I love...

I love love love green and red peppers. Can you possibly eat too many? Is three whole peppers a day bad for you? Especially my wonderful husbands pepper salad with his "secret" dressing, aka oil and vinegar. It is secret because if he tells me how to make it then I will be expected to make it. See, I like to call all of my husbands cooking "secrets" so I don't have to cook that often. Another suggestion for those not wanting to cook. Only make things that your spouse does not like very well and he will get tired of "faking" it and offer to cook more often. Oh and request his "secret" foods a lot, tell him how much you like it. He is a guy and falls for that ego thing all the time! Seriously...

My obsession with celebrities is wearing off on her...

I think I have been watching too much TMZ and E! news lately. Makayla came into my room in the middle of the night and woke me up saying she can't get a bad dream out of her head. I told her to go back to bed. When she woke up the next morning she told me what her dream was about. Britney Spears and public bathrooms, she said she was scary. I laughed sooo hard when she told me she wasn't kidding. It has been awhile since she was last seen in a public bathroom but obviously Makayla had it weighing on her mind still!!! Too funny, that girl of mine! Seriously....

Fruit is a food...

My wonderful sister left her body wash at our house and well, I am not sending it back to her. It is VS and I thought, she smells good, I will use it. Big mistake. I like to eat fruit, not rub it all over my body and smell like a damn fruit salad all day. Where did someone get the idea to put fruit and vegetables scent in our soap. I want to smell clean, like a fresh load of laundry. I want to smell like...well, soap. I don't want a hot guy to walk by me in the grocery store and be reminded to pick up strawberries. I want him to think of me and warm sheets on a cool winter morning. ;) We are so obsessed with food, why make us think about it even more. I have been saying this for a long time now and still tell everyone...Arrid Extra Dry, Morning Clean. I buy every one whenever I find it. Some stores don't have the morning clean scent so I will literally buy everyone when I do find it so I won't run out. If they could make the scent a perfume I would buy it up too! They need to make it a body wash, lotion, baby wipe, air freshener, etc. Because I like to smell clean, not like I got my fruit from breakfast spilled on me. Seriously...

Go figure...

We just put in our underground dog fence on Tuesday. EJ hasn't been home to train him on it so as of right now, Murphy is still inside all day. Well today he decided that Maggie wasn't so bad after all. Yes, two days after spending $$$ he has warmed up to the little booger. She had his bone and she gave it to him and he took it nicely. Then he laid next to her!!!! It was so sweet. And he hasn't been running out of the room like he always does. Too bad it is too little too late for him, as he will be an outside dog here in a few days. At least we know that he will be nice to her outside...until he realizes that she is the reason he is out there!!! Seriously...

Story People

A while back, my mom and I were shopping at a local "snob" shop. I found an amazing artist that does incredible work. His name is Brian Andreas and he has a company/website called Story People. It is a little quirky but so wonderfully "un" normal. I want one of everything of course and my mom has officially started my collection. She got my the one that I first fell in love with for my birthday. It is titled Great Game. The art he uses with the "story" isn't really my cup of tea but goes well with his work. I guess that is why he is doing what he does. This is what my first collection piece says. It by no means is how I live my life, although I do wish on most days it is but I just really liked the feel behind it. My Grandma was the most selfless person I know but I can see her laughing, clapping her hands and saying "isn't it a great game"!

What are the rules? I said & she said, Do exactly what I want whenever I want, make no demands of me whatsoever & love me forever, no questions asked & I said, how do you win? & she said, you don't understand. I'm the only one who wins & then she laughed & clapped her hands. Isn't it a great game? she said.

I hope you go to his website and look around, I am sure you will find something that you like. I get one sent to my email everyday and they make me smile.

http://www.storypeople.com/

Seriously...

Birthday disaster....

