Wednesday, December 31, 2008

songs

Here is a song from the time when Andy and I got married.

The other one I wanted to post was Destiny's child, Independent Women--that is also from the same time (the song from Charlie's Angels)
Beyoncee has that one blocked from being embedded or something.
So here is a little treat. :)

Gross out alert:
Today at Food Lion I saw something so GROSS!!
There was a car that had been lifted up on big tires/rims etc.
It was an old Chevy or Oldsmobile or something.
Anyway, the rear axle was exposed and hanging from the Axle was a pair of
b@!!$.
DISGUSTING I say! Is this supposed to be a chick magnet of some sort?
Newsflash..B@!!$ are DISGUSTING TO LOOK AT! :)
So ugghhh...why would someone want them hanging from the back of their car??

Variety is the spice of life I guess.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

ocho anyos! :)

Today is mine and Andy's anniversary!
The day we got married it snowed a little.
It was so cold.
What a sweet day! :)

I DID NOT WANT TO HAVE A WEDDING! I have always gone to them and thought--how embarrassing, how prepostorous (that is definitely not spelled correctly). I could not imagine, from the time I was a little girl, putting on a big, puffy, shiny white dress and walking down the center of the church with my Dad for him to GIVE ME AWAY!--i just always thought that was so --embarrassing! And kissing someone in front of my family--HELLO! YUck!
But then, when Andy and I were engaged my mama informed me that you really don't do everything b/c you want to. She said that some things like that you do for other people who want to watch. i.e. your family.
So a wedding we did have. It was excellent! I loved it. Simple of course.
She also insisted that we do the feeding eachother thing (another thing I had always dreaded) and the leg thing--garter or whatever--But Andy took that off in the hall of the church--not in front of everyone. :)

To celebrate? WE are going to go out to eat somewhere here in town. There are places we have not been b/c we do not get to go out much. :)
Then we are going to.....
Clean the rugs! YAY! we are going to rent a rug cleaner and get down to business. :)
Believe it or not, Andy and I actually have fun doing stuff like this. :)

Okay--off to hold babies.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Book Review, (so far)

For Christmas Andy's dad drew my name, which, I feel lucky that he did b/c he is a thoughtful gift buyer.
Last year he drew my name and he got me a Frida Kahlo book with pretty pictures.
This year he got me a book in Spanish.
I have never heard of the book or the Author, but I have been reading it obsessively for two days now, and I am completely absorbed into the world of this Domincan Family who has been cursed by el Fuku y los problemas le sigue por tres generaciones.
There is a big, fat nerdy boy with afro hair who loves Dungeons and Dragons and that TOlkien man, and all role-playing games (which I do not get b/c i know nothing about them).
There is the girl (la hermana) who was raped when she was 8, and became a fan of The Cure and being punk or goth or something when she was a teenager, and now I am on the part about the mother who is brutal, tall and ends up having breast cancer

The book is called La breve y maravillosa vida de Oscar Wao y it's by Junot Diaz.
Now, i have never heard of the name Junot.
I cannot see, (or hear?) that name being easy to say in Spanish??
Nor is Wao usually a hispanic name...??

Anyway, the book is good so far.
It is sooooo much easier to read than what I usually try to read in Spanish.
I was trying to explain to Andy's dad that reading in Spanish is difficult for me.
Movies, there is context, and i can turn it up loud.
Conversation, you can explain y explain until everyone is on the same page.
Books, one must create the context purely from the words on the page--unless it is a picture book, so it is necessary to understand every single word, which means looking them up.
I think he got it after I explained it that way.

Interesting thing I learned so far: The US occupied, militarily, the Dominican Rebublic TWICE.
Never learned that in US history.
The Dominican Republic had a mean a** dicatator called, Trujillo (that was his last name) for many years, until someone killed him.
There was another famous Domincan named Portifirio Rubirosa who had a very large...hmm hmm. well, just guess, and in France they still call pepper grinders Rubirosas in some places.

I am off to settle a squabble b/t Elena and Andy about a movie.
She is being...three? and neither of us can understand what in the world she is wanting right now???
Something about a movie, actually, the problem is that she needs a nap. :)

Bethany, the present that andy had to have?
A pair of Red heart boxers! I have no idea where Elena got this idea, but it was hilarious to us all! :) She was so excited when he opened them up.
I will post of pic. of the drawers.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

Here are some pictures of our day so far:




So far two of the most wanted toys have been dudds--they came out of their boxes not working. Of course I have no receipt.
How could a believer in Murphy's law such as myself not keep receipts?
Let's see, the most fun toy--the play doh, of course! Always. :)
(also the cheapest)
Everytime a situation like this arises I sing to myself..."tis a gift to be simple..."
We had a nice ham lunch with peas and collards--out of someone's garden both veggies, and they were yummy! :)
The ham was sweet, though, and I am a salty-country ham girl myself.
This evening my sister and her two children are coming and we can have some fun with cousins.

Here is a picture of the sweetest gift so far:


OUr babysitter gave me a doily that was hand-embroidered. So sweet. The gift box was a goldfish box, and I immediately thought, "she is giving me a gag gift of an empty box of crackers!" Which would have been funny to me. Sometimes I am slack about bringing food for my children.
But no, it was a sweet gift with a sweet note.
Simple.

The things I remember from Christmas that are my favorite are 1. rides to look at lights
2.a brown bag with nuts and fruit that we used to get at church every year when we went to do our Christmas program

What I will remember from this year?
The smile on Elena's face the other night when she came running across the yard at my cousin's house to check out a yard decoration (one of those snowglobe ones)
Victor saying "ho ho ho"



Merry Christmas-- :)!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

huh?

This post is going to be presented, once again, from my soap box.

I was just watching the V!ew and J@mie F0xx was up there talking about whatever he is selling these days.
Well, he started talking about how he likes "independent women." I thought, "okay he is trying to sound progressive or something" (not that anyone needs to do that it is 2008)
BUT then he went on to say, "da women dese days is working paying dey own ways buying dey own stuff, I like dat, I want a lady who will take me out"
..all I could think was, "and raise your kids, and....cook for you, and clean up after your lazy ass..." (the list goes on and on)
Now, I have no problem with the independent women thing.
My family has been full of us for three generations--women who graduated from college etc. even since 1915 or something.
BUT a woman's being independent is not a man's reason to be lazy piece of shit.
If I am independent it is so that I can care for my children, and myself.
Not buy a man some food at a restaurant b/c he prefers it that way.
I was just disgusted by this.

