Within Me Without Me

my first reprimand!!!

2008-03-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

so if you remember, i started my supervisor job in november - and here is my first shot at whipping someone in to shape!!

the body of the email:

Today we met briefly to discuss your case file audit, specifically #322349, which was not in compliance.

In response to an email sent by me on 3/9, you originally turned in your casefile for audit on 3/11. The file was returned to you on 3/11 or 3/12, with an audit checklist detailing the missing items in the file, and a request to return the file with corrections by 3/14. Included in the items missing were signatures on the Initial Case Plan and signatures on the Case Plan Review, which should be been obtained prior to 2/21 according to TJPC standards.

Your file was not turned in on 3/14.

On 3/19, an email was sent requesting all files with outstanding corrections be turned in to me on 3/20.

Your file was not turned in on 3/20.

On 3/25, an email was sent requesting that all files with outstanding corrections be turned in to me by 2 pm 3/26, or, if corrections could not be completed, a written explanation as to why not.

Your file was not turned in, and I did not receive any written reply from you.

On 3/26 at approximately 3:30 pm, I went to your office and found the file on your desk, and took it to review. I found that none of the requested corrections had been made, nor had the signatures been obtained.

I then sent you an email at 2:45 pm to come to my office.

I called you at about 4:15 pm to come meet with me.

You stated that you had not done any of the corrections, and that you were planning on doing them today or tomorrow. I requested that they be done today before you leave work. You stated that sometimes you just forget to do your case plan reviews. I responded that this was unacceptable, and that I especially needed you to have your cases in compliance, since you are my most senior officer, and younger officers look to you as an example. You acknowledged that you do not have many cases, and you stated that you had no excuse for not completing your work.

Casework handled in this incomplete and deficient way is unacceptable. Ignoring a supervisor’s repeated requests for work to be done is also unacceptable.

Please consider this email a “written verbal” reprimand. Further instances of failure to comply with standards or supervisor requests will result in a written reprimand to be included in your Personnel File.

What do you think??

which harry potter character are you?

2008-02-20T11:37:00.000-08:00

As Cho Chang, you are pretty, popular and intelligent, but quite sensitive and vain.

hhm. well, ok.

things i never said

2008-02-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

got this idea from K in the mirror, who originally saw it over at Swistle's.....

basically, you think of things you want to say (or wanted to say) to someone, and just say it here. no backstory, no names, just put it out there.

This is gonna feel great. here goes....

1. your voice is so annoying. i can't believe you actually talk that way on purpose. can you not hear yourself? please, please speak like a normal, grown person.

2. just because you're blind doesn't mean that everyone around you is your servant!! all the times i've helped you, and you never say thank you!!?? i'm sorry for your handicap, but it doesn't give you license to be a jerk to everyone!!!!!

3. i think he's wrong for you. i think you guys are getting married for the wrong reasons, and although i wish you well, i can't help but think you're making a mistake.

4. well of course she left you. maybe you could have avoided the whole divorce by not marrying someone you only knew for 4 months in the first place.

5. you are a selfish, piggy little bitch. although it doesn't surprise me, given that your mother is a selfish, piggy bitch too.

6. do you really like me? i can't tell. i mean, sometimes when you say hello, you have this weird look in you eye, like you're annoyed that i'm even in the room with you. i want you to like me!

7. i know you meant well. it was as much my fault as it was yours. there was so much i held back from you, it's no wonder i felt like you didn't know me. i was in such a weird place in my life, that i can't even remember how it felt to be me in love with you. and i'm not sure if i ever really was. i'm much happier now, and i hope you are too. and for what it's worth, i'm sorry.

8. hey, quit lying. everyone knows you had the surgery, so you can stop telling us all that you lost 75 pounds in 6 weeks by doing weight watchers.

i could go on and on and on.....

gambling, helping needy mothers, and prizes!!

2008-01-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

hey everyone -

just doing a little promotion for my friend aimee over at The Mother Load. She is expecting her newest Bun in the Oven almost any day now, and she's running a little baby stat guessing pool.

entries are $1 apiece, and the proceeds will all go directly to a shelter for abused pregnant women. Winner will recieve their choice of prizes worth fifty dollars!!!!

go check it out - plus she's a cool chick whose blog is always good for a laugh or a warm fuzzy feeling.

2008-01-04T08:52:00.000-08:00

just popping in to say hello....

loving my new job! there's a lot of tweaking to do in this unit - a lot of people have been allowed to do shoddy work for quite a while, and i'm slowly trying to implement some policies to make things more efficient and more accurate. meeting some resistance, but all in all, i think i'm being effective.

and yes, i'm still in my little office, but i had a talk with "dave" the other day, and he assures me he's retiring this year, and his office will be vacant. we'll see. but i told him i'm fine where i'm at, and not to leave on my account. i don't really have enough stuff to fill up that big old office anyway.........

i've enjoyed reading everyone else's blogs about the holidays, seeing pics of happy excited kids, and all the rest. christmas was great for us too, and here are the happy faces to document the glorious occasion!!!

and before christmas, we also had my neice lorelei's baptism:

and my mother-in-law's birthday party:

on new year's day, my sister and her family came with us to bayou wildlife park, to see all the cool safari animals! camels, rhinos, giraffes, antelope, plus a couple longhorn cattle and a buffalo. llamas, ostriches, emus, deer, goats, sheep, and donkeys. lots of fun!

so now we are back to work, school, and normal life.

can you believe they already have valentine's day stuff up!!?? can't i get a second to breathe?

anyway, happy new year to all, hoping you all have peace in your homes.

here i am again....need help with a work issue!!

2007-12-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

so i guess i've sort of become an on again off again blogger.

this transition has been a little hectic, but i'm getting into the swing of the supervisor thing. it is continuously surprising how much grown people try to weasle out of work. and act like 10 year olds.

but here is the biggest dilemma facing me. when our unit was formed, there was only one administrator and one supervisor. when the department moved to our new building last year, our unit was assigned offices in a space that actually has 3 management offices. so the administrator and supervisor got two of those, and the 3rd was given to the officer in the unit who had the most seniority with the department. i'll call him dave. he also happens to be the laziest officer probably in the whole department, but we'll get to that later. so anyway, now that i'm promoted, there are 3 managers, but i was told that i will have a regular office (with no window) until dave retires, and then i can have the big office. needless to say this doesn't sit well with me. to add insult to injury, my small office is right across the hall from him. so he grins up at me from his big desk every day, knowing it pisses me off.

so when all this went down, i didn't throw a fit, and i didn't complain or demand the big office. i figured it was a test to see what kind of team player i am or how i'm going to react to edicts from the big boss. since my unit is full of veteran officers, many of whom have been in the department longer than me, i figured jumping in and throwing my weight around would be counter productive. and as i ease into this role, i think i made the right decision about that.

but now here's a wrinkle in the plot. another officer, we'll call her laura, is leaving the unit. she currently has a window office, not a big one, but a window nonetheless. so my boss offered that one to me, again indicating that dave needs to stay in the big one because of seniority. now i think it's getting just a little ridiculous. as long as people are moving, dave can pack his stuff and get on out of my office. i think this time i may say something.

am i just being petty? i mean, i can do my job just as well behind any size desk, with or without a window. but it's the principle of the thing!!

help!!

and now there's a new twist.

halloween pics!!!

2007-11-06T13:40:00.000-08:00

yes, this is sadie tiger kissing daddy gorilla!!

life is good!

2007-10-30T07:17:00.001-07:00

some good updates.........

so sadie is finally settling in. she still cries when i leave, but composes herself a lot sooner. and yesterday, they reported she didn't cry at all in the afternoon, even after she woke up from her nap! she has started talking more and more there, too. she talks all the time at home, but rarely did at school, i guess because she was too upset. so that's a good sign. so i feel better about that. and of course, aidan is doing better again too. he is such a big boy.

and in other news....

i just got a promotion!!!!

i'm now a supervisor in the placement unit, where we have probationers in treatment facilities.

i hope you're not offended that i didn't write my usual posts about interviewing and please send me good vibes and here's how i did, and oh well i'll get 'em next time. i was tired of sounding like a broken record, and thought maybe i was jinxing myself.

but wow!! i'm so excited. i start in 2 weeks. but they already switched my payroll stuff, so i'll get my first new and improved paycheck the same week i start! i guess that's one benefit to having working in personnel for 2 years - friends in payroll!

so yay for me! yay for my kiddos.

yay for halloween tomorrow! hurray for cooler weather finally here! even though it will still be 80 today, at least it's getting down to 50 at night.... perfect weather, in my southern opinion.

have a great week!!!!

a few things

2007-10-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

nothing like starting your day off by torturing your 2 children. i had to leave both of them in their classrooms, screaming their heads off. with sadie, i know she's just adjusting still, but it's not getting better. i bring her special blanket and her special puppy, but she is inconsolable. i peeked at her through the window a couple minutes after i left her, and she was no longer screaming, just a soft-but-steady tear-less waaaaaah. with this distressed look on her face that just breaks my heart. even while she plays with the toys and toddles around the room. just unhappy.

and aidan, who was doing so well, has regressed too. probably about half the time, he was to the point where he would run in to the room and forget to even kiss me goodbye. and now i have to practically push him into the room, and when i leave he throws himself on the ground and wails. he eventually stops, the teacher is telling me, but it still is hard on me to watch.

did i make the wrong decision to have them in daycare? were we tons better off with cha cha watching them at home? which is better - them at home with cha cha but spoiled to death, or them in daycare interacting w/other kids but unhappy?

sometimes they figure it out all on their own!

2007-10-12T06:54:00.001-07:00

so this morning i was in a growly mood. i was running late, and trying to get myself and the kids up, dressed, fed, make lunches, etc. i've been getting to work later and later these days. and part of what gets me fuming is that i'm running and gunning to get three people out the door, and jerry gets to poke along and get just himself ready to go in a leisurely way, spending his 15 minutes in the bathroom, getting out of bed after i'm already up, showered and dressed, etc. but i bite my tongue. who has time for an argument, anyway? so instead i was just snippy with him, figuring he'd get the message anyway. a strategy that rarely works, and only results in him saying at some point, "what the hell is wrong with you today? what did i do?" which i probably deserve.

so i was feeling a little guilty this morning as i was driving in, that i left him without a kiss and with a snarl on my face, but still not too happy about the getting ready in the morning work load distribution.

but he called me, and after some civil conversation, he actually said, well maybe if i get my butt in gear and help with some of the getting the kids ready in the morning, you'd be able to get out of the house a little earlier....

wow! great idea! and then i was glad i didn't go ahead and point that fact out in a very ugly and sarcastic tone like i was going to. one fight successfully avoided.

now we'll just have to wait and see if it actually happens. and i'll try not to say that to him in that sarcastic tone that i use way too often.....

another difficult day

2007-10-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

so my big girl sadie started daycare today. i'm a little less worried about her than i was about aidan. she never has done the total meltdown thing like he did, and she was a little less spoiled by cha cha....

she did cry this morning though. clutched at my neck and knees, with big fat tears and stomping her little feet. man this is hard.

i called a few minutes ago, and she's not screaming anymore (she's been there for about an hour and a half) but she will play a little, then whimper and cry a little, then play some more. i hope she eats well. that should help.

she is actually only 16 months and they have her in the 18 month to 24 month classroom. which originally was a mistake, but since she doesn't use a pacifier or drink from a bottle, and is walking and talking, i think she'll be fine. better, actually, because i don't want her regressing to needing a bottle again. and she is pretty tough, having 3 older brothers and all. and usually pretty outgoing and gregarious. the only thing i worry about with her in with the (barely) older kids is that she'll nap on a mat instead of in a crib, which she's never done. but then again, neither had aidan, and it never bothered him.

friday was really really hard, being cha cha's last day and all. she held it together pretty well until she gave me back her set of house keys. then she teared up, and i did too. aidan had stayed home sick from school that day too. so at least she got to spend all day with both of them. i told her we'll visit her often, hopefully every week. i don't want the kids to not know her. or miss her too much.

anyway, send some prayers and good vibes my way! help me make it through the day!

the name game

2007-10-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

found this meme at aimee's place - love it!

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Molly Odyssey - i'd pay to see her!

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
chunky monkey peanut butter. hell to the yea!

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME:(first letter of first name, first three letters of last name)
C-Dav (my stepson jokingly refers to himself as "A-Dav." how sad is that?)

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Pink Puppy. (Pink Panther's understudy?)

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Marie Seattle. yuk.

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)
Davcar. hhmm. doesn't sound as sexy as aimee's. or han solo.

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
The Red Diet Coke! mmmm. not so much confidence in my planet-saving abilities.

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
John Roger. hell, that sounds fast!!

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names )
Kay Theodore. i like that better than the soap opera name!

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
Johnson Joplin. i like it!

12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
Summer Daisy. i get to be the one who pretends to be a ditzy blonde, all the while collecting important dark secrets!

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)

Cantaloupe Pantsy. sounds fun, right?

14. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
Granola Bar Oak. right on, i am a true hippie!

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”)
The collapsing on the couch thunderstorm tour! i know that speaks to the teenage audience and the parent audience - i should have record sales.

tell me if you did this too in comments, i want to check you out.

saturday fun here in houston

2007-10-03T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm taking the kids here saturday - you can't argue with free! plus it looks cool!

the other day, i went to the Mad Potter with my sister and her kids. What a cool place! you pick which piece of pottery you want to paint, they provide the paint and brushes, and when you're done, they keep it and fire it, and you pick it up 5 days later, all glazed and microwave/oven safe. cool. lucy made some magnets and she helped me with a pumpkin. katie made a picture frame, stamped with lorelei's feet. turned out very cute. anyway, i want to take the kiddos there too. maybe we'll fit it in on saturday too after the museum.

land of the living?

2007-09-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

so after a month's hiatus, i'm finally resurfacing.

i swear i have whip marks on my back from the crazy slave-driving that's going on over here. to make a long story short, we have 5 HR reps trying to staff a department of over 2000 employees, and it's just really impossible. oh, and one of us has been out on FMLA for 6 weeks - who knows when she's coming back. and i have little or no computer time at home....competition is fierce w/all the kiddos and the hubby!

anyway, i've missed all my bloggy friends! we are slowing down a little over here, so i'll be able to visit you all a little more again.

so for an update: aidan and sadie were both sick last week. aidan had a fever from thursday night all the way until sunday night. sadie was basically one day behind him. no fun. and you know momma got no sleep. up every 2 hours giving someone tylenol or motrin. but we're all well again, thank god.

aidan is doing great in daycare!!! most days he actually runs in the classroom with no problems. he has one favorite teacher, miss kasey, who is there monday, wednesday and friday. so obviously these are the easiest days! but i have been very pleased with his progress, and how much they work with him. and i definitely notice more talking from him too - still delayed a bit, but he's catching up. we got a referral from the doctor for a behavioral diagnostician to see if there is anything else we might need to address, since he is still kind of a loner there.

sadie will be starting at the daycare in 2 weeks. oh, my gosh it was hard to tell cha cha.(our sitter at home.) she cried, y'all. i asked her if she'd like for me to help her find another family to watch their babies, and she told me "oh, no - i'll never be able to watch children again. there will never be another aidan!" talk about feeling guilty. but i know it's the best thing for both of them. it was wonderful to have her keep them at home while they were little, but as they get bigger, i think the interaction and learning they do at the daycare will serve them better. we won't have the speech issues with sadie that we do with aidan, so i know she'll fall right in step there. she's going to have so much fun, i'm excited for her to make friends!

so october 5th is cha cha's last day with us. there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth, i'm afraid to say. i promised her that we will bring the kids to visit her often, and send her pictures, etc. poor lady, i hate that i'm breaking her heart, but it's really for the best.

hhhmmm - what else to say. i feel like i'm just going fast fast fast all the time these days. rushing everywhere, with no time to just relax. last night i went to the store on the way home from work, picked noah up at cce class, came home and made two trays of enchiladas, rice, and beans in about 40 minutes, ate, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, put the kids to bed, and realized i hadn't even sat down long enough to go to the bathroom since before lunch. a mommy's work is never done.

some pics from the galveston trip

2007-08-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here is aidan at the train museum in galveston - the boy loooooooves trains. he was in heaven.

and here is sadie in the pool at the condo. i was a good mommy and put sunblock on her, but she was just born to tan. lucky i got her the cool surfer style bathing suit, to keep her mostly covered....

here is one of the bunks in the submarine the USS Cavalla, on display at seawolf park. needless to say i had my hands full trying to keep aidan from activating or destroying the war machine!

welcome baby lorelei!!!

