Thursday, October 29, 2009

Halloween Quickie

I simply cannot let this holiday pass without giving you the "tour", this year's theme is somewhat Martha Stewart~esk~


This is called the doorway of doom*. It's suppose to look like little broomsticks on a garland. Super easy to make but gathering all the different items to assemble it wasn't easy. I do love the end result.

A broomstick wreath.*

Mice cutouts* on the stairs this year. Very cool.


Pumpkin light on the stairs. The pirate is up too (but not pictured). It's scary for the pre-schooler so she has me carry her by it.



The Friendly Witch is back along with black caution tape.*



Here is where Mig spends 99.9% of her time (or so it would seem). This year, I added a Trick-or-Treat garland* with skulls.


The picture doesn't do it justice but these are everday items with a variety of "Poison"* labels on them. AND don't you just love my pointy nosed troll?


Here's my view out onto the porch. Cut out spiders* and a black sheer curtain.


Thought you might like a close up. Creepy.


I really like this flag. I cannot even remember where I got it.

Jack Skellington's Haunted House has a black tree this year. (I'm hoping to get some themed ornaments at some point)



This was so cheap and I just love it! Depending on how you look at it they are either boys or evil clows.



My girl came home today from school with a jack-o-lantern treat bag, inside was her very own spider ring. She LOVES it.

Not pictured here is my living room. I have "Wanted" Posters with all the notorious monsters, vampires and mummys and cut out bats*. We are hosting a party here this year (yes again, I'm crazy) and the kids are BEYOND excited for it. Who doesn't like Vampire Punch, right?

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Sunday Stealing: The Halloween MeMe

1. What is your favorite written work of horror fiction? I am a big fan of Horror, Yo! While I cannot bear to watch it in the movies or TV, I can read it like nobody's business. My personal favorite, is Steven King's Pet Cemetary. That is some creep stuff.

2. What is your favorite work of science fiction/fantasy? Right now it's Charlaine Harris's "Dead" series. It is so orginal (and no I haven't read Twilight, yet) and entertaining, I cannot get enough of it.

3. Who is your favorite monster? My favorite monster ever is Grover. What? We weren't talking cute and cuddly? Well then, Sully from Monster's, Inc.

4. What is your favorite Horror movie? Nightmare on Elm Street BaHBey!

5. What horror movie gives you the most chills? The Blair Witch Project, a whole lot of nothing but anticipation. There is also The Ring.

6. What character from any horror film would you most like to play? If you know me in Facebook, you'll remember that I am the FIRST one to die in a horror film. (clearly leaving the house and going for help all but guarantees you are the first one to go)

7. Freddy or Jason? Freddy.

8. What is your favorite Halloween treat? My favorite is Almond Joys.

9. Ghosts or goblins? Ghosts.

10. Friendly-faced jack-o'-lantern or scary one? Friendly.

11. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal? Climbing up a spiral staircase from the subway to the street, in France. It was narrow and I got the eeriest feeling that something horrible had happened there. I have not felt that way anywhere else since, so it stands out.

12. Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not? I do. I believe inside us all is a spirit that moves on.

13. Would you rather be a zombie, alien, or psycho? Alien. Aren't we already?

14. Favorite Halloween costume? The best one I have ever seen was a kid in my high school (who is still remember for this, to this very day) dressed as a rectal thermometer. He had a tin foil hat, Vaseline all over his face and wore a white sheet with the numbers of a thermometer on it. Freaking hilarious.

15. Best thing about Halloween? My favorite thing is carving pumpkins with my kids and making the seeds. Love it.

16. Person in your family who most likes Halloween (not counting yourself)? My daughter. Next year she wants to volunteer at the Haunted House so she can scare people!

17. Are you superstitious? Nah.

18. Share an unusual Halloween story. My first kiss was under the stars of someones back yard, Halloween evening. I will never forget it.

19. What did you do for Halloween as a kid? Had those awful store bought costumes with the plastic outfit and elastic mask. Ew.

20. What's the best Halloween party that you've attended? Many years ago now, it was at a friend's house and everyone dressed up, the costumes were original and everyone had a good time. I am hoping that the one I host this year, for the teenagers will be a good one too.

