was going to surprise us all that way.

I was surprised that Mr. Trump solicited Randal's opinion whether he should hire Rebecca as well. Although Randal probably came off looking like a jerk, I'm not sure I wouldn't have answered similarly. After all, why should he want to share Mr. Trump's tutelage if he doesn't have to? He may not have the opportunity to see Mr. Trump that often anyway, and then to cut those rare moments in half? Nah.

Randal is the best thing to come out of the school district I attended. That's quite amazing, if you knew some of the numbskulls I went to school with... I can only imagine the attaboy's going on at the EWRSD offices tomorrow. Yeah, it's all thanks to them.

So proud of myself

This evening I discovered a rather large cockroach in our family room. The creature was hanging out between the baseboard and a power cord. I've been warned that you cannot stomp on them because that will release the bazillion eggs from the egg sac and you'll have a mega-infestation. Ugh. So I tried to get it to run into a plastic grocery bag. The little bugger ran FAST into the corner of the room and behind the subwoofer. *sigh*

I begged DH to come and help me with the CRP (cockroach relocation program) and he gladly complied. He moved the boxes and subwoofer while I tried to catch the evil thing using a dust pan and broom. After a few misses, I finally caught the bugger in the pan and got it deposited in the bag. Then the thing was relocated to our trash can where it can rot in H*LL!! BLECH!!!

I'm just so proud of myself for not screaming or squealing once during this entire trauma. After all, we had just put the kids to bed. I didn't need them all wailing because mommy screamed and woke them.

Note to self: call the exterminator, ANY exterminator, FIRST THING TOMORROW!!

My to do list is how long??!!

As I sit here tonight, I'm trying to recall all the places I've hidden gifts, all the gift's I've already sent up north, and figure out who I still need to shop for. I'm trying to make a list (and check it twice) to make sure that I don't forget any of the important things going on this month. I've already missed BIL's birthday last week. This week are my cousin's and dad's b-days, another cousin's major surgery; next week has another birthday, and then we have GreatGranny's birthday, Christmas (where do we go, or do we stay home?), and my brother's birthdays.

I'm dreading having to take the little ones to the post office with me. I can only imagine the hell that will be. I can picture the long line I'll have to wait in, presumably while pushing a double stroller and trying to maintain some sort of order to the piles of packages I have to mail. The post office near our last house had automated machines where you could weigh your package and purchase the appropriate postage. This was heaven on earth since most people preferred to stand in the line rather than do the "self checkout" thing. I can only hope that the local PO here has these wonderful machines. Meanwhile, I'll still have to stand in the line for some of my packages because if I remember correctly, the machines cannot do Delivery Confirmation, and my ebay items are sent with DC included in the postage.

And I also have to locate the USB cord for my digicam so that I can upload the pix to the computer and print out some of them. They will be used for some gifts.

Oh wait, I also have to suffer through another trip to Sam's Club since we seem to be running out of Pull Ups for Miss S. Might as well add things to my shopping list because it is not worth it to go there for one item.

And I'm fighting the same damn sore throat that I was all last week. Must try to nap when the kids do....

Damn viruses and worms!

Last night DH told me that our year old computer is toast. He had gotten an email and when he clicked on it (it was from a known company that sends us both email as we are account holders), some screen popped up and said that the computer was infected with spyware or a virus or something. Our subscription to Norton had expired, so he immediately renewed that, and the Norton scans show that there is nothing wrong with the computer. However, after booting up, the computer tries to send email to all the people in DH's address book. F*CK!!

He spent the better part of the evening trying to get the computer back to normal, with no luck. The laptop I'm using has some PITA thing on it that can only be removed by going thru DOS and it is only partially removed. This thing seems rather benign, as it opens an IE window everytime the computer starts up and goes to some crap web site.

Now I've got to haul this laptop upstairs and see if I can use our multifunction device with it to scan pix so I can get working on my Christmas cards. Then I guess I'll open up my new printer and set that up, since I had planned on using it to print the pix for the Christmas cards. I was going to hook it up to the "good" computer, but I guess now I can set it up in the guest room where my scrapping stuff will someday find a home, and use this laptop... Should be fun.

Lesson: keep your antivirus software up to date!!

Ugh, that went well...not

Took the family to the local mall so we could have family pix taken at Picture People. First DH made a wrong turn, heading to the outlet mall instead of the real mall. I had only been saying "the mall is at the intersection of Westheimer and 6" since we got in the car. The he was annoyed because we were going to arrive at the mall at our appointment time and not earlier. So we checked in at the touch screen they now have since the franchise went completely digital. And we waited and waited and waited. Damn near forever. I took the time to change the kids into their finest Christmas attire (TCP dresses for the girls, Santa suit for the boy).