2007-08-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here is my sister with her husband and new baby lorelei marie!!

yay!!!

deja vu

2007-08-14T08:05:00.001-07:00

so here we are full circle.

about a year ago when i began this blog, one of my first posts was a lament about the woes of the air conditioner going out in the middle of a hot houston summer.

and here we go again.

it was 110 degrees here yesterday, y'all, and we have no a/c. i called at 6 pm yesterday and made an appointment for the a/c guys to come, and they said no problem, we'll be there between 8 and 11. cool. i also have doctor's appointments for aidan and i - we are both in the throes of upper respiritory infections, complete with hacking cough and snottiness. but here it is 10:00 and the thought occurred to me that maybe they showed up at 8:05, and left because we weren't quite home from the hotel we spent the night in last night. (i got home at 8:10 am!) so i called, and the girl told me that they're running a little behind today, we won't be able to get there til later this afternoon. our appointments are at 1 and 1:30. so i had to reschedule the a/c guys for 3pm, and just hope that we're out of the doctor's office by then. what a day. the only good thing about it is that i'm not at work stressing out about all the new hires and cursing all my coworkers in my head. that does make me happy!

so, hope you all are having a good day.

and thanks for participating in katie's name poll from last post - if you haven't voted yet, please do!!!

here i am, and a name poll!!!

2007-08-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

galveston was great! i'm all tan. the kids loooooved the beach and the pool. pictures will follow. still getting slammed at work. jerry comes home tonight. my sister katie should be going into labor any day now, and has not yet chosen a name for her new daughter.

so i'll take an unofficial poll for her.... i know it's tough, not knowing her last name, but i'll say that it is a one-syllable last name. so knowing that, which name do you like better, audrey or whitney?

small update

2007-08-03T09:43:00.000-07:00

sorry for the non-blogging. i'm getting killed at work. to make a long story short (since it's all i have time for, even though i'd love to pour out my complaints on y'all's sympathetic ears....) it's all about hiring 20 teachers in the span of two weeks, including interviewing, background checks, employment verification, and payroll. and dealing with attitudes on all sides. so...

aidan's doing great at daycare - cha cha keeps coming up with different reasons she wants to pick him up early every day, even though i think he should start staying later, like til 3 or so. but i'll address that soon.

we're going to galveston for a couple days, and i'm taking monday and tuesday off work!!! yippee!! we figured saturday thru tuesday at the beach is about all the babies could handle anyway, so then jerry will stay til friday with the big kids, so they can do big kid things without babies around.

anyway, that's life in a nutshell right now.

day 5

2007-07-27T08:57:00.001-07:00

ok, so do you know that today, after i sat and ate a little breakfast with aidan, he got up and ran into his classroom by himself, and left me there at the table packing up his lunchbox?

amazing. he was kind of whining on the way to daycare, and didn't want to put his shoes on to go, but once we got there, he was fine.

i followed him in to the classroom to put his things away, then gave him a hug and kiss and he said bye bye mommy! and turned to watch cartoons. just like that.

he did start crying as soon as i walked out of the door (i could hear him down the hall) but i'm sure it didn't last long, b/c at 8 am they start play time.

soooo much easier than i thought it would be for him. monday starts longer days, but if we can get through this week unscathed, next week should be a breeze.

what a big boy.

we're getting there.....

2007-07-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

day 3 -

so i was inspired by t with honey's comment from the other day, and i tried sitting with him for a few minutes before gearing up to leave. i asked him if he would like to eat breakfast with me, and we sat in the cafeteria while he ate his little bowl of oranges. and when he was done, i asked if he wanted to go play with the other kids, and he said yes! we went back to the classroom, and then he started to lose it a little. but i didn't have to pry him off me today. he did cry, but he sat on the floor with the teacher and the other kids after i kissed him and left.

so when i called about an hour later, they were watching a bible school puppet show, and they said he'd done really well today so far...no crying. not really playing with the other kids yet, but at least no crying.

yesterday cha cha was very concerned b/c when she picked him up he was very pale and lethargic. when she got him home, he pounced on the food she had for him. he hasn't been eating at all at the daycare, and he has also still been fighting us on the earlier bedtime. so i had to explain to her that no, i don't think they're drugging him, he's just tired and hungry! (plus screaming for an hour or so takes a lot out of a kid) we're getting there. each day is better.

and now for something completely different.....how do i get sadie to quit biting me? i've tried ice, food, teethers, anything to stick in her mouth to keep her from attacking me. she's got 10 of the most painful teeth ever. i swear, she will walk right up to me and bite the back of my leg, or bite me right on the bo*b when i'm holding her. and dang, it hurts. any suggestions?

day number 2

2007-07-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

well, it wasn't as bad as expected....

first let me say thanks for the prayers and well wishes!!!

ok, so to finish out the day yesterday...i called them about a hundred bazillion times, and every time they were very sweet and gave me an update, and let me listen to the monitor on the room. he had calmed down, and even played with the other kiddos a little. he would play, then cry some, then play, then cry. he ate a bite or two of his lunch. and he actually did lay down for nap time, and slept for about forty minutes. i was shocked! but then, they said he woke up, and pretty much freaked out again. they brought him up to the front office (there's a little play room right there where the kids can wait to be picked up) so they could let the other kids sleep. he was inconsoleable for about an hour, at which point they called and suggested that maybe it would be a good time to pick him up. i had already planned to leave work at 2 to get him, so leaving at 1:30 wasn't too much off target. anyway, by the time i got there, he was calmed down, had eaten a popsicle, and was playing cars with one of the staff. when he saw me, he started crying again, and ran to choke me around my neck. but that only lasted about 20 seconds, and then, get this: he grabbed my hand and wanted to take me back to his classroom! i was so pleased that he still wanted to be there, just didn't want to be alone. so we walked back and got his things, and played a little, then left.

they also suggested that maybe half days would be best for the first week or two. which is fine - cha cha can pick him up at noon. i wish he could stay for nap time, but we'll work up to that. and - even though they don't usually do it, they offered to only charge us half while he's only coming half days. wow. they really are super nice there. i knew there was a reason we waited a year for this place!!!!

so, now to this morning. again, i was shocked that he still wanted to go! he had no problem getting up, getting ready, and was telling me, "go go, mommy!!" and hopped right into the car. wow. however, it all went downhill when we pulled up in front of the daycare. he started crying, and saying "no not there, mommy!!" he didn't fight me to go in - i still think he likes being there, just wants me to be there too. we went into the classroom, put down his things, and went to the cafeteria to eat his breakfast. he wasn't interested at all. kept crying. i decided not to prolong the agony, and gave him a kiss and told him i love you and cha cha will come pick you up soon. when i called an hour later, they said he was playing fine with the other kiddos, and had only cried for 20 minutes or so. wow.

so i guess it's going better than i thought it would. he's acclimating, and i can't wait to see the benefits of being in a more structured environment. i'm hoping his behavior will improve too now that he will have more consistent limits too. and i hope he'll start to talk more too. i'm dying to be able to have a real conversation with my son. i want to know what he thinks and feels about stuff.

anyway - one day at a time.

here's a question though - i'm a little uncomfortable with the arrangement of me taking him in the morning, and cha cha (our nanny) picking him up (rescuing him!) in the afternoon. will he resent me for being the one to abandon him? or am i thinking too much?

the big big boy

2007-07-23T09:24:00.000-07:00

sigh. today is aidan's first day at daycare.

he's been at home with the nanny since he was 4 months old. and yes, he's spoiled.

i've been trying to prepare him the whole last week, telling him about school, and how much fun he'll have, and friends he'll make, and that mommy won't be there but he'll have fun and i'll come back soon.

i had to pry his little hands off my legs to get out of the classroom. when i called there an hour later, they told me he had unlocked the deadbolted door to the outside and run out in the parking lot. twice. then he opened the classroom door and went out into the hallway. so the director took him around and walked the whole complex with him, to show him that i wasn't there. she was very sweet about it. she brought him back to the classroom and sat with him, and he had stopped screaming. the next time i called, she said last she checked on him he was sitting by himself playing with a puzzle, still not crying.

i'm so distracted today at work, i've barely gotten anything done. poor kid. nap time is in about 1/2 hour. i wonder if he'll even try to lay down. they should be getting lunches out for them about now. i wonder if he'll even try to eat. well, the plan is to leave here at about 2 to go pick him up....

today is bad - i know tomorrow will be worse, just getting him in the car....

say a prayer for me and him.

a thrilling evening at home....

2007-07-18T18:00:00.001-07:00

wanna know what i'm doing right now? i'm taking my online defensive driving class. i got pulled over for running a red light about 3 months ago, and i have just a couple weeks to get this done.

i'm trying to split it up into an hour or so per night, because seriously, i can't make myself stay awake once it starts.

ah, such is life. better believe i'll never gun it on yellow again.

things you never hear a texan say....

2007-07-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

Pulled this off an old email i found in my archived files. it made me giggle.

The Top 40 things you would never hear a Texan say----ever----no matter
>how much they've had to drink no matter how far from Texas they've
>wandered:
>
>
>> > > 40. Oh, I just couldn't. Hell, she's only sixteen.
>
>> > > 39. I'll take Shakespeare for 1000, Alex.
>
>> > > 38. Duct tape won't fix that.
>
>> > > 37. Lisa Marie was lucky to catch Michael.
>
>> > > 36. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken.
>
>> > > 35. We don't keep firearms in this house.
>
>> > > 34. Has anybody seen the sideburns trimmer?
>
>> > > 33. You can't feed that to the dog.
>
>> > > 32. I thought Graceland was tacky.
>
>> > > 31. No kids in the back of the pickup, it's just not safe.
>
>> > > 30. Wrasslin's fake.
>
>> > > 29. Honey, did you mail that donation to Greenpeace?
>
>> > > 28. We're vegetarians.
>
>> > > 27. Do you think my gut is too big?
>
>> > > 26. I'll have grapefruit and grapes instead of biscuits and gravy.
>
>> > > 25. Honey, we don't need another dog.
>
>> > > 24. Who's Richard Petty?
>
>> > > 23. Give me the small bag of pork rinds.
>
>> > > 22. Too many deer heads detract from the decor.
>
>> > > 21. Spittin' is such a nasty habit.
>
>> > > 20. I just couldn't find a thing at Wal-Mart today.
>
>> > > 19. Trim the fat off the steak.
>
>> > > 18. Cappuccino tastes better than espresso.
>
>> > > 17. The tires on that truck are too big.
>
>> > > 16. I'll have the arugula and radicchio salad.
>
>> > > 15. I've got it all on the C drive.
>
>> > > 14. Unsweetened tea tastes better.
>
>> > > 13. Would you like your fish poached or broiled?
>
>> > > 12. My fiance, Bobbie Jo, is registered at Tiffany's.
>
>> > > 11. I've got two cases of Zima for the Super Bowl.
>
>> > > 10. Little Debbie snack cakes have too many fat grams.
>
>> > > 9. Checkmate.
>
>> > > 8. She's too young to be wearing a bikini.
>
>> > > 7. Does the salad bar have bean sprouts?
>
>> > > 6. Hey, here's an episode of "Hee Haw" that we haven't seen.
>
>> > > 5. I don't have a favorite college team.
>
>> > > 4. Be sure to bring my salad dressing on the side.
>
>> > > 3. I believe you cooked those green beans to long.
>
>> > > 2. Those shorts ought to be a little longer, Darlin'.
>
>> > >
>
>> > > And the number one thing is
>
>> > >
>
>> > > 1. Nope, no more for me. I'm drivin' tonight.

2007-07-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

so fellow blogger and friend Kate is considering embarking on the journey we call parenthood. and she, very wisely i might add, is soliciting advice from all mamas and papas before diving in. here are my answers, and if you want to help her out, you can copy and paste the questions from her blog here, and give her your perspective, too.

General parenting:

1. Did you always want to be a parent?
I did. wasn't always sure when i wanted to start, but i knew eventually i would.

2. If you didn't, when and why did you change your mind?
What made me sure i was ready to start was getting pregnant! (ha! only sort of..)

3. Do you ever regret becoming a parent?
no. to be honest, i wondered what the hell i was thinking while i was pregnant (both times), but once the babies arrived, i truly couldn't picture life without them.

4. Would you recommend being a parent to someone else? Why or why not?
Sure. I'd recommend it only to people who are able to delay gratification for a few years. and to people who are able to say "no popsicles for dinner" and stick to their guns, no matter how damn cute the kid is.

5. Who raised you? Do you think that your parents/primary caregivers were a good or bad example of parenting? How has this helped or hindered you in being the kind of parent you are/want to be?
My parents raised me. My father died when i was 10, so i also experienced some of growing up in a single parent home. my mom has some issues, and while i wish we could have gotten along a little better, i have to admit she did a fine job of holding it all together first with a husband that traveled all the time, then without a husband at all. all five of her kids are college graduates, all are healthy, all are good people, all are happy. four are married to nice people, four are parents of good kids. that says "parental success" to me. her example, and that of my dad, have definitely helped shape me into the parent that i am. sometimes i shudder when i hear my mom's words come out of my mouth (nothing good ever happens after midnight!!) but for the most part, it turns out she was right.

6. What do you wish someone had told you before you became a parent?
How bad your boobs hurt when your milk come in. that store brand diapers work just as well as the name brand. to put the cute clothes on the kid anyway, don't just wait for a special occasion, because by the time it rolls around, the cute clothes won't fit anymore.

Work/home life:

1. Do you consider parenting your vocation? Do you have another/other vocation(s)?
Hhmmm. yes, it's a vocation, in the same way marriage is a vocation. It's something one is called to do, but for me, it's not the only calling. i consider my vocation to be helping others, and parenting falls nicely into that niche.

2. Is staying home with your children something that you do currently/did/want to do/not want to do? Why or why not?
I don't now, but i would like to. I don't consider being a sahm to be essential for raising good kids or the only way to show your kids you love them, and i know it's very likely a harder job to do than the one i have now. but to me, i think working a part time job at something i really enjoy and spending the bulk of my time with my kids would be awesome.

3. How do you fulfill your needs, hopes, dreams, ambitions, etc. while caring for those of your children?
good question. honestly, i will say that i don't. my first gut response to this question was - "what needs? what ambitions?" my needs these days tend to revolve around support of my family - we need a steam carpet cleaner, i hope someday to re-doing the kitchen counters with granite, i dream about going away for a weekend with my husband, my ambition would be to get a promotion at my job, so we're a little less hard up for cash around here. like i said before, you have to be able to delay gratification a little in order to be okay with parenting.

4. Are your friends/family/community supportive of your choices in terms of work and family? How does this affect you?
sure. i have friends who work, friends who don't, and siblings who do and don't. my mom really is the only one who tends to "pity" me because i have to work every day and can't be at home with the kiddos. and there are a lot of organizations that really make it hard on working parents (baseball practice for my step son starts at 5:30, and i don't get home until 6 pm!) but other parents are usually helpful, and it really helps if you have some family around to pitch in.

5. Is your workplace supportive of the demands that parenting places on your life?
yes. all three of my bosses are women and mothers, so they are very understanding of the things that come up. and my prior boss was a man, but a father of four, and he was really cool too. even told me to close my door and take a nap when i was pregnant. and all have been flexible and worked with me on my schedule. i know this is not normal, and in fact, not all bosses in our department are this way, but i've gotten lucky. the only complaint i have is that working for the county, we don't get maternity leave. we have fmla, which guarantees your job for 12 weeks. which means that you use your own vacation and sick time during those 12 weeks, but if you don't have 12 full weeks saved up, and you use it all, you can still stay home, but you won't be paid. i had 5 weeks of vacation and sick time saved, so when that was all spent, i had to go back to work. i could have stayed home another 7, but we couldn't afford not to have my paycheck.

6. What do you wish you had from others to support your parenting of your children?
i wish parents would allow other parents to discipline their kids, like when we were young. what i mean is, when i was a kid, my parents were fine with other parents telling me if i was out of line. and likewise, if i had a friend over, and she was being impolite or what have you, my parents would redirect her and tell her how to behave in our house. and no one got freaked out and said "you can't tell my kid what to do!!" in a sense, the village raised the children. nowadays, other parents are often too sensitive when it comes to other parents saying anything to their kids, even (and especially) when the kids are out of control.

Marriage/partnership:

1. Do you have a spouse/partner? Did you when you began parenting? Same partner the entire time?
Yes, yes, and yes. My husband had 2 sons from a prior marriage, so we were an instant family when we got married. then i got pregnant 3 months later.

2. Did your spouse/partner want to have children? As much/more/less than you?
yes. jerry said when we got married that he'd love to have 10 kids. he has since decided that 4 is plenty. i think i'd be ok with one more. but we'll see. it will take some negotiating....

