Well, hell, you'd think we were, what with all the important strategic planning going on over here at the moment. Did you know the Shuttle is launching today? We blessedly live close enough to see it from home. However, we saw one last year from the beach and it was nothing short of spectacular. This time we wanted to be closer. At least, I thought we did. Now with all the complaining about finding fishing poles and what will WE DO all that time we are WAITING (closer means not on the fun sandy beach) I am beginning to think our local news station is close enough. I'm not sure even the experts at NASA could arrange the details at this late hour.

More on the News at 11:00pm.

It is indeed ironic that we spend our school days yearning to graduate and our remaining days waxing nostalgic about our school days. ~Isabel Waxman

For the next 7 weeks there's going to be a lot of this going around.
Michele: Did you lose weight?
Romy: Actually, I have been trying this new fat free diet I invented. All I've had to eat for the past six days are gummy bears, jelly beans, and candy corns.
Michele: God, I wish I had your discipline.

Yep, it's gonna be just like that, except without the lying about inventing post it notes, because the movie ruined that for everyone!

One of my BFFs from high school is flying down to hit our 20th Reunion with me. We are making it a girl's weekend. Mainly because the people planning it apparently have no kids or their kids are now in *high school and they no longer need sitters, because there is not one single family friendly event all weekend. In fact there's only a Happy Hour on Friday night and a Dinner Saturday night. Both of which are horribly over priced. Okay, I was not on the committee, did not volunteer to help, and will not complain again about the events planned. Moving on now.

Knowing my alma mater there will be a lot of this going around too.
Christie: Sandy, hi! You look so rich! I mean, great!

Okay.

Moving.

On.

Now.

There's also going to be much of this.
Michele, Romy: [singing along to radio] Cut loose! Footloose! Kick off your sunday shoes!
[they both trail off and look at each other]
Romy: I have no idea what the rest of the lyrics are...

Seeing as we went to high school in a small beach town about 90 miles from here, she's going to fly into Orlando and we will get to ROAD TRIP down for the reunion. I think I will need to be mixing me some 80's cds for the ride. 1.5 hours in the car with NO KIDS, maybe those reunion planners were onto something here.

And I just put this at the top of my movie rental queue. Since You've Been Gone. I remember seeing it right around my 10th Reunion and dying laughing. Thought it would be good for us girls to watch during our weekend, maybe after we sleep in til noon! Oh yeah, the reunion planners totally knew what they were doing!

* People in my class could have kids who have graduated from high school and not even been teen parents. People in my class could be grandparents. Dear gracious, have I mentioned lately... OLDER THAN DIRT?!

This week's true confession, is actually from this week. I got good hair ya'll. Shocking, I know!

So Saturday afternoon I got my hair did. Colored, highlighted, cut, blown out and straightened. And it looked good! Sunday morning I got up and ran the flat iron over the top layer and headed out to "the farm". Monday I checked my hair out, and damn it still looked good! So I whipped out that flat iron and straightened the front again. Tuesday, ditto. This morning, well hell, the hair was a bit flatter than it had been before, but still not looking greasy, so I got one more day from the same "do". I know you are thinking, skank! No way her hair still looked good, but check my birthday comments, Drama said " Your hair looks great! " and this afternoon was the first time she's seen me since last week! Now I admit 4 nights is extreme, but I often go 2, sometimes even 3, without washing my hair. One of the few joys of getting older is that the greasy wash it EVERY DAY hair is gone! So that's my confession, I don't wash my hair everyday day. And before you ask, yes I still shower, I'm not that nasty!

So anyone feel like confessing? Leave me a comment with your confession or a link to where you've decided to come clean in your own blog.

It's my birthday too, yeah.

All my life I wanted to know someone who shared my birthday. There were always people one day after or the week before, but I never met anyone who was also born on May 28th. Then I got married. Dear gracious, would you believe I share my birthday with my father in law? Me neither. I try to block it from my mind as much as possible. But every year, there it is.

My hubby says the reason we don't get along is because of that shared birthday, we are just too much alike. I say our not getting along boils down to this: his father believes the whole world revolves around him.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, back to MY blog about ME and MY birthday! If ya'll remember I got a beautiful new camera back a few weeks ago, on Mother's Day. I thought I'd share some pictures I took with my new present out on "the farm" celebratin' the birthdays.


We call FIL Grandpa on the farm. He has about 5 acres, some of which have lovely fruit trees. And this weekend the citrus trees were getting lucky. Butterflies and bees were pollinating all over the place.
The only saving grace of having to head out there almost every Memorial Day (sometimes a girl just has a headache) is the peaches.

Look at them, all fuzzy and ripe, in bunches like grapes, there are so many of them. And know what? That is absolutely the only time to pick them. By the first of June they will be over ripe and falling off the trees. We brought home 2 bags, one of which went into a cobbler, happy birthday to me!

They are without a doubt the most delicious peaches I have ever had in my life. And so juicy you can not bite into them without juice running all down your chin.


Just look at these pictures taken 4 years ago of Brooke. I have equally as juicy pictures of Breanna the same day, but somehow it's not as cute of the messy 5 year old as it is of the "BABY". Yes that purplish juice all over her shirt is from the peach. See the look in her eye? That is her peach and I better only be taking a picture, cause she ain't sharin' it!So the point? I am older than dirt... um 38 years old today. And guess what I'm doing to celebrate? Getting my oil changed. Not even kidding! Such is the life of a mom!

