This week's This Is theme is super fun! I'm surprised at just how many photos I have of myself as a kid...must've swiped them all from my mom's house, heehee.
<-----This is itty bitty me with Santa. I dunno how old I was in this picture, 4 I think-------------------->
I loved Cabbage Patch dolls, and pretty princess things. My mom sewed a lot, and I wore many an outfit that she made for me. Course, those are the pictures I left at my mom's. This is me when I was four ------------------>
<------------ (age 5) This is my Kindergarten picture. Notice the dimples? They carried on to my boys. That string around my neck is my house key.
(Third Grade, 8 years old. Yes, it's mislabelled)------------------------>
It's starting to look like I had a thing for blue, but Pink was my chosen color. Honest. I didn't have glasses until I was 9 years old, and in the fourth grade. Thankfully, that picture is at my mom's, and I can be spared the mortification of sharing my 
first pair of plastic framed thick Pink-that-transitions-to-blue rimmed frames.
The blue dress in this fourth grade photo is one I wore repeatedly for years, and can be seen in at least 3 of my school photographs. I actually still have it, packed away.
<----------- 6th grade (11years old) Notice the big frames on my glasses...a trend that would carry on into my later years, until I smartened up a bit. Gawd...just look at those bangs... Look, it's the blue dress again! That gives you a clue as to how big I had gotten. --------------------->
Dunno when this last one was taken, no clear memory of which year. Could be 7th. No clue...stupid big framed glasses. *shudders* Yeah, my childhood was for sure over between the summer of 7th & 8th grade. I spent a lot of time that summer at my friend Amber's house because my mom was in the hospital.
Y'all are lucky I was close to a scanner....I might've been forced to get creative! LOL
So, what did you look like as a kid?
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
This Is: Me As A Kid
Monday, June 29, 2009
Random Thought For The Day
Web hopping today. Came across this cool slide show about Hot Canadians on TV.
Was interesting, and surprising, and a lot of them are new to me, as I haven't watched prime time TV in ages. Very informative, and enjoyable.
I'm still in lastnight's PJ's, which happen to be the clothes I wore yesterday...I'm so gross.
I think, now that I've admitted that, I'm going to go shower and put on some fresh PJ's.
8 days until we leave Ohio...
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Party Day
Lots of fun, spent my morning getting ready, then went overboard with the food 
once everyone arrived, as usual.
Cantaloupe, grapes, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cherries, baby carrots, 3 types of chips, potato salad, macaroni salad, pasta salad, hot dogs, bratwursts, and hamburgers, cheese, pickles, pop, juice, water, sautéed onions & mushrooms...it was a feast!
We visited, chatted, laughed, remembered, hoped, and joked together. A fabulous family visit, and a new set of fond memories of p
eople that we'll be leaving behind.
We watched the kids romp in the house, from game system to game system, movie to TV, and all the toys in between. Then they embarked outside where we put up a ($5) sprinkler snake. They ran about the yard, played catch & softball, and then got wet running through the sprinkler before collapsing inside for cake & ice c
ream and starting it all over again. Kids are amazing.
I get the sense that we'll be leaving soon, but I'm a don't believe it till it happens kinda gal, and though 9 days isn't much, it feels like a million years.
It's weird to say that now. 9 days until we head for the West, where we'll spend one week (or so) looking for a new vehicle to last us up North. I don't know whether to panic, cry, be super dee super excited, or just remain uninvolved. It's really confusing. If you go back to my entries to the beginning of '08, I do nothing but mope & moan about how homesick and stupid I felt. In truth, I still am homesick, but not in the same sense. I don't miss the usual way of life there, but I do strongly miss the people. They were what made my home, home. I'm looking forward to seeing them all again, the celebrations we have, the food we make and eat, the times we share together. I'm apprehensive about my vacation ending.
The grass will always be greener on the other side for me. I despise staying at home right now, for the main reason that I didn't have a choice. I'm not legal, not valid, therefore have absolutely no say in how I choose to support my family. I want to work right now. When I get back home, I'll have no choice as to how I support my family. I won't be able to take time off like now, because I'll have to work to support my family. It's frustrating that there really isn't a happy medium.
Yes, it'll be easier once we get Mr his paperwork running through, and we're truly hoping that he'll be able to work within a few weeks, but I'm not going to hold my breath. This is one situation that I refuse to have hope for. The best I can hope for is that he'll be able to file at all. The worst, that it will be no better than before...I'll get stuck in a job I absolutely can't stand because it pays well and my family needs the money for a never ending pile of debt that threatens to swallow us whole. I'm actually expecting them to stop him from crossing the border at all, but I can't stand crossing the border, so that's just extra negativity adding to that mix.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
You Need To Help Me Out Here Folks
"I'm Hungarian, Native American....I want my day!"
"Why do people who are _____(insert sexuality or race here)_____ want special rights, they're human, it doesn't matter."
"Your face is a faux pas"
"Don't you want to look respectable?"
How could I manage to marry someone who is so vastly different from myself?
I've spent the last few days being the bearer of a bad mood. That's not a huge issue, but what is the bigger issue, is my kids' ears being filled with ugliness.
Poor Mr is on a spree. He's filled with some sort of negativity, and I've yet to really discover the bottom line of it. Sometimes he prefers to stew (who doesn't, right?) and not let anyone else know what's going on. Or maybe that I know the issue and I'm powerless to do anything about it.
Back to my issue, being that my kids are witness to the stuff that's spewing out his mouth.
