Good-by Ruby Tuesday...

Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you...

It just feels like a Rolling Stones kind of day, doesn't it? Yes? No? Just me? Well get on the train kiddies...

What a fantabulous busy weekend! Oy! Friday found me and the Kev-head in Chi-town on a rooftop on Waveland watching the Cubbies. I'd never been on a rooftop for a game before - it was soooooo cool! It was all vendor sponsored, so we didn't have to pay for anything - and once we got to the roof, the beer and the food was all around. It was a beautiful thing, lemme tell ya.

After the game we went back to Trader Todd's - I think I've told you guys about this place before. It's brilliant! Great drinks...best guac evah...and we even did a shotski. What's a shotski, you ask?? Well, lovely bloggers...it's a wooden ski, that has 4 holes in it that holds...you guessed it...4 shot glasses. So you and 3 friends can line up and do a shot together. Luckily the Kev-head and I talked our two friends into coming along, so we were all set. We didn't get home from the city until 11:30 - and it was a 1:00 game. Yowzers! That's a lot of beers, babies!!!

Saturday was weigh-in day hell for football...nothing to tell. EXCEPT - Kevin got to play with his birthday present...*gah* NO dirty minded ones...I got him satellite radio. I didn't realize how cool this present was until he installed it. He's completely addicted. We must have all of the accessories now, now, NOW! Commercial free comedy channels 24/7 - he's thrilled. And of course I got to see Julie and Chris and H, which is always a good thing.

Sunday we went to church and grocery shopping...hooray! And yes... I did my food prep for the week...I made a pot of sauce and meatballs that totally rocked. And I know what I'm making the rest of the week...yeah, babies!

How was your weekend??

Happy Birthday to JIMMER!!

It's the Jimmer's birthday, the big 31...happy birthday!!

Tomorrow is the Kev-head's birthday - I won't be here because we're going to the Cubs game...so a big happy birthday to my husband who doesn't even read the blog...tosser.

It's been a whirlwind couple of days, lovely bloggers. I took yesterday off because we were supposed to take the kids to the waterpark. Well, according to the shit news/weather reporting around here, they made it sound like the day was going to be a wash. So we revamped our plans and took the kids out for mexican food and then to the park and then bowling. It was fun, but the whole day we were all really pissed because the rain never came. Well, not until last night. Did you all make it through the storms? We didn't see anything in the south, but north of the river it looks like a warzone. The young kathy has no power, neither does the Tigger. I don't have high hopes of them getting it anytime soon considering that there were 100,000 customers out of power today. YIKES. I couldn't believe all of the downed trees, ripped up rooftops...

On a happier note, Alex started high school today. I was a nervous wreck most of the day. I was so worried for him. Would he find his classes? Would he get everything into his locker? Did he have enough money for lunch? Would he have anyone to talk to? It was like kindergarten all over again. In the end I picked him up and he was f.i.n.e fine (please sing this like Aerosmith). And he looked DAMN handsome in his school uniform. Did he make any friends? Ummm, no. Al doesn't really roll that way. But he will, in time, I'm sure. It took him awhile at Trinity, but eventually he was just fine.

On an agonizing note, Owen is becoming more like me every day, and not in a good way. I almost lost my mind yesterday because for the 3rd time in as many weeks, Owen left something at the football field. And not to knock the coaches or anything, but they never look over the field, see if anything's left behind and pick it up. Last week he left his bag with his inhaler in it. When Kevin went back down there, it was still right where Owen had left it. Tuesday night Owen left his bag with his clothes in it...his chucks, $30 in his pocket, a brand new yug-i-oh deck he had just purchased and ... wait for it... the key to our barn. Now the odds of someone finding this, knowing that it was ours and actually breaking into our barn are slim. But STILL. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of tractors, ATV's, dirtbikes, HARLEY DAVIDSON motorcycle and tools live in that barn. Luckily I drove down to the field 24 hours later and there it sat...in the middle of the field, right where he had left it. And what can I tell him? I'm scatterbrained myself. I usually don't leave my bags at practice, of course, I don't have any practice...but I leave my purse at home...I'll leave the house without a coat in the winter...I leave so many things at my office when I leave for the day it's pitiful. I lost a pair of shoes for a year because they were under my desk. So what do I, of all people, tell him???

Oy.

He starts school tomorrow. AND it's the premiere of High School Musical 2 on Disney - he's so excited for both of these things.

Did I mention how handsome Alex looked in his uniform?

Seriously - I'm sorry lovely bloggers...

OMG...here I am. I am okay. I promise. Still breathing in and out, still floundering in the wake of fabulous beach vacation. Still haven't managed to get my doo-hickey in here to get the pics off my camera. Whoops. I suck. Get used to it. Fall '07 is the season of the sucky Rebecca. I peaked too soon this year. The start of the school year will be a disaster as usual with me weeping into my wine nightly.

Last night Owen and I joined some friends at the Chicago Bears Training Camp. It's only about 40 minutes away, not bad...I can't believe we haven't done this sooner! Because I love football. LOVE football like I would marry it. I really would. Have you seen the pants on these boys? Hellloooooooo...and these boys? Even better looking in person than they are on the big screen. And by big screen I'm of course referring to the 40" LCD flat panel television that my husband WON on Friday. WON...as in, we paid nothing for it. And I believe him, because slick as he is, I don't think even my hubby could hide a $2K purchase from me post-vacation, no way. I'm hawking that checking account something fierce post-vacation. So the TV is, where else, but in our bedroom. Yeah, ummmm, we removed the mirror above the dresser, and that's where the television is. It's brilliant. I love it. Why would I want to look at myself when I can look at Monday night football that huge in my room. BRILLIANT!

The hubby wants to watch porn on it. Ummm, no. Have you seen the men who star in porn? They're hideous. Hid.e.ous. I'm sure this is really working for him - some blond hair, some big boobs up on the screen...but then there's the dude, and really? REALLY? No. No one really wants to have sex with those dudes without getting paid. No one. Nasti-ass skankified porn stars with their porn star faces that they make. Ew. I don't need to see that at all let alone on a 40" HIGH DEF. I'll pass, thanks. I told him when he found porn with good looking male actors we'll talk.

But this isn't about porn is it? Nooooo...this is about FOOTBALL. Robbie Gould? So much better looking in person. Urlacher? LOVE him. But the man to watch, and I have no idea if other sports writers are talking about him...Mark Bradley. Watch him, folks...he's going to be big. BIG. Love him. Grossman is still horrible, I don't care what any of you say. I have to figure out how to get into the VIP section. I wonder if Kev-head knows someone who knows someone who can get us in there. YEAH baby! I got some great pics and they had activities for the kids. We didn't even get to see it all. I'm so going back next year. I have to figure out how to get to Latrobe for Steelers training camp!

On a sad note, Alex didn't make the soccer team. He seems to be handling it well. On a sadder note, the dress code at his school changed. He can no longer wear khakis. I'm so glad I ALREADY BOUGHT HIM 3 PAIRS IN THE SPRING. Tossers. Seriously? What's wrong with khaki's??? Why navy blue pants only? Seriously. Killing me.

School starts Thursday for Alex, Friday for Owen. Strap in folks - here we go!

I'm back in the saddle again...

I'm BACK!

Well, not really. Post vacation work days suck. Post vacation home days are lazy. Kevin came home and started busting ass. But that's him. I think he was actually sitting on vacation making mental lists of all of the things he was going to accomplish when he got home. He actually doesn't know how to relax. His idea of a good time is getting something done. The only task we completed on vacation was emptying wine bottles...and beer bottles...and we were quite successful in that endeavor. But that's still not enough for him. Tosser.

Eileen - you'll be happy to know that my bed is unmade since my return. And it's a disaster. I even made my bed on vacation...but that's mostly because the bedroom was right off the main living quarters of the house and it seemed unsightly to have it disheveled day after day...especially since people were walking through to use our shower. When you're in a pretty house like that one, you just want to keep it...well, pretty.

Last night I came home from work and did nothing. I watched a bunch of shows I had DVR'd while I was gone. But basically I came home, cracked a beer and sat on my getting-larger-by-the-minute ass. I just couldn't do it. Anything. I was so glad it rained the last couple of nights so I didn't have to water my plants. I made hot dogs for dinner. I left the dishes for the kids this morning. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday. Kevin picked the kids up from football, which was great, because that perpetuated my laziness.

My nailpolish from my pre-vacation manicure is chipping away - I thought several times about getting out the nailpolish remover and some cotton balls, but that would have required me going upstairs, and I just.couldn't.do.it. So now it's sandworn and making me look like a two bit crack whore. Okay, maybe not that bad...but it really looks awful. And I have places to go tonight after work. Ugh.

To further display my pitifulness, I wanted a glass of wine last night...but the bottles and the opener and the glasses were upstairs...while the beer was in the frig in the garage. So I picked the beer.

I'm sure none of you feel sorry for me. And I will snap out of it...probably not until after the weekend. Tigger wants me to come over for a "porch night"...kind of like "deck days" at Julie's...only it's on the porch...and it's at Tigger's. That should snap me out of my funk appropriately.

I can't find my little doo-hickey to get my pics off my camera. When I do, I'll share some highlights. OH! I just remembered where it is. Okay. I'll try and do that tomorrow.

Honeeeeey, I'm hoooooome....

