Damn that bug!

Take a good look at this bug. They move slower than a snail and they fly like any regular beetle does. They are called many things such as stink bug, assassin bug (beetle), grasshopper bug. Well these lovely things are infesting our office, and they make me nuts! We call the exterminator and he says sorry not much I can do, because they live in the vents and in the drains. Anywhere it is moist and some what warm. We have had this problem for almost 2 years, and each time I see one it makes me jump. I am not afraid of bugs, but these are quiet and it is like someone sneaking up on you. I go to reach for a paper on my desk and there one is. Just sitting there. I did not hear it buzz like a flying bug should, it just appeared. Damn those bugs. I think they got the name assassin from the freakin' heart attack that you get when they sneak up on you and your heart is beating 1000 times a minute to recover from the shock of seeing them.

enjoy life

Let there be snot!

The snot is rollin now! I am feeling better. Thank you to the makers of Sudafed, Puffs plus with lotion and Halls. Oh I can not forget Tim Hortons. That smooth throat coating tripple tripple goodness that has helped me get through this. mmmmmm. I love you man.

enjoy life

Still in the midst of crappe'.

I feel like all of the garbage in the previous post only it has been tossed in to the blender and well that is it.

I am eating my processed chicken soup for lunch in all of it's goldfish noodle goodness. Sounds good huh? Betcha wish you had some of this. I will top it off with some OJ. Now that's as american as apple pie. Right?

enjoy life

I feel like arse!

You see that big pile of garbage? See the people walking around it as if it is no big deal? That is me, the garbage. Healthy people are milling around as if I do not feel like shit and expecting too much from me today.

Oh yeah that Bucky got caught. Would you believe that it was such news that the local grocery store announced it on the PA while I was shopping.

enjoy life

Damn that Phillips guy

That piece of shit bucky that is running from the cops is all over the national news now. I went to CNN and there is was main news, I went to Fox and there is was main news, and the AP has a main tag line for him. This asshat (thanks miss lis for the verbiage) has disrupted lives all over the state. There are troopers that have missed their kids first day of school and vacations have been cancelled. There are schools and businesses in lockdown. Children in the smallest of small communities that are told not to go out because of a gun toting crazy man. Now before you get in to a huff I know that it is the job of the troopers to be flexible, but this is crazy. He has been on the run since April, and the man power needed for this remote area far outweighs the manpower available. As of this morning he is on the FBI top 10 list. Dead or alive he will be caught now. I know that this asshat has not earned the right to take up two days of my post, but I feel for the multitude of folks that are in disarray as well as the lives that are shattered because a loved one is injured. One of the guys I work with has just received a call that his wife "Mrs. Engineer" the NYS Trooper is going to assist in this manhunt. All my best to her for her safe return!
Here is my message to the world. Take care of your children. Raise them right, and teach them to respect the law!

enjoy life.

Hold it in..... no more!

Since mid June there has been this guy names Ralph "Bucky" Phillips who has been on the run from the New York State Troopers. You see the one thing that he did was he escaped from a prison in Erie. Now items that the police think that he is in connection with are: shooting 3 troopers. With great sadness one of the three passed away (Trooper Longobardo), one is clinging to life in a hospital (Trooper Baker) and the third is recovering from wounds. The first two were shot in the back which is cowardly no matter who did it. What gets my goat is that he is Indian (Native American to those of you who are PC). I am an Indian and I am disgusted with the behavior that he is displaying. He is also wanted in connection with multiple home and business invasions and car thefts. He is running from the law and with the help of his family he has been succeeding. There is even a restaurant that has me so enraged they are offering "Bucky burgers" they are regular burgers that are served in a to go container "in case you need to run out fast". People need to wake up and smell the coffee. How can this be funny. How can you make money out of so much tragedy?
He is now on the US Marshals 15 most wanted list. I hope they find him soon, and I pray that the rumors that say Indians on the reservation are protecting him are not true, and that the $250,000 reward money goes to the troopers bereavement fund.

sadly I will say
enjoy life

Just stuff

First, Out of curiosity I watched Miss Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News. I am not a fan by any means and I do not think I ever will be, but I am now even more put off by her tilting of the head when she talks to the camera. You know that look that your 3rd grade teacher gave you when she wanted to make sure you understood her. She did that by tilting her head to the side and repeating her question. I do it to Bud when I want to make sure he understands me. So when Miss Katie tilts her head and opens her flapper I get annoyed and have to change the channel. So back I go to ABC World News Tonight.

Next, I have been a bad friend to Pearlie. You see Pearlie used to work at the hockey arena as a hot dog cook. She was a retired school bus driver for the inner city. She loved Bud. She would give Bud little trinkets when he was at the game. This past February she go in to a car accident and really never recovered fully. She has moved to Texas to be with her daughter and I have been slacking on writing her letters. Well to be honest I have not written any! When she got in to her accident Bud sent her a cookie basket and we sent her letters, but since she has sent me 7 or 8 letters and I have sent none. My grandma would be so disappointed in me. Well last night I sat and wrote her a 3 page letter. I hope that helps in making up for the fact that I have not written all summer. I think that she is a great lady, and I wish her all the best. I will miss her this year as she has been a fixture at the arena for the past few years.

Next, It was a full moon which would provide some sort of explanation about the leg thing the other night.

Next, Football starts tonight. NY Jets lets go!

lastly, enjoy life

While I was sleeping.....funky calf rubbing....

I went to bed earlier than usual last night and fell in to a rare deep sleep.

Well, in the middle of this really good sleep my husband wakes me up by fiercely rubbing his hand up and down my left calf. This shocks the heck out of me. I am thinking he has lost all of his marbles. My first thought is well jeesh I know that I need to shave my legs, but this is crazy! Then I told him to stop, and he got out of bed and went to the kitchen, then came back to bed and went back to sleep.

This morning when my hubs gets up I asked him what it was last night that made him rub my leg. He said that he did no such thing. I said you woke me out of a really good sleep and made me talk to you. That is how I know that is was true. He insists that I am making the entire thing up. I am so not crazy! Not only that he is not going to pin this silly act on me with out a good reason, he is not going to win this one. He was laughing about it this morning, but it is still very strange.
Could there be something funky in the stars? There is no full moon. I am perplexed.

enjoy life.

p.s.
Congrats to Mrs. Kate and Mr. Bill on the arrival of Lauren Claire

Again with the hair.

I had a weekend. Nothing fancy, nothing out of the ordinary, I was asked to work the ball game and I did on Friday, Sunday & Monday. On Saturday since the ball game was rained out We took Bud to Friendly's for dinner and ice cream. It was a great night out. While eating I realized that Bud needed a hair cut. This child has more hair than a child should. Not only is it thick there is a lot of it. He gets that from me. Well we stopped by this hair place in the mall to get a kid cut. I said short. She said OK I'll give him a 2 in the back and we'll work with the top. I say OK. So there I sit watching. When all is done I looked at him thought great much cleaner. Then I took another look and realized that my cute little guy looks like he should be in an old beat up truck with a confederate flag in the back window with white power tattoed on his arm. NO WAY NOT MY KID! This had to change right away. So as soon as we get home I grab that bottle of gel in the cabinet and I spike up the hair. Now that is cute! He is a slight variation of the Jerry McGuire kid. You know who I mean the one who says "Did you know the human head weighs 8 pounds?" So now I am obsessed with making sure that the hair is spiky. First, I have my own hair issues and now I am giving Bud hair issues. When will the madness end!

enjoy life

I'm a big kid now

The hubs calls me at work and the conversation goes something like this:

Hubs "where is the camera?"
Mommyrox "It's in my purse, Why do you ask?"
H " Bud is riding his bike"
M "And you need the camera for that?"
H " The two wheel bike!"
M "NO WAY!"

I had the camera in my purse because on Wednesday he was jumping off the diving board in to the deep end of the pool. I went on my lunch to watch him jump. Now he is riding a "big kid bike" My baby is not a baby anymore. He is officially a big kid. (tear rolling down my cheek). I am amazed at his level of confidence and how much pride he has with this accomplishment.

At least I have one more year before he starts school. Time goes by so fast that I will once again send my love out to all of my peeps. Since it is Labor Day weekend I will not be back until Tuesday, and with that it should be a wet one! Thank you hurricane Ernesto!

enjoy life

Are you the singee or singer?

I pulled a late night last night due to the afore mentioned software program, and as I was driving home I had a deep thought. Are you ready for this? When you were a kid listening to the radio (sorry we did not have ipods) did you envision yourself at the person singing the song to someone? or someone singing the song to you? I must say I pondered this longer than necessary on my 10 minute commute home. I was the one who envisioned myself singing this to someone, where as a guy that I had an un-recipical mad crush on (in 8th grade) envisioned that someone singing it to him. What was amazing is that I put a lot of thought in to this. I never ever thought about it before. I had just thought everyone thought the same way about certain songs the way I did.

So that is my pondering thought and I needed to share.

signed the singer

enjoy life

Office Software & Hockey you decide

We have a software in our office called timberfuck. It kicks me out almost daily and if I am lucky twice a day. Today instead of having the luxury of being kicked out, it is shut down. So here I am. My position in this company does not allow me to do anything but work in the various programs with in this piece of shi$ software.

So the decision has been made and we are enrolling Bud in the Pony league to play hockey. Bud has no idea yet, as we have not told him. This will involve reaching deep in to the pockets and forking up almost $400 for the time. Thank goodness Papa and Mama (my parents) are going to foot the bill for equipment. It won't be too bad since he already has the skates & helmet. It runs from October to March 2 days a week of 1 hour ice time. Now one might say why would you pay that much for a child to play hockey. Well here are the reasons.