Oh before you start feeling sorry for little ol' me, I suppose I should tell ya that I spent a large part of Sat. gettin my hair did, plus, Monday I got some alone time. And in addition to my camera I got some spiffy new brown and pink Reef flip flops, and $100 to spend at Kohls. But best of all my lovely SIL and hubby came over for the weekend and watched our girls while hubby and I went on a birthday date. We had yummy sushi and saw Iron Man. What more could a girl ask for than raw fish and Robert Downey Jr?

Oh hell! How did it get to be Tuesday again?
That Memorial Day, she is a big tease! We are so ready for summer!
No touch ups or photoshopping here. This is how freakin beautiful it is today at the ENTRANCE to our neighborhood.

Of course this made it very hard to get motivated for the PENULTIMATE week of school.

Same beautiful day doesn't look as fun at the ENTRANCE to her school.

And there you have it the Weekly Words Challenge, words courtesy of Tink at Pickled Beef. Go check it out. You know you want to play!

"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning."
-Catherine Aird-

Too bad that doesn't count as a workout!

For the past month or so my hubby has been talking about this new gadget for the Wii, you may have heard of it. Wii Fit? Yeah, so, ho-hum, another piece of exercise equipment the kids will beg to use more than I do. Fold away, lookin' at you here. Great, approximately $100 for a toy.... um balance board to shove into the already crowded space under our entertainment center. Surely the DDR pad is lonely under there and needs a boyfriend. Are you following along here? Me neither. He kept talking and I kept uh huh-ing. Wednesday morning he gives it one last shot with a phone call telling me Jeff at the office is buying a Wii Fit, like RIGHT NOW! AND... they have more! Do I want him to rush right over and get us one? Um, let me think...nope. This is what I had imagined Wii Fit to be (how these people got into my brain I'll never know! Scary ain't it?)



Then my cyber friend "Raven" over at Just Expressive got a Wii Fit. And she was all, it's so fun. You all see where this is going right? I call hubby at work. Paraphrased actual conversation, because Hello this was two days ago, I can not possibly recall word for word, but you'll get the idea.

Me: That Wii Fit thing-a-ma-gig, can you still get me one?
Hubby: I doubt it. Besides you didn't want one.
Me: Yeah, but Raven said it was fun.
Hubby: Raven, huh, Did you even watch the videos I told you about?
Me: Um no, but she said there were like games, and most important you can password protect your info.
Hubby: Been telling you this for awhile.
Me: And your point?
Hubby: Could've had one this morning had you been paying attention.
Me: So you can't get one on the way home?
Hubby: Again, pay attention, everyone wants one! There will be none left.
Me: Could you check?
Hubby: Whatever.

I was hoping that since they work in a bad part of town, and pricey items like that don't exactly fly out the door, seeing as it's too big to shoplift and all, they might still have one. So now? Kicking myself in the ass, because of course, none left.

This new little feature at For the Love of Pete has turned into a fun topic. Thanks to all of you who are playing along in the comments section. And double thanks to Jason who posted his own hysterical confession this week. He couldn't wait for Thursday, but I forgive him, because I'm totally his fangirl!

Now on to this week's confession. I often wait until we get our tax refund to pay our HOA dues. Then I pay for 3 quarters in one big fat check. Yes, we are supposed to pay quarterly. Yes, this means January and April's payments are late. Okay, January is way late. But hey, July is usually early, so it all evens out, right? And my account is cleared of any holds just about the time we want to start using the community pool.

So anyone feel like confessing? Leave me a comment with your confession or a link to where you've decided to come clean in your own blog.

I am, as most moms, the family's social secretary. I have a regular wall calendar strategically placed in my laundry room, between my back door and my kitchen, so I have to pass it many times a day. I write down birthdays, appointments, vacations, etc. As an extra reminder I have a chalk board in my kitchen I update with the weekly events. Yet somehow I still forget some things, like the first day of Breanna's teacher appreciation week. If the child would quit hording things in her backpack that would help, but she's 9, and it's not my job. Not to mention, I'm fairly certain reaching inside there would require me to get special vaccinations of some kind!

I also have iCal on my computer, and when I remember to, I add things to it. I just don't find it user friendly, (*GASP* I just said something negative about an "i") however my hubby syncs his with mine, so I try to at least get family functions on there. Lately I've had that calendar open a lot. First I was trying to figure out dates for our summer vacation. Then I was checking the dates of my 2oth (dear Pete, I am old) class reunion. All this info is in emails or online and while I am here on my comfy couch, with my laptop MACkenzie that is the most accessible calendar. So as I was trying to figure out the best timing for haircuts between now and then, and how many weeks I had to drop those couple hundred pounds I've gained since high school. Oh come on, realistically I have as much chance of loosing what I'd ultimately like to in the next 8+weeks as I do a couple hundred pounds, and how much that may be is none of your 'bidness.

But back to the subject, I figured out why I still cling to my wall calendar. It's much easier to flip the pages and count the weeks than it is on my desktop computer. This is my obsession, (Okay, add it to the list of many. Moving on now.) figuring out how long it has been since or how long until some event, any event. So I then told my computer guru hubby that I want my iCal to figure it out for me. Because what is the point of having a guru for a hubby if he can't MAKE IT DO THAT?! I mean iCal can figure out a recurring event the 2nd Wednesday of the month for foreseeable future, Bunko, I'm looking at you. So is it too much to ask that if I input two dates, it spit back out the time between the two? I think my hubby thought I was a bit crazy, of course that's nothing new, but he apparently actually listened when I explained why this would make my desktop calendar the greatest thing EVAH. And would you believe the next day I got an email from him with a link to where someone came up with something similar using Google calendar to plan haircut appointments? Who knew I wasn't the only freak counting weeks on my calendar?