You know when someone's trying to pass an insult off as a joke? It feels like my life is being measured by insults. Things are fine in between, dandy in fact. It's sickening.
We've been in the midst of an argument as well, one that's stretched across the days.
Darius decided he wanted to grow his hair out.
Mr doesn't agree with boys having long hair. He thinks it would look ridiculous, and hasn't stopped letting D know this.
"Why don't you want to cut your hair bud?"
"Don't you think it would look nicer short?"
"Don't you think it would look ridiculous long?"
"Don't you want a sucker from the hairdresser?"
"Don't you want to look respectable?"
I've learned over the years to deal with my Mr laying laying this on me, but it's a whole nother ball game when he lays it on our kids for any reason. It made me angry, and it disgusted me. I've seen what can happen when he lays this shit on. Mr is angry at me for telling him to leave D alone, and to "respect his wishes". His words were "furious".
I'm ok with Darius making this decision. He wants long hair. It's his body. Yes, he's 7, but it's still his body.
Mr then said "If he wants to get a mowhawk would you let him??"
I said yes, it's a cultural thing. I'm Native American. I would be proud of my little boy sporting long hair, or sporting a Mowhawk, both battle friendly. It's my heritage, and his heritage. Now, I would let it be in taste, and probably just long enough to let the phase pass, but I would let him, nonetheless.
Mr was disgusted with that answer.
He says D is too young to make his own decisions in these matters.
Darius resisted for two days before he finally said Ok, I'll cut my hair. He hasn't yet, but the fact that he caved at all, made me feel really sad for him. Not because he caved, but because he felt that he had to do his fathers wishes on the matter after he "innocently" pushed him (for days) to do something.
I was disgusted that I didn't fight more. I did say stop it each time he started, but it just wan't enough. I didn't fight to protect my little boy from this revolting perversion of an expressed opinion.
If it starts here, where would it stop? (this must be what it feels like for you anti-socialism folk)
Suggestions people...how do I get under Mr's skin to ease his tensions, or to direct his opinion expressing at myself? How do I be that strong individual that's needed right now? How do I grow a thick skin to avoid taking all this stuff personally? Help me out here folks...I'm a fixer...help me fix my Mr. for right now.
Street Fair
We went to the closest little town yesterday, and found that there was a street fair planned for last eve and tonight. We headed out, of course, to give it a tr
y. It was held on an old school ground(meaning they closed the school, but used it something else & kept the playground). We wandered around, letting D try what he wanted to, before giving our hands at the games they had. The first two he tried were the midway kind, which meant that they cost an arm and a leg and had cheap, dinky, useless toys as prizes. After we gave up on those, we moved on, and found the local games. Simply built, and run by the local senior citizens, each cost only a quarter, and had fabulous prizes (if only donated n
early new stuffed animals) ranging in all sizes. Well, D found what he wanted to spend all of our money on. 5 dollars later, and this collection of stuffed animals. We could barely carry them all, because they swamped the poor stroller. We began to wander, checkin out their stalls, and we found a few small things to buy, and more games for D to excel at. I rather enjoyed this small street fair that was run by the locals. It wasn't nearly as busy as the bigger county fairs, and the lik
e, so it was really pleasant.
They had some good live music playing. The first band was playing lots of 80's/90's rock tunes. The really surprising part, came as I looked over to watch during a rendition of Sweet Child O Mine, was that the lead singer couldn't be more than 13, like the rest of his band. He nailed each note int he song. Wow.
The second band played more popular 70's/80's hits, and did a real great job as well. They looked like they were having fun too.
All in all, a pleasant experience, and calming, for the most part.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Friday Fill-Ins #130
And...here we go!
1. She had a great time watching all of the Michael Jackson videos on TV.
2. I'd like to think that I'd keep a glittery glove by my side, always. But, that's just not my way.
3. I know this: Michael Jackson was one of the most influential people in the world.
4. I am still shocked.
5. These words apply to me: I loved Michael Jackson music, I just didn't know it.
6. Even on the day he passed the sun was shining.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
It's Hunter's 3rd Birthday!
Yup, I spent the day celebrating my little guy.
We started with gifts from Ama this morning, as soon as he rolled outta bed, and continued with a spoil H day. He got two new trains, a Gordon & Percy.
By lunch time we headed to a fabulous family place called Amazone, where the boys proceeded to rip up (not literally) the indoor playplace set up that they had. About an hour after arrival we ordered lunch, and played some video 
games for the redemption tickets that all kids love. The boys browsed the prize-case before we moved on. After we finished that stuff up we headed back to 
the play area where we killed another hour and a half before I gave it up and said it was time to go.
We came home, and I finished icing the cake and making dinner. After eating we bummed about before doing the cake and the last present, a wonderful new expansion set to
his wooden Thomas train set.
It's been fabulous day so far. Bright and sunny while we were out and then storms all evening so far. All eyes have been glued to the windows and the like.
Hunter has spent his day playing with his new trains, and is completely entranced with the way the move, and the size of his new train tracks when put togeth
er. I'd say that it's been pretty successful, and a lot of fun. I've been trying really hard to teach him the right answer when someone asks how old he is, but sometimes he needs to ask...just to be certain. Am I three mom? Yes, honey...and now we have photographic proof!
Half Nekkid Thursday
Still stealing from archives, can't believe how many I have shelved. I haven't been doing HNT for that long, but wow. Good thing though. Gosh my hair is long...
Thursday Thunks
1. Someone knocks at your door. You answer it. It's a kid from the local school selling candy bars for a fundraiser. Do you buy one? Yes. I did it growing up. One day that will be my son. It ain't easy to reject someone so little.
