What's going on with Miley?

Ok, I have to admit I don't really follow all that crap...are you shocked?

But the oldest, she's trying to live and breathe Hannah Montana and the whole Disney mess. I can only limit so much since it seems all the other parents are just lining up to waste their money on cds and magazines and they allow their kids to bring that crap to school.

I understand she is 15 years old. My daughter isn't. Even if she was I have to worry wonder about who these pop people are. I was naive when the kids were first placed with me. "Oh sure, Disney, go right ahead--make my kids brain dead." I trusted Disney, even though I have personal issues with the whole princess waiting for her knight bullshit. I learned quickly.

Trust no one, even in the land of animation.

But I noticed lately that MY radio station has been playing Miley and even the DJs are puzzled as to why they are playing it. I knew the transition was coming. She's getting too old and the exploitation machine has to jump on that ASAP.

But take a look at Miley. Who the hell is she? Or is she supposed to be. I originally saw photo shoot pictures on tv and could not figure out who that girl was and felt sorry for her. You can plainly see she is a child playing grown up. Look at what is supposed to be her "artistic pose" she looks so vulnerable. Isn't that hot for all the pedophiles? I mean I think of what is supposed to be her fan base and if they were truly at their age level and hadn't been sexualized yet, what would that picture say to you. I am assuming her target is from 6-9 by the snippets of her show that I have seen.

I think in a weird stray from the norm, if you wanted a picture like that of your child "crossing over" from child to young adult--maybe by a stretch you could have a photo like that done up. It would be pretty gross in my opinion but hey, my mother used to have a photo keychain of me as an infant naked in the bathtub, full frontal. So to each their own, but for God's sake- that's private. Not to be published in mass you know?

What have they done to this girl? Does she really have a sense of herself? I mean she's Miley/Hannah/Britney/Lindsay-- does she even have a chance despite her father's riding on the coat tails of her success support?

Time In A Bottle

I know it's almost a month later but I wanted to share what Hubs got me for our one year "paper" anniversary. I have to admit I was shocked and I wasn't sure what kind of expression to make because I really wasn't sure.

At first, when I saw the box and it's shape and even when I opened it and it was filled with paper shavings I thought "he better have not". See, we had both been online seperately searching the Internet in the hopes that something inspirational would land our way when I came across toilet paper that said "Happy First Anniversary". I chuckled and shared it with Hubs because the quote the company gave as a testimonial was "She cried!". I was telling him...suuure she cried, but not in a good way. So I thought he might have gotten me the toilet paper since I had seemed to be so amused with it.

But luckily for him me he didn't. Instead he got me this and I have to admit once I had opened it and read it, I cried.

When I first took it out, I was like "Oh!... Look Oprah's favorite most romantic gift!" (yeah, I'd come across it on the web too.) The feel of the wood casing is soooo smooth. I was so surprised.

When I opened it there was this inside. Blue is my favorite color. Inside the bottle was a personal message written by Hubs.

It was the message that made me cry. "Our Song" is Time in a Bottle and his message captured all of it. Us coming together and being a family. I'm about to tear up right now thinking of it.

It was just perfect, like him.

The Beginning of the End...

Ok, I know I have so given this up before but I had excuses to go back. Now, I don't. This was my last can of Coke. I will no longer buy Coke unless I am eating out or some such and they have no fruit punch or lemonade or something.

I know this is mainly what has made me fat and I don't want to be fat. It sucks. So, I am going back to my non soda drinking self from less than two years ago.

Buh Bye!

This and That...

(This is a pic of the boy and how he spent most of the trip, luckily he straightened out mostly when we got home)

The kid's therapist said there could be a possible backlash after the adoption with the kids. She said sometimes kids act out before the adoption, sometimes after and sometimes not at all. It looks like we are getting the after. Right now I have two kids at home. Strawberry Shortcake just felt like she didn't have any rules anymore. So did Poufy.

This morning I made the decision to keep them home. Actually, It was just going to be Poufy because she's been all kinds of bad for months now. I felt that we needed some one on one time and I think I was right seeing that she's behaving herself and I can see how desperately she wants to please me now that no one is really around and she can drop her tough image.

Strawberry Shortcake on the other hand is just testing the waters to see what she can get away with. She's been pushing it with tantrums,whining and all out disrespect which is not in her character at all. She was a last minute hold back this morning because she chose to tantrum instead of go off to school.

