Merry Christmas

Love To All

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook

The tragedy that stormed Sandy Hook Elementary is a horrific event.

Normally, when national news strikes I can't get enough. My OCD kicks in and I compulsively watch news broadcasts, read newspapers, and track down every single bit of social media written.

This time it's different.

The information is so incredibly heartbreaking that I cannot read or watch the coverage without falling apart. I feel nauseous with sadness. When other events have occurred and my husband and I are watching TV together I want him to stay at every news channel so I can get the latest news. Not this time.

I am deeply saddened, disturbed, angry, confused, and so many other emotions. I don't know what to do with them all. If you are having these same struggles and just want to do something, please go to Snowflakes for Sandy Hook. If you need a snowflake tutorial, go here.

God bless you and your loved ones.

It's Christmas Time

My favorite time.

Belt Number Six

I keep asking myself how in the world I got so lucky 

because that is one freaking awesome kid! 

Leftovers

I made a turkey for Thanksgiving

and brined it, all by myself. 

This is  the pièce de résistance of doing that...

LEFTOVERS

Grateful

The day after Thanksgiving and looking around my home I see all the remnants of a holiday dinner. Thoughts of family, love, and togetherness warms me and I am reminded of all the wonderful things the holidays shower upon us. 

I am so very grateful.

What a beautiful start to a great holiday season!!

Did you vote?

I did.

Warriors in Pink

October is breast cancer awareness month. This is an annual campaign to continue to raise awareness of this awful disease and the lives it affects. 

Breast cancer wages war on women's bodies every day. Warriors in Pink - FIGHT BACK. You may be a breast cancer survivor, know someone who is fighting the disease, or are simply someone who understands the urgency to find a cure. Whatever your connection to the Cause, I invite you to join Ford Warriors in Pink. Click the image below to find the many ways you can use your personal power to make a real difference - stitch a square in the virtual quilt, sign up for the next Race for the Cure or get some totally cute clothes!

It's a win-win!!

Little Man

I love it that even with a temperature of 104 he still wore his glasses, hat and necklace to the doctor's office. He's already such a little man. 

Greetings!

Six words - again

A baby man

and his dog. 

Inspired by

Happy Fall

I'm giddy. 

Six Words

A little boy 

and his dog. 

Inspired by Multiple Mama
who was inspired by

It's Not Just Me

I think his circadian rhythm is all jacked up too! 

 Is he going to cringe when he's 15? 

World Trade Center

Our future...

Circadian Rhythm

My circadian rhythm is all jacked up.

Reece and Jake's school schedules have changed.  Both need to be at school at 8am. Because Jake's school, and the city, did a crappy job of planning the layout the parking is atrocious. This forces us to leave the house at 7:30 in the morning, which means I have to get him up at about 6:30. Since the man is up at 5:45 to shower and leave by 6am so am I.  It would be foolish of me to go back to sleep after he leaves to only sleep for another 20 minutes.  Then I have to go through the whole process of waking my mind and body up again, and having to WAKE up once in the morning is enough for this grumpy ole' night owl.

All that isn't really a problem, well maybe because I am in a NO WAY a morning person, but I can survive it.

The problem - My husband and I need a different amount of sleep, but we go to bed at the same time - after midnight.  He can survive and actually, impressively, be in pretty good spirits with only 4 to 5 hours of sleep. I cannot, as clearly displayed within these last two weeks.  If I have to survive on 4, 5 and sometimes 6 hours of sleep, depending on my hormone schedule, well... let's just say I will not be a very nice person.

I am going to have to figure this out very soon because this grumpy ole' night owl is about ready to rip the eyes right out of that stupid freaking early bird.

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*The writer of this blog accepts no liability for the content of this post or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided, unless that information is subsequently confirmed in writing. Disclosing, reminding, suggesting, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited.  

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Got that hunny? 

Extreme Parenting

Some families of children and young adults with disabilities were asked what they might have told themselves on the day their child was diagnosed with a disability.

This is what they had to say - 

Thank you for sharing Full Soul Ahead.  

Time Suck

Time Warner Cable = Time Suck.

Need I say more?

