I have blogged every day of Nov. Most of it was drivel but it is all out there. Expect a break of a few days now, until I have something to say. Eventually, I will work up the energy to write about a trip and review the Magic House and Way of Lights.
However, I'm thrilled to end the month this way. I get wish my best friend since grade school congratulations on her engagement! She called this morning as we were coming home to tell me about it. I'm so excited and happy for her! She has been dating her fiance for 2.5 years and living with him for at least a year. He surprised her with a ring this morning and told her it was her early Christmas present. They are planning to get married in about a year so plan to hear more about this as time goes by. I will either be her matron of honor or a regular bridesmaid, depending on if she wants her sister to be the MOH or not. I'm kind of excited about that too since I haven't been in a wedding since I was 8 and I was in my Uncle's wedding.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Shopped til I dropped
I got everything on my list. I started at 3, standing in line at Staples. From there, we went to Target and then to Meijer. We were done by 7:30 and I have finshed Xmas shopping online by 9.
Now we are in St Louis so you will have to wait a few days for a proper update
Now we are in St Louis so you will have to wait a few days for a proper update
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Things I'm thankful for:
My kids
My husband
My friends
My family
The alternative hours supper club (we need a better name. I'm open to suggestions LOL)
My house
The ability to stay home with my kids
My husband
My friends
My family
The alternative hours supper club (we need a better name. I'm open to suggestions LOL)
My house
The ability to stay home with my kids
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Let's get physical
The Boy had his seven year check up today, only 6 weeks late which is much better than say his 6 year check up that was a year and 6 weeks late LOL
He is 56 pounds and 49 inches tall. That makes him 50% for height and 75% for weight. At least this time, the doctor didn't tell me to put him on a diet (maybe had something to do with the fact that I laughed in his face the last time he mentioned it, especially after all the "feed him more, feed him more" when he was younger).
The doctor said he didn't think his headaches were too big of a deal but to keep an eye on them and if they persisted or got worse (he gave me a whole list of things to keep in mind for tracking the headaches), see him again. Unfortunately, he failed the eye test :( I have to call the optometrist to get him checked for real (the test at the doctor's office is a basic test that doesn't necessarily indicate an eye problem) because they close at noon on Weds and are obviously closed tomorrow. So I will follow up with that early next week (I might try to call on Friday but we will see if I can work it in around shopping and traveling).
After his appointment, we went to Toys R Us to find some gift ideas for Xmas. We came away with a couple of things for TB and very little for MT. :( I'm sure neither of them will be hurting for presents :)
A mom of one of TB's school friends called me this morning to let me know he had broken out in Chicken Pox. Fortunately, both of my kids had it about 2 years ago so we are safe but she said she called the "frienemy"'s mom and let her know and is calling the school so they can let the parents in his class know. That sucks for all of them.
He is 56 pounds and 49 inches tall. That makes him 50% for height and 75% for weight. At least this time, the doctor didn't tell me to put him on a diet (maybe had something to do with the fact that I laughed in his face the last time he mentioned it, especially after all the "feed him more, feed him more" when he was younger).
The doctor said he didn't think his headaches were too big of a deal but to keep an eye on them and if they persisted or got worse (he gave me a whole list of things to keep in mind for tracking the headaches), see him again. Unfortunately, he failed the eye test :( I have to call the optometrist to get him checked for real (the test at the doctor's office is a basic test that doesn't necessarily indicate an eye problem) because they close at noon on Weds and are obviously closed tomorrow. So I will follow up with that early next week (I might try to call on Friday but we will see if I can work it in around shopping and traveling).
After his appointment, we went to Toys R Us to find some gift ideas for Xmas. We came away with a couple of things for TB and very little for MT. :( I'm sure neither of them will be hurting for presents :)
A mom of one of TB's school friends called me this morning to let me know he had broken out in Chicken Pox. Fortunately, both of my kids had it about 2 years ago so we are safe but she said she called the "frienemy"'s mom and let her know and is calling the school so they can let the parents in his class know. That sucks for all of them.
I have gas
and because I do, I can almost guarentee that it was cheaper you when you got it. Ever since gas prices started going down, EVERY SINGLE TIME I've filled up my van, within 24-48 hours gas prices have dropped between 10 and 15 cents per gallon. It is ticking me off to no end and it seriously happens every time. I was a thought my streak had broken last week when I got gas in BN, 5 cents cheaper than it was here and I went 2 full days without seeing a drop in price. Then it dropped and the streak has continued. Seriously, I'm tired of it. Someone else needs to get the more expensive gas for once.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Food Fight
Last week, I posted about Thanksgiving with the ILs. I've been kind of a coward about calling MIL and telling her that we weren't coming because I know how much she hates that the other DIL does that crap all the time. RF assures me that I'm the fave DIL, no matter and I contend that it like the choice between a bologna sandwich and getting punched in the teeth. Neither is a good choice but one is the obvious winner. LOL
Anyway, MIL and my mom were supposed to get the kids a joint gift for Xmas but my mom decided not to do it so she called MIL and during the call, spilled the beans. No biggie, I needed to call her anyway. So she called me today to see about it and I told her that I intend to come out and see everyone at 11 and then leave at noon to come back home for my family's dinner. MIL thought that was FAB idea! She was excited that I would give them some time, even if we didn't stay for food. She told me "I told your dad (she meant FIL but she does that all the time) last night that you had a good head on your shoulders and you would come up with something that would work for everybody. Not like *other DIL* who says that no one owns Thanksgiving and won't bother to grace us with her presence" LOL
So basically problem solved. Now, I just have to come up with acceptable gift ideas for them to get the kids for Xmas since the group gift is a no go. Sort of off topic, anyone know what a good size trampoline would be for 2 kids to use together? (the group gift was a trampoline) We looked at a 12 foot one but I think it looks kind of small for both kids at the same time.