Friday, October 23, 2009

An Unexpected Surprise

I was in a hurry yesterday morning. This is nothing new, I'm always in a hurry. I pulled out of my driveway and realized I forgot my youngest's bag of extra clothes. Could she have survived the day without it, probably, but instead of just continuing on my merry way, I chose to do the following:

1. Become majorly annoyed
2. My attitude immediately went down the toilet
3. I got huffy

I pulled back in, I threw the car in park and went to get out. Except my jeep wasn't in park, it was in REVERSE. With my foot off the brake it immediately started idling backwards, picking up speed. Without thinking I ran backwards with the car, my door was open, I chanted "Oh SHIT!" probably five or six times. Then, I did a sort of twisty jumping kind of thing, to throw myself back into the car (how stunt people do these things without hurting themselves, I have no idea). I made it in, and hit the brake, just before the jeep ran into the bushes and/or the chain link fence that is on either side of my driveway.

Holy crap.

My boy was in the front seat, witnessing the whole thing firsthand. My youngest was strapped in her car seat eating dried cereal and drinking juice. Not at all aware.

It totally could have been worse.

I ignored the fact that my foot was in killing me. I ran upstairs and got the bag, took my son to school (wherein we both asked each other if we were okay) and he seemed fine. I hobbled slowly into daycare and got my youngest settled. Trying my hardest to appear like all was fine.

Then I got back into my jeep and use just about every swear word I could think of. Could I ignore the stabbing pain in my foot?

As it turns out I could not. I have not felt this kind of pain since childbirth and it was sucking ... badly. I got an appointment at my doctors office but had a couple hours to wait, so I did my best at work. My Boss arrived and he just took over. He went home got me crutches, ibuprofen, ice and ace bandages. He made me remove my shoe (which hurt like heck and made my foot swell) and wrapped my foot up. If that wasn't enough, his kind wife sent along a turkey sandwich so the ibuprofen wouldn't upset my stomach.

My Boss drove me to the doctors. He took me over to x-ray. He talked about all sorts of non-essential stuff the entire time and while at points it was driving me crazy, at least I was dwelling on how much my foot was hurting. He got me back to my jeep, he followed me to the gas station (because in addition to almost crashing my car, it was also on "E") filled my tank, got me some snacks and made sure I got to my couch (which is up one flight of steep stairs). I thanked him for everything and his reply was ... "it was fun." Oiy, fun.

The kids came home and both did everything they could to help out. The bedroom doors that are always closed were both open, so I could rely on them for whatever I might need. Dinner was a hilarious sight. My two oldest and my husband all trying to work together to get food prepared and cooked. Clean was a learning experience for everyone.

The good news is my foot isn't broken. The doctor believes I've torn some ligaments in my foot. Today I can put weight on it, which is good because using crutches, BITES.

Today I'm home, foot elevated, ice pack bandaged on my foot and I'll be watching an obscene amount of TV. Heck I might even nap.

Go me.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

EPIC Failure.

I remember when I was a Freshman in High School. Admittedly boy crazy but still trying to please, I at least attempted to get decent grades. It was long before they announced Parent/Teacher Conferences and I asked my mother is she planned on attending ...

Her answer was no. She had spent soo much (think an exhausting amount of time) time at the school already, for years, with my brother (think special needs) that she had had enough of it. Unless they specifically asked, she wasn't going.

My teenage brain viewed that as her not caring about me. But as I got older I understood myself what and effort it is to deal with teachers and the school system. But, as an aside, her uncaring attitude at that time made me tank on school for a couples of years. So my vote is that she should have stayed involved.

Not my point here anyway. Last, week. For two days. Parent/Teacher conferences. I always try to go into it with an open mind. My daughter says I'm not a nag. She actually tells this to her friends, shocking, I know. I corrected her. I am an "opportunistic nag". Choosing certain times (like in the car, oh how I love a captive audience!) to state my case about what needs to get done.

So I took a deep breath ... went into the High School to hear about my fifteen year old girl's progress in her Sophomore year. Her English Teacher, and the one who she swears is so incredibly boring and lecture, lecture, lecture, was so animated and seemed so kind to me. She was very enthusiastic about my girl and her work. Her French Teacher (a wispy of girl with big green eyes and so YOUNG!) shared how much progress my girl has made in her class. I, in turn, complimented the teacher for teaching her the French names for household items. (and we can also count to ten) The Current Events Teacher was hunky. (what? that too is a word!) If I were a fifteen year old in his class, I'd be having ... well you know ... thoughts other than current events in that class. Anyway, more of doing fine. The worst was U.S. History. The title ALONE screams boring. Mr. Nerdy teacher there. His comments were that she seems tired in class. (she has admitted to me that she feel asleep in his class, oh my!) She is also missing homework, which we both agreed is unacceptable. And that was that.

The next night. And yes, two nights in a row of leaving the house a little bit before six to beat the parent rush to the classrooms and get myself signed in. It takes at least an hour, if you are lucky, to see all the teachers.