We are now the proud owners of our very first flat screen television.  We were lucky enough to have it gifted to us from a client that my husband has been doing A LOT of work with.  The new TV requires the HD set-up, which means we have one of those fancy cable packages with a lot more channels than I have ever had in my entire life, combined.  It's quite the change because just two months ago if we wanted to record something we were still using a video tape.  Now, I flip through the channels and if there is something I want to watch it's just a quick  push of a little red button and I can watch it later.

This is no bueno for me...

or the blog.

PS Do you know why kids watch so much television these days? Because there is something for them to watch twenty-four-seven! Those poor young-ins, they're like Raggedy-Ann dolls, mystified by the almighty TV and it doesn't help if the mommy falls prey to it's powers as well.  When I was little the only time I watched TV was Saturday mornings (I'm sure I just aged myself with that sentence).  We had 7 channels to choose from - 2, 4, 5, 7,  9, 11, and 13 - that's it.

This is probably why I was outside playing until the street lights came on.

Factors

You will be pleased to know that as hurt, depressed, and really pissed off I am at the neighbors, my absence from blogging was most certainly not all about them.  Yes, I admit I have had some bad days where I just wanted to hide in bed, under the covers, and cry because I was so pissed off - and I did - thank you my love - but the main factor for my absence was Jake home from school for the summer.

Do you know how hard it is to keep a 6-year-old boy busy all summer long? It's not as hard as keeping 4 children home for the summer (and you know who you are) but keeping mine home and busy was hard for me.  We have had swimming, karate, movies, family, play-dates, parties, sleep-overs, and anything else to keep a little guy busy, at a discount.  Although as busy and as hard as it is -

I get to witness, in real life, stuff like this -

That's his fifth belt! That boy is proud of himself and so are we.    

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That mom link above - that's Multiple Mama - her oldest goes to school with Jake.  Even though she had four children home with her this summer she has still managed to maintain her soft spoken calm approach and it amazes me every. single. time.  She is aiming and working hard to get No. 25 in Circle of Mom's / Top 25 SoCal Moms. 

Could you go vote for her because I think she deserves it! 

Glimmer

I see a glimmer of light.

It is a much needed glimmer.

I am making strides toward the glimmer.

Unfortunately, the glimmer is being clouded by my dermatologist appointment this Friday and possibly the removal of the fence/wall. Both on the same day.

Yep. I thought I would shake my nerves up REAL good.

Another added bonus to my nerves is finding out, when I made the dermatologist appointment, that it has been 3 years since my last visit - I thought it was 2 years.

This is not good for the glimmer.

Or my psyche.

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I typed the above Wednesday, July 25th, but was scared to hit the almighty publish button because of some strange thing people call "jinxing it" - Not that I believe in that kind of stuff.

Then, I was going to write after my dermatologist appointment, but the doctor removed a spot on my arm and told me if I didn't hear from her within 2 weeks that meant the spot was fine.  I scared myself into NOT typing about it until the time had passed. Friday was the 2 week mark and I didn't get a phone call so here I am.

Yes, it would appear I believe in "jinxing it."  I mean who are we really kidding here.

Moving on... I'm here to report that the glimmer is getting brighter and brighter.  The situation with the neighbors has educated us in a sense we never knew we needed. We now know about zero lot lines, surveyors, city codes, etc.  Better even, we are teaching ourselves how to use the information to our advantage. Lastly, we have discovered that these awful people have created a path of destruction by harassing other neighbors.  So, we are documenting a pattern of the harassment and we have a few neighbors offering support in writing.  I am very hopeful.  Strength in numbers, right?  We'll see.  Cross your fingers.

Oh God... Now I'm wondering if I should hit the publish button...

Happy Birthday America!

Happy Fourth of July!

Woe

Woe is me.

I have felt this way for weeks.

I don't know... could you tell?

The day after I wrote my last post about this subject we received a certified letter from the neighbors that if we don't remove a portion of the front fence/wall within 30 days they are going to sue us. This letter is in addition to the first letter we received in March, from the city, that the fence was higher than what the city allows.  Unfortunately, even though the city has no problem with our front fence being a few inches over, they need to enforce this code because someone complained.  I wonder who that could have been.

So we have been in contact with attorneys, the city, surveyors, landscapers, contractors - you name it. Basically, anyone who can help us out of this mess.

Friday we spent $1900 for a surveyor to come out and tell us exactly what the neighbor's surveyor told us. The fence/wall is on their property and even though they verbally agreed to have it installed, because it's on their property, they get to change their mind.

