Happy Halloween!!

IMG_0976
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Have a very safe, very fun and very happy Halloween everyone! I will be enjoying all the Halloween goodness this fine Monday.

Enjoy the rant found below, if you dare.

Hope everyone gets to steal some Reese's out of your kids' bags!!!

Open letter

IMG_0970
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Today my eldest daughter's rec soccer team secured 1st place in their league. They only lost one game this season, and worked very hard to make it to 1st.

This is our last year in rec however, because unfortunately, the parents, who I am sure are normally nice, compassionate people, turn in to friggin' TOTAL ALIEN SPAZMAZOIDS when they are at soccer games.

My daughter was able to shake it off though, she is out there cuz she loves soccer and reaps its rewards (see cupcake in picture). I love that kid.

But in her behalf, I'd like to write a letter to the parents of the other team we played today, and be done with it.

Dear parents:

I am very sorry for your loss today. I know, we are tough to beat. What can I say, the kids work hard. I know, from your standpoint, it seemed like we were cheating. 8-year-olds are very good at cheating, I guess? I especially enjoyed how you taught your children to 'trash talk'. My daughter found it very flattering when one of your players called her a 'stupid jerk' when she took the ball. Then, when your player knocked her down onto the ground and the ref called against your player, you, the concerned parent, yelled at the ref at what a horrible call it was and that MY daughter did it, well, that just shows class, my friend. And when my daughter was led off the field CRYING and you're still yelling, oh man, how can I not have the upmost respect for you?

I think you yelling at your girls to "PUSH THEM HARD!" also helps the girls truly learn the proper skills they need to play the game.

In conclusion, I want to thank you for instilling in your children the appropriate way to congratulate the winning team, by telling them 'bad game' when they go to shake hands. We have taught our kids to win without gloating, and not let trash talk rattle them, and always be a good sport, never to brag, not to use excessive force and maybe we are teaching them wrong.

But rest assured, that 1st place trophy on my daughter's shelf will remind her every day that no matter what, she played a good game.

Yours in good sportsmanship, Vajana

P.S. WE. KICKED. YOUR. ASS.

That time of week again!

spfriday
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Yes, you guessed it, SPF days is here. And again, I'm way too busy to take pics and actually download them so again I am using pics already on the computer. So AGAIN I am using my poetic license and very loosely playing. I'm loose, what can I tell ya.

Theme is Halloween!

*Your costumes
*Your frightful decorations
*Neighborhood decorations

I've got the costume one down, but instead of decorations, I decided to frighten the bejeebus out of ya and show the BEFORE pictures of my kitchen.

The jacklegs who are installing our cabinets broke one, then of course REORDERED THE WRONG ONE so it is delaying the whole process, and although I am really tired of having crap laying around in my kitchen and going out to dinner (yeah right) I know it will be done soon.

So if you dare...proceed!

diningbefore

diningbefore
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

A friend of mine convinced me to do this 'denim' look in this room. I hated it from the start, but did not have the heart to tell her, cuz she helped me paint it. I think I was living out one of her wishes, but whatever. This shit is GONE already, I painted it green last weekend. Just you wait for those after pics! They're gonna be so cool I'll be the talk of all the blogland. Or not.

kitchenredobefore

kitchenredobefore
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

ooooh isn't it scary? Dreadful? Yes, yes it is. This is my Romper Room kitchen. The only thing I like about this kitchen is that cute butt leaning over. And my Mr. Clean mop thingee.

costumes

costumes
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Here's what my kids are for Halloween. And yes, that is a friend of theirs with the scary blank face...hey I do not want to get in trouble for plastering a kid's face on the inn-r-net without permission ya know.

The Old One is a 'punk pirate' whatever the hell that is.

The Little Mama is of course Minnie Mouse. And she plays the part OH so well.

Don't call it a comeback

Looks like I'm going to have to add soap operas to my list of things to do starting December 2:

Dr. Noah Drake returns to General Hospital.

Now if David Beckham would jump on the reality bandwagon, I AM SET.

weenie roast

This past weekend we took the girls to a hayride/bonfire. It was thrown by the parents of one of the girls in A's 3rd grade class (note--I really need to get some cute nicknames for my kids don't I?). They are building a new house and have a lot of land.

the dad took all the kids on a hayride. We stayed by the fire. When they got back, it was time to go, as it was raining and cold and just yucky.

As soon as A came towards me, I could see something was wrong. As we got into the car, she said, "Mom, the girls were all talking about boy's privates and it made me uncomfortable."

I tried not to show it but in my head I was thinking, "WTF! In 3rd grade! Oh my holy cow we are already THERE? Yipes!" I told her when we got home and warm we could talk about it a little more in depth.

