A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff. -- George Carlin

Items I DID FIND While Searching for the Social Security Cards

  • BOTH of the stubs that were at one time attached to the girls actual social security cards - I KNOW!
  • Envelopes with wisps from first haircuts for BOTH girls
  • 1 set of Pokemon stickers
  • At least 3 sets of leftover school photos
  • 2 pictures of Brian's sister when she was about 2 years old
  • A gazillion unidentifiable ultrasound pictures of Brooke - in my defense they were at least tucked in my pregnancy calendar
  • Roughly 27 certificates, still in the plastic baggies, that state I paid a shit load of money for my children to learn to swim
  • Fake tattoos included
  • A book Multiple Choice, according to the dog ear I apparently got to page 54
  • 2 still wrapped votive candles in the large gift box I took the jar candle out of at Christmas
And there you have it. The crap that is hiding in my closet. Where do you hide your clutter?

Okay, this confession people is one for the books. I have truly outsmarted, MYSELF. Damn, I hate it when I do that.

So remember back when there was a dirty nasty rumor of me getting a job? Well, I met with the VNR (very nice rep) from MRC (Major Retail Chain) and...I have the job.

Problem is...
Wait for it...
There isn't actually a job...
YET.

VNR is in charge of the retail merchandisers for MRC and knows that soon she would be getting a few new stores in her territory because of corporate buy outs and renovations. Problem is MRC does not feel it necessary to tell VNR when these renovations will actually be completed. VNR decided to meet me and gauge how desperate I am to return to the workforce. In other words, would I be willing to wait around in limbo until she had a store to give to me? Hell to the YES! Eventually is my dream come true. Because as you all know, the idea of extra income from a job sounds good in theory, but actually having to work for said money isn't as appealing. To me at least. Anyway, as an act of good faith that the position that isn't would eventually be mine she gave me new hire paperwork to fill out and return to her at my leisure.

And now for the kicker, confession, deeply shameful truth. I can not turn in said paperwork because I have no idea in hell where my social security card is. Oh and did I mention I do know that where ever it is both my daughters cards are with it? I can just see the three of them in my bedroom just laughing those 9 little digits right off as I bang my head against the wall trying to remember when I last saw them. Seriously people, who the hell KNOWS that they have LOST something in their own home? I swear my house is a black hole for paper work, batteries, tape and divorced socks.

How do I know that they are most definitely in my house? Oh, you'll love this. I used to carry them all in my purse, so when I had to fill out important doctor or school paperwork I would have them right there. The model of efficiency, that was me. Then one day on the radio I heard some freakin bozo say one should never carry their social security cards with them, identity theft and all that shit. So being the responsible adult I am, I came home and promptly tucked away said cards. Apparently I hid them so well that I'm not even sure of my own identity any longer. If I could remember who that idiot on the radio was, I would hunt him down and kick his ass! Because I have not lost or even misplaced temporarily my purse, wallet or any contents there of since that one drunken night in college (whole 'nother post), but I sure as hell can not find those 3 crafty little cards anywhere.

Part two of this horribly embarrassing confession. Dear gracious, just when you thought I couldn't embarrass myself further, there is more. Not only do I not know where the pretty blue cards are off drinking and whoring around, but I spent over an hour Sunday night searching for them. Then.I.Gave.Up.

See I have this habit of collecting mail, school notices, pictures the kids drew, old Christmas cards, receipts, anything written on paper on the kitchen counter by my phone. The smaller items like business cards, extra insurance cards, scraps of paper with unidentified phone numbers on them get shoved in the junk drawer below the phone, not to be confused with the junk drawers elsewhere in the house. All this is with the good intention of sorting through said crap later and saving the important stuff. Then inevitably the inlaws are coming to visit and I can't see the phone for all the paper accumulated in front of it and the drawer won't shut because it's so full. So do I take time to go through it? Hell no, they are on their way. I grab a plastic grocery bag, throw everything in and put it in a box in my bedroom or closet. Yeah, huh. I do!

Now lets sit and ponder how many of these accumulations there must be in my house after living here 5 years. Okay, sometimes I actually go through the pile on the counter. But those ones that got stashed away? Still.In.My.Room. What are the odds that those illusive little blue cards got put in the junk drawer for safe keeping? And then shoved into an environmentally unfriendly bag never to see the light of day again? I'd say 50/50. Good enough that I rifled through the bags Sunday. And NO, hell NO, I didn't take that time to actually sort through and throw out anything. Did you forget I was looking for the freakin social security cards?