Now it should be remembered that i work closely with children and their families, which usually means their MAMAS and their grandparents. Most of the children I work with report to me regularly that, "i aint got no deddy, he iN jail" or, "i on know who my daddy is" or "my deddy got so many kids he can't ford buy me no shoe"

BUT j@mie fOxx is promoting, "independent women" b/c that is what he likes.
I think most of these women would love for some man to take some responsibility, be a dad, and get a fucking job. --ha!--
What a fUcking joke!


Maybe I should send Mr. Foxx a list of some of the impoverished little boys I work with who don't have a dad, or hardly any food, who were all excited about santa claus, who probably won't get shit for christmas.
I wonder if he would be attracted to any of their, "independent" mamas....hmmmm???

Merry Christmas! :)--I am off to put my soap box BEHIND the christmas tree, and maybe i wont get it out again until after the new year. :)

Friday, December 19, 2008

posting fool

i am catching up for my posting droughts.

Here is what I would like to be drinking right now:

Agua de Sevilla

1 liter pineapple juice or syrup
1 bottle of cava, a pink, sparkling, fizzy wine located in Spain (around .75 liters)
1 cup whiskey
1 cup cointreau (triplesec)
ice
Optional:

heavy cream
Some recipes call for an additional cup of rum, and others substitute cognac for cointreau. Some also call for shaved ice. Recipes instruct to crush the ice until it is shaved and serve in champagne glasses with a leaf of hierbabuena.

In a cute little hidden plaza in sevilla when it is warm y smelling jasmine..

That would be fun!

Here is a cute song: It is a Christmas Carol in Spanish sung by a little boy who is walking with his donkey to see the baby jesus.
My kids LOVE THIS SONG! We sing it all year round. :)



I could not find a youtUbe one that I liked the best...
There is one that is Spanish from 1978..

Let's just throw that one up here too. Enjoy, Bethany! :)

picture party, picture party

Picture this...
Do y'all watch M!ckey mou$se clubhouse?
Hee hee.
We did when we had cable. :)
Elena always called pete, "peke"

Here are the pics:
One is of the tamales I got today from the babysitter.
She (the babysitter) does not make them. The tamale lady does. Then the tamale lady brings them to the babysitter to sell, and SOMETIMES we manage to get some.
They are sooooo good! We all love them.
The others are of E in her Mary costume! :)
She was totally full of herself :)





picture this...

ready to go!!!

I am sitting at my desk.
No, they do not pay me to blog. :)
BUT, I am soooo ready to go home!
All of the children have left.
Now, we have to wait for the buses to return from their routes b/c it is inevitable that some children will return in the buses b/c no one was waiting for them at the bus stop.
We might be here until 2:00 is what I have been told.
COME AND GET YOUR CHILDREN PEOPLE! :)

Last night we had Elena's Christmas program at school/church (pre-school).
She was Mary. So cute! :)
I took a short video so Andy can watch it when he gets home.
After we all got in bed everyone started coughing.
Victor coughed until he vomited all over himself and me!!
He likes to be in his crib, though, so after some water and cough syrup he went back to bed.
Elena then crawled over to sleep on top of me, and she had a fever too.
So, who did not sleep last night?

I think the last time Andy went out of town last spring when we still lived in Graham both of my children had the throw up virus and they attacked me at once.
Then this time, the same thing.
This is one of the reasons he decided to change careers--out of town/puking/missing Christmas programs.

I will post pictures in a while of Elena with her sweet little costume on! :)
She looked like a miniature nun.

I guess I will go and do some planning for after the break now.
.....
Or maybe I will just stare at these nice cinder block walls painted dingy beige...

Monday, December 15, 2008

A full day






This post should have been done, well COULD have been done on Saturday. It is about Saturday.

When we woke up we went to see Tryon Palace. A recreation of a governor's mansion from the colonial times. When I was in seventh grade we went there and it was just gorgeous! So, I wanted to see it again.
It is a cool place to go, esp. if you are a history nerd (I am). However, someone has decided that the decorations were not authentic and so they no longer decorate liek they used to. These were all handmade wreaths with fruit and stuff...beautiful, and not plastic. No lights...just colonial seeming. (Turns out I guess they were not, or either they got tired of making all that stuff).

Then on the way home Andy and I split a frisco burger from H@ard**s. Those things are so d@mn good to me! They are huge so they are for splitting for sure.

On the way home Andy mentioned wanting oysters. When we lived in Durham we went out to eat oysters at a bare-bones restaurant downtown called f!shmongers. Fun Place. We got served oysters. We sat, ate, and left the mess there. Here, we have to cook them ourselves. There are places to eat oysters but we 1.don't know them, and 2. can't haul kids there. So, we rounded up all the stuff we needed. Then my daddy and Andy's parents came over and ate oysters.
It is funny to watch people eat cook-out style. My daddy was eating the oysters as if they were peanuts. snap pop, snap pop. no crackers. no horseradish. no butter. It was like a race. Cute.
The rest of us were popping them getting a cracker or bread and some horseradish or hot sauce and eating a cracker.
My children ran around and played the whole time and had a blast.

When we came in we sat down to relax. Parents were gone. Kids were in bed. I was just about to lament our lack of cable and I turned it to NB( and there was "Its a Wonderful LIfe" Which happens to be one of the only movies that I can watch every year. I love that movie! God, I do. :) My favorite scene: When Mary leans over the pharmacy counter and asks George if that is his bad ear, and then she says, "George, I love you. George Bailey, I'll love you til the day I die" I just love that scene. Little girl crushes are so sweet.
Andy and I watched that movie even with the commercials. And, of course, after you watch it your husband is your george bailey and you are his mary hatch--of course! :). Sweet.

I am posting pictures. I do not know where they will put themselves. Will they actually be a size that y'all can even see??? hmmm???

Friday, December 12, 2008

Flashback Friday


This picture is of Victor last year at this time.
He had just finished nursing.
We still lived in our house in Graham, which I still miss b/c it was the perfect house.
I called this the nurse-nurse face. He would nurse and then he would be pink and sleepy and I loved his chubby cheeks! He would throw his arm back like that and get into relax mode. :)
So sweet.

A funny: Every year for years-about five? Andy and I sing, "o holy night." at Christmas time, together. It is so fun and so hilarious!! We cannot sing and we both love to sing that song (it is loud, and your lungs fill up with air as you get ready to scream out parts of the song--well that is what people who cannot sing do anyway, hee hee). The first time we ever did it we were driving back to our house in Durham from somewhere and we started to sing that song, and we cracked up. So we just kept trying to sing it and get, "better and better" at it. We had our annual concert tonight in the kitchen. Victor and Elena love it. They do not get scared (that is what I would expect, as it sounds terrible) they laugh and laugh too!
HA.