3. How has parenting changed your relationship? Has it strengthened? Weakened? Was this change permanent?
i will honestly say that pregnancy and childbirth breaks down any barriers you may have had between you and your husband. at least it did with me. no more dignity or hiding your bodily functions or fluids. on a serious note, his being a good father already was one of the things that made me fall in love with him. so his being cute and sweet with the babies makes me love him more. i think when you become parents, you find you need each other more, on all levels. you need the support to get all the jobs done. you need the emotional support and understanding when it gets difficult. you need each other's input to make the hard decisions of how/when to discipline, start solid foods, let them go to the movies by themselves, etc. i think that realization that you need each other is what makes your relationship stronger. you know you have to nurture each other, because you can't do it on your own!

4. How do you divide parenting responsibilities?
we're mostly in the camp of whatever needs to get done gets done by whomever is there at the time. and in most cases, the older boys are his responsibility, because their crazy-ass mother throws a fit if i'm too involved in their lives. but as for the babies, it pretty much falls 80%-20%, the bulk is mine. i'm mostly ok with that, because that means 80% of the time it gets done my way.

5. How do you divide financial responsibilities? (If you don't mind sharing--I know this is really personal) Do you plan to keep the current arrangement long-term? Why or why not?
this i'm not all that crazy about. we both make money, and it goes into our joint checking account. that part is cool with me - frankly, i don't see why it should be any other way. the part that i don't like is that i'm the one who pays the bills, and has to keep track of where the money is going. i'm not great at it, and i don't like being the only one responsible when we run out of money. we've been talking about transferring this responsibility over to him for a while now, and it hasn't happened. honestly, i think i'm more organized and would do it better than him, but i just don't enjoy it. so in all likelihood, it will stay my job.

Education/faith (I know that this is another intensely personal topic/set of topics and I hope that I am being respectful in the way that I am asking these questions):

1. How do you/plan to educate your children?
they'll go to the public school. someday if we had enough money, we would consider our catholic school, but it's not an option now. i'm not homeschooling.

2. Are/will both partners be as involved in decisions of education?
absolutely.

3. Did/will you raise your children in a certain faith? How did/will you decide if one partner feels more strongly than the other?
we are catholic, and are raising our kids so. it's one of our strengths as a couple and a family.

4. How does your family of origin impact these decisions?
My parents were hard-core about education. i knew since i was in kindergarten that graduating from college is an expectation. i pretty much feel the same way, and i want my kids to value and enjoy their education just as much as i d/did. jerry's family was basically the opposite. no one in his immediate family graduated from college. he was the only one to even go at all, even though he didn't finish. but he feels basically the same way i do, luckily.

5. Are you supported by your spouse/family/community/etc. in the decisions that you are making in terms of educating your children?
yes, for the most part. we agree on our goals for our kids, but my expectations are higher. he seems to be ok with Bs and Cs, whereas i can tell how smart the boys are, and i know there is no reason they shouldn't be making straight As. Laziness angers me. and there is no other reason for the grades they make. you better believe that the babies will know what is expected of them when they start school.

6. What additional support would you love to have from others to help educate your children?
i want everyone to have the same high expectations of my kids that i do. don't let them sell themselves short.

Growing your family (literally):

1. How did your children come to join your family?
i entered their family when i married their dad, and then the babies joined us later.

2. How many children do you have/plan to have/want to have?
we have 4, with the option of a fifth. i think that's our limit, but it really is in god's hands.

3. How many children were in your family of origin? How did this impact your answer to the previous question?
we had 5 kids in my family, jerry's had 3. i love big families!

4. Are you supported by your spouse/family/community/etc. in the decisions that you are making in terms of growing your family?
Somewhat. a lot of people like to tell me "well you have your boy and your girl, so you're done now!" but it's not the case. we also use natural family planning, (you know, no birth control!!) and it works. but it's hard to convince people of that. they tend to think we're crazy, and figure we'll end up with 20 kids. but i'm a huge advocate.

5. What additional support would you love to have from others in terms of growing your family?
i would like our mothers to be more involved with their grandchildren. visit a little more often, so the kids get to know them better.

hope that helps you, kate!

100 words you should know......

2007-07-05T07:57:00.000-07:00

abstemious
acumen
bellicose
chicanery
deciduous
deleterious
expurgate
facetious
gerrymander
hemoglobin

inculcate
infrastructure
irony
kowtow
laissez faire
oligarchy
omnipotent
oxidize
paradigm
parameter

pecuniary
plagiarize
plasma
polymer
precipitous
quasar
recapitulate
reciprocal
respiration
sanguine

suffragist
tectonic
thermodynamics
totalitarian
unctuous
usurp
vehement
vortex
winnow
wrought

I knew the words in green; I did not know the words in red. In total, I knew 35 of 40.

got this from kelli, who got it from kate, who got it from the defective yeti.

so go tackle this, english language lovers!!! (i know katie and aimee will dig this!)

oh, and by the way, kelli is playing a fun game over at her site - it's a grown-up version of "if you give a mouse a muffin." go check it out and leave a comment!

do you know anyone who is......

2007-06-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

POLITICALLY CORRECT WAYS TO SAY SOMEONE IS STUPID

A few clowns short of a circus.
A few fries short of a happy meal.
The wheel's spinning, but the hamster's dead.
Slipped into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn't
watching.
All foam, no beer.
The butter has slipped off his pancake.
The cheese slid off his cracker.
Body by Fisher, brains by Mattel.
Warning: Objects in mirror are dumber than they appear.
Couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the
heel.
He fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the
way down.
As smart as bait.
Doesn't have all his dogs on one leash.
Her sewing machine's out of thread.
One fruit loop shy of a full bowl.
Her antenna doesn't pick up all the channels.
His belt doesn't go through all the loops.
Proof that evolution CAN go in reverse.
Receiver is off the hook.
Not wired to code.
Skylight leaks a little.
Her slinky's kinked.
Too much yardage between the goal posts.
Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold
them together.
A photographic memory, but the lens cover is on.
During evolution his ancestors were in the control group.
Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train
isn't coming.
Is so dense, light bends around her.
If brains were taxed, he'd get a rebate.
Standing close to her, you can hear the ocean.
Some drink from the fountain of knowledge, but he just
gargled.
She stayed on the Tilt-A-Whirl a bit too long.
If brains were dynamite, he wouldn't have enough to blow
his nose.

Tell me your one-liners for those smart-as-dirt coworkers or acquaintances you have!!

slug

2007-06-26T09:23:00.001-07:00

i am such a blogging slug...

i am sure all of my avid, daily readers (all 2 of you) have noticed the alarming and sharp decrease in the frequency of my captivating and informative posts.

either i'm suddenly developing some scruples about spending time on the clock at work blogging, or i've just been too swamped at work to remember to blog, or some of both. more of the latter, actually. since when do i worry about cheating the county?

so did you know that in the next couple of years, there is a real possibility of me getting to become a stay at home mom? how cool would that be!?!? and no, i am not suggesting that this will be easier, i know how much there is to do. i just miss seeing my kids all day, and until more money is coming in to make it all happen, i have to work. but several things are on the horizon in the next year or two that may very well tip the scales in our favor.....
1. jerry gets raises every 6 months for another year
2. child support payments will decrease when alec turns 18, and possilby go away if we get custody of the boys. (another post altogether....)
3. aidan will go to pre-k and kindergarten

i think i can hang in there for another 2 or 3 years, and then i can be that mommy that goes on field trips and can get her kids to baseball practice at 5:30 and go to the grocery store on tuesday afternoon and such. and i probably still won't do the laundry until it's 2 feet deep on my closet floor, but i'll have played with my kids all day!!! and that's accomplishing something.

someone once told me....

2007-06-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

you always love your kids. but sometimes, you love them most when they are asleep.....

My exclusive interview

2007-06-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

so seriously, about a month ago my friend kelli was interviewed by another blogger. this is a new take on memes, i guess. i'll share the questions asked of me, and my answers, and if you want me to interview you, tell me so in your comments here, and i'll link to your interviews too.

sorry, kel, it took me a month to do this!!! but these are really good questions!

so here goes:

1. How does doing the job you do all day and the things that you see affect the way you parent your older boys?

a little background...i work for juvenile probation. i have two stepsons who are 11 and 16.

it does have a profound effect on how we parent them. i share stories about kids on my caseload sometimes, about what they did to get in trouble. teenagers sometimes don't know how serious their shenanigans can be...a simple "mooning" can get you branded a sex offender, and any graffitti on school property is a felony. they don't know these things. they also practically never think about how an innocent situation can blow up out of their control until it's too late. we've told them both that it is not ok to be at a friend's house without parents if there are any girls there. period. you never know which little girl will claim to have been touched, kissed, leered at, etc. and how it can screw up the rest of your teenage years. **please do not read this as saying that all these teenage girls who make allegations are lying. they're not. i just have to look at it from the perspective of a parent to two very good boys, and having seen plenty of lying troublesome delinquent kids, i know what messes they are capable of making for the good ones.

so anyway, the long and the short of it is, working with delinquent youth has made us careful to communicate the potential pitfalls of delinquent behavior to the boys. it also give us credibility with them, i think. they know we speak from personal experience when we tell them what the kids did, didn't do, and how they were punished. and so far it has worked. they are two really good kids.

2. If you won the lottery tomorrow, I know you would pay off bills and help friends. Everybody always says that. What are some fun, frivolous, unexpected things you'd like to do with some of the money?

buy a house and some property in the country. use it as a weekend getaway kind of place. i always said i'd buy a building for the TCU sociology department too, since the Sociology/Criminal Justice Department was housed in a double wide trailer on TCU's campus. I would donate a sizable chunk to the Church, probably specifically for youth ministry. Maybe buy a chunk of land and start a campground/retreat location. complete with cabins and cafeteria, lakes and canoes and all that good stuff. i wouldn't even mind putting it on our own aforementioned property in the country that we use as our weekend getaway. it would be fun to come visit the youth while they're on their retreats.

My husband wants to start a grassroots political organization to lobby to reform child support and child custody laws. We feel that the father in a divorce is really treated unfairly, and shouldn't be forced into near poverty by court imposed child support, especially when he has joint custody.

hhmmm. i would probably still shop at target and palais royal - just buy more things, and not only wait til they're on sale. i would always have a pedicure though. i would have the softest, prettiest feet ever. and tons of shoes.

oh, and we would travel!! we have family all over the country (and friends all over the world) so we would definitely travel.

and i would have season tickets to the astros. definitely.

3. You hear a lot about the special bond between twins. Is your relationship with your twin very different from what you have with your other two sisters?

good question. it is, but maybe not so much because of the twin-ness, just because they are 8 and 6 years older than me. they were our babysitters when we were little, and once they were in high school, our paths just didn't cross much. we inherited and treasured all their hand-me-downs, and strived to be just like them in many ways (ie, being in band, playing volleyball, excelling in school) but i think katie and are are closer by simple virtue of the fact that we went through all of our stuff together. and really, it's only been in the past couple years that i have really developed a closer relationship with my older sisters, simply because we finally have things in common - marriage and kids. they each live far away - one on each coast - so we don't talk too often, but when we do, it's about our families or how crazy our mom is, or about plans to visit each other. recently though, i've talked a lot more with my oldest sister jennifer, because she and her husband are very devout catholics, and were really a big boost to me during my divorce and subsequent marriage, to really learn and return to life as a practicing catholic. i credit her intervention and gentle pushing to get me and jerry to rediscover the benefits and joys of our faith. and of course, that has brought us closer too.

so i guess i would say that katie and i aren't weirdly esp twin radar close, but there's defnitely no one who could ever know or understand me or love me like she does. and vice versa.

4. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would you want it to be? (You can choose courses and sides too.)

oh, man. as much as i love steak and lobster and ice cream and asparagus, i think that i would have to go with a big huge breakfast. i'm talking about fluffy pancakes with various syrup flavors, sausuage, bacon, biscuits and gravy, grits with butter and sugar, toast with jelly, hash browns, migas with salsa, egg and cheese tacos a la mexicana with beans and pico de gallo, fresh fruit, orange juice, and hot coffee with heavy cream. your basic breakfast buffet. jerry has several times sat slackjawed in awe of me tucking into a hefty breakfast like this. i'm telling you, i can really put it away. i would have no problem with having breakfast like this all day every day for the rest of my life.

5. Is it okay to ask a question about your dad? If that's too personal I don't want to step on your toes. If it's okay, tell us something about that- what you remember, what you wish, just something.

my dad died suddenly when i was 10. he had epilepsy, and died in his sleep in his hotel while on a business trip in dallas. he traveled a lot for his job, and was mostly home just on weekends. looking back now, i guess i wish he had been home more, but i don't mean that to sound like i'm faulting him for having that job. he always provided for us - that's what is important. he only spanked me once, and that was for lying to him. he was definitely a people person, and loved to throw parties. he was a bartender in college, and he made up a drink called an "adios mother" made with blue curacao and pineapple juice and gin, i think. he made it for all the new year's eve parties he and my mom would throw every year. he was an amateur carpenter, and a pretty good one at that. he made several desks, tables, side tables, beds, and even a play kitchen for us. my son now sleeps in the bed he made for me. i remember days hanging out in the garage with dad with the sound of the circular saw, the smell of sawdust, and us "helping" him put together whatever he was making, nailing together little bits of scrap wood, and bringing him sandwiches or drinks out there in the heat. looking back, we were probably kind of in the way, but he never made us feel like we were. and i remember him talking to us about our faith. i remember him telling us that your soul is like a tin can, and the holy spirit is inside, but all your sins go inside too. the more sins are in there, and the longer they stay, the dirier and yuckier your tin can gets and they take up room from the holy spirit. so you go to reconciliation/confession to empty out your tin can, to clean it out and make more room for the holy spirit to live there. how's that for theology!!

i love and miss my dad. i know he's in heaven looking out for us, and i'll see him again some day.

5. If you didn't have to take your husband's opinion into consideration, what would you have named your kids?

well, if aidan had been a girl, he would have been named miriam, mia for short. for a boys name, i wanted edmond (as in edmond dantes from count of monte cristo). i also liked ranen (hebrew, meaning gift from god) and mateo. not sure what i would have ended up picking...

for sadie, we had a short list. although her name was high on the list anyway, i really liked shelby, elena, rosalie and isabel. i think shelby or rosalie would have won if he didn't have an opinion.

both of them would probably have their same middle names, because lawrence and frances are my dad's and grandmother's names.

so there you have it! the exclusive interview!

if you want me to interview you, let me know in comments!!!

my favorite thing in the whole wide world.....or at least one of them

2007-06-06T08:56:00.001-07:00

woo hoo! i feel sorry for those of you in the sonic-less parts of the country. go get yer free root beer float tomorrow!!!

climbing back onto the earth

2007-05-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

yes, i did fall off the edge of the earth for a while....but i'm back!

thanks for all the birthday/anniversary wishes! last week was fun but hectic! on monday our sitter told us she needed to go to mexico right away for the rest of the week. so we were scrambling trying to find a way to get the kids taken care of for the week. i ended up staying home two days, jerry stayed home one, and a friend watched them for us for one day. and i do my best (practically only!) blogging from work - hence the long absence....

the astros game was great, even though we lost 14-1. i mean, it was the most terrible game i've ever seen, but my sister and i had a great time. we made three cool, sparkly, witty signs, and were sure that we would be seen on tv, but no such luck. that is, unless jerry (who was instructed to watch the whole thing) was doing his flipping channels during commercials thing, and missed us. who knows. but we didn't even get on the jumbo-tron in the stadium?!! they don't know what they missed....

we waited for saturday to do sadie's bday - so her big brothers would be there too. pink cake with pink frosting - she loved it, and made quite a mess! i did my best, but there is still pink cake stuck in the crevices of the high chair. it's not fair - with other stuff, you clean it, and it looks pretty good. but with that bright pink cake, it practically glows, so you have to get every speck out to make it look clean. i'll have to really attack it this week....

so i got a sewing machine for my birthday!!! i'm so excited! i had told jerry it's what i wanted, but i wasn't sure if he took me seriously. i just really wanted something i can do something creative with - as a stress outlet. and i've always thought it would be cool to be able to sew things for myself and the kids, like my mom did when we were kids. she made several prom and banquet dresses, halloween costumes, etc. and i can't wait to try it too! i know a little - like how to read and cut a pattern, and some of the terminology, but i will be starting at page one of the manual, and probably get some beginner books and we'll go from there! yay!

next - i didn't get the job i applied for, but my friend bianca did! i'm so psyched for her. she and i have been in HR together for the past year, and both applying for many of the same positions... i think she's a better fit for that position anyway. she'll do great. but now i have to find someone else to go to lunch and snark about co workers with!!

so now i'm off to catch up on all of your blogs that i haven't read for a week!

but i'll leave you with a photo of the april/may birthday club - this was the party we had at my mom's a few weekends ago.....enjoy!

in recent news...