Wait, there's more. I know! This of course leaves a 50% chance that those cards were actually hidden somewhere safe. Like say my Bible. That sounds like a place I would have tucked them to keep them out of trouble. Now if I could just figure out where the Bible is.

I should just stop now, huh? You've lost all respect for me haven't you? Just in case you haven't, or even if you have, tomorrow I think I give you a list of things I did find while hunting. That is sure to seal the deal.

Anyone want to fess up this week? Look at it this way, you'll look like positively competent adults compared to me.

As you may have noticed in my sidebar "What We are Reading" that I have picked up a copy of No One Cares What You Had for Lunch 100 Ideas for Your Blog. You can thank or hate my hubby for that one, he brought it home from the library for me.

Number 11 is Curate the Web. Which is fancy book speak for link through to other websites. So with that in mind I am showing some love and sharing with you. I've had a few people, most recently, Oliver Rain ask me about the chickie in my header. My hubby is a graphic designer, specifically a web designer these days, so he knows where they hide all the good stuff on the internets. When I asked him to spiff up my site he headed to iStock Photo to find me a cute little icon. Now I personally find iStock a bit overwhelming, but again being in the business he knew right where to go. The illustrator chihhang had exactly the style of designs we were looking for. After a bit of "I have to have HER!" hubby bought her for me, $15 whole dollars and now she's legally mine, all mine. Okay not all mine, I have seen her a few other places and I choose to believe those bloggers have paid for her too, so I don't complain, about that anyway. If you don't mind sharing your graphic with a few others iStock is a great place to find photographs and illustrations. It might be a time suck once you start looking around, don't say I didn't warn you. As for the rest of my header he extended the background and added an Apple to my laptop. How? I dunno, he's the one earning a paycheck around here, not moi.

Over there in that there sidebar you can also see I am perusing Nurture by Nature. If you have more than one kiddo you know that amazingly two children born to the EXACT SAME parents can somehow be complete opposites! I know! My own children personally shot to hell my nature vs. nurture stand point. This book helps figure out Briggs-Meyers personality types and has great advice on how to best deal with different types of children. When Breanna was little we read this book and figured out our own types as well as hers. Then when Brooke was younger we took a stab at typing her. Okay I unearthed this book this weekend while searching for something else* and thought I'd see how close we were when typing the girls before. Because the older they get the more obvious their likes and dislikes are. According to the book, some characteristics are identifiable as early as two or three years old and by five or six years old parents can really be sure of a child's personality type. That said, I went through the quick run down and am coming up with almost complete opposite types than I had for the girls before. Okay they are young and it's subjective, so that's not too unusual. Here's what I find HI-larious Breanna is almost exactly like me and Brooke like Brian. Now if you are new here that may not seem odd. But in our house Breanna is totally daddy's girl and Brooke is my little shadow. I guess when you think about it though, we would naturally seek the company of the child who is most like our partner, not the most like ourselves. My experience has been that those who are most like us usually end up butting heads with us.

Does anyone else out there know which of the 16 personality types they are? What about your kids? Now I am more intrigued than ever and will be reading the long version in between cataloging my lunches for this week for your reading pleasure.


*Whole 'nother post. Hint: Check back for True Confessions Thursday.

Once again it's Tuesday. Somehow the day keeps sneaking up on me. I'm blaming it on these long weekends with hubby off on Fridays. Apparently I'm still not used to the new work and school schedule.*

Anyway, back to the topic for today. The Words. It's all about the Words. This week we were looking for Salty and Sour. Once again I found things in my house that fit the bill. Which is nice when I forget until the day of to take pictures.

There were so many salty things to choose from. Apparently we are all about the salt here. I finally settled on peanuts, because you can actually see the SALTY goodness.

Sour was much harder. Seems we are not a sour family at all. Then I remembered the pickles. Ewww, I hate pickles. Maybe it's me, the one who grocery shops, that doesn't enjoy sour because the rest of the family actually enjoys the SOUR pickles.


