Sunday Stealing: The Disney MeMe

1. Which non-Disney Princess Disney Film is your favorite? Lady and the Tramp. And no I wasn't alive when it came out in 1955. Sheesh!

2. Which Disney film makes you cry the most? Bambi, hands down.

3. Which Disney film makes you the happiest? The Lion King. I am a big fan of Simba.

4. Which Disney film has the best music? Mary Poppins. Well, probably not really but its the one I remember the most music from. Don't ask me to sing it though ...

5. Which Disney film has the best love story? I really like the Parent Trap but I don't know that it really fits as "love story".

6. Who is your favorite Disney Princess? Cinderella.

7. Who is your favorite Disney Prince? The Prince in Snow White.

8. Who is your favorite Disney animal sidekick? The Genie in Aladdin. (not really an animal) Robin Williams is hilarious, even in cartoon form.

9. Who is your favorite Disney main character animal? Sully in Monster's Inc. I really like that movie.

10. Who is your favorite villain? Ursula the Sea Witch in the Little Mermaid. A very glamorous octopus, definitely!

11. What is your favorite Disney song? Mary Poppins "Super-cala-fragil-istic-expi-ala-doschus" (not spelled correctly but I am too lazy to google it)

12. What is your favorite Disney villain song? Ursula's song "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is my favorite villain song.

13. What is your favorite Disney animal song? Bear Necessities of course! (ok, I cheated on that one, found it in some other answers. HAHA)

14. What is your favorite Disney Princess song? "Give A Little Whistle"

15. What is your favorite Disney Prince song? I don't remember Princes singing, EVER, so on this one I'm completely BLANK.

16. What is your favorite Disney Prince/Princess duet song? I want to say Beauty in the Beast has a really good duet between the Beast and Bella. But they aren't Prince/Princess.

17. What is your favorite Disney love song? Because I've been watching so much Little Mermaid these days, I have to say I really like Ariel's song, "Part of Your World".

All Those Annoying Things

1. Laundry
2. Dirty Dishes
3. Sticky Floors
4. Stray Cat Hair
5. Nasty Toilets
6. Paperwork

Thank you God for Friday.

Sometimes, When You Complain Enough ...

Those of you who know me here, know this,

I am not a fan of cooking meals. And by not a fan ... what I really mean is ... I don't apply myself. I have cookbooks that gather dust. I make the same four or five dishes each week. At 41 years old, I burn things, like soup and grill cheese. I cook on high no matter how many times I am reminded that there are better settings on the dial (like low for instance). I don't listen. Its like I deliberately sabotage it with too much salt. Or, (gasp) I forget the salt altogether.

No kidding. I am that bad.

So today. I decided I would be like every other member of this house. I would do whatever I felt like doing when I got home. I didn't come home and immediately clear of the table and counters to prepare food and set the table.

Instead I sat down and read my book. I watched TV with my youngest. I took the kids for haircuts.

It's now 7:47 PM and my children are complaining they are hungry. I laugh.

You know because I'm mean like that.

My two oldest children have decided that they, "together", will make spaghetti dinner. And could I just shout out the directions for them?

Before I agree to do this, I tell them, in no uncertain terms will I be doing the dishes. They both nod their heads and agree to take care of it.

I'm excited ... and proud ....

Scattered

My brain that is. I am finding that this week, focus is fleeting.

A dear friend of mine suggested that I need therapy for myself and my laptop. I have to say that I completely agree. It betrayed me you see. By it's crashing for no good reason. Taking with it every bit of my sanity. I loved having it by my side. Occasionally checking email, surfing blogs, SIMS, researching, writing. I had no idea how reliant I was on it. It's been gone for what seems like AGES. (and yes, I am being dramatic, what of it?) I find myself wondering ... and wondering ... what in the heck is taking so looooooooong. I know the answer to that, SNAIL MAIL FROM CALIFORNIA. Geeze.

