Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
How we spent our summer vacation...
Mike's Grandma turned 80 years old on Thursday. His sister turned 22 the same day. So their family had a big old reunion and birthday party to celebrate. We took Jake and left on a jet plane headed for Pennsylvania to be with the family. It was a really great trip. Jake got to meet his great grandparents and great aunt and his aunt Krissy for the first time. They thought he was all right. He was thoroughly spoiled and loved on for four days. The weather was gorgeous and Mike surprised me with a canoe trip down the river the day before we left. He knows what I like.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Pimp my ride
With gas prices rising everyday and the cost of everything going up, Mike and I decided to sell the Jeep and get something a little more affordable. Here it is.
Kidding! This was actually GIVEN to us by a sweet co-worker and her husband. He bought it a couple years ago with the intention of taking it apart and putting it back together again. Much like Humpty Dumpty, it just never got back together. They were ready to get it out of their garage so when they found out that Mike wanted an old car to tinker with they just up and gave it to us. He's quite happy. They also gave Jake a new set of wheels but I don't have a picture yet. It's a red radio flyer wagon. He's also quite happy. The car is a 1974 Chevy Malibu I think. Something like that. Mike can't wait to start teaching Jake how to work on cars. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get used to the fact that I've gotten kicked out of the garage for a younger woman. 1974. What a baby.
Kidding! This was actually GIVEN to us by a sweet co-worker and her husband. He bought it a couple years ago with the intention of taking it apart and putting it back together again. Much like Humpty Dumpty, it just never got back together. They were ready to get it out of their garage so when they found out that Mike wanted an old car to tinker with they just up and gave it to us. He's quite happy. They also gave Jake a new set of wheels but I don't have a picture yet. It's a red radio flyer wagon. He's also quite happy. The car is a 1974 Chevy Malibu I think. Something like that. Mike can't wait to start teaching Jake how to work on cars. Meanwhile, I'm trying to get used to the fact that I've gotten kicked out of the garage for a younger woman. 1974. What a baby.
Monday, July 21, 2008
We're making memories here
I have been wanting to get a good family picture made for quite some time. Over the weekend, we were at the mall to get me some more ProActive toner for my face because I can't go more than three days without it. While we were there, we stopped at a picture place and made an appointment for this morning.
Then I spent all weekend getting ready for the big event. I colored my hair to get rid of the grays. Unfortunately, I used some hair color I got on sale at HEB for $1.50. That's right. I said I colored my hair for $1.50. My roots turned out darker than the rest of my hair but at least they're not gray anymore.
I applied my ProActive toner faithfully. However, I had already made the mistake of going without it for three days before restocking so my skin is a little out of sorts right now. Imagine that. My skin has been my nemesis since I was ten years old. Back then a good sunburn would get rid of the pimples. Now, I get to live with the cavernous wrinkles those good sunburns have caused. No matter. I figured the photographer could airbrush out the wrinkles and pimples.
This morning I picked out our wardrobe, second guessed it and then went ahead and stuck with my original pick. Then we headed out the door.
That's when I heard Mike say "oh great". I looked over at him and he was looking at just the biggest, whitest deoderant stains on the outside of his nice brown shirt. So he went inside to clean up and I looked over at Jake who is now handing me his binky which has all sorts of chunky material coating it. As does his shirt. I guess the thought of having his picture taken by a real photographer made him nervous enough to throw up just a little. So, we finally got everyone cleaned up and headed out to the photo shoot.
And let me just tell you, Jake is quite the model. He was so cute and did just about everything the photog told him to do. I mean he was sitting down, jumping, laying on his tummy. On command! He did everything but walk the runway. The pictures came out really cute if you don't look at me too closely. It seems this particular picture place isn't so much into the airbrushing. Here's a tip though. If you're red complected like I have turned into being, get your pictures done in sepia or retro coloring. Much better than full on color if you've got red blotches on your face.
Then I spent all weekend getting ready for the big event. I colored my hair to get rid of the grays. Unfortunately, I used some hair color I got on sale at HEB for $1.50. That's right. I said I colored my hair for $1.50. My roots turned out darker than the rest of my hair but at least they're not gray anymore.
