I Let it in My House

See the girls on the box. Aren't they so innocent and full of kindness? But they're fooling you. They are devilish little girls hocking their cookies every year. Ever since the loss of Lemon Pastry Cremes these are the only ones we buy, no Thin Mints or Tagalongs, just Caramel delites.

The cookies are so perfectly sweet and wonderful with the coconut, caramel, and chocolate coating...and addictive. Supremely addictive. This box was opened after dinner. I really don't think it will last much longer.

I introduced the boys to them, sort of hoping they wouldn't succumb to the evil evil addictive cookie. But no, the creation of the devil is in their blood now. Travis can confidently say more and make his own sign language for the word more. And Nicholas is developing more negotiating tactics to earn cookies. "I'll pick up my toys for a cookie. I'll get myself dressed for a cookie."

**I am a former Girl Scout and my mother was my proud leader and cookie hocking supporter. So really I was just helping out the pitiful mothers in front of the grocery store. Their devilish daughters were jumping around and screaming at the cart return not having much to do with the sales transactions. The purchase is in her honor. Thanks Mom! As long as I don't see more mothers hocking cookies at the grocery store I won't have to move to the next hole in my belt.

I Love the 80s

Popped collar, tight-rolled jeans, two coordinating watches, and a friendship bracelet

This is how Travis went to school today. The best teacher in the whole world is moving on (but we're still going to hire as much as we can to babysit). She wanted to have an 80s day for her last day at school. He was sent home with a Flock of Seagulls hair style. Nice. No wait, rad. Totally rad.

Who Doesn't Love a Slip & Fall Story

**To read more Very Funny Friday stories follow this link.
This is technically last week's Very Funny Friday story but then the rules changed to every other week. And nothing spectacularly funny happened this Friday. So there, you get old funny.

I am snoozing away in dreamland. Suddenly I hear a thud followed by something breaking - not to the magnitude of someone coming through my sliding glass door, more like a cat knocked a dish off the counter. So I put on my glasses to check the time, exactly 1:15 am (freaky, why not 1:13 or 1:16?). I can see down the hall that lights are still on so I know Adrian is up. I wait for more sounds, thuds, footsteps of someone checking on the crash. I hear nothing, silence.

I get up out of the bed, go most of the way down the stairs so I can see into the kitchen - you know just in case it is an intruder. I see no broken dishes on the floor. I continue my descent of the stairs and enter the kitchen. And then I see it. At the bottom of the stairs that run from the kitchen down to the family room.

Adrian is sitting up right on the floor, talking on the phone. A broken plate and a few biscuits scattered along the stairs and next to him. (Mind you, this is a plate from the everyday dishes I inherited from my grandmother. She probably ate Sunday supper off of that very plate.)

He hangs up the phone and tells me how he was going down the stairs when a cat crossed his path causing him to fall. He broke the top stair tread - the hangover part snapped off back to where it meets the riser. And must have slid on his rear all the way down the remaining five steps, dropping the plate of biscuits on his way.

My first remark is "why in the h are you making biscuits in the middle of the night? any exercise you have done this week is negated by the biscuits." I don't have to say to him how I feel about the broken plate - he knows good and well.

He asks me to hand him a bag and the dustpan. I fetch as he moans and groans getting up off the floor. I hand over the bag and dustpan as he says "thanks for caring and asking if I'm all right." I just said "you're fine. I was just making sure it wasn't a burglar."

Really, I get woken up in the dead of night to find that you have made the biscuits that were for Saturday breakfast AND broken a dish. There's no blood or obvious broken bones. You're going to be all right. I was a little lacking in my rushing to his side to offer assistance and a bag of ice or something. But that's really not my style in the first place, unless you're one of my kids. He's a big boy and plus I might have stepped on broken bits of plate if I had run to his aid.

He salutes me a nice f you and hopes that something doesn't happen to me. My response, "karma, buddy. karma." There must be some sort of karma that had you fall down the stairs trying to carry your biscuits to the couch. And not to mention the new karma of breaking my grandmother's dish. And the karma of wasting reserved biscuits. I hope he thinks about it when he's fixing the stair tread. The people that live under the stairs could get out. But more than likely mice from the crawlspace now have another entry point.