1. The first time he rolled over the hockey highlights were on ESPN and he was watching it when I went to check on him.
2. For Christmas when he turned 2 he was given a hockey stick from Santa and since then he has had one in his possession all the time.
3. He learned to skate from the recreation program that is offered for the town and has been going every Wednesday since he was allowed on the public rink.
4. All summer he has been on his roller blades playing hockey in the driveway
5. When he won my office NCAA pool he wanted a hockey helmet. Not toys, or McDonald's, but a hockey helmet. So he got one. (Note: The pictures below are pre-helmet purchase)

Need I say more. Look how much fun he is having.

enjoy life

Big Sissy!

I have decided that in my not so old age that I have become a big sissy!
Hubs, Bud & I went to the Carnival at the local church. It is an annual event that always draws a huge crowd. They have rides for kids & adults, carnival games and food. Well we set a limit on the rides for Bud and he wants to ride the paratooper. It is a big umbrella like ride that you sit in and it goes forwards and backwards. Since the hubs hates heights that leaves me to go. Now back in my day I would ride every ride in the park. I would go upsidedown and backwards. Never bothered me. So here I am sitting next to Bud and we are on the ride. He is rocking the seat back and forth and I am FREAKING out. I said to him hey Bud don't do that. He could care less. He keeps on rocking. Me on the other hand I am as pale as a ghost. I want to get off. Then we start to go backwards. Bud looks at me after we get off and he says want to go again? I said no. He says big sissy. Where in the heck does that come from.
No matter it is true I am a big sissy.
enjoy life

July 13 Part V

Ok I am going to bullet this:

• Meet with funeral director make plans and slut tries to change them in front of the funeral director she does not succeed.
• Go to florist and get flowers slut tries to pick them out for us again does not succeed(contemplating changing her name to bitch)
• Call Church and make arrangements for reception and start to plan menu
• Ask for help in getting food for 50 folks, get minimal.
• Work on eulogy (very hard)
• Work on collages for service
• Take care of guest and my child

Now we are done with the service and we spend lots of time with the FIL. The slut tries to take items out of the house and demand that certain things are hers. No the case since the lawyer told her no, but she managed to steal about a suitcase and a half of the items that were my SMIL's. If I ever see that thieving ungrateful slut again it will be too soon.

Oh yeah.... brother-in-laws wife calls (who is in CA) to speak with brother in law (who is in NY for funeral) and says I am leaving you. I am calling a lawyer and I want a divorce.

The insanity will never end. So that is my story and I am tired. This week has been all about getting this out and venting about the craziness. I needed to do it and I am not sorry if it bugged you. This is my space and I can write what I want to.

I missed all of Rockstar and Big Brother so I am grouchy about that too.

Side note: since July 4, 2006 to August 21, 2006 I have had 6 deaths around me. I am done. No more. Enough.

Enjoy life!

July 13 Part V

Here we go!
On Monday I go to work. What the hell was I thinking????? I get a call from my hubs sister and she has told me that slut is calling the lawyer stating there is a will making all kinds of a fuss. We are planning to meet the funeral director at 3:00 so my plan of working a half day goes down the tube. I go home. Make more phone calls and more phone calls and more freakin phone calls. Then we meet for lunch to make sure that FIL is eating. Slut is late as usual and on the phone with her friends. Only cries when others are around to gain sympathy. We go to the funeral home and talk about the details and how the obit should read. Slut provides a piece of paper written the way she wants to be in the paper and the funeral director says no! She also tries to make changes to the date and time that we have already decided on. Every so offen the room would get quiet and we would look at her like she was an idiot. Once Thursday was firm we made the arrangements with the church and the reception after the service. I was in charge of all of it to make sure that it went smoothly. I did a lot of cooking and salad making. It was ok. Slut did everything to try to ruin it. She moved the special flower that FIL put near the picture at the alter for the service, she took a bunch of the flowers from the service and wanted to take them to a nursing home. When FIL said he wanted the ones he picked for his wife that said "Wife" she said no, I paid for them. They go to the nursing home. Just little things like that made us hate her. The last straw was when she stole items from the house and demanded that all of the SMIL rings and pearls go to her. Umm NO! She crammed her suitcases full of stuff that she could smuggle out and went back to Florida. Thank god! Karma hit her though. Her luggage was lost and the had the runs the entire flight.
If I ever see her again it will be too soon. Would you believe there is still no will! She was so insistent that there was. Lesson learned. Get a will, health care proxy and make all of your funeral wishes known.

I have had 6 deaths in my life since July 4th. I think that I have hit my quota!


I can now enjoy life. Albeit a bit sadder now, but I am going to enjoy life.

July 13 Part IV

So here I am at 2:30 calling all of the SMIL's family members who live out of the state to let them now what has happened. Once I make those calls Bud wakes up with dreams of monsters. It was creepy! At this time I was contemplating when and how to tell Bud that his gramma whom he say just a couple of weeks ago has passed. I wait. I do nothing. I sit and then contemplate weather or not we should take our scheduled day trip to the local amusement park. I decide to go, and not tell Bud so will have a good time. Honestly, as I look back that part of the day was a blur. I decide that I need to leave Bud at my parents house after the trip so that I can take care of business with the hubs family. What I find out is that the sister to SMIL is on her way and wil be arriving sometime in the late afternoon. Now the family is at the house cleaning and throwing away all sorts of garbage so that the house will be prepared for the company that is about to arrive in the next few days. Now here is a very vital part. She had no will. She was married to FIL for 19 years (not days or months, but years) and they had been together for 26 years. This is important for later. At 4pm I meet the deceased sister at a gas station. I'll call slut for the benefit of FIL. I have her follow me to FIL's house and she is all weepy. When we arrive the house looks to be in pretty good shape. Now slut takes it upon herself to go through the house as if SMIL was single and lived alone. FIL was pissed and right away knew where this was going. So here we are at 5pm on Sunday looking for a will or any sort of important documentation. There was none, but slut insisted that she had one at her house in FL from 1977. That was a lie. Then we all sit down and get to talking about the service. Slut wants it on Friday. FIL's kids say Thursday since Wednesday would have been SMIL's 64th birthday, and why drag it out. End result it was agreed SMIL was to be cremated and buried on Thurs 8/17. I make the call to the funeral home and get all of the arrangements started. First meeting is Monday with the funeral director. I also contact the church and make all of the arrangements for the reception after the service. FIL also asked me to give a eulogy. As if my plate is not full enough. Hub's sister takes on all of the finances (big mess).

Part V tomorrow (please bear with me, this is very therapeutic for me)
enjoy life

July 13 Part III

Another couple of days of my father in law and the PA trying to help care for the step mother in law and on August 6 she falls to the ground and just the FIL is there. He calls his son who has a fantastic nurse wife and they get her up and go straight to the car. While she is sitting in the car the nurse calls the PA and says she is in the car and we are coming to you. So off they go to the non-surgical hospital. Once she gets there she is placed in to ICU. Her leg is infected and there is a spot on her incision that is going to rupture and she could bleed to death. They dope her up on meds and keep her stable. That is all they can do. The doctors have a request to get her to Strong Memorial Hospital where she needs critical care, and they are waiting for a bed there for her. On August 11 the spot ruptures and she has a surgical Dr. stop the bleed and rush her to Strong. Once there after the initial run through of the charts and the doctors rounds they call at 5:00 am and tell us that they need to amputate just below the knee. The infection was that bad. So she goes under the knife not knowing what is happening. Once they get out of the surgery they have informed us that the entire leg was amputated and that the infection was really bad. She is in Surgical intensive care with a nurse 24/7. She passes away on 8/13 one month to the day of the original routine procedure at 2:22 am. I get the call from the hospital. Yes, I got that call, which leaves me to call all of the family members and relay the news. The Hubs, his dad, his sister and his brother all rush to the hospital. Hubs gets there first and says a prayer with her and waits for the rest of the family.

Part IV later

enjoy life

July 13 Part II

So on to Part II
Discharge happened on 7/18 in the afternoon. She was released with an infection in her leg and with oral meds to treat. She went to her primary care physician two days later. Primary doc says to father in law you should be ok to care for her. Just keep the bandages clean and make sure she takes her meds. FIL says Ok if you say so. He does the best he can not realizing how hard it is to take care of her. He calls the Dr the next Monday 6 days after release from hospital and says I need help. I can't do this. Dr. says bring her in Thursday. Once again they go in to the office and finally he gets the assistance he needs to care for his wife. A Physicans Assistant from a non-surgical hospital. She comes every other day to see her and make sure that all is well. After a week the leg is not healing, and the wound where the incision is just happens to be getting worse even after being on antibiotics for the leg infection. The PA says she needs to go back to the hospital 7/27 . So in she goes to the Emergency Department. Released the next day. Just an infection we will up the antibiotics that are clearly not working. You see they had her records and how she behaved and did not want her back in the hospital. Bastards. That was their second mistake. The PA still came every other day and did the best she could to help.

Tomorrow Part III

enjoy life!

It started July 13 Part I

On July 13 in the early morning my husbands step mother (or my step-mother-in-law) asked me to send emails to her friends and family to keep them updated on the progress of a routine surgery scheduled for July 13. They needed to do some work on an either an artery or vein in her leg. I did this. It was a favor and was only going to last a few days. Well, we went to see her in the hospital after the surgery on July 15. She had a violent episode due to being on prozac (about 1 month prior to surgery) and vicodin for the pain of the surgery. Because of this security had be outside her room 24/7. No staff was allowed in her room by themselves. If her blood pressure was to be taken the staff had to use a manual cuff not the automatic one. She got violent when the automatic was used (the lazy staff never looked at her chart to check this out). Despite her not feeling well and the episodes of violence, she was discharged from the hospital on July 18. Clearly a difficult patient, but due the special mixture of meds.
My father in law called constantly to get follow up care since SMIL was discharged with out it. Eventually she was assigned a physicians assistant out of another non-surgical hospital. No one bothered to see what was making her a difficult patient, they just thought she was a mean person.

Part II next time.....