Mas funny:
I am going to add a funny blog over to my list. When it gets there--check it out.
It is a spoof of blogging mommies, particularly to ones, I guess, who do not bother to spell correctly, and who are always blogging about their, "blessed" lives.
FUNNY! Thanks Bethany, --yep she found it first.

y'all have a good weekend! :)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that I live in a country that was founded by people who, at least in their ideal minds and hearts, believed in liberty.
Liberty to practice a religion of one's choosing, and in the manner that one saw fit (vamos as long as you aren't hurting anyone).
That is why, in the coming of Winter, December, every year for the past five years or so me molesta un monton to listen to morons discuss how EVERYONE should say and be greeted with a hearty, "Merry Christmas"
This morning on the way to work I was already feeling nauseated--and I had to listen to two morning DJ idiots talk about their desire to greet everyone with, "Merry Christmas."
They were so adamant/angry about this non-issue. Every sentence they said puffed their feathers up a little bit more.

This is such a non-issue.
If you are a Christian, PUT A CHRISTMAS TREE IN YOUR HOUSE! :)
If you are a Christian, use the greeting, "Merry Christmas" among your Christian friends.
When you are out in public--Why do you even care about 1. signs in the store, 2. the decor in the library at UNC chapel hill (this is one of the places the DJ's discussed.)

I love Christmas trees. Christmas cards etc.
But my Jewish friends probably could not care less about seeing a decorated tree in the library.

I happen to think--along the lines of Jesus is the reason for the season--that Jesus would have been mortified that people were getting trampled over greed over a special at the store!!! YIKES people.

Get it? Liberty.
Get it? Do what you want in YOUR HOUSE, IN YOUR CHURCH. Don't get your dandruff in an uproar over what stores choose to do.
Finally, ask yourself, "would Jesus care what the card says?" Or would he care about the greetings and love people are sending out? hhmmm hhmm...????

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

Triscuits. I seem to be wanting a lot of these lately, with cheese and salsa.

Glitter. This week all of my students have been decorating mittens. In my therapy sessions if we are anywhere near a holiday (and we always are) I break out the glitter. I love it! When I was little, if we got to do something with glitter, I was excited for DAYS. So, we work with glitter a lot. ;).
Once I worked at a school where someone asked me was I almost finished with glitter, b/c the janitor was tired of cleaning it up. HUH? I would think the best thing to do in that situation would be not to clean it up--i love how glitter situates itself EVERYWHERE. I always loved it if a piece ended up in my hair--by accident. ooohhhh... Today I had a piece on my cheekbone. I saw it at 9:30 when I washed my hands, and I left it there all day. Just sparkling. I hope my students get as excited about our once a month glitter fests as I do. Some of them sure do need a bit of innocent excitement.

Friends. This afternoon I was talking to my favorite one on the phone and she could not get her bottle of wine open. NOw that she lives just up the road. I cruised over and took her some more wine, a new wine opener from my drawer, and some ginger ale (my wine-mixer of choice and hers). She was so excited! :).

Have a happy Friday tommorrow.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Off to the Cine

Today I took Elena and Tristen to see M@dagasc@r II.
My favorite part of the movie was when the animals broke the damn and the water came rushing over--it looked cool.
The rest of the experience, was -- not cool?
Some kid behind me was kicking the seats--or maybe it was his dad?--I just took it, did not say a word.
Tristen wriggled the ENTIRE time.
I had to remind myself that we did not go to the movie for my enjoyment. Children like to wriggle when they watch movies.
Watching the movie--it was easy to remind myself--M@dagasc@r II was crap.
I'll take Shrek any day--perpetually.

Now, for cine I enjoy--last night I watched Viridiana--a Mexican film (actually Spanish) directed by Bunyuel. (I had to put a 'y' in there b/c I cannot put a squiggly over the /n/.)
After I watched the movie there was an interview with the lead actress. Silvia Pinal.
Very cool to watch. She is old now. She was remembering this director and all of the contorversy surrounding this movie--Franco ordered it to be destroyed--so she took it away to Mexico. People had to sneak to watch it, etc.
It was nice to not have anyone commenting, no one kicking my seat etc. ;).
I just sat on the couch and put myself in a Spanish trance.

So for my recommendations:
Shrek --si
Viridiana--si
Madaga$c@r--no

Friday, November 28, 2008

off to the mall..

the internet mall, that is! :)

Today I managed to find Andy three of his favorite shirts. He has been wearing the long underwear shirts of his for about four years now--they have holes in them and they look disgusting.
So I looked at the tag and found them online! YAY!
Then, I was off on a quest to get Andy the thing Elena wanted to get him. I will not write what it is, then he will know. This thing that she desired for her daddy is going to be so funny for him to open! HA!
Found it! Check.

All from my house, while lounging. Now, I love the mall, too. But I must say, for exact thing kind of shopping like I did today, the internet was perfect! :)

Morgan, how was your shopping today? Did you brave the malls etc. like you usually do with your mama?

...I am off to eat chocolate cake now...and read newsw^^k.

Flashback Friday





This is going wayyyyy back.
This picture was taken in 1955, I think. My mama was eight.
The funny thing about this picture is the story she tells to go with it.

She points out all the stuff in the picture and tells about it.
Her family lived in a house with no running water.
So, on the mantle is her Daddy's shaving mirror.
There is a radio in the background that had a cracked face. She, of course tells all the radio shows she liked. Lone Ranger and others.
She also tells about how it snowed into the walls, and they basically all slept in one room.
Oh, and the outfit she had on (It was summer in the picture obviously) was made out of a feed sack. I guess this would be a bag that animal feed came in.

I love to hear her tell about these pictures, and so I decided to write about this one.

I am also putting a picture of the house up here. Who knows where it will put itself.

Now, if you break out your magnifying glass you can see the pictures! Why are they so little?
I will work on that later.
:).

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving


AKA in my raising the day to celebrate the erasure of an entire culture
by the AMERKINS. :)
Yes, my mama reminded me of this EVERY Thanksgiving.

Disclaimer--I just ripped this off from Maryellen's blog--thanks Maryellen! :).

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Catch up




These pics are of the babes drinking hot chocolate. It snowed here on Tuesday too. So that was two days of snow this week. None of it stuck, but is was pretty. When it snows here all the teachers let the kids just run around outside and squeel and scream (b/c it doesn't snow much)
That entertained them for about 30 minutes on Tuesday night. :)
Wednesday night I had to make two casseroles and some haystacks when I got home from work--thus no wordless wed. post.
Thursday night all of the staff at my school had to go back to school at 5:00 to host a parent night. :).
It was actually not bad to me. I was the greeter at the door. That is fun to me.
Helping people fill out papers--not so fun. I will remember this for future school events. ;).
Last night I was sick. strep Throat? don't know. But this morning I went to urgent care and got my antibiotics--which I wont' take right away. The quick strep test came back negative--but the doc. said I might still have step throat.

