Random things on my mind

1.  This new word “uber.”  I have seen it about 4 times in the last week, yet never once prior to that in the last 38 years.  You know how a word just starts showing up, and everyone uses it because it’s the new cool word?  Like ‘ping’ that all the techie-blackberry-user people use.   Or the ‘pop’ that all the fashion designers like to use.  So anyway, uber appeared to be a substitute for the word ’super’ in most instances that I read it.  So I looked it up.  Well guess what?  It’s a cognate of the Latin ’super’ and greek ‘hyper’.  So there you go.  Why not just say super?  or really? or very ?  Interestingly (or maybe not), it also can be used to say “cool.”  As in you are so uber.  If someone was really cool, would they be uber uber?

2.  Chip -n- Dale.  You know, the chipmunks.  Let’s keep in mind here that I am close to 40.  And it just now dawned on me that chip -n- dale is a play on chippendale.  How has that escaped me for the better part of my life?  I’m right, right?  It is a play on chippendale, right?

3.  Did you ever wonder who the idiots are that order those ugly checks?  For instance the checks with ducks taped up with duct tape and they say “duck tape” all over them…or ducks with backpacks that sport “backquackers” around the border.  Who are the people that buy those anyway? 

That would be me. 

I honestly don’t know what I was thinking when I bought them.  But I did.  I don’t know what is wrong with me.

4.  I’m sure I’ve mentioned the happy hours.  I know Jenny has.  Keep in mind these are family friendly.  Not raucous.  We do not play wierd games like Darcie does.  Here is my girl’s interpretation of the happy hour…

 

Please note what I believe to be me, in the center there, toasting with a glass of wine while I completely ignore the angry boy chasing the laughing girl (who is clearly egging him on).  I apparently have no concern for the baby playing in close proximity to the hot grill.  Oh, and The Man is doing all the cooking while I lounge.  Because that’s how I roll. 

5.  And finally, Uprinting.com has offered one of my readers a nice giveaway…and just in time for Father’s Day, too!  Since you, my readers, are a rather small (though highly sophisticated) pool of people, you’ve got a great shot at winning.  Uprinting.com does an assortment of things, including poster prints and even canvas prints online.   And they’ve offered one of y’all a free 18×24 poster print!  Here’s what I’m thinking I would do with mine…

I would love love LOVE seeing this on my family room wall in poster size.

So here’s what you’ve got to do to enter…it’s nothing terribly exhausting, don’t worry.  Just leave me a comment telling me what you’d do with your poster print! 

If you’d like a second entry, link to this post on your blog.  Let me know in a second comment that you’ve done so.  Remember, I’m not all that quick with the wit.  It might confuse me if you try to combine your entries into one comment.

You do not need to be a blogger to enter!  Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.  Otherwise, I’ll have to choose another winner.

Deadline to enter is Wednesday June 3, 6:32pm, EST.  That’s Virginia time, in case you aren’t savvy with the time.  Time’s Up!!!  Congratulations to Brooke!

–Pause to say that I cannot say the word savvy without hearing the following in my head:  “Law don’t go ’round here, lawdog.  Savvy?”  Perhaps I’m dating myself with that quote…–

I’ll choose a winner at random (which probably means picking a name out of a hat) and post the winner on at some point on Thursday!  Oh, one more little thingy…this is only open to US/CAN residents.  I love all y’all…but those are the rules.   

Good luck!!!

Bakerella I am not. And other sundry stuff.

Alrighty. 

So I attempted the cake pops.  Cupcake pops to be more specific.  Because somewhere I read that if you are a beginner then you should try the cupcake pops first because they don’t have to be all perfectly round and whatnot like the cake pops.  (In case you aren’t hip to the lingo, cupcake pops are cute mini cupcakes on a stick.  Cake pops are round balls of cake on a stick.) 

Before I go any further , let me just say that I consider myself to be rather savvy in the kitchen.  Rather savvy indeed.  (And the first two times I typed the word savvy, I misspelled it.  I’m that clever.)

So I figured there would be a bit of a learning curve on these cake pops, but that I would master them without too much trouble. 

Mm-hmm.  

“Darcie did it” I told myself.  I’m sure I can do it. 

Mm-hmm. 

I must have missed the part where Darcie said “In all honesty these puppies are not easy.  At all.”  Yes, I completely skipped right over it. 