Anyway, MIL and my mom were supposed to get the kids a joint gift for Xmas but my mom decided not to do it so she called MIL and during the call, spilled the beans. No biggie, I needed to call her anyway. So she called me today to see about it and I told her that I intend to come out and see everyone at 11 and then leave at noon to come back home for my family's dinner. MIL thought that was FAB idea! She was excited that I would give them some time, even if we didn't stay for food. She told me "I told your dad (she meant FIL but she does that all the time) last night that you had a good head on your shoulders and you would come up with something that would work for everybody. Not like *other DIL* who says that no one owns Thanksgiving and won't bother to grace us with her presence" LOL
So basically problem solved. Now, I just have to come up with acceptable gift ideas for them to get the kids for Xmas since the group gift is a no go. Sort of off topic, anyone know what a good size trampoline would be for 2 kids to use together? (the group gift was a trampoline) We looked at a 12 foot one but I think it looks kind of small for both kids at the same time.
Labels:
christmas,
family,
thankgiving,
trampoline
Monday, November 24, 2008
Going to the dogs
Seriously Reelz Channel needs to quit showing "behind the scenes" Twilight stuff because they are being shown inter-mingled with Bolt stuff and I know WAY TOO MUCH about that crazy dog and his friends now.
Happy anniversary
To my husband. It sure doesn't seem like 8 years. Thanks for all you do and putting up with my crap for this long. Don't expect that to change any time soon, of course, but thanks just the same! :)
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Good things
I watched Surivor last night and was LMAO at the strategy. Bob and sugar rock! And um, I don't like Crystal but her yelling at the camera cracked me up. LOL
I ordered my new battery on Amazon. Dell sells it for 130. Amazon marketplace sells it for 58. No contest. Even though the Amazon one is an after market, there is no way I would over twice the price for a name brand.
I ordered my new battery on Amazon. Dell sells it for 130. Amazon marketplace sells it for 58. No contest. Even though the Amazon one is an after market, there is no way I would over twice the price for a name brand.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Twilight review
I got to go see Twilight tonight. I liked it. I went into expecting to be disappointed because I liked the books SO MUCH. I have heard from various sources that it was either spot on (it wasn't) or it was completely different(it wasn't). It was sort of a mix. Some parts were line for line out of the book, others, quite different.
Most notably, the thing I felt was lacking was the complusion I felt over the Edward Bella love story in the book. In the book, I really felt for them and cheered for them. In the movie, I found myself rolling at eyes a bit at the whole thing. It just didn't translate well to the big screen, in that respect. I also hated the entire Port Angles scene because it was totally wrong. She never made it to the book store, she never fought with the guys, etc. Other than the fact that Edward saved her and drove her home (and that she ate something mushroom based, which I thought was an odd detail to include when other important things were left out), the scene was completely different. The scene I hated was the "look at me, I'm a bad ass sparkly vampire" scene. That wasn't how it went and the sparkly sucked. The first time they showed him in the sun, he looked damp not sparkly. The second time was much better, much truer to the book and had better makeup. The only other I didn't like was the actors tended to buy into the "go big or go home" school of acting. There were a few times when they completely overacted, sometimes to the detrement of the movie. For example, Bella's "intense" face, usually just made her look pissed. And I know the fight scene at the end is supposed to be all dramatic and tense but Edward's "I'm so mad, my left eye is all squinty" face made me want to roll around on the floor laughing like crazy. It was truly bad! Sometimes, the over acting was good, like when he first got the scent of her is class. He went big and paid off by making it a funny scene. The special effects were a bit cheesy (the running and tree climbing looked totally hacked together) but it was a fairly low budget movie and not a special effects movie. It was a love story after all. They left out a few scenes that I would have liked to have seen as well. I really wanted to see Bella try to flirt the information out of Jacob on the beach
Things I liked:
They kept a lot of the laugh out loud moments from the book and added some others. There were several times that I found myself laughing, although I didn't really expect to. The bio teacher cracked me up as did the antics of the other boys in school and the line "man, let a playa play". The other thing I liked was watching Ms Lemonade jump every time a vampire suddenly appeared on screen! She added quite a bit of humor to the movie for me so if you can get her to go with you, I highly recommend it :)
Although I could have done with another actor for Edward, I really liked the choices for Emmett and Alice. In looking at still pictures, I thought I wouldn't like the casting of Jacob but he pulled it off in the movie. So I revise my early position and say "good choice" Basically, I liked the parts that stayed true to the book.
Overall, I would say 3 and 3/4 stars because it was better than just average and I was entertained the whole. With a little polish and a slightly larger budget, I think the second film has the potential to be great. Unfortunately, we all know that the longer a book, the more chance they have of screwing it up. Also, the second book, with the break up and the internal struggle has the potential to not translate very well. Only time will tell.