2. The end of the world is tomorrow and you are out of milk - do you go buy some? Nope. I don't drink milk.
3. Have you ever picked up the phone and called someone that you hadn't
talked to in years? Once, when I first got started on FB, I called this old guy friend I hadn't talked to in 10 years and we chatted for almost two full hours.4. Whats on your computer desktop background? On my computer (which isn't hooked up to the web) it has this picture:
5. What was the very first movie you saw in a movie theater? Gawd, how the hell am I supposed to remember that?? The first one I recall seeing was Bambi, but i know there were some before that.
6. If you had to take a 10th grade science test, do you think you would pass? Sure
7. Describe heaven. A never ending bar of chocolate, the comfiest bed ever, my personal masseuse who's hands never tire, and plenty of hot showers.
8. Has a place that you lived ever been infested with some sort of insect or rodent? We rented this one place that had mice out the whazoo. I learned real quick how to pack everything in my cupboards into plastic containers. All of our places in Ohio have had Ladybugs.
9. When you were a youngin', did you hide in the clothes racks at department stores? Of course...I could actually still fit cause I'm short enough...
10. Is there anything in your vehicle that is broken? I don't have a vehicle at the moment.
11. What is something in your house that people would be surprise to find? Me? LOL j/k 8 computers, majority of them wired to the web. But that's cause this isn't my house...ask me again next month once I've moved.
12. Do you agree with the death penalty? I don't know the exact clarifications, but no. I don't believe that we should have to pay their full room and board (they should work it off, no retirement), and that they should rot in prison for the rest of their lives. Why give them the easy way out? The victims and their relations live the consequences of the perps actions, so should they.
13. Whats your favorite type of bear? Panda...no, Koala cause I could get all the hugs I want!
14. Where was the last place you went? I went to the Dollar General with the kids. Classy, I know.
15. What if that person knocking at your door earlier was an adult selling candy bars... would you buy one? Only if they had chocolate covered almond or the like.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Spoiler Alert: Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen
We left and got there with perfect timing. We walked inside, got our pre-paid tickets, and no sooner did we get to the line, then they called our theater # and we went in. We sat in the second to last row (not my choice, but good enough I suppose), and proceeded to watch the crowds flow in.
We snuck in our candy (they wanted $3.50 per box at the theater, ouch!), and bought some popcorn (of which I refuse to do a movie without). We waited for about an hour before the movie started, but it wasn't so bad. Chatted with a few ppl we knew, and with the friend we brought with us. Was very entertaining, as it's been a while since I chatted with anyone other than family.
Darius pitched a fit because we weren't bringing him with us, but that had a lot of other contributing factors to it. We were in the theater both with the intentions of catching something we both really wanted to see, and to preview it to see whether or not we wanted to take D to it.
I've found that the theater we go to doesn't advertise why the rating is the way it is, so the PG-13 didn't really tell me why it was PG-13. I'm grateful we didn't take him, because they dropped the P-bomb with a couple of smaller transformers talkin smack to each other. Not to mention the Horny Chihuahua or the "Green" Brownies. All of those scenes were really entertaining as an adult, but not for my 7 year old.
The plot I found to be a bit far fetched, but I'm not one who's watched the series or anything previous. I didn't buy the decipticon's ability to transform into a human being, I found that that really threw me for a loop because all they've been able to do previously was machines. If they could do human beings, why bother doing a big attack, why not just infiltrate or something?? It just seemed to be reaching to fit the plot a bit much.
I liked how it was mingled into our geography, but I found it confusing that these things were supposed to be active previous to the first movie. It just gets confusing when they do things outside of the first movie plot, and don't go into an explaination, I find.
The movie was rediculously full of explosions, and it was mind boggling that the main characters didn't sport more injuries than they did, but it was still very entertaining.
I loved that they brought back John Turturro's character, and the vast range of familiar faces that were also used in the first installment. It was nice to see that even the smaller characters or extras were the same as in the first (yes, I've watched the first that many times to know), because I enjoy consistency, it's easier to believe.
I must admit it was probably difficult to live up to the first's soundtrack, but this one seemed to really pale in comparasion, and it was rather disappointing. There's only so many times you can use that "OMG that's so cool" sequence when showing a fav character, and I think they over-did it. There's so many great songs out there, that restricting themselves to new hits really burnt their ability to get a great soundtrack.
All in all, I enjoyed myself, but I think they could've improved their soundtrack to make it more enjoyable.
I read this mornings paper, and this review was far from my own opinion. I just hope people make up their own minds about it, and enjoy it either way. I definitely don't think that it was a waste of money, it was well worth every dollar.
Monday, June 22, 2009
This Is: Something i Own From Another Country
Man, this week's This Is theme threw me for a curve. It took me all evening to figure out something that I could use, what a brain bender!
I could technically use something I got from the USA, since I'm from Canada, but that's just too easy! So, I thought and thought, before I finally came up with these:
Did you spot them?? They are wooden German decorative plates that my In-Laws bought while living in Germany during my Mr's infancy and young childhood. They bought them years ago, and have passed them along to us.
Sorry I don't have a close up of them,they are currently packed away, awaiting their trip up to Canada and these were the best two shots i had of them in my Flickr pool.
Can't wait to see what everyone else came up with!
The Infinity Top
I was feeling good. I felt like a million bucks. Each time I got out of the car, I was a walking testament to what a great seamstress I am. I had "the walk". I couldn't get any taller, my ass looked great, I was sportin some hot cleavage, and rocking sunglasses with the perfect long, straight, shiny hair.