I just hope the school understands that I have some serious issues going on at home and this isn't a case of ...well, I don't know what. School is very important and these kids will have no shortage of school work today as I have plenty of workbooks and worksheets that they work on for fun but are really based on their grade level curriculum or higher. It feels weird that I have to worry about such things and it's a stressor.

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It's a sad thing but it must be done at last. lol

I felt that Easter was just well sort of overlooked this year. It just seemed to me that Easter was rushed and I didn't want it to be so I extended our celebrations by keeping our decorations up longer. I couldn't figure out how much longer and with the adoption and all they stayed up even longer. But today is the day they all come down.

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Lastly, for this post, Hubs and I have been researching swing sets. Currently we have nothing in the backyard for the kids but wide open space for them to ride their bikes. But since I have to replace all their tires with those self healing tires, well...bike riding on flats isn't fun. Who knew? I bought them cute little license plates for our state that has their names on them, that has to count for something.

I have all the tires, I just need to put them on, but how is the mystery. lol

We wanted to get a wooden one but I read so many bad reviews about warped wood, missing pieces, and broken pieces and I didn't want to go over $1500 because even that is stretching the budget. But it had to be one that the oldest could use and could accomodate a ton of kids at once. I found a metal one that seems to fit the bill, it accomodates 12 kids and only costs $249.

I don't know when we will go check it out but I really do hope it works out. These kids need an outlet for all their pent up energy.

The Grand Canyon--and final post on my never ending "vacation"

Ok, so finally Grand Canyon pics. I was lazy and that's why these weren't up sooner. I decided I needed to catch some zzzz's until I wasn't dreaming that I was driving anymore. lol

This was our second visit to the Grand Canyon for Me and Hubs. The first for the kids. We took them to the IMAX movie before taking them to Canyon itself so they'd have an idea because they basically had no idea what or where we were at no matter how many times we tried to explain it. Before we went in, I showed them the silhouette image of the person falling down the canyon and I explained to them that this wasn't like Disneyland. They didn't try really hard to make sure you are safe at the Grand Canyon and that was totally your job to make sure you are safe...because, well it is.

We stayed for about 4 hours all and all. Hubs had wanted to go out on the glass shelf but it turns out that's on the Nevada side of the Grand Canyon and I personally did not feel like driving to that side. Sorry Hubs, maybe next time.

We had a couple of scares both caused by CDQ with her brother. That child is either pure evil or has no common sense. At this point, I am choosing to believe the latter. lol

When we were looking at an information station close to the rim of the canyon, CDQ decided to shove her brother into the fence so she could get a look. For those who haven't been to the canyon, there is a fence but there are also large holes where the rim and the fence don't meet. Definitely large enough for a child to fall through. My 12 year old could fall through. I was so angry with CDQ, I gave her a lecture and I thought she understood. But then I'm recording the canyon and I hear CDQ right next to me telling the boy "Let me show you something really cool!"

I put the camera down just in time to see her trying to lift him up on the gate as in if I hadn't caught her that second, she could have flopped him over. I hit the roof and they thought it was funny! Kids...too bad they have to find out the hard way that they are not invincible. After that mild heart attack we left the canyon.

The next part...

Ok, sorry this is late and will probably be later because I have to pick the kids up in 10 minutes but I am buried in forms. Name changing forms, new social security card forms, next year's school registration, summer school, swimming lessons, girl scouts both for my kids and for myself. I have to take like 5 training courses and oh yeah, dental appointments and regular appointments and First Communion planning and First Communion pictures...and well yeah. I probably just spent half my blogging time going on about things I should be doing.

And I'm a little nervous. Today I transport possibly 9 girl scouts to Build-a-Bear. I'm giving them a ride and their parents will pick them up. Still nervous.


Anyhow, Grand Canyon....but first I forgot about the Flintstones. I'm not sure exactly what it's called other than the fact that it's a restaurant/RV camp or some such thing. Hubs and I stopped that way when we were moving here to check it out but it was closed. Still they have some pretty cool props to take pictures with...so here they are.

Here's the kids running towards Fred. It says "Yabba Dabba Doo Welcome" on it.

Here's a close up of Fred.

To get an idea of just how big Fred is here's the kids(blurry) standing in front of Fred.

They had some cool props like this wood carved car and trailer.

Here they are on the car... and then in trailer.

There was this dinosaur made of chains from something. It was pretty big as well.

Here the kids are acting like the Dinosaur is going to attack them. If you ask me the beautiful sunset stole the show.