This Kid's a Genius

Nicholas just solved a verbal math problem without being directed. I am astounded. Adrian asked for a leftover biscuit. Then of course Nicholas wanted one too. I said there's only 3 leftover biscuits. Nicholas quickly proclaimed that it only leaves 1 biscuit. He's quick and it was a verbal problem with no physical props.

Follow Up

I was following my doctor's orders with the meds - benzoyl wash and the erythromycin bingo stamper. Something wasn't feeling right. The second day using it it got worse and the skin on my chest felt all crawly and weird. I almost understood how psycho people rip their own skin off, I wanted to - badly. I tried benadryl but that just made me fall asleep. My regular doctor referred me to my dermatologist. I probably should have just started off there - lesson learned. If you can self-refer to specialists, do it. At first the receptionist said they were all booked until Thursday. She must have heard the desperation in my voice and told me to show up at 4. That must be the unscheduled but needs to be seen appointment. I think the doctor was impressed with my condition. He said to scrap all that other stuff. "We're not going topical anymore." That only leaves a pill or a big needle. I can go back to my regular routine of washing my face with honey (thanks E! it really does work and I've been stuck on it since you started. haha, stuck on it!) So now we're on to tetracycline once a day - for a month! And I am to report back at the end for a follow up exam. Geez louise. One silly cavity filling has turned into a big (and expensive) ordeal.

Today's Funnies

Here are some photos from today that made me laugh.


Adrian trying to be artsy. He can do it on a computer, but with paper? Eh, not so much.


Indiana Jones in the Water Bottle of Doom


I can guarantee you will see this same kid in the same pose in 10 years. A couch potato with a Chee-tos mustache. It's his destiny.


And this is how you hold your utensils at dinner, in case your own mother hadn't taught you.

Gross Day

I started my Saturday by picking up a dead mouse from the kitchen floor. (Note: this is my second dead mouse pick-up this month. I am up 2:1 on this game. Adrian's shouldn't really count since all he did was take the food bowl outside and dump it. The cats have gotten pretty good at the killing thing lately.) I took several grocery bags and picked it up. I didn't want to feel the shape of a mouse when I did it. And that is the pinnacle of the reuse methodology on plastic grocery bags - dead body disposal.
At the end of the day Adrian had the chance to take a puked-on crib sheet and pajama top to the washing machine. I had to clean off a kid and brush his teeth again. By the way, the puker was totally fine as if nothing happened at all.
And to close out the day, Maggie must have been disoriented and thought the entrance hall was her bathroom. I sniffed it out and asked Adrian to handle it. I take care of enough human feces around this joint.
All in all, we handled the extremes in a responsible and non-argumentative manner. I still think I won in the grossness category. Dead rodents will trump puke and feces any day.

Reliving My Youth

You might as well slap braces on my teeth and tight roll my jeans because I look like a teenager again. When I said I wanted to appear more youthful - this is so not what I had in mind.
The amoxicillin I was taking for my dental abscess went a little gung-ho in the killing department. It waged war on the delicate balance of flora (insert correct full medical term here) in my skin. In other words I broke out in a heinous case of acne. My forehead came first then my neck. It's on my back. I have backne! Backne. Gross. A patch that I am too scared to quantify is on my forehead, a few on my chin, one by my nose. Every time I look in the mirror there's a new one. I can hide a fair bit from sight with a turtleneck - thankfully it's been below freezing and no one is the wiser. And I trimmed up some bangs to camouflage the forehead a little. Ugh. I can feel the stares from friends and strangers. "OMG! Does she not practice good hygiene?" I see it in their eyes, they're not fooling me. And with my luck I will cross paths with all my exes and my plans of "look what you missed out on, sucker" will be ruined. Trust me, you think I want to go out in public. I'd rather hide in a cave until this all passes.
Thanks to my wise and possibly younger than me doctor, I am now armed to fight back and restore the balance in my flora, or whatever he called it. I have benzoyl peroxide face wash. Then an erythromycin liquid - it comes in a little bottle with an applicator and looks like a bingo stamper! I did tonight's dosage a little while ago. I bingo stamped all the offensive spots. Out, out damned spot. Okay, not quite like that. But really, it all needs to restore to its previous ways where all my pores were happy and I only had to worry about those small wrinkles and grey hairs. Enough with the rewind to adolescence.