Wet and Wild Wednesday

I had to use a vacation day yesterday since my steady Wednesday sitter (my dad) has to go and work at his retirement gig at the ball park. There was an afternoon game and those pesky press box guys needed him there. So I say hey Bud it's going to be the best Bud and mommy day. Let's go someplace. I pack up the family funster and off we go to the waterpark. The sun was deceiving. It was a cool day, but that sun was hotter than a mother. I now have sun burn like nobody's business. Bud, on the other hand has a little pink around the face, but that is all.
We did have an awesome time. We were there from 11-4. That was long enough for him, and to be honest long enough for me. So back to this hot thing. I have decided that when you go to a place like that no matter how much sunblock you have it is never enough. My lips are even a little krispy. In reality none of that matters since we had such a great day. Surprisingly we did not even get over charged on the food bit. I spent few dollars, and had a lot of fun. If you get the chance to go I would recommend http://www.roselandwaterpark.com
There are things that I would recommend for the select few. If a bikini comes in your size, but you have that little extra summin' summin' around your mid section DO NOT BUY! It is offensive to those all around you. Most moms got the knack of what is reasonable. To the ladies who are childless special note. This is a kids park in the middle of the week, you are not going to meet your future husband here unless he is the janitor and that is what you have set your goal on. For the teenage girls, standing in front of the cute lifeguard will not get his attention. You are annoying him to the extent that he has asked you to move so he can do his job. Then when he goes on break he is not allowed to "socialize" with the patrons that is the rule. You should read them when you walk in. It is clearly stated on the board.
Kids for the most part are well behaved to my extreme pleasure. It is a happy place for all.
I suppose I really needed that on a Wednesday!

enjoy life.

Good Food Karma

Today must be my lucky day for food.
I came in to the office and a co-worker whom I have given some of bud's newborn clothes that are too small offered to take me out to lunch. I said sure. He is just a nice guy. The co-worker that is. Then upon return from lunch there are these delicious cupcakes sitting in the break room for all.
Then at 3pm one of the guys that is in my cube farm got an extra coffee by mistake and offered it to me. It is just the way I like it, and I needed a coffee too. Yummm! All of this to me is good food karma.

Took the kids to the carnival this weekend and had a blast! I actually rode a ride with the kids. Bud and Sarah were having a blast and I was a bit of a nervous nelly about it. It has been years since I rode any ride, and this was a good way to get re-acquainted with it. I forgot how much I enjoy it. They wanted to go again and we did not have enough time. That is ok though we will go to another carnival in a couple weeks. Then that is it summer will officially be gone. Where does the time go.

enjoy life!

Birthdays

Last night we celebrated the birthday of Papa. Bud was so excited to give him his present he wanted to open it for him too. My dad being the ever tolerant man (where was that tolerance when I was a kid?) says sure Bud. We can all open the present. Three children and one adult opening 1 gift. Here is a guy who loves the grandchildren more than just about anything else in the world and lets them get away with anything. The home of my parents has become the land of the free. Kids can do what ever they want, eat what ever they want, stay up as late as they want. Where was this when I was a kid? I had strict bed time and I was not allowed to eat 3 popsicles in 15 minutes, and if I had the cartoons on all night I would be grounded from the TV.
I guess this is what makes my parents happy. My dad has said that this was the best birthday ever. In all there was my spineless brother, his wife, and their two kids, my hubs, mom, and Bud. That did make for a nice dinner and with the children being so young it thankfully took all of the potential for conversation out of the event. Since it took all of my energy not to lunge over the table and rip my brothers eyes out, pour some common sense in the holes and then put them back in. It felt pretty good to say that if I must say so.
So anyways it was a lovely dinner and as always Mr. Cerame has out done himself.

enjoy life

Where do bridges come from?

Finally a break in the weather. It has cooled down. There is no longer the scorching 100 plus humidity!
Here is a statement I am throwing out there. In my world death happens in 3's. I have been informed that two of my friends have had their grandmothers pass. One on Saturday and one on Monday. I am sorry for the loss, but I do not want to know who is next! I am tired of death this year. There have been too many already.
Now the pleasure of realization. While taking Bud to my parents house he was talking about bridges. I think that is what was on his mind at the time. We talked about what bridges do, what the opposite of bridges are (tunnels??), what kinds of bridges there are(ones that go up and ones that do nothing). Keeping in mind once again this is a 4 year old. I never realized how many bridges we go over to get to my parents until he informed me of every single one.
So as we are talking he is learning things and is very excited about it. I could actually see and feel his energy from learning these things. I am not the bad parent!

I am still waiting on an update from the director at the school from yesterday.

enjoy life

Confessions of a 4 year old

So the pint sized monster that is living in my house is becoming "that kid". You know the one that when he walks in the room no matter how funny he can be he is already perceived as the naughty one. Yup that's my kid.
Preschool is two days a week.
For the last 2 1/2 weeks we have been told by the teachers that he is having thumbs down days. In complete frustration of taking away certain toys and no dessert I finally sat him down and asked what is happening at school to make a thumbs down day.
I promised that I would not be mad no matter what he told me. Would you believe that worked?
He proceeds to tell me ALL of the things that he does at pre-k that are "naughty" and even what the teachers do not see him do.
He has become (gulp) the kid that I tell my kid to stay away from. I have become that kids mom. The one I never wanted to become. I wanted to be the cool mom. Looks like that is not going to happen.
So what is a supermom to do???
Tail between my legs, I called the school to schedule a parent teacher conference.
Stay tuned for part II

side note:
AMERKS season schedule comes out today at 4:00. woo hoo woo hoo hoo.

enjoy life

Checking in

Hey how are ya?
Oh yeah?
No not too much going on here.
Yeah I know it's been a while. You know that addiction to Big Brother I mentioned and well rockstar supernova. It's nuts!
Oh did I tell you I had this monster blood infection in my foot. It was awful. I could not walk on it. There is no feeling worse than standing in your kitchen, you hear the phone ring, and if you are like us with the digital cable I can look at the TV to see the caller ID. Well it was my work. I was right then and there trying to figure how to get from the kitchen to the living room on a foot that I could not walk on. It is amazing how your mind will not let your body just fall. I stood there just trying to will myself to the ground so I could get across the floor on my ass. That process was a real eye opener. I had to let my one good leg just collapse which was such an unnatural act that I will not go into detail. Let's just say I made it down, and got to the phone. Now I have since been feeling better, but that was just an experience.
Bud is well. He has picked up the swiming thing which is great. He loves to jump in the pool and play.
My dad had a bitrthday. We will be celebrating this Thursday. I will look forward to that. Aside of that all is well in my small corner of the world.
Take care.
enjoy life!

Where does the time go?

Let me tell you. Sometime last fall I was called on a referral to help out at a concert for the Spirit of America concert that was in town. Since then I have not been called to work any other shows or concerts. No big deal. Well all of that changed when I get the call to work the American Idols concert. It was one step above stewing in my own vomit, but I survived it. Then Saturday morning I get a call to work the local soccer game. I said ok. I can be an usher at a soccer game. Since it was an expo game, there was no one in the nose bleed section that I was working. Made my job easy! Then there was a call on Sunday asking me to work the local AAA baseball game. I said sure. I enjoyed both of those events. Getting these calls will make it easy for me to save some more cash so that I will not have to work a second job at Christmas time. :-) That and I just found out that our company is getting a CASH bonus this year instead of stock options.

I had an earlier post of a missing friend. I had not heard from her in a while. I was one step before sitting outside her house watching for movement. Turns out like the rest of the world she is so busy with her two adorable boys and husband. I have a small group of friends and I treasure each and every one of them. So here is the heads up that I will look for you from time to time to make sure all is ok.

enjoy life

Short note

This is a short note, since I am way busy at work, and I have so much to fill you in on, and not a lot of time to do so.

On our way to pre-K today there was a huge accident. It blocked traffic in one lane, and you could look over and see that there were two cars all crumpled up with the doors pried off by the rescue units (no one inside either vehicle). Bud saw it from the back seat and said "Mommy are those people dead?" I answered calmly with a complete look of surprise that he would say such a thing "I think they are going to the hospital. They need to see a doctor". He accepted that and said "Can we pray for them" As tears welled up in my eyes I said sure Bud. We said a short prayer of "Dear Lord please watch over the people in the car acident, and may they be safe. Amen".
Once again he shocks me with his compassion.

enjoy life!

Freaky things happening

Yesterday I had a post all ready to go and for some reason it got lost in internet oblivion. I know.... save draft then post, but I did not. So here is what has been happening.
I went to a spiritual advisor with my mother Tuesday night. I was not planning on going, but her friend backed out last minute and she really needed someone to go. I had Bud so he of course had to come. Daddy was at volleyball. Anyways, said advisor, who is a big believer in devine intervention, is 80 years old and has red hair that is really beautiful. I can not explain how beautiful it is, so you will just have to trust me. Ok we knock on the door and walk in. Bud being ever so bold walks in loudly saying hello.... hello where are you? She is in her kitchen and since she has polio she is in a wheel chair and Bud can not see her in the kitchen. He waits and she rolls out and says "You are the hockey player I dreamed about last night" My jaw drops to the floor since she has never met him. Has no idea that he plays hockey. With out missing a beat Bud says "I am not on the team yet, when I am 5 I will be on the team". So we small talk a bit and I get Bud set up with his DVD player and we go to the adjoining room and sit. Without getting in to details we (mom, advisor, and me) talk about life, jobs, and spouses. She has told me some things I am not sure that I wanted to know, but I am glad I do. Does that sound strange? My son will go to college, He will have children. My work environment will change dramatically, and I was told to stay put. Most of the visit was about my mom, which is ok with me. I won't go in to her details. I will leave it at my genuine satisfaction.
My new boss starts on 8/21. I am excited. Looking forward to the change.
Until then I will do as I wish you to.....
enjoy life

Behavior

We all have behavior issues. Some people do not know how to get along with others and some do. Some tolerate others and some don't. Teaching behavior is another issue.
I would like to think that I am a tolerant person, where if you (not you the reader) are a complete asshat I will still tolerate your dumb ass for the sake of others. There are many in my life that I tolerate. They are all family. Not all mine, but family none the less.
Clearly there is something wrong with your behavior when people specifically do not want to see you or avoid you. I have a family member (through marriage) who went to visit another and when she arrived she was told to go away. Get the clue that some serious repair work is needed. The best part is that she was eavesdropping in on a conversation prior to going in to the room, and heard some pieces of information that were specifically relating to her behavior. She then had to call one of the people in the room out to see if she was ok to go in.