Most notably, the thing I felt was lacking was the complusion I felt over the Edward Bella love story in the book. In the book, I really felt for them and cheered for them. In the movie, I found myself rolling at eyes a bit at the whole thing. It just didn't translate well to the big screen, in that respect. I also hated the entire Port Angles scene because it was totally wrong. She never made it to the book store, she never fought with the guys, etc. Other than the fact that Edward saved her and drove her home (and that she ate something mushroom based, which I thought was an odd detail to include when other important things were left out), the scene was completely different. The scene I hated was the "look at me, I'm a bad ass sparkly vampire" scene. That wasn't how it went and the sparkly sucked. The first time they showed him in the sun, he looked damp not sparkly. The second time was much better, much truer to the book and had better makeup. The only other I didn't like was the actors tended to buy into the "go big or go home" school of acting. There were a few times when they completely overacted, sometimes to the detrement of the movie. For example, Bella's "intense" face, usually just made her look pissed. And I know the fight scene at the end is supposed to be all dramatic and tense but Edward's "I'm so mad, my left eye is all squinty" face made me want to roll around on the floor laughing like crazy. It was truly bad! Sometimes, the over acting was good, like when he first got the scent of her is class. He went big and paid off by making it a funny scene. The special effects were a bit cheesy (the running and tree climbing looked totally hacked together) but it was a fairly low budget movie and not a special effects movie. It was a love story after all. They left out a few scenes that I would have liked to have seen as well. I really wanted to see Bella try to flirt the information out of Jacob on the beach
Things I liked:
They kept a lot of the laugh out loud moments from the book and added some others. There were several times that I found myself laughing, although I didn't really expect to. The bio teacher cracked me up as did the antics of the other boys in school and the line "man, let a playa play". The other thing I liked was watching Ms Lemonade jump every time a vampire suddenly appeared on screen! She added quite a bit of humor to the movie for me so if you can get her to go with you, I highly recommend it :)
Although I could have done with another actor for Edward, I really liked the choices for Emmett and Alice. In looking at still pictures, I thought I wouldn't like the casting of Jacob but he pulled it off in the movie. So I revise my early position and say "good choice" Basically, I liked the parts that stayed true to the book.
Overall, I would say 3 and 3/4 stars because it was better than just average and I was entertained the whole. With a little polish and a slightly larger budget, I think the second film has the potential to be great. Unfortunately, we all know that the longer a book, the more chance they have of screwing it up. Also, the second book, with the break up and the internal struggle has the potential to not translate very well. Only time will tell.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Family and home advice
Reposted entirely without permission:
I’m not even certain where to start… but last night, the child had a tantrum around the time we were trying to sit down for dinner. Which is not unusual – he’s on the fringes of the behavior described in the Explosive Child, so I try to keep that in mind and work with him before things get out of control. Lately, I’ve been farily successful in that area. What started the blow-up was this: the child decided he wanted some ranch dressing in a bowl so he could dip his pasta wheels. I immediately pulled out a very small bowl and put some in for him and set it on the table with his plate. Meanwhile, he’s pulling a larger cereal bowl out of the cabinet; he had wanted that size bowl. DH comes in all bull-headed and won’t let him switch out bowls, which I was totally willing to do. They start butting heads and off it goes. Unfortunately scenarios like that are not too unusual either… DH and the child really set each other off. Sigh.
This was followed by several posts offering support but no real advice and lots of people saying they could have written that post. I offered some water down advice and general information but what I really wanted to say was "are you freaking kidding me? You let your husband rile your 2 year old into a tantrum about a bowl?" WTF!
Too many people expect people to do what they want without having to say it. If you want something you have to tell people that you want it. People in general but especially men are not mind readers! They can not know what you from them unless you tell them. Women who complain that someone missed their birthday, anniversary, special occasion but never reminded anyone get what they deserve. DH never forgets our anniversary or my birthday. I wouldn't allow him to forget. Never mind the emails saying "I want this thing" a few weeks before, I make a point of saying "don't forget, this coming up" I read constantly about people who suffer their ILs in silence instead of saying anything. When we got married my MIL said "what do you need me to do" and I gave her a list of things. She came back and said "how about I do this this and this instead?" After a few times of that, I finally told her "If you can't do the things I need, I don't need your help, see you at the ceremony" From then on, she was on board with what I needed her to do, not what she wanted to do.
People need to quit being all nicey nice or passive aggressive. They need to say what they mean and mean what they say and if other people can't handle that, they aren't people you need in your life anyway!
I’m not even certain where to start… but last night, the child had a tantrum around the time we were trying to sit down for dinner. Which is not unusual – he’s on the fringes of the behavior described in the Explosive Child, so I try to keep that in mind and work with him before things get out of control. Lately, I’ve been farily successful in that area. What started the blow-up was this: the child decided he wanted some ranch dressing in a bowl so he could dip his pasta wheels. I immediately pulled out a very small bowl and put some in for him and set it on the table with his plate. Meanwhile, he’s pulling a larger cereal bowl out of the cabinet; he had wanted that size bowl. DH comes in all bull-headed and won’t let him switch out bowls, which I was totally willing to do. They start butting heads and off it goes. Unfortunately scenarios like that are not too unusual either… DH and the child really set each other off. Sigh.
This was followed by several posts offering support but no real advice and lots of people saying they could have written that post. I offered some water down advice and general information but what I really wanted to say was "are you freaking kidding me? You let your husband rile your 2 year old into a tantrum about a bowl?" WTF!