Now I am just going to take it easy and rest the rest of the day. Elena and I are having some EArl Grey tea. I cracks me up that she likes it. :)

Friday, November 21, 2008

Finally Friday!

I am going to post some pictures tonight.
I am just at school, and I want to be at home.

IT IS SNOWING OUTSIDE! Everything looks like a snowglobe. Beautiful. We had to come to work anyway, b/c the buses had already run, and b/c the snow is not sticking or anything.
So, here I am.

I have the following that I did not post this week, so I might do a make-up session tonight..
Wordless Wed. Pictures.
Thankful Thursday comments and my UB commentary
So, never fear I did not disappear. ;).

Thursday, November 13, 2008

U.B.

Today was busy as he!!

Get up at 6:25--shower
eat
coffee
pick out clothes for kids

leave
work, work work, work, work.
meet after work...3:30-5:00--with the principal.

Andy to class--feed kids/bathe them/books/bottle/bed--alone (mission completed 7:15)
Complete special education phone call reminders to parents and paperwork until 8:00.

Mandatory stop time--8:00.
Reason: Ugly Betty comes on!

Everyone in my house knows this.
;).
Andy and I watch it together.

My commentary for this week:
wasn't the part where the camera went out from her mouth and the screen went black except from her mouth cool?
i don't want to think it, but is there a ross and rachel situation going on with daniel and betty?
hmmm..
part of me would like for this to happen--i get sick of the whole stick figure died blonde hair thing...yuck.
does daniel think he can't go for an "ugly" girl.
right now he is into the other guy's girl (the stick figure blond)
meanwhile he seems really --in his heart and mind --interested in the ugly one.
maybe it is cool to watch betty and her boy escapades--with the deli boy etc.

That show is just good to me..
Ay que escape from a 13 hour day of doing stuff for everyone else, and really, nothing for me. :). (except earning a paycheck, one might argue)

Lucky to have an escape as well, I realize. Some women (many actually) might get a nightly beating and have to put up with drunk people or screaming children all night.
Yes. I am a realist.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

this n that

We have had a fun day off today!
whew...we needed it!

Here are a bunch of pictures, with explanations to follow below. Putting a picture, and then the comment directly beneath, is an effort that I do not feel like making right now.

:)









Two of the pictures are from Halloween. Our friend Laura Beth had a party with super decorations!
The other one is of my kiddies in front of her house.
The others are from today.
We played on the computer. We made a chocolate cake.
Elena and I went out to get a gift for a new baby. We went to the Hallmark shop. It is fun to go there to me b/c there is a lot of stuff to look at, that you mostly would never buy...but who does not love a glittery snow globe that plays music and lights up? I mean...that is magic to a kid. ;). So we looked at all the stuff there for an hour. Then we bought one of the things that you mostly would not buy...a gingerbread house that lights up and plays the nutcracker suite, and then, b/c three year-olds do not understand the calender (like mall management and w@lm@r! powers-that-be) we went straight home an set the gingerbread house in the dining room! With the pumpkins-who would feel slighted for sure if they were removed before it is even thanksgiving. yay!!! Fun!

Now, we are going to deliver this chocolate cake to people so that I will not eat it.
Andy does not really eat cake. Elena and Victor...not really either (just the icing). So, I make one and take it to people. My daddy--who is a fellow cake eater. Andy's grandma--who is just so sweet that she would never say she did not want the cake. ;). She is teeny--so I know she does not eat much of anything these days.
okay...I am off to cut up cake.

Hope you enjoyed the pics.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Soapbox Saturday

Yesterday I was listening to NPR and the news clip said that B*lly Gr@h@m has decided that he will discontinue his role as the spiritual advisor to the president. His son Fr@nklin said that our president-to-be concerned them b/c of his views on gay rights and abortion. hmm hmm.

Could it be that Saint Billy is a racist? If I recall correctly we have not had any president who was staunchly opposed to abortion rights. Not one. Well, maybe Jimmy Carter? (I was not alive then, mind you.)
Also, was he not the person who consoled B!ll Cl!nton when he was caught in the unfortunate MOnica situation?
I have even been reminded that he was there even when FDR was in debacle over a mistress.
Barack and Michelle seem to have a good thing going in that dept.

Gay rights and abortion issues...well, come on.. doesn't Jesus love gay people too? Are we supposed to judge other people here on earth? Isn't abortion an issue for an individual? I mean if one is opposed to abortion, one should not have one, correct?

So...... this leaves....blackness..that's all this white girl can come up with!
GREAT! Newsflash...Jesus was at least brown...vamos.

Here is some good ole scripture--Jesus' words actually, written by Matthew.

"For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than the others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect,.."

In other words, It is easy to love people who are the same as you, and have your same opinions, and wish them well, and pray for them. How about try to put yourself in someone else's shoes, and have compassion for people in different situations.

Now, Fr@nklin...he is (i fake spit here) riding the coat tails.. at best.

Maybe B!lly is just old, and tired, and he should have said that.
Maybe Fr@nklin should read the Bible. ;).

Good riddance, boys....love ya!

This is where I take my soapbox, put it away, and go watch a movie!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Flashback Friday




Yesterday, in an attempt to recover from this sinus dilemna I am in, I took a sick day. This sick day afforded me the opportunity to look in my old foto albums for pictures of my Luna!

Here is the ACTUAL AD (hee hee) from when we bought her.
And a picture of when she was really new. Ay que sweet little puppy head! sigh...

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Thoughtful Thursday

*Isn't it interesting that old mens' ears are so big.

*Ugly Betty was good again tonight!

*Still missing Luna, I sort of wish that I could have had her stuffed...That might seem wierd but Roy Rodgers did it to Trigger, and I can see why. It really pains me to think of my little, sweet dog out rotting in the ground. :(.