Finally we were called back to our studio. We got a few decent pix before the boy decided that it was time for a drink and a nap. The worst part was that all the kids had eaten like pigs this morning, and I scheduled the appointment for NOON so that it was before lunch and naptimes. Ugh.

B had already been acting up before we even got to take the pix, so once the other two started losing their minds, DH suggested we cut our losses. After lunch we picked up our pix and headed straight home. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not see Santa. it was naptime an dthey were not getting out of it.

I don't get it

My rarely shy, bounce off the walls energetic kid today was shy. She had a classmate's birthday party at a local gym today. All the girls got to do tumbling on different equipment. However, once we walked in the building, she didn't want to see her friends or take her shoes off. She even wanted me to go with her into the gym part of the room. I told her I couldn't since I wasn't dressed appropriately for gymnastics.

Then, once she got in the middle of things and started running around and tumbling, she got over it. The two hours flew by. The other moms I met were quite nice. One or two of them actually belong to the same church we do. The one mom even gave me some good leads on other places to consider for childcare for the wee ones. LOL! The girl whose birthday it was and her family have been in TX for a year. Previously they lived for 6 years in Scotland; before that they also lived in this same area. As the mom was slicing cake she asked if any parents wanted some, and if so, did they want a wee piece or a big piece.

So now B wants to have a gymnastics birthday party. We'll have to see about that, since school will be out, and at some point this summer we'll have to travel to NJ. DH's sister just announced to us on Thanksgiving that she is pregnant with #2 and is due June 1. Of course. We really can't have kids at any other time of year... LOL! So we'll have to plan our trip north to coincide with whenever they decide to have the christening. Not that I care since we won't be Godparents, but it will provide us with time to see DH's family. This throws a wrench in the plans to have a communal bday party for the girls, DH, and SIL's DS since they all share June bdays. Maybe we'll have two parties, one down here for her school friends, and one up there where we had A's bday party this year. She can invite her old school friends. Then if MIL wants to do a group party she can.... Hmm...

Must get to sleep. Having family portraits taken tomorrow, while my face recovers from AF's breakouts. Ugh.

Shopping without kids

Ah, was there ever a finer thing for mothers to do?! My aunt arrived just as the stores were opening and we hung out for a few minutes while the kids got used to seeing her. I left my cell phone # with her and ran off to do a few hours of shopping. I hit Toys R Us, the huge outlet mall (but just a few stores there), then WalMart and Bed & Bath. Then my stinking phone beeped that I had a message. I continually tried to check my voicemail, but apparently there is some huge black hole in the center of the shopping district where you can't hear me now. The Verizon service in that area SUCKED A$$!!!! I'd go from four bars to two bars to non and a dropped call with absolutely no warning whatsoever. I knew it was my aunt who called, so since I was relatively close to home, I stopped by to find out what had happened. Nothing. She put the little man down without a binky or a bottle and wanted to find out if I normally gave him either of those things at naptime. No biggie. So I really didn't have much more real shopping to do, so we hung out some more and then she left and I unpacked the car and tried to hide gifts in the garage.

After B got home from school I took her to Target to look for a leotard. She has a birthday party tomorrow for a classmate and it is at a Gymnastics place, so I want a leotard for her. While there she said she'd really like an Amazing Amanda from Santa. I went out at 9pm to finish my shopping for the day and am now exhausted. I didn't put much thought into the outfit I got MIL, but I hope she likes it. If not, I remembered to get gift receipts so she can take it back. This year I just don't give a crap. My evil twin wants me to buy people crap that they'd most certainly hate and have no use for, but that's just not nice, and quite frankly, I only want to do that to DH's side... Hmmm, must be my evil Auntie Flo's influence...

Must call my parents tomorrow to see how much snow they wound up with. The closing site I checked this morning had a ton of school closings so it must have been pretty bad.

Gotta love family!

I was talking to DH this afternoong when the phone rang; it was some strange number in Houston. When I answered it I found out it was my aunt. She said she is going to be in our area tomorrow and asked if I needed to get any shopping done; she'd watch the kids for me. I was so thrilled! Imagine, shopping ALONE... No one grabbing things from the aisles, no one shoplifting tchotchkes from the checkout lane, no one melting down because Mommy put the toy back on the shelf... Heaven, I tell you! I cannot wait. I've been wracking my brain all day and making a list of everything I need to buy so I can try to get it all done in a reasonable amount of time.

I only hope that the day turns out as wonderful as it seems in my head.

What a great day!

Gotta love days like this. I got up, got B dressed and ready for school and we went to the bus stop. She had a cereal bar on the way. Once she was on the bus I returned home, changed back into my pajamas and climbed back up into bed (I really must take a pic of the bed with the new mattress so you can understand I really do need to climb up into bed). This was just before 8am.