In our inexperience with owning a home, replacing fences, gates, and laying concrete we made some mistakes.  Our biggest mistake was trusting their word.  We trusted that they were telling us the truth that they did not have the money to pay their half. We trusted that they wouldn't agree to build a fence, let us pay for it and then ask us to take it down.

Live and learn.

This is why I haven't written.

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I'm hoping that writing and doing something positive will feed on itself and counteract the woe.

I'll let you know how it's working.

M.I.A.

Recently my husband asked, "Are you going to write something new on your blog?" 

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Is this what they call writer's block?

Is it busy-ness?

Is it laziness?

I have lots of draft posts sitting behind the scenes, but not enough follow through to fix any one of them up and produce something clever. I have a big one about the neighbors, but again not enough follow through. 

So, I'll go with what I did today.  I got these - 

Yep.

These cheater glasses that the optometrist recommended because I have a hard time seeing up close if I have my contacts in.

Nice. Let's add these to the list that includes Activia and Oil of Olay.

PS I'm gonna work on that follow through because it sounds like laziness.

Firsts

We had a garage sale yesterday and he had his first lemonade stand.

Guess Who?

When is he going to learn?

Happy Mother's Day

This little boy makes me feel lucky that I am his mother.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Neighbors - History

We have awful neighbors.  Not all of them.  Just one.

The one - Right. Next. Door.

If I walked out my front door, turned left and walked 25 feet I would be on their property.

According to the other neighbors, these awful neighbors have had a problem with anyone that lived in this house. The house we live in.

Ironically - get ready for this - my husband's sister's ex-husband's sister (did you get all that - because I can't make this stuff up) used to live in this house. Our kids go to the same school. She works yard duty for Jake's kindergarten class. We trick-or-treat in her neighborhood. We chat all the time. We chatted yesterday and talked about having coffee one day.  She had the same problems with this awful neighbor.

In addition, this awful neighbor has sued the neighbors on the other side of their property due to some tree damage, which was warranted, but by no means did it need to escalate to the level it did. That particular neighbor - I had coffee and bread pudding with just this morning.

Our problems with this awful neighbor started about 5 years ago. It was a hectic day. Jake was 1.5 years old, I was working from home and we had just gotten Duke who had slipped out of the gate.  She approached me and began complaining about a broken sprinkler - coincidentally, come to think of it, the one broken right now as well... hmm.... that's strange.

Anyway, I was a bit stressed and I snapped at her. She got mad at me and huffed away. At some point after that incident I put a card on her doorstep apologizing for snapping at her. I wrote that I felt it was important we remain on good terms, you know, just in case of an emergency. She came over to discuss the card and told me, "I have my family to look after me. I don't need your help."  Okay, whatever I was just trying to be nice. After this discussion she continued to be awful and rude, but I still sent treats over for the holidays. At some point in the timeline when she was yelling at me about something or another she said "I don't want any of your stupid treats."

Fine. I was done and when I'm done with you, I am DONE.

So for the next five years I didn't so much as look in her direction. Even when the tree fell - by the grace of God it didn't affect their house one speck - there was no interaction with them.  When we redid our front-yard fence, all the negotiating of the common wall was done among the men and guys that installed the fence. I didn't even have to look at her.

I would see her in other people's driveways, keeping them from their daily schedules and bitching about whatever was up her butt that day. I would smile and carry on with my business without being interrupted or bothered by her.

It was like a dream.

Until now.

Field Trip

Today we went on a field trip to a farm.

We picked cilantro, green lettuce, red lettuce, spinach and these - 

I know it's not a beet because it's white inside. 

What is it? 

My Life In Song

San Diego Momma asks - I want you to tell your life in song. 
Which songs defined significant moments in your life.

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 My mom used to clean the house to Cher blaring from the stereo.
That explains these -

 

This song reminds me of the babysitter

When I was 13 there was a boy who would play this for me over the phone

One year for Halloween, me and two friends made jumpsuits out of white sheets and carried around a ghetto blaster (is that even a proper term anymore?) with this song blasting from it.



 

My best friend had the same style as Molly Ringwald exactly around the time of
The Breakfast Club.

 

Dance clubs!

Living in my very own first place. 