*Friends should mirror a spice rack. I have been noticing, over the past week, that mine are. I have my horseradish friend --she can always manage to clear my sinuses..hmm hmm.
I have my salt, a necessity in any recipe.
The sea salt, extra special staple.
The cinnamon, an essential for any sweet recipe.
And every now and then, you need a Bay leaf.
Thanks friends! Thanks for all your sweet thoughts!

good night

Saturday, November 1, 2008

One of my best days

In the fall of 2001 i was on my way to my internship at a school in knightdale when my tire went flat. andy came to rescue me, and instead of going to the school, i just went back home to our apartment at dominion r@msgate.
we talked all day about getting the dog we had just picked out. we had been to see her, he had picked the puppy he liked. she had a half brown face and a half white face. that evening we went out to eat at el rodeo, and then we went to apex to get our puppy. my puppy. the one i had begged for. --morgan you probably remember this.
we picked her up, there was about to be a bad thunderstorm and she was terrified. i held her little, four pound, sweet self in my lap and loved her instantly!
that night we had all sorts of plans that she would sleep in her plastic kennel. she cried for about five minutes, and we put her in the bed with us--where she continued to sleep every night until i was big and pregnant with elena and she decided she needed more wriggle room. :).
luna was our girl. she loved to fetch sticks in the river, go on hikes, chase anyone who was kicking a ball and try to attack the ball.


today, luna got run over in the road in front of our house, and she was killed pretty much instantly. she is buried, curled up, just like she slept, in a box close to the woods by the swingset.


today has been one of my saddest days.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thankful Thursday

Okay, I am catching on to this blog a day thing...each day has a theme.
Friday is "flashback friday" --Those are gonna be fun! :)

Anyway...
Today I am thankful for Ugly Betty!!!
Every Thursday, besides the fact that it is my favorite day, I look forward to watching this show.
It is so campy, but I LOVE it!!
Go Betty! (And Salma Hayek--who is the producer or something--as if I need to wish her luck ...huh)

Good excercise--today I ran TWO MILES! This is big...sad to say, but true. At the end I did not feel like I was about to die, I felt...exuberant! Now, on to my pilates work out, so I won't walk around with terrible posture, --pigeon toes I mostly can't help--a hump back at 30 is a definite no-no ;).

Great Music!!
Ay..if only I could go to see it...
alas, I have a full time job, a husband and two children...so it looks like my probably once in a lifetime chance to go and see Cafe Tacuba will have to pass me by.
Andy told me that no, we cannot drive to Atlanta over Thanksgiving to go to see these guys..."I would like to see Bethany, but I don't want to go and see some Mexican rock crap." That is actually what he said.
I don't even like concerts etc...but when I want to see someone---I really want to see them!!
They are going to be in Charlotte--HELLO AMY!! and MORGAN!!--on NOvember 4th. That is five hours away, might as well wait til a SAt. and drive to Atlanta...
But I can't anyway.
actually, I'm not giving up, it aint' over til the fat lady sings, or I hear that Mexican play his fiddle! ;).

Off to read a magazine...

Enjoy la musica!

Monday, October 27, 2008

leaves y pumpkins




Yesterday we stayed outside all afternoon carving our pumpkins and raking leaves.
It was so fun.
:)

Maryellen, I am back onto the P!kn!k thing again...gawww...

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Promised Pictures




One of these pictures is of the heart of a cabbage. Last weekend my mama came over to cook a pot of soup with (for) me. ;)
Whenever she cuts up a cabbage and I am around I always eat the heart of it.
When I was little this was the treat she gave me while she cooked.
It has its own taste...different and yummy. Not good like a piece of cake, or something you want to stuff your mouth with, but good. I am going to do that same thing with my kids and see if they end up liking cabbage hearts...maybe I should take data. Victor did take a bite.

The other one is of me snuggling with Victor. He has always slept in his own bed, so he has not been much of a snuggler. Lately when we wake up he wants to snuggle in our bed with a hot milk bottle--he is 18 months old, and LOVES his bottle. ;) Yup I'm terrible.
I love this b/c I don't get to be around to hang out as much as I would like to, so this little bit of time in the AM is soooooo sweet to me.

Off to unpack groceries...

Friday, October 24, 2008

Goodbye N.C., I am going to Raleigh!

This is something that someone in my family said a veerrryryyyy long time ago. It was a great grand parent, on my Mama's side, and since her parents were born in 1904 or something, this is bound to have been said, ...oh, I don't know, when people were still riding horses and carts to travel to Raleigh.
It is a hoot to me.
I don't even know what the person meant. (Did she not know that Raleigh was in NC?)
Today, to me, it would mean that most people in the triangle are not even from NC so when one travels there it is not exactly like being in NC.
It is a great place, but ...oh Sh**, I don't know.
whatever.

Today, I went to Chapel Hill--not Raleigh anyway.
There was a class at the Friday Center.
It was GREAT! Fun to see two SLPs from Alamance County.
Fun to listen to a professor from Texas go over and over all these studies she has done. I love super-nerdy stuff sometimes. It makes me wish that I would have been gathering data from all of the work I have done over the past seven years, and that I would have been doing my work in a more systematic way b/c then I could draw some conclusions from analyzing all my great data!
NERD.
After the class I went to get Victor some shoes, then I went to see my friend Sara
and her family.
They have a new baby!!--new babies are super fun to hold, like a little bag of potatoes or something. (I know ya'll hold bags of potatoes for fun, don't try to deny this ;) )
I got to hold him. YAY!
SWEET.
Then on the drive home I fought off the panic attack that I almost have everytime I drive in the rain by listening to good music and singing to myself.
Without the Pre-K DJ in the backseat, I got through the whole CD sin comments.
Bueno, good night...my bed is a callin...
There is another entry coming that will have PICTURES!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

RIP

Sr. Levi Stubbs

Levi Stubbs is the man behind the following song:



Now, this might not mean much to many blogger buddies of mine...
But I bet it does.
This is the music of my childhood.
The music my mama and daddy danced to with Mr. Bubba and Ms. Dorothy in our beach cottage when we were supposed to be sleeping ;).
It is the music I still listen to loud in my car.

Thanks for the great music!
We should enjoy it while we can.
Go out and dance to the chairmen of the board the next chance you get folks...

This version is not my favorite.
But ya'll know the four tops and Bernadette for sure.

Salud! y Tierra...

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

a new ride!


This past weekend, in addition to having a major sinus infection and a party at my house, I went to Raleigh to buy a new car!
I had to go to Raleigh b/c the car I picked out was a Saab (a car I have always wanted) and I found it at Carm@X.
YAY!
The old car was the one my Daddy bought me when Andy and I got married.
It had tons of miles, chipped paint on the front bumper, an oil leak....the list goes on.
So, Andy and I decided it was time for another car.

Here is a pic. of the new Mami car:


The one at the top is of Luna in the old car :(.
Yes. I was emotionally attached to this car. So, yesterday when Andy and I had to drive back to Raleigh to take the title and get a check for it, I had to pause to say goodbye and thank-you to the car.
I was TERRIFIED to show the new ride to my parents esp. my Daddy who is anti-buy stuff especially when the Great Dep. #2 is coming!! YIKES!
He was actually excited for me though. I HAD to show them b/c I had to go over there to get the car title, which my Mama has had in the lock box (a safe at the bank in a room) since I got married!

If my Daddy thought more like ole GW he would have been excited b/c I am saving the US economy by buying stuff...;)

At any rate, the new car does not hop, leak oil, etc.
We are all excited!

Off to watch another debate....

Monday, October 13, 2008

CAb!