Actually I wonder if my files are really there. If my pictures are really there. I have been told 50 gig was recovered (and it is estimated 50 gig is what I had used) Then I wonder if I can ever get my files and such back in order, the way I had them before. I know, it just won't be the same. And no matter how long it trudges on with it's new hard drive, I won't save anything significant on it.

Not anymore. Not any computer. Evah.

So there's that kickin' around. Then there is work. Which I "in my heart of hearts" could just pour right out here for you all to read and comment on, I could use guidance, advice, sympathy, something ... but .... ~waves to boss~ .... just like my laptop computer I will never, ever trust that ... I mean ... be entirely convinced that he hasn't found out where I'm blogging, somehow and is reading everything I write, even now. So I can't.

Another tale of woe here is mysterious itch I've had for weeks and weeks. It started behind my knees. It itches at the back of my scalp. And its now itching at the back of my left thigh and between my shoulder blades. I cannot see what is itching me. Believe me I have tried. Sometimes it doesn't bother me and other times I could rub on anything and everything trying to scratch it. I think diet? Laundry soap? stress?

Weird, I know.

Thankfully it's Wednesday. Only two more days to go and then the weekend.
More painting!
Boo-Yah!

Duty Calls

As soon as I get myself situated at the computer, my youngest ...

n.e.e.d.s m.e.

Jealousy? Seriously?

So the first order of business here and not at all related to the title of this post is this .... At first I had one follower, then two for the longest time and now, today, a THIRD.

I haven't checked to see who you are, but you ROCK and thanks for wanting to follow me. I hope you aren't disappointed!

Now, onto my post topic!

It has to do with my teenager. My oldest girl. Flashback to her 3-year old self. She was clingy and cried alot when she was young. Shy mostly and had a heck of a time separating from me. I think that changed at some point but I can't even recall when ... Needless to say she has grown up in spite of my best efforts to keep her a kid. She is almost sixteen. (less than two weeks, she has the birthday and it will be official, kill me. now.) She is one of the lights of my life. I'm inspired by her independent thinking. (not being one to follow a crowd myself) She is not defined by style or by being popular. She has also told me countless times she has no interest in boys right now. And to quote her "she has far too many things she wants to do with her life right now to be hung up on THAT."

Go ahead applaud. She is probably that one-in-a-million teen who doesn't want a boyfriend.

It's foreign to me. Very foreign. When I was her age (oh HUSH, I'm old now, I can use that statement) all I could think about was boys. There was always one I was after. It was far more interesting than Math and Science, fah SUAH. I don't get into it with her. She doesn't need to know her mother was a High School slut.

She probably wouldn't even believe it if I told her. But I didn't have the best reputation. I blame it on being naive. (hey, I have to blame it on something) I mean who knew that football players talked about scoring even when THEY DIDN'T.

Alright, not my point ...

So my daughter has a group of friends. It consisted of four girls and two boys. We would host lots of Wii and X-box parties here and everyone would have tons of fun.

Then one of the boys, asked one of the girls out (not my daughter). And the first couple was born. Personally, it screams MISTAKE to me. It's all well and good now, but if they break up. There will be some lines drawn in the sand and it there will be no more friendship. Us adults know the statistics on that one.

Well this particular couple has lasted almost a year together. I should point out here, that I felt it should have been MY DAUGHTER and not this other friend who ended up with the boy. But my girl, knows what she wants.

And it wasn't him.

Just this weekend, I got a text from one of the Mom's of the girls in our group (yes, all the Mom's are friends too, sickening isn't it?) and she was just SO EXCITED. It would seem that the other boy, chose her daughter and asked her out.

Course the girl said yes. This one bothered me more. Heck, it STILL bothers me. I think because this boy, had a HUGE GIGANTIC ENORMOUS crush on my daughter for the longest time. And my daughter was telling me just recently that school friends were saying that the two of them should just "be together already".

My daughter is still holding fast to the "no boys right now" mantra but it's me, here, thinking to myself, here is this smart, tall (5'10"), thin, long haired brunette with gorgeous deep brown eyes, super artistic and a bubbly personality so WHY IN THE HECK are there no boys asking her out?