Either that, or I figured that statement didn’t apply to me because I’m so savvy.  And also cocky and arrogant.  And a fool.   

So anyway, I did alright up until the part where you have to dunk the mini cupcakes in the candy melts.  This is a few hours into the project.  Mm-hmm.  I bought the same ingredients in Bakerella’s recipe.  I really did.  And I’ve used them before.  I really have.  For other things. 

For the sake of brevity, let’s just say that things were going downhill fast, and all the  super-cute mini cupcakes were, well, flattened.  And not by accident, either.  I don’t know what came over me.  Other than the failure, I mean.  Failure can cause a bit of a panic in me. 

At that point, I decided to take the flattened cupcakes, roll them into balls, jab a stick into them and dip them.  And ironically, that seemed to work better.  They were actually not totally embarassing:

I edited the picture a little to soften the imperfections.  However, there is a massive fissure running down the one in the back.  Try not to notice.  I figured if I made the picture small enough, it would still be honest, and you might not be able to see the crack.  But alas, there it is. 

So what I learned last week?  One thing: 

1.  I will never – not ever – never, make cupcake pops again. 

Not ever. 

In.

my.

life.

The cake pops?  Yes, I’ll try that again.  The more I made, the better they turned out.   

And I have been thinking about the cake pops non-stop for about two weeks.  Okay, maybe not non-stop, but a LOT.  So much so that I had a dream about Bakerella last night.

By the way, this dreaming about bloggers and food is mildly disturbing. 

So anyway, I had a dream that Bakerella had branched out into making candies.  Now, this would not be all that interesting except that the candy she was making was plain old salt water taffy in the waxed paper wrappers.  There was nothing unusual or pretty or fancy about these candies at all.  In my dream I was even skeptical that she actually made them, and didn’t just buy them at the shore and try to pass them off as her own…  Everyone was raving about how lovely they were.  But people, they were not lovely.  They were balls of pastel taffy wrapped in waxed paper.  “What is lovely about that?”  I thought to myself in my dream.  And “I could make those…they look easy.”  And ”I don’t know why everyone thinks Bakerella is so great…She’s not all that.  I could do all that stuff that she does.” 

And now I’m thinking that I’m definitely cocky and arrogant.  And quite possibly a fool. 

Oh, and by the way, I think Bakerella is ALL that.  Really.

She’s at that age…

She’s at that age. 

That age when photos become awkward. 

She doesn’t know what to do with her hands…she feels uncomfortable in front of the camera…the smiles look unnatural…

But now and then I capture her.   

 And she takes my breath away.

For more wordless wednesday photos go here.

One Friday Night with Ella

Dinner at the ballpark…

 

 

Watch a little baseball…

 

Do a somersault or two…

Run!

 

 

Go barefoot…

Run some more!

 

Check out the equipment 

 

I wish every Friday night could be like this.

What I learned this week. Take note.

1.  When your child (who is having a severe reaction to an immunization) tells you “Hey mom, my pee was pink!” it will also happen to be the only time he has flushed the potty without you reminding him in the last month.   

2.  Since you didn’t actually SEE the pee, you have to google what pink pee indicates.  It indicates blood in the urine, which is what you thought in the first place.  So you google causes of pink urine.  Which brings up lots of scary kidney problems that you can’t pronounce.

3.  Google may or may not be a fear-monger.

4.  When you call the pediatrician’s office to discuss pink urine, they will not calm your fears.  The freak-out is detectable in their voice, though they try to hide it.   

5.  Little boys might not actually have pink pee when they say they do.  But then again, they might.  Hard to say. 

6.  “Pink” has many shades.

7.  When googling the causes of pink urine, you will find that eating fresh beets can cause your urine to turn pink.  Interestingly, canned beets do not have the same effect.  Also, not everyone who eats fresh beets will have pink urine.  I am curious to know how this subject comes to be discussed.  Unless I’ve had a LOT of alcohol, I can’t imagine bringing up the color of my urine at a social event.   

8.  Ella needs a daily nap.  Enough said about that.

9.  Ella is still cute as a button when she’s really cranky. 

10.  A glass of wine takes the edge off.  Okay, I already knew that.  Whatever.

11.  You can rejoice all you want when a weekday baseball game is rained out.  But be prepared for the make-up game.  Because it’s coming.  And the new date and time won’t be any better than the original. 