And now for some bonus shots from the past week, because I feel like sharing.
Brooke after a long day of kindergarten came home last week asking for my foot "a-sa-sure". In case you've forgotten, school is HARD work!
The girls carefully counted out and put 40 candles on dad's birthday cake. His mom had his baby picture put on it and it said "Look who's 40". I think we will finally be cutting into his head tonight.
Visible smoke from blowing out that many candles at once.

Star's little Twinkle after helping herself to lots of the blue frosting.

Okay, that's it for today. If you'd like to know more about how to join us for the Weekly Words Challenge pop on over and visit our adorable and overworked hostess Tink at Pickled Beef. Next week's words are Moody and Bright. Why are there suddenly visions of my children dancing in my head?

*I'll be using that as an excuse for everything for at least another month.

Today is hubby's 40th birthday! He doesn't look a day over 21. (It's really not fair.) And on most days he doesn't act much over 12.

In light of recent unemployment events I didn't come up with much we could afford to do for his big day. As grown ups sometimes we have to be realistic. But it does make me sad that I couldn't give him the big celebration he deserves. He is a great dad and a wonderful husband. He goes to work everyday with no complaints so that I can stay home and be here for our girls. He DESERVES more. And I do have a dream celebration planned. Maybe I'll be able to pull it off another year. Who says you can't have a big party for your 43rd birthday? Right?!

We did have a small get together. Grandma came over and babysat while Hubby, SIL and her hubby and I went out to dinner and the movies. We saw The Dark Knight on the IMAX. Vertigo, who? Really the movie is fabulous, we'll be owning that one. Hubby got some new tennis shoes and clothes from them. His dad sent cold hard cash in a card. And I got us tickets to see Joel McHale in October. So he didn't have a bad birthday, just not a big bash.

Here's to my hubby, who will always be young at heart! Happy Birthday, I love ya!

“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” -- Dolly Parton

(to the tune of the Brady Bunch Theme)

Here's the story, of a big storm named Fay.
Who was trying to become a hurricane.
Everyone was panicking, buying water,
She was on her way.

Here's the story, of a little storm named Fay,
Who was busy spinning across Florida state.
There was wind and rain all together,
But she was not a hurricane.

And the people, they all pointed and laughed,
They said she was just a tropical breeze.
Fay really wanted to be remembered,
And now people have water, up to their knees.
*To their knees.

That's the way we'll remember Tropical Storm, FAY!
Tropical Storm Fay!


*It's not up to MY knees. Thank God, we have EXCELLENT drainage! But it's been raining for 2 days with no sign of it ending anytime soon. Anyone got plans for an Ark?

A Twofer

It's Tuesday which means Weekly Words Challenge time. When I saw the words Bitter and Sweet for this week I was obviously going to post first day of school pictures. Because really what is more Bittersweet than that for a mom?

Then, they canceled school today... for the storm that isn't. So I made ya'll a slideshow with old and new photos. This shall serve as my storm update as well as my WWC entry today. Multitasking, who?


No actual storm threat in our area at all, SWEET!
Kids home from school on day 2! Me? BITTER?



*Sorry no video of my head exploding...yet.


For more info on the Weekly Word Challenge go visit our adorable hostess, Tink.

They just canceled school for our kids tomorrow. Yes, today was the first day. Yes, Fay is still only a Tropical Storm. So far they are only forecasting heavy rains. What can I say? Come back tomorrow, maybe we can get video footage of my head exploding. The End

School Days

First Days, thru the Years.


So my friend emails me first thing this morning with POST THE PICTURES ALREADY as the topic.

My reply?

Stop pressuring me, I have all day ALONE. I'll get to it.

So yes, both my children are at school safe and sound. It took some work but we did it, we did it. What worked? Teamwork!*

Breanna made pancakes for breakfast while I packed lunches. Everyone got ready without arguing and posed for first day of school pictures. We were out the door right on schedule.

That's when all the planning in the world does not help, because frankly my dear the rest of the world doesn't give a damn about my plan. The essence of the problem? That freaking soon to be mud pit beside the school. Everyone is used to that being our overflow parking. Without it. Mass freaking chaos. Probably redundant to now say, drop off was HELL?