Of course once I pry that iPhone out of my hubby's hands this may become a mute point, because "the phone knows!" Okay, I'll still be saddled with the joy that is iCal, but at least it will fit in my purse!

So are you all computer savvy bloggers still using a paper calendars or do you use your computer as a huge day planner now? Oh, why am I asking you? You probably all have hugely complicated CrackBerrys and text people and such. Did I mention, OLD?

On a sort of related note: I think it took me 5 minutes to text "Congrats!" on my cell phone in response to a birth announcement from a good friend. Apparently you can not teach old dogs new tricks. I am leaving texting to the yutes!

It's Tuesday and you know what that means. Pictures! The words this week were
Regret and Pure.


I regret eating so many of these delicious cookies my hubby made.

Then I went to stand on this scale....REGRET.

Pure Extracts for baking things like the aforementioned cookies.

Pure Honey.
I'm hungry.
Bonus photo: Pure Diva!

If you want to play along go check out Tink at Pickled Beef for more info.

Okay, time for a DISCLAIMER refresher : I've already confessed to reading just about anything, and that I pretty much like any book I find entertaining.
DISCLAIMER #2: I suppose it's as good a time as any to fess up to liking books normally in the Juvenile section at the library. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, I'm looking at you here. And we all know Harry Potter was written for tweens, whether we chose to believe it or not. I'll also read virtually anything written by Carl Hiassen, even if it's in the kid's section.

Now that you know that dirty little secret (and it's not even Thursday) my quickie book review is on The Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot. Likeable characters, fun story, happy ending. What more could I want? Very much a Princess Diaries for adults. Where adults is translated to people old enough to vote.

Any book that starts out like this

I can't believe this. I can't believe I don't remember what he looks like! How can I not remember what he looks like? I mean, his tongue has been in my mouth. How could I forget what someone whose tongue has been in my mouth looks like? It's not like there've been that many guys who've had their tongues in my mouth.
HAS to be fun to read, right? Add in references to naked ass photos, pity bjs and how people who pay $60 for a pair of flip flops are trying too hard, and you've got yourself a LOL book.

So if you liked any of the previously mentioned books you should give Queen of Babble a try. And bonus there is a SECOND book, which makes for the start of a series!

That brings us to DISCLAIMER #3: In case you hadn't noticed, my favorite books? The ones that are part of a series! I just love an ongoing drama.

Tag! I'm It!

I was tagged for this Meme by my fellow Floridian blogger Domestic Spaz.

Favorite person (outside family)? I can't possibly limit myself to one person like this! The.Pressure.

Favorite food? Just one? Not possible. Monte Cristo sandwich, London Broil with carmelized onions, Chocolate tres leches cake, just for starters.

Quirks about you? I can not sit still, I fidget all the time.

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? Gemini

Any regrets in life?
Nope, all I have done has made me who I am today.

Favorite Charity/ Cause? I tend to be a bit skeptical of charities, where the monies go etc. so I like to help out my kid's teachers by buying classroom supplies.

Favorite Blog recently? The Jason Show his story is so compelling, much better than any novel I've read lately. And he tells it all with an amazing sense of humor.

Something you can’t get enough of? Hugs and kisses from my girls. I am watching them grow up so fast, I know the lovies won't last much longer.

Worst job you’ve ever had? I worked in a vet's office where he would purposely make customers wait on him while he was doing important things like reading the paper or listening to those of us at the front desk through the phone intercom (he thought we didn't know he was eavesdropping).

What job would you pay NOT to have? Geez, that's just asking the fates for trouble. I'd never want to be a school bus driver or a middle school teacher. Both important jobs, and both involve unruly kids who don't belong to me. I can barely handle my own two most days.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? Any friend's house after we've left when they talk about how crazy/weird we are and how they really feel about our kids.

Favorite Bible verse right now? Judge not, that ye be not judged -Matthew 7:1

Guilty Pleasure? Reality TV, specifically ones where hot young things live, drink and makeout together on a regular basis. ie Paradise Hotel and The Real World.

Got any confessions? Those are reserved for Thursdays.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? My hair, for months. Fake nails for months. And perhaps some expensive new flip flops.

Favorite thing about your house? All of it, when it's clean.

Least favorite thing about your house? That it is rarely clean. More closet space would help with that.

One thing you are bad at? All sports. I don't like to sweat and I am completely uncoordinated.

One thing you’re good at? Writing, I think.

If you could change something about your circumstances, what? Better physical condition

Who would you like to meet someday? Rosie O'Donnell

What makes you feel sexy? That would be a who. My hubby.

Who is your real life hero? Real life as in someone I actually KNOW? Juile L., she is in fact the truly good person she seems to be. And she doesn't feel compelled to tell the world what a wonderful person she is. The way she lives her life speaks for her.

What is the hardest part of your job? Not the hardest, just the part I put off the most, housework.

When are you most relaxed? On our yearly vacation at the beach.

What stresses you out? Being late.

What can you not live without? My family.

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? Who, me?!

Why do you blog? 'Cause everyone who's anyone is blogging these days. I just want to be one of the cool kids.

Who are you tagging? I'm going to opt out on the tagging. If you are interested, then TAG you're IT!

Okay - rules:

1. Answer the questions (Did I really have to include this as a rule? Duh!)
2. Link back to whoever tagged you
3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category.
New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)
Bloggy friends
Bloggers you’d like to get to know better
Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will


Good luck and have fun!

