Monday, July 31, 2006

Misc.ramblings

I apologize to all the Thursday Thirteeners that visited me this past Thursday that didn't get a return visit from me. I ended up getting tied up with some things and never made it back online to visit you all! I'm just now getting back on blogger, and it's only for a couple minutes. I will visit all of your blogs as soon as I can.

This week is another busy one, I have SO many things I need to do at work, and at home, before I leave next Wednesday. Also have lots of errands that need to be run. I'm kinda glad swimming lessons end this Wednesday, so that we'll have a little more time in the evenings at home again. Joe's car is dead, and he is going to go car shopping tonight after work. I can't keep track of Adam running all over the pool side while Brendan is in lessons, he is just insistant about either going to the water's edge where he shouldn't be, or running out the door to the outside, or climbing on everything in sight. And it is so dang hot in there I would probably pass out if I tried to chase him all over the place for 45 minutes. So, Brendan will miss tonight. (Usually Joe takes Adam home while I'm at lessons with Brendan.) Maybe that makes me a wussy mom that I can't handle them both there by myself, but I've tried it too many times before with both boys at things like that and all it does is drive me crazy, put me in a bad mood, and annoy others around us. LOL So, lets just call it a favor to me and those around me that we're skipping tonight.

Oh, and for all of you that have been amazed and bewildered about the fact that I do not have a cell phone, you can rest easy now because I ordered a Trac Fone the other day. I was notified today that it has shipped, so in a couple days I will join the rest of you in the 21st century as a cell phone owner. LOL I used to have one, but we never used it much (maybe 1 call per month!) so we got rid of it. But since I do drive the boys around a lot (and my trip coming up next week) it would make me feel a little more safe to have a phone I could use in an emergency if I needed to, and so a pay-as-you-go Trac Fone seems to make sense to me. Who knows, maybe next I will get an i-pod or something...go crazy! LMAO Yes, I'm way behind on the popular technology-type stuff, I know, go ahead and laugh.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things I will be Doing in the Next 13 Days


1. Taking Brendan to the rest of his swimming lessons.

2. Running a dance camp at work.

3. Taking Brendan on a preschool tour of a fire station.

4. Getting a new muffler on my SUV.
5. Trying to go through and pack up some of my scrapbooking stuff to take to Gatlinburg.

6. Trying to figure out the circle journal thingy I'm supposed to do.
7. The typical daily/weekly things like laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc.

8. Registering Brendan for some of the fall recreation classes/activities when registration begins at the beginning of August.

9. Trying to get in a better habit of menu planning.
10. Buy some drinks, snacks, etc for my Gatlinburg trip.

11. Pack up my stuff for the trip.

12. Kiss Joe and the boys goodbye.

13. Jump in the car (very early that morning) and take off for the (long) drive to Gatlinburg, where I will be meeting up with some of my online buddies (Carolyn, Annette, Cathy, Colleen, and Debbie) for a little vacation! Can't wait!!!



If you are participating in Thursday Thirteen, please add yourself to the auto-linky below. Comments are always appreciated too! Thanks to Uisce for the linky and Denise for the TT banner at the top.

And today is Katherine's birthday over at In a Big Way! Go visit her and wish her a Happy Birthday :)

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Meme-ology

Well, I saw this fun Meme over at Katherine's blog- In a Big Way and decided to play along, since I haven't done one of these in awhile. This is probably way more than some of you really wanted to know, but here goes...

GRUB-OLOGY
What is your salad dressing of choice?
Fat Free Italian or Red Wine Vinagarette

What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
Arby’s is probably my fave (love those curly fries!), but Subway and Taco Bell are the ones I actually go to more often.

What is your favorite sit down restaurant?
There’s a huge Chinese buffet place near us that we really like, also like Olive Garden’s salad, and Red Lobster for crablegs and their cheese biscuits...yummy!

On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? 20% or so

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
real mashed potatoes and crab legs

Name three foods you detest above all others: cantaloupe, liver, cottage cheese

What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant?
Chicken fried rice is usually what I get for take-out, but I also really like the sesame chicken at the buffet I mentioned above.

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
sausage and banana peppers, but I am not picky and can eat just about any kind of pizza.

What do you like to put on your toast? Spray butter

What is your favorite type of gum? Anything minty

TECH-OLOGY
Number of contacts in your cell phone?
I don’t have a cell phone

Number of contacts in your email address book?
I don’t know

What is your wallpaper on your computer?
At home it is the Teton Mountains. At work it is a picture of my boys.

What is your screensaver on your computer?
Nothing special, just whatever the computer came with

Are there naked pictures saved on your computer? Not that I know of

How many land line phones do you have in your house? 3

How many televisions are in your house?
3 (one in living room, one in our bedroom that we rarely use, and one in Brendan’s room)

What kitchen appliance do you use the least? Blender

What is the format of the radio station you listen to the most? Country

BI-OLOGY
What do you consider to be your best physical attribute?
My eyes, I guess. Hubby’s friend has said that our son has "panty-dropper eyes" and followed that by saying he "had his mama's eyes" So does that mean I have panty-dropper eyes? LOL Hang on to your panties! Heehee

Are you right handed or left handed? right

Do you like your smile?
It’s nothing special, but it’s better than my frown!