I ended up walking them in because of course we were running late-ish because of the ungodly traffic and Bre didn't want to be late. Brooke doesn't give a crap but Bre CAN NOT be late EVAH! Did I mention over 50 cars and at least one bus were well behind us? And tons of people were still walking? Whatever. I told Bre if there was a legal parking spot in the lot I'd park, otherwise it would be quicker for her to walk Brooke in herself. Of course someone pulled out right in front of us. So I walked Brooke in in order for Breanna to get to class ON TIME! Brooke was happy to find her teacher in the lunch room where all the kindergartners wait for the bell. She was however completely baffled by the unruly actions of some of her future classmates. You should've seen her looking at them like "Have you animals never been to school before?" Cracked me up! I can't wait for the stories this afternoon!

Now I'm off to eat bon bons and watch my stories.

*Snaps for naming the theme songs referenced.

The crawler at the bottom of my tv screen says Orange County schools will indeed be in session tomorrow for the first day of school, but to stay tuned because the path of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay is unknown. So unsure they won't even commit to 100% chance of rain on any day next week. Those of you who don't live here in the Sunshine State might have a vague memory of an August not too far back when your news told of a huge hurricane crossing over the state of Florida. His name was Charley. He kicked ass and took names. And in fact it was almost 4 years ago to the day. I remember it well because my first baby started kindergarten that week. How's that for co-ink-i-dink, irony, symmetry? Whatever the hell it is, it's FREAKY!

Being native Floridians, hurricanes don't cause much panic around our house. We don't live in a coastal community. We usually just get rain, lots and lots of rain. Which around this time of year our yards usually need and soak up like sponges. That was until we met Charley. He was a horribly inconsiderate guest. A bastard if you will. He left us without power for 5 long, hot, muggy, nasty days. However, we were blessed, we had running clean water and many places close did have power. So now? Well, we at least bag up some of our own ice, fill some extra jugs of water and make sure we have fresh batteries when the warnings start.

Now, let's review... Breanna's first day of kindergarten was Monday, August 9th and Thursday the 12th we picked our kids up and were told to go home and hunker down. The kids were out of school for a week after the storm. It was like they had two first days of school. One big do over if you will. Then about 2 weeks later they closed the schools again for another hurricane. Her name was Frances. She pissed off a lot of people. She didn't have near the impact on our area as Charley, but she did successfully get our kids a few more rainy days of summer and more pop tarts than you can shake a stick at for breakfast.

So this year it's Brooke's turn to take that big step into the same teacher's kindergarten class. And there is once again an ugly storm out there headed our way. All I can say at this point is: Been there, done that.

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN

(a guide for Global Leadership)

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at school.
These are the things I learned:

* Share everything.
* Play fair.
* Don't hit people.
* Put things back where you found them.
* Clean up your own mess.
* Don't take things that aren't yours.
* Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
* Wash your hands before you eat.
* Flush.
* Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
* Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
* Take a nap every afternoon.
* When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
* Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
* Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
* And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

by Robert Fulghum.

We have met the teachers and bought the last three pronged pocket folders in town. Ready for school, who?

I for one am so excited for this school year. And not just because my children will not be home bugging the living bejeezus out of each other all.day.long. We all know that in reality I'm only trading "she's touching me" for the hell that is the car line. Can I get an AMEN?

THE GOOD
First we went yesterday to meet Brooke's kindergarten teacher. I do believe I let out a little yell of excitement in the hallway when I saw the class list, the fist pump may have been visible also. But I am just so happy my baby has the same teacher Breanna had. Oh and I don't think it was a co-ink-i-dink that we ended up in that class, seeing as her teacher's greeting included a request for me to volunteer and be room mom. Which OF COURSE, because I pink puffy heart her.

Then this afternoon we went back (good thing the school is all of 1.25 miles from the house) to find out which teacher Breanna got. She has a new to our school, yet veteran teacher from the county to our north. I personally loved him upon first meeting. He took the time to show Breanna his shelves of books and which ones were his favorites. For those of you new here, my 4th grader, she loves to read. She is on book 5 of the Harry Potter series, she has read almost 2000 pages this summer, for FUN. Now there's nothing wrong with Harry, I have read all the books myself, but I do think she needs to widen her interests and this teacher seems to be ready to help her do that. In addition to all the school forms to fill out he had questionnaire for the parents about our kids. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I like the effort he's putting forth to get to know us. Just as important, he has a sense of humor. On the board he had a "Wish List" with things like windex and paper towels and unassumingly stuck in the middle was 2009 Nissan Altima. THAT made me laugh out loud.

