...And its only Monday

Today is beautiful! The sun is shining, its not to hot, and I got to sleep in a tad (until 7:00). All in all, the day started great, and still has the potential to end great, but its in the inbetween that wears a mutha out!

Today Eldest had camp...Pirates & Mermaids! A friend offered to drive him to camp, but I declined because he seemed a little touchy. Man, I should have said "great!" Camp starts at 9:00, which is usually when Youngest is asleep for his morning nap. No biggy, the kids is 15 months old...that morning nap should be gone anyway. I tell Eldest its time to go and he throws a fit. I have to tell him how much fun he'll have at pirate camp in order for him to even consider putting shoes on, and even then it HAS to be the orange croc boots...not his regular crocs.


Keep in mind the croc boots are very waterproof and VERY rubbery, so his feet just sweat like hell in those, but I didn't want to fight, I wanted to leave so we could get to camp on time, so boots it was.

When we got to camp, Eldgest became timid and shy. He didn't want to get out of the car and gave me the big lip, but that doesn't work on me. I said "have fun!" while his teacher pulled him from the car just before I pulled away (I'm pretty sure I didn't leave tred marks as I squealed outta there...this time). Once home, I cleaned up the mess from breakfast (blueberries smushed on the floor, crumbs all over the place, dirty plates/cups...), then Youngest and I went for a run/walk (about 5 miles) together. I got home just in time to take a shower and attempt to style my hair, which in my opinion looked like a frizzy mess when I left.

I picked up Eldest and his friend at camp and brought them back to the house for lunch. They proceeded to dump the sandbox of sand from their shoes on various floors of my house, and when Harrison took his boots off, I was amazed at how BLACK his feet were.


The kids opted not to eat lunch, but play instead, and each was very upset when I said it was time to leave. I dropped Eldest friend off at his house and that's when everyone lost it. Youngest and Eldest cried and screamed all the way home. Thankfully, at this moment, all is quiet. Eldest finally ate his lunch and Youngest is taking the nap he should have taken this morning. I can only hope it lasts long enough for ME to eat lunch!!

I Got My Hair Cut!

Oh thank GOD I did this. My hair was so long, and I know a lot of people would kill to have hair as long and thick as mine, but let me tell you, when you're chasing after two kids in the heat and are without a hair tie it S-U-C-K-S.

I went back to my favorite salon (7 in Bellevue Square), but had my hair cut by another stylist named Summer. She's so great at her job. All of my friends that have their hair cut by her look SO great afterwards, and I wasn't disappointed.

Before:



After:



Cute right? I LOVE IT! I can't wait to wash it tomorrow. Not only will I NOT fill the drain with hair, but it will take less shampoo and because its so much shorter, I may even be motivated to STYLE it! *gasp* OK, let's be serious, I won't, but I am looking forward to seeing the "air dry" results.

Dear Lord...

Today we took the kids to Lake Sammamish Park and had a great time. I can't believe we've never been there before!! The kids were well behaved, no one ate too much gravel sand, and everyone was well worn out when we left.

Of course, you can't have a day at the beach with "this guy":



We didn't know if we should be impressed by the fact that he could pull off this obnoxious banana hammock, or just grossed out. After this photo, I just think its "grossed out".

It's JULY people...JULY!!!

Well, we've woken up to another gorgeous marine layer today. Problem is, living way out in the mountains, the marine layer doesn't go away. In most "normal" areas, its gone by early to mid afternoon, but here in Mordor, it sets pretty atop all the mountains the whole day. It's July and I'm wearing a sweatshirt outside! Today we were supposed to have a "make sundaes in the park" event, but we've canceled the ice cream because its to cold. Sure, cup cakes will be just as fun, but come on...it's JULY! I'm so tired of this. Before we know it, it will be October and we'll be going trick or treating in the bitter cold/wind/rain again. I feel like I'm getting cheated out of my summer!!! NOT FAIR!

Steel Magnolias

Last night we had a movie night. We're trying to do one once a month so that we can all spend a little more time together. A few weeks ago we decided that the play dates to see each other weren't all the fun because our kids didn't let us actually talk to each other, so we cut the kids out of our meetings and started movie night.