I applied my ProActive toner faithfully. However, I had already made the mistake of going without it for three days before restocking so my skin is a little out of sorts right now. Imagine that. My skin has been my nemesis since I was ten years old. Back then a good sunburn would get rid of the pimples. Now, I get to live with the cavernous wrinkles those good sunburns have caused. No matter. I figured the photographer could airbrush out the wrinkles and pimples.
This morning I picked out our wardrobe, second guessed it and then went ahead and stuck with my original pick. Then we headed out the door.
That's when I heard Mike say "oh great". I looked over at him and he was looking at just the biggest, whitest deoderant stains on the outside of his nice brown shirt. So he went inside to clean up and I looked over at Jake who is now handing me his binky which has all sorts of chunky material coating it. As does his shirt. I guess the thought of having his picture taken by a real photographer made him nervous enough to throw up just a little. So, we finally got everyone cleaned up and headed out to the photo shoot.
And let me just tell you, Jake is quite the model. He was so cute and did just about everything the photog told him to do. I mean he was sitting down, jumping, laying on his tummy. On command! He did everything but walk the runway. The pictures came out really cute if you don't look at me too closely. It seems this particular picture place isn't so much into the airbrushing. Here's a tip though. If you're red complected like I have turned into being, get your pictures done in sepia or retro coloring. Much better than full on color if you've got red blotches on your face.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
It's been exciting ya'll
Here's what's been happening at our house the last three days. It started off with our next door neighbor having a sprinkler system installed in his yard. That was fine with us. I'm hoping that some of his sprinkler water will make its way over to our pathetically underwatered grass. For two days those guys were working right outside our kitchen window though which made our dog very uneasy.
Monday afternoon Jake and I came home from a playdate and they were still in his yard working. I noticed when I got out of the car that they all began talking to each other, looking at me and snickering. So I immediately and very discreetly got back in the car and checked to see if something was hanging out of my nose or something. I couldn't find anything majorly wrong with me. So I got Jake out of the car and we went to the curb to get our trashcan (because trash day is Monday) to bring it back into the garage. All of a sudden those workers stopped talking and looked down at the ground. That's when I noticed that they had decided to use OUR trashcan as THEIR trashcan for the day. I guess they thought that was funny. I seriously considered rolling the trashcan over to where they were working and dumping it at their feet. But I had Jake with me and I'm supposed to be an example and stuff. So I just swallowed, bit my tongue and rolled it into the garage. I may have made some off hand remark about how I should let the dog out to have his way with those workers on my way inside. I'm not sure. I knew they were scared of Brady but the truth is he would have just licked them to death.
Then today I noticed a crew of men with pickaxes and shovels on the other side of our front yard working up a storm. When I say working I mean that they were digging up our yard. I was pretty sure we hadn't hired anyone to do that. Later they told Mike that they were looking for some kind of wire and that they would fix the hole in the yard and give us some new grass and everything. Meanwhile, our yard looks like a construction zone with all that orange tape around it. You know how many people it took to dig that big hole? Three. One to dig and throw shovels around and cuss things out and two to stand under the tree and watch. I got to get me one of those jobs.
Monday afternoon Jake and I came home from a playdate and they were still in his yard working. I noticed when I got out of the car that they all began talking to each other, looking at me and snickering. So I immediately and very discreetly got back in the car and checked to see if something was hanging out of my nose or something. I couldn't find anything majorly wrong with me. So I got Jake out of the car and we went to the curb to get our trashcan (because trash day is Monday) to bring it back into the garage. All of a sudden those workers stopped talking and looked down at the ground. That's when I noticed that they had decided to use OUR trashcan as THEIR trashcan for the day. I guess they thought that was funny. I seriously considered rolling the trashcan over to where they were working and dumping it at their feet. But I had Jake with me and I'm supposed to be an example and stuff. So I just swallowed, bit my tongue and rolled it into the garage. I may have made some off hand remark about how I should let the dog out to have his way with those workers on my way inside. I'm not sure. I knew they were scared of Brady but the truth is he would have just licked them to death.