You know how that MacGyver guy defused a highly advanced nuclear warhead using a paper clip to short circuit the timing device? Me neither, since I never really watched the show... but I'm sure it was exactly like that. Except for a whole hellavu a lot more laughing and someone was screaming like a girl. Yeah, um that might have been me.

Now let me set the record straight, I still think my dear hubby should've come to rescue me, his damsel in distress. Alas, he thought a little thing called his job was more important, which of course had me cursing his name A LOT. So the we in this scenario refers to me and Drama. And let me tell you, Drama is one of the bestest friends a girl could EVAH have! Really, you think your friends might be better than my friend? Would they come over to your house and spend the afternoon helping you wrangle a 2 1/2 foot snake? Nope, didn't think so. I so WIN!

Yep, you read that right. There was "A big ass black snake in my kitchen!" I believe that's what I was yelling in my cell phone from the safety of my garage to Drama. I can't be certain seeing as the hysteria took over as soon as I realized her husband, who usually works from home (by the way he enjoys getting phone calls from the local mommies to trap lizards and kill bugs, really he does!) was out of town until that evening. The hell! What good is that man if his isn't at home?! The phone ... so not necessary. Drama lives around the block, and I'm sure could have heard me had she just stood near her back door. And I'm going take this opportunity to come clean right now and tell everyone I am not near as good a friend as she is! I so would've gone with a "good luck with that" and a hearty laugh had the situation be reversed. But for reasons not understood, yet greatly appreciated by me, Drama took my call as the cry for help it was. And damned if she didn't drag herself and her mismatched shoe wearing small child over to my house to figure out how to trap a snake. And that ladies and gentlemen is how Drama ended up my partner, part of my WE, in the escapades that spawned the Riddle Me This featurettes.

So Drama comes over with the biggest freakin flashlight I've ever seen. Because apparently first, she had to confirm presence of said Big Ass Black Snake. Like I'd lie! Of course he found a lovely spot in the dead space between two of my kitchen cabinets to hide in. I did take picture of where we found him, but I'm serious when I say I don't know what was scarier the snake under the counter or the dirt, therefore that piece of evidence has been destroyed.

Don't worry there are other pictures of Mr. Snake. Because while I say we, what I should really be saying is Drama wrangled a snake in my kitchen while I took a shitload of pictures and video and handed her things. Oh, I also tended to a few boo boos. Not to worry, not ours. Did I forget to mention we had our little sidekicks, her almost 4 year old and my 5 year old running around? I'm sure you can imagine just how helpful this was, "Where is the snake?" "I can't SEE HIM under there!" "Let him out" "We're hungry" "SHE WON'T SHARE!" while trying to convince Mr. Snake to slither out of his protective space and out the door.

Here's how it went down. Short of pulling the faux wood kick plates off my cabinets we really had NO idea what to do. I thought maybe we could just put some tape over the hole he entered through and wait for my hubby to come home from work and take care of things. Then my ever so helpful partner in this thing called life, says to me, his slightly hysterical wife, "But what if there's a hole somewhere you can't see and he gets out?" "Really? Well, if you think that's possible maybe you should come home NOW!" was my response. Okay, add a few select curse words where ever you deem necessary, use your imaginations people, and that's how I really replied before I hung up on his ass! Damned if the man didn't have a point though.



As it turns out Drama found that the wall of the cabinet under my kitchen sink only went about 3/4 of the way to the top. Leaving a gap large enough to stick her hand, and my camera through, among other things, but I'm jumping ahead here. And yes, Drama was practically sitting under my kitchen sink to take this picture. I TOLD ya'll she was a good friend.


This of course made it imperative for us to figure out how to coax out the snake and trap him, before he slithered out of the cabinets and into some unthinkable place in my house... just waiting to give me a heart attack.



We figured the best way to get him out was to irritate the hell out of him. Did I mention that although we wanted to get him out no one actually wanted to be too close to him or actually, oh dear, TOUCH him! Drama was completely ready to step on him if necessary though. Did I mention GOOD FRIEND?! Thus, how we came up with the idea of throwing things through the space under the sink at him. Now keep in mind the space he is in is not really accessible by us, so it had to be something we could a) live without forevah and b) would not melt, ooze, or stink any time in the next 100 years give or take. This is where the pennies come in. Yes, we threw pennies at Mr. Snake. And as they bounced off the walls and concrete floor it sounded like this... clink. When one hit Mr. Snake it sounded like this... thud. OMG! The more pennies we - who am I kidding here? She threw. The funnier this got. We seriously had to make frequent trips to the bathroom (we have given birth to 5 kids between us, give us a break here) to keep from peeing our pants. Sure enough this did get Mr. Snake to stick his head back out the hole and flick his tongue at us. But he wasn't ticked off enough at us to come out and brave the kitchen. The carpet freshener was another irritant we figured couldn't hurt to pour in there to get him to move. Well, at least my cabinet smells nice. I figured that he wanted to leave the clean linen smelling, penny raining hole, since he kept eyeballing us. But he really had no place else to go, because obviously he would need another dark secluded safe spot. Think I missed my calling as an animal psychologist?