What's funny is we all went in knowing we would talk through the whole thing and watch very little, which was the case...until "the scene". You know, the one where Julia Roberts goes into diabetic shock while she's alone with her son, and then her husband comes home to find their son crying alone with the pasta sauce bubbling over, and the house a wreck. One by one the conversations ended and the tears began to fall. I cried during this part the first time I saw the movie, but now that I have kids it was even more heart wrenching. Once Shelby was in the hospital in her diabetic coma, we resumed conversations and tried to lighten the mood, until a few minutes later when they pulled poor Shelby off life support. Then the water works began again. We watched until the bitter end. Jess got toilet paper for me because I was a mess, and everyone else just wiped their tears away silently...until the scene below, when we all erupted with laughter:



Jeez, I cried just now when I watched this before I posted it. What a great movie. Thanks for starting off the movie night tradition Jess! Good times!

Really? How Hard is it to Put Parts in a Box?

Rob and I have been getting a lot of things done around the house, and each project seems to have its set backs, which can be so frustrating. The cabinet installation took longer than we thought, the electrician wired our ceiling fans so they made the fire alarms go off...it was just one mistake after another. Well,the "big" projects are done (and our house is still standing), and the big furniture has arrived and is in place. That being said, there are now BIG piles of garbage and cardboard in our garage that needs to be delt with. I didn't spend three days organzing that space to see it look like a dump again.

The last bit of work to be done was putting together some items we purchased from lil tikes for the kids, a picnic table, and one of those big plastic play houses. Both came in extremly large boxes, but we knew once we were done putting them together (and when I say we, I mean Rob), that we could get started on organizing the trash and cardboard for the dump.

First off, none of these kid toys are easy to put together. They have a lot more parts than you expect and take a lot longer to assemble as well. The table was first and after getting that together, we wondered how the house was going to go! We started to unpack it, but something didn't seem right. Those idiots only put TWO of the side walls in the box. Who does that? How hard is it to count to four and then add two roof pieces when filling an order? For real! Now I have to call them up and ask them to send part D to my house. How stupid. Nothing can be easy...NOTHING!!!

Sigma Alpha Eta Mu

When I was in the last years of college, I decided to join a sorority. I never thought I was the "sorority type" and to this day, most people are surprised to know I was in one. I joined because I knew a lot of the members and thought it would be fun. It was super fun, but I never took the "rules" all the seriously, which I'm sure some members found offensive, but my friend Ann and I really didn't care. All we cared about was living on the same hall as our friends and having a "party room." Maybe the party room made up for our lack of interest in sorority tradition. It was a damn fine party room.


Then I became a stay at home mom. Again, I never thought this would be something I chose to do. I enjoyed working, especially for Nintendo, and I really didn't mind putting Eldest in daycare. In fact, I think I skipped into work when I returned after maternity leave because I was so happy to be out of my house.

When I got pregnant with Youngest, however, I had to really think about what to do. The cost of daycare wasn't worth the job I had, so I decided to take the plunge and say home, but before I did, I had to make some friends in my neighborhood.

Getting into the "group" was a lot easier than getting into an actual sorority, but the the dynamics are very similar once you're in. You have people that are sticklers for rules, natural leaders that want to be aggressive about who can join, people that just want to party (me), and folks that join because they just want to make friends (for their kids and maybe themselves). As in most groups, you can't expect everyone to get along, but unlike the sororities of my day, we do not discriminate based on your parenting style, or your social aptitude. In my book, the only criteria I have for getting into this group is you have to be a mom. We even have working moms, which is a real relief, because even if you don't work ANYMORE, you still feel some form of guilt admitting you once did to moms that quit the minute they found out they were pregnant.

Of course I couldn't just join and NOT be in charge of something. I have an abnormal need for responsibilities, so I became an "assistant organizer" of the group, which not only guarantees my spot in Sigma Alpha Eta Mu for life, but it also gives me a some power in deciding where we go for drinks!