Then today I noticed a crew of men with pickaxes and shovels on the other side of our front yard working up a storm. When I say working I mean that they were digging up our yard. I was pretty sure we hadn't hired anyone to do that. Later they told Mike that they were looking for some kind of wire and that they would fix the hole in the yard and give us some new grass and everything. Meanwhile, our yard looks like a construction zone with all that orange tape around it. You know how many people it took to dig that big hole? Three. One to dig and throw shovels around and cuss things out and two to stand under the tree and watch. I got to get me one of those jobs.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Smoky, The Bandit and Me
I love nicknames. A person's name is special and unique and is given to them based on knowing absolutely nothing about them. Let's face it, we as parents pick out names for our kids that we think are cute and maybe even meaningful but they have nothing to do with the kid's personality because a fetus hasn't really learned how to express itself yet.
But a nickname is something bestowed on you by people who have gotten to know you. And they can either be good or bad. I clearly remember as a first grader needing to shed the name my parents had given me and step out on my own. I wanted something different that would set me apart from everyone else. So I marched on up to Mrs. Cummings desk the first week of school and told her I wanted to be called Kimmie instead of Kim. Surely she could see by the look in my eye that I was a Kimmie. I mean Kimmie is just so much more fun and glitzy and with-it than Kim. She obliged and called me Kimmie the rest of the year.
To this day, some of my friends still call me Kimmie. And I'm serious when I say it makes me feel so special. I love it! I've been called different versions of it too. Like Kimmie Lou and Kimmie Van (complete with pictures, long story). When I got older I wanted a more sophisticated nickname but nothing ever really stuck. Except for Ferris-wheel and Beuller in junior high and high school. Not really what I had in mind.
My mom and dad always had the best names for me. This is the short list of the ones I remember. Short stuff. Shorty. Rinky-dink. Rinkledy-Dinkeldy. Little Bit. I think I was kind of small for my age maybe.
When I moved to California, in my adulthood no less, I got the absolute coolest nickname ever. And I'm sticking with it. Ya'll, my friends at work started calling me Kim Possible. Or KP for short. That's when I knew I had finally arrived in this world. That name has no limitations! All things are possible with a name like that!
But I'm thinking that my favorite name of all right now is Little Mama. And although it's not an original nickname created just for me, it certainly sums up life right now. I pretty much like it.
Okay, I've told you mine. Now let's make this blog thing a little more interactive. Tell me your nicknames. Come on, you know you want to.
But a nickname is something bestowed on you by people who have gotten to know you. And they can either be good or bad. I clearly remember as a first grader needing to shed the name my parents had given me and step out on my own. I wanted something different that would set me apart from everyone else. So I marched on up to Mrs. Cummings desk the first week of school and told her I wanted to be called Kimmie instead of Kim. Surely she could see by the look in my eye that I was a Kimmie. I mean Kimmie is just so much more fun and glitzy and with-it than Kim. She obliged and called me Kimmie the rest of the year.
To this day, some of my friends still call me Kimmie. And I'm serious when I say it makes me feel so special. I love it! I've been called different versions of it too. Like Kimmie Lou and Kimmie Van (complete with pictures, long story). When I got older I wanted a more sophisticated nickname but nothing ever really stuck. Except for Ferris-wheel and Beuller in junior high and high school. Not really what I had in mind.
My mom and dad always had the best names for me. This is the short list of the ones I remember. Short stuff. Shorty. Rinky-dink. Rinkledy-Dinkeldy. Little Bit. I think I was kind of small for my age maybe.
When I moved to California, in my adulthood no less, I got the absolute coolest nickname ever. And I'm sticking with it. Ya'll, my friends at work started calling me Kim Possible. Or KP for short. That's when I knew I had finally arrived in this world. That name has no limitations! All things are possible with a name like that!
But I'm thinking that my favorite name of all right now is Little Mama. And although it's not an original nickname created just for me, it certainly sums up life right now. I pretty much like it.
Okay, I've told you mine. Now let's make this blog thing a little more interactive. Tell me your nicknames. Come on, you know you want to.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Turbo Charged
It seems there has been a little confusion as to why I began calling Jake by the name of Turbo. We started calling him Turbo around the house because he races around here on all cylinders pretty much 99% of the time. You cannot believe how fast his little feet move.