I have officially stopped celebrating my birthday. I will quietly turn 32 next June 20th and we will not say the b word around this house. I will start from the beginning.
June 20, 2005: I turned 27 this day, did not celebrate due to burying my Dad five days earlier. He died June 10, 2005.
June 20, 2006: Did not celebrate because we were still getting over our Dad being gone one year. Tough milestone to go through.
June 20, 2007: Our dog comes home from having surgery on his belly to retrieve the bouncy ball he eats and can't pass. It was not easy/fun to take care of his wound. My husband attempts to throw a surprise party for me. I mention going out with my cousin and her husband and then I end up inviting everyone that they had already invited. A couple of my friends don't show up and I get in trouble by them for not calling them to tell them where we were. We couldn't stay out long due to Murphy needing wound care.
June 20, 2008: I am on bed rest to prevent Maggie Lu from joining us too soon. It worked, the little booger didn't join us until after her due date. Totally worth skipping my birthday but I do see a pattern.
June 20, 2009: I was tested for Strep/Mono and am being treated for Mono since the rapid test for Strep came back negative. I feel like dog poop. I am extremely tired, my throat sore and my tonsils are so big I talk funny. Then thinking I wanted to spend some time with my sister and her boyfriend, we go to a quiet low key dinner at Medici on Friday night(although on the way there I say "I really don't feel that good, we should just go home!"). We didn't even have our food yet and Maggie decides to start vomiting and continues to do so for the next three hours. Poor thing, a 10 month old should not be allowed to get the flu. It was painful watching her. So I stay in her room on the floor in case she continues to vomit. I woke up incredibly tired, sore and achy. Not a good start to your birthday. Oh and my husband "forgot" it was my bday. I guess with all the illness I can kinda understand...ok, not really. Seriously...

Angry

I am still not angry at my dad for what he did. I honestly don't think I will ever be. My theory is why be angry at someone who is no longer here and why be angry at someone who obviously was at the lowest point anyone could ever imagine being. Having said that, I am angry. I am angry at my dad's family. Not all of them. The ones that were incredibly supportive for about a year after he died. I now see that they were not genuine. There were a lot of promises made, connections that now seem false. Everyone grieves differently. Maybe that was just there way of getting through it. I wanted to hold on to anything that reminded me of him. I wanted to be surrounded by people who looked like him, who could see him in me. I guess that was my mistake. He didn't surround himself with them. I should have thought more about that. I now see it as a sign. They weren't involved in his life then, why would they want to include his family in their lives now. Some people have embraced me and I am thankful for those relationships. My sister and I agree on one thing, yes literally only one thing! They can say whatever they want to say to us, treat us as horrible as they can imagine, hell they can pretend we don't exist. We are big girls, we have our own lives and our own families. We cannot forgive them for doing the same to our brothers. They were only 17 at the time he died. He was half of who they are. His family should have filled in for the half that was now gone. My sister and I can get love and acceptance from our spouse/significant other/children. We have a wonderful mother that has been amazing. That is all they have. They have friends but nothing replaces family. I will continue to love my dad more everyday and look forward to the day that I see him again. I know that he will be proud of me for trying as long as I did to stay connected to his family. If he could say something to me now I am pretty sure he would say f*ck them. As he always did!!! Seriously...

Challenge

I am always up for a good challenge. Just yesterday I challenged Makayla to a one hour tippy toes competition. If we weren't sitting we were to be on our tippy toes. Whether standing, walking or any other upright activity it was to be done on our tippy toes. I tell you what, it was hard!! Especially walking down the stairs with chunky monkey in your arms. That was scary! I even straightened my hair, which takes a long time, on my tippy toes! I do have to confess that I brushed my teeth sitting down to give myself a break! We both made it a full hour. Well Makayla tried showing me a "new" challenge for today, walking only on your heels and I called her out on breaking the rule. I told you I am competitive.
So today EJ handed me a hundred dollars and told me that we were going to see who could hold onto it the longest. I thought that would be easy, I will use the credit card :) Then he said the credit card was off limits except for fuel. Oh and groceries. I got in my competitive mode and said GAME ON. Then I asked what the prize was, because every challenge needs a prize. He said that we stop spending money on unnecessary things, that was the prize. Well, I say the new game is who can spend the money the fastest and who ever loses has to lend the other person money! That is called, I WIN. Seriously...