But, with power comes great responsibility. I have found that I am no longer anonymous in my neighborhood. People know me before they meet me because they've seen me online, and that's a little scary. It makes going to Karaoke night a little more intimidating because you don't want to get to drunk and act like an ass. Before joining this group I would say "who cares, I don't know these people!", but now...they know me. Makes drinking at home seem like a better idea. Of course when I do that I just drunk IM/e-mail people...haha.

Rock Band 2 Song List....OMFG!

I love this game. I love this game so much I stayed up until 11:00 (yes...that is LATE for me) playing with friends on the East Coast (VERY LATE for them). I love this game so much, that when I hear songs that are in the game on the radio, I immediatly think "gotta play Rock Band tonight!"

Well, this week is E3, which means a lot of crazy good gamer info is coming out of CA, and one of these tid bits is info on Rock Band 2. Not only will the game be compatible with Rock Band 1 instraments, but (at least in the Xbox 360 version) all RB1 downloadable content will be compatible. To top it all off, they released the song list and I got chills just reading it. Kansas, Pearl Jam, Fleetwood Mac, Presidents of the United States, and ACDC! (see full list here)

I will have a concert every night when this game comes out!!!

I Know You're All Sick of it...but

Jeez, I thought I was raising a young boy, not a wild animal. For real, I've been working on pooping in the potty for about a year now. Not long from what I hear from other moms with boys, and just when I think he's finally saved the information on how to go IN THE TOILET, he pulls a fast one on me.

We've graduated from going in our pants, which is a relief. There's nothing more disgusting than cleaning out a pair of boxer briefs that have sh*t smeared all over them, but apparently Eldest is training for a role in the movie version of "Lord of the Flies", because this kid will crap anywhere.

This morning, it was in the potty, and I was over joyed. I told him he could get a new Transformer, he said he wanted "Prime", I told him, "good choice", then he proceeded to push his brother around and generally piss me off...so no Prime today. This afternoon, he decided outside would be a more enjoyable place to poop...and he dropped his pants and did it right on the sidewalk. I went out to check out the "spider" he saw and there it was...waiting to greet me. I swear, I think I pick up more poop in my yard than some dog owners do...and no, we do not own a dog.

This Guy is Hilarious!

BTW, I have family from Long Island and they really do sound like that. Its awesome!

Rock Band Revisited!

Its been weeks since I picked up the guitar to play Rock Band with Rob. I think I got tired of playing the same songs over and over again, but last night I decided it was time to place the old battle axe in my hands and rock and roll.

Some friends of our on the East Coast (Kevin & Elena...we've written about them before) purchased Rock Band and so we've begun playing with them online, which is a real treat. Not only do we get to rock out with people we know, but we also get to catch up on all the good gossip between songs.

Kevin played the guitar, Rob on bass, and I sang. Without the guitar keeping my hands busy, I found myself getting really into the performance of the song than usual. I was dipping the microphone stand, taking the mic out and strutting around like Mic Jagger, and throwing my hands around like Miriah Carey. It was super fun!

Then Kevin had to go to bed (3 hour time difference...boo!), so I took over the guitar and tried a few of my favorite songs on expert and I rocked them out! I love this game, I just wish they would get some Pearl Jam! then it would be the most perfect game ever made.

Thomas is in town!

That's right, the big man himself, Thomas the Train is in town this weekend. We drove past the train depot yesterday and saw him there. They put what looks like a big garbage bag over his face when the show isn't going. Probably so those folks that didn't pay out the ass to see him in person can't just snap photos from the road and drive on. Last year his "mask" creeped Eldest out big time. We drove by and he said "THOMAS HAS NO FACE!!!" creepy.

We're going to see him tomorrow morning. I'm such a sap too. I seem to get all weepy when we show up thinking about how exciting it must be for Eldest to see Thomas in person and ride in one of his coaches.

Of course the whole thing is just a HUGE Thomas store with any and every Thomas accessory you can imagine from Pajamas to lunch boxes to night lights. Maybe this year he'll have his photo taken with Sir Topam Hat himself!

Man, my life is g-rated!

I didn't know I had super powers!

For real, I do, and its not one that I would be put in comics for. I swear that I have some kind of force field around me that puts out energy that causes all electronics and specialized trade workers to fail at their jobs. I seem to touch electronics and they break. Luckily in that respect my husband has the antidote and can usually look at whatever I'm having trouble with and the problem will dissapear.