I woke up just before noon. *blush*

The little ones were so good and didn't even make fusses. At least none that I heard. I woke up after a particularly disturbing nightmare where the waste pipes were clogged and waste water was pouring in the house, from the drains, overflowing toilets, etc. In my dream I ran to the neighbor's house to see if he had a snake with which I could snake the toilet pipe. He gave me a feminine tape measure instead which I proceeded to use and ruin. How would I explain this to his wife? Shortly after that I awoke.

At least I'm well rested.

The Note

The bright yellow slip of paper in B's backpack was hard to miss. She was written up for being under the table in the lunchroom after she had been told to sit in her seat. This made for a second entry on the paper she brings home every day. This paper is a table of the days and weeks of the current 6 week marking period. The parents are to initial the current day's box each afternoon, and sign the Friday box every Friday. There is space for the teacher to make comments or put a stamp if the child has been good. A few weeks ago B was written up for not doing her work; today's was for not listening. I'm so disappointed about it; I really thought that the only times she doesn't listen are at home. My understanding was that she did respect the other authority figures in her life: her former teachers, my parents, etc.

I took the kids to Toys R Us tonight in order to browse the wide variety of toys available and to gain some idea of what they'd be asking Santa for. That went well. Not. The little ones hadn't napped, and B still didn't have her listening ears on. We also had to try to find a gift for a birthday party Saturday. S opened up a small toy and played with it but lost it when I took it away. (Do I really need another See and Say Elmo??)

In addition to being tired, the kids were hungry and it was dinner time. I gave them the option of going to the mall which was right next door, or grabbing something on the short drive home. They decided to go to the mall. We hurried into the mall (one of those enormous outlet malls, like Franklin Mills) and went straight to the food court. Once there they discovered that inside the food court was a carousel. The girls were dying to ride it, but I told B that Santa had whispered in my ear that she couldn't have a ride due to her behavior today. S wasn't much better.

Perhaps I should write a note to Santa tell him to bring us a big ole bag of coal. I'm sure I deserve some as well.

Why I still haven't eaten dinner tonight

I was only going to be online for a little while. Really. I was going to list some stuff on ebay and then go have some soup. My throat is sore and I know I'm coming down with something. I'd feel better if I just got a litte more sleep, but that probably won't happen this week.

So I listed my stuff, then checked out the boards and blogs. And then I checked my email. As I was going through the 25 pages of messages, (Yes, really, 25 pages.) I found a message I needed to respond to. It was from a member of the administration of the high school I attended. They mass emailed everyone to let us know that one of the beloved English teachers has retired and they were soliciting messages and memories to provide to this teacher. Needless to say, I've spent quite a while typing out memories of her class. She was a hysterical teacher with a razor sharp wit. She was strong and tough and worked us all hard. And all of us are better for it. She moderated the newspaper and I was publishing editor my senior year, so I got to spend a lot of time with her.

Writing my memories down makes me again miss being home in NJ. I wish I could say goodbye and good luck to her in person; I wish I could attend her retirement dinner. I hope my message lets her know what an impact she had on me.

And now I realize it is after midnight and I'm starving and tired and I can't see straight. Crap.

More bright ideas

You could almost call it nesting. I've got the painting itch. The cable guy was here earlier this week to run a line for the cable modem in DH's office. There was already a line in there, but it was on the wrong wall, the wall with the closet and bookcase niche. Just an inconvenient spot. So we made the appointment with the cable company and the guy came out to run the line down the wall where DH's desk actually fits. Of course that wall is insulated and the cable guy only had a short pole with which to try to push the line down between the joists. He gave up without cutting any holes in the wall and figured out a work around. DH, of course, hates the work around, and he should. The guy dropped the line down in the corner of the room, put a faceplate on the ceiling, then fastened the wire in the corner down the wall, then across the wall just above the baseboard, to the computer. It was good enough if he couldn't do it the right way. I just don't know if he really couldn't do it, or if he just didn't feel like doing it.

So I figure if I repaint his office and slap a coat of paint over the black cable, perhaps it will look much better to DH. As an added plus, he hasn't yet unpacked the boxes and filled the desk and hutch, so they'll be easier to move empty. Hmmm, perhaps this week while he's away...

While I was at Home Depot earlier this week I also picked up some paint chips for B's room. She's getting new bedding for Christmas and we have to change the color of her walls. Right now they are blood red. And I mean a deep dark blood red. It's gonna take a TON of primer to cover that mess. I'm currently liking a light ice blue and deep aqua. DH didn't care for the purple I was thinking about using as an anchor color. Decisions, decisions.