I know I can't answer that. Just like I have to cork the green with envy feeling I have when I talk to this other Mom who is OVER THE EFFEN TOP about her girl being asked out by this boy.

I just want it for my girl too. Even though she doesn't want it for herself. Can I just be happy her heart is still in tack?

Sunday Stealing: The Clowns MeMe 2

34. What do you like about the summer? Spending lots of time outside.

35. What do you like about spring? I love to see the flowers come up and bloom. It's very inspiring.

36. How many states provinces have you lived in? Only one.

37. What cities/towns have you lived in? I've lived in three town's my entire life. Can you say "sheltered"?

38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet? I really like sandals or flip-flops. Not a big fan of bare feet or shoes.

39. Are you a social person? I am with a group of people I know. But put me in a room of strangers and I get quiet.

40. What was the last thing you ate? Toast and a glass of water.

41. What is your favorite restaurant? Anywhere that offers a decent chicken Caesar salad.

42. What is your favorite ice cream? Well, let's see. I really like black raspberry but I also really like chocolate. Depends on my mood.

43. What is your favorite dessert? Cheesecake!

44. What is your favorite kind of soup? Split Pea and Ham. I find that most people get hung up on the pea part of it (like peas in soup are icky or something). I like the texture and taste of it, that's all I know.

45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? Grape Jelly, yum!

46. Do you like Chinese food? I love it. And by the way, are you finding that this meme is making you hungry? Me too.

47. Do you like coffee? ~insert fake barfing and gagging noises here~

48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? Four to six is what I shoot for. Yesterday? I had a half of glass. Bad.

49. What do you drink in the morning? Coca-Cola.

50. What non-banking related card in your wallet is the most valuable to you? My Borders Rewards Card. I want to get as much out of that store as I can.

51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? I sleep on the right side now. My strategy is to sleep on the side farthest away from the door, just in case.

52. Do you know how to play poker? Barely. I'm a horrible player. I find that any card game takes me a long time to learn.

53. Do you like to cuddle? Sometimes.

54. Have you ever been to Canada? I have. To Niagara Falls. (I spelled it Niegra and that looked weird) I'd like to go back and see more of it.

55. Do you have an addictive personality? When it comes to Chocolate, hell yes.

56. Do you eat out or at home more often? We eat at home as much as possible. I'd like to add here how much I LOATHE cooking.

57. What do you miss about highschool, if anything? Absolutely nothing and I wish I could have those four years of my life back.

58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? No. I know of a few people who have their birthday in the same month as mine though.

59. Do you want kids? I hope so. I have three of them.

60. Do you speak any other languages? I can swear very colorfully in Italian if that counts.

61. Have you ever gotten stitches? Yes and it relates to the answer in #59.

62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? I have while we were taking my daughter to the emergency room because she was having severe abdominal pain. It was all very scary. She ended up having a bladder infection.

63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool? Pool. The ocean makes me worry about crabs nipping at me or sharks biting me. I'll still swim but a pool is the way to go for me.

64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat? Isle seat. I'm afraid of heights and do not enjoy looking out the window.

65. Do you know how to drive stick? I love this question! Yes I do. When I was twenty I bought a Plymouth Laser Five Speed. (this was a 1985 I think) It had the on board computer that would talk to you (it would say stupid things like "your headlamp is out" and "your door is ajar"). I had no idea how to drive it but I wanted it for a long time (I bought it from my neighbor's dad, he had given us rides in it many times). My first time out in it, I did some gear grinding so I took it to a side street and practiced going back and forth in it, using reverse, etc, until I got it, ALL BY MYSELF. It was a very proud moment for me. I plan on teaching my kids how to drive it because you never know when you might need it.

66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on? BOOKS.

Lunch Date

Hello Saturday!!!!