Well I'd love to say that it feels great to be back, ummm, yeah - that would be a lie. A LIE. I love that beach house like I would marry it and it's Africa hot out here and I have too much to do and grrrrr. I think my tan started fading the minute I crossed the Michigan/Indiana border. Bugger.

I'd forgotten how much I missed the beach. Living only an hour away, you'd think I'd get to the lake more...but the hubby doesn't like the beach, and we have a hectic schedule...and, well, I just never get there. But I went down there almost every day of vacation. You know I love it if I was willing to climb those stairs more than once in a day to do it. Holy hell those stairs are horrible. But the beach, the beach is really something. Either you love it or you don't. I could and did sit there for hours reading, sunning, playing in the sand. I even went into the lake a few times...of course, it has to be bath water warm for me...but I did it. And now that I actually have a tan? I want to go back. What are you doing this weekend, Jul? Oh yeah, you'll be out of town...bugger again.

I read a couple of books while I was away...one of them was set in London. So I am hereby adding a new word to my insult vocabulary. Tosser. I used it on Kevin the other day and it felt really good, so I think I'm sticking with it.

Football has started. Owen was sweating it out at practice yesterday. SWEATING. Ew.

More later ... I'm still settling in...

The Gavin/Owen project...

First let me say that this is the life. I'm tan. I have a cold beverage in my hand. I'm resting in a king size bed in a bedroom with more square footage than some entire homes and...wait for it...I have a decent wireless signal so I can blog for you! In bed. with a cocktail. blogging. Seriously...it's brilliant. Brilliant.

Day 4 for us out of 10. And today is when I tell you about the Gavin/Owen project. When you get down to the bottom of the long, long stairs that take you to our private beach here, there is this little river of water that also trickles down the bluff to the lake. Last year Alex and Owen (and I think Chris and Kevin) built a dam to 'shore up' this waterflow. Well this year is like that, only on steroids.

Owen and Gavin have worked for 3 straight days, building wall after wall to make this water move the way they want it to, but never actually letting it get to the lake. They started close to the lake...that is "wall number 1" - a few feet back, closer to the bluff is "wall number 2" and so on, and so on. I think there are 8 walls in all. They work diligently, have "sheduled break times" for playing in the lake....and when they return? HIGH DRAMA! "We have a break in number 6! Water is getting through! Emergency! Emergency!" And they work to patch the break and block the water.

Once they came back from a break and there were several breaches in their very own panama canal...Gavin was working to repair wall number 3 while Owen was pushing the water back. Owen yelled "hurry up, Gavin, I'm giving you as much time as I can, but I don't know how much longer I can push the water back!!"

Then another wall broke down...Owen called for backup "Gavin, come quick, I need help!" Gavin's response? "I've got problems of my own!!"

It's all VERY serious...very dramatic and yells of "Hurry, hurry, this is a MAJOR break!" could be heard all day, every day....which cracks us up. I took some pictures, but haven't checked to see if I have my handy-dandy USB card reader thingy (yes, that's what it said on the packaging) so I can upload them for you. I'll try...but I am, ahem...on vacation. This is a phrase I have to choke out, as my husband says it over and over. Whenever I need him to do something..."honey, can you..." I'm on vacation! I hope Julie's laughing right now because it was the same thing he said over and over again last year.

The Janet has been cooking her ass off. Monday night we had lasagna, last night it was some chicken/artichoke/water chestnut concoction with garlic green beans and salad ... tonight we had kabobs and garlic bread and peach cobbler. Ummmmm, yeah...can you all see my ass getting larger? Between the food and the booze I'm damn glad there are 50 million stairs to get to and from the beach. I can use the exercise!

The family leaves in the morning. Most of them will be missed, but that's a long story for another day. It's been a good beginning. I'm tanning out from my earlier burn and tomorrow the other Kevin Crum comes with his wife and they're supposed to be bringing me wine from California. Hopefully they're bringing reds...because as you know, here in MI...we're all out.

Tuesday is the BEST day ever...

Hi lovely bloggers! Miss me? Do ya? Do ya? Well, we're having beautiful weather here in sunny Michigan. Lots of great beach time. Unfortunately, I forgot to reapply my sunscreen, and well...I fried like a popcorn shrimp. Tops of my thighs are bright red like a fire truck...insert whatever insane comment you want here. And my cleavage...well lets just say that the sisters are beacons like never before. Whoops. Not so much with the hurting...just pissing me off because it's so.damn.hot.

Today was the best day ever. Why? Because we went to the wineries this afternoon, that's why. 4 wineries in 2.5 hours. Brilliant. I love SW Michigan. You know what sucks, though? SW MI couldn't produce a decent red wine if I gave them the grapes. That I grew in California. Because SW MI has no business trying to produce a red. I learned this last year, and then forgot it until we went to 4 wineries today and I tried red after red and wondered why I bothered. Didn't stop me from buying a case and a half of delectable little whites which is WELL worth the trip. mmmmmmmmm...MI whites.

Me, Kev-head, Carol and Rich piled into the car and took off. First stop, Contessa. We know we love Contessa. The owner was serving up the tasting today and he was quite fun to talk to. He set the bar high for personality and good conversation. We talked about wine, cheese, crackers, Harleys, , beers, other wineries in the area, vacation spots...you name it...we talked about it. Super nice guy.

Next stop, Lemon Creek. Not so impressive, but I did try my first ice wine there. I've always wondered how they tasted, but at $25-$75 per bottle, I'm not about to experiment. It's very very sweet....more like an after dinner liqueur than a wine, but still very good. I can't say that I would ever buy a bottle, but it was fun to try. If you can't get past the smell of the place, which is straight up manure as it's also a farm, the Kerner was very good and that's what we all bought.

Off to Tabor Hill...or Snob Hill as we're now calling it. Compared to the warm reception we received at Contessa, this place was more like a morgue. Bitchy lady at reception desk...we're milling about and Kev-head casually says..."oh, they have a restaurant, we should eat here sometime." Restaurant's closed on Tuesday barks ms. personality plus...well THAT turned Kev-head in a second. And Mr. chee-chee-fou-fou serving up the tasting...seriously. Back your shit up. We're not dancing on the bar for crap's sake...we're laughing and having conversation. And then he didn't give us our change. Fuckstick.

Last but definitely not least was Round Barn. I didn't think I would like them because at a tasting last year they didn't impress me. Glad I went! First off - they also brew their own beer, so Kev-head got to enjoy a nice fresh beer while Rich and I sampled their fare. It cost $5 per couple to taste BUT you got to keep you glass AND you can go taste for free at their sister winery. Considering we were tipping $5 at each of the others, this was a total steal. Again, the reds sucked, but the girl behind the counter was nice and knowledgeable and the whites really were impressive.

I bought wine everywhere we went...and some sparkly for mimosas in the morning. That's it for now...remind me to tell you about the Gavin/Owen project...it's very fun.

It's so hard to say good-bye........

Well, it's Friday. And not just any Friday, it's the Friday before I leave for fabulous beach vacation, the sequel. This is one sequel that I feel really will be better than the first...10 days. 10 DAYS. I'm currently wearing a tank top that I recently acquired from Macy's for entirely too much money. It's got 3 sparkling martini glasses on it and underneath it just says "therapy." Amen to that. If I can't find answers in the bottom of my martini glass, where will I find them???? They're there, I know it. I'll just have to keep looking. I'll let you know what I find out.

Lovely bloggers, BBFF's, I don't know if I'll be able to get with you while I'm gone. I hope to, but as the beach and the booze are calling my name, I'm just not sure what I'll be able to do. Plus I don't think fabulous beach vacation house has DSL, if it did, I would be all over it. Drunk, sun-enriched blogging from the beach house, sounds fab doesn't it?? But I think I'll have to go to the local coffee house to check-in. I'll try, that's all I'm saying.

The organization of one closet is complete. I cleaned all the shelves, trashed what wasn't needed, put everything else into bins. It's brilliant...I'm so happy. I also got all of my sweaters into under the bed containers. Kevin said he wants like 10 of them. Ummm, honey, we only have so much space under a queen size bed.

I'm recovering from my day of waxing. Sort of. Not nearly as bad as it was yesterday, but still enough to cause my husband to run out of the bathroom wailing and holding his crotch. The sacrifices we women make for beauty. Let's bring back the 60's and burn our bras and stop shaving altogether...okay...maybe not the bra part.

I finished Harry Potter - want me to tell you how it ends?? Who dies? Who lives? Do ya? Do ya?? I thought it was good. That is all I have to say about that.

So this may be it for awhile...I'll miss you...oh hell, who am I kidding...I won't even be thinking about you. But I still love you like I would marry you, you know that.

Fabulous Beach Vacation

She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny...

Oh who am I kidding - I don't wear a teeny weeny anything...never have...not with the sisters. But as I prepare for fabulous beach vacation, I must tell you about...well...my issue with razor burn. It's embarrassing. It's embarrassingly horrible. But I pretty much share everything here, so why not this. I don't use my pool. I only use my hot tub at night, I sucked it up when I went to Holiday World because among the hillbillies, I figured I was okay.

I've always struggled with this, my whole life. I've changed razors, I've used creams, lotions, pads, gels...I've soaked, shaved slow, shaved fast, used neosporin, there is not a trick you can name that I haven't tried. They're all bunk. Whoever develops them should come talk to me, I don't know who they think those products are helping, but for those of us who suffer, and by suffer, I mean really SUFFER in areas you don't talk about let alone itch in public...they don't fucking work. Ever. Period.