Ok, so Grand Canyon next time. Really, I'm going to fore go boring you with the legos we saw in downtown Disney or Disney Market. Whatever it was called.

You're Going to Disneyland!

So Hubs and I figured a way to get the kids to Disneyland after the adoption. We were staying about an hour away.

We didn't tell the kids because we wanted it to be a surprise. Ok, truthfully we didn't want to hear "Are we going to Disneyland today?" because we were already hearing "Are we going to the Grand Canyon today?" over and over again all day.


The oldest already knew about Disneyland because she read our itinerary which she wasn't supposed to do. I suspect CDQ knew too. But the video it produced. Well, you'll see. Just watch the boy.

I've been to Disneyland, I think 4 times. I think I was like 5 the first time. I remember putting on my new short set, red shorts with a red shirt with straps that tied. I loved the shirt because it was a rainbow or pony or some object with gold glitter highlights. I loved the glitter. lol I had on a fishermen's cap to protect me from the sun. Very stylish and cool. *wink*

Anyhow, as we got closer, the excitement escalated. Only the oldest had been to Disneyland and the younger ones had no idea what to think exactly. I had told them the exit number so they counted down as we passed each one. They discussed meeting princesses and what kind of rides there might be. As far as they knew there were teacups and that was it.

Here they are at the entrance in front of the Mickey Mouse flowers. I had to get this shot because although I no longer have my photo album, I used to have a picture of me in front of this very spot.

There were characters signing autographs and taking pictures right as we walked in. They got to meet Snow White, Minnie and Pluto.

Um, Snow White was a little too much in character or something. She was kinda freaky to me but the kids enjoyed her. We were excited to be getting a picture with an actual mouse. Even if it was just Minnie. lol

We were next in line for Pluto but they dragged him off. Sucked. I was able to catch this pic as he was leaving. I thought it was funny that he was patting the kids.

Unfortunately, I didn't get too many pictures because I was riding with the kids. I had no idea how they were going to react to rides and such. As you can see in the photo above one child has a dreamy expression, the next looks like he's going to have a bathroom accident and the third looks up in amazement and wonder. Those looks shifted when they were on the actual rides. lol

I rode on the bigger roller coasters like Space Mountain and Matterhorn with the oldest. It was a little strange because I could remember riding the same ride with her mother years before with her in the same position in front of me and it being her mother's first ride on a roller coaster as well.

I was so disappointed that It's A Small World was down for renovations. That's my favorite ride and I wanted them to experience it.

I always wanted mouse ears, I think at some point I did get them when I was younger and perhaps my grandmother has them or something so I made a point of buying them each ears and having their names embroidered on them. It was towards the end of the day and we all had mouse ears. I wish I would have got a picture of everyone, but it was so dark and I didn't think all the ears would show up. I did get individuals though.

The oldest
Strawberry Shortcake

Poufy

The Boy (I got a better shot but I just like this one better for some reason.lol)

CDQ

I think they had a blast and I hope this is a day they will remember forever. Hubs and I talked about maybe going back in 5 years or so once we've forgotten what a PITA it was when they are older. It depends on whether there are toddlers or not to drag along.

Next... the Grand Canyon...

Still One Short

So, we left at 2 pm, not at 6 am like I originally wanted to nor at 11 am, like we said would be our drop dead time. Oh well, it was way more than either of us thought it would be.

We stayed in Williams, Az the first night but not until having the exhaust pipe bust 30 miles from the hotel. Needless to say, it was pitch dark when it happened. I still drove it into town. The next morning, I got everything and everyone loaded up and we set out to find someone who could fix it. There was one little shop in town that had a lift that could lift the van, really they were those hand crank flat jacks...can't think of the name.

Anyway, we paid $60 just to have them wire it up. Argh! I wish I could have lifted the van myself because I could have done it for less than $5 (the cost of the wire). Then we were on our way to Vista, Ca. The kids were pretty good because we rigged up this laptop to play movies for them. It hung from a clothes rack attachment I bought. Pretty Cool. Bigger than any portable DVD on the market that I know of and widescreen to boot! We plugged in speakers and they could have been at the theater.

Anyway, we dragged ourselves into the hotel there. Can I just take a moment now to tell you how much it sucks to be the only one lugging all the crap in? I mean I had to disassemble and reassemble Hub's lift every single frickin' place.