It's 9 AM and here I am. A load of laundry washing. A tall glass of water in front of me. And I cannot pry myself away from the computer. I do realize this is because I have no easy access to any computer in this house (the nerve of everyone! A bunch of computer hogs is what they are!) except in the early morning hours.

So here I am. Reading and re-reading Facebook Stats. Catching up on new blog entries at the places I can find using my feeble memory. (reminding me of yet another thing I lost with my hard drive crash, bookmarked blog sites) At some point I will have to get going on my day.

Today's plans are:

• Lunch, by myself (as in no children are coming along), with a friend from grade school.
• Shopping at Patriot Place with said friend. (think window shopping)
• Getting a decent coat of paint on the living room walls.
• Dinner at my youngest daughters friend's house, we are doing the make-your-own-pizza type thing.

Not alot but enough that the day will fly by. This much I know.

The Long-Short Week

Yeah, I know, cry me a river right? I worked a grand total of two days this week. But for me they were two very very loooooooong days.

Well, technically it was only 1 1/2 days but I won't split hairs.

I'm glad the week is over. And now I'm off to paint ...

It's Not Covergirl!

So, let's just say that I'm glad yesterday is over AND quit there. (Note: I did take pictures of the various surprises I got but until my laptop returns, you won't be seeing them.)

Moving onto my post about various shades of beige. YES, I know you all did try and tell me that I shouldn't be foolish enough to think I could actually buy a can of beige paint off the shelf and not .... utterly and completely ... dislike it.

(you in the back, quit laughing!)

Truthfully I knew when I took the lid off the can. There was that nagging in the back of my mind. The color alarm going off. But I thought, well .... it might not dry that bad. Right? Ahahahahaha. It dried worse.

It looks like women's make up. Women's foundation. Caked on.

Currently two of the windows are outlined in it. We can't have that. No siree. The next thing ya know, I'll be hanging up deep purple curtains and changing my name to Stella. SO, I'm back looking at the paint samples and trying to decide if I want to go completely BOLD with a dark beige/brown or do the opposite with a light beige. And yes, I have been watching a little too much of Colorsplash. Nice of you to notice.

At any rate, over the weekend there will be some painting going on. Amid the comments from the two teenagers. One who thinks dirty white is a perfectly good color and the other who just rolls her eyes at everything.

My youngest, however, wants to grab a brush and paint everything.

Happy Birthday To Me ...

I'm 41 today.

OIY!

*Edited to add ~ for those of you who may think that I lead a good life, I want to point out that my husband just came home (it is now 10:11 AM), decided right then and there that it would be a super time to tell me how much he cannot stand his job and how effen sick of it he is, before heading out to start his day. Projecting so much negativity on me that he made me cry, on my birthday. Then apologized for bringing me down on my special day and left.

Shades of Beige

I took my girls to our local Home Improvement Store yesterday. Thinking I could get in and out of there pretty quick.

Thinking I could, that is. It was all well and good in the beginning. I found the carbon detectors I was looking for and a couple of replacement toilet seats (raise your hand if you hate a seat that wiggles and no amount of tightening fixes it!). The last item on my list was a gallon of beige paint. We are, finally, going to paint the living room and decided to use a neutral color (and yes, we do watch alot of "sell this house" and see that color on the walls, why do you ask?).

Except there is no beige paint you can just buy off the shelf. Instead there are endless paint samples in the "beige range". They are called all these weird names ...

Including but not limited to the following ~

• Mediterranean Mocha
• Dust Bunny
• Bungalow White
• Adirondack Path
• Sand Storm
• Balance
• Moroccan Moonlight
• Imperial Sand
• Puppy Paws (awwww)
• Sandy Cove
• Churchill Hotel Wheat
• Woodrow Wilson Linen
• Moose Mousse
• Hopsack
• Cream in my Coffee
• Diamond Mine
• Drifting Dune
• Camel
• Treasure Map
• Bermuda Sand
• Bristlecone
• String of Pearls
• Toast
• Timeless Taupe
• Cincinnatian Hotel Briggs Beige
• Light Raffia
• Del Cornado Tequila

After looking at them all, we opted to just head to the local hardware store, where they ACTUALLY sell beige paint, not premixed into fancy named colors. And it happens to be $10 cheaper per gallon.