My son. ~shakes head back and forth~

In addition to what I'm going to list out, all his teachers, talked about seeing the same things, behavior wise in class. Such as sitting like a pretzel or a bendaroo, anything but the way the other students are sitting. (although he's perfected it enough that he no longer falls out of his chair, which I guess is saying something). Reading a comic book. Zoning out.

Some of you may remember how he was diagnosed with ADD but a very mild case of it, he took medication until almost the end of last year, when he asked to stop taking it. He kept insisting that it wasn't working for him (we tried a few different types) and didn't want to bother with it. His grades were good ... I agreed.

Now ...

The first teacher I see is for English and Reading. My daughter had her as a teacher and she thinks its neat to have her brother also. She sits me down and explains that she will work extra with him to pass this Standardized Testing. I guess in the practice test he didn't understand the directions (more like didn't follow the directions, which was also an ongoing theme). Overall he's doing well in her class.

The next teacher I saw was Social Studies. I really like this teacher she's fun, she's entertaining and she had to look me in the eye and tell me how my son, who she thinks is a very bright boy, isn't following instructions, so he's loosing points on projects AND he's missing homework.

At this point, I am so bummed. Here I am, by myself, listening to how my son is failing, feeling like a failure. Not that I really believe that ... but it's hard to listen to your child's shortcomings.

Science was next. He expressed concern about homework but told me he appeared to understand the material but wasn't really applying himself. I nodded politely and told him I'd look into the missing homework.

The utmost worst was Math. Sitting in there with the teacher looking at poor grades. My child. My boy. My pride and joy ... D MINUS ... his grade is a D -

This part I am not getting at all. I am asking questions, like is he not understanding the materials?? is she seeing his work? does he need extra help? She tells me he does understand and she does see. HE GETS IT. He had to put together a packet of worksheets. Over the course of a week ... do the assignment each night ... at the end of the week ... he didn't have those sheets to turn in. She asked the next Monday, still no, finally she asked him what his plan was ... and he told he that he did not have the worksheets and that he would take a ZERO.

~Dramatically bangs head on keyboard ~ yelling out loud in frustration ~

Where do you suppose those sheets went? Who takes a zero? I know it's not the teacher's fault but I hate dragging out information. Just tell me. I'll deal with it. I finally just ask her straight out, if he's totally understands it, but is too lazy to put the effort into the class and is disorganized.

She just nodded her head like that was exactly it. And then I ate her face. Because I have always, always hated math. The cards already stacked against her. She's telling me bad things about my boy. It's easier to believe it's her. She doesn't like him.

But really? GADS, my boy is lazy. He's so quick to do chores for me, open doors, bring in groceries, take out the trash, but he does it at WARP speed and it involves leaving the garage door open, the car door open or putting the trash just inside the door instead of in a trash can.

Half-Assed. School work is no different. The quicker he can get it done the better.

I came home from that and cried my eyes out. Bawled. Inconsolable. My boy knew something was up and followed me around for a little while. I finally told it like it was. Basically his LIFE WAS OVER for the moment and by the way ... GO DO YOUR HOMEWORK while you are at.

Then I cried myself to sleep. When your child is doing well ... teachers praise you ... they say what a good parent you are ... but when your child is having problems ... (or say ... is very smart but not applying themselves AT ALL) ... you don't hear any of that. You get looks of pity from the teachers. You get the small nods and tight lipped answers and it sucks.

Life in the house right now, isn't fun.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Sunday Stealing: The Magical Mystery MeMe

1. Is there anybody you just wish would fall off the planet? No. Thankfully.

2. How do you flush the toilet in public? Unless it does by itself and startles me. I use my foot.

3. Do you wear your seatbelt in the car? Mostly. I do forget sometimes.

4. Do you have a crush on someone? I'm married but over the years I've met some guys that could probably fall into that category. Never ever acted upon, just in my head.

5. Name one thing you worry about running out of. It's a toss up between toilet paper and paper towels. And keeping them both around, with five people in this house, is damn hard.

6. What famous person do you (or other people) think you resemble? I don't hear that one. I usually hear how they've seen "someone" "somewhere" that looks JUST LIKE ME. I'm adopted, so it kinda weirds me out.