And now, now I'm going on fabulous beach vacation, the sequel, and I don't want to be a freak show. So I sucked it up and did what I did for my honeymoon. I went and got waxed. No, not a Brazilian you perverted freaks...just so I can wear a bathing suit without the fear of bikini spiders. This is the only experience that even comes close to rivaling the joy of the pap smear (scoot to the end of the table...scoot...scoooooooot). AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH. At least the lights are dimmer for a waxing and they have calming music. Paps are all bright lights and violation. It really sucks to be a woman, lemme tell ya.

Seen the 40-year-old virgin? An understatement. Because I have to believe the skin on your chest is not nearly as sensitive as your bikini line. I almost bit my tongue off. I used profanity. I think I cried. No, I didn't ... I'm just kidding about the crying part...but the other stuff is true.

So here I sit, wanting to soak in something, trying to finish my work day. But it will be worth it I tell ya - WORTH IT - when I don't have to worry about it for all 10 days of my vacation and then some. Hooray!

It's not my story, but I'll tell it if I want to...

There are two, actually. Two stories that don't belong to me...two stories that I didn't even witness, but I feel they MUST be shared.

ONE:
Julie and Chris have a new dog, Ruby. Ruby has been referenced in previous blogs, the last of which found me "shaking the biscuits" at 3 am. (Go ahead and sing it, kathy, I know you are). Ruby is a great dog and Chris has been waiting a long time for them to get a dog. Last year he got a leash for his birthday, but no dog. This year they finally found their Ruby.

So H has a t-ball game last night and Chris decides they should take the dog...which is great, except for the fact that he stands out on the field with H, so that leaves Julie with the dog. And the dog loves people and there are kids running around, small toddlers at that - so Ruby really has to be watched. Not that she'll hurt anyone, she just might love someone a little too much...you get what I'm saying. So Julie can't really pay attention to the game because she's paying attention to Ruby. And she expresses this to Chris. So the next time Chris goes out onto the field? He takes Ruby. Yeah, that's right - put that visual in your head. Chris is coaching 3rd base with the dog. The dog is on the field. As if these toddlers don't get distracted enough? Now when they're standing on 3rd base, waiting for someone to hit the ball and bring them home, they're petting the dog. My husband would have had a stroke. Hilarious. The visual of Chris coaching 3rd base holding a leash and a dog is just too much.

Julie and Chris are officially "those dog people" and I love it like I would marry it.

TWO:
Women have vibrators. They just do. Well, a lot of them do. And a girlfriend of mine kept hers in a bedside drawer? Under the bed? I'm not sure where. But one day, her kids found them, didn't know what they were - massagers, maybe? And started playing with them. No, not like that you sickos... her husband came home to find their son sitting on the bed with "big blue." Do you know about big blue? Because blue is famous around here. When she asked how her husband reacted he said "well, first I took it from him and TURNED IT OFF"...that's right, folks. There sat their 10-YEAR-OLD on the bed, happy as a little clam with a vibrating big blue in his hands. Somehow that makes it worse. And apparently, this is after their daughter chased the cat around the house with the silver bullet. Oh my. I can't even imagine.

At least they found out now, before they showed their friends their parents "massagers." Holy Mother, I think I would die.

So hide your power tools ladies or don't let your kids watch TV in your room...

Now that's what I call American Idol...

You've all seen the "Now..." CD's - compilations of the top hits of that moment in time, or whatever...
the latest has not 1, not 2, not 3 but FOUR AI artists...
Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Elliot Yamin. Some would still say that AI is a farce, a joke, and no indication of what music can be...and yet, 4 out of 20 songs are all AI artists. For those of us who have loved the show since minute one, this is pretty cool...

Now......go buy it....that's an order...

Sometimes you feel like a nut...

It was an action packed weekend, sort of. Yesterday was completely uneventful. Never left the house. Got another shelf emptied and organized in the closet, I need to get a couple more bins and I can call that one done. Kevin is thrilled.

I got some housework done, but I had to call in the professionals...it's been awhile, so they should be pretty busy today. I'll be so happy when I get home. Apparently Owen left them a note. "To cleaning ladies, you don't have to clean under my bed. Owen." Seriously?? I asked her how bad it was under there that he felt the need to put a disclaimer in...she said there were just a few things. Guess what Owen's doing tonight?

My vegetable garden is finally completely weeded and regrassed. The tomatoes are starting to turn red, very excited about that. Can't wait to make salsa!

We saw the new Harry Potter movie on Friday night. Kevin didn't like it. I thought it was one of the better movies of the series. Everyone keeps talking about how much "darker" it is - I didn't get that impression, but that's just me. We went to Barnes & Noble after that to see what kind of chaos was happening there in anticipation of the book going on sale at midnight. They had a lot of activities - and we got Harry Potter glasses! We had our picture taken, we did some crafts, some puzzles, saw lots of people in costume. The kids didn't bother me so much, it was the adults (who didn't work there) that were troublesome. One lady in a plaid skirt, a white shirt with a Hogwart's tie and black leather boots? Ummmmm, I wasn't sure if she was there for the book or she was on her way to work....

Saturday was awards for LL, and Sat night found us with the RL crew - basically the same as the 4th of July party, only this time it wasn't at my house. The food was, of course, fantastic, and the company was, of course, hilarious. I have stories, oh do I have stories...saving those for later.

Kevin cut a trail through the woods for the dirt bike he acquired. Alex took it for a spin yesterday. I see hospital visits in my future.

How was your weekend?

People are strange...

when you're a stranger
Faces look ugly
when you're alone...

OMG. So - there's a girl that works here - a mean, unhappy, hateful little thing. Like seriously mean, unhappy and hateful. You all know the kind. Well this little nugget of an employee put in her two weeks notice a couple of days ago. No one is sad to see her go. Good riddance.

Usually she putters around the office, never says hi to anyone, not even in passing. But since she put in her notice, she's the happiest thing ever. Giggling, chatting, saying hi to everyone as she passes by. Unbelievable. But today? Today takes the cake. She's wearing a lei around her neck, and a little cone-shaped party hat on her head. A children's party cap, y'all. I'm not even making this up. So someone asked her if it's her birthday. She said "No, I'm just celebrating...I'm so happy!" Well squee! for you. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? She's wearing a lei and party cap. If no one liked her before, we definitely don't like her now. Even the people who do talk to her here? They're flabbergasted. It is the most unprofessional immature thing I've ever seen.

Someone else asked "Did the firm impose the dunce cap or is this a personal choice?" LOVE that thought process. I gave that person a gold star. Literally. She's now wearing a gold star on her sweatshirt.

So it begs the question - does she really think that a new job is going to make her a happier person? Other people have left here - and I was sad to see them go. But ultimately their new jobs/life experiences are so much better for them, as people, and I truly believe they are happier now that they've left the firm. Job happy. Not life happy - they were already perfectly balanced, happy individuals and having job satisfaction has made them so much more so. It's brilliant. But this person? No way. No way she just walks into a new office and what? Changes everything about herself to make her a happy person? Never.gonna.happen.

I once said about this person that she should stop working in office settings altogether, that she should seriously consider working somewhere that involves no people. At all. I think I mentioned working in a county park sitting in a booth by herself. I don't know, ask Tigger - that's who I said it to and it almost made her pee herself. And you guys know me...I like EVERYONE!

Oh shit, I think I've done serious damage to my karma now - I'll have to do something nice for someone else to make up for it. But not her. I refuse to be nice to her. Ever.

*ETA: Ding-dong the witch is dead. Her big plan was to go to lunch and not come back. Instead she told her super she was leaving and not coming back, and that was that. I've never deleted accounts so fast in my life.

The little orange cat that could...

So - here's a continuation of the cat story - the orange cat has been caught - apparently after riding to Munster and back in someone else's vehicle frame...and someone in Kev-head's office took her home. So orange cat now lives in Demotte.

AND she's letting people pet her. All the time. Loves people apparently. So I guess it's just ME she didn't like - when she clawed and bit the hell out of my finger.

Great.

Organization...I'm really trying...

So are you all falling over with my almost week's worth of getting my shit together?? It's unbelievable at best. As Julie would say, the forces of the universe are at work here - and they're talking to me, and they're telling me to get it together already. Take charge! Quit living in squalor!

Last week I had had it with my disorganized messy home. HAD IT. That's when I went to the store, started meal planning, cleaned all those rooms in one night and started the new me. The very next night the young Kathy told me about an Oprah show she watched about organization, clearing up the clutter. There was some get-your-shit-together expert on and she was telling me some of the details.

I started looking around my house. Remember how I posted just that morning that I needed to clean my closets?? Do you see how the forces of the universe are talking to me.? That guy...that guy I didn't even see, totally influenced me. He's right - I do hang on to too much stuff. I have things in my closets I haven't used in 5 years, let alone the last year and they are taking up space and keeping me from being able to store things I actually DO use.

This must stop.

And yes, Eileen, my bed is made. Now I'm just taunting you because it's fun. Please don't leave me! *please*

So last night I went to Target and bought some storage bins. BUT - I didn't buy them with lids - I bought the kind with DRAWERS. This is the key. I was talking to Carol about it last night. If you stack bins with lids, you have to unstack them to get to your stuff. If you have bins with pull out drawers, you can access everything without moving anything. She thinks it's brilliant. Do you see the brilliance??