However, I used to have a hamster named Turbo (actually, there were two; turbo one and turbo two) and a few of you seem to be getting the boy mixed up with the hamster. In fact, I've been feeling like I'm writing about the hamsters myself. They were such good little rodents. My roommate Mel and I had a buriel service for Turbo #1 that was just a great tribute to his fuzzy existence. I actually don't remember what happened to number 2. Sad. But truly, Jake pretty much looks just like they did on their little exercise wheels when he runs. You know how you can't see their feet because they're moving so fast? And how sometimes they get to going so fast that they fall out of the wheel? That's Jake. Except he's just falling down on the ground. I mean we don't actually put him in a giant wheel. Because we don't have one. Yet.
Anyhoo, in an effort to keep everyone happy and unconfused, I'm going back to calling our son Jake. At least until I come up with his next nickname. I'm thinking Scooter.
Although with a face like this who cares what I call him?!
However, I used to have a hamster named Turbo (actually, there were two; turbo one and turbo two) and a few of you seem to be getting the boy mixed up with the hamster. In fact, I've been feeling like I'm writing about the hamsters myself. They were such good little rodents. My roommate Mel and I had a buriel service for Turbo #1 that was just a great tribute to his fuzzy existence. I actually don't remember what happened to number 2. Sad. But truly, Jake pretty much looks just like they did on their little exercise wheels when he runs. You know how you can't see their feet because they're moving so fast? And how sometimes they get to going so fast that they fall out of the wheel? That's Jake. Except he's just falling down on the ground. I mean we don't actually put him in a giant wheel. Because we don't have one. Yet.
Anyhoo, in an effort to keep everyone happy and unconfused, I'm going back to calling our son Jake. At least until I come up with his next nickname. I'm thinking Scooter.
Although with a face like this who cares what I call him?!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
I have my ups and downs
Amy called me up last week and said she was getting rid of all of her chocolate and sweet stuff because it was making her gain weight. Then she gave it all to me to eat. That's what friends are for. I'm happy to help.
However, as I sat on the couch over the weekend, hunched over a 13 X 9 inch pan of chocolate cake, eating out of the pan with my fork, I realized that maybe the sugar in my life was also the cause of my "little belly".
I was so happy at Christmas because I finally lost all of the baby weight from pregnancy, but I think it might be creeping back on again. My clothes are snug and by that I mean tight. So I decided to give up chocolate and sweets and coke during the week. I'll still be able to eat them on the weekends which in my world starts on Friday. But I will try to exercise some self control in the sheer volume of them I consume.
Because in order for me not to eat those things during the week, they can not exist in the house. That is why I had to eat almost 3/4 of that chocolate cake by myself last weekend. I had to get rid of it. I'm sorry I couldn't just throw it away. That is wasteful and wrong. And I won't be a part of something like that.
Anyhow, I'm writing this on Monday night and I've successfully gone one day with no chocolate, caffeine or pastry in any form. Please pray for me. This is an internal battle that is very hard to fight. Because chocolate? It's just so good.
However, as I sat on the couch over the weekend, hunched over a 13 X 9 inch pan of chocolate cake, eating out of the pan with my fork, I realized that maybe the sugar in my life was also the cause of my "little belly".
I was so happy at Christmas because I finally lost all of the baby weight from pregnancy, but I think it might be creeping back on again. My clothes are snug and by that I mean tight. So I decided to give up chocolate and sweets and coke during the week. I'll still be able to eat them on the weekends which in my world starts on Friday. But I will try to exercise some self control in the sheer volume of them I consume.
Because in order for me not to eat those things during the week, they can not exist in the house. That is why I had to eat almost 3/4 of that chocolate cake by myself last weekend. I had to get rid of it. I'm sorry I couldn't just throw it away. That is wasteful and wrong. And I won't be a part of something like that.
Anyhow, I'm writing this on Monday night and I've successfully gone one day with no chocolate, caffeine or pastry in any form. Please pray for me. This is an internal battle that is very hard to fight. Because chocolate? It's just so good.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Words escape me
I've been having a little trouble with my memory lately. And by that, I mean ever since I got pregnant. My question is will this ever end? Or will it just get worse? I would think that a year and a half later the pregnancy hormones would be out of my system. So, I'm not sure how long I can keep using that as an excuse.