Too many people expect people to do what they want without having to say it. If you want something you have to tell people that you want it. People in general but especially men are not mind readers! They can not know what you from them unless you tell them. Women who complain that someone missed their birthday, anniversary, special occasion but never reminded anyone get what they deserve. DH never forgets our anniversary or my birthday. I wouldn't allow him to forget. Never mind the emails saying "I want this thing" a few weeks before, I make a point of saying "don't forget, this coming up" I read constantly about people who suffer their ILs in silence instead of saying anything. When we got married my MIL said "what do you need me to do" and I gave her a list of things. She came back and said "how about I do this this and this instead?" After a few times of that, I finally told her "If you can't do the things I need, I don't need your help, see you at the ceremony" From then on, she was on board with what I needed her to do, not what she wanted to do.
People need to quit being all nicey nice or passive aggressive. They need to say what they mean and mean what they say and if other people can't handle that, they aren't people you need in your life anyway!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Found
Just FYI, in case I forget to mention it later, Gloria has been found so no need to keep up the search. Thanks all
You need advice
I have nothing to write about. But I'm doing NaMoBoPo so I need to make posts every for the whole month. I'm over halfway there so I can't just quit now. So somewhat lamely, I'm going to look on the internet and find advice columns and offer my own input on the questions. Should any of my readers care to help in my quest, I'm willing to answer your questions and need for advice as well. Or if you see anything on the net that needs my brand of input, email me and let me know. But be forwarned, you won't get nicey nice from me. You'll get the truth, whether you want it or not. :)
From Dear Abby:
How do I make my husband understand that how I cut my hair has nothing to do with him? I am 30 years old, and I have a full-time job and three kids who are involved in everything. Because I am always on the go, I need a hairdo that is easy to manage and cute, so I ended up getting my hair cut short. I love it. It makes me feel younger, cuter and trendy.
When my husband and I started dating, I used to have long, thick hair -- but I was not aware that keeping my hair long was "part of the deal." He feels I cut my hair purposely to go against what he wants. That sounds selfish to me. Isn't it MY hair? -- SHORT AND TRENDY IN WEST TEXAS
Freak says:
Tell your husband if he wants someone in your relationship to have long hair, he needs to grow his long. It IS your hair and you can cut it how you want, when you want. If he doesn't like it, that is too bad for him.
From Dear Abby:
How do I make my husband understand that how I cut my hair has nothing to do with him? I am 30 years old, and I have a full-time job and three kids who are involved in everything. Because I am always on the go, I need a hairdo that is easy to manage and cute, so I ended up getting my hair cut short. I love it. It makes me feel younger, cuter and trendy.
When my husband and I started dating, I used to have long, thick hair -- but I was not aware that keeping my hair long was "part of the deal." He feels I cut my hair purposely to go against what he wants. That sounds selfish to me. Isn't it MY hair? -- SHORT AND TRENDY IN WEST TEXAS
Freak says:
Tell your husband if he wants someone in your relationship to have long hair, he needs to grow his long. It IS your hair and you can cut it how you want, when you want. If he doesn't like it, that is too bad for him.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Not so thankful
So Thanksgiving is coming up. Not a huge stressful holiday for us like it is for many people. We don't hate our families, we don't have to travel far, etc. However, we are having a little issue this year. Typically, RF's grandma hosts lunch at noon. She has done this every year for the past 30 and every one is expected to be there. My family doesn't always do something for Thanksgiving. Usually every other year or so. In the past, we have vacationed on the holiday (we went to Grand Bear a couple of years ago to the indoor water park and had a blast) or just done a dinner either at the house or at a resturant, when we aren't feeling like cooking. Well this year is the year for my family to have something and my mom has decided to have it at 12:30.
My issue with Thanksgiving at RF's grandma's is first up, I don't get along with either of his uncle (and only barely with the aunts). One uncle and I got into about the pending smoking ban a few years ago and he hasn't spoken to me since. Basically, he thought that he could get me to back off by being a smart ass but any one that knows me, knows that isn't going to fly. So he and his wife don't speak to me. Super fun family gatherings, that. The other uncle is religious fanatic who will pin people down and preach at them if he can catch them. He also likes to talk, loudly, about many things he has no idea about and then he busts out the scripture when someone dares disagree with him. So I don't do well when I have to interact with him. I do my best to ignore him but every so often, he will get right in my face. The other issue, which is much more important to me than the personality problems of his family (MIL FIL and GMIL are great, it is just the extendeds that bother me) is that they have weird food. Besides turkey, there is very little that either I or the kids will eat. Last year, MT had pie and chocolate candy for Thanksgiving dinner because there was NOTHING else there she would even look twice at. TB does slightly better because he will eat meat, so he will eat turkey with his pie and candy. :(
On the other hand, my family makes stuff that we will all eat. We have noodles and mashed potatoes and dressing (not stuffing, sage dressing) as well as turkey and roast beef, some other side dishes and dessert. Plenty of stuff for the kids (ane me, who eats like a kid LOL) and if that isn't enough, if they simply refuse to eat the dinner, there is kid friendly food handy and I could just nuke them some easy mac.