On Saturday I had a fun selling stuff party.
Normally, I would never hava a selling stuff party.
I really don't mind going to these, but having one...
no thanks.
"come to my house and buy stuff so I can get free stuff"... just ..not my thing
BUT ;)
When we lived in Graham my friend Lisa (co-worker) would have these.
I LOVED them.
The lady comes and sets up CLOTHES.
Then, all the friends at the party get to have
fun trying on cool clothes with you.

The party was GREAT!
Wine, yummy food (Morgan, you would have been proud)
My only problem with people coming over to party is how clean
I have to have my house.
It seems like I live like Ros@nne Barr, and then when I want to have a party
my standards are like Bree Vandecamp (De$per@te h-wives).
(Both probably an exagerration, but don't try telling me that when you are helping
me clean the house for the party)

Here are the pics:



Now, I will not be having another one of these parties.
It was a one-time deal
My sister-in-law is going to have one! She wanted more clothes and she wanted to get them half off (smart girl)--

Oh, and I took all the food out of the celophane etc. ;)
That picture was for my aunt, to show her that I use all my depression glass stuff
that she and my family got Andy and me for our wedding. ;)

Today was a sick day for me.
My sinuses got so bad that my face hurt so I had to go to the Dr. to get antibiotics.
(My trick did not work after all Melissa! )

Off to get Victor...

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Yum!

Today I got home earlier than usual. :) Big smile. I went to get Victor--from my mama's house. Andy went to get Elena--from his mama's house. My mama sent spaghetti to eat. Andy's mama sent crab meat and angel hair pasta. Yay again. :) Here is a picture of the yummy crab meat (from the crab pot off the pier at Pat and Ned's) Here is a picture of my children eating the crab meat: Here is a picture of the yummy pasta we made with the tomatoes and the basil and chives that are still hanging on in our garden: I would like to post a video, here is an attempt:
Now, after my attempt to post a video all of this stuff put itself out of order. So, this blog might not be reader-friendly. My conversation with Elena tonight when she was using the bathroom (she likes company). **mama, those are storm clouds..i think if you eat them your stomach would get upset **you think? What about if you eat the white puffy ones?
**they would make your stomach all better.
So cute it was!!! I know lots of kids talk about eating clouds..it does not diminish the sweetness when it comes from your own child, though. ;)

Alright, here goes nothing! Oh, it told me that the video is still uploading itself, so I get to ramble on.

The video is of Elena explaining that she wants a puppy. She saw one today at her nana's house, (a neighbor's?) We have been explaining all evening how a puppy is just as much work as a baby, but they cannot wear diapers, so it might make the house stink. Of course, she does not care! :)

This video thing is seeming a bit sketchy. The other child is a neighbor. She is six, and she comes to play all the time. A dream, by the way. She has demonstrated the importance to Elena of
1. putting on one's own clothes y shoes (you get the swing first)
2. riding a tricycle, fast
3. doing cart wheels and flips
4. reading--E does not read, of course, but she loves to pretend
5. swing tricks..jumping out etc.
Kids love to see the big kids doing stuff, and since Elena is the oldest, she does not have that example, well until now.

On to politics... The debate last night was hilarious, otra vez.
Mc's suit coat was ill-fitting, which got on my nerves.
The button looked like it was going to pop off at any minute!
I loved it when O said to Mc "i think one of the wheels just fell off the straight talk express" super funny!
That was about all I got out of it. I am sick of hearing them. If people can't pick the smart guy right now...god help us all!
Okay, it just messed up all of my spacing...

Attn Betsy: As I wait Andy is talking up your man--the other Mc!
Yikes I say, and he says I need to come and listen to the debate..
Now, I have to go and explain how if that guy wins I will not have a job
b/c he thinks we should all just send our kids to private school! ;)
JK Betsy.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Hey

This morning Victor and I woke up at 4 AM! Andy and I have had a cold.
Victor got the cold and a fever (his body trying to kill germs).
So, when we got up he informed me that he wanted to sit, and watch, "hey"
This is what he calls Arthur! :)
I LOVE IT!
He says it like this, "I wan see hey."
He points to the dvd the whole time.
Of course the Arthur song is great, so I don't blame him.

Then Elena joined us at 4:20--don't even think it!
Then after we watched "hey" for two go rounds, we went back to bed.
At six, I got up to get ready to go to the big city (Durham) ;)
to go to the mall with Elena to buy shoes.
No one here sizes childrens' feet, and I am not good at it.

Elena was still asleep as I dressed her for our journey.
When I left, Victor was asleep with Andy in our bed. (sweet)
Andy left to go see a Carolina Panthers game with friends.
So we did not see eachother :(. (My Daddy kept Victor all day! :)!)
YUCK b/c I miss him.

In Durham, My favorite shoe girl was there at the shoe store! sweet! She always gives the best shoe advice, i.e. how to make one pair last all winter.
I am missing Andy and since we have no cell phones I cannot call him.
I called Linda, Jared's wife. She said she has not heard a word, and is fine with that, she is watching movies....we talked a long time (She is pregnant).

Now, I am just missing Andy. Supper time is always the missing time, ever since I was a little girl.

Okay, enough ramblin..
Good night!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Haircuts

Today was also haircut day!!
Haircuts are hard for me. I have not had
my haircut since we moved. Going to my
favorite, Kate, in Durham--would be silly.
My hair is big, puffy, and curly.

I want it to be short and sleek.
Just your basic mama bob--but not triangle hair.
Or, at least not feel big and out
of control--that just feels nasty to me.
It looks great on people
who want it that way...but to me
--it is awful.

So, the guy is new to me.
Ramos.
He is a native lil Wash. guy.
Been cutting hair forever..(Do
you know him, Bethany?)
He was recommended to me by a
friend at work.

I think I scared him.
I brought pictures of my dream haircut.
The one Kate gave me two years ago.
(He informed me during the haircut that
he hates this situation.)
He touched my hair and proceeded
to tell me that I have two times
as much hair on my head as a lot of people
do, and that it was going to take him a long time
to get my hair to do what was in the picture.
Elena was with me in the salon--being patient.
:)

After an hour he had produced something like
what was in the picture.
I came home and cut the side pieces myself.
No one ever gets those the right way...
only Kate...
I had to explain my problem with side pieces and
she told me to always tell her and she would
fix them especially.

Here is what I listened to on the way there.
I tried to, actually, but the CD was way scratched.

Elena said, "Mama, I don't wike dis" I said, "oh, that's too bad, one day when you drive your car, you can pick the music."
--We listen to Disney and 80's music sometimes too..I am not that mean.