2007-05-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

i've been a bad blogger. here's a recent update of all the things i've meant to write sweet and thoughtful posts about, but never found the time between cooking, working, commuting, baseball, diapers, etc..........

aidan turned 3 a couple weeks ago. i know! and sadie turns 1 next wednesday. cousin lucy turned 2 last week. so two weekends ago, we had a party at my mom's house for all the birthday kiddos, one big cake and three big candles. it was very cute and very fun. and yes, the pictures are still stuck somewhere in the bowels of our computer, as we hedge our bets that the modem won't crap out during the download. last time i tried, i only got 20 or so of the 148 pics uploaded to the online picture album, which is the only way i can get them here to my blog....anyway, i can't believe how fast my babies are growing up. if i could only get aidan interested in potty training, i'd be happy. he's talking much better, more and more every day. and i think sadie said "ball" yesterday. she already says "uh-oh!" and "hi!". and thinks that both of these words are big jokes, and she laughs after she says it. wow. so big.

mother's day was great. i told jerry all i wanted was to sit in front of the tv and watch the astros game - with the stipulation that i got to control the remote. he is a flipper. you know what i mean - those people who can't stand to watch commercials, and will flip channels to find something else to watch for the couple minutes of commercial time between segments. consequently, we usually miss the first at-bat or so of every inning, because jerry got interested in somethings else between innings. but not on sunday! that remote sat in my hot little hand the whole game, and jerry didn't complain at all. well, except when the sonic commercials came on, because he really really hates those idiotic guys. i think they're funny. but i digress. even though i told him not to buy me any presents, he got me a six pack of bud light and $10 of lottery tickets. is he not the most romantic guy in the world? well, maybe not, but at least i won $6 on the tickets! and oh how i do love bud light.....

anyway, on to the next exciting event - our anniversary is today! 4 years. i'm leaving work a little early, and cha cha is coming back this evening to watch the babies so we can go to the best steakhouse in town for some goooood grub, "sin ninos, todos solos!!" she is so funny, i think she was just as excited as me. she really is too good to us. i can't wait to sink my teeth into a huge juicy filet mignon. and this place has crabcake appetizers that taste so good, it's a shame to have to swallow them. and blueberry bread pudding with whiskey sauce. oh.my.god. the guy who is the chef here used to be a white house chef. like for the president. and now he's right here in this little hick town outside of houston. why not?

and next, my birthday is next week! so my sister and i are going to an astros game on sunday. just us, no kids, no husbands! fun! i just got our tickets yesterday. i'm pumped. we're on the first row of the terrace deck, which is pretty high, but good seats anyway. good for some foul balls, maybe! and since katie's pregnant, i can drink all the $8 beers i want! (or at least all i can afford....) (which means i can have one. cool!)

and finally, here comes the broken record. i'm interviewing again for another supervisor position. y'all must think i am a total loser. let me splain. no, is too much - let me sum up. here working for my department, rarely is anyone given a promotion outright. everytime there is a vacancy in a manager position, they hold interviews, and go from there. so it's not like other jobs in the private sector world where bosses just promote people on their merits. no, we're ass backwards here, so it all has to be done by comittee and procedures, bla bla bla. anyway, i'm interviewing on monday. it's a supervisor in the court unit, bla bla, you've heard the pitch before. so we'll see....maybe it will be a good birthday present!!!!

and that's that jack sprat. busy may.

the munchkins

2007-05-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

as promised, some recent pics. here's aidan with his spiderman popsicle that ended up about 3/4 inside him, 1/4 all over him.

and here's sadie in all her toothy glory!!

and this is sadie and cousin lucy, hangin' out.

Job posting - who wants to apply?!

2007-05-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

POSITION:
Mother, Mom, Mama, Mommy, Ma

JOB DESCRIPTION:
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities. Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES:
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION:
Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE:
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION:
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS:
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there!!!

7 interesting facts

2007-05-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

i love being tagged, and i can't resist a meme, so here goes.....

I was tagged by Janeen to tell you 7 facts about myself. I'll try and come up with 7 things I haven't written about before.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. i wear a size 9 shoe
2. i have found that baby wipes make a pretty good makeup remover. actually, i'm usually too lazy or tired to wash my face before i go to bed, so i just use baby wipes.
3. i graduated from Texas Christian University with a degree in Criminal Justice
4. i really wanted to go to Notre Dame, but we really couldn't afford it. Did you know that Notre Dame only awards academic scholarships to kids in the top 5% of their graduating class?
5. i graduated in the top 6% of my high school class.
6. i was a national merit scholar though
7. i'm glad i ended up at tcu, though. i love fort worth, and made wonderful friends there!

Now I'm supposed to tag 7 people, but i'm opting for the "break the chain, and you will have bad luck for a year and none of your wishes will ever come true" option.

and by the way, i know everyone thinks i'm either a terrific tease, or a big liar because i keep promising to show pictures of birthdays, swingsets, easter, and everything else. i swear to you that our pictures are stuck in the hard drive of our home computer because the &*^%^&* time warner people can't fix our internet. they've already buried the cable (because our dogs chewed it up....oops) and replaced the modem, and it's still not working. so be patient, little ducks.

silly

2007-05-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

hee hee.

giveaways!!!

2007-05-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

so y'all see the mother's day button over there?! they're giving away free stuff - cool! it's open to non-bloggers too, (katie!) so click on over here and enter.

mother's day....ahh. all i want is to sit on the couch, do no housework, eat ice cream, and watch the astros game. don't have to buy me any jewelry, although flowers would be cool. that's it. i'm easy to please.

our anniversary is the 17th, though.....we'll have to think of something good to do. maybe even (gasp!) a night on the town? get a sitter and all? wow. can i just tell you i don't even remember what the inside of a bar looks like. sad.

my sister and i are planning to go to a 'stros game sunday after mother's day for our birthday (which is the 25th). leave jerry with all the kids. he may need to call for backup....

so anyway,still no easter or swingset pics. now our internet is down at the house, and i can only post from work. ggrrrrr. time warner is coming out today. so we'll see.

happy wednesday!!

a funny thing happened about the swingset

2007-05-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

so still no pics, but here's a funny story.

jerry got the swingset at walmart (i know, we're supporting the conglomerate, and i'm not thrilled about it either, but you can't argue with saving $400.)

he went asking for the set that was advertised, and they had a bunch of them in boxes. some sets were comprised of 2 or 3 boxes, some were contained in only one. the one we wanted cost about $500, and was in 2 boxes. there was one a little smaller that came in one box. so while they were looking for ours, they found a set that was one step nicer/bigger than ours, originally $850, but marked down to $500. right on! so they set out looking for the boxes for that one. it comes in 4 boxes, and they could only locate 3 out of the 4. oh well. so we got the $500 one.

so jerry and his brother start putting this thing together. on the directions it says it will take 2 people working together about 2 hours to assemble. they started at 7 pm sunday night. they were out there until about 12:30 in the morning, and still were only about 1/2 done. and these are handy guys too. i mean, jerry fixes appliances for a living, and his brother is a mechanic. they know their way around power tools. but anyway, jerry finished it up on monday morning, and the kids went nuts. they climbed and played and played and climbed.

but guess what - they still had a whole box full of parts and wood left over. apparently the boxes that the skilled and clever walmart workers gave him consisted of 1) box number 1 of 2 of the set we purchased, and 2) box number 1 of 1 of the set that is smaller. so the set that is in our backyard that the kids are in love with only cost about $300 (except that it cost us $500). and we have 1/2 of the $500 set sitting in the backyard. so jerry went back to the store and told them what happened. the manager was very nice, and said they would just write it off, since jerry wasn't about to spend however many hours taking the thing apart and packing it back up. so they gave us the second box for the one we bought, and now jerry and his brother (if he can be bribed into putting another swingset together...) have to spend another 8 hours building the big one! we're going to donate the first one to our church bazaar for the auction. (hello, tax write-off)

but in the meantime, the kids will be playing on the one we have....jerry has to work the next three saturdays. lord only knows when he'll actually get to work on the next swingset.

nothing is ever simple.

another no.

2007-04-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

first of all, thanks all of you for the well wishes, prayers, and internet luck sent my way!

my boss called me in early today, to tell me i didn't get selected. she was very supportive, and told me not to get discouraged. i was submitted in the top three, so that's good news, at least. the lady selected has about 10 more years of experience than me, so it's cool. my boss told me i did great, and she really thought i might get the nod this time. but alas, no.

man, i was already spending my bigger paychecks in my head, too. growr.

oh well. there are still a lot of people moving around, retiring, new positions opening up here and there. so in the next few months, there will be other opportunities, and the right one will come along.

we had a great weekend though - party for the kids' birthdays and a new swingset! don't have time to post about it now, but stay tuned....

happy monday, and all that rot.

agian, eeh.

2007-04-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

well when i got out of the interview, i felt like i did great. but all day i kept thinking of more and more things i should have said. the interviewers were my boss and another lady i used to work with, who i'm friends with. so it was comfortable, but sort of wierd. and they are both very good at the "nod and smile" that i really couldn't tell what they thought of my answers. it's funny, because i do the same thing when i'm interviewing someone, and it felt funny to be on the recieving end of it.

so i asked my boss this morning when i came in "so how did your screening go yesterday? any qualified candidates?" she just laughed and said "is that what you really want to ask, or is there something else?" at this point it's not up to her, the scores have been given to the deputy of institutions, and he'll choose from the top 4 people. i've decided i'm not going to peek in the system and find out if i'm in the top 4. i'll find out when everyone else does. which, i'm guessing, should be by the end of the week. sigh. i don't have a really good feeling about it, but hey, i'll chalk it up to experience, and i know that after the announcement, my boss will definitely have some constructive criticism for me. she's pretty cool about that. she'll tell me all the good things i said, and make suggestions for future interviews.

so. that's that. i'll keep everyone posted. and i'm too busy today to do a thursday 13, so i'll catch you on the flip side for friday flicks with kelli!

i'm at it again

2007-04-23T10:45:00.001-07:00

so i'm interviewing again for another promotional position. this time it's a casework supervisor position in the female offender placement program. basically, it's supervising a team of probation officers who are assigned to the girl's facility that we operate. it's right up my alley! i've had six years of experience dealing with girls in placement facilities, and doing placement after-care services. i know this stuff! plus the assistant superintendant is a friend of mine... it could help!

i'm ready to get back into casework, (it's what i went to school for, after all) and lord knows we could use the extra money.

so anyway, my interview is wednesday at 9:30 am. say a quick prayer for me around then, if you think about it!

quick and fun iq test

2007-04-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

i did this here, and scored a 23. what do you score? are you smart or stoopid?

ode to ice cream

2007-04-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

This post is devoted to the perfect food, ice cream. oh, the variety of flavors! the versatility! the ubiquitousness! ice cream transcends age and social barriers, and brings us all together! ok, maybe not, but it sure does taste good.

that being said, let me show you this, which i'm pretty psyched about. you know the fam and i will be participating:

go here for more details. Right on!

and now, without further ado, here is my thursday thirteen......

Thirteen favorite ice cream flavors!
Note: i must admit these are in no particular order. i couldn't be forced to narrow this down to one absolute favorite!

1. Blue Bell Blueberry cheesecake
2. Blue Bell King Cake - cinnamon ice cream with bits of pastry and swirls of icing - yum!!
3. Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey - banana ice cream with chocolate chunks and macademia nuts. oh.my.god. it is good.
4. Ben and Jerry's pumpkin cheesecake. do you sense a cake theme here?
5. Blue Bell Cookies 'n Cream. the original and still the best.
6. Breyer's Double Churned Vanilla. just your basic vanilla, but it is the thickest creamiest ever. like buttah.
7. Kroger brand Dreamsicle. i know! it's a store brand, but the mix of vanilla ice cream and orange sherbet is to die for.
8. Bomb pops. you know, the ones we got from the ice cream trucks, with layers of chocolate, banana, and chocolate. ah, nostalgia.
9. Ben and Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough. again, the original (as far as i know) and the best.
10. Blue Bell Pecan pralines 'n Cream. vanilla ice cream with gooey sugary pecan goodness swirled in.
11. We made some homemade ice cream a few years ago, that was vanilla cinnamon, made with butter and heavy cream. oh, it was good. i credit alec with the idea for the flavor.
12. Blue Bell Peaches 'n Homemade Vanilla. tastes like summertime.
13. Blue Bell Peppermint. peppermint flavored ice cream with red and green bits of peppermint candy. perfect minty-ness.

i could go on and on, and i probably missed some favorites, but these popped into my head first. What are your favorites?

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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3 things meme

2007-04-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since i posted last, and i feel like i either have too much to say or not enough. so i'll take the easy way out and do this meme that i've seen at aimee's place and other blogs....

Three Things That Scare Me:
1. horror flicks. all of them. i can't even watch the commercials for them on tv.
2. clowns. ever since poltergiest.
3. roaches

Three People Who Make Me Laugh:
1. my husband and kids. that's a given, i think.
2. brian regan
3. pets doing funny things. i love "the planet's funniest animals" ok, so it's not people, but they still make me laugh.

Three Things I Love:
1. my God and my faith
2. my family
3. sleeping in.

Three Things I Hate:
1. stupidity
2. condescending people
3. unappreciativeness (is that a word?)

Three Things I Don't Understand:
1. why the goth look is still around
2. how someone can consider abortion a viable form of birth control
3. why dogs eat their own poop

Three Things On My Desk:
1. stacks of applications and resumes
2. a broken cd player. (now i listen to mystation on launchcast!)
3. slimfast chocolate royal

Three Things I am Doing Right Now (well, not right this second, but more of a general "right now")
1. procrastinating
2. screening potential candidates for various open positions
3. listening to REM "what's the frequency kenneth"

Three Things To Do Before I Die:
1. see my kids graduate from college
2. learn to play the guitar
3. meet my great-grandchildren

Three Things I Can Do:
1. cook a meal my family loves, and that will make my guests feel special
2. read people's faces, body language and non-verbal communication
3. whistle pretty well

Three Things I Can't Do:
1. drink like i used to
2. make mexican rice "just right" like my mother in law
3. get motivated enough to lost that last 15 pounds

Three Things I Think You Should Listen To:
1. Anything by Scott Hahn, if you're interested in or questioning the Catholic faith.
2. your conscience
3. your parents when they tell you (as a kid) that nothing good ever happens after midnight

Three Things You Should Never Listen To:
1. marilyn manson
2. negative people who would complain that their ice cream is too cold
3. in laws telling you how to raise your kids

Three Things I Would Like To Learn:
1. to speak spanish fluently
2. excel and powerpoint
3. how to crochet

Three Favorite Foods (Only 3? well, i'll just give you the first 3 that come to mind)
1. root beer floats
2. tiramisu
3. a thick juicy steak, so rare it's still mooing

Three Shows I Watched As A Kid:
1. scooby doo
2. electric company
3. sesame street

Three Things I Regret:
1. things i did and said in my first marriage
2. not going to the vatican on all saint's day while in rome
3. not going to get a master's or law degree right after my bachelor's

I'm supposed to tag three people, but I'm going to open it up to whoever wants to do it - just let me know in the comments so I can stop by and read up on all your "things".

Thursday 13 #15

2007-04-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

wowee wow wow - thursday already!!!

13 things I believe (or don't believe)

1. I believe that God created the earth and all inhabitants, and that we are not here out of pure big-bang coincidence.

2. I don't believe that humans are fully responsible for global warming. but for an interesting and well thought out foundation for discussion of this topic, go visit aimee. she made me think.

3. I believe it's impossible to spoil an infant by holding him/her too much.

4. I believe that in general, and eventually, people get what they deserve, and what goes around comes around.

5. I do not believe that police officers arrest people "for no reason."

6. I do not believe that there is intelligent life on mars.

7. I do believe that God could have and maybe did create other life forms in other worlds or other times.

8. I believe that "political correctness" is ruining our country.

9. I believe that phil garner (finally!) made the right decision to take brad lidge out of the closer role.

10. I believe that mark mcguire and barry bonds knowingly used steroids.

11. I believe OJ did it.

12. I believe that marriage is a vocation equally as holy and important as priesthood or religious life.

13. I believe that life begins at conception, and that a woman's "right to choose" ends with choosing whether or not to have sex, not with whether or not to abort a fetus.

How that for opinionated!!?? What do y'all think?

b day update

2007-04-09T13:56:00.000-07:00

so many people have asked about how the b-day reunioun dinner went - i guess because i was so excited, and blabbed about it to everyone i know. it was so hard, because i tell jerry everything, and trying to keep this from him was really difficult. but it was great!!!

we played 20 questions on the way there. he didn't want to wear the blindfold, so i made him promise to close his eyes. and he did. if we had had more time, i might have driven around in circles a while to try to throw him off, but as it was, we were just going to make it at 7pm, so i didn't. I did give him a box of chocolates (wrapped so he couldn't tell what it was) in the car to shake and pretended it was his gift. they were actually a hostess gift for karen....