There are plenty more songs, but I need to refrain from posting them all as I am sure it is taking forever for my blog to load and that can be irritating!

Hysterical

I can't get enough.

What Not To Wear

My husband wanted to wear this out today.

For a minute, lets put aside the t-shirt in and of itself.  Let's try and forget that it is a 4XL, which by the way he bought in Vegas at the M&M Store.  He loves it because it's huge on him and makes him feel like he is wearing pajamas.  It's also very rare to find a t-shirt on the rack that is that big.  Let's also try and forget that it looks like something you would order off of a Cheech & Chong video.  

Let's just forget about all that..K?

Don't you think he could have picked a better pair of shorts? 

At least he keeps me laughing.

Homework

Find three objects in your home that are longer, shorter and about the same size as your hand. 

I think that should be a rule - a mommy's coffee cup is always longer than the length of the child's hand.

Vacation

We are doing THAT again!

Clearly Adorable

This is me AND Rachel Clear from
Lautaret Bohemiet

Together in Las Vegas!
I think this is the coolest thing ever!!!!

I was lucky enough to watch Rachel become a mother, and I mean that literally - she had her boy Bennett in a small wading pool in her house and shared it with the world.  I am in awe of this woman.  Her beauty, courage and strength makes you want to know her and be lucky enough to be called her friend.  Amazing how that works.

My New Year's Resolution, to reach out more to my blogging buddies, has shown abundantly fruitful and now I am truly thankful for it.

Vegas

The city that never sleeps. 

I guess that's true because it's 12:13 am and I'm writing on my blog.  Although I don't think writing on your blog is what they are insinuating that you're doing while in Vegas. 

Know what else you can do in Las Vegas?  Meet blogging friends for the first time!  

The Awful Neighbors

We have them :(

We are installing security cameras tomorrow :(

Please pray that these people find a way out of their misery :(

Bulk

What are you thinking?

Are you thinking it must work? 

I think it does. 

Circles

There are tell-tale signs when we are in the same circle -
the look in our eyes
finishing each other's sentences
knowing what the other wants for dinner
buying, separate from each other, the same Valentine card.

We call it being in the same circle.  It is our connection.

He can always tell and reminds me by saying "Why aren't you in my circle?

HE usually says this because it's usually ME not in the circle.  Remember, I'm the woman?

The frustrating part  - Why is it that men want to have sex to get in the circle and women need to be in the circle to have sex.

Then I think about that Depeche Mode song again.

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San Diego Momma asks - 

Describe your connection with your partner, spouse, colleague, or creature.

Last Minute

Tomorrow we have two 6-year-old birthday parties back to back.

(Raise your hand if you've been there and done that)

I am out of boy themed wrapping paper so I improvised.

Thanks Reynolds Wrap. 

Dads

What celebrity Dad would you have picked for yourself as a child?

Mike Brady

I loved the Brady Bunch.  I think because it was everything my life was not.

Lots of siblings.  I was an only child.
A live-in housekeeper.  What was that?  
A stay at home mom.  My mom worked.
An educated professional dad.  My dad worked construction.
The best part:  An answer to all life's strife wrapped up in 30 minutes.

My dad had nothing in common with Mike Brady.

However, as in the title of this very blog, I grew up - I would learn that the people on the show were actors and had their very own lives with their very own problems.  I would learn about Robert Reed and all the information about his personal life and death.  I would learn a year later my father would be diagnosed with the very same thing.

I would learn they had more in common than I would have ever imagined.

Tricksters

I make a trip to the supermarket every week and try to keep the total under $100.

The man is not allowed to go to the store because he comes home with this stuff.  

For the most part I do okay, but sometimes I'm limited on time and get tricked.  This makes me go over budget and then I can't bask in the glory of keeping it under $100.

The above is an example of such supermarkets tricks.  The $2.89 price is for Five-Cheese Garlic Toast and the below price is just regular plain old garlic toast. However, there on the shelf of the $2.00 price is the Five-Cheese Garlic Toast and if you don't read the fine print it will cost you a buck.  Today I was in the shopping zone and caught it, but sometimes I'm limited on time or am repeatedly screaming at reminding my son to get back in the cart and this makes it hard to catch those supermarket tricksters.

Do you think they do it on purpose?

Remember ...

the $20,000 tree?