It Paid Off

See it pays to be a cynic or a pessimist. We have snow! And school was closed. And my dentist office was closed. So we all got to stay home. All day. Thankfully they had gone to school for a little while yesterday so it hasn't been quite four straight days. It's predicted anything that melted this afternoon will refreeze tonight as the temp drops to the teens. This can only mean school will be closed tomorrow. Joy. More time cooped up. These are the days that are extra long and I can't wait for bedtime.
We did sit down and watch the inauguration. Technically Travis was taking a nap upstairs. It was very exciting. And I just finished watching the Obamas walk part of the way down Pennsylvania Avenue. A gutsy move but the people loved it and they made it safely back in USA 1.
Here are pics from today playing in the snow. It was only about 3 to 4 inches then. It made it to almost 6 inches, according to my reliable meteorologist, for what that is worth. I didn't pull out a ruler to try and contradict him. But if I need a moment alone outside I will do it. I probably need a moment alone right now. It's cold so I'll probably just hide in the bathroom.

Predicting Snow

Supposedly we're going to get some snow. It's predicted to be 1 - 3 inches, but possibly up to 6 inches. They say the whole state of NC will have some snow. I will believe it when I see it. I have grown up in NC and remember all the heartbreaks of my childhood. School would be cancelled and you'd wait and wait for the snow to fall. Sometimes it never came, sometimes it was just rain. Granted there were rare occasions when we really got snow and stuck around, but it was very rare. I do remember in 2000 or 2001 when they predicted 4 inches and low and behold we got 24! That was crazy and we developed some serious cabin fever. I don't want to get Nicholas's hopes up for a lot of snow. He has seen light dustings but not enough to make a snowball let alone a snowman. It would make for a legitimate reason to stay home from school and watch the inauguration (and maybe my root canal will be cancelled!). Here's hoping, but not that much. Really. Prove it to me. I am a meteoroligist skeptic.

In Disguise

That New Button Over There

In part of my blog remodel I added a button over there on the right for the Something Cleverish book. I have come across this Nie Nie reference on several different blogs. My curiosity was piqued. I investigated (or googled) around.

Background info that is posted on their site: "Nie Nie and her beloved Mr. Nielson are currently recovering from critical burns sustained in an airplane crash August 16, 2008." I can't fathom what they are going through as a couple and as parents. So many people care about their recovery. Wow. These people must have meant something to a lot of people. Here's a link to the NieNie blog. And here's a link to the book being sold to raise money for them. All proceeds go to the NieNie Recovery Fund. The book is a compilation of the funniest blog entries from bloggers everywhere (they had a contest). I am a fan of funny AND blogs AND books. I don't personally know these people but I did read some of their blog and it is pretty funny. Their friends and family were posting for a while, and posting some classic entries from the past. You must read about the baby praying mantis infestation - hilarious and creepy.

Car Seat Activist

The story begins a couple of days ago at daycare. There's a family with three kids at the school, the middle child is in Nicholas's class. I saw the mom taking the kids to her car and noticed it was a Honda Civic. As an owner of an Accord I was curious how she could fit three car seats in the back of a Civic. Well, yesterday was my nosy-self's lucky day. She parked next to me in the parking lot! I was leaving as she was going in the building, so I knew this was her car for sure. I buckled the boys into their seats and then casually peeked in her car windows. Not a car seat in sight! There's a closet in the lobby for parents who swap car seats around, or leave car seats for a friend or other family member. I hoped that was the case because I wasn't going to look creepy waiting for her to get her three kids. (I'm only an internet stalker, not in the real world.)
This morning when I was in Travis's classroom I discreetly asked one of the directors if she knew these parents swapped car seats or whatnot. On my way out of the school she let me know that these parents have never done the leaving the car seats in the closet deal. And she too was concerned about the situation. During the day she talked with one of the school's owners and set some things into motion. When I got to school to pick up the boys she pulled me aside in the lobby. It turns out the school had already been planning to have representatives from the police department come in to do a fingerprinting program for the kids. They decided to definitely go forward with that initiative and will include a car seat safety program as well. She said they will put out a strong message that they are aware of car seat safety and how important it is. She and the owner said they could not report the parent, but are very concerned about what could happen off of school grounds. And hopefully this will encourage the parents and others to take action.
You see when I got to work this morning I was hesitant about whether I had done the right thing. Was I being too nosy? Maybe the mother has a good reason for not having car seats? I was concerned for the children's safety and concluded that really no excuse is good enough these days. I know previous generations were fine without them. But there's so much available today to help us protect our children, and well it's also the law. At the end of the day I do feel better for bringing it up to the director, and happy they're going to do a safety program to get the message out. And after telling Adrian, he is thinking about starting a foundation to help get car seats for people who cannot afford them. He already bought the domain name: Safe Seats for Little Seats. Isn't he the right amount of clever and cheesy?