THE BAD
Today is Brian's first Friday off working his new flex schedule. We took him with us to buy school supplies. Let's just say, we should've left him at home like he wanted us to, and we'll leave it at that.

For the last year, since our new school opened, we have used the empty field adjacent to the school to park in. The neighborhood developer has been talking about clearing the area and building a new park and basketball courts. When did they finally (we have lived here 5 years) start? When school was out this summer? NO OF COURSE NOT! That would've been logical. They are plowing it all under right now as I type. LOVELY! This is going to make the car line and drop off even more of a hell for the coming weeks!

THE UGLY
My 5 year old has declared "Sissy" can walk her into school Monday. She's a big girl and mommy can just drop them off. Say WHAT? Really it will make THE BAD of the parking situation better. However, I will be a wreck just letting my little girl go off on her own (okay her big sister will be there, but still) the first day of school. Who would've thunk teaching them to be independent would backfire so early?

Stop by BLOG For the Love of Pete on Monday for: the school traffic report, how to article on packing a lunch for the kid who won't eat a sandwich and statistics on how many idiots actually do live in this neighborhood. (sure to be rated PG-13 for offensive and adult language)

Welcome to my I've got to find something to post about today or people will stop reading my blog post. What's that I hear, all 12 of my loyal readers hitting unsubscribe simultaneously? I know, I know, the posting has been lame lately, but I just can't get motivated to do ANYTHING. Hard to believe, what with all those previous confessions about my less than stellar housekeeping and lazy child rearing. Right?

Earlier today it started to rain. Dark thunder and hard showers. Awesome weather to reinforce my hermit ways. I decided that grilled cheese sandwiches + rain = a perfect lunch. So the girls and I sat down at the dining table and turned the tv so we could watch whatever lovely rerun we have seen a million times already this summer was on. And yes, the tv is on a lazy-susan my hubby made for just such a purpose. No our children do not have tvs in their rooms but we watch tv while eating together. Family values, who?

Okay, so back to my confession. I got all excited that said rerun was an episode of Drake and Josh. I KNOW! But I just love them. Okay, really I love Drake. Yes, my entire family and all my friends are aware of my little girl crush on Drake Bell. My girls literally call me in whenever Drake and Josh is on.

I don't know why I just think he's adorable. Yes, I am well aware that I was 16 when he was born, but he's old enough to legally drink a beer these days, so I can think he's cute. Shut up! Yes I CAN!

My little obsession stems mostly from his music. Yes I did take my kids to see him in concert. Okay so they wanted to see Corbin Bleu and Aly & AJ too, but they knew every word to all of Drake's songs. No that has nothing to do with my playing his cd whenever we head out on a long car ride, nothing at all.

And that is my confession this week I have a completely irrational and possibly inappropriate girl crush on a teeny bopper star who is closer to my daughter's age than my own.

Now it's your turn, who's your scandalous crush?

It's Tuesday. Again. Already. I can tell it's almost time for school to start because our once empty calendar is quickly filling up. And that is a good thing, I think. The words for this week are scatter and collect, yet I keep wanting them to be scattered and collected because that's how I am feeling this last week of summer. I feel organized and disorganized all at the same time. You know that nagging feeling that you've left something really important at home as you leave on vacation, even though you've checked everything off your list? Add to that this odd ear ache slushy sinus head thing I have going on and you have my current mood.

Okay so back to the subject at hand, my weak interpretation of this week's word challenge...

Scatter & Collect
This bench at our front door always has a collection of scattered things.
Right now the aprons for Home Depots Kid's Workshop that never made it back to the girl's rooms. Brand new back pack, lunch boxes and a couple of notebooks for school. A movie we borrowed from Grandma. Clothes that the girls have outgrown to hand down to our third daughter across the street. And of course a pair of shoes.

For more information about the Weekly Words Challenge go check out Pickled Beef. There you can see all the other entries for this week and find the words for next week so you can play too!

I became a newly converted Phelps Phan!

Thank Pete I do have AT&T, so that will never happen to me.

Phelps is willing to make fun of himself. And unless you are new here, you know I love a guy with a good sense of humor.


Then last night, he was part of this Gold Medal winning relay team.* Merely an hour after winning his first 2008 Gold.


But what truly me won me over was watching him during the medal ceremony. I'm a sucker for a guy who is visibly tearing up, yet keeping it all under control. Oh and his rock hard abs... um, EVERY.THING has nothing to do with my new affection for him. Liar, who?