There is also something wrong when you (again not you the reader) the supposed adult is in charge of watching a child and when the child gets out of control instead of normal means of punishment you take what ever toy is in front of you and you hit the child. Where is the lesson?
Both my husband & I place Bud in his room and he must stay there until he is ready to say he is sorry and specify what he did to deserve time out. This is a universal practice I believe. Well that is unless you are the afore mentioned "adult".
It bothers me to no end. I do not know for sure how to deal with this "adult", but I know for sure that it is not going to last much longer.

So my high strung son is all about testing the limits and needing to be put in his place. He is not an angel and I never put him on that pedestal, but some how my mother does. She also is aware of the whole time out thing, but she also does not know how to say no and she spoils Bud all the time.

I love my family and my friends (congrats grad! David enjoy Clarkson U) and I hope that if I were to be so stupid or do something so stupid that you would not want to be in the same room with me I would know so I can make it right. Clearly my family has no clue on apologies and consideration.

enjoy life

Whoo wee it's a hot one!

It is really hot out. I like the heat and not the humidity. So what the schnikes am I doing in NY the humidity capital? Your guess is a good as mine.
On days like today I would leave my office and walk over to Borders and get myself a cafe' freeze. But noooo, Borders had to switch to Seattles best coffee and no longer carries the original. Well they sold me this pitch that a javacooler was the same thing. I'll let you in on a secret. It is not the same! It is like comparing apples to oranges. Not.... the..... same. So I went in there last week to let them know that there was no similarity. Not one. It is missing the espresso. She said for an extra $1.00 she can add a shot. I looked at her like she was out of her freaking mind. That would make my drink almost $7. Not only did they raise the prices they took out the key ingredient to this drink experience. I am not happy and I am coffee less. There is nowhere that I can take a breather and go to get a good cafe' freeze. Change sucks and especially so when it is right in the middle of the summer and my coffee drink has passed on to another life.
I am not happy!

enjoy life

p.s LDV where are you? you seem to be mia and I am worried.

Addicted to Rockstar TV

I can not believe that I am in love with Rockstar Supernova. I caught on to the last part of Rockstar Inxs last season, and not totally in love with it, but being a mild Inxs fan in the day I had to see what would happen. Well this season is THE water cooler talk. I grew up listening to Motley Crue, Gun's n Roses, Metallica and anything sounding like them. Not to be confused as that being my only music experience.
In my opinion Jason was the shit for Metallica and to see him on this is interesting. He looks like crap now, and does not have too many intelligent things to say, so why I am still fixated I don't know. Tommy Lee is a loud mouth schmuck, but not bad on the eyes and Gilby is a doll. So why you ask do I like this so much? I have no freaking idea. I think I am hoping for some sort of heavy metal come back and I do not want to miss the boat. I love that music.
Call me bananas, but that is me. Now if I only I could figure out how to cheaply get in to that studio so I could drool over them I would.

Much ado about cat poo!

On Monday as Bud and I were leaving for pre-k, I opened the door to the great beautiful sun. As I step down to walk to my car really enjoying the sunshine a over whelming amount of flies are in my way. Before I even had a chance to swat at them to get them out of my personal space I get a HUGE wiff of poo. Bud is complete oblivious I mean after all he is going to school. He loves school. His teachers are really nice there. He just graduated to the pre-k room. Ok so back to the poo. I see right on top of my violet bed that there is a pile of kitty crap. Now I am a kitty owner and Miss Kitty stays indoors all of the time. She likes it that way and quite frankly so do I. Well I can only assume that it is the neighbors cats. One a very sweet (looking) tiger cat. I have never come face to face with the cat and therefore do not know the temperament, however s/he must be pretty good since I have noticed that s/he trollops the neighborhood with the other cat that looks just like my Miss Kitty, pure white with all pink accents and a heck of a lot smaller.
So here I am standing, looking at poo. My blood pressure is boiling and now I see why my violets keep getting dug up. All this time I thought that is was Bud playing in the dirt. Now I never yelled at him for this, but you can bet your bippy I will freak out on the cats. I was so irritated and being in my work clothes I did nothing but sulk to my car.
Upon my return home from work as I turn down the street my blood is starting to boil. The weather is pretty sucky so I run in the house and see the hubs and ask him if he saw what I saw in the morning. He says "yes, I threw it back in the neighbors yard" My thought is woo hoo way to go hubs! So I am trying to decide the best way to keep this from happening since my grammie always had this problem and she put moth balls down. I am like umm no. I do not want to accidentally poison my son. So I start searching the web to see what my options were. One said shoot the cat. Not a bas idea, but not a great one either. Another said spicy red pepper, or buy scat. I do not want to spend $10 bucks to keep shitty kitty out of my flowers, so I am still looking.
It has been raining so much lately that I have not had a chance to remove the rest of the poo that has been there for what appears to be days or even weeks. How I did not notice is beyond me. Must be the burying thing that they do (or doo and the case may be). With all of the recent rain the dirt that we placed in the flower box is settling and I am seeing so much more fecal matter.
The force is with me and I will be the winner. I just need to figure out how. Ideas welcome!

enjoy life

Lightning to truly rock your world!

As I was driving home from my Rotary meeting last night there was this most amazing thunder storm with massive lightning. Seriously folks, this was no run of the mill storm. This was the kind that made me pray in my car that a lightning strike would not hit a tree and the tree lands on my car killing me. The rain was bad and the thunder was the worst I've ever heard and it lasted for hours. Really, like 2.5 hours. When I got home I felt like I was living the apocalypse. If you looked out my back window of my home you could see sun shining through the clouds just over the trees, but if you looked out the front it was so pitch black that you could not see the trees hovering over the houses. Only with the many strobes of lightening could you see the outline of trees for a brief second. It was like that for a long time before the real darkness set in. I am still amazed by it.
Well after my extreme white knuckle driving I ran in to the house and went in to Bud's room and gave him a big hug and a kiss. Truly thankful that I was home. I am not a freak about that sort of thing, but really that was the most bizzaro driving I have ever done.

FYI I have a really sucky lunch today. Being the adult that I claim to be I do make my own lunches, but todays really sucks!

enjoy life!

When no news is not good news.

I have not written because.......

My 4th was clouded by the sudden passing of a fellow Rotarian early in the morning. Charlie Fischer was our club photographer and just a great guy. He had a massive coronary just before he was to run a race for the 4th of July. I wish his family strength to help get through this. I know he will be missed by many.

My boss is leaving which I may have mentioned, but my work load is out of control. I can not keep up and the project controller is leaving to have a baby next Friday. I am not sure how I will function. I am not the wealth of information, but I do know that I don't know enough. My boss is not one to teach anything so I am screwed!

While I was on vacation my boss told my counter part not to do my work to leave it. I have been doing all of my work from my vacation and all of the work that I do on a regular basis. I have been staying late and stressing over not getting the work done. I am still not caught up yet. It has been 2 weeks and an end is not near.

Now for a funny story.

While walking to the rides at a carnival Bud was not paying attention to where he was going and BAM! walked right in to the side mirror of a car. He screamed then got really quiet. I I laughed at him and he was looking at me and said in a scream kinda laughing yell "it's not funny mommy....hahahahah" Apparently it was funny. What a nut!
Oh yeah.... the current price of a Star Wars ARC fighter thingie.... a hundred million dollars. Guess we will not be buying that anytime soon.

Two very dear friends have birthdays that I am not getting cards to in time. So Snarky & LaDolce HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I promise a card will be in the mail!

Enjoy life

This Monday to some should be a holiday.

OK Here is the deal. Today is a scheduled work day for my office. One guy is so disgruntled that he came to work in a pair of Bermuda shorts and flip flops. That went with his Hawaiian shirt. It is so funny to see this since it is not normal attire for the office. There are only 7 people in the office out of 35. One being our CEO. Everyone else took vacation or called in sick from their pool. I decided to work today and not take one of the three floating holidays that our company offers for such instances like this. The rest are miserable, thinking that in the back of their mind that the office would close early. Not happening. Never has. Never will. I am not sure what planet they are on, but they have been with this company long enough that if it is a scheduled work day you work. All I want to say is don't be haten'. It's not my fault. I am getting a lot of work done. I am liking it. I will not be liking it if it is rainy tomorrow for the 4th, but that is the way the cookie crumbles.

Since I will not be writing on the 4th here is my entry.

God Bless America. Land that I love.
I love the fact that I can get in my car and drive where ever I choose. I can go to the store, I can go to the water park, I can go to my congressmans office and protest if I so choose. That is my right as an American. I do not care if you are Native-American, Polish-American or Latin-American. The common tie is American. If you are here legally you have that right and I am here legally and I have that right. I am thankful for that right. I am thankful that my grandfather fought to bring and maintain freedoms for this country and for other countries.

I love America and what old glory stands for. if you do not know what old glory is go back to school and learn some American History. A few may know that I love History and more specifically American History. I am not talking about anything in the past 30 years I am talking about Washington, Lincoln, Madison, Monroe, and Grant and Taft. The Louisiana Purchase and Betsy Ross. The man on the Moon and the Depression. These make America what it is and I am proud to be an American.