Course, I'll probably hate it. And that's probably why they have so many shades to choose from. So we shall see ...

Taking It For Granted

.... it's been four days. Only four days. Four long days. Realistically speaking this is an opportune time to focus on other things. To work on projects that don't involve a keyboard. But instead, I find myself wondering if any progress has been made. (umm probably not with the holiday and all) And I mourn for the digital pictures of my youngest baby that could, very well, be gone. I find myself thinking about how I can possibly recreate an evening's worth of notes with official votes, for a meeting I had over a week ago.

Then I realize, it's all out of my hands. The data can either be retrieved, or it can't. It's just that simple. My agonizing over it changes nothing.

Instead I'm planning back-up strategies because good old hindsite is 20/20.

Sunday Stealing: The Clown's MeMe I

1. How old will you be in five years? Forty-five. ~sigh~

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? My 3 year old. (and yes we've been up since 6 AM, good thing I'm feeling much better)

3. How tall are you? I'm a shrimpy 5' 4".

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? Nothing specific comes to mind. But there is some painting I'd like to get done that will be cool to see the results of.

5. What’s the last movie you saw? I just watched Couples Retreat last night. I'm tired of hearing about how these movies are great comedy's, when they aren't all that funny.

6. Who was the last person you called? My son, to find out when he was coming home.

7. Who was the last person to call you? A friend of mine, about picking her daughter up. (gee, can you tell I'm a Mom?)

8. What was the last text message you received? From a friend about picking up her daughter (there were two girls that slept at my house the other night.)

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? Probably a bank, wanting to negotiate a deal with me. ~yawn~

10. Do you prefer to call or text? Text. It's a novelty for me, so I'm very into it.

11. What were you doing at 12am last night? I was getting started on Valentine's Day early. AHEM!

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? My parents have been married for over 40 years.

13. When is the last time you saw your mom? Last week. Actually they are coming over today to celebrate my birthday (which isn't until Wednesday but that's okay, I like getting presents early!)

14. What color are your eyes? Dark brown.

15. What time did you wake up today? That's be 6 AM, when my 3-year old fell out of her bed and started crying.

16. What are you wearing right now? PJ's and I have total bedhead.

17. What is your favorite christmas song? The Twelve Pains of Christmas. I like the guy that complains about sending Christmas Cards and the guy that complains about hanging up the lights. Heck the whole song, really.

18. Where is your favorite place to be? Sitting on the beach looking at the ocean. I could do it for DAYS.

19. Where is your least favorite place to be? Sitting at a boring meeting, in a warm room. It all but guarantees that I won't be paying attention.

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Hawaii. Beach. Ocean. Tropical. Need I say more.

21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years? I have no idea. I'll probably be right where I am now, except maybe with a different job. (I hope!)

22. Do you tan or burn? I tan. And I've got the spots on my face to prove it. Essentially I have ruined my skin because of it.

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? A monster under the bed. I was convinced of it, for the longest time.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh? My husband. He does imitations of people that are freaking hilarious.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house? I'm ashamed to admit this but we have FOUR. Six if you count the two that I have stored for future use.

26. How big is your bed? I have a queen size bed. We had a king size bed for years but it really was too big.

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? ~takes deep breath~ I have a laptop. Which crashed on Thursday. (You should be proud that I wrote that without crying)

29. What color are your sheets? They are red this week. Black the next.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? THREE. Two under my head and one between my knees.

31. What is your favorite season? Spring. I love to grow flowers and plants from seeds then plant them outside. It's the season where everything comes to life. You can't beat that, for me.

32. What do you like about Autumn? How beautiful the changing of the leaves are where I live. We have a huge silver maple tree and it turns pretty colors.

33. What do you like about winter? Only how pretty it is right after it snows. The shoveling and driving in it, STINKS.

Pass Me The Advil Please

I officially declare today a sick day.

