Thursday, September 30, 2010

The rain in Washington...

Umm...
I am starting to become a bit concerned....
It has not stopped raining here in four days.
The rain is coming from a Tropical Storm.

We are getting flooded.
The ditch in the back yard that borders the field is full--about three feet deep....soooo..
all the rain from the yard, which would usually flow into the ditch, then the creek, well,
that is in our yard.
Our yard is under about four inches of water. YIKES! :!.

I have some cute pictures..will post later.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Getting to them...

This seems to be the hard part...the "getting to the pictures"--I have them in my bloggy stash, but then
when I try to save them to a file on the computer --they just save themselves as tiny little blips...
AY Que Molestia!

Some Pictures....This is an accidental post...




This is an accidental post.  I am trying to get fotos from my mama's house and put them in a place so I can get to them....
HA!









Tuesday, September 28, 2010

the cure

Okay, so this time, with the PMS I am trying a different route--I am giving in.
I am completely giving in to whatever craving!
For example, on Sunday I went ahead and bought several types of candy bars that are my favorites..
1000 Grand (three for a dollar--good bargain at PMS time)
and the new 3 Musketeers truffle bar--which I am convinced has been designed
for women who have PMS--as the chocolate has a very feminine stenciled pattern
on the bottom--the perfect {make me feel better} PMS touch! :)



Next I thought of what food I am craving...
Well, that would be Lasagna and Tomatoes and Tomato Sauce...don't forget the
garlic bread with tons of butter --provided by Pepperidge Farm.
Salad?   (no, there is one made but it is not what I WANTED) ;)
Then I am drinking lots of water (for all that retaining that needs to go on).
Then, I am also not exercising, and I am not drinking any alcohol.

So far, I have not yelled at my kids, cried uncontrollably, or felt bitter against the world during
this PMS session.
Which, to me, seems like I might have found a cure for it??? maybe???
Oh, and don't forget no scales..this is the week of "make me feel better"
And I am beginning to think this is the way God wanted it to be...maybe even
physiological...

Monday, September 27, 2010

Inquiring minds...

Thank God for Google, b/c I am {nerdy}, I have always liked to just read and read about whatever might
pique my curiosity....and most everything does --well, besides monsters or gorry stuff, or mean stuff...
So after I read the book, A Moveable Feast--all about Ernest Hemingway in Paris in the late 1920's I just
had to look up some stuff about him.
He really made the rounds...by the end of the book he was about to have an affair {with Pauline} his second wife...the book ended there.
So when I looked him up I saw just how tragic his genetics were...his father committed suicide..so did he, and so did two of his brothers...hmmmm..anyone see a strange --and very sad--pattern here?
He ended it all in a very confused state of mind and trying to be cured by electroshock therapy....eeeeek!
POOR THING.
I must say, though...before all that went down...he was living ...

Then I went on to read about his children--he had three boys.
He left all of their mamas---so I wanted to see how all of them turned out..
(this all might go back to my Last American Man post, I am thinking)..
And YEP!--his sons had some craziness too....One of them died at some correctional institute in Miami
after having sex reassignment surgery at the age of 60 something...going from Gregory to Gertrude
also {very interesting}....
whew...It all tripped me out, to say the least.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

{Fun}

Andy and I have had a little stretch with right much social time.
We have been going out with {friends} or having friends over.
After each one we (of course) sum it all up in a little conversation.
Lately, they tend to go one of two ways....
ugh...was that fun to YOU? (b/c it sure was not for me--is implied in the tone of voice),
or --man! that sure was fun...I really like such and such.
This is so interesting b/c some of these social outings happen in the most honest
way...you are invited by someone who you really do like...and you end
up mingling in a questionable group of folks---like people who are really not
let's say.... hmmm.. ( I really don't know a nice way to say what I am thinking of)--and btw
what I am thinking of is not even really mean--It's the friend chemistry thing.
Then other times you are invited to do something or invite people over who
are a good match--it's the whole couple friends thing.