That said, Happy 4th of July and take a moment to thank those who sacrificed for our freedoms. Even if you do not agree with the leadership behind it, they are making a sacrifice so that we can be free.

OH HAIR NO!

I have these things called standing appointments. On certain days of certain months I am scheduled to be places to get things done. Well, yesterday I had my standing appointment with my hairdresser to get my frizzy mop head under control.
I show up at 5:00pm right on the smacker. I say to the front desk "I am here to see Julie for a 5:00 appointment". The gal looks in the computer and says "Oh don't you mean 5:15". I politely say "no I have a 5:00. I come right from work". She said that Julie was out for a minute and will be right back. Ok so there was a slight lag. I am ok. I wait. Now my appointments are not a quickie cut, style & go. Nooooo I am much too freakish for that. I have to have the color, caramalizing and highlight. A hair dressers dream. Right? Not with my nightmare hair. Ok, back to the salon. Julie walks in and says Hi in a way that implies that she is puzzled to see me. She says " Are you here for a cut?" I was like aahh no. I am here for my 8 week color. She says ok, and proceeds to go to the counter. Comes back and says there has been a mistake. I clear my throat and say ummm a mistake? She senses my bit of edginess, and says yes you see my booking column is next to Changs and you were booked with Chang. I start to melt in to a mode of what the f$#& and clearly did not hear a word of what she said other than blah blah booked blah blah Chang blah blah OK? Shaking my self back to reality I, like that kid in 10th grade who was sleeping in American History when the teacher called him to answer a question.... goes What? So she repeated herself in the condensed version with a lot of sincerity. I am booked. Chang can do your hair, or we can reschedule. Ok Reschedule is not an option. I am too anal. Chang? Is she any good. Reassured that she is a master stylist I think well gosh. I can't walk out. I have a 2 hour slot and she would loose money. It is not Changs fault. It's not Julies fault. So I say OK. That was my BIGGEST MISTAKE!
It is now 5:30 and we are 1/2 hour behind schedule. She looks at my hair and says what'chu want to do? I say the same as last time. She said OK. So she mixes her stuff and gets going. Note to any hair dressers: DO NOT WEAR CHARM BRACELETS WHEN YOU CUT HAIR. As lovely and sentimental as they may be to you they are annoying to me (and it's all about me) the customer sitting in your chair with my ear next to it for 2 hours! Sorry.... I'll keep going. She does her thing and proceeds to carry on about the inept receptionist and asking how I want it styled. I say just a trim. So now the coloring is done and I am in the sink getting caramalized (which is not a yummy as it sounds) and her next appointment is in. The next girl is 1/2 hour early she is a new mom out with out child looking to relax in the salon. My thought..... been there done that I understand. Not Chang she is in a hurry so that darn bracelet is clanging faster in my ear and she is rinsing my hair as if there is a prize for being the fastest and the hardest on my skull. OUCH! I get to the chair and here it comes the scissors and the bracelet. Cling clang cling clang. I am thinking that this will never end. I am in hair hell. What have I done to deserve this? Then I hear the hair dryer. All the noise is getting louder because in the world of Chang's hair dressing you con not have anything louder than her charm bracelet. My eyes are closed and my brain is doing an internal scream AAARRRRHHHH! Then.... it is quiet. She says "I done. Open your eye" I pause for a minute. Open my eyes and take a deep breath in. Umm Ok Not excited, but it is done I am all set. I walk out to the desk to find the part-time asshat that screwed up my appointment in the first place just arriving for her shift. She gets the billing sheet and I was given some free shampoo and conditioner. Thanks a lot (can you hear the scarcasim) She rings me up I noticed that once again she screwed up. She did not bill me for the caramalizing that is $50. You see their bill sheets have 2 sides and she missed one side. I say OK pay my bill and schedule my next appointment. Before I leave I say I am with Julie next time right? She says yes. Then muttering something again about the columns being next to each other. I became the Devil in Parada when I said I don't care about the columns I care that I am with Julie. She just said yes.
So this morning I get up shower and go to work with slightly damp hair. After all it is Friday and 1/2 the office will be out. Since my hair is dark to begin with, when it is wet is traditionally dark. Well I went to the ladies room and by chance took a look in the mirror before going to the ladies sanctuary, and came to a complete halt. My hair was about 10 shades darker than normal and the highlights were more of a tiger color than caramel. SHIT. I AM STILL IN HAIR HELL.
What have I done to deserve this? I eat my vegetables, I go to bed on time, Am I being punished for not telling the girl she forgot to charge me. Well with hair like this who would pay for it? So here I sit a week behind in my work with horrible hair.

p.s. who is the idiot that came up with the industrial strength glue for the snack pack puddings. I took one of Buds for lunch today, and I could not open it without using a knife. How is my child supposed to open that?

I think I need to go to bed and start all over.

Blessings

Blessing #1
The weather last week for the golf tournament was absolutely beautiful. This week it it has been raining non stop. Severe flooding all over the place. I am really so thankful for the great weather last week. and the great tan I have from all of that sunshine.
Blessing #2
Yesterday Bud stayed at Mama & Papa's house. When I went to pick him up he said that he was a good boy. I asked him what he did that made him a good boy. Beaming with pride he said "I shared Bear Bear with Lauren Marie." That is unheard of. Bear bear is this teddy bear head that sewn in the middle to a 48" square blue blanket. He has had it since he was born and is very attached to it. Twice he left it at pre-school and the world almost came to an end, an until yesterday it would take an act of congress to let another child look at it let alone share it.
I was so happy with this that I praised him upside down, inside out, and backwards. Did I go overboard? you betcha'. I even let him stay up later than the norm, to show what a great thing sharing YOUR special something means. Since he will forever be an only child I am guessing that the sharing thing really needs to be pushed in my house. I have a fear of OCS (Only Child Syndrome).

Another note:
I am almost done reading The Davinci Code. Not quite sure what to think. So I am looking for another book to read. I tend to read pretty quickly as the TV doesn't really hold my attention over the summer. Well except for big Brother 7 and that has not started yet.

the goings and comings....

Goings
LPGA
My boss is leaving
A co-worker is going on leave
A friends uncle passed :-(
Star Jones leaving The View (nahh not too sad about that, I don't even watch the show)
Charlie Gibson left Good Morning America ( I do watch that)
My mind


Comings
Babies, they are popping up all over the place (3 have made their arrival and 4 more to come)
Graduation for Mr. David
Many 4th of July parties
Christmas (only 6 months away) $$$$
Birthdays for Snarky & La Dolce Vita
Haircut (that should probably be a going)
Big Brother 7

I just can't figure out how to keep everything on track. My calendar is so full that I need another month to get it all straight.

It's Wednesday and I have so much work to do to catch up on from vacation, and my boss wants to close the month this Friday before he leaves the company next Friday.

Need I say more??????

Honey, I'm home.
Did you miss me?

I feel so out of the loop. I have not been in contact with the world in a whole week. I have been getting up before the sun and getting in the door just as it was going down. I really could use a vacation to re-coup from my vacation. In all honesty all of the time I have given to the LPGA is to benefit the disabled children of Camp Haccamo. Such a worth while cause that I will not complain anymore.
It was a beautiful week. The sun was shining and I have mass amounts of sunburn. I put on the sunscreen, but it did not ward off the sun from my exposed limbs.
My mother in law (who watched Bud) is a great person, but.....she spends way too much money on my son! She was the baby sitter for the week and everyday she went shopping with Bud and everyday she bought him mass amounts of something. Here is the list in no paticular order. Cars cereal, apple cereal bars, trix yogurt, squirt gun (6-pack), large squirt gun, Power Panger sneakers, 2 Happy meals, lunch at target, lacrosse sticks, superman movie, they went to see the movie Cars, football pasta, and that is what I know about. She does give him things that we do not know about, and we find some other time. Now Let me remind you that we are not poor people, we do have food in our house for everyone, and she chooses not to eat it. I know that it is food she likes, but she likes to go out. We do leave her money to do things so we are not ungreatful thugs, but Jeesh. She spolied the heck out of him. She on the other hand does not have all that much money to shop. I am not complaining, Bud and grandma had a great 5 days and we told her after the first day that she was grounded from spending money on Bud. Do you think she listened? No way. So what is a mommyrox to do?
We say thank you and Bud will do something special for her. What, it is we do not know.
.....and how was your week?

I am on Vacation.
I will be at the golf course each and every day bustin' my ass for the LPGA, but enjoyin' every minute of it because I will not be at work.
:-)

Are people really crazy, is it that silly ear thingie, or do you need to get a new device?

I work in an office of about 35 people. There are an additional 20 that work outside of this office. So we have officially hit the small to mid-size office. Anyways, where I am going with this is that this office has been moving along with the communications technology swing. I think that we are still a bit behind the times, but that is neither here nor there. It seems that everyone in this company with a corporate cell phone has these thingies attached to their ear. It is not those little ear buds that are discrete. NOOOOOOO it is this big bug like device that is wireless that attaches to your ear and lets you walk and talk with ease while looking like a bat is ready to eat your head. One of the guys that sits next to us at the hockey games has one of those. Oh yeah where I was going, is that people think that it is ok to YELL IN THESE THINGS SO THAT THE ENTIRE WORLD CAN HEAR YOUR HALF OF THE CONVERSATION no matter where you are. You know THOSE people. The ones that yell in to their cell phone while you are trying to have a peaceful meal at a restaurant. Well, they now have these crazy ear thingies. I already pinpointed these folks with the earbuds to be the crazy walking and talking to nobody, while eating, drinking to themselves people. Well now they feel the need to yell with these new ear thingies too.
Now my version of common sense says if you think that you can not be heard then... get a new device. If you can not hear the other person then ... get a new device. How hard of a concept is this? There are people in my office that are walking around talking to the space around them. It is most annoying when they walk by cubie space, in addition to being loud and annoying, the cubie people think that the talking ear bug person is talking to them. It causes disruption and distraction. Now a majority of these ear people have offices. Why do they have offices? So that they can have conversations in private with out being annoying. Well they have officially crossed in to annoying by walking in to my space with the bug like device hanging on to their ear. Are you talking to me or to the person on the phone? (that my friend is another topic for another day)
My solution. If you do not think that your voice will carry up to your ear to transmit your half of the conversation go find a land line to continue your conversation or...(let's all say it together) get a new device.
thankyouverymuch!