There will be no ...

laundry washed.
dishes done.
or cleaning of any kind.

Instead, if you need me, I will be laying on the couch, alternating between watching TV and sleeping.

Paying It Forward

I'm a big fan of the "pay it forward" theory and whenever I do something for someone else and they ask what they can do in return, my reply is always to do for someone else.

It comes when you least expect it. And sometimes it comes after your darkest hour.

Someone, somewhere, does something incredibly kind for you. You don't see it coming and when it happens, it touches the unexplainable.

I will admit, I've been throwing a huge pity party for myself over here. If you don't believe me ... look into my puffy eyes ...

All day I found myself throwing in "and my hard drive crashed" to everyone I talked to. They all had the utmost sympathy. I know we all have been there. But when I added it in response to a group email because they were all referencing a document I no longer had access to ... I got a response I didn't expect.

It was an offer for help. It was an offer to take my hard drive, scrape all the retrievable files off of it, put it onto a fresh hard drive (if it is at all possible) and bring the files back.

I know this can be an expensive process. It was offered to me for free.

Now, I don't know this Mom very well. She gave me the information about the process (her husband would be handling it) and she emphasized that anything taken off my drive would be done in a confidential manner. I can't explain why I believe her or why when she made the offer, it took my own husband less than ten seconds to say it was worth a shot.

It seemed meant to be.

I had a meeting tonight with this gal and several other mothers. About saving a club that has essentially fallen apart. As we walked out together, I turned to her and said I would like to take her up on her offer. We walked to my jeep and I gave her my baby. my laptop.

~cue the dramatic music~

She assured me, again, about keeping confidential about the files. I thanked her for her kindness and told her that I hoped at some point I could return the favor for her. She told me, when she read that one line in my email, she felt compelled to help and that instead of doing for her, to pay it forward ...

Grieving ....

I had the ultimate betrayal happen today.

My hard drive crashed. I sort of knew this morning that I may have lost everything. The blue screen is never, ever, a good thing. But my man is good with computers, so I thought, maybe.

But tonight, he took a look. Something about not being able to open in safe mode, something about bios malfunction and most importantly something about a bad sector.

All of it equals going back to factory settings. And. Losing everything.

I'm crying my eyes out.

Peavin' Me

• School cancellation for snow, made last night, and there is no snow.
• Secretly hoping that the snow comes so that I could leave work early. Still no snow.
• Head home. Full day of work. Snow is finally here and NOW a school cancellation would be good.
• At 9 PM it would appear that call won't be made until the early AM.
• So pretty much no matter what is going on right now, I'm annoyed.
• Please send chocolate.
  

All Sorts of Concern

I watched this video and felt something in the pit of my stomach. It was like connecting the dots without a pen in my hand ...

The End of Day(s)

I'm having one of those days where it feels like I just put an ENTIRE week into a mere 8-hour day.

And that sucks.

Then I had a second round with my evening meeting.

That, too, sucks.

But now it's almost 11 pm and I'm sitting in my dark bedroom, cozy in my warm bed, thinking about the girl scout cookies that are in the kitchen cabinet, the second one to the left of sink.

Anyone want to get them for me?

Sunday Stealing: The Pretentious Blogging MeMe - Part II

12. How many drafts of potential blog posts do you have right now? Two. I don't know about how much potential they have though. I just re-read them and meh.

13. In what medium do you draft your posts? Sometimes I have an idea at work and will jot it down in an email to myself at home. Then it sounds lame when I look at later in the day so I go with something else.

14. How often do you completely scratch or delete drafts or blog post ideas? Far too often than I like to admit. But no work is a waste. I call them "practice posts".

15. If you had to leave your blog in your will to another blogger, who would you choose? I would leave it to my kids, I'm sure my girls would want to read it.