I started small, only bought 3, and because I went shopping, I didn't have as much time when I got home last night. I did get that load of whites done. And I did make tacos. I did replace the nasty ass shower curtain in my husband's bathroom (that was an add-on), and I did put in one bin, successfully cleaning up the crap on the closet floor and creating a storage space for the toilet paper. The toilet paper was previously thrown in on top of the crap that was on the closet floor. Hopefully the rest of that closet gets cleared out tonight and the stuff I want to keep will start to fill those remaining 2 bins.

Wish me luck, folks, I'm going in.

Hair appointment? What's that crazy talk??

So it's Tuesday, July 17th. Lucky for me I keep this blog...I can look back to the exact date I had my hair done. Ummmmm, yeah it was 3.5 months ago. THREE AND A HALF MONTHS. My birthday week of beauty...that's when it was...I've aged a whole quarter of a year since I last saw my stylist. My grays are showing, my split ends are hideous and I don't even think I HAVE a style anymore. This is what my busy ass little league season has done to me. Bullshit, that's what it is!

I can't get in to see her until next Saturday...I'm so sad. That will be the day before I go on fabulous beach vacation, so I guess that's good. But until then, I have to look like...this. Oy.

Speaking of hair - Carol called me this weekend - she thinks she's getting some peach fuzz on her head. This is very exciting!!

Scott says my blog is making him tired...well, lemme tell y'all, I'm keeping this schedule and it's making me tired, too.

My husband finally asked me last night...hey - you made the bed this morning? Ummmm, yeah. Why? Because I'm tired of not having any covers. I've been doing it for the last 5 days. Really? Oh, I just noticed.

Oh snap. Seriously? Did you notice I've been keeping the kitchen clean and that there's food in the house and I finished all the laundry? ALL OF THE THINGS THAT YOU'VE BEEN BITCHING ABOUT FOR THE LAST 6 MONTHS??? For the love...

And on a not-so-funny-yet-informational-note - I think we're infesting Highland with kittens. We had 5 kittens in June. For the last few days there's only been 2. Now we're down to 1. Why? Well, they've apparently found a new home. In Kevin's truck. And this morning we know for a fact that the kitten made it all the way to Highland, UNDER the truck. Because when he got to work, he heard meowing. And then they saw her. So Alex put on some gloves to retrieve her (these kittens are feral anyway, and now she's totally freaked by a 1 hour road trip) - but he dropped her, and she ran off. There's no getting this one back. She's gone (sing it with me Hall & Oates...)

So for those of you (ahem, Jen...Julie...) who like to make fun of me for having too many cats? I'm down to 6, one of which isn't even MINE...it just adopted us. 5 cats, 1 kitten, which is perfectly reasonable with 10 acres of land. So there.

I need a weekend to recover from my weekend!

So the weekend is supposed to be relaxing, right? A break from the workweek? Ummm, yeah, no. Not that it wasn't fun, it totally was. But today I'm exhausted!

Friday night found us at the RFL. Well, actually, first it found us at Julie's house for cocktails and pizza BEFORE the relay for life. Is it wrong? Wrong that we had cocktails prior to walking the track? I don't think so. We made it over there around 9:30, and the kids were excited to walk/run the track for the cause. Hooray! And then they weren't excited. The little ones had to go home and go to bed...the big ones were looking for entertainment. At least they had activities for the kids - playing football, baseball, dodgeball, kickball, all of the balls were represented. Wait. That doesn't sound right. Moving on. I walked and walked and walked ... the kids played and played and played. I took them back to Julie's around 12:30 hot and sweaty and ready for rest. They stayed up until 2:30, and that's when Julie and I lost Ruby. Her dog.

Whoops.

It was innocent enough...Ruby wanted to run a little before going to bed. Seems reasonable. Except she ran away. Far away. We don't know where she went, actually. No Ruby. So there we are, at 3am, looking for a dog in the dark, shaking a container of biscuits. I called the Jimmer, who was at the relay just a block away to see if Ruby was walking the track for the cause. His first response "She's not here, did you shake the biscuits?" OMG. Yes...we shook the biscuits. Finally she came home and Julie and I went back to walk the track until about 4am. Long night.

H had a t-ball game at 10am. This is a very early game when you've not gone to sleep until 4. When your old. Like me....the evening's events and my presence were a little too much for a little 3-year-old - because he wanted NOTHING to do with t-ball. nothing. He wouldn't go out onto the field...and when he went into the dugout? He asked his coach if he could lay down on the bench. He hit the ball, which was great, but by the time he got to 3rd he was a hot mess and left the field. Inning number two? Owen had to go out onto the field with him, and even that wasn't enough to keep him out there. He hit the ball again in the second inning, but this time he was done after 1st base. Whoops. I guess a late night and our presence is not a good combination for t-ball.

Went to DQ and the European Market after the game, though I'm not sure what makes it European. It looks like every other farmer's market I've been to, fresh produce, plants, baked goods, artwork, jewelry...and...wait for it...CHEESE. Oh yeah, babies...my personal favorite. Of course I had to buy some.

Then we had my niece's birthday party in the afternoon, and then I went to see Darren, Jon and Laura play for a little while in Valpo. Love seeing them! They took a break not long after I got there so I got to visit with my friends in addition to hearing them play. I didn't get home until after 12. I got to sleep in on Sunday, but I was wiped! Yesterday found me getting all sorts of things accomplished: laundry, running kids to birthday parties, laundry, food prep (yes, Tigger, I browned my ground beef for the freezer!) I also made a big salad for the frig, and grilled some chicken for it...we're having that for dinner tonight! I hard-boiled eggs for said salad and for breakfast if anyone wants one. I boiled some chicken for the chicken and noodles recipe I plan to make this week (thanks to the tigger!) AND I used the BBQ sauce that Tigger gave me on some pork chops last night for dinner. Yummy-friggin-yummy! I highly, HIGHLY recommend the Winking Lizard BBQ sauce. Then I was outside weeding some of my gardens...not finished, but after 2.5 hours of it, I was spent.

And after all this, I still have a clean kitchen, an empty laundry room, my bed MADE (HA, Eileen) and a refrigerator/freezer full of stuff that I can make for dinners - most of which won't take me very long. Hooray!

And this, this is why I'm spent. Exhausted. Done. How was your weekend?
*New Eileen blog if you click on the link on the side!

Happy happy happy birthday....

It's Julia Goolia's birthday, y'all - give it up!!
36 years young and ab fab...

Tonight will be birthday celebrations...hoooray beer!

It's Friday the 13th...are you scared? Are ya? ARE YA?? You know me - killers and all - once it gets dark I'll be scared. But Julie will protect me from Jason (jasonjasonjasonjasonkillkillkillkill).

Lemme bitch about a couple of things.
One - Alex, conveniently enough for all the working moms out there, has soccer practice from 2-4 Tues-Thurs. 2-4. TWO UNTIL FOUR. It's light out until 9pm...we can't have an evening practice? Not once? Gah! I'm making this happen with the help of my hubby, but c'mon people. I guess they just assume that at the high school level, most of the kids are driving themselves? And then next week, they are scrimmaging against Crown Point. At least that's at 5pm.

Two - One of the kids at practice yesterday did drive himself...in a blue corvette. A BLUE CORVETTE. I still have never driven a corvette in my lifetime, and this kid is driving one to soccer practice.

Three - Buying books for private school SUCKS ASS. Because, apparently, and I didn't know this, there is no book RENTAL like public school. You actually buy them. $510 for the year. FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS. Seriously, kill me now. I figure I'll also have $200 out in uniforms and shoes. GAH!

Four - I guess I'm just bitching about Andrean, aren't I?

Five - Football starts in less than a month. We just got the email about weigh-ins...August 18th - first game is August 26th. I cannot believe I'm already putting football dates on my calendar. There is a camp at the high school next week - 3 nights, 2 hours per night. So I guess there is no break after baseball....

What a difference a day makes...

Well, I got some stuff done last night, so I'm not feeling quite so overwhelmed...though I have a long, loooooong way to go.

The good:
Grocery shopping...HOORAY! While my pantry is overflowing, I didn't really have anything to make actual MEALS. This is a problem. I got all the basics and then some - the produce alone was worth the trip. So many things are in season now. I managed to make both egg salad and fruit salad and got all my produce cleaned and ready for use. Tonight I have to get all my meats ready. There's something very satisfying about browning all of my ground meat and freezing it in 1 lb bags so all I have to do is defrost it and I'm ready to make a wide variety of things.

My bathroom is clean! Seriously, it looked like vagabonds had moved in and claimed the space. My husband's bathroom as well...yay sparkling sinks!

My bedroom is vacuumed and dusted AND the sheets changed...crawling into a freshly made bed is the best.feeling.ever. AND I made the bed this morning before I left. I hope this becomes a habit, but we'll see.

My microwave and stove top are no longer embarrassing. Sweet.

My living room is vacuumed and dusted...while it doesn't get much use, it collects dust like nobody's business.

The bad:
The weeds are still a dominant force. Sunday. This is for Sunday.
My closets - well - let's just say I don't even know what's IN half of them. I will take these on one at a time. Hallway, foyer and my bathroom.
The office. Heaven help me it is the catch all for everything. EVERYTHING. It has to stop.
The stack of crap.

I'm giving myself a deadline. All of these things MUST be done before fabulous beach vacation. Because after that we're into football and then school and then the insanity begins again. Think good thoughts for me.

It's over!