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? My 2 boys LOL

Would you like to? Yes

Do you prefer to read when you go to the bathroom? No

Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?
Sight, I guess. 20/20 vision my whole life so far.

When was the last time you had a cavity?
Last year. Have only had 1 other before that ever.

What is the heaviest item you lift regularly?
I lift a lot of stuff at my work, but on a regular basis I guess it would have to be my 5-1/2 yr old son.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
Not knocked unconscious, but I’ve fainted a few times.

MISC-OLOGY
If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No.

If you could change your first name, what would you change it to? I don’t know.

How do you express your artistic side? Scrapbooking

What color do you think you look best in? browns and/or blues

How long do you think you could last in a medium security prison?
not long

Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
They say we all do unknowingly

If we weren’t bound by society’s conventions, do you have a relative you would make a pass at?
No, can’t think of a single one I’d even briefly consider! LOL

How often do you go to church?
We *should* be going, but I can’t say that I’ve gone to church since about 1996 or so (except for weddings and on Christmas eve when we go to my grandma’s church with the family as part of the celebrating). We didn’t even get married in a church, and neither boys’ baptisms were in a church either. We keep intending to find a church, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Have you ever saved someone’s life?
Maybe indirectly and unknowingly, but not that I’m aware of.

Has someone ever saved yours?
Probably in an indirect way that I wasn’t aware of.

DARE-OLOGY
For this last section, if you would do it for less or more money, indicate how much.

Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000?
Take 20 lbs off of me and I might think about it.

Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100? Yes

Would you have sex with a member of the same sex for $10,000?
Depends on the situation, the person, and how drunk I am

Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000? No

Would you never blog again for $50,000? Yes

Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
Take 20 lbs off of me and I might consider it

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
depends on how quickly it had to be done

Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
If it was someone who was going to (or had) hurt my children or family/friends, then yes, but not just an innocent person at random, no.

Would you shave your head and get your entire body waxed for $5,000?
Body waxed= yes, but shave my head= no

Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000? Definitely!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Swimming, Swinging, and other updates

Brendan started Level I swimming lessons last night. He absolutely LOVED it! He went under water several times by himself and was SO proud of himself :) They also worked on floating and kicking. He is so super excited about going back again tonight :) It's so awesome to watch him enjoy something so much and to have confidence in himself. I worry about him sometimes because he is such a little perfectionist with most things, and if he can't do something well he gets really upset and mad that he isn't perfect at it. But he wasn't that way at all with this, which was really nice. I HATED swimming lessons as a kid, so I'm glad he enjoys it more thanI did! lol

We also have a new rope swing in our yard that he's been loving. Joe decided on Sunday that we needed a rope swing, so he made one and hung it from one of our trees. Brendan has been having so much fun on it. We have a swing set, but this is different and new so he's excited about it.

Lexi, our accidental kitty, is still here to stay. She has been eating and drinking a lot, and is already starting to put on some weight. She'll be normal size in no time!

Joe and I finally watched Kill Bill Vol. I and Vol II. (we've had them in from Blockbuster.com for over a month and could never find time to watch them). They were, um, interesting. Very violent, but so unrealistic that it made the violence seem not as bad. But they were entertaining movies anyway.

Well, gotta wrap up a few things and then pick up Brendan and take him back to evening #2 of swimming lessons! I hope he continues to love it :)

Saturday, July 22, 2006

A few more pics...

As promised, here are a few pics from a children's museum we took the boys to a couple weekends ago. They had a great time...



Thursday, July 20, 2006

Unexpected Addition: Meet "Lexi"

Well, after both of our cats (Pippin and Bea) died this year, we thought we'd probably put off getting any more pets for a little while. However, much to our surprise, a kitty found us and has decided that she lives here. lol. A little cat showed up yesterday with no tags and very skinny. She obviously needed some food and love, and since we still haven't gotten rid of Pippin's food dishes or food, we fed her and gave her some water. She has been around ever since. Even when we leave and come back home, there she is laying on our porch to greet us. She was a little nervous and skiddish at first, but now she loves to be pet and just rubs and rubs against us, taking it all in. So, I'm pretty sure we have ourselves a new pet. She is black and white, and not exactly a tiny kitten, but she's not grown yet either. She's an older kitten, I guess. We're pretty sure she's a stray, as she has no collar and is very boney/skinny (if she has an owner, they certainly were not caring for her! And we live out in the woods, so strays are more likely). Both boys were so excited to see her this morning, and she certainly needs love and care, so this is probably a good thing for everyone :) Brendan wanted us to name her, so this morning I was just randomly saying girl names outloud, and when I said "Lexi" Brendan's face lit up and he said "that's a great name for her!" So, I guess her name is Lexi.

So, anyway, apparently we are cat owners again :)

Here's a pic of her...

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

H-O-T-! U-G-H-!