Backfire! Busted!

In going with the whole manners thing I try to remind James of his manners. For instance if I sneeze I expect him to say "bless you". If he forgets I say loud enough for him to hear me "bless you mommy.... thank you mommy" Then he quickly says bless you. Well this morning as he was getting his shoes on for school and he sneezes, and I heard it from the top of the stairs (he was at the bottom) and he did not hear me say bless you so he says very loudly "BLESS YOU BUD.....THANK YOU BUD" Yikes! I got caught in my own trap. I am slowly realizing these things now. So I quickly say bless you and he says that's ok I blessed myself. Jeesh I think I am creating a monster.
The hardest thing is that his memory is better than mine. That really bugs me and it is not an old age thing. It is a side effect of the years of medication I was on. But nonetheless, I will no longer forget to say bless you.
And here is one "Bless you" incase you needed it while reading this.

Some things are just so darn cute.......
such as........

• 15 five year old children dancing in a recital(my niece especially). Not really remembering the words or the motions, but doing the best they can.
• Little boys in pink polo shirts.
• My other niece who is just 2 saying my name and when I look at her she smiles as big as she can.
• A teen age boy in my neighborhood walking a little foofie dog.

I do not have a lot of cuteness in my world. I am in a house will all males right down to miss kitty (that is another story). So I soak up all of the cuteness that I can. Being cute in my house is not the norm. I guess that when you turn 4 cute is not cool.

Here comes the sun...doo de doo doo Here comes the sun, and I say it's all right.....

No not another song that my precious child has picked up. It is the thoughts I am trying to channel for this weekend. I was informed that it may get to a chilly 40 degrees and rain this weekend which is a major bummer for my tomato plants that are just barely cracking the ground. That and I do not want to be cooped up inside all weekend watching reruns of lord only knows what on TV. Currently it is raining and thundering. YUCK! On another note I do have a dance recital to go to for my niece on Sunday, but that is it.
I do want to mention that Bud has learned some of the lyrics to the Beastie Boys fight for your right to party. I was amused when I heard that come from him. I almost wanted to tell him not to sing that as it really is not age appropriate, but what is it gonna hurt? He is not using profanity or anything like that so I let it go.

I have to get my season hockey tickets today! Woo Hoo can we say opening day in 4 months.

Have a great weekend!

Life with out bear bear.

Did you have an animal or a blankie when you were a kid? I had a pooh bear that to this day looks like it should be 100 years old. Bud has a bear that in reality is a small teddy bear head sewn on to a blanket. It is not very big, but it is his. It has been to more places than I care to mention. Well bear bear (yes, he does go by a double name) was left as pre-school and the world came to an abrupt halt. No other animal in the kingdom of his room would do. Not mickey, popsicle, funky ugly green monkey, or teddy. So it made me really sad to hear him cry himself to sleep. I do not believe that I had an attachment like that when I was a kid. Who knows.....anyways, he was what appeared to me to be depressed about this. I felt horrible. When I went to pick up bear bear at preschool yesterday morning I knew that I would not get home from work until after he went to bed. He woke up kind of groggy this morning and did not have any motivation. I did put bear bear in his bed when I came home, but still I think that he was sad. Life is better after a few minutes bear bear time, but I think we need to work on the separation issues with him and bear bear. The older he gets the worse this becomes. This was not the first instance of leaving him behind. I just think it was the worst.

Don't go breakin' my..don't go breakin' my ...don't go breakin' my heart.

Do you remember that song.? I think it was really big in the 70's or early 80's. Elton John sang it with some other artist that I can not recall. Well imaging my surprise when Bud is singing this in the back seat as we are driving to school. I was amused and actually pleased that he had the correct tone and tempo, as I am completely tone deaf and can't carry a tune even if it were in a bucket with handles. Another one in his repetoire is the lime in the coconut song. I really do like to listen to him sing, and tell made up stories. Last night I was not feeling so great and usually I tell Bud a story where he makes up the names and we ad-lib it. Well he really wanted a story and my head was pounding. I said that I really could not tell him the story. He said Ok I will tell you a story. I loved it. He talked about a girl who liked to play hockey and had many friends that played with her in the neighborhood. It was so neat to listen to his little voice carry on and come up with the story. Start to finish. I suppose this is an instance of take in as many of these days as possible before they are gone.

Where in the h-e double hockey sticks does the time go.

Every once in a while two really great people get together with me and we just hang out. Talk about life as if we see each other every day and we really only see each other every 5-6 months or so. We cover things like dirty percy (thomas the tank), honkey tonk ba donk a donk ....ohh we shut my mouth ...slap your grandma(odd country music lyrics) and great acoustics in the Tim Horton's bathrooms. Now to the regular person I may seem crazy, but really I am ok. That's what the voices in my head keep telling me. At one point in my life I had the pleasure to work with them. Now we are so close and so far away that if it were not for email and blogs we loose touch. Now there are a few others with out getting too personal in my life that are like that and ribail you know who you are. Anyways, we drank a boat load of coffee and ate some really good food. We also took a very chilly visit to Sonnenberg gardens. Had it not been for the company it would have been just an ok building with a lot of greenery. As La Dolce Vita pointed out "look at that tree" They were all green and quite lovely. I am sure it will be BEAUTIFUL in July when the flowers are all full. Note to self.... go back in July or August.....
Anyways, A note to my budettes "how awesome it is to see you and I can't wait till the next time" We travel to snarkies house next!

I am such a Goober-

I titled the last entry and wrote nothing about what is that is making my back ache. On Sunday I was at my 'rents house and planted over 50 various flower bulbs with the help of my cute little 4 year old. Then I helped my mom by gutting her bathroom and dispensing of 30 year old soap and shampoo samples from various hotel stays. Apparently my brother was a brut wearer in his teenage years and left his stock there. Gee.... I wonder why??? So we threw a lot away from the corners of the bathroom cabinets. My mom feels so good about it. She said it needed to be done. I agree. Then on Monday at home, the hubs and I preped all of the dirt in the front yard and are thinking about what we want to plant. We knew for sure that we were planting tomatoes on the side of the house (great sun) and we got them done. So to go with the sunburn I have a ready to go garden.

Of course there was a mishap with Bud. He saw his frisbee and when I was talking to the neighbor he threw it. It hit the neighbors flowers and took the tops off of two marigolds in the 6 pack they bought. I was embarrassed. I made Bud say sorry to the neighbor and when we went to get the tomatoes I made him use his 2 dollars to pay for a new 6 pack of flowers for the neighbors. He walked over and said the her "I am sorry Mrs. B and I got this for you with my own money" she was all in a fret saying now you did not have to do that, but her husband Mr. B was quite impressed. I am not looking to impress anyone by any means, and if next time it is a window that he takes out with a hockey puck he knows that there is a price to pay for.... get this word.....tomfoolery. That is what I told them. Mr. B came over and thanked us for making sure that Bud was responsible for his actions. I know that is what my parents made me do when I was a kid, I know he is only 4 and that he probably does not understand all of this, but one day he will and hopefully he will be a better person for it.

Oh my aching back.

I had a pretty good weekend. I accomplished a lot and feel good about it. oooh oooh oooh I have to tell you what happened on Friday. Well actually Thursday last week.... mean person comes to my cubie and says "do you like country music?" I said yes, I listen to the local station. She says "Really, do you like country music?" I said I have been on the listeners advisory board for the local radio station for a about a year. End of conversation.
Friday I come in to work all ready for the weekend celebrating that my direct boss was taking a vacation day and not a lot of people were in the office. Mean person comes up to me and says here. She produces a copy of the latest Dixie Chicks CD. She has gone to all of the local outlets and bought all of the CD's and has given them away. She believes in the message they are sending and what they have done that she is buying them all up. I say thanks. Put it in my computer and listen. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. On a scale of buy or not I would say if it's on sale sure, otherwise wait. We had this long conversation about Dixie Chicks politics and her politics and all I said was yes. I may have different views than her, but I have an open mind. I understand her thought process and I have mine. That is what makes the world tolerant.
So that sent me in to a good weekend. That and I got an email from Snarkie and La Dolce we are going to get together soon!

Bud and Daddy Day!

If each day I got yelled at it would be worth it as long as in return Bud and Daddy had days like yesterday.
Things happen that are so far out of my control that there is nothing that I can do. If a nameless wireless company takes money that my company sends in and applies it to a "holding account" because they are stupid It is not my fault. If said wireless company turns off CEO's phone for non-payment it is not my fault. But some how it is. As previously mentioned I took my beating (even if it was not my fault) and dealt with it.

Well, yesterday Bud and hubs went to the ball game. It was a noon o'clock game and it was delayed 2 hours due to rain. Well as they entered the ball park one of the promotional people there asked if Bud would like to be the honorary coach. This is where the kid goes ON the field and gives the umpire the line up cards for the teams. He did it and loved it. Their picture is on the front page of the sports page of the paper. He also got 3 baseballs which delighted him so much. He said that he had a great "Bud and Daddy day" The excitement and joy on his face when I walked in the door yesterday was priceless. I know it was a fluke and it it not always like that, but that does not matter it happened for them yesterday.

So as I said.... I will take a hundred days of getting yelled at for him to have a hundred days of yesterday.

Side note: My dad won the volunteer of the year which is great.

