house pics

Some shawls are actually cute

So. I have been doing a great job at meeting my goals in the new year. This is the (ahem) second post. And I have not exercised. Go me.

I could list some excuses, but really I have no good ones. Plus, both of my goals involve discipline, and discipline usually triumphs over excuses, so even if my excuses were really really good, it wouldn't matter.

Now, onto a confession. I have been sucked into watching "The Bachelor." My klassiness knows no bounds. It is truly entertaining television. I usually have to watch it online with headphones on, because I don't need 8-year-old Pookie coming into the room and thinking that dresses with flimsy boob-baring fabric is the way to win over a man's heart. The dresses make me laugh, because when I was a kid and my daddy thought my top was too revealing he would tell me to put on a shawl. So now I shout to the screen "Shawls, people. SHAWLS!"

So that's it for today. I have some sort of sinus/cold thing going on, so my thoughts aren't really very coherent, thanks to Drixoral. I'm off to put on my breathe right strip and lube up with Vicks vaporub. It's a wonder my husband can keep his hands off me. Good night!

Happy New Year!

Well. It's been a while. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with their families. We had a great time, and now I am ready for the kids to go back to school and for a normal routine to begin again.

My goal in the new year is to update my blog a little more regularly than I have the last couple of months. Also, to exercise more often. That should not be too hard, because right now I exercise never. And more often than never could be just once a month or so. We'll see.

Miscellaneous

I have a variety of totally unrelated thoughts today.

1. A cold front has come to town, leaving the Indian summer behind. I broke out the fashionable, chunky sweaters. Know what? Chunky sweaters make you look CHUNKY.

2. Speaking of chunky, I snuck into the kids' rooms last night in search of Halloween candy. The week before Halloween, I bragged to my friends about how my children do such a fine job of self-regulating with the candy. A week after Halloween, their candy is GONE. Next year, we will have a different system. I take back the bragging and am properly humbled.

3. Yesterday at Walgreens there was a used, negative pregnancy test in the bathroom trash can. It made me wonder if the owner was happy or sad about it. And who takes a pregnancy test in the bathroom at Walgreens? I thought that only happened in the movies.

4. I am going to a party tonight that is supposed to get me in the mood for the holidays. I am excited about having a party, but a little nervous because right now I know only ONE person who will be there, too. I have been promised that I will probably know more people, but still. I am not so good with the small talk with unknown people.

5. At Walmart yesterday I stood behind an older woman wearing sweatpants, thick socks, and flats. She had an index card file filled with coupons and shopped with a calculator. She gave the cashier a fistful of coupons, half of which had either expired or were only good at Target. The cashier was NOT an example of patience. I felt a little bit bad for the lady. I mean, those expiration dates are small.

That is all for now. Happy Saturday!!

Work-for-Me Wednesday--Toys for Christmas

Prior to Christmas 2007, I was on the prowl to find decent toys to give my kids, then age 7 and 5. I was at friend's house and her son was playing with a Leapster. She did not seem like an electronic toy kind of mom, so I asked her about it, and she raved enough about it that I decided to research it for my kids. It passed inspection, and that year both of my children received one for Christmas from their grandparents.



A year later, it is still going strong! The Leapster is a handheld electronic game, made by the Leapfrog people. It comes with two games preloaded on it, and you can buy others to add to the collection. The nice thing about this game is that it really does grow with your child, as you can buy harder games as they get older.



My kids play their Leapsters on a nearly daily basis. Since the games have a educational edge to them, I don't mind them playing a lot. They are easy to learn and big enough for smaller hands to hold.



I've recommended the Leapster to friends, and they all have called later and thanked me for the recommendation. So if your kids fall between the ages of 4 and 8, I highly recommend you look into the Leapster. It is the ONE toy my kids have that has kept their interest for nearly a year. In fact, my daughter has asked for another game for Christmas this year.



For more great toy/gift ideas, visit Rocks in My Dryer.

Halloween fun

I remember going trick-or-treating as a kid, and what exhiliration I felt when my parents decided I was old enough to go out without them. The freedom! The candy! Being with my pals! Dressing up like a hobo or a rock star! It felt so free, so delicious, this feeling of being out AT NIGHT without supervision. If I close my eyes I can imagine being that age again, the smells and the fears and the excitement.

Matt took the kids out last night to do the candy walk, and I stayed behind to hand out treats. I really don't mind that job, because I enjoy seeing all the kids. I have to say my favorites are the older kids, the ones that are bearing down on being almost too old to be out. I think it is because I remember being that age, and I like to look at them and re-live the freedom they are feeling. You can tell they are feeling it--they are happy and carefree, and you can joke around with them and they don't treat you like an over-the-hill granny.

Although, you can tell things are different than when I was a kid (see? over-the-hill grannies talk like this). There were a couple of tween girls walking around the culdesac, with the requisite glittery hair and bad eye makeup job, and they were having a giggly girly conversation as they walked, living the high life. Then, one of their moms must have called on the cell phone. "We're on the circle, MOM (said with a high-and-mighty attitude). We're doing FINE." Big sigh/sneer.

I completely understand why the mom called. I probably will, too, when my kids are old enough to go out by themselves. But I confess I felt a little bit sorry for the girls that their night of freedom was interruped by the call.

The fall from the pedestal is long and hard

Buddy has always been an easy-going sort. When he was a baby, he would smile and laugh and drool at me, and his smile said, "Mama, I will always be yours."

He failed to mention that he would be mine until he turned 5.

People, my baby has a girlfriend.

Buddy was getting ready for school one day and was being kind of quiet. Then he looked at me with big brown eyes and said, "Mama, I haf to tell you somefing. (pause) I have a girlfriend at school."

"Well, what is her name?"

"Jessica." (said the same drawn-out way a person would say "heaven")

"Is she a nice girl? Because it is important that your girlfriend be a nice girl."

"I dunno. She won't talk to me."

"Oh. Huh. Well, then why do you like her?"

(somewhat breathlessly) "She has long shiny hair and butterflies on her backback. They are different colors." swoon swoon

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I asked him if I was still his girlfriend, and he said I could be, but Jessica was, too. I am not really into sharing, I don't think.