16. Are there other blogs that you feel are similar to yours in content, style, or voice? None that I've seen.

17. Has anything surprised you since you started blogging? Yes. All of it. Everyday I read entries that are interesting and full of perspective. I have also read funny, funny, funny childhood stories and read things that have made me cry in despair for the situation in which life put us all in. It's wonderful.

18. What are your goals or plans for your blog going forward? To keep writing. It's free therapy.

19. Do you make any money from your blog? (optional) about how much a month? I don't make money from my blog.period.

20. What blogging system do you use? BloGAH.

21. How did you come up your blog name? I think we all want to plead the fifth sometimes. I'm right in the front of that line.

22. How many blogs do you have? What was your peak? I only have one blog.

23. Are you having as much fun as when you started? I am. Truly.

24. Where do you find other bloggers like you? I have no idea, are there other bloggers like me? Are you sure about that?

25. What’s your one wish when it comes to blogging? More comments ... please?

Lather, Rinse, Skate-again ...

As a mom of three children, I have found that by the last child, you have a pretty darn good idea of what will work and what won't.

I use the example of rollerskating for this. My oldest girls first experience roller skating was at a friend from school's party. She was 8 and my son was 5. I knew the mother and she had insisted that not only could I bring him, I could skate myself.

Win, win right? I had such high hopes.

Once we arrived, all three of us, took off shoes, got skates, got laced and got out there, it really seemed like the party guests had been there for ages. None of the girls had any sort of issues skating and, most parents, had just dropped their children off, then left.

Don't think I didn't regret that one.

So we get to the floor and my girl immediately falls. I probably could have caught her IF I wasn't already trying to keep my son from falling as well. I definitely fell over him at some point because I remember thinking I broke both my hands from slapping them on the hardwood floor. They stung for days. (and I wore wrist splints at night for months) We may have managed to get around the floor a whopping second time before both of them were done. completely.

Skates off = happy children.

Earlier this week, one of Mom's suggested taking the girls (there are two others girls the same age as my daughter) rollerskating. Wouldn't it be cute. Wouldn't they have fun.

Yeah, wouldn't it.

I didn't want to go. Really. Why would my youngest be any different from my older kids. It has to be genetic, this anti-skate gene right? What I really wanted was a play date for my girl. Who spends oodles of time playing dolls and barbies by herself. Granted daycare fills her weeks with lots of structure, outdoor time and art projects. But we all have our things to do and this morning it was our time.

Skate time.
Cry time.
A teeny bit of fun time.

So let's just say, I wasn't disappointed. She loves the idea of going. She was so excited to be with her friends. I put on the skates and suddenly everything was less fun. Her friends, got their skates on much faster (what can I say, I lace tight ...) and were already too far ahead for us to catch up (which made me secretly curse their fast parents).

We sort of cut across to catch up, meeting in the middle. Just in time for the chicken dance. Who doesn't like a chicken dance their first 30-seconds on skates? That's right. My girl. Which was fine, it was over quick. Before long I skated backwards, while she marched half way around. When we got to the sitting area, she. wanted. those. skates. off.

Cried for it.

After much convincing (not the way you think) I took them off. Socks and all, she ran over to her friends. In complete disregard for the other skaters, who unbelievably managed to get around her. I think due to the fact that they were pint-size themselves. I used the mean mom voice and told her that she can't do that. We went back to her skates.

More crying.
And sitting.

Finally she agreed to put her skates BACK ON again. (see above tight lace reference) This time we went around to the side where there's a carpeted ledge. Sort of like a break area. Her little friends were there and all sat together for a picture. Which was great, except I forgot my camera. Go me.

Before long it was Hokey Pokey Time!!!! But my girl was very interested in participating. That was hugely fun. Left foot in ... left foot out ... shakie, shakie. She clutched my hand the whole time, which was very, very sweet. After we skated around one more time and she was done. The other girls were too. The Referee took a moment to talk to us about how they hold a weekly lesson for the little ones at noontime (it was barely eleven at this point) if we wanted to stick around.

It's free.

So little is free these days. Okay really it's not free, it costs $6 for both of us. Super cheap in my opinion and includes the skate rental.