Then I got THE idea. I'm telling you, my only worthwhile contribution to the entire capture was what will forever be referred to as the white trash snake trap. Yep, a pillow case, packing tape and some string, which Drama pointed out I forgot to add in my riddle. (As if that would've given ya'll the hint you needed to figure it all out.) I know! Who knew we were so damned resourceful?! Drama taped the pillowcase over the entrance to the hidey spot then continued the penny toss. I was safely across the room, "watching the pillowcase". Uh huh. After ever few clink, clink, thuds Drama would take a picture in the hole, to see if Mr. Snake was moving towards the trap.

Then she took this photo.

Oh SHIT! Where the HELL did he go?

In my head I was thinking OMG he slithered past the pillowcase and is curled up under the lip of the cabinet.That Drama.Is.Sitting.On! But I didn't say that out loud 'til she had moved. She wasn't amused. Turns out, that no he wasn't under there. He HAD to be in that pillowcase, but we NEVER saw it move. Until... it moved! This would be where someone, um yeah that'd be me, screamed like a girl!




That big ass flashlight came in handy as it was thrown over the open end of the pillowcase to keep Mr. Snake inside while I took some pictures of our fancy trap. Cause I'm helpful like that. Okay, so we hadn't really thought through what happened after we caught him. Because really did you think we would actually catch a snake in a pillowcase? We realized we needed to tie the pillowcase shut and I found some string. This would be where I was yelling at Drama a wee bit. See she was standing on the pillowcase and I didn't want her to move her foot, which of course she was doing so I could get the string tied, but I wasn't exactly rational when that close to a pissed off snake.

After that I took a couple videos like the Riddle Hint while we decided where to let Mr. Snake loose. We tossed the kids in my car, Drama held the string tight on the pillow case and we drove to Mr. Snake's new home. Then we set him free, completely unharmed, but perhaps a bit sweeter smelling. And I threw away an almost perfectly good pillowcase. The End.



Stayed tuned this week for potential additional blog topics that have emerged from the snake adventures. Compelling stories such as "Did you really think I would leave work to come home and catch that snake?" alternate working title "A snake is just a snake, it wasn't poisonous, what's the big deal?" And the
she said rebuttal piece "Dead due to a venomous snake bite or a heart attack. Is.Just.As.DEAD!" And to complete the series I'm thinking of a follow up "Post Traumatic Snake Disorder: Why I have to peek around the door to enter my kitchen."

"If you don't have the right equipment for the job, you just have to make it yourself."-- MacGyver

This would be the pillowcase in question.

What can you do with 25 pennies, carpet freshener (clean linen scent of course), a pillow case, and packing tape?

Come on you know you want to guess!

What goes clink, clink, thud?

Put your guesses in the comments.

I got a pretty good response to my first True Confessions Thursday, so I'm back for Round #2.

I think this week I'll go with one that I included with my Mom of the Year entry. Wonder why no one ever contacted me about the award ceremony? I'm sure the Trophy is being engraved as we speak.

Anyway, I have been known, on more than one occasion, to give my kids Benadryl when they weren't sick... um, just to make them sleepy.
For example: an unnamed friend (this is not her confession, but she can own up to it in the comments, she knows who she is) and I wanted to take our "big" girls to a movie we didn't think the little girls would enjoy. We decided it would be a good idea to take them near naptime. Dark, cool theater, snuggled on mommy's lap, boring movie, great time to nap, right? For insurance that they would actually fall asleep instead of spending the entire two hours whining and kicking the seat in front of them we decided a little Benadryl never hurt them before. And I am sure everyone in the theater appreciated our thoughtfulness. You are all welcome.

Anyone else feel like confessing? Leave me a comment with your confession or a link to where you've decided to come clean in your own blog.

Sex or Santa?

Which comes first?

Actual conversation:

Me: While Bre and I were driving to get the camera today I thought it would be a great time for a little birds and bees talk.
Brian: Good idea, she's captive and can't run away from you.
Me: So do you think it's time to tell Breanna about sex?
Brian: Do you think we should tell her there's no Santa first?

OMG! I am then hysterical telling Brian of how that conversation will go down.


me: Breanna this is how babies are made...
pause, as it registers... being we have 2 children her parents must have done such a thing at least twice...
Breanna: EWWW!
me: Oh and while we are having such a grown up talk I thought I'd tell you there is no Santa, Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy.
Breanna's head explodes.
The End.


ME: Sex or Santa, that's...
IN UNISON: A great idea for a blog!

My first WWC with my new camera. And damned if I wasn't totally uninspired by this week's words. Well, until this morning after I got rid of... um, sent the children to school.
The words of the week are compliments of the Lovely Tink.

Without further ado SEVEN and EARTH.
Doing a small part to help out the EARTH.

The lack of rain is making for a lot more EARTH and much less pond.

7 monkey bars in the little portion of the EARTH we call our backyard.

The size 7 shoes I wear when walking on this EARTH.


Come on, you know you'd like to play with us.

My New Toy

Okay, I am at a loss for tomorrow's WWC. I got nothing. But I have been taking pictures trying to learn how to use my new camera. Which is way fun. Here's a few samples to hold you until I find something representing earth and seven.

One of my 2 favorite subjects.

Some flowers out front.

And... I found my macro setting.

That's all I got for now. Later faithful readers.