When we lived away from home--this was sort of a non-issue.
We did not end up {accidentally} hanging out with people.
The people we befriended  were befriended usually by both of us, and we both
liked them.

Here, at home, it can be a different story--not to mention a puzzling one.
So last night was just fun--not {fun}.
We went out to this giant party in the middle of nowhere in Edgecombe county (at least that is where the
Sheriff's Deputies were from) and we partied--it was something akin to the feria en sevilla in my mind.
Each group of partyers had a home base shack thing where there was food etc.
The shacks were invitation only--private, and they each had a theme (and were decorated to the nines)
It was wild!!! There was a statue--gigantic --of a woman in the middle of the whole set up....Confederate Railroad, and Suicide Blond played music from giant stages...and running along the backside of all of this? The Rivah!--I am thinking the Tar River--or maybe the Roanoke.
We were invited by people who are fun to both of us--to hang out with...we had a driver, and
we had no kids waiting for us when we got home.
It was fun--not {fun}...a later post I will tell you about a {fun} event....
that one is a hoot! :)

Off to nap now...if andy has not beat me to it.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Buckshot version 4

I am still around.
Friday is the only day I have do {breathe}.
Saturday and Sunday are filled with organized {fun} for the whole family.
Actually I have always been of the mindset that fun should not be organized...fun is actually riding
a tricycle under the carport in circles--not being hollered at to attack a ball.
I think my children are genetically predisposed to think the same way, as they beg
me "can we just stay home and play?"--or "can we just go to grandma's and play?"

This week at group piano lesson I was informed by a fellow suzuki parent that "we should never
trust the gov't to educate our children...that gives "them" to much control"  I was thinking the whole time
{we} are them, sweetheart...although she did scare me a bit. ;).  I am learning this cool trick, called "shut up and listen"--she just went on and on...and boy was she interesting to listen to.
I read some of Dr.(Mr.?) Suzuki's life philosophies and they are BEAUTIFUL.  In particular I loved his ideas
about anger as an absolutely useless emotion.  He had many ideas about child rearing...I think I need to read all his books....

Andy and I watched about Ernest Hemingway's Finca the other night...His farm house in Cuba.
It made me want to go {crazy} one day, and move to Cuba and live on a farm and grow guanabanas.

This morning when I was running in the graveyard I saw the most perfect and beautiful spider web strung across two gravestones and I thought, "huh, the perfect Halloween scene, no?"--Actually I probably said it
out loud--I talk to myself while I run.;).
Then around mile two I almost started crying when I remember my walks in Graham with Elena and Victor.
She was two, he was newborn, and I was always just teeter tottering on the verge of insanity.  What kept me sane was our longggggg...summer morning walks.  Elena has always been SO SWEET! and patient with me.
I can just see her sweet little feet in her pink crocs splashing around in puddles.  We would on hour and a half long walks around our neighborhood and just play and play and laugh.  Wanting to hold those pink crocs again...almost made me cry out loud! ....hold on, I need a tissue! :)

The cutest going on at our house this week was watching Elena give Eva a potty tutorial the other night.
She just did it.  I sat outside the bathroom and watched.  The class ended with Eva sitting on the potty doing a number two! :)--too early to be officially potty training...but so darn cute, nonetheless.

Running is going really well, my body remembered!  So, it's two miles for me...a nice sweat and then home to shower.  So far so good.

Okay, I am off to snuggle with Victor for a bit, then to the carpool line--a {highlight} of the week for me, for sure.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The "Empathy card"

So this is going to be a political post.
I thought of it all today when I was listening to the radio.

They were playing a sound clip of P. Obama, and he was saying something like, "i should stand in the sun, that way you people who are sweating in the sun will know i feel how you are feeling."

So the radio person was saying... P. Obama has trouble conveying Empathy.

Well, that got me thinking...let's see.
Hmmm... let's say I have a problem.
Would i rather someone say to me...oh, I feel it, honey...I know...or would I rather someone actually
DO SOMETHING...regardless of what my listening ear is saying...What if they are really smart, and they
are using all their intelligence to solve my problem.
Is that not better than a voice saying to me...I feel ya..