12.  T.G.I.F.  Okay, I already knew that, too.  Whatever whatever.

That’s pretty much all I have to say.   Visit Musings of a Housewife if you are inclined to learn more.  Hopefully no one else is posting information on urine and beets.

A fun time will be had by none. At least not me.

Since I am a very, very organized individual, I waited until the Sunday before Kindergarten registration to fill out the paperwork, gather the documents needed, check Henry’s immunization reports, etc.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that he was two immunizations shy of eligibility for enrollment in kindergarten. 

Ever the optimist, I figured that was no big deal, we’ll just get him his shots Monday and register him Tuesday.  Excellent. 

Except I, in my brilliance, never faxed the immunization report from our previous pediatrician to our current pediatrician.  What does this mean?  This means “Oh no, we cannot give him the shots until the Dr. reviews his chart.” 

First available appointment (that is not during Ella’s nap.  Because I avoid missing Ella’s nap at all cost.)  is Wednesday.  Which is after Tuesday.

Crap.  

I decided to take it, go ahead and half-register him at the school (where I waited in line for 30 minutes with a two year old throwing a tantrum because I wouldn’t allow her to take her shoes and socks off.)  ((And why she wanted to take her shoes and socks off was beyond me.)) 

So I half-registered Henry for Kindergarten (which henceforth shall be termed KG, because writing out kindergarten takes too many fingerstrokes).

Wednesday we went to the Pediatrician (henceforth Ped for reasons already mentioned).  Keep in mind I had to leave 45 minutes before our appointment time to get there, park, and get myself into the office.  It’s practically and all day affair.

On the way up the elevator, I thought to myself “Boy, it would really s*ck if I forgot the immunization report.”  Can you see where I’m going with this?  Mm-hm.  I left both copies with the school at KG registration.

I immediately called the school and asked them to please, pretty please fax the records to the doctor, as I am at the office, in the waiting room, waiting for shots.  And waiting and waiting and waiting.  We waited for 25 minutes in the waiting room.  In the interest of fairness, I will divulge that I arrived 10 minutes early.)  The nurse checked the fax machine…nothing from the school had arrived.  Alrighty then. 

She checked Henry in, stuck us in an exam room, and said she would check the fax again and let me know.  After 15 minutes of hearing nothing from said nurse, I figured the fax must have come. 

Another 15 minutes passes.  That’s a total of 30 minutes in a tiny exam room with an almost-two-year-old with red hair and a temper, and a 5 year old that is hard of hearing and talks really loud so that all of the other exam rooms can hear him. 

After 35 minutes, the nurse shows her face and says “there’s still no fax.”  WTH?  Are you kidding me?  You waited 35 minutes to tell me there’s no fax?

So I call the school, and am put on hold.  Which is fantastic because now the doctor has entered the room and I feel like an idiot.  The whole point of him seeing Henry was to review the records.  Which I don’t have. 

The school lady finally picks up, and says she faxed the records over and it transmitted okay.  The nurse said, “Hm.  Okay, I’ll go check again.”  

“Oh, here they are!” 

Bla bla bla, pretend pleasantries are exchanged, he gets his shots and in passing, I ask about reactions that I should be concerned about.  Which is funny, because I never ask that question.  I just look it up online when I get home.  Because you know, the world wide web contains a wealth of reliable medical knowledge. 

But anyway, this time, I asked about reactions.  They said swelling, redness and very warm to the touch at injection site and they’ll want to see him.  Can you see where I’m going with this?

This morning we had redness and swelling (I mean big, firm swelling) from the top of his shoulder to halfway down his arm.  And it was hot.  Fantastic. 

I called the doctor, and they said I have to have an actual office visit to be seen, and it has to be with the doctor administering the shot, who doesn’t have any appointments until 3:50.  Mm-hm. 

Goodie.  So I’ll have to get the older two kids from the bus stop, get in the car and go.  I get to bring all four of them.  All.four.of.them.  In an 8×10 exam room.  Can you just picture me, 4 kids and a doctor in that size room?  Somebody compute the person per square foot for me.  That has to be a fire code violation.

Then the best part is I’ll hit rush hour on the way home.  Oh, and Ella is upstairs fighting the nap.  Which means she’s going to be a joy to experience in that exam room. 