G-Free

I am thinking about trying a G-Free diet. Seeing if that is the cause of my tummy troubles. That pretty much leaves me with raw fruits and veggies. I guess that is why I am still thinking about doing it and haven't started yet. I do like my pasta, bread, cereal and processed foods. Maybe I should just start small, like no more spaghettios. Yeah, I think that is a good start. Baby steps. Seriously...

I need an intervention...

It has officially gotten out of control. I had been doing pretty good on my internet ordering but it seems that I have had a relapse. I wanted to order a tote that I could keep some swim stuff in and keep in the car. There have been a couple of occasions when we ended up at a park with the water features and no suit. So....I ordered a LL Bean tote, or at least that was my intention. I waited and waited and tracked the order with UPS. The package was actually here in Btown for four days before it was successfully delivered. I was ready to go pick it up myself. So it finally gets here via USPS which I still am dumbfounded by how all that worked. I literally rip open the plastic bag and was speechless. Have you ever seen those miniature models of tents. I see them all the time at Sams club. I think they are the cutest things ever. You can see what the product looks like but scaled down to a mini size!! Well I thought I was on a hidden camera show and was being tricked. I laughed when I saw the "tote". Then I was pissed. I spent $32 dollars on a "tote" that has no purpose what so ever. I learned my lesson for the 643rd time. No more impulse buys online. Especially no monogramming. I can't return the damn thing because I thought I needed it monogrammed. Now Maggie has an expensive toy that has her mom's initials. Dumb, dumb, dumb!!! Seriously...

That's my daughter...

So most of you know that I am struggling with my oldest daughter who just turned 10. I love her to pieces and she has the biggest heart of anyone, I mean anyone, I know. Bless her heart, she has pretty light brown/dark blonde hair and boy does she live up the blonde stereotype. We, as I mentioned before, are having trouble with our middle child, Murphy. Since he isn't fond of his little sister and after trying everything we can to persuade him, we ordered an underground fence for him. He will now be an outside/basement at night dog. I really do feel bad that it has come to this but we thought he would adjust better to being outside all day then Maggie would!! Well when we got the package today I was explaining to Makayla that it was like his shock collar but it is underground and if he crosses over it it will shock him. She looked kind of concerned and in all seriousness asked me "so if I ride my bike over it really fast, it won't hurt that much". She thought that it was "active" and would electrocute her if she crossed it. I explained that unless she was wearing his collar she would be fine. Poor thing. Does it make me a bad mom that I considered going with her version and watching her face the first time she passed the flags!!! That's my daughter!! Seriously...

Not any easier...

So I am really wanting to write an entry for my wonderful Dad right now. I got the title done and am crying already. It was four years ago today that he left us. I miss him even more now then this day four years ago. BUT...my husband WILL NOT go to bed. I have to write this when no one is awake. I have been trying to hold in my tears all day to be strong for the girls and not show him I am sad so I am trying to outlast him. It is not working. I think he is worried about me!! He made me a captain and Dr. Pepper when I got home tonight. I drank it in one gulp. He made me another! Now he is waiting for me to get off the computer to go to bed. I am in the office, he is in the living room. I don't think I am going to win this one. I will have to wait until tomorrow. My wonderful husband, you crack me up even when you are not trying to!!! Seriously...
P.S. They finished planting today!!! Something good on a shitty day.

What the hell...