7. What is your favourite pizza topping? Mushroom.

8. Do you crack your knuckles? I do.

9. What song do you hate the most? Ummm anything country. Does that count?

10. Did just mentioning that song make it get stuck in your head? Nah.

11. What are your super powers? I'm good at sensing stuff. I'm not explaining. It is what it is.

12. Peppermint or spearmint? Both.

13. Where are your car keys? Hanging on a hook with the rest of the keys, by the door.

14. Last song you listened to? Run Around, my man was singing and playing it on the guitar.

15. What's your most annoying habit? Obsessive cleaning.

16. Where did you last go on vacation? New Hampshire, two years ago.

17. What is your best physical feature? My feet, they are small and cute.

18. What CD is closest to you right now? The entire 80's Hairband Collection. Don't laugh, I'm serious.

19. What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator? Cheese. Milk. Eggs.

20. What superstition do you believe/practice? Don't talk about. Whether it's your house, your jeep, your family, etc. I believe as soon as you mention how good something it is, it just invites the bad.

21. What colour are your bed sheets? Black. Those who know me won't be surprised.

22. Would you rather be a fish or a bird? Fish. I'm afraid of heights.

23. Last thing you broke? A Halloween decoration. Made me mad.

24. What are you having to eat tonight? Probably Chinese Food, cuz I know everyone will love the idea.

25. What colour shirt are you wearing? Ahem. Black.

26. If you could be doing anything else today, what would you rather be doing? If we had extra money, I'd love to take the kids to the Science Museum.

27. Do security cameras make you nervous? Only if I need to pick my nose.

28. If you wrote a book about your life, what would the title be? My Life In Brick. Oh wait, that went badly last time ... haha.

29. Last time you went to a cemetery? Gosh. Last year for my Nana's funeral.

30. Last concert you went to? OzzFest.

31. Favourite musician(s)/bands you've seen in concert? ZZ Top totally was the best show I've seen. They have it all together and its entertaining. Best audience was a Hootie & the Blowfish. Everyone was so totally into it, you could feel the positive energy.

32. Next concert you're planning to attend? Kings of Leon.

33. Do you talk to yourself? All the time. Doesn't everyone?

34. Have you ever adopted or purchased a pet? Yes. FOUR of them.

35. Have you ever been present when an animal is being born? No and ick.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Unsure

I received this email today ... read it ... go ahead ... I'll wait.

"Hello Members, I am sorry to say that I received very little feedback for nominations for the 2010 officers. I did not receive any emails from anyone nominate themselves. If we do not have anyone willing to volunteer to be officers for next year, the future of the club is in jeopardy. Tuesday evening at the business meeting, we discussed dissolving the Big Pond Mother's Club (totally fake name). The present officers discussed this possibility with heavy hearts. The current officers have been officers, in one respect or another, for more than one year already and would like to take a break.

It has also become a bit difficult for the craft fair committee (consisting of two officers) to do everything entailed with planning the craft fair. Our membership has dwindled over the past few years, and less people are volunteering to help out with this endeavor. Rosanne is going to do the signs for us. Lisa is again graciously taking on the toy drive. We are nervous we won’t have enough volunteered hours to cover the craft fair. Because of this, we are no longer doing the traditional food table. This year’s table is called the snack table and will be combined with the pie and bread table. We will serve water, Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, soda, bagels, muffins, pastries, donuts, fruit, and bag chips. The table will be essentially "self-serve.” We will only need two people at a time to man this table. We will no longer be serving crafter lunches. A letter will be going out to the crafters that due to our reduced membership and donations for the food table; we are unable to provide this service any longer.


If we close the club, the philanthropic support we offer to the towns with scholarships funded by the yard sale and the toy drive funded by the craft fair will affect our community.

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CONSIDER BEING AN OFFICER.

If you have any ideas to increase participation with our current members or ways to increase membership, please call or email me as soon as possible. If you feel changes need to be made, being an officer is the best way to make those changes happen. The matter of dissolving the Big Pond Mothers’ Club is a decision to be made by its members. If there are no officers to run the club next year, the current officers will have no other choice than to do so.

Please think about why YOU joined the BIG POND Mothers' Club."


************

I feel so conflicted about this. On the one hand, times have changed and perhaps ending it is best. On the other hand, times have changed, lets change with it.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Getting Up To Speed

Well Hello There!

I am having the darndest time posting during the week these days. It used to be that I could squeeze in a quick post a couple of times a week in between showering and getting my oldest up for school but now that the pre-schooler is in a bed ... I have to get her up EARLY.

Or she will get herself up. And the last thing I want is for her to figure out that she can come out of her room, willy nilly. So far she has not. Days here start at 6:30 AM. (and it doesn't matter if its the weekend either, gah!)

Then in the evenings by the time I finally get said pre-schooler to bed. I. Am. Beyond. Beat. I either have to head to my second job or I'm knee deep in household chores of some sort or I'm just plain exhausted and so bleary eyed that I can't focus.

All of which leave me with zero time to share here. I am hoping it'll all work itself out and I'll find a balance that will give me some extra free time. Until then, just call me the sporattic poster, I guess. (I wrote poser first, heh).