I got out at Wal mart to go get some phone minutes, and everyone was staring at me, getting out of my way, and staring at me some more. Damn I'm on my game today, I thought.
I strut straight through the store, accomplishing what I had come to do in a matter of minutes.
When I made it back to the car, my MIL stopped at another store, leaving me in the car. I popped open to vanity mirror to admire my beauty, and noticed it...a blob of moisturizer on my forehead.
Shit. I wonder if they were checking me out, or the moisturizer on my forehead.
I'm adjusting my shirt, considering tying it a different way, when I notice...a length of elastic hanging out from the back because I haven't trimmed it after I fit it properly.
Damn.
Oh well, at least I noticed it early on in my outing...
Friday, June 19, 2009
I am so pathetic...
I got lot's of sleep today. I slept in this morning, letting Mr take kid duty. I got up for about an hour, then fell back asleep under the pretenses of putting H down for a nap where he wound up abandoning me. I then slept for at least another 3 hours before finally rolling out of bed around 3:30pm. Crazy huh? I'm still tired, still feel like I could get another 12 hours t least to round out the full 24 I was hoping for.
I'm angry. I'm hurting, for my kids.
H peed on a leather chair in the house today. Mr said it was time to put him in Pull-Ups, and MIL doesn't want to drive across the country without him in Pull Ups.
Does anyone out these know my take on Pull Ups? It's a subject I feel strongly about. They may be for some people, but they aren't for me. I believe that if I'm using Pull Ups, I might as well still be using a diaper, and that they're basically a waste of time and money. I've worked hard to potty train him, it took me about 3 weeks to do. Then we moved. He's peeing himself everywhere, at any time...except when we go out. I can always manage to get him to a potty before he wets himself whenever we're out. Why do you think that is blog friends?? We go through at least 15 pairs of undies in a day, countless shorts & pants, and by the time bedtime hits I'm generally out of PJ bottoms too. That's a minimum of a load of laundry a day, just to keep up with soiled clothing. I've stopped letting him sleep in my bed to avoid sheet changes, and change his sheets about every two days. It's a lot of work, yes...but that's what happens when you have kids, right? In my opinion, if I cave & do Pull Ups, it's giving up on my child.
I'm angry, because these vocal opinions that are shared, means that I'm somehow failing as a potty training mommy. It's a whacked way of taking it personally, but basically what they're saying is that my child isn't as perfect as I think he is, that they just don't see him in the same light that I do. I know, I should already know this right? I do, but why should it be glaringly shoved in my face on a daily basis? Why is that ok? It's not ok...I just have no choice.
Let me ask you this, blogger friends...do you like it when others yell at your child because they're doing something child-like? It's a harmless little thing, really, but they're doing it, even though they were told no. What do you do when others yell at your child for doing something they don't like, in their home? There's only so many times I can reprimand my children for minute, little things before they're going to tune me out.
It's tough knowing what a disappointment my children are to others. To see other's exasperation and exhaustion with my children.
I want to wrap them up in my arms, hold them close, and keep them away from prying eyes, so they don't have that chance to feel anything negative towards them. Irrational.
It's horrible listening to others say something like "Even though I just asked you not to do that, you do it anyways because you are Darius/Hunter".
Those things aren't meant in the personal way I take, I know. But I'm passionate about my parenting, as if it wasn't obvious.
If you were a two year old protesting your parents letting others raise their voices to you, living in a new environment, how would you react?
Know what I'm dreading??? The knowledge that we'll need to live with others for at least another year. Knowing that I'm going to be a bottom feeding low life who's going to suck my family dry before I'm through. I'm not saying that it will be just like this for the next year, but it's a big adjustment for our family. Just shoot me now before I have to face my ultimate failure and find out what a loser I truly am.
Friday Fill-Ins #129
And...here we go!
1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to challenge their boundaries, rules, and expectations.
2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a person who believes in hope.
3. Eating too much of a good thing is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time.
4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy taking one step at a time and making the necessary adjustment. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day.
5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine directions and actually getting there.
6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without salt or pepper in it.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include doing a test pack to find out what size of a moving truck we'll needs and Sunday, I want to Celebrate a decent Father's Day!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Half Nekkid Thursday
I'm very happy that I spent so much time archiving such a variety of photos. I've discovered that even with the ability to still take photos I find it distasteful because there isn't anyplace that I can really do it because the majority of walls int this house have a pattern on them, and I don't care for working with patterns. In any event This one was taken during my hat series. Enjoy!Thursday Thunks
1. Are your ears dirty? probably, I haven't showered yet this morning
2. Would you rather be stung by a scorpion or bit by a snake? (Don't say either...no one wants to be in pain, that's the point. Pick one.) Bit by a snake, so long as the anti-venom was at the nearest hospital
3. Do loud noises make you snappish? (i.e. A loud restaurant, screaming child next to you, booming stereo from a neighbor's house?) Depends...loud restaurants tend to give me a headache and make me feel sick, otherwise, no. Most of the time my kids can sleep through the majority, and that's the only reason why I wouldn't like the sound.
4. PETA- thoughts on this org.? What is PETA? I should go google that but I just don't feel like it.
5. Would you rather be the discoverer of the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot? (Imagination!) Bigfoot is in my neck of the woods, so they say. My vote is on Loch Ness, that way I'd get some traveling in as well.