Mean person: How are you? Are you OK?

mommyrox: Yes, I took my beating.

Mean person: And you took it well (chuckle, chuckle)

mommyrox: Well I have an older brother and I have had years of experience.

Mean person: Well, OK (laughing)

People who know where I am and what I do know what I am talking about.

All I can say is what the F*&^!

Bite me!

Get over yourself. Do you realize how stupid you sound? You are spewing nonsense. So stop yelling and get a grip.

Sincerely,
The second biggest idiot, but not for long
(since you are the first)

The mighty High

There are so many good things going on right now. I mean the immediate future 7-10 days. I have a great kid and a great husband. That is just the tip of the highness. Tonight is parent teacher conference, so my son may not be so great in 7 hours. Just kidding! Anyways, tomorrow is the Mother's Day tea party for his school. How nice is that. I am leaving work early to go to that with my son. Next is the Lilac festival parade which we will do together on Saturday. Those are just some of the upcoming events.
My dad has been nominated for the LPGA volunteer of the year. That is great! I am just so happy for him. The only way I can describe it is that it is like an Emmy nomination for regular people. He was nominated last year, and I felt the same way. I think it is exciting. Oh yeah... did I mention that I got the nomination too? I have never been nominated for anything by my peers except for biggest flirt in 8th grade which really does not count. Anyways the ceremony is on the 17th where they announce the winner. It is funny I have been a volunteer at this event for 20 years and just thought that it was a service to the community (proceeds to go to Camp Haccamo for disabled children).
******Next******
I played hockey with Bud last night. We played two games of driveway hockey. He.... kicked..... my.... ass. Keeping in mind that he is 4 and I am.... well..... older. We played to ten and the score was 4-10 and 2-10. He is amazing with stick and puck handling. I am not only in shock that I lost, but the score in which I lost by. His closing remarks were "it's ok to loose, you can try again" Umm.. yeah after I do a bit of conditioning.
So there are a lot of good things going on now. I am sure that once things settle down it will go back to the norm, but for now I am liking the HIGH!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Hubs
Happy Birthday to you.

xoxoxoxoxox


Back from PA and so freakin' tired. Read book from co-worker. It is a speedy read, and in some places actually very thought provoking. There are some parts that you want to say "WHAT?!?" and then in the next breath say "wow.... you could be right"

One of my nieces who is about to be 2 saw a man that looked like Santa this weekend. He is in Rotary and sat with my family for a minute and as he sat this little voice says "ho-ho...ho-ho" it was so funny, since he really does look like Santa, and I never put the two together. The gentleman said that he gets it all the time. Well her older sister who is 5 came over and shook her head no because she did not think it was him. I said "well what do you think Santa does the rest of the year?" You could see her thought process where she was afraid to say it was not him, but not ready to concede that it was him. Those girls are really amazing! Too bad the parents suck! (That is until they apologize!)

Yeah.... I know.... It's been a while.

There has not been too much to report on. I have been loaned a book called Freakonomics from Mistah K at work. I will indulge myself this weekend when I have to sit in the back on that loooonnnnngggg drive to PA.

• My nephew who is two, fell down the stairs and broke his collar bone. A great big smoochie to him and a speedy recovery! Poor guy!
• I am leaving work early today to get my hair done. If my life were not so chaotic I would do it during down time like normal people, but I am not normal.
• My home computer shit the bead, needs to see Doctah H
• I tried something called lip waxing. Big mistake.....HUGE mistake.....I do not recommend it. Hurts like a mutha.
• I have now gained back the xx amount of lbs. I lost and need motivation to get it back off.

Have a great weekend.

Love the Delta Sonic!

You may recall my issue where I left my car window down and it rained in my car for 24 hours straight. Well I took her to the Delta Sonic which those for you not familiar is a car wash/detail/oil change shop. I went to get my car taken care of with a "Kleen Air" thing since my car was beginning to smell like mildew from my stupidity. Here is where the LOVE the Delta Sonic comes in. They did the Kleen Air thing, cleaned and shampooed my carpets and seats, and my car mats! I can see the NY Jets helmet on my car mats again! My car with over 100,000 miles on it is like new! I keep taking these deep smells and I am so pleased it smells so good! I can not even begin to tell you how happy I am. Now, this was no easy task. My car was there all day and so naturally I had to take the day off from work. My father picked me up at the Detail shop with Bud and we had a full day. Going to Tim Hortons for breakfast, to the park to play on the playground, to McDonald's to play in the Playplace, back to his house and picked up sticks in the yard from the recent winds, and then back to get my car.
It was a great day. Especially the part where Bud says I loved today! It was a Bud, Papa and mommy day, that I will store in my memory box because that sweet little voice and the sincerity behind it is priceless. The tough thing was today he said as I was going to work, mommy....can we have "family day" today? I had to say no. Since my husband works weekends we do not have many a "family day" like most people. So maybe tomorrow we will have a family day. After all the days go by so fast!

Not one, but two hat tricks! Go Buffalo!

Now I have never been a fan of the Buffalo Sabres. I know.... I know..... how is that possible when I love the Amerks. I'll tell you. It's the coaching. I like the Amerks organization, and the coaching staff. I do not like the Buffalo coaches. I think that L. Ruff is a bozo. I am proud of the accomplishments of the former Amerks that have risen to the challenge of the NHL. J. Pomminville, Ryan Miller, Paul Gaustead, JP Dummont and Derek Roy. Now no one likes to be in the lower ranks of the AHL, but these guys are where they are because of their skill and their ability to be coached. My hats off to Cunnyworth and Houda who have assisted these guys.
Pomminville & Dummont each got a hat trick last night and the game was good to watch (unless you were a Flyers fan) Sorry Mistah RT. That 10 smackers will be a nice addition to my wallet. Unless Buffalo tanks. Let's hope not.

What was funny about my weekend........

Random things that happened that were funny. By Bud.

When asking for breakfast says "can I have oap-pa-meal" (oatmeal)
When asking for cartoons "can I watch real cartoons" as opposed to what... fake ones????
No mommy I do not want lunch now, in a few minutes I'll be hungry.....(after 3 seconds) Ok I'm hungry now.
I'm 4.... when I am 5 I can do big kid things....but I am a big kid so I can do them, but not till I am 5. (He lost me on that one)
We were cleaning out the "baby clothes" from his dresser and he realized that some of his hockey shirts do not fit anymore. He says When I get smaller I can fit them. I said Bud you are not getting smaller you are getting bigger. Well you are getting smaller I some up to here (pointing to my waist) on you now. Ummm yeah that's it. Not going to explain that one.
Mommy.....how old are you. I said how old do you think I am? He says old. I said that is right! then I thought about that statement and I am not so sure I like it.

To top off my weekend I had left my car window open on Friday night and my husband noticed it when he came home from work on Saturday evening. So that left an entire 24 hours of on and off hard rain in my car. My butt is soaked today at work and I can not get the damp feeling out of my system. I thought for sure it would be dry today, but NOOOOO! It is still soaked. I did not think that it would be that wet, but I did not notice till after I dropped Bud off at school, and have the wet spot on my hind end! Sometimes I am an idiot.
Hope your day is going better.

Prayers to you my friend and the family of your loved one lost.

The age old question.... Why do bad things happen to good people? I don't mean that while you were cleaning the china you accidentally broke a piece. I mean when babies are robbed of their mommies and husbands are robbed of their wives. Good people in the prime of their young lives, doing good things. Today is a beautiful day. The wind is warm on my cheek and it is not too hot out. The sun is blazing in the sky and it is truly a glorious day.
I received an email from a very dear friend which sparked off a frenzy of email love to other friends and family. Her friend has passed suddenly while carrying her unborn child. The child has since been brought in to the world and with all of the love that a grieving husband can muster he will carry on in love. Love for his wife and love for his child.
So I ask you again, why do bad things happen to good people? I do not want to know what the life lesson is here because it is always the same. ...... you will not get more than you can handle.......they are in a far better place now........they were part of a bigger and better plan.....this too shall pass......yadda yadda yadda.

Sorry, that is not good enough. All a stranger can say (since that is what I am) is I am so sorry. I am so very sorry. As I carry on today and tomorrow with my husband and my son, in a cruel twisted fate, I am so sorry. I will pray for your strength and for that of your child. I will think of you every once in a while and hope that things are going well. That is the best I can offer. I am thousands of miles away and the only thing I can do is wish you strength in the coming days....months....years.

La Dolce Vita my prayers are with you as well and I wish you the same strength to get through this.

I have nothing to say today.
Can you believe it?
Nothing exciting happened yesterday and there is no funky day to celebrate.
I can tell you about Easter. It was quite lovely! We had beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, a cool-whip salad, rolls, and gravy. You will notice I forgot a vegetable. We all got over it though. I just forgot to take the peas out of the freezer and nuke them..... my bad! All considered it was really good if I must say so myself. [pat on the back]
Bud had a really great time at the Easter egg hunt at his great-grandma's house. Man that kid loves to run. He smiles where ever he is running to which I think is the cutest thing. One of these days a bug is going to fly in and that will be the end of that hee hee hee.
Happy Tuesday!