Under Renovation

I got bored with my blog's looks. I'm messing around with some ideas. Feedback is welcome. And tips would be great! Like how do I get the image in my header to be smaller?

Bad, Bad #12

Last Wednesday I had a cavity filled on tooth #12 (the first molar next to the eye tooth on the top left for those unfamiliar with the dental numbering system). It was the first time I had seen this dentist at the practice. I now call her Dr. Random because she makes very straightforward statements that sort of leave you hanging. During her drilling she remarked, "Hmm, that's deeper than I thought it was." And that was all she said about it.
Yesterday I found that I couldn't open my mouth all the way and my jaw was a little sore. Adrian said it was swollen, but I didn't really notice. I called this morning and went back to see Dr. Random. Without looking in my mouth she pulls out her prescription pad. I was ordered to fill prescriptions for amoxycillin and Tylenol with codeine ASAP. She came and went from the exam room several times. The assistant took an x-ray. During a moment of boredom on her part, I think, she did confirm swelling on the inside of my mouth. Then she reappeared later to make a random statement, "If the swelling gets noticeably worse, go to the emergency room." Before I could really ask for elaboration, she disappeared again. She and another dentist looked at the x-ray (against the fluorescent ceiling light). Dr. Random told me to go up front to pick up my appointment card for my root canal next Tuesday. So there you have it, my deep cavity led to an infection and a root canal.
Oh, and by the way, I did get my prescriptions filled at Target on my way back to work. I calculated that for each minute spent waiting for them is equal to a dollar on merchandise at the store. Target must use special impulse buying chemicals in their ventilation system. I'm sure of it.

Litter Bugs

The other day on the way to school Nicholas commented on the trash on the side of the road. He doesn't like for people to litter...ever. I told him that people come along and pick up all the trash. Well today people were cleaning up all that trash on 40. However, it was the inmate work crew. I decided not to tell him that it was not-so-bad bad guys who get out of jail for the day to pick up the trash. It was a beautiful day so I hope they enjoyed the work though.

Sunday Meet Up

Today we met up with some friends at Los Cuates. It's a local Mexican place that is authentic and very un-chain like. We were all too busy during the holidays to meet up for a gift swap so today was the day. The kids were thrilled to open more presents. And then we went over to a local park to drive Sophia's truck around in the parking lot.

Wish I Had Been There

Tonight I went to my friend Kim's place for her birthday party - sans spouse and kids. I made wine glass charms as my on-the-cheap gift. I knew that's I wanted to give and I wasn't impressed with the very limited selection at Total Wine. I asked Adrian to stop by Michael's while we were out so I could pick up some wire and beads. Sorry, I didn't take a picture. I have lots of leftover materials so maybe I'll make them again for another occasion.

Anyways on to the real point of this entry. I put Travis to bed before I left, leaving Adrian to handle Nicholas on his own. Nicholas said he would wait up for me, which was very sweet of him. Somehow it came down to bargaining. Adrian made a deal with Nicholas that he could sleep in our bed if he would be a good boy and go on to bed. This is the story I got from Adrian. He is in our room with the Kung Fu Panda book and sends Nicholas to get what he needs for bed, expecting an armful of blankets and animals to come back. He is waiting a while and hears a lot of commotion in the hallway bathroom. Finally Nicholas comes into our room with his arms loaded up all right. He's got his toothbrush cup, toothpaste, stepstool, towels, shampoo. You name it, he had it. Adrian questions what he is doing. Nicholas's response, "I'm moving in. I'm going to be here a while."