Hubs had spasms the whole entire time. He had to sleep in his wheel chair the entire trip because it was the only thing that would stop the spasms for him. I felt so bad and so helpless for him. On the upside he was able to get real showers because they had roll in showers for him, which we don't have at home...yet.

Anyway, bright and early Wednesday, I got everyone up, showered and dressed. We left on time but got lost and passed right by the courthouse. We didn't realize that when we did get to the courthouse there wouldn't be a parking space left in the whole lot. Luckily, I had experience with the CSUN parking lots and quickly found someone who was leaving (yep, I asked) and followed them until they found their car.

We were lost and late. But they had pushed us back and our wait was short. It was strange to meet the social worker. She wasn't what I expected, well, I don't really know what I expected but she has been an incredible help to us. The courtroom had fold up seating like at the movies and the kids took up an aisle. The social worker was telling me it was only going to take about 1o minutes and that it seems like a lot of work to lead up to such a short event.

I looked over and all the kids were sitting, they had saved me a chair. But that empty chair. We were one short. After all this, and all the years, Bela was still missing. I don't know what I thought. I've never really grieved for my Squishy. It's all been such a whirlwind that I haven't really had one single minute to really think about it all. I broke down in sobs. I know I scared the social worker. Hubs was worried. I told him we were still one short and he understood but I could see the concern on the social workers face. I didn't know what to say to her because I didn't want the kids to hear or to mention Bela on this day. I tried to calm myself and luckily I was able to in time for the judge to come out.

He introduced himself to each of us one by one. Then he told the kids what being adopted meant= forever family and asked them individually if that is what they wanted. Then he told us what it meant to be adopting the kids and Hubs and I agreed we would treat the children as our own and give them a loving home. It all went so quickly that I only got pictures of Poufy and the Boy signing and agreeing that they wanted to be adopted.


I don't know if we get copies of those but they did give me copies of the blanks before anyone signed. I 'm thinking of having the kids sign those in their shaky writing so that they can see.

It was funny because the oldest supervised our part in signing the adoption papers, she checked Hubs signature over his other shoulder as he signed. Then she watched the judge sign. She seemed to be relieved. They all were excited.

CDQ was excited. I could tell by the way she acted all noncommittal and said "Whatever". It's part of her RAD diagnosis. I told her I would take this picture of her getting cozy with the plant anyway. After I snapped the picture she came up and hugged me tightly. And that was it. Outside the social worker told us that all we needed was the court stamped papers and that was it. No more social worker, no more California. They were ours. I still didn't get it though...

Stay tuned for the next installment of our week long trip...

We're Back!!!!!

I'm almost ready to start my posting. After making sure every cat, fish and dog survived, I've been watering every plant and tree. So much bloomed while we were gone!

Plus, I've gotten through half the wash because that mountain needed to be tackled. So, I have yet to unpack everything else and find the camera and the camcorder.

But here's a sneak preview: car trouble, Adoption, Disneyland, Grand Canyon, The Flintstones, etc... I hope I remember everything.

Hope everyone else is well, as I have yet to catch up with most of my blog reading!

So Mad Even I Was Surprised

So, things have been going pretty well considering. Of course I am here to talk about the one thing that didn't go well. I hope to blog about the others...someday, probably when the adoption stuff is over and we are back and can breathe.

Anyway, what I am here to blog about is a situation that happened last night. Hubs has been wanting to join something where he can get away from us meet new people. I encouraged him to do so. When a religious group opportunity opened up, I signed him up and took him to the open house. To me, it was a glorified adults boy scout troop or whatever they call it. They touted community service and pushed family, etc... Their hierarchy was reminiscent from my understanding to that of the KKK and I joked about it.

I was slightly concerned about the fact that at the Open House, Hubs kept saying he was thinking about joining to the members that asked and when I came back from taking the kids to the bathroom he was surrounded and already being signed up.

They came out to our house and were very vague about things telling him they would tell him later and claiming they were training someone. Which is true, they were training someone. They wanted financial information, etc... they told Hubs there was this, I guess you would call it initiation ceremony.

So, they called and told him it was on Monday. Monday he tried to get a hold of someone to no avail. That night I get a different call on my cell saying it was Tuesday. Ok. Fine. Tuesday morning we get a call saying it's next week. Hubs tells him about Monday nights call and the guy basically said ok then tonight it is. All three callers said to bring your wife and family.

That's the background.