  • That cold? Kicked my ass. Slept from 6:30 pm Friday night to 8:00am Saturday morning.
  • Spent Saturday in my pjs.
  • Little sidekick began referring to her nightgown as her uniform. She is SO my child.
  • Finished my fun book. (stay tuned for a quickie review later this week)
  • Had hot and yummy made to order breakfast on Sunday morning at the completely civil hour of 9:30am.
  • Note to mothers of smaller kids than mine: I've had my share of cold toast and soggy cereal. Wait a few years, the breakfasts will get better.
  • Bought a new spiffy camera. Will likely never learn to use all it's fun features.
  • Took 3 drive-bys to find entrance to parking lot to the store I bought camera from online.
  • Note to self: Store near large upscale mall may indeed have ghetto clientele.
  • ANTM and Deadliest Catch marathons, enough said.
  • Dad is great, he gave us chocolate cake. (bonus points to anyone who knows this reference)
  • Kisses and hugs abound for mommy.
  • Girls to bed with no stalling in time for mommy to watch all 3 hours of Survivor!
  • Note to my little family: Thank you for making me a mommy, without you I'd have no Mother's Day, it was such a nice relaxing family weekend. I love you all so much!
  • ps Note for my birthday: 2 words: alone time

Children seldom misquote you. They more often repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. -Mae Maloo

Mother's Day

On this Mother's Day weekend (Hey, I'm the mom and I say we should celebrate a whole weekend, not just one day.) I give ya'll this gift of my favorite youtube video EVAH! It is proof that we will never, no matter how old they are, be able to get a GOOD picture of our children TOGETHER.


So I've noticed a lot of bloggers pick a certain day of the week and dedicate it to the same subject every week. As we've previously established I am so not original. I already took my friend Drama's idea of using one day just for quotes. She posts them on Wednesday and compiles a group of quotes about one subject. I being much lazier just pick one to post on Saturday. Anyway, I am dubbing Thursdays for True Confessions. NOT that kind people! Get those minds out of the gutter. That's a whole 'nother kind of blog! I'm thinking parenting, housekeeping, work type confessions.

So here's my confession for this very first True Confessions Thursday.
I have been known on occasion to throw away food, container and all from the fridge because I am either a) too lazy to pour out the contents, rinse the container and put it in the dishwasher b) the dishwasher is already full or clean c) because I can no longer identify contents of said container and do not want to try the smell test.

Anyone else feel like confessing? Leave me a comment with your confession or a link to where you've decided to come clean in your own blog.

*The google searches from this phrase should be enough for another whole post!

So Sue Me

I changed my mind. When I started blogging here I knew I was too lazy to keep up with nicknames for all my family members. Plus I already told all my friends about my blog, cause I have a big mouth. Anyway, at the time I thought the next best thing was to not post pictures of my family. Then after writing an entire post about googling anyone and everyone I know, I realized all my sites are linked in some way or another, 6 degrees of separation and all that. And I'm not exactly trying to hide from anyone to begin with. Bottom line? The truth is I take tons of pictures of my family and like to share them. So I'm gonna, and you can't stop me!

Now that we got that out of the way, today we have a little show and tell. This post is for all of you who checked out my WWC and wanted to know about our unique little pets. I made this little scrapblog about a year ago, right after we got the boys.

The challenge is to find pictures that illustrate the weekly words chosen by the lovely Tink at Pickled Beef. This week we were looking for Three and Fire.

I'm running a bit late, but better late than never, right? I'll admit this week I did not get any new pictures. So I hunted through my iphoto and here's what I came up with.


The three puppies Brooke sleeps with.


Three of our degus.


Fireworks on 4th of July.


Want to play too? You can get more info at Pickled Beef.