6. When in a public toilet and it's not flushed: do you flush & use or move on to a clean one? Most times I just go on to a new one. Unless I really have to go super-dee-duper bad or am at home, I flush and then go
7. Neighbors are having a noisy, party bonfire, what do you do? Go on over and join in the festivities or find something to do with the kids that doesn't require quiet.
8. Do you play Monopoly? If so which version of the game? I hate Monopoly. If I have to play I prefer the Star Wars version. Did I say I'd avoid playing at all costs?
9. Are you a remote hog? Yes, I am. Excuse me if I don't enjoy watching Overhaulin, Golf, COPS, The Weather Network, or some silly beat-em-up 80's show. Awww, Mr says I'm not a remote hog.
10. Do you like the smell of paint? Yes I do
11. My questions obviously suck this week. {I've had a bad week.}
So do you think Kimber should have...
~smoked pot before doing these questions? Yes, it's always good for your nerves, so long as you get over the paranoia quickly, and odn't get the munchies to crash you out.
~drank liquid courage? Naw, then we wouldn't be able to read her typing...
~begged Berleen to do them (she's better at them anyhow)? Naw, begging doesn't become someone as lovely as Kimber ;oD
~just piss off! I could have done better! Mebbe, but then that would require extra work on my part and I'm busy enough already.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Busy Bee
Well, I've been making use of my sewing machine. It's been ages since I've been at it for more than a day, but it's been nearly a week, and will be more when I'm finally finished all my projects.
As I said, I finished off old projects that I had cut out and ready to go but just didn't feel like finishing. Like this set of bags, like those storage bags I had made a while back. For some reason they're not as stable as the other ones were, but they work just fine. they don't want to sit flat, and try to bow out like a rectangle instead of a square...hmm, has me puzzled. No biggie though.
I then worked on finishing a skirt for myself. I had the intention of making a matching outfit to wear to a diner i had to go to with mr, but it just didn't work out. The skirt is a bit long for my tastes, and I may shorten it in the future. I love the fabric cause it's so silky, and it even makes a whooshing noise when I walk, making me feel oh-so-princess-like. I had a few 
scraps leftover from cutting the skirt out and wound up making a cute little matching clutch, though I haven't put a clasp on it yet cause I'm uncertain which kin would look best. I'm also planning on making a matching scarf since I re-discovered my sewing machine's ability to do a very narrow hem with the special foot.
I moved on to something called an Infinity dress. I tried it, and hated the way mine turned out. The site I was looking at didn't have any specific guidelines for pattern pieces, so I made my own, and I really just didn't care for how the skirt part turned out, so i took it apart and just turned it into a shirt. It's a super-dee-duper tight shirt, but I must say it gives a lot of attention to my shoulders & back as I tied in halter style when we went out. I am planning on re-making this one, when I can get my hands on some more stretchy fabric. My plan is to do a bias skirt and longer straps as these needed to be able to wrap around me twice to look like I wanted it to. I had measure them and made them long enough to wrap around once but it just doesn't look as nice as it could.
I moved on to my medning, patching holes, fixing tears and re-stitching some seams in skirts I had made for MIL.
Yesterday I was working on a little of this and that. Am making another hat to match this skirt I made a while back and was unsure whether I liked. After having it around for a bit I like it. It served as the basis for the pattern for the first skirt above.
In between all of this I've been slowly working on those chair pockets. They're getting there, slowly, but surely. Hoping to be finished with them by this evening or afternoon.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Are You Sure He's Potty Trained?
I feel like I'm missing a part of myself. I didn't blog this weekend!
Seriously though...I did keep up on my reading at least.
I spent my weekend sewing. Actually, I've been sewing since Thursday. I've done all the mending, finished off a few older projects, and spent Friday AND Saturday mulling over something for a new outfit to wear out to dinner with Mr Saturday eve. It turned out that it wasn't necessary to worry so much about what I wore, so it was all for naught, but I did get a great top out of the deal. Pictures will follow, Mr just happens to have the camera today at Day Camp w/Cub Scouts. Am working on a dress, which I have set to the side, for times when I have enough brain cells to figure out the math of what I'm doing. I printed off the instruction sheet & pattern diagrams, but not the pattern pieces themselves. All I need to do now is work out the math for my size (the pieces didn't have my size anyways, so it wasn't worth the paper to print it out), and get to cutting. I'm slowly working on the chair pockets I said I'd make for the teacher. It's nice to have my sewing machine out, and know that I don't have a deadline on what I'm making.
H has been giving us all a bit of fuss. He's refusing to use the potty. He knows what the toilet is, what it's for, what he needs to do with himself, and the I've gotta go feeling...but he's ignoring it. Remember when I said he was having a bit of a slip back? I thought after a few days it would go back to normal, but it hasn't. He's wetting himself more often than he was while I was training him. MIL believes he needs to go see a Dr because something is wrong, or that he's just not ready for potty training. I am unsure if more persistence is needed, or if the Dr would be able to help me, or maybe some research to see what others have come up with.
I've been doing laundry daily to keep up with the mess of dirty training pants/undies (yes I unpacked the ones I saved from when D was little cause we were going through too many in a day where he'd end up running around without bottoms on at all) and bottoms, along with the sheets and bedding that needs to be changed frequently. Unfortunately, since I don't want to include my own bedding in there, I've been sleeping in his bed with him. His bed is really uncomfortable...like, put my hip to sleep because I'm laying on a crossbar uncomfortable. I ache horribly when I wake up, and our hours of sleep have gotten all messed up.