Right now the brightest idea I'd say we had was moving down here. NJ had 3 inches of snow between yesterday and today from what I heard, and I was told that they are expecting more snow tomorrow night. Blech.

Party time

Today was my cousin's kids birthday party. Her DS turned 9 and her DD turned 6. We had a nice time visiting with my family at her house. I hadn't seen my cousin Joe nor his DS in years. His son has grown into a man -- full beard that he has to shave, deep voice, and tall. Now, if you know anything about my family, you'd know that tall isn't an adjective normally used to describe any of us.

In other news, the Longhorns won the Big 12 Championship. They should have just had the trophy handed to them without playing the game. The Colorado Buffaloes were outscored 70-3 for gosh sake. They'll play USC at the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. DH has grand plans of taking all of us out to Pasadena for it. Hmmm. Tickets are $175 a piece, and there are no lap children allowed. I'd sure love to go, but it's gonna be pricey, and how much fun will the kids have there? Meanwhile we don't have anyone to watch the kids for us, so either DH goes or we all go.

I'm so tired

I was up really late last night; I think I went to bed at 2am. Yawn. I was hating life when the alarm clock went off this morning. DH had to leave early so I again had bus stop duty. I got B dressed and we hurried off to the bus stop. We were the only ones there and I got paranoid. Then the mom from the house at the bus stop said she thought the bus had already come, which is what I was thinking. So we hotfooted it back to the house.

I had to run in and grab the little ones who were fast asleep in their cribs and get them all in their car seats so we could run B to her school. We dropped her off and then went home where we had some breakfast. Not how I had envisioned my morning.

I was supposed to put B on the bus, go home, and lay down for about an hour's nap. Then the other two would wake up, and we'd all have breakfast. And we'd have a nice day...

It was going to be "one of those days", I knew, when while I was showering, I first realized that I had left my towels on the rack, clear across the bathroom, and second, when I spotted S with my cosmetic bag. She was asking for "lip 'tick" and I told her I didn't have any. So she opened up my cosmetic bad and pulled out the stick foundation and blush and started putting some on her cheeks. Great! She then blended it with my makeup sponges. Lucky for me she put the stuff away before she did any damage to herself or my stuff. I almost thought about getting the camera to snap a pic of her with the dots on her face, but the camera is in a drawer in the kitchen, clear across the house. You'll just have to use your imagination for what she must have looked like.

Later I took the kids shopping. I had to get birthday presents for my cousin's kids as their party is tomorrow. We went to WalMart, Home Depot, Tuesday Morning and Ace Hardware. And in every store I had A in the seat of the shopping cart, and S in the main part. All purchases had to be placed under the cart otherwise S would help me by tossing things overboard. And I also had to try to keep the cart in the middle of the aisle so that Elastigirl and Octopus Boy wouldn't be able to reach anything. By the time S tossed everything out of the cart, and A was grabbing the blown glass ornaments I was purchasing, at Ace Hardware, I was done.

They were immediately put down for naps when we got home and I enjoyed some alone time. Ah, sweet quiet.

Now to finish wrapping the bday presents and get to bed... *yawn*

What the crap are these people talking about??

Alright, so I'm sitting here in front of the TV. Craig Ferguson's show has just ended and some bizarre Christian show is on. There is a husband and wife (her name is Rexella?! That's a fearsome monster's name!) team blabbering on about Revelation and quoting scripture. She says a verse, he says "yes, that's from Revelation whatever whatever". Then he says something and she agrees. And apparently they're pushing his Prophecy Bible and all the"Prophesized Truths" or something like that. Lemme get a pen and write down the phone number so I can order this crap for all my friends...

Now they're going through headlines featuring corruption (Tyco execs, DeLay, etc.). Oh wait, they're tying it into the Ten Commandments. A great drinking game could be made of the number of times he has just said "covet" or "covetousness". OMG! Now he's going on about false prophets who were disgraced (one outed by the Amazing Randy, one imprisoned for tax evasion, one who had married twice....). Yep, that last one for being married twice. Oookaaayy. Oh, he's incensed because they are back on TV.

Pompeii: can we learn from those who perished?; colleges reaching their limit on alcohol consumption by students, Bourbon Street; chlamydia and syphilis rates increase. What is the world coming to?? Apparently they have the answer. Yep, the sinners of Pompeii were "encased in their sin" when the volcano erupted. I just LOL! Oh wait, now we're getting to the man and woman staying chaste and only having relations within the bonds of marriage.

Damn, I'm going to have wait until next week to learn about the asteroids that are going to hit the earth.

And he also warned me not to have oral sex. It's a sin. Crap.... God help me.

Wait, there IS hope. His wife wants to save me because there IS hope. If I write to her, she'll send me a book on a life in a new direction. Damn, where IS my pen??