Oh HELL yeah! Baseball is done, baseball is done. I wish you all could see me dancing in my chair right now. Baseball is d.o.n.e.done. Hip-hip-hooray!!

I don't even know where to start. I have groceries to buy, laundry to do, a house to clean, gardens to weed, books to read, wine to drink!! Hooray wine!

18 days until my vacation - and yes, it's 18, Jimmer. Because while you didn't think I counted today, I leave and arrive at my destination on the 29th, thus beginning the vacation. So I only have to wait 18 days until I'm sitting on the beach. Especially considering half this day is gone, and I won't check in until half the 29th is gone...soooo as of right now 17 full days and 2 half days before I'm on the beach. Is that exact enough for you??? I stick out my tongue in your general direction. You're just jealous because you're not going. HA!

Feeling stressed today instead of relieved - like now that I have more time I have this list - a looooooong list of chores and tasks that I want to get done. And it all seems like too much. Ever have that feeling?

Heartbreak hotel...

Well - our baseball season is officially over. And I can say that I'm only partially glad to see it go. Well, mostly glad. The boys have been subjected to a slaughter fest, and they are not the slaughterers...they are the slaughterees (did I just make up words? I think so....). It's pitiful. And horrible. And not much fun.

But alas - I have my life back. At least until football starts when we return from fabulous beach vacation, the sequel. 19 days. 19 days until I'm sitting on the beach with drinks in hand. 19 days until I get to go to wineries any day I want. 19 days until I get to spend time with all sorts of family and friends.

The countdown begins.

We are family...

I got all my sisters with me...

Guest blog by our very own Sugar Snap Pea, who had her BIRTHDAY this past weekend...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY PEA!!

Families:

Summer is the time where I tend to spend the most time with my extended family. My extended family includes everyone I am related to that is not my Mother, Father, Sister, or Grandpa. I have recently come to the conclusion that my Mother's side of the family really does not like us (my sister and myself). I went to a GNO with that group (on protest) with my Mom. I went because I knew my mom would not go by herself, and she wanted to go. So Friday night found us with this group (from now on they shall be known as the Bitches). Now, before I tell you what happened Friday night, I have to tell you this. Four years ago, my mom's sister, Aunt Donna, lost her husband. Two years ago, she found herself engaged. My Aunt Donna's counsin (one of the bitches) threw a engagement party for her and Tony. My mom called Cousin to find out the details, and was told that the "girls" (My sister and I) were not invited!!!!! NOT INVITED, not invited to my own Aunt's party. WOW I thought, that is really odd. Then I found out WHO was invited and that just rubbed salt into the wound. We are family, I thought, and half of the people there were not, WTF (BTW the engagment soon broke off. I told my Aunt Donna it did not work because it is bad luck not to have you nieces at the engagment party). So, that year I declined to attend that side of the family reunion. "Screw em" I thought, they want to pick and choose when I am going to be considered family, I will pick and choose when I will show up...NEVER.

So, back to Friday night. We get to the "Bitches" function. My mom wanders off to see an old cousin she had not seen in a while, leaving me to my own. I pop open a beer, and move over to a table, where I spotted my cousin's wife, and the hostess of the party. I get to the table, and say "HI". At that point, my cousin's wife and the HOSTESS OF THE PARTY look at me, don't say a word, and continue talking amongst themselves as if nobody said HI or anything. CRUSHED I TELL YOU, JUST HOPELESSLY CRUSHED. Quickly I made a mental note of everything I could have possible done or said in the last three years since I have seen these two, and nuttin comes to mind. I turn around, take a drink of my beer, and quickly move to the opposite side of the room and saddle up to the corner of the bar closest to the door. I pull out my phone to text Big R that this was exactly the mistake I thought it would be, when the nicest of the "bitches" comes to talk to me, cousin Julie. We have a nice conversation, I got some food, sat next to my mom, and shortly left shortly thereafter and went shopping at Home Depot.

Now, my dad's family reunion is completely the opposite. Big Huges, Kisses, interesting conversation about anything and everything, a huge event that I have not missed in years, and don't intend too. AND, AND, Every year I get invited to the July 4th bash and family reunion of my BFF, and am treated so warmly by the people there, some of which really don't know who I am, but don't care. Perhaps that is the point. Perhaps the people who know me, don't like me (not that that side of the family really know me). Perhaps it is because my mom's side of the family is "light" and my dad's side of the family is "dark" (skin tone, hair color) and I take after my dad. I look like that side of the family, and there really is no trace of the "bitches" side to be found in me (except the bitch part). I feel more a like part of the family when I am with my BFF's family. How weird and wonderful is that? I have no idea how my mom came from such horrible stock, but she certainly did not inheret those traits.

It's funny, when people use the expression, "They treat me like family", in my case, that means, you are treated badly. What are your family stories?

Two post kind of day...

If you've ever wondered why I hate Dubya so much, why my disdain runs so deep, please watch this video from one of my favorite and most famous journalists on television - Keith Olbermann.

Jimmer - you've asked me about my feelings on issues before - and why I feel this way. This commentary sums everything up. I love this country, and everything it stands for, and this man...this horrible excuse for a politician, president and human being, is taking this country that I love and pissing on it.

Please watch:

It's my party and I'll....

drink if I want to
drink if I want to
drink if I waaaaant to
You would drink, too, if it happened to you...

oh my oh my...what a fun 4th of July. We threw together a last minute holiday party for Tuesday night since none of us had to work on Wednesday. It started with inviting one other family over - and that turned into inviting all of the coaches from the all-stars team and their families over - and THAT turned into inviting the other families that we usually hang out with in RL...and then of course, I had to call Julie...all together, with kids...9 families, 35 people. 35people for a last minute, planned on Monday night at 8pm after practice, get together. We had food, we had booze, we had fireworks. We had kids playing ball in the yard (with16 kids, we practically had two complete teams), we had kids jumping in and out of the pool, into the hot tub and back into the pool.

On Tuesday someone here at the office said "the last minute parties are the best" - and I think they're right! The guys never left the deck. They just kept pulling more chairs around the table out there - it's supposed to seat 5 - there were 9 of them, and their coolers. The women took over the inside main level. We ate in the living room, we drank in the kitchen - and then someone decided we should play a game. "Do you have any games?" Sue asked. Ummmm, yeah - and then I unleashed the game closet. "You have an impressive collection of games" said Cinde. Yes - let's play! We chose Outburst - and while there are updated versions of this game, our version is circa 1986 - ummmm, that's 2 decades of outdated material. Hilarious. One of the topics was "Brands of Coffee" - and it was hysterical that all of the brands we named (Starbuck's, 8 o'clock, Seattle's Best) didn't make the list, of course - but my answer of Sanka was there as well as Brim and Nescafe...seriously - BRIM??? Hilarious. By this time the drinks were flowing as were the shots of cherry pucker. Yeah, you read that right - we were doing SHOTS of PUCKER. What are we? 19? F-ing brilliant. And this game involved shouting - so there we are, 9 women around a table drinking and shouting. Our children would come upstairs for snacks holding their ears, because let's just say it sounded like there were more than 9 of us by the time that sound bounced off the hardwood floors, the walls and the sliding glass doors with nothing to absorb it. And we all like to talk. And yell. And laugh. We had to impose a "no one under the age of 21 in the dining room" rule - because we also all tend to be a bit vulgar. WHAT? Shocking!!

And then there were fireworks. Chris was all upset because he didn't feel like he bought enough. I don't know what he was thinking, because they put on quite a show! And we didn't have to leave the house! Another round of cocktails for all my men!

Then it was into the hot tub for the ladies.....and just when our conversation turned VERY adult-only - we find out that some of the kids were on the other side of the wall spying on us. Holy mother - I will not tell you what we were discussing (it wasn't horrible, it wasn't even about sex - it was just plain not suited for children) - of all the times for them to spy, it had to be then? The amount of damage control that came afterwards was staggering. We're still emailing about it. Oy.

It was a grand time - I got an ab workout from laughing so hard. Yesterday was more low key, with people returning to the house to pick up left chairs, left food containers, forgotten shoes and clothing, cars...you know...the usual. :) Julie and Chris and H spent the day at their "vacation house" in the pool and playing in the yard.

So happy birthday America - I love you like I would marry you.

This shit has gone too far...

And no, I'm not talking about the commuting of the sentence of Scooter jackass Libby...

I'm talking about ...

The man room. Have I talked to you guys about the man room? I looked through the blog and didn't see anything, so I'm not sure.

The man room started innocently enough. My husband wanted to build a side room in the barn for his bike. Someplace out of the way for winter storage. He doesn't like storing it in the garage because people come in and out, kids come in and out, cats come in and out - he didn't want his baby to be abused. Completely understandable. Build your little motorcycle room, I said, but it better not cost me a mint. No, no, no, he said - I've got some wood leftover from other things, some paint left over from other projects...it won't cost a THING. Are you hearing me people? Not a thing. Who is buying this load of malarky? No one? Yeah, I didn't think so.

What this has become is something else entirely. What it has become isn't a motorcycle room. It's a man room. Julie referred to it as the masturbatorium. The phrase stuck.