*sigh*
Research, re-sleep-train, and re-potty-train.
I've been trying to work on worksheets that the teacher sent home for Summer Vacation work to keep their brains in top shape. It took me 45 minutes to complete one whole sheet of work with D yesterday. Excruciating. I'm determined though. I want him to be sharp and on the ball, and I want his reading to stay in top form as well. That took us about 25 minutes when I got him to read a page with me yesterday as well. I don't know what the fuck they told him summer vacation was going to be like, but he's sure angry that I'm "making" him do this stuff with me.
That's another rant. Each and every time I ask him to do something that's related to work, he goes on and on about how I'm ruining his summer vacation, and how it's the worst one ever. I don't let him play video games all day (anymore...Ok Ok, I admit I let him do it while we were moving, but that's an exception), or watch TV all day, or not do anything except make a mess and annoy the piss outta me. According to him I'm a horrible parent. I'm simply being responsible, and making a sorry attempt at being consistent with not melting his brain, and teaching him some responsibility.
I know, it's the end of the world that my 7 year-old has to make his own bed, put his dirty laundry in the basket, re-hang the hand towel after he's used it, put his toys away when he's finished, and put his dishes out on the counter when he's finished with them. It's even worse when I limit his game time, tv times, movie time (cause you know he doesn't count them all as One consecutive TV time), and them ask him not to thump & jump, scream & whoop, hoot & holler, and chase his brother at breakneck speeds around the house.
What? You say this is normal for school-aged children on summer vacation? Great, now I just need a plan to survive 12 more years of this and we'll all be good.
I know, I know. Suck it up and do what needs to be done to move us out of this funk.
I am officially a recluse. I can't drive, I live in the country at least 5 miles (that's a long walk just to go to a store or some crap) from the nearest town, and I don't know anyone who lives nearby. I'm now too afraid to go outside because I don't want to have an allergy attack that'll leave me useless in bed from an allergy med overdose. I don't really have friends, and the lame ones I do have can't drive, or won't drive their hunks of junk cars out here to visit. I have a TV, my sewing machine, and my unmentionables to keep me company. Thank god you ppl blog or I'd be bored out of my wits.
I had forgotten how much more work keeping a decent relationship with my Mr was when you live in a house with anothe couple. I don't get that alone time, chat time, wind-down time, or even the time to laugh because that privacy that we had in our own home is now including another few sets of ears. It's not always a bad thing, but it can make it difficult when I want to express my feelings in their crudest forms, beat my children (kidding kidding), or have really loud nookie. Yes, that is a TMI item right there, really loud nookie can be very enjoyable.
Looking forward to having a small birthday party for H soon. Still feel like there's an immense amount of crap to go through before we move, but that's ok. I'm fine with taking out some time right now to relax and go at a slower pace.
Speaking of which, the Pepsi I had with lunch is kicking in, so I'm gonna go back to those chair pockets.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Friday Fill-Ins #128
1. I grew up thinking that it was normal to only have one set of grandparents. That all changed when I got married and discovered that I was the one who was different..
2. Hotmail was the last website I was at before coming here.
3. Why don't you make like a tree and leaf? (LOL, not nice but it's what it made me think of)
4. Cleaning helps me relax. Strange, I know, but it gives me someplace to put my negative energy, without hurting anyone, and it's productive.
5. Thanks for the compliment.
6. When people ask me to attend their church, I find it very off-putting.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to doing some more sewing, tomorrow my plans include a big to-do dinner with Mr and some special people and Sunday, I want to relax a bit, but with everyone home I'm sure we'll get ourselves into trouble!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Half Nekkid Thursday
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Thursday Thunks
1. What is your least favorite candy bar? Butterfinger in the USA and Aero in Canada
3. What is your favorite type of leaf? Is this a trick question? a 4 Leaf Clover
4. When was the last time you....
- had sex? With someone or by myself? Last week sometime I believe, for both
- swam in a lake? They don't have lakes in Ohio, and if they do they're too polluted to swim in, so it would've been about 2 years ago when I was last back in BC
- went barefoot outside? Last week
- ate peas? I dunno, last month, I'm more of a Green bean kinda gal
5. Since Father's Day is right around the corner, tell us about the person that you are celebrating. My Mr, he's the father of both my children. He *sniffle* completes me.
My Step-father, who is more of a father to me than any other one I've had has been. He's never judged me, always listened when I needed him to, and has NEVER turned down a hug from me. I couldn't love him more if he were my biological father. He showed me what it was supposed to be like to have a male figure to look up to, and to be able to trust in men again.
6. Were you dropped on your head as a child? Could be...hey, mom??
7. How often do you clean your toilet? At least once a day. H is still working on that whole potty training business due to our move, and since I don't use those specially sized seats with handles or potty chair, I make sure he has at least a clean seat to sit on.
8. Have you ever been sunburned? Tell us about it. Once when I was in my youth I got a really bad sunburn on my nose because I spent an entire day in the water, with no sunblock on my face. Lesson learned. Last week I got a slight sunburn on my shoulders, but it didn't really affect me. I don't burn easy, it would take extremes to make it painful.
9. On average, how many hours a sleep do you get a night? About six, with a break at every 2 hours. Yes, you read that right. I wake up every two hours during the night, whether it be to pee, to blow my nose (stupid allergies), or to go put H back to sleep...I'm up every two hours, sometimes more often.
10 How many hours did you get last night? I caught a break lastnight and went to bed around 11, and didn't roll out (because MIL & Mr are home) until 10am. Course, I DID wake up every two hours. I actually woke up like wide awake at 6am, and I laid there until I went back to sleep, which was shortly after D got up around 7:30.