Oh my gosh, it is SO freakin' HOT! And HUMID! UGH!!! My weather pixie on the side bar of my blog has stripped down to her bikini, it's 99 degrees...I'm wondering what happens to her when it hits 100? Surely this is not an X-rated weather pixie? LOL

Anyway, I'm actually getting excited because today is my last day of work this week. I'm taking off Thursday and Friday. Tomorrow I'm taking Brendan to a little preschool program thing- a tour of the movie theater (behind the scenes and such). Then I've promised him we will go get his school supplies! I can't believe he will start Kindergarten next month! Well, in a way I can, but you know what I mean. So he's pretty excited about picking out scissors, paper, crayons, glue, backpack, etc. And we'll go to Burger King or McDonald's or something too...a Mommy-Son day! All week he keeps counting down the days until Thursday. But my hair salon just called to remind me of my haircut tomorrow at 4:00...oops! I thought for sure that appointment was on Friday! Now I guess I will have to attempt to bring Brendan with me on Thursday since he won't be going to preschool that day due to our other things we're doing. That could be interesting! I hope the hair dresser doesn't mind! The good part of this is that Friday both kids will be at daycare, and without my haircut appt I will have more time by myself at home on Friday to get some things done! Really looking forward to that too! Love my hubby and kids, but I definitely need time alone once in awhile too.

Then Friday night it's the mom's group's monthly "Mom's Night Out" and we will be going to the comedy club. So, I've got quite a few things to look forward to these next couple days.

One more hour here at work, and then my time off begins! Yippee!

Monday, July 17, 2006

A couple of pics...

As promised in an earlier post, here are a couple pics from playing outside in our 2 little pools on 4th of July...


Friday, July 14, 2006

Still catching up

Still trying to get caught up with everything. Things got so busy just out of the blue a few weeks ago, both at work and at home, and it is taking me so long to get caught back up with everything.

Wednesday night Joe and I went on our date night. We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest It was pretty good. A little too far-fetched for me, but it was still okay. Joe was a little disappointed, he thought it was going to be really good and it wasn't as good as he expected. But we both enjoyed it anyway. We also recently tried to take the boys to see Cars, but poor Joe ended up having to spend most of the movie out in the lobby with Adam, because he was too loud in the theater. But Brendan and I saw the whole thing, and I really enjoyed it. Very good movie. The movie theater even refunded Joe's ticket price since he spent 3/4 of the movie in the lobby!

This weekend we actually don't have a bunch of plans! It's been awhile since that's happened. Joe is going to try to fix some things on my SUV, since there are several things that need fixed (or at least looked at) before I drive to Gatlinburg,TN in August! I have to go into work for a couple hours Sunday, but otherwise it'll mostly be a hanging out around the house kind of weekend. It's just going to be too hot and humid to do much of anything else.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Oh my! Has it really been 12 days?!

I can't believe I haven't posted in 12 days! Haven't even visited anyone else's blogs that whole time either! (sorry!)

Gosh, I can't even remember what all I haven't been writing about in that time. lol Let's see. 4th of July weekend, what did we do? I remember on Sunday of that weekend we went to my mom's house for BBQ, slip 'n slide, and fireworks. The boys had a blast on the slip 'n slide, but the fireworks got cut short. Just our luck, a guy that works for the fire department was visiting his girlfriend who happens to live 2 doors down from my mom, and he came over and told us to stop. Even though he could plainly see we had 4 little boys who were so excited to be watching these little fireworks, he still felt the need to come over and tell my mom's boyfriend to stop. Okay, yes, I get the fact that they are illegal where she lives. But everyone shoots them off anyway, EVERY year. And while he's standing there telling *us* to stop, there were fireworks going off from at least 3 other houses that were very obvious. Did he go around and tell everyone else to stop? No! Just us. He said because we were doing them "right in front of him" that he had to say something. Well, if he's going to make one house stop, then he needs to go tell all the others that are shooting off bigger and more fireworks just a few houses down the same thing. The boys (my boys and my nephews) were so disappointed! They look forward to fireworks every year.

So anyway, on the 3rd of July I had to work so we were back at home, and that night Joe and I did lots of our own fireworks for the boys. We live out in the country so we can do whatever the heck we please! LOL They had fun with the snap 'n pops, smoke balls, sparklers, and stuff like that. Then after dark we did the bigger ones. They were actually pretty good!

On the 4th we tried to catch up with things around the house, but also let the boys play in their little pools. I'll try to post some pics soon!

Then this past weekend, we took the boys to a neat children's museum in a city a few hours away. They loved that. Brendan was already asking on the way home if we could go back again. We met up with a few other families there too from our Mom's group, and then went out to Coldstone for ice cream. I can't eat ice cream, but they actually had a non-dairy option that turned out to be very yummy! Even one of my good friends from high school met us at the museum with her boys. I hadn't seen her in so long! I was excited that she came to see us! Again, I'll try to post some pics from that day soon. (I dropped them at Wal-Mart today to be developed).

There's been a lot more going on these last couple weeks, I've been crazy busy, but this is getting too long, and I need to leave. I've also been under the weather with a terrible cough, sore throat, ear ache, etc, but trying to kick that. Tonight we have our date night, so I gotta run so I can get home before the babysitter gets there! Gotta vacuum the floor! lol

I'll try not to be away for 2 weeks again.