I asked her about it, and apparently one of the girls has a little brother, so it was more 'weiner' talk than anything, silly, making other people laugh kind of talk, not so much the anatomy and what it does, per se. I felt a little better about that anyway!

But it made her feel uncomfortable, and I'm not sure if I should jump for joy or be concerned that my daughter is uninformed about it all. I like to think we're pretty open about stuff, she is aware we have different plumbing, but it's just not something you go around talking about...I don't want her to feel uncomfortable all the time, I want her to feel confident!!

Hoo boy I am not ready to take this on just yet......

Motif Monday---Worst Date ever

Oh I am so on this motif. Good times, good times. MRTL has proven to have outdone herself this time.

I did not date a lot. I was one of those have a boyfriend for a year or two kind of girls, so I rarely went on a true 'date'. I also dated a guy (I use that term loosely as he was more a schmuck) for almost 4 years during highschool/college so that limited my prime dating years. After we broke up though, I had two dates that should have all but prevented me from dating ever again:

Date #1.

Hell I don't even remember his name. Let's call him Brian, cuz let's face it, 2 out of 3 guys are named Brian.

The first red flag here is that I met him at a bowling alley. Yeah, all class for me. My friend loves to bowl (I do not) and I would meet her after her leagues to play darts (cuz, ya know, darts are FAR classier than bowling). So this guy makes me an origami horse from his napkin which in some way impressed me, and I agreed to go on a date with him. Ol' Bri-Bri, who nobody else seems to know anything else about. Was I intrigued? Who knows. Probably horny, most likely.

He shows up at my house, I think, that part is vague. I can't see myself giving this guy my real address, maybe we met at the bowling alley. He stops off at the gas station to get GAS as I guess he forgot to do that before he picked me up. We went to the miniature golf course to play putt putt.

This is where it gets odd.

:: stealing tangent from mrtl...I am good at putt-putt. In my life, I am good at things that do not really count, like, useless trivia, tracing pictures, Playstation 2 games, putt-putt, and some other things I cannot mention here. But all these are useless. How many lives have ever been saved by knowing what Jan's pretend boyfriend's name was on the Brady Bunch? Yeah, none. ::end tangent:::

The first couple of holes I'm playing well, and we are jibing back and forth, all fun. Then around the 11th hole he realized I was going to beat him, and he went PSYCHO. Cursing, yelling, insisting I was cheating, freaking the hell out. He was NOT going to lose to a girl. (uh, hello? How old are we? Oh, in case I hadn't mentioned, this was right after I graduated COLLEGE) Well of course I won, but I didn't win the 'free game' at the end so that was all he had to hold on to.

As we got back in the car, I noticed then that he still had the pricetag on his shirt too. Did he steal it or just forget? Does it really matter at this point?

We've got more red flags flying here than a boat sinking, which was about what this date was feeling like. We got into the car, and maybe there was some carbon monoxide from the car fumes or something, because instead of me saying, "Okay you strange mutant weirdo take me home, I can at least catch SNL and not consider this evening a complete waste of time" I shut the car door, sealing my fate.

"I want to take you somewhere special."

WTF? Wasn't the maniacal putt-putt game special enough?
All I remember is that he pulled up in front of West End park, and shut the car off.
At first I was confused, befuddled, and then it hit me.

THIS MORON HAS TAKEN ME TO 'PARK'. To make out point. to kissy face central.

I have already mentioned I'm well over junior high age here, haven't I? So Bri-Bri must've known the window of opportunity was closing rather quickly, and he attacks me with full force, er, tongue, uh, jackhammer. (*insert Comic Book Guy here*) Worst. Kisser. Ever. I pushed him away, and told him to take me home NOW jerkwad. He does comply, thankfully, but as I am getting out of the car he says, "I hope we can do this again, I really feel we have a deep connection." Seriously. He said that. Dumbass.

date #2

This isn't so much of a date as it is a week's worth of strangeness. We have nicknamed this date Uncle Fester, for reasons given below.

It was Cinco de mayo weekend, I was home for the weekend from college and a bunch of friends and I met up at a Mexican restaurant to drink. So that's my excuse by the way, I was drunk when all this happened. There was no one else in the place but us, and the DJ, so we took control of what he played. All 80s music for us. He had some trivia games, and gave us free tickets to go see the Mighty Mighty Bosstones in concert (which ended up being fake...but thanks to someone knowing the bouncer they let us stay). We were drunk and heading to Denny's so we invited the DJ along, who, you guessed it, was Fester.