I’ll look back on this and laugh some day, right? 

Yes, these are good times.  Good times indeed.

50 Questions

I don’t even know why I like this stuff.  But I do.  Some of these questions are, um, slightly wierd.  Like #2.  I copied this from a blog I came across.  Forgive the wierdness. 

1. Do you like cheese?
Yes, in moderation. 

2. Have you ever smoked heroin?  [WTH?]  Okay, the answer to this question is NO.  However, had the answer been yes, I still would have said no.  So I guess you’ll never really know for sure now, will you.  No Mom, the answer is no. 

3. Do you own a gun?
No. 

4. Your favorite song?
I really don’t have one.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Always.  I don’t like being inspected.  I rehearse answers to questions they will undoubtedly ask.  I try to sound oh-so-intelligent.  Actually, one of them asked me if I had “worked in medicine” once.  So there.  Clearly, I sound very intellectual. 

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
I prefer not to.  I think the concept of ground up leftover meat parts is foul.  But I love how they smell. 

7. What’s your favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night by Josh Groban and only Josh Groban.  The one by Clay Aiken makes me want to throw up.  I don’t know why.  It just does.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee

9. Can you do push ups?
Yes, but only a couple.  Like MAYBE seven.

10. Is your bathroom clean?
I plead the fifth.  

11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?
The diamond earrings that The Man bought for our tenth anniversary.  Love them.  

12. Favorite Hobby?
Gardening.   

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?
What?  Lure who?  I don’t think I possess that ability any more.   

14. Do you have A.D.D.?
No.  But this is getting boring, and I’m beginning to wonder if I can finish another 36 questions.

15. What one trait do you hate about yourself?
Hmmm…there are so many…my temper. 

16. Middle Name?
Louise

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
Hey, it’s sunny out for the first time in about 8 days.

Who is really going to read this anyway?

What am I going to eat before the kids get home?

18. Name the last 3 things you have bought?
Back pack, bug spray (it was lemon eucalyptus and is worked rather well, fyi), rain poncho.  

19. Name 3 things you usually drink?
Wine, coffee, beer.  Because I’m all about keeping myself healthy.

20. Current worry right now?
That I need to get that kindergarten paperwork filled out.

21. Current hate? or pet peeve?
People not caring for their property. 

22. Favorite place to be?
My yard.  My home.

23. How did you bring in the New Year?
I think I might have been awake.  

24. Where would you like to go?
Someplace sunny.  Or maybe to sleep.

25. Name three people who will complete this and return?
I’m not sending it around.  But maybe I should.  I’d just love to know which of you people out there have smoked heroine.

26. Do you own slippers?
Nope.  I can’t find the right ones.   

27. What shirt are you wearing?
White long sleeved t-shirt

28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
I really don’t know to be honest. 

29. Can you whistle?
Yes

30. Favorite color?
Orange   

31. Would you be a pirate?
I don’t really understand the point of that question.  Who would be a pirate?

32. What songs do you sing in the shower?
None.  I think about all the stuff I have to do that day    

33. Favorite girl’s name?
Kate , Violet

34. Favorite boy’s name?
Henry or Charlie

35. What’s in your pocket right now?
nothing               

36. Last thing that made you laugh?
Talking about how Mike says he’ll NEVER EVER do something gross when he becomes a parent.  Like, he’ll never ever wipe his baby’s runny nose with anything other than a tissue.  Right.  You just keep on telling yourself that, pal.  The denial will keep you sane a little while longer…

37. Best bed sheets as a child?
Where do these questions come from?  Mom, how come you never bought me special sheets?  Why are 4% of the questions on this related to bedsheets.  That’s a little strange, imho.

38. Worst injury you’ve ever had?
I broke my toe.  I dropped a full jar of pickles on it.  I lost my grip on the jar, and in a moment of rare brilliance, I stuck my stocking foot out to keep the jar from denting my floor.  And I was very successful.  And then I couldn’t walk properly for two weeks.  Good times…

39. Do you love where you live?
Yes.

40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
2 that work.  The Man thinks we should save the others, in case we want to fix them some day.  Right.

