Just Thinking....

My observations for the day:

Once you have the initial thought that the cranberry/apple spice tea you are drinking looks like blood - there's no drinking the rest.

The men who use the restrooms on my floor have terrible eyesight or terrible aim, or a combo of both.

If you give a nice deep chest cough a few times when someone you don't want to sit next to on the bus is walking down the aisle, chances are better that you won't have to sit next to them. Like the woman who talks loudly non-stop on her phone the entire 20 minute ride, or the man who is afraid of human touch and fidgets the entire ride, trying to ensure that no part of him ever touches any part of you (although if you did sit near him, it's somewhat entertaining to shift a little now and again so you end up shoulder touching shoulder).

Eating 6 cheetos a day throughout the week is just as satisfying as eating 30 at one time.

The Swedish language is one of my least favorite. It used to be the Chinese accent-but nope, definitely the Swedish for now.

There really are people who believe that praying really REALLY hard will cure cancer.

When you are really in a hurry, electronics can sense it and will malfunction as much as possible without needing a tech called. They are like dogs who sense your fear and only growl and threaten to bite you to the point where you truly believe they will, but their owners are CERTAIN it's safe.

It's very selfish for people to drive stupid, as the three accidents that occured in my 7 mile commute home proved - instead of ten minutes, it took 40. Those people were really selfish, someones reckless driving made for a long commute home for a lot of people. Jerks.

Global warming sucks - it's really cold here right now, we're expecting a big storm this weekend.

Presents Day is only 26 days away. I can't believe it. I've done just a little bit of shopping, but am not too worried.

Q-tips are a necessary part of life. Along with a good ball cap, a friend you can call at any hour, a nice bed to sleep in and a friendly cat.

Happy Take-Over-The-Indians-Land Day!

This was what one of the bloggers I read had to say about being thankful. I like the randomness.

I'm thankful for Mangesh not hanging any weird stuff in our office. For the strict enforcement of my bus line's cellphone ban. For tabbed browsing. For the imaginary first down indicator. For the grilled cheese sandwiches at Amy's Bread in New York's Chelsea Market. And for the fact that my doctor said if I walk more, I don't have to join a gym.

Here's my own (though I'm not celebrating the american holiday of thanksgiving):

I'm thankful I have a job I love to go to (almost) everyday and that my manager is very reasonable and logical. For my thick and shiny hair. For my group of volunteer friends. For my beautiful cat, Ginger, being trained to be a lap cat (it was a hard battle to convince her it was a good thing). For my son being dedicated to his schoolwork enough that I don't have to harass him to value his education. For The Office, which provides TONS of laughs in my house every week. For washers and dryers. And for the fact that we will have a new president in a very short amount of time.

That's not an exhaustive list of course. I wouldn't possibly have the time to list them out, and yes, I recognize that I didn't list out all my family - this isn't to say I'm not thankful for them.

I think I'm going to start looking for a weekend babysitting job. I like kids now and again and I have a master plan to save every bit of money I get from an outside income and see what I can collect over the year. I was a bit inspired by this post by a blogger - She only makes $21K/yr but she increased her value by $12K last year by doing simple things like babysitting and house sitting and investing correctly. $12K in one year by doing simple things..that's an easy way to a down payment on a house!

And I don't typically have big plans every Friday or Saturday night, so why not line up three or four families and help out for their Night on the Town....and typically they would need someone at night and so the majority of the time, the munchkin will be asleep anyway so I can do what I would do at home - watch a movie or read a book-BUT I'd get paid.

Ugh, I should have started this last year! I could have had $12,000 extra dollars by now!! That's about 15 months of rent. Or a down-payment on a house. Or a nicer car (not that I don't like mine). Or 12000 rolls of wrapping paper from the Dollar Store.

I LOVE the Wiggles!!

I had NO idea why this boy band is so popular, but The Wiggles are a big hit...and now I know why!!

This is most definitely my favorite Wiggles song:



And who doesn't love the combo of The Wiggles and Snoop Dogg??


And another favorite (and a nice, short one):

Birthday Memories

Here's a fun game: Guess who said the following statements last weekend:

Singing a song to her child (and encouraging the child to dance to it): "Superman's a Ho"

In the middle of a game with her grandkids and daughters-we had to guess things that are made from Leather, this came up from someone (like my mom maybe) revealing the answers:"Think of sex....a leather WHIP!"

On the morning of his 15th birthday (too big of a hint?): "Grandma's hairbrush is stuck in my hair!"


wow...you know it was a fun birthday weekend with comments like that!!


My wonderful sister sang part of this song for us and made her daughter do the dance that goes along with it (I say part of the song because she never knows all the words to ANY song-aside from Devil Went Down to Georgia):

Soulja Boy Off In This Hoe
Watch Me Lean And Watch Me Rock
Super Man Dat Hoe
Then Watch Me Crank Dat Robocop
Super Fresh, Now Watch Me Jock
Jocking On Them Haterz Man
When I Do Dat Soulja Boy
I Lean To The Left And Crank Dat Dance
(Now You)
I'm Jocking On Yo ***** ***
And If We Get The Fightin
Then I'm Cocking On Your *****
You Catch Me At Yo Local Party
Yes I Crank It Everyday
Haterz Get Mad Cuz
"I Got Me Some Bathin Apes"

Yeah, and now that song will be stuck in your head all day, right? Me too. Catchy song.