He asked me for a date the next night, and I agreed to it. He was harmless, seemed like a nice guy. And he loved music like I did, so that is a sure way to my heart. He took me out to dinner, and was very pleasant and nice. Afterwards, we took a nice drive out into the country. (why the hell didn't I see this coming?) He pulled the car over, and walked over, opened my door and led me outside. He turned up the radio and said, "I want to dance with you."

Now, this may seem romantic and whatever, but keep in mind this was our FIRST date. And we were on a dirty country road. And then, well, he played the song "Drive" by the Cars.

Have you ever heard that song? Not so romantic. Kinda weirded me out. And of course he proceeded to tell me we had a 'connection', that he could fall in love with me, etc. etc. On the first date! What the hell is it with this connection I seem to make with these guys? I certainly never felt it! Is this a new come on line I am not aware of? Is it code for "let's have sex"?

I left the next day to go back to school for finals, and I told him I'd be back in a few weeks and I'd call him, which I did. He was DJing at a bar, and he wanted me to meet him up there. I brought a friend of mine along, just in case. I walked into the bar, and couldn't find him, but then I realized he was the BALD, completely shaven guy behind the DJ booth.

There is certainly nothing wrong with being bald, or shaving your head. For most people I find it pretty attractive. But not when you look like Uncle Fester when you do it. This guy, totally did.

I ran to the bar, did a quick shot, and told my friend I could not handle a Fester lookalike. So we left. I felt really bad about leaving, but Fester needed a girl who could appreciate the Cars as much as he did. I was not that girl.

That pretty much ended my dating career, except for a few uneventful dates in between meeting the love of my life who is my husband. I got off (no pun intended) pretty easily compared to other dating tragedies I have heard about.

If you played, let me know, I'd love to hear other dating stories!!

Stuff Portrait Friday!

spfriday
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

So I'm participating this week but kind of half-heartedly. I do not have time nor the energy to download pics from my camera, so I had to use pictures already on my computer. Yeah it's cheating. Shoot the last pic doesn't even go with the theme. But, at least I played. That's all you get from me, half-assed participation. I'm a loser.

My husband is on the couch watching EVERY episode of Strangers with Candy, strung out on Vicodin and I have to paint the computer room walls by tomorrow as well as work. So I'm a titch busy. I also volunteered at A's school today so I'ze gotz ta GO!

Santa!

Santa!
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Tacky vacation picture:

How much tackier can you get with the 'hired' Santa Claus at Holiday World? This guy looks like he is ready to meet his buddies at the bar down the street. Hope they checked the pedophile records first before they hired him.

crumbling down

crumbling down
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Something my kids made...last year I got one of those gingerbread house kits. I tried quickly to take this pic before the walls completely fell off...needless to say I was not as successful as I'd like to have been. How bad of a mom am I if I let them eat the whole thing in one sitting? KICK ASS Mom, that's what I am.

Last of all

bathroombefore
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Yes, I realize this is not a picture of my brushes. This is our bathroom. Not anymore it ain't! This is my 'before' picture. I forgot to take one so the wallpaper is almost off, but you can see how awful it truly was.

And yes, I DID leave a box of tampons on the sink, just for you.

Found this little poll.

Who do you want to win the World Series?
Chicago White Sox 43 votes (62%)



Houston Astros 13 votes (19%)

Now that the Cards are out, I don't care 13 votes (19%)

How about you? Who should I root for??????

uh....DAMMIT!!

So how many more reasons do you need to prove to you that the apocalypse is at hand??

White Sox vs. Astros??

When I was in college, people told me I should be a Sox or Cubs fan cuz I'm from Illinois. WTF? And I notice now all those Cubs fans have overnight turned into Sox fans......oh well.

I'm just going to go shopping I guess.

Quandry

I am a Cardinals fan.

Win or lose, sucky or not, I am.

But I am also a very sensitive individual. Inevitably, when they show footage of the losing team's dugout at the World Series, I will cry every single time. I feel for them, those poor little boys who all their lives have dreamed about getting to the World Series only to lose it like a sorry sack of sore sobs they are. I cry for them.

For most of my life, Cardinals fans have been loyal, but respectful and if anything at least respected. We never cause riots. No nasty barbs. The Cardinals were never that ugly beast that torments other teams (well, except for the Cubs, but you know, I think they just use us as scapegoats). We've been jovial. We've been cordial. We've been...nice.

Hell we even handed over the World Series last year to the Red Sox!

But I see those days are changin'. Cardinals fans are done being nice. They want to WIN dammit.