So now RF is irritated that I don't want to go to his family dinner. I suggested that we go out at 11, see his family for a bit, leave at noon and be back here for our dinner by 12:30. He didn't seem to think that was a feasible idea but the other option is that the kids and I will pass completely. So we will see how things shake out on Thanksgiving :)
My issue with Thanksgiving at RF's grandma's is first up, I don't get along with either of his uncle (and only barely with the aunts). One uncle and I got into about the pending smoking ban a few years ago and he hasn't spoken to me since. Basically, he thought that he could get me to back off by being a smart ass but any one that knows me, knows that isn't going to fly. So he and his wife don't speak to me. Super fun family gatherings, that. The other uncle is religious fanatic who will pin people down and preach at them if he can catch them. He also likes to talk, loudly, about many things he has no idea about and then he busts out the scripture when someone dares disagree with him. So I don't do well when I have to interact with him. I do my best to ignore him but every so often, he will get right in my face. The other issue, which is much more important to me than the personality problems of his family (MIL FIL and GMIL are great, it is just the extendeds that bother me) is that they have weird food. Besides turkey, there is very little that either I or the kids will eat. Last year, MT had pie and chocolate candy for Thanksgiving dinner because there was NOTHING else there she would even look twice at. TB does slightly better because he will eat meat, so he will eat turkey with his pie and candy. :(
On the other hand, my family makes stuff that we will all eat. We have noodles and mashed potatoes and dressing (not stuffing, sage dressing) as well as turkey and roast beef, some other side dishes and dessert. Plenty of stuff for the kids (ane me, who eats like a kid LOL) and if that isn't enough, if they simply refuse to eat the dinner, there is kid friendly food handy and I could just nuke them some easy mac.
So now RF is irritated that I don't want to go to his family dinner. I suggested that we go out at 11, see his family for a bit, leave at noon and be back here for our dinner by 12:30. He didn't seem to think that was a feasible idea but the other option is that the kids and I will pass completely. So we will see how things shake out on Thanksgiving :)
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Yuck
So yesterday was officially a "not good" day. It wasn't terrible, just a few things happened to rank it as not good.
First, over the weekend, I developed a hole in the only pair of comfortable jeans I had. Not a patchable hole either :( When I got to looking at them, even if I could have patched the hole, it wouldn't have mattered because there were holes developing at the corners of the back pockets and on the middle seam. So they had to do in the trash. I decided that I would make due with my uncomfortable jeans, thinking that if I wore and washed them more often, they would soften up and be ok. Well, I wore them for about an hour this morning before I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I decided I had to suck it up and go buy jeans. I hate buying clothes because nothing ever fits right and it costs too much money. I went to Steve and Barry's (BTW, everything is 2.98 or less there right now and they still have a bunch of stuff, especially smaller sizes for the next 4 days) to see if they had anything before they went out of business. I found one pair of jeans in the right size, but they were 4 inches too long. I don't like hemmed pants so I passed (even though I could have probably dealt with it for 2.98 for a pair of jeans) and went to Old Navy. I grabbed my normal size and went and tried them on. I'm very sad to admit that they didn't fit (strange since the pair that ripped was the same size, but whatever) and I had to get the next size up. So not only did I have to buy pants, they just confirmed that I'm a giant fat ass! Did that change my eating habits at all? Of course not! I still had a greasy double cheeseburger, fries and ice cream for lunch and cheese covered enchiladas and beans for dinner. Hopefully, today will be the last day for the cast and I can start going to the gym again. Of course, if I lose much weight, my pants will be too big (they fit fine when they are unstretched but I know they will stretch and be too big, which I would rather have than too small) and then I'll be pissed that I spent the money for pants that don't fit.
RF said I need to become a vampire so that I never change size. I said that I need some kind of wasting illness and lose 100lbs and then become a vampire and never change sizes. :( I bought 2 pairs of pants, spent 3x more per pair than I wanted to spend and had to get a bigger size. It was not a pleasant morning.
Before we left to look at pants, I was playing on facebook and downloading some things. All of a sudden, my laptop shut down. Not too suprising since the battery is toast (I'm getting a new on for Xmas, I just have to suck it up til then) and won't hold a charge. Anytime it is unplugged (and the plug seems to fall out fairly often) it dies. I restarted it and got a blue screen of death. It said to restart and I did and got another blue screen. I had RF look at and he found a file called delself.bat on my desktop, which turned out to be a virus. He ran the anti-virus program and it came up with nothing. He got online and found that other people had had that virus and that it destroys the system registry and the only cure for it seemed to be reformatting and reinstalling :( Fortunately, most of my stuff was backed up and the few things that weren't (recent pictures that I haven't moved over to the big drive), I was able to access and transfer in safe mode. I found my disk and it is reformatting. Hopefully, it will be up and running soon because my desktop is a POS. It is getting replaced for Xmas as well, but again, I have to suck it up for a few more weeks.
So, all in all, a crummy day. Hopefully today will be better.
First, over the weekend, I developed a hole in the only pair of comfortable jeans I had. Not a patchable hole either :( When I got to looking at them, even if I could have patched the hole, it wouldn't have mattered because there were holes developing at the corners of the back pockets and on the middle seam. So they had to do in the trash. I decided that I would make due with my uncomfortable jeans, thinking that if I wore and washed them more often, they would soften up and be ok. Well, I wore them for about an hour this morning before I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I decided I had to suck it up and go buy jeans. I hate buying clothes because nothing ever fits right and it costs too much money. I went to Steve and Barry's (BTW, everything is 2.98 or less there right now and they still have a bunch of stuff, especially smaller sizes for the next 4 days) to see if they had anything before they went out of business. I found one pair of jeans in the right size, but they were 4 inches too long. I don't like hemmed pants so I passed (even though I could have probably dealt with it for 2.98 for a pair of jeans) and went to Old Navy. I grabbed my normal size and went and tried them on. I'm very sad to admit that they didn't fit (strange since the pair that ripped was the same size, but whatever) and I had to get the next size up. So not only did I have to buy pants, they just confirmed that I'm a giant fat ass! Did that change my eating habits at all? Of course not! I still had a greasy double cheeseburger, fries and ice cream for lunch and cheese covered enchiladas and beans for dinner. Hopefully, today will be the last day for the cast and I can start going to the gym again. Of course, if I lose much weight, my pants will be too big (they fit fine when they are unstretched but I know they will stretch and be too big, which I would rather have than too small) and then I'll be pissed that I spent the money for pants that don't fit.