What it became is a pet project for Kevin and the kids. They all built it...walls, doors, the works. Male bonding. It has a window air conditioning unit - but NO WINDOW. It has CARPET - which of course he bought. It has a refrigerator for "man room beer" that I am not allowed to drink, which materialized from who knows where. It has it's own cooler. It has the old broken chair from the basement that rubbed a groove in my drywall - it has a desk with his Harley lamp, which he bought. It has street signs and work signs all over the walls and ceiling. His fishing poles are mounted in this room, for which he bought a special rack. This is the home for the "inappropriate" calendars, signs, decorations...it has a clock that looks like a tire. It has special camping chairs, which he bought. Supposedly his guns will be mounted in this room, and I've made it clear that they must be locked up if they're going to be mounted anywhere - which means there's something more to buy.

Last weekend Alex and Kevin were in the barn working on heaven knows what and I couldn't find them...there they were, in the man room, with the AC on, reading magazines. Seriously? 3600 square feet of house and there they are sitting in a gray, windowless room in the barn. WHAT? I do not understand this concept. But, I guess I'm not a man.

And now, now he's gone too far. I came home and checked my bank account to see what's cleared, where we are after the weekend and I notice a $45 charge at Joey's Wallpaper World. Ummmm, what? Whodowa? So I call the husband - and sure enough - he spent that $45...on a wallpaper border...for the man room. You know, the room that wasn't supposed to cost me anything? I don't have window treatments in my living room and you just spend $45 on a wallpaper border for a room IN THE FUCKING BARN??? Holy mother - redick - ridiculous. Of course it's a motorcycle border - which makes it what? Cool? Agggggh.

A part of me thinks I should be grateful...at least he's not trying to pull this shit in the house. That ugly-ass, noisy-ass Harley lamp WAS in my BEDROOM for crap's sake. Eww. No. I did not faux finish my bedroom walls to have a Harley lamp sitting on the bedside table. No.

Every man who comes to the house thinks this room is a stroke of genius, and it's yet another thing for the future wives of my sons to be pissed at me for - they will forever think that it's completely normal and expected to have a man room. I'm so sorry future wives, I'll mix the cocktails and try to explain it to you - maybe by then I'll have it figured out.

Holiday World - a world all it's own...

So this weekend found me in Owensboro, KY, Santa Claus, IN and Evansville, IN. It was a whirlwind trip. We had a very nice visit with the Adams family. (No, not the Addams family...)

Saturday was our trip to Holiday World. What a great little park!
The good:
The amenities include free soda, free sunscreen and cell-phone wristbands for kids. Seriously - they have beverage stations set up all over the park - you can swing into one at any time and get a fountain drink of your favorite pepsi product. Eileen - I so thought of you and your DP habit! My drink of choice that day was pink lemonade - I think I drank a gallon! Jen took advantage of the free sunscreen oasis - what a great idea that park has. And the cell phone wristband? Brilliant - you can write your cell # on a band and attach it to your kids. If you get separated and they ask for help - someone can call you. LOVE this idea.

Parking is free.

I got lunch for $6. We ate at the Alamo and I got a 2 taco and burrito combo and it was $6. And it came with a cookie!! At the end of the night we stopped in the Plymouth Rock Cafe in Thanksgiving town and had the best rotisserie chicken EVER. The flippin' meal there is only $7, too - seriously - LOVE this place.

The average temp of the water in the waterpark is 88 degrees. YES!

No smoking in the park...they have designated smoking sections.

It's so damn clean!

The bad:
I couldn't walk around in my bikini top and daisy dukes. HA! Yeah right. But seriously, they do require a shirt over your bathing suit top if that's the way you roll.

The bad, for real:
The roller coasters are wooden. I'm pretty sure they should have a team of chiropractors and/or acupuncturists at the exit of these rides. Beat up - I was beat.up. After riding each of these one time, I think it might have actually re-aligned my c-spine - so I stopped. Call me a roller coaster snob - but if they're not made of metal, I'm not riding. Period.

The music - oh my. I couldn't listen to God Bless America one more time in the 4th of July section. Killing me. And of course there were Christmas songs in the Christmas section. I don't remember being annoyed in Halloween town or Thanksgiving...and they were playing the Beatles in the waterpark, so no complaints there.

Pepsi?? Why Pepsi?? I guess it's good - this way I stuck to lemonade.

Waterpark lines were a bit much. But it is a Saturday in June, what do I expect?

We may be going to Six Flags in a couple of weeks, depending on what happens with all stars. I imagine I will not have this many good things to say about that experience...but at least they have metal coasters.

ETA: I updated the link to the new Eileen blog...check it out!

Happy birthday!

To Mom Joy and to Mega-Joker-Eggo.....

Joy's is today and Megan's is this weekend...

So happy birthday to both of you!!!

I love this bar...

It's my kind of place
Just walkin' through the front door
Puts a big smile on my face...

I interrupt this blog to bring you THIS important message!
Welcome Corrinne Elizabeth!!! Born to our dear sweet Tigger yesterday afternoon. She arrives at 6 pounds 13 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long and a full head of long black hair.

We now continue with our regularly scheduled blog...
So the weekend found me relaxing. RELAXING, people. Can you believe it?? Friday night my house was empty - no kids, no hubby, no nuthin. Just a house. A quiet, fairly clean house. And I had nowhere to go! I thought about buzzing over to Laura's because cousin David was coming over to jam, and it was tempting, but I worked late, patched some servers, approved some workstation patches, stopped at the liquor store, picked up some wine, made a return at Costco and went home. I had a date. A date with some buttery garlic pasta, some wine and my book. Hooray books!

It was like a little slice of heaven, sitting there in my living room with nothing but the sound of the washing machine...oh, and Jul calling me to see if I was "in the area" so I could stop by Flan's and have a beer...HA! Almost was, Jul - almost was!

Saturday it rained, rained, rained - so Kev-head and I had a lazy morning. Doing laundry, picking up, sleeping on and off, reading my book, eating, sleeping, doing more laundry. At one point Kevin was in the living room soaking his sore foot and reading his bike mag, Alex was there with his laptop playing WoW, I was there reading my book. We were having family cocktail hour with no cocktails!! It was quite nice.

Saturday night was GNO (Girls Night Out) with my Roselawn mamas. We went to Abuelo's for yummy food and kick-your-ass marguaritas. Then we went to see Knocked Up. I highly recommend this - and it's not a chick-flick, either....boys will find it funny, too. There were parts where I thought I would shoot popcorn straight out of my nose. Hilarious. We didn't know where to go after that. It was 10:00 - and we were out for the evening. We didn't want to go home, and we didn't want to go to a bar full of 20-somethings, either. So we went to a dive bar. I love dive bars. Some of the best nights I've ever had have been in small rinky-dink scary looking dive bars. Hell, Flan's and the Village are dive bars and they are my favorite! We go to this bar no bigger than my office and people are bringing us stools so we have enough seats. There was karaoke and I gotta tell ya - this guy? Best selection I've ever seen. There was another table full of girls there also out for GNO, there were a lot of girls singing and having a good time. We ended up staying until 1am!

Sunday we had the end of the year party for little league and it was a great day. The kids had a blast, I got to eat good food and play games in the yard. By Sunday night I was exhausted, but it was still a great weekend.


Booooo little league games every night! Hooray GNO!! (and beer)

Here comes the sun...doo-n-doo-doo...

Here comes the sun...
And I say
It's all right...

Well, it's over. The regular season is over. I don't have to worry about a game for 2 full weeks. We ended the season 15-3. We lost two this week - there were some bad things happening since we had 3 games in a row. Last night we pitched 3 kids who had never been in the infield, let alone on the mound. We had to. We got screwed having 3 games in a row with pitch counts, etc, and the ump on Tuesday didn't help either. It was the worst.umped.game.ever. Let me put it to you this way - in the 3rd inning, Coach Kevin told the kids to stop swinging the bat. We scored 5 runs that inning. That is a poorly umped game, my friends - plus it took us 2.5 hours to play 6 innings. Yeah, ummmm, no. That's bad. It was another home team we were playing - the other coaches were just as ticked. They didn't want to win that way. Not that we played well - I think we still might have lost based on the way the kids were playing...but it was very frustrating, let me tell ya.

But you know what? Putting those kids on the mound last night - that was so fun to watch. One of them only allowed one run, struck someone out and caught an infield fly. He will never forget that. He wasn't much of a ball player when he came to us, not because he didn't have skill, but because he lacked confidence. The change in him this season - he hit 3 inside the park home runs this season. We've known this family for a long time, and it's just nice to see him with his head up. And for not having our usual pitchers on the mound? We lost 22-16 last night. And the kids had fun, they were hitting, Owen had an inside the park home run in the first inning. That was awesome.

At his last at bat, I yelled out that I'd pay him $20 if he "hit dad's truck" - my son? turns around and says "do I hear $75??" That got a lot of laughs. He ended up striking out, which saved me money so that was good. :) It's a good team, we had a good season...

Now it's time for all-stars. I have no idea what to expect. It's one of those situations where deep down, in places I don't want to talk about...I hope they lose and lose early. I want my summer to start. I want just a couple of weeks where I don't have to worry about what kid needs to be where. I just want a break.

But we all know I want them to win. Right?

I don't know how I feel about this issue...

There is a large issue that was vetoed again by Dubya - stem cell research. I will be the first to admit that I don't know where I stand on this issue. I waffle back and forth, reading up, taking into consideration all aspects, and I still don't know how I feel about it.

If it were my kids, my parents, suffering from some disease that could be eased or even cured by stem cell research - the position changes. It's so personal, it's so hard to find that line between playing God and succeeding in medicine and science. A wise person once said to me that God gave us the ability to discover the science. God also gave us the ability to build the atom bomb, but I don't think His intent was Nagasaki and Hiroshima. So this, this is where I struggle.