Updates:

The pre-schooler has her 3 year check up. She weighs 30lbs and is 40 inches tall. I am told she is in the 96th percentile for height. (that equals TALL, in case you were wondering) I also took her to the dentist. The little darling has not ONE but TWO cavities in her baby teeth. We go back in December to try for x-rays.

Kill me now. Yo!

The boy (aka: thirteen year old) is adjusting to school, barely. He is now and has been right along, a night owl. So early AM, kicks his butt, royally. I call him my zombie. My observation has been that school is going well. He's adjusting and he's not taking an ADD medication whatsoever. I read recently that often (or maybe sometimes) there is a mistaken ADD diagnosis in those children WHO HAVE TROUBLE SLEEPING. Oh how I wish I had read this, a year ago instead of just last week but, for my boy? It totally makes sense. Parent/Teacher conferences are next week so we shall see how he is doing, really.

The girl (aka: fifteen year old) cannot catch a break, medically. While we continue to see specialists regarding a possible Marfan Syndrome diagnosis, we can now add in some sort of hormonal imbalance. This was brought to my attention by our hair stylist, who pulled me aside and strongly urged me to have her checked, because she has patches of missing hair. So we went and she became a pin cushion and now ... results are pending. We did find out that organs produce hormones (and she already has a questionable kidney), so it's off to the endocrinologist to figure that whole thing out. Thankfully she is a good sport. (but really? enough already!)

For those of you who don't know this, we live in a two-family home and rent out the downstairs. After eight years our tenants have decided that they would like to be homeowners and are moving out at the end of the month. (pause here while I breathe into a paper bag) These people are the kindest and most generous that I have ever met and we were truly lucky to have them with us as long as we did. And equally so, I am grateful to my high school friend for suggesting her brother & sister in-law as replacements. We met with them yesterday and they loved the place. They will be moving in December 1st. That would leave the entire month of November for us (and by us, I really mean my husband) to paint, renovate and upgrade an apartment in 30 days. Also cost us a small fortune, as we head into the holidays.

The rest of my time is spent trying to keep my head above water. Between keeping food in the house (I swear, eating is over-rated and why don't the teenagers realize this?), my obsession with cleaning and working on pet projects (like making awesome Halloween decorations, finishing up my tie together quilt and teaching myself how to embroider) there is little time for anything else.

Any questions?

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Sunday Stealing: The Starrlight MeMe

1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth? A glass of water.

2. Where was your profile picture taken? Several years ago, when my oldest kids just about outgrew the swing set.

3. Can you play Guitar Hero? I have no desire to play that game. Whatsoever.

4. Name someone who made you laugh today. What was it about? Its still early, so I have laughed yet, but I'm sure it'll be my husband. He cracks me up.

5. How late did you stay up last night and why? I am so lame. Saturday night and I was asleep by 9 PM.

6. If you could move somewhere else where would you and why? I'd move to Florida, where it's warm.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? Not that I can remember.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? I have a friend that lives just four or five streets away.

9. Do you believe ex's can be friends? With benefits? Sure, if you want chaos in your life.

10. Do you like Dr. Pepper? Love it.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? Really hard as opposed to just sniveling? Not in a while, long enough that I can't remember. This is a GOOD thing.

12. Who took your profile picture? I did.

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? My three year old.

14. Was yesterday better than today? Why? Nope. Yesterday was Saturday, today is Sunday and tomorrow is WORK.

15. Can you live a day without TV? Heck yeah.

16. Are you upset about anything now? Nothing in particular.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Sometimes no.

18. Are you a bad influence? Eh, I can be.

19. Night out or night in? Depends on what the night out would involve, mostly in.

20. What items could you not go without during the day? Chapstick and Coca-Cola.

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? I can't say that I've visited anyone in the hospital in a really long time.

22. What does the last text message in your inbox say? It says "What time?"

23. How do you feel about your life right now? Pretty good.

24. Do you hate anyone? Nope.

25. If we were to look in your Facebook inbox, what would we find? Messages from people I knew in High School.

26. Say you were given a drug test right now, would you pass? Lalalalalala

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Yes and I loathe to hear that. I might appear perfect but truly, I am not.

28. What song is stuck in your head? Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown. (sorry folks, now it's stuck in yours too)

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2 a.m., whom do you want it to be? Someone who wants to get yelled at.

30. Do you (or did you) want to have grandkids before you’re 50? Ummm no.

31. Tell us your Saturday night. See #14.

32. Do you think too much or too little? WAY TOO MUCH.

33. Do you smile a lot? I do. That way no one really knows what I'm up to.