If you are not wearing RED today in the Metro area of St. Louis, it's like walking a benefit walk without the Ribbon. "WHO WON'T WEAR ZEE RIBBON?" They're out of hand, people. These are Cardinal fans scorned, and it does not bode well. At my daughters' school today, they were allowed to wear Cardinals stuff (they usually wear uniforms) but if someone showed up with Astros or White Sox clothes they would be sent home. What is this, "1984"? Well if anything I'd give for it to be 1982, cuz then I'd know for sure the Cardinals will win.

As I mentioned, I'm a sucker for the underdogs, the other team. It was extremely hard for me to root against the Red Sox last year, just because I liked them. They definitely deserved it.

My grandpa was a HUGE White Sox fan. I won't be able to root against them.

The Houston Astros...always a kick ass team. I've always loved them. They deserve a World Series trip.

Argh the torment. Tonight will be a very tough one for me. I may have to slip one of my husband's Vicodin to take away the pain.

I am a Cardinals fan.

Win or lose, sucky or not.

I am.

Backwards, last but not least

sorry, I totally posted these in the wrong sequence. Go read two posts down. Back? Mmmkay.

The pictures I have seen that totally make me say "Wow" every morning when I check her blog is over at Wave of Modulation. The pictures she took recently at a wedding were amazing. You will not be disappointed.

I meant to do this Friday, I really did, but Cheryl reminded me when she commented I had not! So anyway, have a good Monday. If I am feeling really motivated I may go to mrtl's site and find out what Motif Monday is, but hey, let's not get crazy here. I'm not that motivated. Plus the guy is coming in 1/2 hour to check out the cabinets, hope he's cute!!

so happy together

so happy together
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

I've shown this picture before, but I love it. The lighting sucks, and the camera was on the table on a timer. We were in NYC for our 30th birthdays and we went out for sushi. It was so great, and I was having a good hair day too.

girlies

blackandwhite
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

I know it is Monday, and I totally was Debbie Downer this weekend, but I did want to share my pics for SPF, so better late than never. The theme was:

* favorite pic of yourself

*favorite pic you took

*favorite pic someone else took.

This picture I took of my daughters when they were baptized. I have to remind myself to use black and white film more often; the pictures turn out so beautiful.

Jana say....'eh'

I haven't posted in awhile, not b/c I have nothing to say--just because I have a lot on my mind and have been thinking about foregoing the whole blog thing altogether. Things have gotten way out of hand in my head (not Danny Bonaduce out of hand mind you...that man really needs some help) and I am trying to sort it out.

I started this blog to merely keep track of things, what happened in my life, and also things that have made me happy, esp. with my girls. And I think for the most part I do. Sometimes though I need an outlet to vent, to express my sadness or anger at something, and i don't feel especially able to do that on this blog. Maybe cuz I usually like to keep it light, I don't like to be bogged down by emotionalblotional stuff.

I can tell you one thing...when Vajana is bummed out she gets shit done. Last night I popped on my iPod and primed and painted the dining room and kitchen. There is no stopping me when I have a sour mood and Peter Gabriel.

So, I may or may not pop up this week. I've had one of those just-punch-me-in-the-gut-why-don't-cha moments this week and it is going to take me some time to recover. But I will of course! It's me! I will prevail. Me and Peter that is.

Things of note though...we got our cabinets and our fridge and the guy is coming out Monday to do the final inventory if all the cabinets, so if all goes well they should be in by the end of next week! that is exciting news indeed. I guess I will have to post before/after pics, as I promised.

Oh and LP is completely down and out...he threw his back and is on the couch, Vicodin and Prednisone searing through his veins...he is funny when he's loopy!!

So here is to everyone and hope that things are treating all of you well. Take care of you.


P.S. To the old hag at the pumpkin patch--I really think that since I 'wasted' my gas to get to your damn place you could have 'wasted gas' on only a few very eager and excited girls to take us on a damn hayride. Or geez you coulda at least opened up the pony rides. But hey, that's alright cuz we left your place and got 4 pumpkins for the price of 2 at the roadside pumpkin stand down the street! So plfffphhhphfphfphfh.

one fell off and bumped his head

nomoremonkeys
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Target is my sanctuary. Target is where I go when the clouds are grey, when things look hopeless and when I am down in the dumps. Target is my ray of light. Even if I just need cat litter or trash bags, I will go to Target before Wal-mart just BECAUSE. The atmosphere is great. I. Love. Target.

SO why did my husband point these out to me while we were at Target yesterday???

Go crazy folks.

I'm just sayin'.

Cardinals are freakin' fantastic.

Depot is de place

Sorry but I did not participate in SPF yesterday. Too busy. We are waist deep into these home improvement stuff and there is no stopping now. LP is at Home Depot as we speak. I was there this morning, picking out colors for the dining room and front room. No time for the blog! And it is a shame ain't it.