I really believe that p. Obama is trying to solve problems in that critical thinker kind of way...
That is all the empathy we need...critical thinking and problem solving... :)

I'll take that!

Okay..I am off to read now..whew..this is a busy time here in the mama land..

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Too much, too early

So, we live and we learn, right
Well, when Elena just left, with her dad, who is her coach, to go play soccer...she was CRYING. ;(.
I did not want her to have to do it, either.
It's too much.
Andy tried to tell me, but I could not listen.

We are stopping all seasonal sports until the children are seven.
No more after this.
They are too little.
Developmentally, I think they are just not ready...they do not even get it, really.
And if at 7 my child who is so behind gets out there and is clumsy..well they probably got it honest {from me}
But they might just get out there and ROCK IT --which is what I choose to think will happen b/c they
happen to have a very coordinated dad--who, in this case, was right.

Elena is trying to get used to school...and now her Saturday has been hijacked too!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Reverend is Relative

It is interesting to me, the {word nerd girl,}that preachers are called "reverend".
I have met very few who merited being revered.
hmmmm..
I was pondering this today when I finished walking in the graveyard and was listening to NPR in the car.
The news guy said, "Reverend Jones" --you know the one who wants to burn a Koran, and who the media of
this wonderful U.S. of A has turned into an international superstar/pariah--depending on how you feel.
Well, regardless of the Koran burning--which to me does not matter either way...a redneck wants to burn a book....I am sure it is not the first or last time..., This man is being called "Reverend"
By whom is he revered?--I am guessing about 50 rednecks at a "church" in Florida...

There are people in my life who, to me, need to be revered...like the lady at my school who donates all her
extra time to garden, b/c she wants the (yes, even the poor down trodden ones who will never make a trip to a botanical garden)  children to have butterfly gardens...think about that one for a minute.
Most preachers I have known have been borderline scoundrels to be quite honest...the sick-wife leaving, money stealing hipocrite variety, little kid molesting (this list can go on)...and I have learned that they are not to be revered.

What a shame that my religion is being represented by such an idiot!
Ay que lastima!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Weight loss...more for Morgan and Melissa

Morgan:  EXACTLY! Who in the HELL eats one french fry....come on!! I want to stuff my mouth full of them
and make a big potato dough ball and THEN so that I won't choke...drink a big ole swig of {drink}.

Yes...Natural Trim was vacuumed into the deep {you can't have it anymore} abyss...by the FDA I suppose..just
like the most recent diet pill friend that works, called Solo Slim --just taken off the market.

What am I taking?  I am taking Phentermine.
If you go to the Doc...you might say something like this:  I don't do anything else that is terrible for me...
I want to be thin{ner} which is what everyone knows we ought to be...
So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE prescribe this for me...or else I might just end up back in here at the
four hundred lb. size needing my STOMACH STAPLED!! Achhhh!!!!

Maybe these docs will listen.
This pill is wonderful.  You don't even need it every day.  So, when you are starving yourself {to death} and
exercising...you actually have energy....
Nice, no?

Melissa....you sound JUST LIKE ME! That is exactly what goes on with me...and it is so
discouraging.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

are you kidding?

So, in my quest to lose weight I have decided that in order to get off these 20 lbs that I {so desperately want} to lose, I am going to take DIET PILLS.
The prescription kind.
Yes.
So, this weight just will not go down.
My body wants to weigh 165, and that is just that.
My heart and mind want my body to weigh 145.
....time will tell.
One day on Dr. Oz he commented that women {b/c of hormones} naturally cannot lose weight.
Or hormones help to keep us fat{tned}.
So, he said, "you either exercise strenuously and eat, or you eat VERY LITTLE and exercise a bit or not at all"
ughhh...
So for the past two or three days..thanks to the energy given to my by the DIET PILLS, I have eaten menus like this:
OJ
Coffee
A PEAR
A SALAD
Not kidding....
Then I go exercise to burn the pear off.