But the position I would not take is Dubya's. This man is an ass of the highest order. And I know this is the second post in as many days about political issues, and I know the readers I have prefer it when the blog is light-hearted and funny, but I can't let this stuff pass...

"If this bill were to become law, American taxpayers would for the first time in our history be compelled to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos," Bush said. "Crossing that line would be a grave mistake. For that reason, I will veto the bill passed today."

"Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical, and it is not the only option before us."

So let me get this straight. Destroying human life to save human life = unethical. What about the 655,000 Iraqi civilians who have died for this war that means...oh wait...we don't know what it means. What does it mean??? Why are we there? And so help me if you say the "war on terror" I will drive to where you are and shake you until you stop saying that.

According to Dubya, we can't do embryonic stem cell research, even with the potential to SAVE hundreds of thousands of people from horrific suffering with debilitating diseases and afflictions. But we can kill 655,000 (or MORE, that's just an estimate) in this "war" that no one, not even the soldiers fighting it, can explain to me.

And this from a man who comes in as a governor from a state that engages in capital punishment, btw.

The hypocrisy of it all.
*Edited to correct my number of Iraqi citizens who have lost their lives to this war.

I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me...

You don't have to approve of gay marriage to know that this is just wrong, wrong, wrong...read the whole thing, please, and consider what family means to you, and who you consider your family. If someone close to me were dying, should blood or a piece of paper matter in letting me hold that person's hand as they breathe their last? And apparently, even though they had legal medical standing, some people are so biased in their opinion on gay relationships that they still can't do what's right.

OLYMPIA — Four months ago, Lacey resident Janice Langbehn, her partner Lisa Pond and their children Katie, David and Danielle, ages 10 to 13, were set for a relaxing cruise from Miami to the Bahamas.

But Pond, Langbehn’s partner for nearly 18 years, was stricken in Miami with a brain aneurysm and died. The family says the way they were treated by hospital staff compounded their shock and grief.

Langbehn, a social worker, said officials at the University of Miami, Jackson Memorial Hospital did not recognize her or their jointly adopted children as part of Pond’s family. They were not allowed to be with her in the emergency room, and Langbehn’s authority to make decisions for Pond was not recognized.

“We never set out to change the world or change how others accept gay families,” Langbehn told the crowd at the Capital City Pride on Sunday. “We just wanted to be allowed to live equally and raise our children by giving them all the same opportunities their peers have.”

While Washington is one of a half-dozen states to recognize same-sex partnerships in some fashion, Florida is not.

Compelled to speak out

Langbehn said that the pain from losing Pond is still fresh, but she spoke at the gay pride event Sunday because the issue of legal recognition of homosexual families was too important to let go.

“I want people to be able to hold their partner’s hand in their moment of death,” she said.

Pond suffered the aneurysm just before the R Family Vacations cruise ship left Miami for the Bahamas in February, Langbehn said. After Pond was taken to the emergency room, Langbehn said she was informed by a social worker that they were in an “anti-gay state” and that they needed legal paperwork before Langbehn could see Pond.

Even after a friend in Olympia faxed the legal documents that showed that Pond had authorized Langbehn to make medical decisions for her, Langbehn said she wasn’t invited to be with her partner or told anything about her condition.

She said she wasn’t allowed to see Pond again until a priest arrived to give Pond the Anointing of the Sick, also commonly known as Last Rites.

“I was shocked. It never would have been on my radar that we wouldn’t be allowed to say goodbye,” Langbehn said. “When I was an emergency room social worker at Mary Bridge (Children’s Hospital and Health Center in Tacoma), if someone had said they were an aunt or a partner, I would have let them say their last goodbyes.”

Langbehn says she still has not been given Pond’s medical records from the hospital nor her death certificate directly from the county or the state, which affected their children’s Social Security benefits.

But she has received support from the local community and from former talk show host Rosie O’Donnell, who has e-mailed her to offer support and said she was angry over the way the family was treated. O’Donnell’s partner, Kelli O’Donnell, is a co-founder of R Family Vacations.

Capital City Pride co-chair Anna Schlecht said that Langbehn’s story drives home the reason why gays and lesbians continue to lobby for national legal recognition of their partnerships and families.

“When Janice told me the story over the phone, I started crying,” she said. “Death is hard enough. I can’t imagine having my children barred from me in the last moments of my life.”

Langbehn said attitudes changed when doctors in charge of organ donation recognized Langbehn and Pond as a couple. They accepted Langbehn’s signature on the consent forms, she said. They also allowed the children to visit with their mother, who was kept on life support while organ matches were found.

Pond, who was a volunteer with her church and with the Girl Scouts, as well as a foster mother, wished to donate her organs because she wanted to continue to give to people after her death, Langbehn said.

“I heard from the heart recipient last week,” she said. “Now he’s able to play with his grandkids again and he definitely would like to meet our family.”

I guess you're just what I needed...

I needed someone to feed....

Last night was pitch perfect. Booooo busy evenings, hooray lazy nights! The boys did a bunch of chores for me yesterday, so the house was in pretty good shape when I got home. I thought Kevin was going to have the boys on tractors when I got there, but he decided to take the night off. Hooray!

So I got home, popped a bottle of red, got out the goat cheese, some crackers and some grapes and sat down with my book. I got to READ, people...READ!!! I purchased some cedar planks at the Costco and decided to give them a whirl. I snacked and read while they were soaking, the boys jumped in the pool. We actually all relaxed quite nicely. The weather was perfect, there was a breeze keeping away any early evening mosquitoes. This is the good stuff.

After dinner (the pork chops turned out pretty good on the cedar planks!) we had a post-dinner cocktail hour on the deck, with Alex, Owen and I all reading our books of choice. Alex has started a new series and Owen picked up the Dangerous Book for Boys. If you have kids, not just boys, but kids, you should own this book. It's so fun! Julie turned me onto it and I bought it for Kev-head and the boys for Father's Day. Owen decided he wanted to learn how to make a water bomb out of a piece of paper, but couldn't figure it out on his own. So there we were, on the deck with the tiki torches going, folding a piece of paper into a water bomb. And when it actually worked? We were hooked. Alex in typical teenage fashion feigned apathy, but I think the boys will be making more of them today. Then Owen was on to coin tricks. Which then prompted us to get the magic kit out of the closet. Owen worked on magic tricks for the next two hours at least. "Owen the Magnificent" is born. And I, of course, am his lovely assistant.

A good evening was had by all - and I learned a couple of coin tricks myself.

The lazy days of summer...

Oh who am I kidding...there's no such thing. It IS summer, right? Yes - so the thermometer tells me. But seriously, lazy? No. I thought this was going to be a good weekend, a relaxing weekend. Notsomuch.

Friday found me doing laundry and trying to make my kitchen not look as if a tornado had just passed through. I am still recovering from Alex's party the weekend before. Odds and ends of colored napkins, plasticware, coffee pots tucked out of the way but not anywhere close to where they belong. Heaps of flowers not yet planted needed to find a permanent home in the ground. And yet, we decided to go and check out the Sandbur festival in Lake Village. Julie got to drive through beautiful "downtown" LV with me when we went to Owen's game a few weeks ago. And you have to laugh, because the downtown is more like a glorified neighborhood with some houses converted into a restaurant, a furniture store and the post office. And that's basically it. If I hadn't told her this was "downtown" - she wouldn't have known. Smalltown America at it's finest.

I was excited because we all know how I feel about my food from a booth, and this would be the official start of my festival season. My expectations were low - but this? This was beyond low. This wasn't even fair food. This was pitiful. Pit.i.ful. I did get some fried veggies - and they weren't horrible - but they weren't Lake County Fair quality, which is where my bar is set. You know it's bad if the highlight of my food experience was a snow cone.

This week is the last of the regular season games - tomorrow, Weds and Thurs. I won't be going to the one on Wednesday - that's the Freshman welcome picnic for Andrean. I'm already sweating what to wear. We'll save that discussion for when I'm thoroughly freaking out about it tomorrow. Oy.

Saturday found us at a ball game, selling tickets for little league at the aforementioned fair and then going to two graduation open houses.

Sunday found me melting in my garden, catching up on laundry and then driving to Lafayette to pick up the fair-haired boy. After that we had a soccer party and then home, finally to find that it had actually rained. HOORAY!! No watering the garden for me last night.

This weekend isn't looking any less busy - but the events are enjoyable...Saturday night is girls night out and Sunday is our end of the year party for baseball. Can I really have two parties with no rain? Stay tuned...

It sucks having an addictive personality...

Yeah, ummmmmm...I'm a whack job. For those of you who didn't realize this already - I truly am. Whack.job. I can get addicted to things so easily.

Chris and Julie were at the house for Alex's party - wanna know what Chris got me hooked on. Are you ready?

NASA TV.

Yeah, that's right...NASA...on television. Oh, and you can stream it on your computer as well. You can see them gearing up for their space walk right now...it's so cool. Earlier I heard them chatting it up with the Russians about the computer malfunction. It's geeky and I don't care. I'm totally sucked in.

My other new addiction? Entourage. I went to see my sister and she had the first two seasons on DVD and the third season recorded. It was like the new crack cocaine for me. I brought the first season home, and I gotta tell ya, my house is a disaster and all I wanna do is watch Jeremy Piven and the boys.