He was very surprised when we pulled up at a house, and not a restaurant. we walked up to the door, and she was standing in the foyer, grinning and waving. she and her husband met us at the door, and were both so excited and hugged us both. jerry was grinning ear to ear too, and we were all just instantly comfortable together. like the four of us hang out all the time. it was great. their son was taking a nap when we got there, so aidan and sadie played with his toys for a while while the grownups talked. mike was making dinner, so we just congregated in the kitchen. they are really cool people. when their son woke up, he and aidan played really well together too. he is 4, and aidan is almost 3. their son has had speech delays also, and i think that kind of makes them more compatible, since neither one was intimidating the other by jabbering away. they were sooo cute together, and by the end of the evening, they were saying each other's names, and thier son was saying "that boy stay at my house?" and when we told him no, he had to go home, he was very upset. (i darn near cried!) so we've promised to get together again soon so they can play. jerry said that was probably his favorite part of the night, watching aidan and their son play together so well.

jerry had a great time, and i know i scored big. i had fun too - we all just got along great. and they live so close to our house. awesome.

of course i forgot to bring the camera. but i don't know how she feels about her or her kid on the internet, so i guess it's just as well.

as far as the rest of jerry's birth-weekend, it all went well. i also got him a digital picture frame that displays photos loaded off the memory card - he loved it. aidan loves to watch the pictures scroll through on the screen, and he just stands there and names everyone he sees. it's pretty cute. jerry also got a year's subscription to the Magnificat, which is a catholic monthly publication of daily readings and reflections. he has been trying to start each day off with prayer, and this is a good addition/reminder for that. or maybe we can even do it together in the mornings before we get moving. then we went to dinner with his mom and brother and nieces/nephew. all in all, it was a good birthday, he said.

and he does pass on a bit thank you to all of you who wished him happy bday in comments!!! :-)

i'll sign off for now, and post about easter later. hope you all had a wonderful and blessed easter weekend.

the one where i lobby for a nomination for wife of the year

2007-04-04T13:19:00.000-07:00

ok, so hubby's birthday is friday, and i won't tell you how old he is, but it's a big one. somewhere between 30 and 50. and in spanish, it's cuarenta.

so here is what i did. he has an old old friend from high school, who is female, who was one of his best friends. never dated, just were great friends. they were close even through college, but when he got married, his exwife was very jealous and wouldn't let him see her anymore. then she got married too, and they moved away to ohio i think. so they lost touch, and he didn't even know what her married name was. this was eight years ago. he always says how he misses her, and is sure that she and i would be great friends, and how he regrets that they lost touch.

fast forward to two weeks ago: i am a sneaky sneak. i work in HR, so i do criminal records checks for applicants. so i looked her up by maiden name and birthday (the only thing hubby could remember) and found that she had a very old speeding ticket. from the warrant info, i got her driver license number, and found that she's living in texas again, and amazingly, they live about 15 minutes from our house. cool! so from the address on the driver license, i did a reverse lookup for phone number, and called her up. she was a little freaked out by me, i think, but i told her who i was and who i was married to, and that i wanted to surprise him by getting them together again. she is such a cool chick, and was very glad i called, and we talked for about half an hour before we started to plan this get together thing. so long story short, we are going to her house for dinner tomorrow night! she's married and has a four year old, so it will be fun to meet her hubby and get the kids together. i can't wait to see the look on his face.

i told my hairstylist about this on saturday, and she just gushed and told me how wonderful that is, and that she was impressed with how secure i am in my relationship with him. and that is true. i know this is not an old flame i'm fanning.

as i talked with his friend (or, i can call her our friend now) she commented on how great it is to have old friends in particular. you know, the ones you've known forever, through thick and thin. you just feel comfortable and safe with them. they know all your demons and secrets and failings and they like to hang out with you anyway.

jerry has had a few friends like this, but not many, and as you all know, as we go through life, it's harder and harder to keep track of everyone you're close to. so that is my gift to him this year - renewal of an old friendship.

plus, she's cool, and i want to hang out with her too!

flicks!

2007-03-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

i know it's late in the game today, but kelli's back with friday flicks!

so go play her game - every friday morning! s'fun!

black donnellys

2007-03-27T06:34:00.000-07:00

so no one else watches this show!!?? i'm not one to get hooked on a television show these days, but this one i love.

last night, jimmy and kevin started running louie downtown's book for him, and started collecting money. joey ice cream tells the cops that jimmy and whitey will fight, and one of them dies....jimmy is such an idiot. i hope he's the one who gets killed. we also think if tommy would just hand jimmy over to the italians and tell them he killed louie, that would make it all even, and this whole gang war thing would blow over.
i can't decide if i like tommy or not. i mean, sometimes he tries to do the right thing, but he's got a pretty warped sense of right and wrong. he loves his mother, jenny and his brothers and feels like he has to protect them all, but when he gets angry or feels threatened, he'll kill or steal or beat anyone who gets in his way.

the one i really like is kevin. he's just a kid, and he tries to stand up to tommy and jimmy, but he just gets pushed around, and he tries to be tough, but feels more guilty than anything. i think in the end, he's going to be the dynamic character, and be the one who solves the whole italian/irish problem somehow, and will bring some peace to the family.

so if you haven't seen it, go here and watch a couple episodes - it's easy to catch up on these at the website - they play them w/o commercials!

thursday 13 #13

2007-03-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

the one where i vent my frustrations with the (semi) educated masses!!

the 13 most annoying mispronounciations or grammar mistakes that i see almost every day!! (in no particular order - they all drive me nuts.)

1. mistaking possessive for plural!! (as in, "hamburger's are $4.00")
oh, my goodness, i want to choke you. please pray for me.

2. your and you're. as in "your welcome." it's not my welcome!! the apostrophe makes the contraction of "you are!" please!!! think about it.

3. there, their, and they're. ok, so this is a little more difficult, but if they spend a few days on it in english class in high school, don't you think more people would remember which one is which? again with the contraction - it's pretty obvious i think.

4. the made-up word "supposovly." my step son says this all the time and i want to shake him. the word is "supposedly." the other made up word doesn't even make sense.

5. saying "expresso" instead of "espresso". yes i know it's a foreign word and all, but come on.

6. saying "ax" instead of "ask." and don't try to tell anyone they're saying it wrong. that makes you a hater.

7. saying "sangwich" instead of "sandwich" (this is my hubby's favorite, and a common one among his 'peeps')

8. bake potato and ice tea. umm, you're missing the d! the potato is baked and the tea is iced. the notable exception here is ice cream. don't ask me why, i didn't name it. because if i did, i would have called it iced cream.

9. congradulations. i know it's counterintuitive, since a graduate graduates, but it's still spelled with a t. as in "congratulations, you passed your spelling test!"

10. misuse of past tense and past participle. do not say "you should have went." i will thrash you. please say, "you should have gone." the past tense form does not take the auxillary verb, but the past participle mush have it. capice?

11. even worse would be if you said, "you should of went." of and have are not interchangeable!!!

12. "You must be very pacific when describing good grammar rules." aaargh!! the word is "specific" as in "specify."

13. affect and effect. the weather has a profound effect on me. it affects my mood. one is a noun and one is a verb. learn it, live it, know it.

oh, and just a bonus one - this one kills me. a word search is not the same as a crossword puzzle!!! one requires a lot more brain power than the other....

whew. felt good to get all that out.

i guess some of y'all are going to think i'm picky and snarky, but i'm just sayin'.

works for me wednesday #7

2007-03-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

i haven't done one of these in a while, but i want to show y'all this cool cool thing. a lot of you probably already have these, but a few of my friends had never seen them...

it called the munchkin fresh food feeder, and it's awesome. sadie loves it! i can put fruit, veggies, ice, whatever in it (things that she's too little to have whole) and she will chew to her heart's content. it works great as a teether with the ice. and now she can have new foods without me having to worry about her choking on them.

you can buy it at walmart or target.
love this thing!

be sure to check out shannon at rocks in my dryer for tons more wfmw tips!!!

books books and more books

2007-03-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

ok, so this book meme is out there, and as much as i want to do it, the lazy half of me tugs harder, so i'm going to simplify it very much and just enlarge the books i've read and liked. and maybe put in a comment or two. oh, and italicize the ones i'd like to read.

if you want to see how this looks when it is well done and thought out, with a lot of effort put in by some classy ladies, go look at kelli's or aimee's lists.

so here's my version.....

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) didn't quite make it to the 3rd one....
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
18. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
19. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(Rowling)
20. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
21. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Rowling)
*22. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
23. The Stand (Stephen King)
24. Ulysses (James Joyce)
25. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
26. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
27. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
28. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
29. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
30. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
31. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
32. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
33. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) and all the rest, too!!!
34. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
35. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
36. Dune (Frank Herbert)
37. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) - read it but i thought it was silly and predictable.
38. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
39. 1984 (Orwell)
40. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
41. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
42. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
43. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Gregory Maguire)
44. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
45. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
46. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
47. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
48. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
49. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
50. Bible I've read some of it, but not all.
51. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
52. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)my most favorite book of all time! read it about 20 times.
53. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
54. The Blue Sword (Robin Mckinley)
55. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
56. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
57. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
58. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
59. Great Expectations (Dickens) - read it in 9th grade and hated it.
60. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
*61. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
62. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
63. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
64. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
65. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
66. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
67. War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
68. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
69. The Hiding Place (Corrie Tin Boon)
70. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
71. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
72. Les Miserables (Hugo) -
73. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)read it in french and english!
74. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
75. Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
76. Shogun (James Clavell)
77. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
78. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
79. Redeeming Love (Francine Rivers)
80. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
81. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
82. The Giver (Lois Lowry)
83. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
84. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
85. Of Mice And Men (John Steinbeck) - read it in 7th grade. probably time to read it again to see if i actally liked it or not.
86. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
87. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
88. Emma (Jane Austen)
89. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
90. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
91. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
92. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
93. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
94. The Talisman (Stephen King)
95. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
96. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck) - read it in high school. it was supposed to be good, but i don't remember...
97. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) everyone raves about this book - i am interested...
98. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
99. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
100. Lightning (Dean Koontz)

i do like to read, but i wouldn't call myself a bibliophile. i guess i go in spurts. i like to have something to read on the bus to work, but other than that, it's hard to find the time.

my current favorite book, or at least the one that i can almost read with my eyes shut is the cat in the hat!
oh - did i say my favorite? i meant aidan's favorite. hey, it's part of the bedtime routine, so i love it.

free is always good

2007-03-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

i'm not even a coffe drinker usually, but starbucks had free coffee from 10-12 today! yay! so now i'm bouncing off the walls!

so hurry to your starbucks near you! coffee break's nearly over!

100 things about me!!

2007-03-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

in honor of my 100th post which happened last week....i present to you.....

100 things about Carrie!

1. i was born in seattle, washington
2. my family moved to texas when i was 3 months old. so even though i'm not a native texan, i claim that i am.

3. my husband disagrees and sometimes calls me a damn yankee just to make me mad.
4. i love texas, and never want to live anywhere else.
5. and yes i have been to other places, and i still want to live here.
6. i have been to france twice - once when i was 16 and once when i was 23.
7. i studied abroad for a semester in london, england at regent's college.
8. while i was there that sememster, i also visited scotland, wales, italy and greece.
9. i have driven through or visited friends/family in all of these states: california, nevada, new mexico, arizona, colorado, oregon, washington, illinois, missouri, kansas, wyoming, utah, florida, louisiana, new york, new jersey, and indiana
10. i have worked at the same job, more or less, since i graduated from college.
11. i started as a detention officer, then became a probation officer, and then moved to the human resources division.
12. i can't believe it will be 10 years next january.
13. i always figured i'd be here for a few years, then get a "real" job in the private sector, but i'm still here, putting your tax dollars to good use by blogging while on the clock!
14. i am one of five siblings
15. i have a twin sister, whom i blogged about here.
16. i used to wonder, sometimes, if i was really carrie, or if somewhere along the way, we got mixed up and i am really katie.
17. my brother jim is the only boy, and he was definitely treated like the prince.
18. i don't really know what that means, i guess he got in as much trouble (or more) than we all did.
19. my dad died suddenly when i was 10.
20. i often wonder how differently i would have turned out had he still been here.
21. i wish he were still here and i wish my husband could have known him, because i really think they would have gotten along great.
22. i was married once before.
23. it lasted 4 years and one month.
24. my ex is not a horrible guy, but we got married for the wrong reasons, and both made a mess of things, so i left.
25. i'm not awfully proud of that part of my life, but in the end it led me to where i am today.
26. so i think of it not as time wasted, just time spent.
27. i am catholic
28. i haven't always been a strong practicing catholic, but i consider myself one now.
29. my husband and i dove headfirst into renewing our faith when we got engaged. it's one of the things that help us get through rough spots in our marriage.
30. now we are part of the UNITAS marriage preparation process at our church, where we are part of a 10 couple group marriage sponsor program.
31. it's a lot of fun, and it helps us with our marriage as much as we help others prepare for theirs.
32. we learned about Natural Family Planning during our marriage prep, and that is what we use now - no birth control, just nfp.
33. just because we have 2 kids doesn't mean it doesn't work, because it does.
34. i love to tell people about the benefits of nfp, and how it's not as hard as it seems. and how it's not the rhythm method!!
35. i gave up drinking cokes/sodas for lent, and am having daily caffiene withdrawal headaches because of it.
37. i don't like coffee nearly as much as i like diet coke.
38. i attended texas christian university, where kelli was my roommate (at least for my first 2 years)
39. she's the only reason i even have a blog, since i didn't know what one was until she told me to read hers, then gently badgered me into starting my own.
40. i played lacrosse there, and was captain of the team my senior year.
41. i very nearly got in 2 fights playing lacrosse.
42. i love playing sports, and i miss the competitiveness and the activity.
43. i have played softball, tennis, volleyball and lacrosse. oh, and basketball in junior high, but i sat on the bench pretty much the whole time, so i won't really count that.
44. i'm very competitive, but my sister katie is 10 times more so than me. but she's still cool.
45. jerry and i are godparents to katie's daughter lucy.

46. i am a huge houston astros fan, and baseball fan in general.
47. i can't wait for opening day. one year i even called in sick on opening day so i could stay home and watch baseball all day.
48. i believe offense is important, but defense and pitching win championships.
49. i love phil garner, but he better do something great this year with this team, because another year like last year, and he'll lose his job.
50. i think lance berkman is a future hall of famer, and i believe despite the opinion of many sportwriters and their post-season performance, biggio and bagwell belong in the hall too.
51. i really wanted to marry a major league baseball player. i even dated a baseball player in college who was drafted by the padres. he was kind of a jerk, but he did tell me that i was "intoxicating." (there, kel - are you happy!?)
52. the first day of college when we moved in together, i had brought kelli and i matching shot glasses with our names engraved on them. i think that scared her. we didn't know each other all that well before then - we had just palled around at orientation for a few days.
53. she told me to mention the "intoxicating" comment. oddly enough, another guy i sort of dated during college told me my eyes were intoxicating. so i really think that, empirically, i am intoxicating.
54. it's been a long time since i've had tequila, and i think i like it that way.
55. i used to be able to hold my liquor, but these days i am a lightweight and a cheap date!
56. what i mean by that is that it doesn't take much to get me tipsy! geez, y'all, get your minds out of the gutter!
57. i have now become the old person who grumbles out the window when "those teenagers down the street" are having a loud party.
58. i haven't called the police yet, but one of these days i might.
59. i cannot roll my r's.
60. it makes speaking spanish difficult.
61. i'm not fluent in spanish, but i would describe myself as functional. i have to be, because our nanny only speaks spanish.
62. i took 2 years of spanish in college.
63. my senior year, i was late to spanish class every time because it started at 2 pm, and days of our lives was on from 1 to 2, and i had to finish watching days before i could go to class!!
64. i didn't start watching days of our lives until college. in high school i watched young and the restless and all my children. we had to hide that fact from my mother, becuase she would have hit the roof if she knew we were watching smut.
65. i like to be hot rather than cold.
66. really hot weather doesn't bother me - and i like when i can wear the same thing all day and not have to change or add clothing at night because it might get too cool outside.
67. i have no desire to go skiing, mostly because i don't want to spend a day getting wet and cold and sore, and i'm afraid i'll break my legs.
68. i once got so sunburned on the first day of spring break that i had to spend the rest of it in bed with a fever. that really sucked.
69. i have never broken a bone.
70. well, i think i may have broken a toe when i was in 7th grade and i kicked the coffee table on accident when i was walking by it in the dark. my toe swelled up all purple, but my mother didn't take me to the doctor because she told me there's nothing they can do for broken toes, they just have to heal. and i guess she was right, because it went back to it's normal color and quit hurting after a few days.
71. i think i also may have fractured my tailbone once when i was riding my stepson's bicycle on this bumpy trail. i kept bouncing in just the right (or wrong) spot, and i swear the next day, and for the next week after, i could barely sit down. for like a year after, sitting in any hard chair hurt so bad, and even now, (6 years later) some certain chairs really hurt my butt.
72. i separated my shoulder slightly once while playing softball. i was rounding third, and when the throw came home, i had to dive back to third and i landed flat on my arm pit and hyperextended my shoulder.
73. i was already slightly drunk at the time though (you gotta love softball leagues that allow beer in the dugouts!) so it really didn't start hurting til the next morning.
74. by then i couldn't move my arm. at all.
75. both of my children were born by c-section.
76. both times, i begged my doctor to wait another few days or so to see if i could go into labor. the first time he said no and the second time, he said yes.
77. the first time, he was right, because he said the baby was just too big, which was pretty accurate since he turned out to be 9 lbx 11 oz at birth.
78. the second time, he postponed the c section for a week. the night before it was rescheduled, i started having contractions, and kept having them all the way to the hospital that morning, but by the time i got into my room, they had petered out.
79. when sadie was born, there was meconium in the fluid already, so waiting any longer could have hurt her.