41. Who is your loudest friend?
I don’t think I have any loud friends…

42. Who is your most silent friend?
I don’t know.  We’re all kind of the same.

43. Does someone have a crush on you?
Right.  I’m thirty eight and wrinkley.

44. Do you wish on shooting stars?
Yes.

45. What is your favorite book?
To Kill a Mockingbird.

46. What is your favorite candy?
I don’t discriminate.  And I mean that seriously.  

47. Favorite Sports Team?
The Hokies.

48. What song do you want played at your funeral?
What?  Who thinks about this stuff?

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Sleeping.

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
About what I would get done this morning before the kids got up.

***

There you have it.  More useless information you have about me.  Please leave me a comment and tell me I’m not the only one that has never had special sheets.  But if you’ve smoked a little heroin, I really don’t need to know about that, thankyouverymuch.

Her First Holy Communion

Perfect. 

Holy. 

Beautiful. 

 

For more wordless wednesday photos, visit 5 minutes for mom.

My opinion of the rain is that it can go away and never come back.

Yep, that’s how I feel alright. 

How many days of rain have we had now…like six? 

You know, one day of rain is nice…refreshing, it greens things up, bla bla bla.

Day two of the rain was inconvenient at best.  I didn’t do any errands on day one of the rain, because that’s just less than fun with a baby and a child with hearing aids that can’t get wet.  So if I don’t run errands on day two, then I’m really going to be behind. 

Day three of the rain.  I’m really behind.  I didn’t run errands on day two either, because I figured I’d just devote day three to errands, and maybe I’d get lucky and not have rain.  Riiiight.  I became rather grumpy, friends.

Day four of the rain.  Grumpy didn’t quite capture my mood correctly.  Hostile.  Yes, hostile is more appropriate. 

Day five.  Rain.  Exhausted.  Rain is ex.haus.ting.

Day six.  Clouds.  Heavy, suffocating, foul, oppressive clouds again. 

Tomorrow, the forecast is for rain. 

I just have no response to that.

Just a Bunch More of Nothing

I should really start a Miscellaneous carnival.  Because I seem to have a lot of miscellaneous things to share.  Things that, on their own, cannot make a story, but taken together can be rather entertaining.

I’ll do that later.  In the meantime, you might not want to hold your breath.

Moving right along…

1.  Onna at toddlercraft has inspired me to make these with the kids.  They all LOVE painting, and I love this kind of craft.  We’ll put them in the butterfly garden.  (The one that I still haven’t planted yet.  I’m going to do that later, too.)  Thank you Onna!

2.  Molly at The Bumbles Blog honored me with the Splash Award.   Because I allure, bemuse, bewitch, impress and inspire them.  And what do you know, it had to do with a booger.  And a black booger at that.  Thank you, Bumbles!

 

3.  V-8.  Spiced up with a little tabasco and a heavy coating of pepper.  I always feel healthy when I partake of the V-8.  So I bought a bottle the other week. 

Guess how many glasses of that bottle I drank?  Zero.  The Man drank the entire thing.  So the next time I went for groceries I bought two bottles. 

Guess how many glasses I got this time?  One.  O.N.E.  One.  When I need the V-8, I need the V-8.  And not only is he hogging all the V-8, but do you know what he pairs it with?  Cinnamon oatmeal squares.  Or today, pumpkin-chocolate bread.  Isn’t that just wrong?  

4.  Max and Ruby.  Where is the mom?  Is Ruby the mom?  Ruby appears to be the sister, but then where is the mom?  I thought maybe Ruby was a teenager, and therefore old enough to care for a toddler, but she’s in the bunny scouts.  And “bunny scouts” doesn’t sound too teenagerish. 

5.  This right here, I just don’t even know what to say.  Other than perhaps we have exposed the children to too much American Idol. 

You can’t read the caption at the bottom, so let me just fill you in.  It reads: “I fell in to a burning ring of fire.” 

Right-e-o. 

Please note the thought cloud of the poor soul on his way down into the burning ring of fire.  And also the words his associates speak – ”See you later!” and “bye bye!”  And I’m not sure, but it appears that as he is spiralling to his fiery death, the other two are flying around on trapeses, without a care in the world.  

I’m not sure whether to laugh hysterically or be concerned…

6.  I’m feeling the kids slip away a little. 

I watched Henry sleep the other night, and I realized that in one month preschool will be over.  Forever. 

And I don’t really remember it.  I don’t know where all that time went.  

I’m afraid I’ve missed some of the best times with him. 

And that really, really hurts my heart.