100 Things for my 100th Post
  1. Okay so... apparently, I am not original. I copy everyone else's creative ideas including blog posts.
  2. I was born in Miami, FL. Which makes me one of the few, the proud, the native Floridians.
  3. I was adopted by my parents when I was 2 1/2 years old.
  4. I have no desire to find my birth parents or family, although if someone finds me I would meet with them.
  5. My niece is also adopted.
  6. I am 16 years younger than my only sister.
  7. My father called me "chicken" as a kid. I was indeed shy.
  8. As a teen I became "turkey". I have no idea why, the man just likes nicknames.
  9. I started my period in the 4th grade.
  10. I pray my daughters do not!
  11. From kindergarten through 9th grade I lived in Lakeland and went to school with the same kids.
  12. We moved to Vero Beach the summer before I started high school. I hated it.
  13. In my very first high school class, there was a guy who looked just like Jake Ryan. All of the sudden I loved it there.
  14. I took three years of spanish in high school. I can count to about 39 in spanish. And I can ask for a beer. Then I can inquire where the bathroom is. That is all. 3 years people!
  15. The Jake Ryan look a like also went to the same college I did and my friends would drool when he would talk to me on campus.
  16. I was a straight A student until high school.
  17. I took American History in summer school, by choice, to avoid getting a teacher I hated.
  18. That American History class was taught by a football coach, we folded uniforms, played trivial pursuit and watched Gone with the Wind. Not surprisingly I have very little knowledge of American History.
  19. My math and verbal SAT scores were exactly the same.
  20. I have never liked science. My knowledge of all things scientific boils down to this. Electricity? I pay the bill, I plug things in, they work. The end.
  21. I was on yearbook staff in high school, it prepared me more for college than any other class I took.
  22. I was so tan my senior year of high school my friends surmised I must have some african american relatives in my birth family.
  23. I went on a senior cruise to Mexico. Not with my own senior class, but with a friend's.
  24. I worked and babysat a lot to pay for it myself.
  25. No one has ever been allowed to "hitch" along on the senior cruise with Lakeland High School since.
  26. I went drinking with friends the night before my calculus AP test.
  27. I took 3 AP tests before college.
  28. I started college with 0 credits.
  29. I had to take calculus in college twice despite making As and Bs in high school calculus.
  30. I picked the college I attended because it's where my friends were going.
  31. I went to college because I honestly didn't know I had a choice, everyone in my family went to college.
  32. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life at 18 or even 22. I can say now I pretty much wasted the opportunity for an exceptional college education.
  33. But I have a BS in Business from the University of Florida, because it was the path of least resistance.
  34. I am a former "bow head" aka Sorority Girl.
  35. I will forever be, in my heart, an Alpha Chi Omega.
  36. I hope one day at least one of my daughters will be an Alpha Chi too.
  37. I was also a little sister at Lambda Chi Alpha. Which basically means I drank there often and kissed many brothers.
  38. I will forever be a GATOR fan.
  39. I get annoyed when people don't know the difference between the University of Florida (GO GATORS) and Florida State University (boo seminoles).
  40. However, I can't even keep straight the difference between the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma University and my parents went to one or the other.
  41. I hate people who support a big school football team just because. If you do not live in a college town, no one in your family went there, or went to the rival school, why the hell do you freakin' care? Go watch the NFL!
  42. I am a klutz with absolutely no athletic ability what-so-ever.
  43. I do amazingly enough have good aim and am fairly good at target shooting.
  44. I have smoked one cigarette in my life, blech.
  45. I have smoked more than one joint in my life, blah.
  46. I have an open container that was expunged from my record in 1992.
  47. I have to state every year on my application to volunteer at my daughter's school that I have an open container that was expunged from my record in 1992.
  48. I have worked in a library.
  49. I have worked in a veterinarian's office.
  50. I was a runner for a law office.
  51. I worked at Sea World of Texas taking photos at the front gate.
  52. I was once turned down for an assistant librarian job because my score on the librarian's test was too high. Go figure.
  53. I have been the manager of both major card retail stores (Hallmark and American Greetings).
  54. There I learned I hate being responsible for other people.
  55. I was also once the manager of a small independently owned store that sold fun tropical stuff, we listened to Jimmy Buffett all day, and life was good.
  56. I worked for a not-for-profit association dealing with laser safety.
  57. I still know next to nothing about lasers And I hate laser light shows.
  58. I once drank a margarita on the top of the Mexico building at Epcot during a laser light show.
  59. I worked at a payroll company. Funny enough I can figure out payroll deductions without a computer program. At least training for one job stuck with me.
  60. I have known Brian since I was 6 years old, we went to the same church and became friends in Luther League.
  61. I had a crush on him then, he says he also liked me.
  62. We were friends and didn't date until we were in college.
  63. Our first kiss was in my ex-boyfriend's apartment my junior year of college.
  64. We didn't date after that because I knew he could be "the one" and I wasn't done having fun yet.
  65. My type of guy in college was dark haired with a nice car, usually Jewish.
  66. The only 2 men I ever even entertained the idea of marrying, both German, Lutheran, and blonde.
  67. I dated a few boys before I settled down with Brian.
  68. I slept with many boys before I settled down with Brian.
  69. I kissed a whole hellava lot of boys before I settled down with Brian.
  70. When I settled down with Brian I KNEW he was what I wanted for FOREVER.
  71. Much in the same way that I know my favorite dessert is chocolate tres leches cake and I could eat it every night, forever.
  72. And I love him more now than I did then. Today he is my best friend too.
  73. I dislike hypocrites above all others.
  74. We don't go to church often now, too many issues with organized religion. And don't get me started on the people who claim to be Christians while spouting intolerance and hate.
  75. I have no desire to travel internationally, ever. But there are many places in the US that I would love to visit.
  76. I hate coconut and mushrooms.
  77. I do not like coffee. But I do like iced coffee with lots of cream and sugar and artificial flavors. And I like things coffee flavored, like ice cream.
  78. I like roller coasters the bigger the better. I can not ride on the carousel, round and round makes me barfy.
  79. I am a huge sap! I've been known to cry over a good long distance commercial.
  80. I throw a theme kid's party like no other!
  81. I have a knack for decorating and love to spend other people's money. I may have missed my calling.
  82. I can sew. I am better at copying something and making my own pattern than following one.
  83. I can also cut and style hair fairly well for having no training. I am the master of the french braid, and I have even been known to corn row my daughter's hair for vacation.
  84. I've always been fairly good at and really liked photography.
  85. I don't know if I love my computer or my tv more.
  86. I am addicted to diet coke.
  87. I am an animal lover. I am currently "mom" to 4 degus, 1 chinchilla and a big old black lab. I'd have more if money and divorce weren't a problem.
  88. I am a lazy house keeper.
  89. I have no non-vital organs left. I've lived with out my appendix since I was 4.
  90. My tonsils were taken out when I was 22.
  91. And I have no gallbladder, it was taken out when I was 33, merely months after Brooke was born.
  92. All the women in my immediate family (grandmother, mom, sister, me, and BreANNa) have the name Ann somewhere in our names, except Brooke. Whoops, didn't think that one through.
  93. I don't ever really want to go back to work, at all, ever. But I probably will, only part time though, I want to be around to torture my girls through adolescence.
  94. I had gestational diabetes while pregnant with Brooke. I had to prick my finger 4 times a day and give myself insulin shots at night for my last trimester.
  95. I had one miscarriage resulting in a D and C between my two daughters.
  96. I have two daughters I adore above all others.
  97. I can not fathom after giving birth that someone could not believe in a higher power.
  98. I want no more babies.
  99. But if I suddenly became rich I would consider adopting.
  100. Because I think we are good parents.

I Give Up...