So last night I dressed Hubs up all spiffy and took him and the kids to his ceremony. Except, I forgot the camera. So we don't live too far and I had enough time to get back. I took off. When I got back the kids were in a separate room. I was told they were being too loud so they shut the door. But then the kids told me that they were told to wait in there. There was an older woman sitting in the room as well.

I asked about Hubs and where he was. It was 3 minutes past the start time of the ceremony. She said they were across the hall. I thanked her for watching the kids as I thought perhaps her husband was at the ceremony as well and that she was helping watch the kids until I got back but she just sat there.

She asked me if I had a camera and I told her I did and that's what I had gone back to get. She said I could go get a picture and to go ahead. She told me they were just across the hall.

So I take out my camera and I go where she said except I am accosted about 3 feet from the door of the room that I was in. The man stood in front of me and with a huge grin on his face told me I wasn't allowed. I thought he was kidding because of his expression and I asked him if he was joking. He grabbed me from my shoulders--as in, put one hand on each of my shoulders, towered over me (as I am only 5 feet) and pushed me backwards until we got to the room I just came from, opened the door and told me I was to wait in there.

By now, I am baffled and quite frankly pissed off that he touched me. I don't like to be touched. I understand English. Anyway, I walk in the room and tell the woman they are telling me that I can't take a picture. She said "really?" I asked her what was going on and she couldn't really answer me but to say that we were in the "Woman's room". I was dumbfounded.

W.T.F?

I asked her what that meant specifically and this is what I was told... the women meet in this room and the men meet across the hall. The women are supposed to make the men coffee and bring them dessert at the end of the meeting and oh...the best part. We roll it in on a tray. Then I assume we go back to the women's room.

I don't think so.

By that time, I was at a loss. I felt like someone had transported me to the twilight zone and good old Rod was going to start in..." 32 year old Sasha was not in Kansas anymore..." and my episode would be the one where they send the liberal feminist back to what would be the equivalent of my own PERSONAL HELL. It was all very black and white and grayish...

The kids were trying to talk to me and I swear it was just noise. blah blah blah blah,BLAH BLAH. I apologized as I couldn't process a word they were saying.

More people started to arrive. I can't say there was a person under 60 in the room. The chauvinism was stifling.

One woman told a story about how a waitress was reprimanded for addressing a table of mixed gender adults as "Hey Guys!" at a local restaurant. My thought was that the restaurant isn't the informal type and that's why she was reprimanded. But a man was quick to interject. "It's because the women at the table thought she was flirting." My eyes bulged. I could hear the theme song of the twilight zone getting louder in my ears. The woman opened her mouth to speak, he bent low to her level as she was sitting and he was standing. He repeated it slowly as if she didn't understand " I tell you it's because the women thought she was flirting." The woman who had been speaking closed her mouth.

Another guy introduced himself to me and I introduced myself to him. He looked around the room and found the only Hispanic guy in the room. "Oh you must be with him." My response was a flat "no". So then he chose the only other person who wasn't white in the room, an Asian man and said "Oh, you are with him." Again I said "no" and offered nothing more. One of the women spoke up and said my husband was in the ceremony.

Then the games began in earnest. Inappropriate things were said and I watched as the men guffawed and the women kept their silence.

I was suffocating in that room.

Finally, someone came out and told me I could go to my husband and take a picture of him with the Grand so and so and yes his title really starts with Grand although it doesn't end with Wizard so I'm not that dense.

I saw Hubs and he was so proud and happy. They had pinned him and given him a rosary. I was torn and I was scared. I immediately asked him "What did you promise them? What did you commit to?" His smile faded. I felt awful but I also felt I needed to protect my family and despite all the religious images they had hanging everywhere...this was not cool and not ok.

I don't know if I embarrassed Hubs because I basically went on a tirade cussing and all out calling them on the mat basically. I told Hubs as much as I could, as quickly as I could about what had transpired. One of their big selling points as soon as they saw Hubs was that if something happened to him they would all be here to take care of his wife and his family. I worried that Hubs might think we needed that and I assured him that "I can take care of myself and I don't need a roomful of dicks to watch over me." Yep, I was THAT mad.

But it's true. I've been taking care of myself by myself for forever. I have no one else in the world I can count on and I never really have.It's always been me and my faith, so if something does happen to Hubs, I'm not saying it won't matter to me but I am saying that I've got it covered. As it is, I've always been the breadwinner so it makes no sense. The thing I might have needed help with, cooking, Hubs has taught me. So he need not worry about us and if that's a fear they were trying to magnify in his mind to get him to join, I am appalled. I digress.