I had time yesterday to gander at ol' Dooce, who was the one that got me started in the first place. I've read her blog since pre-Leta, and she has always been entertaining. Her writing is absolutely amazing and she deserves all the positive energy she can get. It is a sorry shame that some people went and ruined it and she had to turn comments off. She is a neat person.

Well after that tangent I am going to sign off for the weekend. I've got a lot to do; mainly cleaning out the garage. At least we're having gorgeous fall weather--no clouds, just crisp breezes and falling leaves. I live for this time of year.

Our fridge should come in Tuesday, our new couches (yeah we bought those last night, not in the budget but guess what who cares! And I love to say 'microfiber' over and over again) come wednesday and Friday our cabinets make their grand entrance. So we've got a lot of cleaning, priming, moving, destroying and trips to the ol' Home Depot in store for us.

And did I mention Game 3 is on tonight for the Cardinals?? Yeah, it is at 10 o'clock because they will never get the respect they deserve and get a good time slot, but that's OK I'll be up watching! Go Cards!!!

P.S. Color names for the paint I have picked out: Campground, Brown Rabbit and Burning Umber. Wait until you see the results!

Hookie

dayatbusch
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Yesterday LP and I played hookie from work and went to see the first playoff game of the Cardinals against the San Diego Padres. It was a beautiful day and totally worth it.

We got free tickets from one of his buddies, so that made it even sweeter.

Guess who was in line ordering food when Reggie Sanders hit a 4-run homer? Yeah, it was me. But that's okay. You can't go to a baseball game without having a bratwurst.

They ended up winning 8-5 and this may be the last time I get to see a game in the old stadium...they are demolishing it at the end of the season this year.

Busch

usatbusch
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Cost of tickets: free

Two sodas, two brats: $14.00

Spending the day at the ballpark with LP and NO kids: priceless!

New stadium

jananewstadium
Originally uploaded by Vajana.

Here I am in front of the new stadium they are building to replace our old but nothing-really-wrong-with-it Busch Stadium. My dad insists the new stadium is 'geared towards the richies' but it still looks like it will be very nice. And they know I'll pay the money to go see my Cards.

Motif Monday--Personal Theme Song

this weekend was pretty interesting...I shall not go into too much detail but it boiled down to eating a lot of chili, lots of trips to Home Depot, smelling fresh paint, cleaning up hairballs and my mother-in-law getting really drunk and telling me family secrets I did not need to know. Oh and watching the Saturday Night Live season premiere, which was pretty damn funny.

Ms. Mrtl has given us an assignment to discover and name our own personal theme song. I tried the old-fashioned way to get the song, by going to take a test.

The computer asked me if I liked birds. What the hell does this have to do with my theme song? And I cannot imagine existing and NOT liking birds. That would be a tough way to go as BIRDS are friggin' everywhere. It is like asking if I like dirt. WTF?

Anyway. The answer it gave me is actually a song I like, "Groove is in the Heart" by Dee-Lite. It was unfortunately overplayed to death and still is on some 80s stations, but overall has a great beat and I can dance to it. I do not however, feel it is my personal THEME song. "I couldn't ask for another"...another what? No, that can't be my theme if I don't even really get it.

So I am going to choose another theme song for myself. Here goes.

I don't think my theme song should be a song that is just my favorite song, but it should be more of a song that has lyrics that describe more or less my attitude about things. However, it should be a song that I would play over and over again. With that in mind, I think the Simple Minds song "Don't you Forget about me" should be my theme song. And honestly I do not know how I came up with that decision. But I'm going with it.


Won't you come see about me?
I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby
Tell me your troubles and doubts
Giving me everything inside and out and
Love's strange so real in the dark
Think of the tender things that we were working on
Slow change may pull us apart
When the light gets into your heart, baby

Don't You Forget About Me
Don't Don't Don't Don't
Don't You Forget About Me
Will you stand above me?
Look my way, never love me
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down

Will you recognise me?
Call my name or walk on by
Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling
Down, down, down, down

Hey, hey, hey, heyOhhhh.....

Don't you try to pretend
It's my feeling we'll win in the end
I won't harm you or touch your defenses
Vanity and security

Don't you forget about me
I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby
Going to take you apart
I'll put us back together at heart, baby

Don't You Forget About Me
Don't Don't Don't Don't
Don't You Forget About Me
As you walk on by
Will you call my name?
As you walk on by
Will you call my name?
When you walk away

Maybe it has something to do with relating to the kids on the "Breakfast Club" movie as this is the theme song. I don't know. I can't figure it all out today.