Warning: if he wins all 8 of his scheduled events my head may explode.

*
Updated to say anywhere this video used to be, the Bastards at NBC have had it taken down. So you will have to go to their pain in the ass site to watch the video. Or of course you could probably turn on the tv and NBC will surely play it another million times today.

"If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylum would be filled with mothers." ~Edgar Watson Howe

Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans. Yep, that pretty much sums up our summer.

Hubby started his new job this week. And so far it seems wonderful. Of course after like 8 years working for an asshole, we are constantly amazed at how the rest of the world is apparently treated at work. In addition to the cool coffee/tea machine, they just set things up for employees to work a flex schedule. So his schedule until the next quarter (for the next 7 weeks) is Mon. to Thurs. 8am to 7pm and HE.HAS.FRIDAYS.OFF! Seeing as the office is across town it will save us on gas and tolls. Plus, did ya do the math? Fridays off = three day weekends! And a day together with no kids! At the start of the next quarter he can decide whether to keep the schedule or change. I would rather he work the 7am to 6pm, but I'm not the one who would be leaving the house at 6:30am as he so kindly pointed out. Oh and this job is the same take home pay as the last job, so we can once again pay the bills, while enjoying fresh fruit. Can I get an AMEN?!

You may have heard, there has been an underground rumbling about my potential time to work, seeing as the girls will both be in school for 6 hours a day. Thus, being able to help pay off the debt we accrued while having no paycheck as we were robbing Peter to pay Paul all summer. Knowing that if I didn't find myself a job, hubby might fill me out an application at McDonald's, I hatched a plan. I called my friend from my last j-o-b, which was OMG 9 years ago, and asked her if anyone in the office might be hiring. Low-and-behold she wanted an assistant and she'd love to have me part time. BUT and it's a big one, she had to get the big boss man, who is getting very chinsy and grumpy in his old age to approve. Unfortunately for us, he did not see the genius in the superior planning we had done and said NO. Well, hell.

Now while I was waiting on the verdict from her I went ahead and threw my meager resume up at Monster.com. I filled it out as a lark, not really thinking anyone would look at it. And because did I mention I needed to look like I was trying to find a job? This is what I wrote...

"I have been a stay-at-home mom for the last 9 years, and now that my girls will be in school full time I am ready to get out of the house part time. Although my last employer was a not for profit, most of my previous job experience is in retail management. My dream job now is to work as a retail merchandiser in the East Orlando or Cocoa Florida area. Setting displays was always my favorite part of working in stores. I can follow a set from Hallmark and America Greetings with one hand tied behind my back. And in a pinch I know how to effectively set my own displays in the space available. Paperwork, reports and time management are no problem either, as I have survived working at a card shop at Christmas."

Not really wanting a job, Who?
And would you believe someone out there got my totally sick sense of humor and emailed me about a legitimate job? And NO it's not to sell vacuums or timeshares. That was last night so I have not talked to the woman in question yet, but I have left a message on her company voice mail, so I know it's the real deal. That's all I got to say about that for now, seeing as I am sure that God has better things to do than laugh at my plans, again.

Okay, so it's true confession day and I've also been tagged for a meme by the lovely Carri over at Sixteen Sisters. I'm supposed to tell you 6 quirks about myself and I have plenty that are embarrassing, yet are not enough for a whole Thursday confession post. So I figure why not multi-task?

  1. My kids and I spend more days than anyone outside our immediate household would imagine, in our pjs, all day. My reasoning? Why dirty the laundry if we ain't going anywhere?
  2. Sometimes I reread my old blog posts just like I would read the archives of a blogger I have recently discovered... just because.
  3. I only make my bed if we know we are having company. Reason? We are just going to sleep in it again. Duh.
  4. Our recycling bin is rarely full, even though I drink enough diet cokes, in cans, to caffeinate a third world country. I just don't think about it. Carbon footprint, what?
  5. In order to sleep I MUST be cool enough to need a sheet and blanket, even in the dead heat of summer. And I prefer for my house to be so cool I need a throw while watching tv. Wasted electricity, who?
  6. I hide the good ice cream from my kids and eat it at night after they are in bed.

And there you have it the bad and the ugly. All I know is it's a good thing there was a limit on these so I would know when to stop.