One of my favorite words has become "thingy". Because that's what I call anything I can't remember the real name for. So it's like "hey honey, can you pass me that thingy with the thingy on it because I need to use it for this thingy." I sound so smart!
Also, last week I went to the grocery store and bought a can of evaporated milk among other things. By the time I got home and was putting away the groceries I could not remember why I had bought that milk. I mean I had no clue. I knew I got it for a reason though. I asked Mike why I would have bought evaporated milk and he had no clue either. So, for the next two days I thought about it. Finally, Friday night I was in the kitchen and just screamed out "macaroni and cheese!" I bought the milk to make homemade mac and cheese. It was such a relief. I'm writing about it now so that next week when I've forgotten again why it's in my cabinet I can come back here and read this. Unbelievable.
Any ideas on how to sharpen my memory?
One of my favorite words has become "thingy". Because that's what I call anything I can't remember the real name for. So it's like "hey honey, can you pass me that thingy with the thingy on it because I need to use it for this thingy." I sound so smart!
Also, last week I went to the grocery store and bought a can of evaporated milk among other things. By the time I got home and was putting away the groceries I could not remember why I had bought that milk. I mean I had no clue. I knew I got it for a reason though. I asked Mike why I would have bought evaporated milk and he had no clue either. So, for the next two days I thought about it. Finally, Friday night I was in the kitchen and just screamed out "macaroni and cheese!" I bought the milk to make homemade mac and cheese. It was such a relief. I'm writing about it now so that next week when I've forgotten again why it's in my cabinet I can come back here and read this. Unbelievable.
Any ideas on how to sharpen my memory?
Monday, July 7, 2008
Remember the eighties?
I spent much of the 4th of July listening to 80's music. And it made me very, very happy. They just don't make music the way they did in the eighties anymore. I had the radio turned way up while I was cooking dinner and since Mike and Jake were upstairs I just let loose and I sang. And maybe I danced. It was pure joy.
I know I don't have a very good singing voice, but I LOVE to sing. I just usually do it in private. However, I was so overcome with emotion listening to my music that I decided to seranade my two boys. So I went to the bottom of the stairs and belted out "For Your Eyes Only" while Sheena Easton sang in the background. Mike and Turbo both came to the top of the stairs to see what was going on and to see if indeed a cat was being tortured downstairs.
I am not kidding you that Turbo saw me, heard me and then literally fell down on his back screaming before he just got up and ran away crying. Wow. Way to make a mama feel good son. Later on when he was finishing up dinner and I was cleaning up the kitchen "Stuck on You" by Lionel Ritchie came on. So I started singing. And Mike told me to look at Turbo. He was sitting there in his high chair with his hands covering up his ears. It was just rude.
Anyway, here are my top ten eighties songs that I heard on the radio Friday. Unfortunately, Jessie's Girl didn't get played. But let's just go on record as saying that is my all time favorite eighties song. Okay, it's my all time favorite song. And we all know who sings it right?
1.) "Amanda" by Boston. I spent so many days in high school wishing someone loved me the way that guy loved Amanda. "I'm gonna take you by surprise and make you realize Amanda. I love you!"
2.) "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger. Loved this song even though I really didn't know what it was about until we looked up the lyrics Friday. They really say "Motoring, what's your price for flight?" I guess motoring means she's driving?
Also, it took me awhile to remember that the band's name was Night Ranger instead of Lone Ranger. Evidently, Lone Ranger is some guy on a horse.
3.) "For Your Eyes Only" by Sheena Easton. My feelings are still a little hurt Turbo.
4.) "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton. I know this may seem like a weird choice. But it made me SO happy!
5.) "Separate Lives" by Phil Collins. I used to sit in my room and play this over and over while pretending I had a boyfriend and for reasons beyond our control we had to go our separate ways. It was so sad in a pretend kind of way.
6.) "Mandolin Rain" by Bruce Hornsby. The song speaks for itself.
7.) "Hands to Heaven" by Breathe. This actually was my one and only real breakup song. Nick Patterson was responsible for the broken heart and the incessant playing of this song.
8.) "Glory of Love" by Chicago. Really any Chicago song was my favorite back then.