I got nothing today. I've wracked my drugged brain and I can't come up with a single coherent thought. Unless you count this post about my stuffy head, sniffles, and coughs. Yah, it's okay, I don't either.

We had the in-laws all over this weekend to finish up Breanna's month long 9th birthday. Hubby does all the cooking and baking, and they all help, really they do. But ladies, you know that the bulk of the clean up still falls on us moms. Needless to say my house is a mess again. Hell, I barely got it picked up for them to begin with, good thing they don't expect much. We've been married almost 14 years and our house has been the central meeting place most of that time, so they have learned to accept my general lack of housekeeping skills.

I was feeling crappy going into the weekend, which while I admit I did less than usual, I am now completely exhausted and sick. So while I should have been grocery shopping and washing the sheets from the weekend during my 3 hour block of time this morning, I've been vegging on the couch. I'll stop for the necessities on the way home from picking up Brooke and camp out in front of the tv with her for my next 3 hour block. Once Breanna gets home I can completely sack out for awhile if I need to, because she can be trusted to play with her sister and only wake mommy for an emergency. She also can distinguish the difference between getting a snack = not an emergency, blood = emergency. Sorry but that's all I've got for ya today.

With any luck resting today will get things back to normal by tomorrow, because I want to do a 100 things post for my 100th post, and goodness knows I'll need at least my brain back to normal by then.

ps Back to ask why is it my hubby declared last night he thought he was getting sick too. Really?! Can I not be sick for a whole day by myself? Bitter, Me? Why do you ask? I NEVER get a sick day. I still had to get kids to school and run to the store (Pete forbid he offer to pick up luxuries like toilet paper and paper towels, while I'm already out anyway). Okay I'm not on my deathbed, just rundown and I know it's just little things, but still, I'm SICK. Yes, as a matter of fact I do like cheese with my wine, thanks!

If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.
~~Jimmy Buffett~~

Stat counters, site meters, the names are different the results the same. Being able to "track" those reading your blog. Sort of. People who comment can sometimes be tagged as a certain IP because of the time. Your stalkers... um regular readers can be labeled. But the random factor here is huge. Who the hell lives in Backwater, GA or Big City, MN? Does it drive the rest of you crazy? Just me?

I readily admit I have a massively obsessive... um, mild case of Stat-itis. I think it's great fun to see who's finding my page and how. By the way ALL you people googling "cars with 3rd row seating"? I love my Rondo! Now come on back, ya hear! Of course, I think it's much more fun to read comments. HINT, HINT. But we all know some people merely prefer to lurk. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I assured my hubby Stat-itis is harmless fun. Soon I learned of the nasty side effect, blogger paranoia. See, awhile ago I had a friend job interviewing. She was making funny comments, about hoops she was having to jump through to get hired by a company she had actually worked for before she had her baby, on her blog. Then she checked her stat counter and saw someone from NY hitting her blog. At the time she was really new to blogging so she pretty much knew the IP's visiting her page. The home office of that company, yep, in NY. She changed the wording on her post and prayed it was just some random blog hopper who had found her site. We may never know, but she did get hired. Anyway, you know I was laughing my ass off as she frantically called me saying "I think THEY found my blog, THEY are never going to hire me back" My response, besides the laughing? "YOU ARE PARANOID!"

Jump forward to Wenesday when I posted about how famous I am. Wouldn't you know the first comment is from someone I referenced in the post?! How the hell did he find me? I am sure he was laughing his ass off... um, chuckling about how he's my brush with fame! I know he's mingled with the rich and famous, The Blair Witch Project being the little indie film that could and all that. Anyway, while I am cyberstalking his ass... um, trying to find a current email address to say hi to him, I go check my stat counter. Hmm, lots of hits from NYC. Well, he's probably sending the link to other friends from that group so they can all get a good laugh at my little blog. Which, fine, funny even.

Then I notice IT. A hit from Fox Tv. Three times in a row. That's interesting, wonder who I might know working there? OF COURSE I copy and paste the host address in my browser, which takes me to Fox Sports. Oh shit... um, crap?! What exactly did I say about a former Heisman Trophy winner? Could someone actually set up some sort of search to alert them whenever they are mentioned on the web? Don't big companies have people who's job is just that, to keep lies about them from being spread on the internet? And holy crap, wouldn't that job be in the LEGAL department? Now my mind is racing, what would someone do if they thought you said something false about them or their employee? Not just any average Joe, but a well known, award winning, sports figure? Shit, shit, shit! Did I mention the paranoia has now set in? Would they send a cease and desist email?

Back to check log, nope no more hits from Fox. Okay, calm down, I didn't actually say he did anything wrong, just that it looked like it. Then it hit me. DUDE, how famous would I be if Fox pointed out my blog as stating false information?! Isn't that how Perez got his big break?! Sweet!

Back to check log, nope no more hits from Fox. Still no more hits from Fox. Damn, guess I'm not going to be famous today.

The ducks, de' bin gettin' busy!

We met a new family at community pool Tuesday.

And they got them some prime real estate.
Water front property. On a peninsula, I had to get my feet wet to take these photos.

It's been virtually a ghost town around here, since the water isn't heated.
Looks like she was keeping warm with some big daddy.
I hope those babes hatch soon, 'cause the neighborhood is going to pot as soon as the water warms up.


Whoa Nelly! She must have been on fertility drugs, there are 10 eggs in that nest!
She's gonna be one busy momma.

Well, looky, who showed up.
No dead beat dad here.
Man the pool really is going to the birds!

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