When it comes to trade workers though, we're at a loss. My special power causes contractors to work even more slowly than usual and electricians to wire the house so the fire alarms go off when we flip a switch.

Maybe I should apply for that crazy show about real people that want to be super heros in a Stan Lee comic. I would call myself "Powerless! Able to disABLE any person or electornic from 100 feet!"

BLURG!

Total Drama Island

Anyone that has a child that watches Cartoon Network will know this show. Rob and I don't have kids that watch the CN yet, but we do (yes, we're big kids), and a commercial for this came on and we had to tape it.

I've never been to into reality TV. Its the only type of television I have no interest in, but create a cartoon spoofing reality TV and I'm all over it. This cartoon pits two teams against each other in a survivor like concept and the challenges are hilarious. For example, the contestants were made to run around the lake then eat a huge turkey dinner. Following that, the challenge was to see who could stay awake the longest. Rob and I were in stiches.

Doesn't sound funny? well, see for yourself.

The Sweetest Thing

Today on the way to the grocery store with both boys I looked back and saw that they were holding hands. This move was orchastrated by Eldest and Youngest was happy to participate since he thinks anything that Eldest does is the coolest. I had to agree with him this time. It was the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time!

Need a pick me up

I've been in a piss poor moode the past week. Shoot, the past two months. I blame the weather, but really who knows why. I can't be the only woman out there that feels like her life has spiraled away from her. Every time I feel like I've turned a corner, the routine gets munged up by something unexpected.

Am I to controlling? Do I crave to much structure? One thing I know about being home with the kids is that each day is new and different. Just because everything went according to plan one day doesn't mean it will the next. My ideal day is going to the gym, running errands, nap/movie time, park time with friends, dinner, bed. Sounds easy right?

I'm going to attempt this "dream" routine this week. I'm also going to throw in a better eating schedule for all of us as well so that I'm not squirting "Ready whip" into my mouth from the can at the end of the day because I'm so hungry!! And really, does Taco Time NEED to be right next to the gym? I've managed to drive past it everytime I've gone, except for one day last week, and let's face it, that's a slippery slope.

I need to remember that I've signed up for a Triathlon...it's FOR REAL, and I have to get myself in shape and ready to participate. I could do it today if my life depended on it, but I wouldn't be able to walk tomorrow. The goal is to get out of bed the next day without to many complaints!

What motivates you?

Happy Belated 4th Everyone!

What a week we've had! Last Saturday was the mother of all Saturdays for Rob and I. We had a wedding AND a 40th birthday party to go to. I felt like some crazy New York socialite, but without the good clothes and fist fulls of cash. On Saturday afternoone we left my cousin Ronnie with the kids and fled to the city at the speed of sound. We jammed to all our favorite rock songs on the way and remeniced about what life used to be like without kids, which led to discussions about the kids. You really can't get away from them!

At the hotel we checked in and got our goodie box from the bride and groom. I love that this is the 'Thing' now for brides and grooms to do. Its fun to know you're going to get some chips and soda upon arrival! Our box was full of candies, water, cookies and what I thought were cans of juice. Thirsty, I popped the can and found it was actually canned champagne! HOW AWESOME! I drank that instead...hey, I opened it, I can't let it go to waste.

Rob and I prepped for the wedding in our fancy clothes and then we were off to the Daughters of the American Revolution House in Seattle. Going here was like stepping back in time for Rob and I. There are houses like this lining the streets in VA, and it was fun to actually experience some "history" in Seattle! Of course it was about 85 outside and 95 inside...they didn't have A/C back during the revolution I guess.

Rob and I were in charge of the guest book, which was a very clever one. They directed us to take polaroid pictures of everyone and then place them in the guest book and then the guests would sign under their photo. Rob and I had a lot of fun with this idea and are awaiting phone calls from the bride and groom to ask about some of the "guests" that came to their big day.