RF said I need to become a vampire so that I never change size. I said that I need some kind of wasting illness and lose 100lbs and then become a vampire and never change sizes. :( I bought 2 pairs of pants, spent 3x more per pair than I wanted to spend and had to get a bigger size. It was not a pleasant morning.
Before we left to look at pants, I was playing on facebook and downloading some things. All of a sudden, my laptop shut down. Not too suprising since the battery is toast (I'm getting a new on for Xmas, I just have to suck it up til then) and won't hold a charge. Anytime it is unplugged (and the plug seems to fall out fairly often) it dies. I restarted it and got a blue screen of death. It said to restart and I did and got another blue screen. I had RF look at and he found a file called delself.bat on my desktop, which turned out to be a virus. He ran the anti-virus program and it came up with nothing. He got online and found that other people had had that virus and that it destroys the system registry and the only cure for it seemed to be reformatting and reinstalling :( Fortunately, most of my stuff was backed up and the few things that weren't (recent pictures that I haven't moved over to the big drive), I was able to access and transfer in safe mode. I found my disk and it is reformatting. Hopefully, it will be up and running soon because my desktop is a POS. It is getting replaced for Xmas as well, but again, I have to suck it up for a few more weeks.
So, all in all, a crummy day. Hopefully today will be better.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Less hockey, more fighting
We went to the U of I hockey game Friday night. It was TB's first hockey game and he thought it was pretty awesome. I used to go to the games when I was in high school and always enjoyed them.
Hockey is not the place to learn sportsmanship though. Whenever the U of I scores, the students yell at the goalie "It's all your fault" repeatedly. Then they play a song and the students interject lyrics like "Hey! You suck!". When the other team scores, they yell "you still suck!" I've also heard the chant of "less hockey, more fighting", which pretty much sums up why I go to hockey games. Friday night, they would boo the other team whenever they came on or off the ice and then they were even booing the poor Zamboni driver when she missed a little spot. Strangely enough, the thing they didn't boo was the syncronized skating girls that fell. The first one that went down got up and looked like she was crying. The second one laughed. I told Looseyfur that the first one felt like an ass because she fell, the second didn't feel as bad because she was just part of trend LOL
The rest of our group trickled out over the course of the game. We stuck it out to the bitter end. TB had been wanting to go down and stand by the glass so we did that at the last 3 minutes. We were standing there and they slammed the puck towards the goal and missed. It smashed into the glass about 8 feet to my right and I thought TB was going to pee in his pants. He ducked down and threw his arms up over his head. I was LMAO at the poor thing :)
Now, I've planned a mom's night out for the weekend before my birthday to go to a hockey game. I fully intend to sit with the students and taunt at full volume. Who is coming with me :)
Hockey is not the place to learn sportsmanship though. Whenever the U of I scores, the students yell at the goalie "It's all your fault" repeatedly. Then they play a song and the students interject lyrics like "Hey! You suck!". When the other team scores, they yell "you still suck!" I've also heard the chant of "less hockey, more fighting", which pretty much sums up why I go to hockey games. Friday night, they would boo the other team whenever they came on or off the ice and then they were even booing the poor Zamboni driver when she missed a little spot. Strangely enough, the thing they didn't boo was the syncronized skating girls that fell. The first one that went down got up and looked like she was crying. The second one laughed. I told Looseyfur that the first one felt like an ass because she fell, the second didn't feel as bad because she was just part of trend LOL
The rest of our group trickled out over the course of the game. We stuck it out to the bitter end. TB had been wanting to go down and stand by the glass so we did that at the last 3 minutes. We were standing there and they slammed the puck towards the goal and missed. It smashed into the glass about 8 feet to my right and I thought TB was going to pee in his pants. He ducked down and threw his arms up over his head. I was LMAO at the poor thing :)
Now, I've planned a mom's night out for the weekend before my birthday to go to a hockey game. I fully intend to sit with the students and taunt at full volume. Who is coming with me :)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Are you kidding/
WTF is up with all the Christmas music on the radio today? I HATE Christmas music* at Christmas but it is enough to make me sick. It isn't even freaking Thanksgiving. Play the crappy pop music I tune in to hear, not Christmas music.
*The notable exception to this rule is Trans Siberian Orchestra which is awesome, no matter what they play!
*The notable exception to this rule is Trans Siberian Orchestra which is awesome, no matter what they play!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Cavemen
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Hm
Feeling too crummy to come up with an interesting title.
We had people over for dinner last night. This is seriously something we NEVER do but I did it. I spent ALL DAY cleaning the house. RF scrubbed the kitchen for me while the kids helped with the living room and dining room and I cleaned the bathroom. Seriously, every time I thought I was actually done, I found one more thing that had to be cleaned. At one point, I scrubbed the lid of the trash can because I thought it looked bad. I know the people that we had over are my friends and they wouldn't have ridiculed me too badly but I suffer from house jealousy. They have nice, newer construction homes. I live in a crummy basement of a house that was built in the 50s and remodelled to include a the basement by someone who knew nothing about house planning. It was some kind whose MIL got sick so he threw up some walls in the basement so she could have a place to stay in their house. So I over-compensated for the age of my house by cleaning like a mad woman. Then I cook all afternoon.
