Almost April!

Can anyone else believe it is almost April? 2009?!?!?

I was listening to the Sirius/XM 80s channel this morning with Rug, and "Heat of the Moment" came on. I told her, when I was 9, this song came out. The lyrics sang, "And now you find yourself in '82"...and I remembering thinking at the time, wow! Why did he write that, it will seem ridiculous in 1986 when he sings it!

And now it is 2009. Way past Y2K, way past Space Odyssey, certainly way super past Orwell's 1984.

But where are the flying cars darnit?

Anyway.

We have been surrounding ourselves with things this month that in no way correlate with one another.

The Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards were a very big deal here in our house. Seriously. Huge.

Then we bought the new Bond movie, Quantum Solace or whatever. LP and I watched it together, for two very, very different reasons. (Daniel Craig, OMG.)

(that was my teenage reaction to the man. He is hawt.)

Al has started IGI...or, the Catholic version of sex ed. She is 'like SO' embarrassed by the way I am acting about it, but fortunately for her, they are easing them into it, and the first days have consisted of how to deal with bullies. No diagrams of boy's plumbing as of yet, but she had it last year, so I know the worst is yet to come. Good times. LP just pretends he has a lot of important stuff to look at on his phone when we talk about it. You know, like Viagra ads and Youtube videos.

I have two items in my life that, on a normal blogging schedule, I would write separate posts about, but who knows if I will get to them. So, in hopes I have some time, please look forward to posts entitled:

Rug's New Teacher was Fired and How I Got into the Middle of a Shouting Match between the School Superintendent and the Teacher's Mom. (they were shouting, not me. I was just standing there.)

Rug has earned a Trip to Greece and It is Going to Deplete Our Savings Account!!!

Lastly, Mo bit it hard on some concrete stairs, and I think I have a picture of it. SHe loves telling people about the boo boo on her forehead. Loves it. well i can't find the pic, maybe next time!

Best. Day. Ever.

Remember how I said going to the zoo with Mo was one of the best days this year?

And remember how last weekend was one of the WORST of the year?

Yesterday, March 21st 2009, made the former pale in comparison, and wiped the latter completely off the slate.

Alex went GANGBUSTERS at the Speech Meet and got one point shy of a perfect score. She did the best I could ever hope for, and I even had to 'Putty high-five' LP for a 'hellz yeah we rock as parents' moment. We were so torn as to whether or not to make her try out this year, but we did, and then she made it, and then she owned it. That was the best victory Red Robin lunch ever! Then we got new tires for my bike so I can participate in the Tour de Cure in June, my first race. I'm excited, it's something I've been wanting to do for years. Now it's one step closer to reality.

After THAT, Al and I ran from our house to the 'main road' for the first time since we've lived here. Al said to me, "I think God made this place just for us." She was not kidding. It was exhilerating. Plus, all that treadmill running I've been done apparently has paid off, as I was able to run all 3 miles without dying.

I then took my 3 beautiful girls to the mall so the older two could get haircuts...the almost-12-year-old wanted 'sidebangs' again and of course I also had to pick up our copy of "Twilight" from the store. I wanted to get a picture of all of us with their hair all done-d up, so we went to one of those photo booths in the middle of the mall.

I have no doubt in my mind that photo booths are divine in nature and manufactured for the sole purpose of enjoyment by immature giggling girls. I had tears in my eyes we were laughing so hard. I will try to find the time to scan the pics that turned out, of which we had to have some airbrushed hearts on the top because apparently, the button was stuck and would only let us apply those to our final product.

Lastly I went to visit some old friends, and tho Makenna proceeded to jump on the bed, sit on the dog and more or less wreak havoc among her victims, it was a blast.

Even Al and Rug said on the way home it was one of the best days. "Ever Mom."

Oh, and where was LP? He got a nice break and stayed home doing 'taxes', which I believe is a code word for 'surfing porn' but I can't be for sure.