The ceremony was so touching and Rob and I always love going to weddings together. We were the first to get married among most of our friends, so we've had the pleasure of watching them all tie the knot and remembering what it was like for us each and every time. The reverand has such lovley things to say about being together and being married and Jon and Liz were so happy it would have made puppies barf! Afterwards they had a GREAT "happy hour" while they set up for dinner. We met up with some friends who were also going to both the wedding and the birthday party and had a great time catching up and chatting. My friend Liz (the bride) is a wonderful cook, baker, and "distiller??". She made her own ruebarb schnopps for the reception, and it must have been good. Not only did my friend Ali have one, but she did know not knowing it was alcoholic. It went down easily and she was having trouble talking after one drink. To funny.

We enjoyed dinner, and shared a table with a roudy bunch (my favorite!), Rob and I shared a dance, and then we were off to the birthday party. We changed out of our fancy clothes and into some street clothes because this birthday party was at a bowling alley. The party had been going on for an hour and a half by the time we arrived and the birthday boy was already three sheets to the wind. He was handing out beads and demanding to see boobs when we arrived, which of course didn't happen. Rob was accomodating though, and drew some boobs on his birthday card (I swear, the guy is still in high school sometimes). We caught up with more friends we haven't seen in a million years and had some good laughs remembering old times. Poor Brian (birthday boy) was in the bathroom within the first hour of us arriving, and the poor bastard had to be carried out of the bar. We saw him yesterday at his annual 4th of July party and he said he was awake by 8:00, up by 11:00 and drinking again by 3:00 the next day. Jeez, I could barley do that back in College...I know I won't be able to when I'm 40. You're something else Brian!

The pool party was so fun. Each year we come up with a plan to stay until the fireworks show, but each year we're thwarted by the kids. Yesterday I thought our plan was bullet proof. Play with Eldest in the pool for as long as possible, feed him, then let him watch TV until the fireworks go off. Youngest will sleep anywhere, so I was going to let him play in the pool, crawl around, and then feed him and put him to bed. It was the perfect plan...until we found out the DVD player didn't work. I know this may sound horrible, but there's no way Eldest would have made it to 9:30 without something to watch. Soon the whole house would have become his play ground and it would have been a nightmare for Rob and I. At 7:00 we decided to head out and enjoy the fireworks at home. Both kids slept like rocks last night. We did stay about an hour longer than last year! One day we'll be there for the fireworks show! Its been such a long time since I've seen one in person!

Happy 4th everyone...sorry about the long ass post (and my being to lazy to spell check it)!

Are You Kidding Me?

Please, I did a more organized version of the electric slide in my 6th grade gym class!

I can't believe I actually thought this show was cool. What I really want to know is who the "rap artist" was in this scene. You know that poor bastard thought "I'm going to be on 90210! My career is going to SKY ROCKET!" I can't even recognize that fool.

And by the way Steve Saunders...we all know you're a 40 year old high school student. Graduate already you perv!

hmmm, I wonder what the trainer will be like today....

I saw my trainer "Kyle" last week for the first time at Gold's and he brought me to the brink of puking. Considering the beer I had at Karaoke last night, doing that again today probably won't take much, but I'm going to take a Big Girl pill and suck it up. Bring it on Kyle!

Speaking of Karaoke...last night was so fun! My friends Tonya and Dena and their husbands were up at our local Irish Pub last night where they've begun to do Monday Night Karaoke. By the time we arrived, the place was a little dead, but we got a little liquid courage and submitted our songs. After that, you couldn't stop us, and since it was a ghost town there last night, we sang quite a few songs...Salt n Peppa, Pearl Jam, Janic Joplin, Jack Johnson, Destiny's Child, Toni Braxton, Gun's n Roses, Garth Brooks....it was GREAT!

The walk back home at mid-night was nice too. It had cooled down by then, and I enjoyed the lower outdoor temperature before having to walk into the sauna that is my home.

Will it get to be 85 today....in my house?

So, we went from a wintery cold June straight into a blistering hot July. Yep, that's the NW for you. The good thing is, this type of heat usually doesn't last more than a week or two. The bad thing is we don't have air conditioning. Every single year I suggest, beg, DEMAND we get air conditioning, and every single year comes and goes with no change. This year I am willing to down grade my request to ceiling fans. At least then our kids won't melt in their beds at night!!!