I was supposed to go to BN with S and J and their kids but I'm super glad I passed. I was under the mistaken impression that I could get everything done I needed done in a couple of hours. What a joke that was :)I'm sad we didn't get to go to the museum, but I'm glad dinner worked out.
I got a call today from the PTA president about bringing the PTA into the 21st century. I'm always pushing for more techy stuff and always getting rebuffed. If something isn't easy, people aren't going to do it. She decided that I was right and we are meeting today to discuss how to modernize our communication. Good stuff.
I have a cold. My head is all stopped up and I feel like crud. Blah.
I watched about an hour of Sweeny Todd last night and I was bored to tears. I like musicals, but I don't like where nearly every line is sung. I prefer normal movies that randomly break out in song. I saw Les Mis a few years ago and hated it. Sweeny Todd is pretty similar. :( I had hoped it would be good but I was disappointed.
We had people over for dinner last night. This is seriously something we NEVER do but I did it. I spent ALL DAY cleaning the house. RF scrubbed the kitchen for me while the kids helped with the living room and dining room and I cleaned the bathroom. Seriously, every time I thought I was actually done, I found one more thing that had to be cleaned. At one point, I scrubbed the lid of the trash can because I thought it looked bad. I know the people that we had over are my friends and they wouldn't have ridiculed me too badly but I suffer from house jealousy. They have nice, newer construction homes. I live in a crummy basement of a house that was built in the 50s and remodelled to include a the basement by someone who knew nothing about house planning. It was some kind whose MIL got sick so he threw up some walls in the basement so she could have a place to stay in their house. So I over-compensated for the age of my house by cleaning like a mad woman. Then I cook all afternoon.
I was supposed to go to BN with S and J and their kids but I'm super glad I passed. I was under the mistaken impression that I could get everything done I needed done in a couple of hours. What a joke that was :)I'm sad we didn't get to go to the museum, but I'm glad dinner worked out.
I got a call today from the PTA president about bringing the PTA into the 21st century. I'm always pushing for more techy stuff and always getting rebuffed. If something isn't easy, people aren't going to do it. She decided that I was right and we are meeting today to discuss how to modernize our communication. Good stuff.
I have a cold. My head is all stopped up and I feel like crud. Blah.
I watched about an hour of Sweeny Todd last night and I was bored to tears. I like musicals, but I don't like where nearly every line is sung. I prefer normal movies that randomly break out in song. I saw Les Mis a few years ago and hated it. Sweeny Todd is pretty similar. :( I had hoped it would be good but I was disappointed.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Shopping buddy
Who wants to go "Black Friday" shopping with me? I know someone out there has to be as crazy as we are and would be willing to come stand in the cold at 3 am (or earlier, depending on how early Staples opens this year) with us. I'll even spring for tasty gas station coffee!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The answer to global warning
I have it all figured out. Someone really needs to get on this and fix it to save the planet for our future.
The Research
The Research
Friday, November 7, 2008
It's on the internet
I am awesome.
And since it is on the internet, we all know that it must be true :)
And since it is on the internet, we all know that it must be true :)
Sprinkle liberally
I'm not a really political person. 8 years ago, I left several sites I frequented on the internet because I was SO SICK of all the political discussion. 4 years ago was much the same. This time around I wasn't as disenfranchised, but I was still tired of it by the time it was over. The campaigns run for so long that by the end of it, it feels like they have already had a term in office and they haven't even started. I'm glad Barack won, I'm sad the school tax didn't get approved.
I'm mostly liberal, although I've been told that I could be considered Libertarian as well. Most of my friends are liberal as well. In looking around, I realized that I can only name 2 McCain supports, of people that I know personally. Those 2 are my aunt and my uncle and neither of them live in my state (One lives in MN and the other in AK) so I rarely talk to them. I did see a McCain sticker on a car at school at least one of the parents at school is and I probably know them. But really, everyone I associate with on a regular basis is liberal.
Now, my question. Is that because there are simply so many liberal people in our town? Or is it because we share many of the same ideals so I seek those people out to befriend? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
I'm mostly liberal, although I've been told that I could be considered Libertarian as well. Most of my friends are liberal as well. In looking around, I realized that I can only name 2 McCain supports, of people that I know personally. Those 2 are my aunt and my uncle and neither of them live in my state (One lives in MN and the other in AK) so I rarely talk to them. I did see a McCain sticker on a car at school at least one of the parents at school is and I probably know them. But really, everyone I associate with on a regular basis is liberal.
Now, my question. Is that because there are simply so many liberal people in our town? Or is it because we share many of the same ideals so I seek those people out to befriend? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Sick of wimpy heroines
I read. A lot. A read a lot of different stuff, although I generally shun non-fiction (my life is plenty non-fiction for me). Recently, I've been reading a lot of books from a female point of view and I'm sick to death of all of them. All the women in the books are so FREAKING whiny. I just finished the "Sookie Stackhouse" series and every other page it was "Oh Bill, oh Eric, oh Quinn, oh Sam, save me because I weak pathic woman who is incapable of solving my own problems" Blah, no thank you (the series was good and I liked the books, I just got so tired of her helplessness). Rachel, the heroine of the Rachel Morgan books is very similar, although she doesn't often count on a man to save her. Usually she requires saving by her vampire roommate, who happens to be female. But her attitude is "Oh how could I do that? Again." because she keeps making the same bad choices and expecting things to come out differently. If you keep hanging out with and trying to outsmart demons, they are going to keep coming after you and trying to kill you. Duh! Bella in Twilight is another case of someone who can't take care of her self (I will say again, how much I enjoyed the series and how compelled I was by the Bella/Edward relationship). Had she been a vamp from day one, it might have been better since besides having the desire to take care of herself (which I will admit that she did, unlike many of the other's mentioned) she would have had the ability as well.