9.) "Right Here Waiting for You" by Richard Marx.
10.) "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leopard. Shout out to Amy here and our crazy high school days cruising the streets of the big A with the windows down singing this song as loud as we could. Those were the days.
So, as so many bloggers before me have done, I would love to hear your favorite eighties songs! Leave them in the comment section!
I know I don't have a very good singing voice, but I LOVE to sing. I just usually do it in private. However, I was so overcome with emotion listening to my music that I decided to seranade my two boys. So I went to the bottom of the stairs and belted out "For Your Eyes Only" while Sheena Easton sang in the background. Mike and Turbo both came to the top of the stairs to see what was going on and to see if indeed a cat was being tortured downstairs.
I am not kidding you that Turbo saw me, heard me and then literally fell down on his back screaming before he just got up and ran away crying. Wow. Way to make a mama feel good son. Later on when he was finishing up dinner and I was cleaning up the kitchen "Stuck on You" by Lionel Ritchie came on. So I started singing. And Mike told me to look at Turbo. He was sitting there in his high chair with his hands covering up his ears. It was just rude.
Anyway, here are my top ten eighties songs that I heard on the radio Friday. Unfortunately, Jessie's Girl didn't get played. But let's just go on record as saying that is my all time favorite eighties song. Okay, it's my all time favorite song. And we all know who sings it right?
1.) "Amanda" by Boston. I spent so many days in high school wishing someone loved me the way that guy loved Amanda. "I'm gonna take you by surprise and make you realize Amanda. I love you!"
2.) "Sister Christian" by Night Ranger. Loved this song even though I really didn't know what it was about until we looked up the lyrics Friday. They really say "Motoring, what's your price for flight?" I guess motoring means she's driving?
Also, it took me awhile to remember that the band's name was Night Ranger instead of Lone Ranger. Evidently, Lone Ranger is some guy on a horse.
3.) "For Your Eyes Only" by Sheena Easton. My feelings are still a little hurt Turbo.
4.) "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton. I know this may seem like a weird choice. But it made me SO happy!
5.) "Separate Lives" by Phil Collins. I used to sit in my room and play this over and over while pretending I had a boyfriend and for reasons beyond our control we had to go our separate ways. It was so sad in a pretend kind of way.
6.) "Mandolin Rain" by Bruce Hornsby. The song speaks for itself.
7.) "Hands to Heaven" by Breathe. This actually was my one and only real breakup song. Nick Patterson was responsible for the broken heart and the incessant playing of this song.
8.) "Glory of Love" by Chicago. Really any Chicago song was my favorite back then.
9.) "Right Here Waiting for You" by Richard Marx.
10.) "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leopard. Shout out to Amy here and our crazy high school days cruising the streets of the big A with the windows down singing this song as loud as we could. Those were the days.
So, as so many bloggers before me have done, I would love to hear your favorite eighties songs! Leave them in the comment section!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Happy Belated 4th!
We had a great fourth of July yesterday. We took Turbo to find a fireworks stand outside the city limits and bought him some sparklers, poppers, black snakes and a fountain. It was so fun to be in an actual fireworks store. Made me remember our family setting off fireworks on the outskirts of town when I was little. And then going home to light up the sparklers in the backyard. I think we always had homemade ice cream to celebrate. Turbo didn't get the ice cream, but he did get a chocolate cake along with some fried chicken, broccoli/rice casserole and a deviled egg salad. After the fireworks stand, we went to a Cabellas store. We had never been in one before and it was something else! They have a huge aquarium with big freshwater fish that T loved. For a quarter you could buy food and feed the trout that were stocked in a pond inside the store. They also had every wild animal you could ever imagine in the killed and stuffed variety. It's a little disconcerting to someone like me who prefers to see animals in their live state but the little boy loved it. In some ways it was better than a zoo because all of the animals were out on display instead of hiding or sleeping and he could get really close. Last week we learned what an elephant is and I tried to teach him the noise they make. So as soon as he saw the elephant in the store he started up with his noises accompanied by throwing his arm up in front of his face to pretend like it was his trunk. So cute. I have a feeling we'll be adding Cabellas onto our list of places to go to entertain T for free. Cabellas and Petsmart are going to get us through the summer!
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