So I guess he had the best day ever too!

where I go schizo

i have so many things to blog about...but first, i just remembered that Mo left the fridge door open so I must go upstairs to shut it.

Done.

Is that an analogy of my life right now? Absolutely. I barely have time to shift my weight from one side to the other at this point.

My job is the root of this, but I am not about to be "Dooce'd" to let you in on all of that. Let's just say that I have been vindicated, and I can sleep at night knowing I work hard at my job and try to do my very best. (and let me just say this short paragraph could be two days' worth of blogging, but again, I am going to just go ahead and choose NOT to go down that road!)

So, if someone were to come to me and ask me, "What's going on?" and realllly mean, "I would like to know what is going on in your life"...this is what I'd say:

I've thrown out all markers in my house, and it has worked.

My 2-year-old no longer cusses. This is directly correlated to my giving up cursing for Lent? Who knows.

I took Mo to the zoo last week and it was absolutely one of the best days I've had in a very long while.

Rug got to participate in the "Human Ice Cream Sundae" last week and I was able to watch her. She was very excited I was able to come.

Last weekend was a really bad weekend. I mean, Friday the 13th, a full moon, and the ides of March all at one time? Clearly that was a warning signal.

I was hoping to meet up with one of my blogging friends, but it wasn't meant to be...I did think it was pretty cool that I was at least in near proximity to one of my blog friends, as that has not happened before! Next time Shellibells!

Al DROPPED and successful DESTROYED our brand new laptop. Since I pretty much require one for work, we had to replace it immediately. No punishment could have equated to the shame and embarrassment she put upon herself. It really was an accident.

I am reading "Eclipse" and it is really, really good. At first, I wanted to chuck it out the window, because Bella...yeah, she is my least favorite character. but I am now at the part of Jasper's transformation, it is compelling. So glad I stuck with it. Still love New Moon, but we shall see what Breaking Dawn brings.

My husband's ex-girlfriend contacted him on Facebook and got into a very...uh, shall we say...TMI conversation with him. I was sitting next to him the entire time, but I was amazed at where the conversation went. She clearly still has some issues...and is very lonely. I highly doubt her husband knows she had such a conversation with my husband, and I'm not sure he would appreciate it if he did know. She wasn't coming on to my husband or anything like that...she just seemed very lonely in her life and perhaps questioned her decisions in life? I don't know...LP and I trust each other and he made sure I viewed the entire thing, it was just weird, you know? I would never think in a million years to 'friend' an old boyfriend and start speaking so candidly with him after so many years. Just, weird. Props to LP for telling her that I am his soulmate...yes, he was compensated adequately ;)

Lastly, the Speech Meet is Saturday. This is DEFINITELY a post for another day, but in short, Al is doing a serious monologue and I need all blog good mojo for her, as she does well, but last year got like one point away from a blue ribbon, so we are really nervous for her.

OK, I told you I had a lot going on, did ya think I was joking? Finishing up with some token pics of the chitlins:



How I know my daughter watches too much TV: Upon seeing this lemur for the first time, Mo started singing "I like to move it move it...I like to move it move it..."




so far the spring soccer season has sucked...and the only thing good about that is the alliteration I just used.

Hoss, Meet Ernie.

Today my day started out learning that Hoss is gone.

And here is the background to that sentence.

When I first started my trek onto the Internet, I mainly belonged to one yahoo group, a group of women doing Body for Life, as I was. This was around 2003/04. I made a few friends on there, including Skwigg, who is a very funny lady indeed.

She was a reader of Dooce.com, and I instantly became hooked, the comments on Dooce's blog were about as funny as you were going to get.

That is where I 'met' the usual gang of idiots...most of the blogs I started to read. This was a large number back then, as they all sort of 'knew' one another and would comment on each other's blog as well as Dooce's...and I mean to tell you, those comments were laugh-out-loud, I have to tell my husband about that one funny. Of course, it was never as funny retelling them as it was reading them.

I knew all of these people, but did not know a one of them.