Neurotic!!
Next time I wish I could go
for either the Britney or the Ellen.
But, I am cursed with wanting to look
at least a little bit feminine.
Now I know some girls look perfectly cute with
very short hair...hmm hmm Bethany!!
But not me.

At one point I looked over at Elena and she was
digging in her pants--in her butt crack.
So, I said in Spanish, "Elena, que no hagas esto, que cochina!"
Which means, "don't do that, that is gross"
Only if I say it in Spanish people don't know that I am pointing out
her grossness--only her.
Nice Trick. ;)

When we got home --after stopping at Food Lion for treat ice cream--Andy said, "where were ya'll?"
...What followed was really mean.
I won't type it here.

Victor, who also inherited curly hair, also got his haircut today.
I did not like his either.
I want my daddy to take him to the BARBER shop for a good
man/boy haircut.
The barber shop here is always busy with a wait.
So, his haircut is..sh*tty.

Now, I am having wine.
Not relaxing.
Wondering why it is so hard to get a
haircut I like. ???

Salud!

Thinking Maps

I am in a training today.
Going to this training has put me in the worst of moods!

We are learning about thinking maps.
Visual Organizers that are supposed to mimic what our brain does for
any given thinking task.
For example:
Defining--use the bubble map
Expressive parts of a whole--use a bracket map

This all really tears up my nerves.

I constantly sit and think of all the of the rules of the maps.
The bubble map is supposed to have a noun in the middle circle.
The noun is described using adjectives in bubbles all around it.
So is the task to define? or teach grammar?
We did group excercises and almost all the other groups used
nouns and all other parts of grammar as describing words.
Now, I don't care either way.
I have no agenda here--except maybe following rules (which I did not make
up)--that say..the bubbles have to have adjectives.
So, my group thought up adjectives...
So, in this class I get caught up in stuff like that..
It bugs the hell out of me.

I don't want to map my thinking--it would look like the city center of sevilla a lo mejor...I don't want to have someone tell me how to map my thinking. I do not want to tell others how to map their thinking.

So, my question: do the students get graded on the ability to make these maps...when they are supposed to be used as tools for thinking??

On the way home I was thinking...I am going to make a tree map of all of my job responsibilities. Serving kids--just one of about 10.

I just sit there...stare... and get ill--

Now I better go.
We were informed that we would be given a "treat" today.
1 hour and 10 minutes for lunch...oooooohhhhh...don't make me go home and eat a sandwich!!
But if we are not back in time--we are going to have the gate locked on us. :)
So, I guess I had better run.

.6 CEUs
Map that!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Promised Commentary

Commentary:
Wasn't it hilarious to see Obama actually laughing and chuckling to himself in response to some of the things that McCain was saying?
For example when McCain called him, "like George Bush."?
HA!
Obama was just laughing...
Wasn't it interesting to listen to the political commentary afterwards when people actually found legitimate compliments to the political rhetoric and right wing fluff statements that John McCain kept spewing forth?
I mean how did they actually find any merit in it? Maybe you have to belong to the GOP to understand how a question about our nation's deficit renders the response, "I am not miss congeniality" and is considered to be worthy of a comment. Well, now, considering he is a man, I would say that is certainly true on all kinds of levels.
Wasn't it great to hear Barack Obama saying things that made sense...these have been 8 veerrryyyy long years for me, I don't know about ya'll....

The pictures are of my coconut macaroons that I made today.
Who knew that wax paper and parchment paper were not the same thing?
--not me--
So the oven was smoking...the macaroons stuck...
but we fixed them and put chocolate on top of them.
Elena had a wonderful time licking the chocolate!

Now, I am going to make couscous y shrimp..that Andy likes, y have some wine???
Well, that depends on whether I feel like going to food lion to get some.

YAY Saturday!



Rainbow

Yesterday it rained here off and on all day...the pretty kind.
In the afternoon when we got home there was the most beautiful rainbow!!
Here it is:





My kids are in the picture, and a pecan tree, and the soybean field that is beside the house.
We have soybeans all around.

Here is the song I listened to yesterday in my car. It is from the pretty in pink soundtrack...my sister broke that out the other day. :)


I love this song, and it makes me cry! I just drive y cry y listen.
But It has a reason.
Just an old one.

This might not make any sense...Bethany might be able to decipher...
Melissa...I think you would like this soundtrack! :)

That's all for now...although I do have some commentary about the debate last night...it was a hoot to me!
Go Barack! And I love michelle obama too...you gotta love a woman with sense enough to wear flat shoes on the campaign trail!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thursday

Okay.
I have already written about Thursday being my favorite day.
The Cosby show used to come on etc. etc.
Well, my thing to look forward to this time is Ugly Be!!y!
Tonight when Andy and I were watching it, I realized, once again
how cool it is that spouses pick up the slack for one another.
When Betty agreed to rent an apt. sight unseen b/c the
realtor said it was, "just like this one." (the one she wanted that
was move-in ready but got rented to someone else)
I was like hell yeah Betty--smart girl.
Andy said, "she is going to do that without seeing it?"
I said, "well the realtor just said it is just like the one they are standing
in, that is lucky, she got the apt. she wanted."
Next scene:
Betty opens the door to the apt. and it is in terrible shape!
Even though we drive eachother crazy...we keep eachother in check, for sure. ;)
Without Andy's wiles, I would have probably ...bought way more stupid stuff that doesn't work that I was conned into etc. etc. etc.
(Even though, typically, I am the outspoken one....hmmm???)

Nightie, Night...I am off to sleep with my three year old--fun stuff--the toddler bed-sharing. :)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Excited!

This is great!

The L!mited now has clothes available online.
YAY!
This is my favorite store to buy pants from!!
Used to, when you went to the website, it was just general info about L!mited brands, you could not shop or buy.

Now, one must understand that the only places to shop here are G**dy's, B$lK's and the super-terrible W@l-M#rt. I don't even like to shop, but I need four pairs of pants for work.

So, this is exciting. :)

Butterfly update:
The butterfly that came from the teeny coccoon, --was deformed.
It came out with only four legs, and no hind end. :(
So, I started with 4 caterpillars. We ended up with ONE Butterfly. Well, two, but one was pitiful. :(
My mama was right! Leave mother nature alone. "Leave the d@mn worms outside!"--is what she would have said. :)..and with good reason.

--Oh,and the teacher's have good luck, maybe, b/c mother nature gives them a "you're teaching" pass. ;)

Off to a meeting!!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Wouldn't it be great...

If...