The rest of the outing entailed a super fun lunch with ice cream (them not me) and plans to skate again next week, this time going later for some skating before the lesson.

Ho-boy.

Some Friday Fun!

Three Cheers For The Weekend!

My Favorite Animal

This website is SO COOL.

A Mixed Bag

My ramblings, in no particular order.

I just got word, third hand even, that our new tenants are expecting TWINS. I did not hear the news from them but I confirmed it with my friend, who recommended them as reliable renters.

~gulp~ my first thought was that it was impossible to be true because I know for a fact that the guy, who was married previously, had that taken care of. If you know what I mean. He divorced, met his new wife online, moved overseas, leaving two kids behind and an ex-wife who was happy that there would be no more children.

I will mention here, that picturing her annoyed at this new turn of events, makes me smile.

As it turns out, a quick text to my friend of "is ~insert made up name here~ pregnant with twins? weird question I know."

Yielded this reply "yes, they extracted his sperm and she did ivf. two eggs took. i am really happy for her ..."

Course, as luck would have it, I met her in the hallway just now. I'm pretty sure that they only just found out and aren't telling everyone yet. So I managed to choke out how guests can use the driveway instead of parking on the street. LIKE THAT WASN'T AWKWARD. Could I of asked how she was? said it was good to see her? Oh hell no. I'm thinking HOLY CRAP TWO BABIES and I'm talking about logistics with vehicles.

Next.

I just got a notice today, addressed to the parent's of "oldest daughter". It was to inform me that my girl was identified by her scores on the preliminary scholastic achievement tests taken this year and, as a student with the potential to be successful in an Advanced Placement course. There are ten courses offered and I believe they receive college credit for them. Now, of course, the informational parent meeting is on Monday night, when I am WORKING.

So that's annoying. Now I have to call the school and see if I can get the information so we can sit down and discuss whether or not this is something she wants to do. I asked her about it and her first questions was, "what classes".

Course I was extremely excited by the whole thing. Oh wait, it's not about me, darn.

Next.

While all this excited acedemicness (that is too a word) is happening for one child, my son is also in the process of picking his class for his first year of high school. THINK SEPTEMBER. I just took the detailed book (which, btw, gave me a nasty paper cut) of classes and not only am I looking at the AP classes but I'm seeing what type of classes my son has already been assigned. He can choose from twelve different electives and appears to be in no hurry to do anything with it. I find that annoying.

Hold on while I look for a band-aid.

An end of an era (so to speak) is happening at work. One of the guy's in my management team has resigned and tomorrow is his last day. (note: the "resigned" part caused a great deal of friction with my boss and the owner of the company, so it's been a long,crappy,two weeks) While I'm very excited for his advancement, I'm sad to see him go. Part of me thinks that sadness has to do with wishing it was me that was going. I know now isn't my time. I need to stay put, ride the tide. So that sucks.

But life goes on. There is a potential new guy on the horizon. We will interview him next week. This too shall pass.

We got an invite, by we - I mean myself and my youngest, to go rollerskating. Now, don't get me wrong here, I love, love, love, love, oh and love, rollerskating. It's my THANG. However, my oldest girl and my son? Not their things. And over the years there have been skate parties and what should be fun is "dreaded". I will say that my oldest has finally gotten the hang of it and can get around the rink without falling. My son? Let's just say it's a train wreck, into walls, people, etc.

But this is for my youngest. Who is THREE. I'm thinking this just screams oh HELL no. And I wonder if that is because I just don't want to deal with her falling all over the place and getting frustrated (and taking me down with her) or if I just have already decided I don't need the aggravation. I'm going to counter offer with a suggestion of a local eatery and a home playdate anyway.

And see how it goes.

I'm so slow!

I was going to post a link to this website and suggest we all vote.

.... then I realized it ended January 31st.

Monday ...

I have lots I could write about work, if I were writing about work, which I'm not.

Therefore, I really have nothing to say ...