My other unhealthy obsession? Goat cheese. Don't ask - but I love the stuff and I haven't been able to find anything good around here. Well I found it at the farmer's market on Wednesday. mmmmmmmm....goat cheese. Happy little goats from right here in Indiana. It's way more expensive online than what I paid, but what's a girl to do? I have to have my fix.

Any of you sparking up any unhealthy addictions lately?

Summer reading...

Can you see the light??? Can you??? It's almost here. 4 more games! 4 more games! We're currently 13-1 which is a pretty nice place to be. So I'm looking forward, to a time when I might actually have more time and wondering, what should I read?? I'm still reading the series that Julie gave me for Christmas, and I'm confident that I'll have that finished pretty quickly. What are you reading? What do you suggest?

Even if you've already told me, tell me again - I'm going to B&N Friday, I think....suggestions!

And I don't understand why I sleep all day...

And I start to complain that there's no rain...

NO RAIN! Do you hear me? No.rain...this is the second party I have given where it hasn't rained. The first one was last Memorial Day weekend. I let Owen have a big slumber party for his birthday and I just started telling parents to stay since the weather was nice and we could all cook out. It didn't rain then, either. I started thinking that maybe it was because I kept it small and spur of the moment that I had nice weather.

This party was awesome....it was well planned, well executed...the house and the yard looked great, the food was good...I didn't have too much or too little of anything. BRILLIANT. The fireworks got a little challenging - the mortars kept blowing our tubes - that was a problem as we basically launched a couple in the direction of our party guests. Whoops.

Alex made some good money - he'll be getting his laptop soon. I told him we'd talk this week about what kind to get, how much Kevin and I will be contributing, etc. I guess this means I'd better get my wireless up and running in the house again. A task I've been putting off for months. Whoops. I have to get Owen's room up and functional as well. Part of me doesn't want to make this happen, because I like that they have to surf from the office where I can see them. BUT - part of me wants to really trust my kids. I've seen most of what they're looking at and I think they know what they can and cannot do. But then I worry that I'll see my family on "To catch a predator" and oy. Alex will be fine - it's that overly friendly Owen that I'm more concerned about. Alex wants to play WoW - Owen wants to be friends with the world. I don't know where he gets it.

Phew - it's almost over...

OMG - I guess it's because I'm doing Kathy's job over here (not well, mind you - but I am getting it done) - I'm channeling the young Kathy going into my weekend. I have lists. Multiple lists. What I'm getting at the store - written in the order of the aisles...seriously. I have a list of everything I must get done tonight. I have a list of everything I must get done in the morning. With target times. TARGET TIMES. I think I've actually one-upped my listmaking friend on that one. I'm insane. These people are riding my ass like a show pony over here and I have had a scant few minutes to organize my thoughts on getting stuff done.

I am almost done with the pity party that is me beating myself up over planning this party for this weekend. I had to sacrifice Stevie Nicks/Chris Isaak tickets, I have a meeting and a ball game in the morning. I have another party to go to in the afternoon. Alex has a party tonight.

OH MY GOD. I didn't factor that in. I have to spend 2 hours on the road tonight driving Alex to and from this party. Lovely

I'm screwed. So much for my cheery outlook...I'll let you know how it goes.

Revelling in my good fortune

First - today is Carol's last chemo treatment. Boooooo losing eyebrows and eyelashes, hooray end of chemo. She has really been a trooper through the whole thing. I'll be so glad when this is over and she gets her hair back.

These past couple of weeks have been rough - scheduling wise, work-wise, everything. And it's in these past couple of weeks that I am so grateful to be blessed with the people in my life. I have such wonderful friends and family everywhere who have helped me, have listened to me bitch and complain and just generally been around.

Like Tuesday, when Kevin and I had to miss Owen's game to go to Alex's graduation. Another coach came in and helped coach the team for us. I had not one, not two, but four different people willing to take Owen home from the ball field that night. I had two different parents, one calling Kevin's phone, one calling my phone to give us updates on the game. The family that did take Owen home that night fed him and made sure he had everything he needed.

Kevin has friends who are coming to help us set up the party on Friday night. My mom is planning on spending the day at our house on Saturday probably planting my containers and doing whatever I need to make sure the house is ready to go. My Roselawn wife is loaning me coolers to make sure I'm all set.

One of Alex's friends is having her graduation party on the Spirit of Chicago on Sunday. All I have to do is get Alex to the church on Sunday morning, and I have 3 different parents who are willing to drive him there and bring him back.

When you're a working mom, hell, even when you're not, even when you're just a busy mom with multiple kids running in multiple directions - it truly does take a village. I am truly blessed and fortunate that I have such a strong village - a fun village - sometimes a crazy village. Thank you villagers - I know some of you are out there. Have you thanked your village today?

In the thick of it now...

Okay, so I've got graduation out of the way. PHEW! What a bawl-fest THAT was. I was fine with it, I truly was. Until Alex's teacher read a children's story that left every mother/grandmother/aunt/caregiver/guardian in the place wondering why they bothered with mascara. I must own this book now. The jist of it? You never know when you're witnessing your child's last. We all take pictures and mark the firsts - they're very exciting. But do we remember the lasts? Last snuggle up and read a book, last time running through the grass barefoot, last time they look at you with wonderment about everything - would you have paid more attention? If you knew it was the last? If you knew it was the last butterfly kiss or PB&J with the crusts cut off? Would you have taken a picture if you knew it was the last mud pie or the last dress-up? The last time they wore a cape to the grocery store? Seriously - I'm welling up just telling you about it. Anyway, it was gut-wrenching and awful, but the ceremony was nice overall. Very proud of my boy.

Owen had a game last night. They won again! 11-0, baby! OMG...it's unbelievable. We have games on Thursday, Saturday and Monday. Then we get rest. REST. Post grad party rest. Post baseball game hell rest. Nothing to do. Which means my husband will probably schedule practice. But nothing for ME to do. Can you see it? The light at the end of the tunnel? It's getting brighter. Today I will be very together. Today I will order the cake and the chicken and the other food. Today I will go to the store at lunch and get all of my tablecloths and napkins. After work I will go to Costco and get everything else I need. Tonight I will get out the Christmas lights that will light up the tent. Tomorrow I will buy fireworks. I will throw the bestest party ever. EVER. (I'm really saying this more to convince myself...)

My busy schedule is now robbing me of the funny...

Holy fatigue, batman! It's almost over, it's almost over, it's almost over, it's almost over....it's my life, it's my mantra...it's all I can do to keep afloat. 100 people at my house on Saturday, and I haven't done anything. ANYTHING. No cake, no decorations, no ordering food...NOTHING. I'm pitiful. I've been so busy here at work I haven't had time to think. Luckily we already bought a big canopy tent, and before any of YOU say it...SAVE it. It's not going to rain. It's in God's hands. Seriously. It will be fine.

So between now and Saturday I have to use lunch hours and Wednesday after work to buy decorations, plates, napkins, utensils, booze, side dishes, fireworks; order cake and food, coordinate with my husband to get everything picked up and set up.

And we have graduation tonight.
And a game Thursday night.
And a game Saturday morning.
And a meeting with the church people on Saturday morning.

And it's supposed to rain all week so we can't cut the grass.

BUT - the seeds I planted in my new vegetable garden? You should see the size of the plants I have already! It's so exciting. My green beans, peas and sunflowers are all inches above the ground. It is the most wonderful thing to come home to, let me tell ya.

Wish me luck - I need it...before I pull my hair out. Once I get through this weekend I SWEAR the blog will get better and I will be funny again...promise. (That's if, of course you thought I was funny to begin with. If not, get off my blog.)

Am I ... too involved?

So I've noticed some things recently.

Women in our area will say that our PTA is a "click." Interesting. But I think we are this way because the very people that call us that have made us this way. We are the only people who show up for anything. Need volunteers for a sock hop? 10 women show up. Little league concession stand? Same women. Cub scouts, girl scouts, classroom helpers, graduation helpers, people who attend school board meetings and pta meetings...SAME WOMEN. We post and we beg and we invite all sorts of people to come, to please come, get involved, take a turn. Trust me...we would be MORE than happy to have you.

But they don't come, even when some of them express interest or say they will. We never see them.

So how can they not expect that the 10 or so of us - the women who are always there - will not become friends? Maybe socialize a bit. That makes us a click. We're perfectly nice people. Well, some of us aren't...I'm not blind...but most of us are nice people. We genuinely want your help and your ideas, and you just sit there and do nothing and then bash us for what we've done. Thanks.

And I've noticed that actually LESS parents are even coming to events. More parents are becoming "drop and run" parents. Now, not on my baseball team, but others I've seen, some in Roselawn, some elsewhere, we'll play teams where one or two parents are there. Twelve kids on a team and 2 adults are there. What? We had 6th grade graduation for 75 kids the other night. I think half of them had parents there. Huh? My dad was at the game the other night. My girlfriends, the moms of the other kids, were screaming for their kids, laughing, joking, generally having a good time. His response? "And to think I used to be so mad at my parents for never seeing my games." Oh Harry.

I know people have stuff to do, shift work, other kids in other activities. Hey, I get it. I do this. I divide and conquer. But really when I talk to people, they really don't have reasons for not attending their kids' stuff. They just drop and run. Can't they make an effort? Why aren't they? So the question is, is this generation of parents, the generation x-ers I think they are, just so apathetic as left over from the 90's, or am I too involved?