Is music getting worse and worse? I think so too. Remember the old days when mothers sang lullabies and such? Not anymore....now we sing songs about "hos" and "jocking things." Rap artists are really just making up words and saying they mean something - and we're buying into it. I'm going to start making up words too! I'll keep you posted on what I come up with. The radio guys were talking about little girls' costumes for Halloween and described the style as "Prostitot" - I love that made up word! And it very accurately tells you exactly what it means, as opposed to the Superman song.


And I have no excuse for the sweet grandmother that my child has mentioning sex when the answer is "Whip." After a full 12 seconds of complete silence, we all laughed so hard that we nearly peed our pants. I think that the majority of us would have envisioned a bull whip or something along those lines...but not Andrew's grandmother!


And the last story, well, that involves the birthday boy, his shaggy hair and a round brush - and a very funny moment in time, but I won't embarrass him by telling his story...but OMG-he's hilarious. But just as a disclaimer - I too have issues with those round brushes - they are tricky!!

Grandma and the Kids

Someone is shrinking...

Happy Veterans Day

I have to work tomorrow. :(
How can I properly celebrate the veterans of the world if I'm distracted with excel sheets and databases and scheduling stuff??

I'll update on the birthday weekend later - The Amazing Race is on!

Holy Birthday Boy, Batman!!

It's my offspring's 15th birthday in 36 hours!!

We are off to visit the family up north to celebrate the big event. No big party planned - just hanging out with the family...bowling, playing games, lots of video games-you know, the normal fun-filled family events.

Jenny and I are going to power-scrap all day Friday while Andrew is off with Grandpa bowling and the niece and nephew are in school and Grandma is at work. I have two years of Christmas pictures to scrapbook, one camping trip, a visit to the dam, and lots of random photos. FUN!


I think Grandma is going to bake a cake this year...Andrew prefers triple chocolate covered with chocolate fudge frosting and with a chocolate filling, and maybe some chocolate sprinkles on top! He might be the only one eating it-we'll see how chocolaty Grandma can make it.




And - YAY - I have tomorrow off!! I have been swamped at work lately. My coworker is ill and has been out for about four weeks (minus three days he made it in during that time). I've been doing part of his job (and my own) and been coming home pretty exhausted most days. I think my brain is melting...it will be nice to have a three-day weekend. So we're headed up north tomorrow after I get off work - yes, we'll probably hit traffic here in town, but can we really rearrange our lives around when there will be traffic? Not much really - there's ALWAYS going to be traffic. It's just a three-hour drive, with an extra 30 min for traffic maximum-it's really not too bad. We'll have to head back mid-Saturday because there is an all-day bowling tournament on Sunday, an hour south of home - planning on doing a lot of driving this weekend! Al Gore would be sad (but doesn't he fly around in a private jet??).

Bowl Me Over!

Guess who is the master bowler of the family??

Not me-I have bad wrists!
But the beloved offspring got a new high score during his league bowling on Saturday.



sit down...prepare yourself.....
the new high score is:





He's on a league and so every Saturday morning at 9:00am we are at the bowling alley. It has been a VERY exciting month. He started out two months ago with a really low average of 112-two yrs ago when he was on a league, his average was about 135. He then got over 150 two weeks later, then it was in the 170's, then it was the 190's and NOW....he apparently is a 200 bowler.

Watch out Grandpa - you have some competition.

Best Parenting Quotes of the Month

My personal shining parenting moment of the month was when my son and I were talking about when we could celebrate his birthday. I have four volunteer projects this month (four?? is there a prize or something??) and he has a bowling tournament and my friend has a birthday party and it's the celebration-of-the-overtaking-of-the-Indians-day. There's a lot going on this month.
He doesn't want a party but we want to make the drive up to visit the family. This was our conversation:

Me: We could just go up around Thanksgiving and celebrate your birthday then.
Him: I don't' know...I'd rather not wait.
Me: So we could go between the weekends and celebrate both-one late, one a little early.
Him: Why can't we go on this date?
Me: I have a volunteer project.
Him: We could just cancel it.
Me: I don't think we have to cancel your birthday, we can find a time.
Him: [blank stare]
Me: ......what?
Him: Why would I suggest I cancel my birthday??
Me: Oh...the volunteer event...right...

And don't even talk to me about the time I flipped him off in the middle of a crowded restaurant (it was an ACCIDENT!!!). It's hard to be the adult ALL the time.

My work-friend has two boys under the age of 4, insane, I know. It's almost as if you're punishing yourself for something...

The quote of the week from her:

After a stressful morning of two rambunctious boys not listening to her as she rushed around trying to get them out of the house and to the daycare, they arrive to the same location they go to every morning and one of the boys decides he doesn't want to go inside.

Mom: C'mon, let's go inside.
Boy 1: Okay Momma.
Boy 2: No.
Mom: C'mon, get out of the car, it's time to go inside.
Boy 2: No!
Mom: Fine, me and Boy 1 are going inside. Watch out for the ghosts.
Boy 2: What ghosts?
Mom: The ones that will arrive soon while Boy 1 and I are inside.
Boy 2: Wait, I'm coming.

Nice.
Nothing like scaring the holy terror out of your child to get them to listen. That's what having two children of such a young age will do to you.