11. Take a picture of something. Post it. Mr sure was lookin good yesterday when we went out for lunch/dinner...and D actually smiled for this picture!
12. Are the bottom of your feet dirty? Nope
13. Do you know the names of every member of the family who lives next door to you? I actually don't even know the neighbors, I only know they have a big German Shepard named Duke. I'd like to say that I make it a point to introduce myself, but that's a lie. In our old place the lady neighbor knew mine & the kids' names, but I couldn't remember hers for the life of me.
Eye Creams & Nipples
I've been finding it rather difficult to spend time out of the house lately. Allergies are too much to put up with, and I can put up with a lot.
Went out yesterday with MIL (who's back from WA state) to the fabric store. It was a few hour thing (as most things tend to turn into when you live in the country and have to drive to a city to do things), and wound up with us at the drug store searching for new allergy medicine, as well as a cream. See, after this entire week of yuckiness, I have rubbed the skin on my face raw. As in, dry, flaky, don't touch it or it'll burn, don't even breath on it, damn that wind is stinging me kinda ouch. The skin from my eyebrows down to my cheekbones is raw. I tried a few things at home to soothe them, unfortunately, most creams on the market contain either some form of alcohol or aloe vera, both of which burn like a bitch when placed on raw skin. I asked the pharmacist on
duty what I might be able to use, and I tried a dab of his recommended stuff on a spot on my skin. About a minute later it started to burn, badly. I wiped it off, and grabbed another. It burned in a matter of seconds. I just said forget it, as I didn't want to harm my skin too badly. We headed for home, where I kicked back and relaxed, after allergy medicine over-dose. I couldn't figure out, by nightfall, why I had two very sore spots around my eyes, until I looked in a mirror. I have two bright red splotches on my skin on the spots where I had placed the cream for testing. I thought it just burned, turned out it actually did some damage.
I've ended up just using Olive Oil to moisturize, and hope that it heals up on it's own soon enough. Until then...bah bah bah bah...no make-up. Don't go screaming & running away now. Does anyone out there have any of their own remedies they've like to share with me? I could use em. Something to stop the dry burning, and rawness that'll help heal it in a timely fashion. It can't have alcohol or aloe vera.
Had to go to the fabric store for the stuff to make the chair pockets for D's teacher. The bill surprised me when it was over $120 for all that I needed. I can't imagine anyone paying full price for the stuff, scary. That's just the tip of the iceberg of what teacher's spend on their students per year. In any event, she agreed to pay for fabric, and I agreed to do the work for free :o) I liked her that much.
D has reached that curious kid point. I caught him pulling the legs
off of a Daddy Long Leg spider the other day, after he spent an entire morning playing with a moth, continuously picking it up and rubbing the powder from it's wings so it couldn't fly. We had had enough, and had the "We don't torture helpless creatures talk". Can't wait to hear that one come back at us when we go hunting with my Grandpa. At least I'll be able to explain the difference, but I'm curious to see what it's gonna be like when it comes out of his mouth.
Was trying to get H ready for bed lastnight. I've managed to stop nursing during the day, but still nurse at bedtime (a vast improvement, trust me). He was ready for bed, and ready to nurse, but I wasn't. MIL was helping get him tucked in, and as she was holding him, he started tugging at her shirt.
Her response was "I'm sorry honey, but I can't nurse you, only mommy can do that."
He replied: "You don't have nipples?"
I was trying so very hard not to snicker and giggle as I had walked into the room in time to hear this bit, I was covering my mouth and turning away to hide it.
This turned into a quizzical "does daddy have nipples? Does Darius have nipples?"
"Yes Hunter, they have nipples, but mommy is the only one who can make milk for you." "Oh, Ok", and he crawled into bed.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Dirty Dancing Thoughts
I got caught up in tv the other day. A rare day where there wasn't a whole lot to do, but kick back and watch some TV. A needed day it was. As I was channel surfing I came across Dirty Dancing.
When I was a kid, I had a major bad obsession with this movie. I vividly recall watching it (my parents had taped it from tv) coming home from school and popping it into the VCR each and every day. Until the tape mysteriously disappeared.
I also recall feeling like the character of Baby was someone I should look up to, how lucky she was, and how brave. I wished I were her for many a play-time. It's a huge reason why I love dancing so much, now that I think about it.
It's been ages since I've watched it in it's entirety, but I got the chance to do so relatively kid-less, and I seized it. It was funny, embarrassing, charming, and heartbreaking.
Reflecting on my impressions now that I'm a grown up, I can see just how naive the character of Baby really was portrayed. Having watched it again I think I could accurately guess what her age was supposed to be, and see just how much advantage the character Johnny took.
It's an interesting thing to think about a movie that I've loved for ages could almost make me angry because of the character relation, just because I've had negative personal experiences in that arena.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Random Thought For The Day
I just noticed that the orange swirl on the Firefox logo is an orange fox.
It's Mr's Birthday!
It's Mr's Birthday today (Happy Birthday Mr). Haven't got anything special planned, been too busy.
There's a free Kids Carnival this afternoon in town, so we'll be hitting that up before heading to some old friends' place to help celebrate their sons' birthday (which was Wed.).
Spent yesterday pulling stuff out of the garage, trying to re-pack, pare down, and set aside for FIL. Though I feel like I made some headway (I emptied about 8 boxes), I still don't feel like it's enough. The pile for FIL is getting ever larger. I'm thinkin that whatever we decide not to take with us is getting donated to his cause.