The government would take all the money of the CEOs (and whatever other initials) of these big companies--besides maybe 3,000 dollars, and make them all go live together in a crappy trailer park, not a nice one, sino--one like the one in burlington on hwy 70 going towards haw river--with the old trailers?
The Audacity, to have a college education, from probably an ivy league school, and to run a company into the ground, and then wait around for a government hand-out....they ought to be ashamed of themselves, and shamed publicly. :)

We all could just leave those idigena people in Brazil alone? I mean --no reporters, no national geographic, no nothing...just leave them alone.
It broke my heart to see them on the news last night with their children all running around, at least they already know that their village is going to be flooded once their river gets damned up. The little old guy just said, "that's alright, we'll just die, but ya'll are too, at least we know it."

I could go to durham to the nasher mueseum

http://www.nasher.duke.edu/

and see the current exhibit of Spanish art. I love Diego de velazquez y el Greco. Their art is there, currently. Seen it before, would like to see it again.

That's all my wishin...
Oh here is one more...If I could have a baby and not gain 50 lbs.
Good lord! I am finally getting some of the weight off from having Victor--he is 18 months old. hee hee. :)

Have a great day! :)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Whew....

Here is a slideshow, of four pictures of the past week.
I had more that I wanted to use, but I only used these.
Gosh, it is Sunday night, and I am tired! :!
What am I going to do tomorrow?


I sat down to do this, and Elena has just piped up, crying.
So, this might end in just a minute.

Butterfly update: The coccoon broke open and out came the big, beautiful butterfly. There are two pictures of that.
We have one coccoon left.
Weekend: We went to the beach cottage. My sister and her two children were there, and my parents. Fun. Chaotic. Wind. Sand. Huge Waves.
There is a picture of my sister, with my children and her children, and Andy.
We flew kites, which was fun. I think Andy enjoyed that more than the children.
The other picture is of Elena sleeping with a book. She sleeps with books! The other night Andy told me to go and get this picture. Love it!
That's all my news....
Just off to work again tomorrow. This week I get to spend three evenings at my school for "parent participation" nights. We have three grade levels, so we have three nights for parent involvement. I get to go all three nights, from what I understand, "to help out." ;).
Andy is real happy about this. ;)
I hope all the folks out there whose children go to school appreciate the fact that the people who picked this as our jobs have to spend so much time at the school.
I always think about that scene in "it's a wonderful life" when he is frustrated and he calls the teacher to fuss her out b/c his little girl got sick b/c the teacher did not put her coat on. Then later on, the teacher's husband punches him in the eye, or knocks him in the head or something (him=the jimmy stewart character).

Okay good night, and have a great week! :)

Friday, September 12, 2008

alma

oh to be a fly on the wall during the
alma awards at this house tonight.
it is still on.
andy and i are taking a break.
questions asked:
why are all the white people painted brown? (they put a lot of bronzer on) winona and the white cheetah girl too. (hint: tanning is out of style, if you are white, just be white--you'll be happy about it when you are fifty.
is that a baby bump? me...about eva l p.
linda ron..whatever is mexican?
do what???
why did they not give me an alma? i stayed in mexico for two weeks one time..(andy) and he got searched as if he were a mexican when he got off the plane too--ya'll have seen andy. :)
why does each award have a corporate sponsor? i'm tired of that!
why do some women pass through menopause unphased and others end up like linda ron-whatever, now, i love her too, i am just a worrier, and my genes do not bode well in that dept.

people we are in love with:
andy: the mariachi singing girl, and of course, shakira
me: the jury is out
cheech marin? carlos mencia?--basically brown men are my favorite, and if they are funny, it's a plus.

well actually, we are both in love with him, and we are love sick, without cable we cannot see him :(.

comments:
i was just singing blue bayou to myself the other day... me.

have a great weekend!

here is the song i listened to on the way to work this week...



i love this song!
enjoy it bethany, i know you are listening ;).--oh i am still listening, and it is not the whole song...i will find it an post it later, still good music though

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Who would you like to have

...drive your children to hockey practice?!!!

WTH?

Remember during the last election, when people said they would like to have a beer with good ole G.W.?

So is the criteria now, who we would like to have be a kid hauler? (I don't want someone who is on two blackberries, I can tell you that)

Kid haulers are wonderful, ...but since when did, "I drive my kids to hockey" render one qualified to be the PRESIDENT?

Now based on our current one...you might be saying to yourself, well this is an improvement...(We know with a little nepotism and a lot of money any old bleep bleep can become one).
But why not let's go all the way and actually elect an INTELLECTUAL HUMANITARIAN who is somewhat presidentially qualified-ish (thanks GW, we might not have freedom of speech, but we have poetic license as evidenced in your speeches! ;) ).

Being political is so....frustrating, pointless, touchy..
May I never want to make a post like this again! :)
besos y goodnight ;)

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Caterpillars

Last Friday before we left school, the day of the hurricane, I went out to the car to get the bug box and I put some caterpillars in it. I have been watching them make cocoons all over the place. All the teachers have the little net houses in their rooms and the butterflies are successfully producing themselves.
So I put four of them in the bug box.

On Saturday one of them began to do its thing. We watched. It hung upside down, and sticky stuff was coming out of its caudal end..the @$$. Then it was stuck on the netting. Ater several hours of being very still it started to turn green. Within a couple hours of starting, it finished, complete with glistening gold dots!
So, then there were three left.
Another guy decided to do its thing. It went to the top, hung upside down, and this other one kept bothering it...going over there, crawling on it etc.
Well, when I got home from PTA last night Andy said, "Don't worry about the caterpillar that was cocooning (new verb?), it has already finished."
So he left to go to the mini mart, I put Elena in the bed and went to pee, when I walked back into the kitchen that little bastard, mean guy caterpillar was EATING THE F***ING COCOON of the other one!!!!
I could not believe it. I was mad at him!
**Disclaimer: I know that I am ascribing human emotional characteristics onto worms..but I have gotten really attached to this process. I do not describe this in this way to my children. :)
Here is the picture:


So, he got the boot. I went outside and dumped him out. The cocoon is still dripping I think...yuck!
**Now I am remembering why my mama never let me do stuff like this...of course the teachers at school do it, and theirs would never eat one another...hmmm...

Possibilities:
**there was not enough room.
**the mean one wanted that spot in the first place and he held a grudge.
**there was not enough food--which i doubt b/c i put tons of fresh leaves in every day.
**that was his friend and he was just wondering what happened to it (andy's idea) :)

Kids' reactions:
Victor, "uh-oh"
Elena, "oh, poor baby (she kissed the bug house). it will be alright."

I was just really disgusted. I never would have guessed that a caterpillar would do that to another one...

Now, here is a picture of the cutest gum I have ever seen. It was included in the party favor bag from the B-day party.


Unfortunately I watched the news tonight.
Yuck.
It seems, according to @bc news, that white women everywhere are falling for the palinator...OMG ya'll!!! Wth???
It just has to be closet racism...that is the only explanation I can think of...
so sad people...

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...