Of all the blogs, I started reading Susie's regularly the quickest, mostly because, as most of you know, Susie is fabulous in every way but loose. I adore her. She was the one who introduced me to Hoss.

I cannot tell you what post it was that led me to Hoss, but I remember the first thing thinking, "This cannot possibly truly be a 75-year-old man. He has the wit and charm of a frat boy. I'm sure this is some funny young kid pretending to be living in an old folk's home as a lark". Hoss was SO funny, I for some reason or other thought he could only be a young cad being facetious.

I was partly wrong.

From then on, I lamented about all the blogs I read and how I probably would never have any readers, and Hoss decided to become my Army of One. He lived up to that, and I always knew I would have a funny comment from Hoss waiting for me after every post.

He and I became fast blog friends, emailing each other about this or that, but mostly just stupid jokes we'd heard that day.

I could only imaging explaining to my mother how my buddy was a 75-year-old man I'd never met, and how she would probably never understand that. LP, however, did, thankfully, and was never threatened in the least at my adoration for him. Nor was he perplexed when I received an Oregon Ducks sweatshirt as the one above from Hoss in the mail.

I only wish I could have met Gene in person to tell him how he truly has touched my heart. From reading other comments about him, I am one of many. He taught me to never take yourself seriously, and to always be young at heart.

His obituary, written by him, ends: "He will be cremated and immediately he will be reincarnated." I'm sure as a dung beetle, as he would want it.

Love ya, Hoss.

totally random, but here it is.

LP calls these bean bags our 'moose poop' chairs. They are sooo comfy though, obviously.

I took Mo to a local 'science center' (the Magic House, been there since I was kid, but is MUCH cooler now) and she really liked the 'princess' area with dress up clothes, a pumpkin carriage, and of course a royal dinner. She had a blast.

I'm still working like a mad woman, but it looks as though tomorrow I will get to take Mo to the zoo. that will be fun.

Rug made me watch the reality show about the Duggars the other night, no really...she MADE me...I guess she was implying that their mom doesn't cuss and they are all happy and la-dee-dah...and actually, it weirded me out cuz, like, they really do SEEM to be happy and normal and really whatever. Although, seriously I do get saving money and not having your children be slaves to consumerism, but Peter pan collars were never a good look. For anyone.

why thy blog has failed

Something happened to my laptop. All arrows point to the Instant Messenger thing my 6th grader has added to the computer, so she can 'LOL' and 'OMG' her Bff Jill. So, now i have all these computer certificate problems that I do not have the patience nor the brain power to full understand or deal with. Therefore, the laptop is used solely for the websites I can get to, which usually consists of CNN.com and the Onion.

Lately it's gotten better at Facebook, and it has become my outlet. Which leads to the next reason my blog has failed.

I WORK. ALL. THE. TIME.

Seriously. Now I have two jobs, and this new job is kicking me where it hurts. I have about 1/8 of a second on a daily basis to collect my thoughts outside of the MRIs and CTs and PET scans that I am listening to and typing. I can eke out 140 or so blurbs, but to be able to actively make up a post for a blog is near impossible.

I also have not been able to read as many blogs, due to above mentioned computer thingee. It never allows me to comment and that frustrates the hell outta me. So I read, but can never comment. I've become a 'lurker', and that is not something I like.

We have also gotten back to the task of putting this house back together. Just this weekend we were able to finish painting the basement, RE-paint all the areas where my 2-year-old drew on the walls...and put shelves up and a new DVD storage shelf so said 2-year-old cannot destroy every DVD we ever owned.

Oh yeah, that 2-year-old. She is defining the term. If I cannot see her, she is up to something. She shaved her pointer finger this weekend with my daughter's razor. Didn't even cry. Took me 25 minutes to stop the bleeding, took me 23 to get her to stay still so I could apply the pressure. She is one bundle of fun.

With that, I hope all is well. Send me a shout out so i can keep touch with all of you if anyone even comes here anymore.