I paid for being outside on a breezy day for so long. Though my eyes were spared from itching, but I nearly sneezed my voice away. My vocal chords were swollen, and it hurt to talk. I ran through a box of kleenex blowing my nose, and I was wheezing from congestion by the time I got inside. During the night I kept waking up because I had to blow my nose, or rub my eyes to get the goop off. Why, when my allergy medicine worked so well before, does it not work now?? It'll be time to switch brands I believe.
Unfortunately, H was up with me most of the night, so you can imagine how much fun he'll be to be around today.
I've given some thought to me going back to school, and what I might want to take. It was really a tough decision. Given my creative abilities, I knew whatever I was going to take was going to be Art based. I decided on something in Visual Arts, Photography, and whatever else in that arena I can get my hands on. Seems like a natural choice, now that I've settled on it. Now, when I get back to BC, I'll be concentrating on where I can get my scholarships & grants from, and finding a College that I like. The Okanagan offers so many choices, and I'll need to learn the ropes before I can make an informed decision on which one is right for me.
Moving has caused a backslide for H. We've regressed in our potty training, and it's requiring us to be more vigilant to get him on the pot to avoid accidents, which were at an all-time high two days ago when he ran out of training undies cause they were all in the wash.
I've been busy around the house. Seems just as I catch up on laundry, someone spills something, or has an accident which requires me to change clothing, bedding and blankets, and towels galore, then I start all over again.
I've gotten the hang of dishes here. Load dishwasher in the morning, and get those hand washables done before breakfast, then begin the day, and usually after lunch I run dishwasher & put everything away.
I still have yet to master our meals. Though I've been cooking healthfully, I should be more prepared than I am. I've been leaving our planning until the last minute.
Been keeping busy, in any event. Planning, and trying to get things accomplished to we can get outta here free & clear. Getting the ball rolling back in BC to hopefully smooth the transition.
Been pondering. My family is like a swarm of locusts. We land, consume, and then leave, with a path of destruction in our wake. It's really rather embaressing. But it's a family with 3 boys, what can ya do?
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Friday Fill-Ins #127
And...here we go!
1. There's no place like home.
2. My favorite thing for dinner lately has been pizza.
3. And so I said to the dog bark! bark! bark!
4. A nice long walk would be nice if my allergies didn't act up.
5. I'm making some good news.
6. When all is said and done, it'll have been worth it.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing some obligations, tomorrow my plans include celebrating Mr's Birthday and Sunday, I want to make it to service!
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Half Nekkid Thursday
Yes yes, I know I said I wouldn't feel comfortable d/l-ing pictures to someone else's computer, but, I figured since I have some archived, I could just pick the ones that aren't off-the-wall risque and keep it vanilla.
Thursday Thunks
2. Who decided the alphabet order? Yer mom
3. Why doesn't McDonald's sell hotdogs? Cause they can't be deep-fried
4. You go to a nice restaurant and they are offering free samples of cheese. You take a bite and it's delicious. Then they tell you the cheese is processed with maggots in it which make the great texture and flavor. Do you vomit at the thought of maggots, think "oh well but no more", or just ask for another sample? Take another sample and comment on how cool that is
5. Would you rather ride on a cloud or slide down a rainbow? Slide down a rainbow
6. Do you know/care who Heidi & Spencer are? No idea who they are, don't really care
7. Have you ever used Butt Paste? Yup, my MIL once sent me a tube, and I used it on H
8. Pie or cake? Pie
9. Do you remember when MTV used to play music videos? Yup, and I don't watch it anymore because they don't play enough of them.
Final Day of School
I hate good-byes.
*sighs*
Today was D's last day of school, and I came to the realization tha
t since Cub Scouts is over (except for the Day Camp coming up on the 15th-18-th), and school is out, we won't be seeing our other parents around much anymore, unless we bump into them by accident. Sad. I was really beginning to enjoy their company.
I have to admit, that seeing Promoted to 2nd Grade on his final report card was very satisfying. He makes me so proud :oD
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Catfish & Murder
Mr and D were watching tv (no, this isn't a poem), lastnight. They were watching something called Monsters of the River (or something along those lines), a fishing show with the host trying to either prove/disprove the existence of monster-sized fish that did some terrible things. The last thing he caught was a huge Catfish, and as D has a short attention span that was all he really saw.
After hemming & hawing all night about bedtime, and then waking up in fear of thunderstorms that were rolling through, I finally got D back to bed. I was laying down next to him and he could really only see my silouette. I told him I loved him and to close his eyes. He whispered to me "Mom, did you know that your mouth looks like a Catfish's mouth when it's dark?"
Sweet. I just hope I don't have the whiskers to go with...
So, with the big moving part behind me, I need to reflect. I don't believe in killing. I don't hunt, or fish. I don't mind if others hunt to help provide for my needs, but I wouldn't kill anything if I was forced to, I'd rather live off of plants, or eat some kind of funky bug (yes, I know that's killing, but I'm taliking about mammals and warm blooded creatures here) to survive.
That being said I have only ever killed one thing up until this week, and that was a rabbit that jumped out in front of me, effectively committing suicide during my first drive down to Ohio from BC.
Anyhow, this past week, with all the trips I made while moving, I killed a bird (it flew into my widshield making a nasty splat), a fat groundhog (it darted out before I could swerve), and a few frogs (they hopped erratically). Yes, I'm now officially a murderer. *sigh*
And yet, life goes on.