80. we didn't sign the birth certificate until the day before we left the hospital (i was there 4 days) because we weren't sure what her name was going to be.
81. i took an online iq test recently, and scored a 124.
82. i don't know how accurate that is.
83. we have 4 kids together - jerry had 2 from a previous marriage, and we've had 2 together. we all get along great, really.

84. i love to eat meat, and i don't see how anyone could be a vegetarian.
85. i make really good meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, chicken pot pie (from scratch, except for the pie crust), chinese stir-fry, and shrimp etouffee. among other things.
86. i love to cook, and i consider it the best way i can show my family i love them.
87. i like my hotdogs with mustard and relish.
88. i love asparagus and cantaloupe.
89. i teach our restraint training class here at work. it's called "handle with care" and is designed to aid probation officers in defusing potentially aggressive kids if possible, but react in a planned and effective manner if they do attack you, but without hurting the child.
90. it's fun to teach,and it's a good system.
91. my favorite birthday present i've ever gotten is when my hubby bought me our two dogs, dixie and daisy. (pictured here in the crate they sleep in, with aidan.) (no, adian doesn't sleep in the crate too, he just likes to go in there and hang out.)

92. they're almost 4 years old, and are border collie and chow mix.
93. i will freak the hell out if i see a roach.
94. i will not go to haunted houses or horror flicks. i'm too chicken. i wouldn't even go to the haunted house they put on in our elementary school gym for halloween during school, where they had you put your hand in the spaghetti and said it was worms, and all that silliness. i was too scared even then.
95. my first name is actually caroline, and my parents pronounced it caro-linn (short i). i did too for most of my life, but i have now gone to pronouncing it caro-line (long i) because it's the only way to get people to understand how to spell it. and after all, we are in texas.
96. i honestly consider my husband to be my best friend. i have lots of other friends, but i don't have a female best friend.
97. i cut coupons, and i love to come home from the grocery store and show hubby how i saved 10 or 15 bucks with my coupons.
98. i have a hard time buying something that isn't on sale.
99. i like mayonaise better than miracle whip.
100. umm lemme see - something interesting to end on....i think it will be ages before we have a woman president, because all the women who have a decent moral compass, brains, and and the courage to do the job are too smart and can't be bothered with the pettiness and power struggle of american politics. they are too busy raising families and fixing this country from the ground up!

here's my first thursday thirteen list about me.

i'm working on it

2007-03-09T13:26:00.000-08:00

ok, so you're looking for the 100 things post, and i'm working on it! so while you wait, for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of the cutest darn baby in the whole wide world.

i'm on #34 - i'm getting there!

thursday 13 - number 13

2007-03-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

yay! haven't done one in a while, so here goes -

this is i think my 103rd post, so i am obliged by bloggityville to do a 100 things about me post. i'm working on it, and should have one up soon. so, for my thursday 13, here are 13 reasons you should come back and check on me, to read my 100 things!!

1. a lot of effort will be put in, so i need rewards! (in the form of lovey comments)
2. i'm fascinating!
3. well, some people think so.
4. i like to find things that i have in common with other bloggers to talk about, and these 100 lists are great ways to do it.
5. it will have pictures!
6. i offer a high quality product for a fraction of the price of the leading blogger.
7. i personally guarantee that at least one of my 100 things will make you laugh, or your money back.
8. it's free!
9. you will be a witness to some self-revelation in the form of listmaking. good stuff.
10. in other words, i'll be learning about me while i'm listing, and you'll be learning about me by reading.
11. quite philosophical and esoteric.
13. and silly all at the same time.

so come back to visit!

tv!!

2007-03-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

so is anyone else watching the tv show the black donnellys? we saw last week and again last night - it's really cool. italian gangsters vs. irish gangsters. it's a pretty wicked story line, and last night i almost retched when they were stuffing the dead bookie into a barrel....but cool show nonetheless. i think it's on NBC, but i don't know. and we also discovered that we can watch shows on the internet that we miss...i know, we're behind the times. so sunday night we caught up on a few episodes of my name is earl that we hadn't seen. man i love that show. joy is so damn funny! my favorite joy quote: i win a beauty contest every mornin' when i walk out the front door!!

and we also saw 2 episodes of 30Rock
and it's hilarious too. it's really well written - i like tina fey in it a lot more than i ever did on snl. and even though alec baldwin is getting older, he's still hot!

in other news....

we found out the other day that aidan is at the top of the waiting list now to get into the daycare we've been waiting on. it's been almost a year since i first went there to try to register him. needless to say, it's a great place, and will be great for him. jerry's older two went there when they were small, and the owners are very nice ladies. so it might happen soon! i have very mixed emotions about this - he is going to cry his eyes out. he cries when i leave the room to go to the bathroom and shut the door on him. he cried this morning when i got in the shower and didn't let him in. separation is hard for him. it's usually ok when i leave for work, because chacha is there, and he loves her probably as much as he loves me. but without one of us, he's gonna have a really hard time. he did stay with uncle carlos and aunt dena last saturday for a few hours, and she swears he did fine after about 1/2 hour of wailing. he calmed down and played witht he other kids. but we went back to their house on monday evening for carlos' birthday, and as soon as we pulled into the neighborhood, aidan recognized it and started wailing again, thinking we were going back there to leave him again. he cried for an hour while we were in the house, even while i kept reassuring him that we weren't leaving. it's just going to break my heart to leave him at the daycare, even though i know in the long run it will be good for him to socialize with other kids, increase his speaking skills, and have more things to do all day. my poor little guy.

anyway, i'm typing this at my desk at work while eating my salad for lunch - busy days mean no leaving for lunch! so back to the grindstone i go.....

a very bloggy party!

2007-03-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

so fiveminutesformom is hosting a blog party, and we're all invited!!!

great chance for us all to mingle and get to know other bloggers from wherever.

so now that i'm (hopefully) going to get some new traffic here for this week, let me re-introduce myself, and make you feel at home here!

i'm carrie, i live in the houston area. i have 4 kids (2 of my own and 2 step) and a wonderful hubby, jerry. i work full time as an HR specialist.

some things about our family: my husband and i sponsor engaged couples at our church, through our marriage preparation ministry. biggest brother runs cross country, middle brother plays baseball and is in scouts, baby boy is almost 3 and loves to tear our house apart, and the baby girl is 9 months old, and the apple of her brothers' eyes.

so come on in, kick off your shoes and relax, and thanks for stopping by!

marriage meme

2007-03-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

got tagged for this by aimee! Thanks! It put me in a good mood reading hers, and thinking about my answers....

Marriage Meme

1. Where/How did you meet? We met at work - we were both married at the time, to the wrong people...we started dating after our separations/divorces.

2. How long have you known each other?: just over 9 years.

3. How long after you met did you start dating?: i guess that would be about 2 years.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged?: between 1 1/2 to 2 years

5. How long was your engagement?: 7 months!

6. How long have you been married?: will be 4 years in may

7. What is your anniversary?: May 17

8. How many people came to your wedding reception: 150-160 people - we invited about 200

9. What kind of cake did you serve?: traditional white wedding cake, decorated with green vines and flowers. and a chocolate grooms cake with cream cheese filling - jerry's mom's recipe that we gave to the cake lady.

10. Where was your wedding?: St Helen Catholic Church - the old church. they had just broken ground on our new beautiful church, and there were tractors and contruction equipment everywhere , which limited our outdoor picture opportunities a little...but the reception was at an outdoor park with a gazebo. we got a tent and set up tables inside. it was pretty darn hot (houston in may usually is!) but very fun.

11. What did you serve for your meal?: Barbeque! and lots of it. chicken and brisket, with all the fixin's. each table had a basket on it with bottles of wine, cheese and crackers, and candy.

12. How many people were in your bridal party?: 4 bridesmaids and 4 groomsmen

13. Are you still friends with them all?: Yes - one of my bridesmaids i rarely talk to or see, which makes me sad, but she is still single, and just hasn't settled down yet. our paths don't cross much.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony?: almost. maybe he did a little.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day?: during the cake cutting, we had the dj play the adam sandler song from the wedding singer "i wanna grow old with you". it's such a sweet and funny song, and a lot of our guests recognized it, and had fun with it. oh! and we also had champagne toasts, and we had three people cry during their toasts to us - the best man, a groomsman, and my sister/matron of honor. very touching!

16. Any funny moments?: for the garter toss, we really wanted my brother to catch the garter, because he and his girlfriend had been seeing each other for years, and we wanted them to get engaged! so we instructed a couple of the single guys to "let jim get the garter!" well, they misunderstood, and thought we said "DON'T let jim get the garter..." so when jerry tossed it, our friend jerry m. body slammed my brother and lept for that garter like a rabbit - and he is not a small guy. we died laughing, and jim didn't know what the hell jerry's problem was!

17. Any big disasters?: i forgot the unity candle at home, but luckily it was only 3 blocks from the church, so my brother ran to go get it and came back with about 3 minutes to spare before the ceremony started.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon?: We went to south padre island for a week. hung around the hotel, went to the beach, drank way too much and ate way too much. then went to brownsville to visit some of jerry's family, and went to mexico for a day.

19. How long were you gone? one week

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? i would have taken a little more time to plan and save money before the wedding.

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on?: i sleep on the right side (from the vantage point of being in the bed, i guess.)

22. What size is your bed?: King

23. Greatest strength as a couple?: Common faith and belief in a sacramental and covenant marriage.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple?: finding time for each other, and splitting the chores around the house!

25. Who literally pays the bills?: Me. not that i want to, but if left to him it won't get done.

26. What is your song? i would say our "first dance song" see below, but really, whenever the song "wildfire" by michael martin murphy comes on, i have to call him and sing it (and he does the same) only because we both think it's the silliest, dorkiest song ever. so there. how embarrasing.

27. What did you dance your first dance to?: "need i say more" by george strait

28. Describe your wedding dress: ivory satin with sheer overlay, strapless with a 2 inch band of crystals and embroidered flowers in pink, blue and lavender. the band also went around the hem, with a chapel lenghth train. the skirt had embroidered flowers randomly placed throughout the front and back. i made the headpiece for the veil out of pink porcelain flowers, and used my sister's veil attached to it. my dress was a little snug when i bought it, but by march or so it was too small! so i worked out feverishly to lose an inch or two, but i ended up having the seams let out a little. i looooooved my dress, and i can't decide if i want to have it made into a quilt, or save it in case sadie or any one of my nieces wants to wear it.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding?: I carried a handheld bouquet of pink roses, carnations, and lilies. each bridesmaid carried thre pink roses. my bouques arrived with a hideous bubble gum pink bow with streamers on it, which i promptly cut off.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved? What do they say? No engraving. platinum and gold. i got his on ebay ($90!!), and he got my set at a pawn shop (don't know how much, but i know it was a lot less than retail for platinum!) and no, it doesn't bother me in the least that it's second hand.

***update - i forgot to tag people!!! i tag T from onward and upward, kelli, and ksl.

back again

2007-02-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

yes, i've been gone for so long!

i meant to write a nice long and meaningful post about the ash wednesday mass i attended at the holy cross chapel downtown, but i have literally been running since wednesday after work, and i only just stopped last night.

i attended/volunteered at a juvenile law conference for three days (including saturday!! i forgot how much i hate working on saturday!) then baked a cake for the boy scout banquet, a casserole for the unitas church group potluck, attended both events, did piles of laundry, and hit kroger again, and just to let you know, i saved $22 in coupons yesterday, so including the $$ i saved getting the sale items (dog food was $8 off!!!) i got $125 worth of groceries for 80 bucks. i rock.

anyway, now it's back at work for more hiring fun.

i'm giving up cokes/sodas/soft drinks (however you say it in your part of the country) for lent. so i'm dealing with this lack of caffiene headache now too.

so that gets me to the comment about the ash wednesday mass - i loved what the priest said about ashes and suffering. some people ask why we wear the ashes all day after we recieve them, and some go so far as to accuse us of "proclaiming" our righteousness by doing so, which would be in direct opposition to jesus' command to pray and fast in secret. but the priest explained that the ashes are not a proclamation of righteousness, but an acknowlegement of sin. i wear the ashes because i am admitting to the world that i am a sinner, and that i will be using the season of lent to steer my thoughts and actions toward transformation and leaving sin behind. what a great way to think about that. i know plenty of people who don't go to mass all year, but they show up for ash wednesday to get the ashes so they can run around with a symbol of "faith" on thier forheads for a day, but i think the majority of catholics really do identify with this time of year as a time for really trying to change and put god first, and remember the suffering he endured for us.

so anyway, my nose has been away from the grindstone long enough.

next time, i'll tell you a little about the conference and how the kids did staying at uncle carlos and aunt dena's house on saturday.

happy monday!

thin mints

2007-02-20T14:48:00.000-08:00

is is wrong that i pretend to forget every year that no one else in my house likes thin mints, but i buy them every year anyway and when they come in, fall upon them like a shark in a feeding frenzy?

they'll be lucky if the other 2 boxes of cookies i bought actually make it home from the office. maybe i won't tell jerry i bought any this year, and he can just buy some from the girl scouts out in front of kroger....

for all math nerds, and anyone who hates the phone company!

2007-02-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

how to pay a bill when you're hacked off at the phone company:

is that not awesome!!?? bonus points for anyone who can actually tell me how much his bill was...i have no clue, since i never took calculus.

happy friday!

don't hate me because i thought this was funny!

2007-02-14T10:28:00.000-08:00

got this on email this morning, and it caught me by surprise, and i laughed out loud.

WHY YOU NEVER QUESTION A DRUNK
I was shopping at the local supermarket where I selected:
A half-gallon of 2% milk,
A carton of eggs,
A quart of orange juice,
A head of romaine lettuce,
A 2 lb. can of coffee, and
A 1 lb. package of bacon.

As I was unloading my items on the conveyor belt
to check out, a drunk standing behind me watched as
I placed the items in front of the cashier.

While the cashier was ringing up the purchases,
the drunk calmly stated, "You must be single."
I was a bit startled by this proclamation, but I
was intrigued by the derelict's intuition, since I
was indeed single. I looked at the six items on the
belt and saw nothing particularly unusual about my
selections that could have tipped off the drunk to
my marital status.

Curiosity getting the better of me, I said: "Well,
you know what, you're absolutely right. But how on
earth did you know that?"

The drunk replied, "Cause you're ugly."

2007-02-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

Presenting: The A-B-C's of Homemaking - Carrie Style

Aprons- Y/N? Jerry and the boys bought me one last year for christmas. i love it! it's got pretty blue ribbon and white fur on the edges.

Baking- Favorite thing to bake? Paula Deen's gooey butter cake. I've made it in several different flavors, but i think jerry's favorite has been the elvis one (peanut butter and banana.)

Clothesline- Y/N? Nope. our backyard is a wreck enough without our laundry hanging out there. plus i'm sure the dogs would have a field day tearing it all down.

Donuts- Ever made them? when i was a kid, every time we spent the night at our friend nicole's house, we would make donuts by poking a hole in raw biscuits and deep frying them, then covering in powdered sugar. very oily and sugary and oh-so-good. i should try it again sometime, now that we have a fry-daddy.

Everyday- One homemaking thing you do everyday? go to kroger. for diapers, ground beef, tortillas, it's always something.