This post is not a plea for help.
Anyone who knows me knows, I have a good head on my shoulders and I love to eat, and believe that we
should eat...
but seriously....is this what being a woman means....
A SALAD AND A PEAR????
.....
To put all this in perspective... I am not a very large woman...I am just barely over weight.  So this makes me have all kinds of sympathy for the women who I see all around me who are {truly large}.  I used to think...God! they must eat a ton of food...
Not anymore...I think--poor thing...she probably would LOVE TO LOSE WEIGHT..She just cannot be motivated when she has--children/husband/bills/low pay/long work week/food as a comfort/low metabolism... and her PERIOD AND PMS AND HORMONES. ;).
When I was little I used to wonder why when we all ate, my mama did not (and she cooked it all)...it is b/c God made Women in such a way that we ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO apparently...!!!
My~ How time answers all questions...
whew...
One more thing:  Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows this feeling  mean trick of the universe:
You are starving so in your mind you equate that with having lost tons of weight...so you put your starving self on the scale only to discover--NOPE!! NOT A BIT.
That very hungry feeling does not always equal weight loss...

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Parties at Camelia's

Everytime an event happens in the life of any of Camelia's people--they have a party.
It is always the same--they set up tents in their yard and pull out the plastic chairs, there is food
food, and more food, and all of the family comes to celebrate--y godparents too.

Today was Yineth's 6th birthday.
We were there when she turned four, and when she turned five....
Tonight we stayed for the pinyata and the cake--Elena was excited about that.

It is so fun to be around their family.  Most of the family is Jacinto's family (Camelia's husband).
He has lots of sisters, they have lots of children--so there is just a bunch of people running all around.
Tonight we had Pozole.  It was really good to me.  The children all ate pizza.

When it got dark outside it felt sooooo cozy.
Jacinto turned on the music and the porch light--a light bulb hooked onto an extension cord hanging off the porch...all the little bitty girls started dancing.
The big kids had run off to eat their candy and trade candy, and there was a soft murmur of adult commentary
about it all.
I always stand off to the side...not even really listening to them...I just sort of daydream off somewhere...
But I am always happy to be there, and happy to be invited.
Jacinto's sister, Elena, seems to be the matriarchal aunt of their family (we all have one).  She directs the show
Anyway...it trips her out that my children have the names they do, and that I speak Spanish etc.
AND--she is going to try to find me a chihuahua. :)  I dreamed about chihuahua puppies after she had
hers at Jacinto's birthday party the other week.

It is cool to me how not a birthday goes by for them {at least so far} without a celebration.  A  real celebration.

Little Frida


The other day Yineth and Elena helped me pick Zinnias out of the garden at school.  Then, the ones that were too short--they put in their hair.  Yineth wears her hair braided {so pretty}.  So her little flower was stuck into the braid.  I thought she looked like Frida Kahlo. :)

Thursday, September 2, 2010

My favorite part

of any hurricane activity is:
Watching news people STAY OUT IN THEM AND REPORT THE WEATHER.
What in the world?
Too funny!!
Andy and I laugh and laugh..
unfortunately without cable i will not enjoy this as much this time b/c the local folks don't try to prove
their bravery {as much} by staying out in the weather...

This hurricane has been brewing all day all around.
Of course, they always happen at night...so we will listen while we sleep, and hope and pray that no big trees
fall down.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

How many parts can a day have?????

This one has had about 8, I think.

There was the getting up and making breakfast.
The getting to school--parts one and two (before and after lunch)..
Then after school:
1.rush home to get V. man for tumbling class..and change E's clothes under the carport
2.get to gym--discover this is the week OFF
3.come home to bathe children and eat a snack--Eva pooped all over the floor in the FIVE MINUTES I was on the phone with sissy and getting b.water ready
4.clean up poop--sweating the whole time--
5.--oh, i forgot talk to new neighbor and wave goodbye to andy and E when they left to go to soccer practice
6.Have a birthday party for Nana
7.put kids to bed
8Wind down..and visit with Andy--he goes out of town AGAIN tomorrow....

whew....

thank god for pizza and BEER! :)

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 ...