And now for the da' Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you. (See above.)
2. Mention the rules on your blog. (Here they are.)
3. Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag six fellow bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the six blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Now, watch as I break the rules ('cause Carri set a bad example, or I am lazy, you make the call) and only tag three fellow bloggers.

Pumpkin Delight because I am new to her blog and want to learn more about her.
Hello My Name is DRAMA in an effort to get her to post more often, and maybe learn something new about her too.
Late to the Party ditto on the posting more often idea.


ps Thanks to all who voted for my photo. I came in a respectable 3rd place. I love you guys!


I am now begging, pretty please with sugar on top... if you haven't already, just click this link and vote for my summer time photo. Please? Did I mention I'll be your best friend?

Better late than never... Those aren't the words this week, just my post.
The words this week were
High and Low
We saw this high over our heads at the beach.

Then I saw it up close when he was down low.

The WWC is brought to you by Tink at Pickled Beef. Go check it out and play with us next week.

Or the end of Summer?
You make the call

Drama's cement pond in her backyard is finally ready to swim in.

My daughters were playing "Chair of Pain" this morning to amuse themselves.

My messy... um, tomboy older daughter just insisted her little sister wash her hands before touching the Wii-mote.

My husband is telling me of 50% sales in children's clothing stores.

I am more than likely going back to work part time.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 premieres Aug. 6th.

I can no longer stand the mess in my house and have declared this afternoon, Cleaning Party Time. Bribery... um, incentive in the form of an early evening pool trip has even been offered to assure more cooperation.

Hubby got a new job. He is in CA for orientation today. From Daddy 24/7 to no daddy cold turkey. Expecting tears and withdrawal systems to begin at bed time EST.

Wipeout is set to record on our tifaux.

Hubby bought me my own domain, for now it's redirecting blogspot. Look at your browser you are now at Blog For the Love of Pete dot com!

For the Love of Pete dot com has been owned by the same person for 7 years and there is nothing there. Damn it!

While looking up info on the Summer Olympics I saw a slide show on beach volleyball called: Cracking the code. Go look, really. Go now.

I'll admit I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel this week. Good thing we only have 2 weeks until school starts here. We have almost SURVIVED the summer. Where's my t-shirt, damn it?! And although I don't recommend this plan to anyone who would like to eat fresh fruit and pay the mortgage, having daddy unemployed and home ALL day, EVERY day has been hella fun for the girls! So I suppose that's not really a suggestion as much as an observation.

I realized while looking back on my suggestions that apparently most of my ideas are girly-centric. Sorry, but I have 2 girls. So this week to help the rest of you out I am adding this advice for those of you with little monsters...um, children with penises. Don't worry it's sage advice from a mom of boys with a proven track record. Hey, she's managed to keep them alive well into the teen years, so this woman knows of what she speaks. And according to Jenn at Juggling Life, "mothers of boys just barricade themselves in their rooms and let the boys shoot each other with nerf guns." Why did I want girls again? That sounds way easier than the stuff I've been coming up with.


Anyway, this week I am planning fashion shows for the girls. This is our way of cleaning out the old clothes and figuring out what we need to buy new for the school year. Trying on all the outfits from last year makes us all laugh (and mommy cry a bit) about how SMALL the kids were merely 12 months ago. Then with fresh squeezed lemonade and Auntie Ann pretzels in hand to sustain us during our annual pilgrimage to worship at the church of the mall and the house of the big red bullseye we will SHOP. When we get home walking the cat walk... um, through the living room in all their cool, hip, phat (what are the kids saying these days?) fancy new garments gets them all excited for school to start. Because yes, I am one of those moms, school clothes can not be worn until school starts. In my defense, after school starts we don't have school clothes and play clothes, just clothes... I just think it adds to the excitement of that first week to have brand new, never been shouted out clothes to wear.

How about you all? Are your summers almost over too? Do you have any yearly getting ready for school rituals to share with us? All ideas wanted!

*one more shameless plug nicely reminding you if you haven't already to go vote for my summer photo, please and thank you.



Well vote for my summer time picture.



Voting ends at 11:00 a.m. U.S. central time August 6th.



*I have no idea if you can really vote more than once...





A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year-old)

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are
shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life - like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?"

The six-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

We are saying goodbye to KBHR in a few hours.

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