Freezer- Do you have a separate deep freezer? No, but we do have a second freezer in the garage - just a normal one, not a deep freezer. it is home to a turkey (that i got free at thanksgiving, and didn't need to make) and about 7 frozen pizzas.

Garbage Disposal- Y/N? of Course!

Handbook- Y/N? heck no. the way i see it, making your home run is purely trial and error and what works best that day. ok, maybe more error than trial, but what the hell.

Ironing- Love it or hate it? hate it. hate. you know what else i hate? i hate the sound the ironing board makes when you open or close it. like a screaming banshee. you would think that someone would patent a silent one that doesn't wake up the babies in the morning when you're trying to iron something you just pulled out of the dryer for work and you're already running late and are hoping everyone will just stay asleep for a few more minutes so you can get your stuff together before it's time to get the bottle ready and change the diapers, and....oh, sorry. i digress.

Junk Drawer- Where is it? heh heh. kind of embarrassing. we have four junk drawers in the kitchen, and one junk cabinet. the junk, it just spreads and infiltrates! it's unstoppable!

Kitchen- Design and decorating? i painted it a cheery, bright yellow, with plans of putting a burgandy/orange border up too. it's pretty good size, with a butcher block island that we put in the middle. just got an advantium oven too - the piece de resistance.

Love- What is your favorite part of homemaking? i love to cook. i wish i had a magic wand to clean up the mess i make when i do it, but i love cooking, baking, and how appreciative my family is of good food.

Mop- Y/N? i have a mop, and i use it on occasion. i sweep about every other day.

Nylons- Wash by hand or in the washer? I wash them in the washer. like i have time to hand wash them and dry them over the bath tub or something. we have a delicate/handwash cycle for that.

Oven- Do you use the window or open it to check? i try to see thru the window, and i fuss at the boys if they open the oven, but i always end up opening to check for doneness too.

Pizza- What do you put on yours? i like all the meats. and occasionally i'm up for canadian bacon and pineapple. but no veggies on my pizza please, except for mushrooms are cool with me.

Quiet- What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? read, sleep, or fold laundry.

Recipe card box- Y/N? i have one, but i rarely use it. i pretty much make stuff up as i go along, or go from memory for the old standards like meatloaf/spaghetti sauce/chicken pot pie. i have several cook books that i scan for new ideas, then i usually end up tailoring those to whatever ingredients i have in the frig.

Style of house- it's a 1 1/2 story i guess. enters to a big living room with high ceiling, with a catwalk across on the second floor. 4 bedrooms up, master down.

Tablecloths and napkins- Y/N? i use placemats and paper towels for napkins. fancy, i know. tablecloth is for special occasions.

Under the kitchen sink- was a total disaster, with tons of cleaning supplies stuffed in every which way. until saturday, when our little cub scout cleaned it out and organized it for a project. now i've got dish stuff on one side, insect spray and cleaners in the middle, and hand soap and dog stuff on the other side. very neat.

Vacuum- How many times a week? our sitter vacuums about every other day. i do it maybe once a week. i know, i'm spoiled.

Wash- How many loads do you do a week? i always tell myself i'm going to do wash during the week, but i'm always so tired when i get home and it's the last thing i want to do, especially after cooking and cleaning up after dinner. so i end up doing 5 or 6 loads between saturday and sunday, and i'm lucky if it all gets put away before monday morning.

X's- Do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off? no. probably a good idea to. i do make a grocery list though!

Yard- Who does what? we have yard guys who mow, edge, and weedeat. they also tear up our fence and let our dogs out, but hey, what do you expect for $25 a pop!? i'd be happier doing it ourselves, but the decision has been made....

ZZZ's- What is your last homemaking task for the day? make sure the kitchen is clean/dishes out of the sink. clear a path in the living room for aidan when he gets out of bed and comes to our room in the middle of the night.

ta da!! i'm so unorganized, i don't know how it all gets done. oh, yeah - because it doesn't all get done!!

i tag kelli and ksl for this one!

thursday 13 #12

2007-02-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

So last week i did one about my favorite drinks, so this week, it's things i hate to eat. My mother always told me "Don't say gross about food!" It's impolite, especially if you say it in front of the person who made it. So these are all the food that i think are gross, even though i can't say so.

Thirteen Things that i absolutely will not eat!

1. Blue cheese. oh.my.gawd. i love cobb salads, and so often they come with blue cheese dressing, and i always practically beg the waiter to please remember to put ranch on it, because if there is so much as a tiny crumble of blue cheese on the salad i will cry. just one little taste of it is enough to ruin the taste of anything for the rest of the day. ick.

2. saurkraut. my mom used to boil this to put on top of hot dogs/bratwurst or whatever, and it made the whole house stink. uuhhhh.

3. cocont. man oh man, i wish i like coconut. they put in in so many good things. but i can't handle the texture, and it just tastes like suntan lotion.

4. sushi. yes i've tried a few times, and i just can't get with the slipperyness of raw fish. and wasabi is awful.

5. raw oysters. tried this too, and even if the taste weren't bad enough, it's like swallowing someone else's snot. i'm feeling nauseous just talking about it. i better finish this list up fast....

6. greens. mustard, collard, whatever. tastes and smells like grass.

7. barbacoa. people, this is roasted cow head.

8. menudo. cow intestines soup. shudder. even my mexican husband is smart enough to stay the hell away from this stuff.

9. my mother makes this concoction called 4 bean salad. it's got kidney beans, yellow wax beans, garbonzo beans (also known as chick peas) and green beans, all tossed in an obnoxiously tangy vinaigrette sauce. she used to make it for practically every special occasion dinner, and never remembered that we all hated it. thankfully, she's moved on to other more yummy things. because 4 bean salad is just.....well, it's gross. sorry mom.

10. green peppers. ok, cooked in a sauce or something, i can manage. but raw, i cannot handle them.

11. haggus. this is some kind of loosely packed sheep liver sausauge or something. i had it at a pub in scotland. talk about ruining your day.

12. turkey bacon. i don't care what you health nuts say, a thin, salty stick of dry turkey colored to look like bacon is not bacon!! and i wouldn't like it even if it weren't trying to be bacon. blech.

13. golly, well i am hard pressed to think of anything else. i mean there are others that i don't prefer, but i wouldn't list them in the "absolutely not" category. hhmm.

tell me what foods you would call gross if it weren't an impolite thing to say!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

here i am!

2007-02-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

trying to get back in the habit of posting more often. work is just busy, and i never get computer time at home.

i'm in the process of trying to hire as many substitute teachers as i possibly can before march 1 for one of our alternative school campuses. they're getting an influx of 200 kids that day, and they'll need warm bodies to control them all, and hopefully some of those warm bodies can actually teach the kids something....

i'm not good at asking for help. apparently they think i can do this all by myself, along with various other duties i have here too. i feel like if i ask for help in this, they'll wonder what the hell i'm doing with my time, and just consider me lazy. but dammit, just one more person working on this with me would make such a big difference. especially when they need these people working as of yesterday, and i just can't do it fast enough. sigh.

i guess i should quit wasting time blogging when i've got tons of employment verifications and personal references to do, forms to complete, phone calls to make, interviews to schedule.......ugh. i guess this is one of those times when i do kind of miss casework. i just can't get motivated!!!!!!!!!

Thursday 13 #11

2007-02-01T07:33:00.000-08:00

Thirteen of my favorite things to drink!!

1. Bud Light. especially when it's ice cold in a bottle. Good thing my hubby and i prefer the same beer. i think it's one of the reasons he married me. that and i like baseball. but i digress.

2. Diet Coke. or diet crack, as it's known around our house. things are ugly in the morning if we're out. and it is an unspoken testament of my love for the hubby that if there's only one left in the fridge, i'll leave it for him. (also because he's more snarly than me without it.)

3. Gin and tonic. with lots of lime. i once had a dream that my sociology professor that i had a sort of intellectual crush on invited me over and made me a gin and tonic. weird.

4. Earl Gray Tea. it's flavored with bergamot, a sort of honey-sweet plum kind of fruit i think. comes from over on 'the continent'. yummy, and so comforting. with just a touch of honey and milk.

5. Chamomile Tea. yet another very comforting drink - with a little honey and lemon. great for cramps or a sore throat.

6. Margaritas. you didn't think i could stay away from the alcohol, did you? i like them on the rocks NOT frozen. with salt. and preferably made with the lime juice, tequila, and triple sec, not from a premade mix. oh, so good.

7. Baskin Robbins Mocha Blast. i first had one when i was doing mystery shopping, and had to buy one for a job. man i loved it!!! frozen, chocolaty espresso with ice cream all blended up, with whipped cream on top. sugar rush plus caffiene kick - yum!!

8. Root Beer Float. evokes images of lazy summer days for me. use good quality root beer - IBC is my favorite - and blue bell homemade vanilla ice cream. nothing better in this world.

9. Coffee. hot and rich, with a little sugar and some heavy cream, if you have it. normally i'm not a coffee drinker in the morning, but i do like a cup after a big meal like thanksgiving, with a piece of pie. mmmm.

10. Any red-flavored Sonic Slush. man, oh man, for the last month when i was pregnant with aidan, i went to sonic literally every day for one. just had to have something cool and fruity. and i still like them now. i pity those of you who don't have Sonics where you live.

11. Snapple Cherry-Lime Rickey. i first met this drink in college, b/c they had them at the cafeteria. loooove it! i can't remember the last time i had one. guess i should tell our kroger to special order a case of them.

12. A cool glass of good chardonnay on a hot summer day. very relaxing and makes me feel a little sophisticated and decadent. best enjoyed outside with a light dinner on the patio table.

13. Mulled wine. a good burgundy, warmed through with mulling spices and sliced apples that fills the house with spicy winter scents, and feels slow and shimmery going down. ahhhh.

What's your favorite drink??

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. <

dress dilemma

2007-01-28T07:13:00.000-08:00

ok, so here are my pics. this one, i won already, and got it, but it is too big. big in the bust, and too long. but it's gorgeous, and i let my friend try it on to see if she can wear it. she says she has to lose about 6 lbs, and she's going to try b/c she loves it too.

this is a dress i put an offer on, but i won't hear back for another 6 hours. it's a size 12, so it may not fit. i really need a 14. also, the asking price was $250, so i doubt if they'll take my $50 offer. yes, i'm being cheap, but i'm not paying $250!!!

oh, and there's a slim-to-none chance that i'll look like that chick in the picture anyway.

so i went shopping yesterday, and found next to nothing. went to one resale boutique, and found a beautiful dress that fit well, but was kind of plain (all black except for a white band at the top of the bodice) and it was missing the hook and eye in the back. and needed to be cleaned. and they wanted $100 for it. no thanks. so i'll have to figure out a way to go shopping again this week. did i mention the dinner dance is this saturday coming??

random updates

2007-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

i haven't posted in a while - been busy with, oh, you know, life.

sadie had a checkup, all is fine. she is 8 months, and weighs 17.6 pounds.

aidan is progessing in his speech therapy - he said "silly sadie!" at his last appointment. had me rolling. he'll say "more" and "please" but not "more, please" yet. but he can name all his colors and shapes, and most letters. and he tells me and himself "job job!" (ie - good job!) we're getting there!

i'm in training today and tomorrow... i teach a self-defense course at work called handle with care. it's designed to protect the officer as well as not injure the attacker, since we deal with juveniles. i love teaching it, and i always enjoy the yearly refresher training. i like teaching this class because so much of it involves how to address and deal with the youth we work with and influence their behavior before anything violent ever happens. i think it's great that a restraint technique class incorporates so much verbal de-escalation strategy before we even lay hand on each other. but anyway - i'm having fun.

i bought a dress on ebay for our dinner dance on feb 3. jerry thinks it looks weird. i'll show you a pic when i get it, and you can help me choose whether i keep it or bu y a new one and sell this one back to ebay.

anyway, it's time to get on home.

hasta luego.

thursday 13 #10

2007-01-18T07:26:00.001-08:00

Thirteen Things I want for my kids

1. I want them to know they are loved, even when i'm fussing at them

2. I want them to be good. not just well behaved, but turn out to be good people.

3. I want them to know and love God, and to be involved in church

4. I want them to be intelligent. they don't have to be super geniuses, but i don't want them to have to struggle through school and life.

5. I want them to be confident and secure, and not follow the crowd (at least not too much.)

6. I want them to be healthy.

7. I want them to become responsible people.

8. I want them to live up to their potential, and develop high expectations of themselves

9. I want them to feel like they can tell me about what's going on in thier lives, no matter how old they are. i understand there will be times they won't want to, and times i wont want to know, but overall, i want them to know i'll always be there for them, no matter what mistakes they make.

10. I want them to play team sports. not only is it fun, there are so many lessons that boys and girls learn when they play on a team of any kind.

11. I want their dad and i to have a loving, committed, and happy marriage, so they can see what that looks and feels like, so they'll know what to look for in a spouse of their own.

12. I want them to know the joy of making someone else happy. That it is in helping and giving that we are blessed.

13. I want them to be happy. I list this one last, because if they have all the others, this one will follow.

there are tons of other things i could list. we as parents just want the world for them. you understand. i'm always wondering if i'm doing it right.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

random things to ponder

2007-01-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a great email i just got.....

TEN THINGS TO PONDER FOR 2007

#10 Life is sexually transmitted.
#9 Good health is merely the slowest rate at which one can die
#8 Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an
erection, make him a sandwich.
#7 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach a person to
use the internet and they won't bother you for weeks.
#6 Some people are like a slinky... not really good for anything, but
you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
#5 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in the hospital
dying of nothing
#4 All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention
to criticism.
#3 Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars, and a
substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents???
#2 In the 60's, people took LSD to make the world weird. Now the world
is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER ONE THOUGHT FOR 2007:
We know exactly where one cow with mad-cow-disease is located among the
millions and millions of cows in America, but we haven't a clue as to
where thousands of Illegal immigrants and Terrorists are located. Maybe we should put the Department of Agriculture in charge of immigration.

next time we'll get a tip sheet

2007-01-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

so we didn't win quite enough to cover our dinner....ok, so we didn't even break even. but it was fun to spend some good one on one time, drink us some beers, and talk and laugh together.

i love all the crazy names they give these dogs. here are a few notables that i remember: tmobile, makeminerare, kikkin chicken, and my personal favorite, boiled crawfish.

if you were a greyhound, what would your name be?

tomorrow's big date night!

2007-01-12T13:32:00.001-08:00

yessirree, tomorrow is the date night! mom's coming to watch the babies. and jerry and i are going to ......

the dog track!!!!!! bettin' on the puppies! i love the dog track! maybe we'll win enough to cover our meal! wish us luck! it will just be great to hang out with the hubby, just the two of us, doing something fun and relaxing together. can't wait.

thursday 18 #9 i think

2007-01-11T06:40:00.001-08:00

Thirteen Things about my sister Katie

i think i may be stealing this idea from aimee, but i don't think she'll mind. since my last post was about katie, i'll make this one about her too!

1. She doesn't have a blog, and she doesn't comment on my blog, even though she reads it.

2. She's my twin, and i'm 17 minutes older than her.

3. She has lived in 6 different cities in the last 10 years.

4. She was the smallest player on her high school volleyball team (or if she wasn't she was close) but she was the smartest, and had the best attitude and the most love for the game, which is why she is now a volleyball coach. i don't know if she knows this, but i see her as vindication for all of us second-string, b-team players who really could have been good enough had our coaches given us a chance, instead of playing favorites or catering to the girls with the loudest parents. i think it rocks that she's now the one who decides who plays, and i know she doesn't run her team like a popularity contest. because she's cool.

5. she went to college at Trinity University in San Antonio, and got both a bachelor's and master's degree in five years.

6. she earned the nickname "mad dog" while in college, at least for a little while, because of her penchant for a certain alcoholic beverage (m/d 20/20)

7. in high school, i used to have to physically drag her out of bed in the morning. she would not get up! i always drove to school, and i would be sitting on the couch in theh living room tapping my foot, waiting for her slow butt to get ready to go. i wanted to whip her.

8. she once broke the back window of our car to get in after she locked the keys in it, instead of calling a locksmith. apparently it was really hard to do. she told mom that someone tried to break in.

9. she started signing with her daughter when she was about 6 months old, to help her learn to talk. it worked, because lucy talks almost as much as my son, who is a year older than her!

10. her given name is katherine, but she has always gone by katie. never kate or kathy. and it annoys her when people spell her name "katy".

11. when she gets annoyed, she will point her finger at you and start her sentence with, "lookit!"