Poor, poor, poor Hubs. I still took the picture of him and the Grand Whatnot. His face. He looks so sad, confused, lost. It all happened so quickly. One minute he's back there ending a celebration and then I storm in.

While I sat in the room listening to the bull and hardly being able to comprehend. My wheels were spinning. I tried to tell myself it wasn't about me, this is a Hubs thing. But as I sat there and stared at the freaky ass picture of the new Pope (I miss John Paul!) who reminds me of what Satan might possibly look like and the founder of the organization, I started to wonder --is THIS what his intentions were when he started this?

The video we saw at the Open House talked about how these ceremonies were great celebrations in the lives of the people who were part of the organization. They talked about family and it's importance and integration.

Yet, if this was an important day of celebration in my husband's life, why were we, his family, forced to sit in the "women's room"? Why weren't we invited to this important event in his life?

Furthermore, if we weren't allowed to attend, what was the secrecy all about? Because as a logical thinker and the subtle hint of being physically escorted back to "the women's room", wasn't I led to conclude that I was not to know anything about what he was doing?

Being a newlywed and remembering vows and our own personal promises to each other as well as what we were told by the church leading up to our marriage, How can they perform this ceremony as an organization of our church and endorse breaking of our wedding vows or causing discord between a married couple? No secrets are no secrets whether you hide behind a religious cloth or not.

Hubs was supposed to sign some documents, the men were eager for me to sign them as they know I am the one who signs for him. I asked him what exactly he was supposed to sign, from what I can gather, it was some sort of nondisclosure agreement. Boy do I know about those.

We left without Hubs signing anything. I felt and still feel so bad. I didn't know how not to make this about me. But the fight for what was right was too important. When we got to the car and everyone was strapped in. I lost it.

I've been through some stuff dealing with men being assholes. I cried when I was 14 and was treated like I was nothing by a man who didn't even have half the intelligence I did even at that age. But I hadn't cried since that day. Even when subsequent men would eventually try to "put me in my place" over the past decades.

But yesterday, my anger was so raw and so on the surface. It all bubbled over. I have been molested, sexually harassed and harangued for choosing to educate myself and work in what was a largely male dominated field. I have been stalked, I have been threatened, intimidated, discriminated and bullied by males. I have no family, no grandmother, no mother, no Aunts,no sisters even really, they chose abusive dick instead. All because I am a thinking and intelligent woman. I know I am a threat because of the title they give me (Bitch) and how hard they work to "put me in my place".

I don't hate and I'm not trying to stereotype all males by any means because on the other side of that spectrum I have been taught by men how I should be treated and what a man really is and means and what I should expect instead of what should be expected of me.

I cried and my vocal cords were raw and I had a panic attack. All because this was done in front of MY children, MY girls. MY son. That's what made it worse. I cried in pure raw rage. How dare they?!?

I tried to compose myself, when we got home and CDQ gave me a hug, I looked down at her little face with her big innocent eyes and I couldn't bare to think what she would have to endure just because she doesn't have something dangling between her legs? What would be done to her to try and break her spirit? I took a walk to the end of our property where I had just that very morning installed a fence all by myself and I started to survey all the things I've done by myself, things that grown men can't do on their own, yet I've pulled it together. I've thought of all my accomplishments beyond the physical and wondered through it all and no matter how hard I tried to prove myself, if when push came to shove...all I was ever going to be was "just a girl"?

They're HERE!!

So I've been impatiently waiting for "the twins" to come.

Well, let's step back and give a moment of silence to the other hardworkers who have retired today after 11 long years of hard (well semi-hard work since really the hard work just started a year and a half ago.) work. They were my mothers before she passed them on to me.
(in case you were wondering the sign on the dryer said something about keeping out of the dryer-signed the management or something to that effect.)

Ok...so this morning I got up bright and early and set out to clear out the old washer and dryer myself because I figured it would save a lot of time and possible damage. I popped the door off and started to clear things out.

I have a rather large laundry room but right now with the spare fridge, the freezer and the mini fridge, not to mention cat items taking up one side it seems pretty small. But within 10 minutes of their arrival, I had the room ready to go.


Like any proud new mom, I was taking pictures of my new arrivals. Ok, so I did it from the living room window. Because yes, I was a little bit embarrassed over my eagerness to get the new babies installed.