My sister left today after being here a few days on a work trip. This morning she received a call from her ex-husband, for the purpose of the story I will refer to him as "Todd" as to protect his identity. Todd called to ask/tell my sister that his new girlfriend and child were going to move into the house that Todd still lives in that is currently for sale. My sister moved out when the divorce was finalized and got a condo. She still pays half of the mortgage. I know what you are all thinking, let the jackmonkey move in his girlfriend and her child and Tanya doesn't have to pay for the house in which she is not living. Well here is the kicker, the reason why we had reservations on her even staying married to the d-bag for as long as she was. Todd's g-friend and child cannot afford to cover the whole "half" and Todd wants my sister, who no longer lives there, to pay what g-friend cannot cover. WHAT THE HELL. Are you kidding me!! Seriously, Todd wants my sister to pay for his girlfriend to live there. Um, Todd, it is time to open the underwear drawer, grab the spiderman undies and PUT YOUR GODDAMN BIG BOY PANTS ON!!! If you want to play house with your girlfriend and her poor daughter, figure it out without my sisters money. It is time to grow up. Don't make me bring up the fact that one of the main reasons you and my sister divorced was that you didn't want kids. Hmmmm, hi kettle, this is Todd, you're black. Oppssies I brought it up. Seriously...

Always be prepared...

Maggie has been walking now for about 2 weeks. Since then we have had a heck of a time keeping track of her paci's. She has been unable to bend down and pick things up without falling down until today. So we have been having a hard time finding these life savers when it has been critical. Well, Miss Maggie got smart today, or she was tired of waiting on us to find them in a timely manner for her. She decided to hang on to all of them, just in case. She gets smarter and smarter everyday!!! And she gave each of them equal amounts of time being used!! It was soo cute to see. Seriously...

Boys and their toys...

When we built our new house we added some in house audio with surround sound. It was, in my opinion, the best thing we did. I love having my Ipod dock and listening to it throughout the house. BUT my husband decided that we needed the mother of all remotes and it is supposed to do everything, including the laundry. Actually it is supposed to control all electronic devices(t.v., dvd, dish box, radio) with this one "eye". From the first day it has not worked. I was hesitant and thought it was not a necessity.

I was overruled.

I was right.

We now have to use 5 different remotes to control everything. Friggin ridiculous. When will they learn. Boys and their toys! Seriously...

I'm not judging...

I really am not judging these people I am about to talk about. Seriously! It is just that I was standing in line at the grocery store and there was a family of four in front of me. It was storming so bad that it sounded like a freight train was going through the store. I picked that particular line because I wanted to wait the storm out and this family's cart was seriously overflowing, top and bottom. Plus the cashier was taking forever. It seemed like a good idea at the time. As I was watching this woman unload the cart I realized that I was starving. I wanted to go home with this family and stay for a long time with what they were getting. Here is a sample
3-4 different kinds of potato chips
8 packages of chicken
cookies
several kinds of cheese
chocolate
french fries and tator tots
a few boxes of cereal
5 dozen eggs
This is just the top of the mountain they had made of their cart. I could not believe how much food they were buying. The real kicker was the 10 boxes of the stick butter they were buying. The cashier even had the nerve to ask them if they really needed that much butter. She wasn't amused by that question. At all. I was uncomfortable.
This is the part I am not judging them on. They paid all but 7 dollars of their bill with a Link card. Their bill was 380 dollars. Holy cow. They are eating better then us, I will tell you that. I was amazed that there was no limit to what they could buy. We are too rich to be poor but to poor to be rich. Seriously....

Too funny...

Every once in a while Maggie likes to show me how smart she is. I guess I know that she is smart but sometimes I have to say...really! She recently started to shake her head no when we say no ma'am to her. Well I guess she does it whenever she feels like it, too.
She also is constantly keeping me on my toes and likes to remind me that she learns by example. I see her little brain working when she sees me doing something that we tell her no about.
Today I was carrying her, her bottle, her kitty paci and I needed to grab the nail clippers to get the last 4 nails that she wouldn't let me get at the last trimming. I ran out of hand space so I put them in my mouth, just the handle of course. She looked at my mouth and at my eyes and at my mouth and back to my eyes. She then shook her head no. Busted!!!!
She is sooo smart!!! Seriously....

Amazing...

Isn't it amazing that a 10 month old can find a 3mm size piece of wrapping paper in frieze carpet and put it in her mouth and a 10 year old misses 3 things in the living room when asked to pick up her stuff. Big things like her book bag. Seriously...