It turned out to be an $18,000 tree and 

it's keeping us warm on this cold and rainy day!

We are still counting our blessings.

ALMOST THREE HOURS LATER...

Now I'm really counting our blessings.
I need to clean this up before the man gets home.
I set off two of the fire alarms in the house and the dog is a nervous wreck.

Maybe I shouldn't be allowed to use the fireplace.

Canine Commandments

Wiping Butts

I am failing miserably on teaching my boy how to wipe his own butt.

He is six years old and he can give himself a shower, put away silverware, take out the trash, bring in the big trashcans from the curb and various other jobs.  He gets a sticker for each.  He fills up the sticker chart he gets a trip to Toys R Us.  Not a bad deal right?

But I can't get him to wipe his own butt to save my life and I think it's me. My neuroses. I'm not allowing him control of this task.  I think I'm scarred from when he pulled a strip of toilet paper off, crumpled it up like you would a piece of paper, and start tucking it into his butt-wiping area, only to pull a long strip of poop-covered toilet paper out of his butt and crumple it up once again, like you would a piece of paper.

Just thinking of that again is making my eyes water a little bit.

I googled this subject and found that this is typical and normal for his age, but the sing-song little voice reciting - "Mommmyyyy, I'm done going poooop" - is getting old.

Revolution

See this?

It bugs the ever-living-shit-out-of-me.  I hate it.

Come on girls!  That's attractive?  Please explain to me why our younger girls are accepting this.  Please bring back good old fashioned 501 Levi jeans.

I have a 14-year-old boy that has tried a slight variation of this.  "Tried" being the operative word because when he did it I pants him.  Once in the front yard and once in the grocery store with just us in the isle.  Now he knows I'll do it and it gives him something to think about - Mission Accomplished.

I am seriously contemplating opening a Twitter account just so I can tweet Justin Bieber about this.  Ask him, "Really?!?! How can you enjoy an interview or performing when you're constantly pulling your pants up?  Isn't that uncomfortable?  Why do you wear your pants like that?  Where's your mother?"

Let's start a revolution because I need this to end by the time my little guy is older.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Quirks

I am very strange about my choice of beverage when enjoying a meal.

I have to have milk with something sweet and I have to have some sort of beverage, preferably Coca-Cola, with something salty.  If I go out to breakfast and order pancakes, eggs, and hash browns then I must order a coffee or milk for my pancakes and a coke for my eggs and hash browns.  If it all comes on the same plate then I have to ask for an extra plate to split the food because the syrup cannot touch the eggs or hash browns and God forbid that ketchup touch those delicious pancakes.

The other day someone told me to drop M&Ms into my freshly popped popcorn.  They said the buttery saltiness of the popcorn blended with the chocolate of the M&Ms was yummy.  So I tried it, but instead of M&Ms I dropped chocolate chips into the bag.

She was right it was yummy, but at the same time confusing.

What do I drink with it?

Belief

I believe...

your body really does change the older you get.
now I know myself better than I have ever known.
in signs, but I'm just not sure if I have gotten one yet.
if we all followed The Golden Rule the world would be a better place.
we should all be kind to strangers because it could be harder for them.
that I'm neurotic because I lined these sentences up by length so it would look even.

What do you believe?

PROMPTuesday at San Diego Momma.

Confessions

i don't like daylight savings

There I said it.

I hear people all the time -

"I can't wait for the days to get longer."

Or I read blogs -

"The short days are depressing."

Inside I'm thinking just the opposite.

I started feeling this way when I stopped my love affair with the sun.  When I was younger I would lay in the sun anywhere and anytime.  The tanning salon was where I spent my lunch breaks.  I would take a 20 minute nap wrapped in a cozy heater.  I loved it.  I miss it.

Now my moisturizer has an SPF, my makeup has an SPF, and I get mole patrols.

Sometimes I get mad and curse the sun because I feel like it's useless to me now.

i don't like daylight savings.

Crack

I've made a small change lately.  I stopped crack.

In the past few months I have made a concerted effort to stay away from Coca-Cola.

Because that little red can is my weakness.

A Coca-Cola from a fast food joint, the ice and the fizz on a hot day.  That first sip.

It's like crack.

To try and stay away from my little red friend I have been drinking things like -

That small change... guess what?  Approximately 8 pounds gone without even trying.

Just from cutting back on crack.