I mean, I do about 12 loads of laundry overnight, two nights (10pm-4 am, has to be after showers) a week. If I was lucky the washer wouldn't give me grief and the dryer wouldn't eat any clothes. But that was rare. No, I shouldn't have so many dirty clothes but somehow I always do.
So without further ado, here are my twins...they are the LG (crossing my fingers in hopes I didn't get lemons) SteamWasher and SteamDryer. Can you hear the choir singing Allelujah? I can. The largest capacity of their kind and a built in water heater. (I feel like one of the guys showing off my souped up old car.) I feel a little bad because I don't mean to have favorites but I wasn't this excited when we got our freezer several months ago. But I think you can understand the difference.

It was a tough investment but I'm sure the ROI will be worth it just in the amount of "extra" time I will have now.

They're coming!

I can't wait, yet I've been waiting for over a week.

Here's a hint:


Finally, these will change my life in so many ways as pathetic as that may sound.

Partying Like She's 9 years old!

Today my baby girl turned 9 years old (yes, that is a dog cake) . We have been through thick and thin. Good and Bad. She's always been there to lick away my tears and try to purr me back to happiness.

People will say she's just a cat. But as you can see, she's not just any cat (She's getting ready to blow out the candle on her cake for crying out loud, how ordinary is that?). She's very special and I tell her all the time that she HAS to outlive me.
It still amazes me that I've had this little life that I am responsible for. Yeah, I know I have 5 kids now...but hello, my cat who depends on me completely made it to 9 years old. I've kept her alive and healthy for 9 years. That's a miracle! I remember her from day 1, she was a little itty bitty newborn, her mother had just given birth to her in a box in our garage. She was and still is so beautiful!

She's sitting here, curled up next to me, too pooped to keep her eyes open. (She partied hard, but those pictures are top secret, she doesn't want the scandal).

Even though she's not happy with her new pest of a brother, Mook, she still allowed him to have a piece of cake. Too bad she didn't extend the invite to her sisters. lol

Happy Birthday Scrawnie-brat!

Meeting The Girls

I couldn't tell you any specific names (yet) of the amazing little girls I met today, but I can tell you about the big blue eyes or the shy smile.

Today was my first time helping with a Girl Scout Meeting. I'm helping with the last meetings until I take over next school year so the current girls can get to know me and I can get the hang of how the meetings go.

At first I was thinking: "What in the world did I get myself into?" because there didn't seem to be any direction and there were girls running everywhere. But then they explained to me how there was a mix up with the snack and they were waiting and trying to kill time.

Finally that was all settled, and we broke out into groups. My group of kids didn't include any of my kids which I was glad for actually. They were earning their citizen patch. As we went over good citizens that they knew I was amazed: "Martin Luther King", "My Grandparents", "Mr. Patches". These girls really had a good hold on things.

We talked about feelings and empathy and taking a stand for what's right. We talked about troop rules and what happens when rules are broken. Since we will be going to Build A Bear in a few weeks, I decided to emphasize about strangers/field trip rules and what to do and what not to do.

They were pretty well versed on all of that stuff too. I had to change the subject because they were starting to scare themselves with the stranger business. One little girl clung to my arm so tightly and looked up to me with her big blue eyes and said she was getting too scared about everything we were talking about. So we changed the topic to voting and what it means. Then we held an election for the troops favorite color.

It was a great meeting and it also opened my eyes. I see my kids everyday and I get so fed up of them and their crap. They just seem so phony to me sometimes. I realized today, that even though they may be older than their years in the school of hard knocks, they are still so young and immature when it comes to childhood and just being a kid. Really it's hard to explain.

My kids are being phony when they do things like that, but they don't know how to be kids and they are simply emulating what they see. When I see them doing this, I feel like they are dumbing themselves down to be part of the crowd. But I realized at that meeting, kids learn from each other, not just their parents. If that's what it takes for them to learn how to be kids, I guess for now, I will let it be.

As for Girl Scouts...I can't wait and boy oh boy will there be changes!

Singing at it's finest

Last night Poufy was singing her heart out as she was getting ready for bed. It went something like this.

Take me out to the Broooown Gaaame...Take me out to the crowd.
All I have is a cracker jack, I don't care if I ever get back.

Root Root Root for the wroong team. If they don't win it's ok.

Take me out to the Broooown Game!

We listen to Baby Einstein in the car, I didn't realize the song went like that either. Guess it's MY ears.

Thank You!

Thank you Kandy for thinking of me. I feel special. :-)