HAPPY DYNGUS DAY

What???? You never heard of Dyngus Day. Well I shall share with you the tradition of Dyngus Day.
Historically a Polish-American tradition, Dyngus Day celebrates the end of the often restrictive observance of lent and the joy of Easter. Over the decades, Dyngus Day has become a wonderful holiday to celebrate Polish-American culture, heritage and traditions.
There are many stories that attempt to explain the origins of the day. Many Polish customs date back to pre-Christian practices of our Slavic ancestors. The custom of pouring water is an ancient spring rite of cleansing, purification, and fertility. The same is true of the complimentary practice of switching with pussy willow branches. Many parties begin at Noon on the Monday after Easter with a large buffet of traditional Easter foods (Kielbasa, ham, fresh breads, eggs). It is common to hear polka music on Dyngus with the mandatory dancing of at least one polka.
Pussy Willows play a big part in Dyngus Day celebrations as men and women flirt with playful “taps”. Branches are used as the pussy willow is one of the first “budding” plants of Spring after a cold winter. But how did the pussy willow get its name? According to Polish legend, many springs ago, baby kittens fell into a raging river while chasing butterflies. The mother cat sadly wept at the river's edge, pleading for help for her drowning kittens. The willows heard her mournful cries and swept their long graceful branches into the water. The kittens grabbed the branches, held on tightly and were safely brought to shore. Every spring, from that day to this, the willows sprout fur-like buds where the tiny kittens once clung.
With the help of the Buffalo News & Mister Joe, that my friends is Dyngus Day.

So Happy Dyngus Day!

You learn something new everyday

I guess that is what is supposed to make one stronger or wiser or both. Anyways today I learned about fantasy baseball. I work in a 4 way cube with 2 guys. They were talking baseball and how much they like the sport. I was lost in the conversation, kind of like person c joining an a & b conversation, only being included. Well, at the end of it all I asked if one of them could explain fantasy baseball to me and we got in to discussions on the complexities of picking teams and such. I learned a lot. Then the statement came."you mean to tell me that the conversation we just had you had no idea what we were talking about?" my reply "umm yup". I guess I am good at looking like I understand something when I really don't. So now I can participate in the conversations somewhat intelligently! Very nice. I work next to a couple of nice guys who are manly men. They don't iron their shirts, but they were clean clothes. They hold intelligent conversations and have a mans attitude of whatever (unless it's sports). So maybe to the delight of my husband the next time he turns on the ball game I may pay attention just a bit to learn what the players do and what an ERA is (apparently it's not the detergent), and what an RBI is (not the Rochester Business Institute). There still is a lot to learn, but I will take it in stride.

I am such a nut!
I can not believe that I forgot the goodie bags for Bud's classmates. I was supposed to bring it today and I forgot. I will have to bring it tomorrow! Jeesh! There is nothing like walking into the class room and seeing some of the kids that will not be in school tomorrow bring in goodie bags for the other kids. I, the brilliant person that I am, forgot to bring ours in. So now I have to make an extra trip to the school tomorrow and drop the bags off on my way to work. Sometimes I wonder where my head is. The flip side is the living quarters of my home is all dusted, and cleaned up for out company. That just made my home sound big didn't it? Well it isn't. It is regular size. My hubs & I were all busy last night getting it done (the cleaning that is....). What a good feeling. My in laws are going to be at the house for dinner, and a good friend Miss B will be there too. I am looking forward to it. I really like my in-laws, the hubs dad and step-mom. They are nice people to be around. I personally do not spend a lot of time with them, but the hubs goes to his dads every once in a while to visit. Really the only time we spend together is when they come over for a birthday or Christmas. It will be nice to have them.
So tonight I will be stuffing Easter bags with HUGE amounts of GUILT and then be over it. Not that any kid needs more candy it is like Halloween in the spring.

sidenote: that pesky weatherman said cloudy today and not too warm. Well it is not cloudy and it is warm. JOY.

Ok I am all better......well sort of.

It is a beautiful day out and I am so excited that my flowers have started to bloom. I have completed my eggs for Bud to do the Easter egg hunt on Sunday, and I am working on becoming more organized. Side note Target's generic version of ritz bits are....well..... not too good. I took Bud to get his new hockey helmet on Sat. and he loves it. He wears it all day, it is just so cute. My friend La Dolce Vita has a couple of really cute ones. I just want to pinch their cheeks they are so cute. Not too much going on in the happy front.
xoxoxox

I have yet to figure out what is so damn funny!

Apparently my frustration is funny, and it is funny to more than one person. The hubs thinks that it is funny that I have not spoken to my parents in a week. We (my mom and I) usually talk once a day or every other day. We have not spoken since April 3. I was in the presence of my dad on Sunday and we sat next to each other for three hours and did not speak a word. I am just like my father. Then I see him at a meeting yesterday and he asks me if we are coming to dinner on Thursday. I said no. I have to work on Thursday and on Friday so staying out late is not an option for me. It works for one person and one person only... the brothers wife. Since my brother is a CPA and this is tax week for him it does not work for him either, but he has no back bone and will not say a word against his wife. Again who cares about the rest of the family. Anyways.... my dad then says that he is picking up Bud on the regular Tuesday night and that he is going out to dinner with my niece for her birthday. Now, wait a freakin' (insert your own bad word there) second here isn't she having a party on Saturday???? I will not even get in to their statement we" do the same for all of the kids" since that clearly is not the case here. I can not recall them ever taking James out special for his birthday. So flaunt that in my face why don't you. So hubs said to me last night have you talked to your dad yet? I said no we just set time for Bud to get picked up and established that we will not be at their dinner (a whole 8 second conversation). He laughs. I asked what is so funny. He just says you are. I am not trying to be. Well, my mother calls me at work today and says are you coming over on Thursday? I said that I already had that conversation with dad and that we are not going to be there. She said your father is picking up Bud tonight. I said I know. She laughs (the rude snickering way) and said ok bye.

I have enough shit going on right now. My head is hurting all the time since the mini-stroke, and I am stressing out on this family not having Easter dinner thing, and other life situations, and this call from her was the last thing I needed. Why is this a joke? What is so damn funny?
This may sound stupid, but I have prayed about this and it is keeping me up at night. I just do not know what to do. Breaking down is not an option.

School Picture Day

The craziness that happens at school with.... get this.... the parents when children have to get their pictures taken at school. All of the girls are there in pretty dresses and the parents are instructing them (they're 3-4) how to straighten the dress for the picture, the parents of the boys just ask that they tuck in their shirt and don't get dirty. I said just smile. After all you are not going to see the dress you are getting a head shot. I mean really parents get the kids all dressed up in these nice outfits from head to toe, tell them to stay clean and you only get a head shot. Oh the madness! Is this the kind of stress that kids freak out on and say my parents made me this way?
I did notice that the picture packages are meant for rocket scientists to understand. You can get packages 1-17 that is all different size pictures, you can get random single pictures or just a class picture. Now a select few packages have this thing called premiere touch. That is if your child is frowning they can make him/her smile, if hair is out of place they smooth it. OK that is creepy. Who's smile are you going to put on my kid? I opted to pass on premiere touch, but I wanted the "keepsake 8x10" and you can not get that if you don't want the premiere touch. Are you still with me here. It is very confusing. I had to do a special add on for the 8x10 picture. I am still confused I just hope I have the right pictures. All I know is that in my world he is as cute as can be and I really do not need a picture to tell me.

....but mommy it is just paper.

I handed my son his winnings from the NCAA pool last night. He takes the envelope and opens it up. He fans out the money and says with a big look of disappointment ....but mommy it is just paper. I did a slight chuckle. I guess he is used to change since that is what we give him. I told him that hockey helmets cost paper money and that he needed to hang on to that until we get to the store. He went in to his room and a few minutes later he came out with a bunch of strips of regular paper. He asked me if that was enough for a new stick. Clever, but I explained to him that money was on a special paper and that play money is not to buy real things. Seemed to work for now.

Do you make choices that will hurt others?

Think about that. I don't mean physically, but emotionally. I am relating to an earlier post that has been brewing in my brain waiting for the right time to blow like a volcano. I try to keep my emotions in check and to keep from loosing my temper, but I lost it last night in the car while talking on the phone with my brothers wife.

You may recall a previous post about my brothers wife looking at planning a party for my niece on the Saturday before Easter. Her actual birthday is April 11. The day that my side of the family celebrates Easter. You see we went to visit with my grandmother and her brother and on the way home I called my brothers wife to tell her that I noticed that she left her diaper bag there and that we are bringing it home for her. She could have said thanks, but she said well it had nothing in it and it was not a big deal. Well, you're welcome Miss Manners. Anyways she then proceeds to tell me that she has firmed up her date for the nieces birthday and it is on Easter Saturday. I said that is when we celebrate Easter. She indicated that she got the ok from both of my parents weeks ago. The fact that you had the Balls to ask them to change Easter pisses me off. Excuse me for a minute here. WHAT THE FUCK! Now, there are more than just my parents involved here, and they would never say no to a party for their grandchild. They adore all of their grandchildren. Brothers wife said that it was more convenient for her to have it then so that all of her family could be there. I said that I would not be attending since that is when I celebrate Easter with my family and I hope that they have a good time. Sorry Easter is not a dinner of Pizza and Wings in my book. I am not overtly religious, but I draw the line there. After all she is having Easter with HER parents on Easter Sunday.

So after I get home roughly 10pm there is a message on the phone from my dad. He was not calling my cell for reasons unknown, so I call him. He says that Easter in his house can be changed to either the Thursday night before Easter or the Saturday after. I said that over thirty years of tradition are not something to just push aside and that I am having Easter at my house if they were not going to have it. We did not meet eye to eye and that is how it is left. Aside of the fact that my brother has nothing to say (apparently his balls were handed to his wife on their wedding day), and my parents will easily make choices that shatter the family values that I thought I was brought up with over tradition. Our family was built on values or so I thought. Think about that. The things that we look forward to are events with close family and friends that do not occur daily. It is now up to me to bring my son up on the values that I thought I had. I am now going to carry on my family tradition that my parents have tossed aside and open that up to my friends that are like family and if you are reading this that means you. If you are interested. Please feel free to come to my house with your children and enjoy a beef tenderloin dinner at 5:00 in celebration of Easter and family values. (Just let me know that you are coming so that there is enough to eat). After anger and hurt what are the next emotions??? I am bracing myself. :-(

side note: Our 4 year old won our office pool for NCAA Basketball. He was so excited that he said he wants to buy a new hockey helmet. Go Figure!