But seriously, I want my heroines like Kinsey Millhone or Anita Blake. They might get scared (when the bad guy has you cornered in a hallway and is shooting at you or trying to tear your throat out, you earn the right to get scared), they might get hurt, they might get discouraged but they rarely need rescuing and they never need it from any man that happens to be handy and most importantly, no matter what else, they aren't afraid to shoot the bad guy in the face.
Why can't there be more heroines like that? Really, do authors, especially female authors feel that women are really that dependant? That they really need rescued all that often? That they are incapable of taking care of themselves? Makes me very sad :(
But seriously, I want my heroines like Kinsey Millhone or Anita Blake. They might get scared (when the bad guy has you cornered in a hallway and is shooting at you or trying to tear your throat out, you earn the right to get scared), they might get hurt, they might get discouraged but they rarely need rescuing and they never need it from any man that happens to be handy and most importantly, no matter what else, they aren't afraid to shoot the bad guy in the face.
Why can't there be more heroines like that? Really, do authors, especially female authors feel that women are really that dependant? That they really need rescued all that often? That they are incapable of taking care of themselves? Makes me very sad :(
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
I wasn't impressed either
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Really Irrelevant Ramblings
Depending on the mythology you subscribe to, vampires either burst into flames or sparkle in the sunlight. How does that apply to tanning beds? The books all talk about how white vamps are because they can't go in the sun without risking death (I'm going to discount Stephanie Meyers because although I REALLY liked the Twilight series, it is totally different from all the other vamp mythology out there). But, in theory, couldn't they use a tanning bed? What is it specifically about the sun that is toxic to vamps? Is that same thing found in tanning beds?
See? Irrelevant but I bet you are wondering about it now too
See? Irrelevant but I bet you are wondering about it now too
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Happy Halloween
Only 2 days late.
MT was a pirate and TB was Darth Maul. MT trick or treated until it got a little dark and then decided that she was done. TB did down one street, down the short end of the block, down one side of the next block up the short side of the block and 2 houses on the corner and was done. All in all, MT hit about 4 houses and TB did about 10.
MT was a pirate and TB was Darth Maul. MT trick or treated until it got a little dark and then decided that she was done. TB did down one street, down the short end of the block, down one side of the next block up the short side of the block and 2 houses on the corner and was done. All in all, MT hit about 4 houses and TB did about 10.
Labels:
Christopher,
halloween,
Lizzie,
pictures
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Chuck you
We went pumpkin chucking tonight. You all get to see whole pictures.
The first thing bubba found was a TRACTOR
Lightening McColin and Ms Thang wanted to be in the picture too
The Boy felt compelled to have his picture taken by the tractor too :)
Nonni holding Thunder McGavin
Quigs, surveying the scene
Mr Libbygirl and TB mock fighting
LMC perched on a VERY BIG PUMPKIN!
TB doing his gargoyle impression
Bubba on the pumpkin
Pretty Girl in her pumpkin patch advertisement pose
Bubba, PG, and LMC. LMC wasn't impressed with Bubba's leaning
Bubba and PG together
Chucking a REALLY BIG PUMPKIN
MT picks a pumpkin to chuck
MT loads her pumpkin in the basket
MT pulls the cord to launch her pumpkin
LMC picks a pumpkin
LMC loads the basket with help from Dave
LMC pulls the cord
Bubba tells Dave what pumpkin he wants
Bubba pulls the switch
Bubba wanted to keep pulling the switch
TB picks his pumpkin and takes it to the basket
PG and Quigs
All the kids on the hayrack. Bubba was so stoked
Nonni holding PG while Quigs and Mr Quigs eat their dinner
Thunder McGavin enjoys his first hayrack ride
PG chilling on the hayrack ride.
And finally, I leave you with a video of the chucking of the REALLY BIG PUMPKIN!
The first thing bubba found was a TRACTOR
Lightening McColin and Ms Thang wanted to be in the picture too
The Boy felt compelled to have his picture taken by the tractor too :)
Nonni holding Thunder McGavin
Quigs, surveying the scene
Mr Libbygirl and TB mock fighting
LMC perched on a VERY BIG PUMPKIN!
TB doing his gargoyle impression
Bubba on the pumpkin
Pretty Girl in her pumpkin patch advertisement pose
Bubba, PG, and LMC. LMC wasn't impressed with Bubba's leaning
Bubba and PG together
Chucking a REALLY BIG PUMPKIN
MT picks a pumpkin to chuck
MT loads her pumpkin in the basket
MT pulls the cord to launch her pumpkin
LMC picks a pumpkin
LMC loads the basket with help from Dave
LMC pulls the cord
Bubba tells Dave what pumpkin he wants
Bubba pulls the switch
Bubba wanted to keep pulling the switch
TB picks his pumpkin and takes it to the basket
PG and Quigs
All the kids on the hayrack. Bubba was so stoked
Nonni holding PG while Quigs and Mr Quigs eat their dinner
Thunder McGavin enjoys his first hayrack ride
PG chilling on the hayrack ride.
And finally, I leave you with a video of the chucking of the REALLY BIG PUMPKIN!
Labels:
Christopher,
friends,
Lizzie,
pictures,
pumpkin chucking
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