Luckily without much of a fight at all, he took everything back to his bathroom and put it all away. I wish I could have seen this in person, but if I had been here a deal like this would not have gone down in the first place. Adrian was moved in so many ways (hysterical laughter and awe of how precious it was) that he called my cell to tell me about it right away.

Tailor Made

I went for my annual eye exam. Great news! My poor sight has held steady for the last 3 years. I had started to get nervous as my mid to late twenties saw a downward trend and I was sure I would be completely blind by 40. I purchased a year's supply of lenses. Thankfully we are lucky enough to have vision coverage, and the manufacturer is offering a rebate. So at least there's a lot less money out of my pocket than there could be.
On to the tailor. I have two pairs of pants with cuffs, I just cannot hem those myself. It's too scary to tackle. The only tailor I have ever used is in the same shopping center as the eye doctor. And I had my wits about me today and remembered to bring the pants with me. And get this, I even had the shoes I would normally wear with the pants too!
As I was on the podium with my first pair of pants, a man walked in wanting some suit pants let out in the waist. The little tailor lady wanted him to try them on so she could see how much to let out. He was very hesitant to do this. She kept pushing. Then he started talking like Donald Duck saying something about "okay, I'll try them on if you say so". The lady wasn't sure what to think. She looked at me for guidance. I sort of laughed in a oh-my-weirdness-what-is-he-doing kind of way. So she followed suit. Very very odd little man. And obviously not about to resolve to lose that extra inch or two from his waistline, just get the pants let out instead.

Sleeping Beauties

See...I don't make this stuff up. Today I did a little Wii yoga, showered, dressed, ate cereal, did my hair, surfed the web. And these people slept through it. I finally had to wake them up so they could be at school in time for breakfast. Notice that Nicholas sneaks into the bed after I get up, complete with a couple stuffed animals. I am always amused by the positions the boys sleep in. It cracks me up.

I'm Not a Cougar

But I did go on a date with a man 30 1/2 years my junior. Travis and I went to the mall for new shoes. While I was trying on various brown heels he put the little footies on over his shoes. The sales ladies were eating it up. Then we went on to Stride Rite. He upgraded from the Stage 2 Cruisers to regular tennis shoes, as well as going up a whole shoe size. Geez. Feet do not stop growing at this house.
Then we wanted a snack. The lines were crazy at Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon, not that we were heading there anyway. I just thought it was worthy of noting this on January 3rd. Maybe people are no longer resolving to eat healthy in 2009. I was going to argue my point further on smart snack selections at the mall but Cinnabon does not post nutritional info on their website - shocker! We landed in the Barnes & Noble with chocolate milk, raspberry vanilla Italian soda, and a big rice krispy treat.
We had a fun time together. I think Travis enjoyed the one on one outing. Nicholas got to have them very often for the first 2 1/2 years of his life. Now I am trying to balance time with each of them as well as family time with everyone.

Things I've Done

My sister Erica had this list on her blog. Some of the things we've actually done together, which makes me happy. Italicize the things you've done. It's cool to see what you've done and maybe be inspired to do what's left.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (uh, does DisneyWorld count?)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (A guy sketched me in Montmartre in Paris, and I did buy it, I'm a sucker!)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Hmm...43 out of 100 isn't too shabby. I'm kind of impressed with myself. And I know I've done more cool things that what's on the list. For example, seen an inactive volcano, hiked in a cloud forest, toured breweries, had luggage thoroughly searched by customs agents, etc.

Travis's Resolutions

In an effort to become more of a toddler, Travis decided to make a few resolutions for the new year.

1. Lose the "party in the back" so my family won't recognize me sneaking into the toy closet.

2. Play independently in the toy closet.

3. Watch my goofy big brother be a rock star so I can get ideas and copy him.

4. Eat candy canes and other assorted goodies.

New Day, New Year

I would write something really touching and inspirational about the New Year. But I am just not savvy at that type of thing and prefer to leave it to the experts. Instead I'll leave it as 2008 was a great year with more ups than downs. I'm very happy with how it went. Now it is 2009. Pretty much just another day around here. The boys are going to continue to grow like weeds and develop into big boys. Adrian will not be coaching nearly as much and therefore will be at home a heck of a lot more this year. My wish is for us to continue to bond as a family unit while encouraging independence and creativity.

From the professionals at Hallmark:
"May health, happiness, and good times greet you each day of the New Year."