12. she is very crafty, and one year, when she was taking a pottery class in college, she made clay pitchers, pots, tumblers, rice bowls and platters for everyone. i still have a "moonshine jug" that she made. I also have a bowl that was supposed to be a pasta dish, but when it was fired, it shrank too much. she stamped all of her pottery art with a flower as her hallmark. coincidentally, (or not) it's the same flower she has tattooed on her hip.

13. she won't eat guacamole or mushrooms.

there are tons of other things i could list. but most importantly, of course, is that i love her and love that she's my sister!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
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exciting news!!!

2007-01-08T09:36:00.000-08:00

so my sister katie just told me yesterday that she's pregnant again!!!! hooray! her lucy is 1, will be 2 in may. one of the cutest darn kids i've ever seen, and my goddaughter.

i was cleaning out my closet yesterday. i decided that i won't be fitting into any size 8s or 10s anytime soon, and if ever i do, i will deserve to buy myself new clothes. so i called my sister who is always infuriatingly thinner than me, to offer her a new but slightly used wardrobe. she said sure, and as long as i'm setting things aside for her, i should set aside my maternity clothes as well.....!!!!!!!

i love that our kids are all going to be so close in age. sadie and lucy are almost exactly one year apart, and adian is 1 year older than lucy - their bdays are 4/30, 5/12, and 5/23. this one will be in august or so, so still pretty close. how fun! now if i could only get them to move south, so we wouldn't be an hour and a half apart, that would be perfect. i had to marry a southside boy.

so this saturday, my mom is coming to babysit, and jerry and i are having a date night. we're thinking about going to the dinner and a movie place nearby, where you watch the movie in the restaurant itself. not quite sure how it works, but it's supposed to be pretty cool. i was kind of all fired up to go out like we used to, go play pool and go to a bar and stay out till all hours of the night, but jerry thinks no. i'll work on him. sure it would be weird to come home drunk with my mom there, but it's a rare chance for us to go have adult time with adult beverages!

anyway, my sister said that maybe they'd come up too, and hang out with us. which i told her would be cool. looking forward to this weekend!

end of the 12 days...

2007-01-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

so the is the recap of the 12 days of christmas gifts for the hubby - pear tart, turtle candy + dove candy bar, chikfila giftcards, 4 phone calls during the day, onion rings, eggs for breakfast, prayers, milkshake, 9 lotto tickets, my name is earl season one, and for the last two...

day eleven (pipers piping) was an itunes gift card. thanks for the idea, kelli. except that i lost the card somewhere, and havent' found it yet to give to him. but i told him what it was, and he was happy about that. and day 12 was fried chicken for dinner. you know, drumsticks. yeah kind of a stretch, but we both felt like chicken, and it was better than the idea i had at first, which was to bake a cake and decorate it like a drum. we have enough sweets around here already. jerry had so much fun with this. he told me he was going to miss getting his envelope every day. and i enjoyed doing it for him. so much that i'll probably do it again next year. so i have a year to come up with new gifts for the days. oh boy.

just in case anyone was wondering, i finally got my hair cut again. she really didn't cut as much off as i think i wanted, but it's definitely shaped better. and it's all highlighted too, which is cool. i think i might have to give up trying to color my hair myself. before when i was younger and had long hair, it wasn't a problem if it didn't look great. but now, being a working woman and all, with shorter hair, it really makes a difference to leave it to the pros. i just wish it wasn't so damn expensive. maybe next time i'll go up to the community college and get it done by the cosmetology students. i did that once before, and it looked great. it just took them about 4 hours.

so my mom called today, and said she had no plans for next weekend, and would love to come up and spend some time, and watch the babies for us so we could go out on saturday night. Huh!!?? this is the first time that's ever happened. but hey, it's cool. so now we're working on our big plans for a big date on saturday. don't want to spend a lot of money, but do want to do something we can't do with babies. we'll probably end up going to see a movie, but i want it to be more that just that. we'll see. i wish we could go out drinking somewhere, but i really don't want my mom to see me coming home drunk. i know i'm grown up and all and it's my house, but i think i'd still feel kinda funny.

so i hope you're having a good weekend. back to the laundry.

random bits, oh, and thursday 13 too

2007-01-04T06:51:00.000-08:00

so last night was 10 lords a leaping. i figured a lord and an earl are pretty close to the same thing, feudally that is, so i got him the first season of my name is earl - one of our favorites that we always seem to miss. he was thrilled. ok, so it was sort of a gift for me too....damn that's a funny show.

the boys went back to school this morning. surprisingly, they were both pretty easy to rouse.

so on the bus to work this morning, i was sitting in an aisle seat, and the guy across the walkway from me was in the window seat. and out of nowhere, he just threw up all over himself! i think he may have gotten some on the lady in front of him too. poor guy. i felt so bad for him because he was all embarrassed, and apologizing, and i had nothing to give him to wipe himself off. the lady in front of him pulled out one of those tiny travel size packages of kleenex, and gave him one. what a cat. i almost gave him the maxi pad i had in my purse, but thought better of it. although i think it would have worked better than one stinkin kleenex. anyway, he got off at the first stop, and as soon as he left, she leaned up and told the driver, um, this guy just got sick all over the floor back here. and the driver said, um, ok. what is she supposed to do, break out her mop bucket and put the bus on auto pilot? just deal with it, lady. i'm glad i'm a mom, because a little spit up doesn't phase me at all.

anyway, so after that, another guy comes up to the front of the bus, when we were stopped at a red light, and asked to get off there even though it isn't a stop. usually the drivers don't mind, but this one said no. he was obviously in a hurry, and being kind of huffy. so he sat down in the second seat and waited til we got half a block up to the stop. let me remind you, dear reader, that it's been raining here since last night, so floors are a little slippery. and no vomit up by the front of the bus. so this guy stands up before the bus gets to the stop, all itching to get off right away, and as the driver brakes, he lost his footing and fell right on his butt! the bus stops, he stands up and says in this scathing voice to the driver, it's slippery there! and stomps off the bus. no, dude, you're supposed to wait your dumb ass in the seat until the bus stops. and i'm sorry none of us had the courtesy to wipe the floor off after we tromped onto the bus with our wet feet. i don't think the aisle is big enough for one of those "piso mojado/wet floor" signs.

ugh. people.

and so ends the feel-good of the christmas season.

or maybe i'm just pms-ing and feeling growly. probably that.

so on the the thurday thirteen......

13 things that annoyed me in the last few days.....

1. on new year's eve day, walmart actually had all their valentine's day stuff out. give me a break.
2. jerry put noah's lunch money in noah's shoe this morning before he left because he was afraid i'd forget to give it to him. he didn't say that was why, but i just know. like i'm the only one who forgets things.
3. it's cold and rainy, and has been for days. i'm tired of it.
4. last night when jerry let the dogs in, they tracked mud from the door to their crate. and he just left it there.
5. i think they have the air conditioner on here at work, even though it's 50 degrees outside. i'm cold!
5. we have a huge pile of crap on our kitchen counter that refuses to go away. no, not real crap. just papers, reciepts, books, phone chargers, coins, watches, sales ads, mail, etc. i want to just sweep it all into the trash, and deal with the conseqences if i accidentally threw away something we needed.
6. our interest rate on the mortgage is going up again. we need a fixed rate, but can't get a good rate yet. still fixing credit. grr.
7. both of our tvs are on the fritz, and we don't have the money to buy new ones. and i'm not looking forward to the argument that will ensue when hubby wants the flatscreen, and i'm too cheap and shrewish to say yes.
8. unitas is starting up again (our marriage prep class that we're a sponsor couple for) and we need to get a sitter for sadie. alec can watch aidan, but he's not quite comfortable enough with the little one. jerry feels like it's no problem just to take her with us, but i don't want to because i end up holding her the whole time, feeding her, soothing her, etc., and i can't really devote attention to the group going on. i'd get so much more out of it, and be able to put more into it if the baby wasn't there.
9. i'm the only one who hears the babies cry on the montior. and the only one who gets up in the middle of the night to sooth or feed them.
10. jerry made the comment the other day about how i must be jazzed to go back to work, since the stay-at-home mom stuff is really hard and wears me out. i had to bite my tounge before i said that even though it's hard, i'd do it in a heartbeat if we had the money, and if i thought he really appreciated how tired one can be after "just staying home all day."
11. i annoy myself with my procrastination. i'm sitting here justifying to myself that it's only a three day week with the holidays, and no one expects anything to get done in just three days. i'll wait til next week to get down to work.
12. i still need a haircut. i'm going on saturday. i want to get highlights too, but i'm too cheap to pay $80 for it. but last time i tried to do it my self from a box, i jacked it all up and ended up looking like i fell in hydrogen peroxide.
13. i have a headache and i forgot to bring my tylenol to work with me!

so you can now join me in my pissy mood, or go and have yourself a wonderful thursday!

drummers drumming?

2007-01-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

last day at home with the kiddos before i go back to work tomorrow. ick.

today is 9 ladies dancing day, which, of course, jerry is all worked up about, because he thinks i'll be doing a strip tease. which i won't. nor will i be giving him $180 to go have 9 lap dances. (apparently it's common knowlege that a lap dance is 20 bucks. i didn't know that. i originally said that i wouldn't give him $300 to have 9 lap dances, and he looked at me all cockeyed and said where do you get 300? everyone knows it's $20 a dance. and he doens't even go to strip clubs. except if it's a bachelor party which he hasn't done in years and years. but i digress.)

it's nine lottery tickets, the scratch of kind which are called "9 in a line." so lots of nines, but no dancing. although, if we win something, i'll dance for sure!

so i'm reconsidering the 12 drummers drumming gift. i had an idea, which i'm not going to spill yet, since i'm keeping everyone in suspense, but i am now thinking that it's kindof lame. do y'all have any ideas? my 11 pipers piping is a little lame too, now that i think about it. give me some ideas!!

more 12 days

2007-01-01T06:39:00.000-08:00

just for an update, i'm doing the 12 days of christmas gifts for the hubby. i shamelessly stole this idea from kelli in the mirror's post here.

ok, so we left off at 6, right? six geese a laying traslates into eggs. i don't have goose egges, so chicken eggs have to do.

on six geese a laying day, i got up early with him since he had to work that saturday, and made him eggs for breakfast. he just recently bought an eggmaker/toaster that cooks a poached egg in exactly the same time it takes to toast 2 pieces of bread or english muffin, in order to make a perfect egg sandwich. it even has a steamer tray for a piece of ham to heat up while the egg is cooking. jerry believes that this is the absolute best invention in the history of the world. i'm not 100% sure he's wrong on that. so i sent him off to work with a warm egg sandwich then climbed back into bed.

day 7 was hard. swans a swimming? so i looked up the song, and apparently there's a myth attached to it that the numbered items correlate to symbols of christianity that early catholics would sing so they could celebrate their faith, but not be persecuted for it. here's an example of the explanation for that.

so,i wrote in the card:
"this is my gift to you today: in the song, the seven swans a swimming represent the 7 sacraments God gave us. one of them is marriage and another is Holy Eucharist. Today, as we take communion together, my prayers will focus on you, as i thank God for you, and ask Him to stregthen and bless you and give you peace, wisdom, and faith to guide us, your family, in His path."

he got all teary and said it was the best present yet. well, second maybe to the chickfila. that's my man.

and then at church yesterday, he poked me before communion and said, hey remember, your supposed to pray for me!! he really is enjoying this, and i'm having fun with it too.

today is 8 maids a milking. i'm gonna make him a killer milkshake with the peanut butter passion ice cream we have in the freezer. top it off with some crumbled reeses p/b cups. he'll be so excited!

oh, by the way, new years was nice and relaxed. we just hung out here, and jerry took the older boys out to do fireworks. they had to drive out to the next town over, since our city has an ordinance against fireworks. they went to this brand new neighborhood out in the middle of nowhere and popped a few, but then some cars showed up with lights, and they thought they might be cops or security guards, so they hopped in the car and sped off. the kids had as much fun "running from the law" then they would have shooting fireworks all night apparently. now i'm really hoping that alec doesnt' learn to love that kind of "rush" yet.

anyway, they were only gone about an hour or so, so in that time, i was able to complete my address book that i just bought, updating it with all the addresses from the christmas cards we recieved, and file away the picture/letter cards we got. i think that was a works for me wednesday idea, and i think it's a great one. so years from now we can look at the pictures and update letters from our families and friends and remember what was going on then.

so that brings us to today. i'm awake with the little ones, but everyone else is still fast asleep, since we were up til 2 am. looking forward to another lazy day.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

finally christmas pics!

2006-12-29T09:58:00.000-08:00

so after a week's hiatus from blogging, i'm back with pictures of christmas. would have done this sooner, but for some reason, kodak picture share doesn't want to work to download these....

anyway, we had a great time being lazy and living in a house that looks like a tornado hit it for a full week. i'm still home from work - won't go back until the 3rd. not getting as much done around here as i'd like, but i keep telling myself i have days and days ahead of me to get laundry, kitchen, trash picked up, etc. done before my life goes back to normal. instead of doing all those mundane things, i've been playing with the babies, which is waaay more important, i think!

so here are some highlights from the big day.

these were the kids' "big presents" - except that aidan also got the v-smile game from vtec. it's really cool. he is so excited that he now has games on the tv just like the big brothers. he hasn't quite gotten the hang of the game, with the learning aspect of it, but he will.

sadie was so darn excited about her little play yard. she is still enthralled with it, and it's nice to keep her entertained so mommy can get things done. but it's also very fun to play with her, and watch her get excited about all the features, like a squeaky phone, a peek a boo flap, and a door bell. soooo cute.

noah got an electric guitar, and alec got a pocket pc. both were psyched about these gifts, and have spent inordinate amounts of time trying them out. the pocket pc is pretty amazing. one feature we found is that it can be a remote control for any type of tv. just enter what brand the tv is, and presto, you can control it. so when we were in walmart the other day, alec had a great time turning all the tv's inside on and off. i think people thought there was a ghost. i had to get them out of there fast, even though i was laughing my butt off too. noah came into our room crying yesterday saying that he broke a string on his guitar already trying to tune it. poor kid. we told him it's ok, we'll get it restrung asap. he is just so excited. i hope he acutally sticks with it long enough to be able to play something. he'll have to practice, so wee'll see if he's willing to do that.

don't have a picture of it, but jerry bought me some bee-yoo-tee-ful earrings from our jeweler friend. they are very pretty and sparkly and diamond-y. very special, and i'm excited to wear them to our church dinner-dance in february.

so here' is the scoop on the 12 days of christmas thing for jerry. he's actually liking it. on christmas day i gave him a pack of 12 envelopes, all sealed, each with a note or a gift inside. he got to open the first one, (partridge/pear tree) which had a note to go look in the oven, which revealed a pear tart, all hot and bubbly. his eyes lit up, and he got the idea. after a few seconds, though he turned to me and said, hey, that means i gotta wait for all the other presents!! no fair! what a boy. on the second day, i had a chocolate/pecan/caramel "turtle" and a dove chocolate bar hidden in the pantry. he opened the note to look in there, and got his present. then he said, do i get another pear tart too, like in the song? i told him no, and he grinned and said, good, because if i did, i'd be big as a house by the end of this thing! the third day (french hens) was three $5 gift cards to chickfila, which he was very excited about. to quote jerry, chickfila is "so the shit!" yesterday (calling birds) i called him 4 times during his workday, just to talk. he always tells me he loves talking to me, and while i'm working i often have to cut him short, because i'm busy. but yesterday i made an effort to talk as long as he liked, and didn't get off the phone. he noticed, and appreciated that.

so today is 5 gold rings. i'm going to make onion rings for dinner, along with some homemade pizzas (golden crust in a ring....ok it's kind of a stretch, but it works.)

i'll keep the updates coming.

humbled by kindness

2006-12-22T09:28:00.000-08:00

there are just some people in this world who overwhelm me with pure and sincere kindness and goodness.

one of them is my friend and coworker lisa. i wrote about her hardships in this post. she was so appreciative of the meager gift i could give her, and i wonder every day how she holds it all together.

the other day, we walked to the bank together on our lunch break. we were talking about her situation, about how her husband's medical leave checks had run out, and they were down to just her income. she was telling me about the money they recieved from a fundraiser we had done at the office that netted about the total of one of his paychecks. she was so happy. as we were about the leave the bank, she saw a jar with a picture of a sherrif's deputy, and a story about his illness, and a request for donations for his family. lisa, inspite of her own need, pulled out $3 and put it in the jar, remarking how difficult it must be for his family. i had to turn my head so she wouldn't see me tear up, and wouldn't see how ashamed i was that the only cash i had was a twenty that i wouldn't put in the jar.

and now today, she called me to her office, saying she had a gift for me for christmas. i didn't do office people gifts this year, having spent about $40 on prizes for the party... and i just expected her to have brought a little bag of goodies or something. she presented me with this big box. my heart was in my throat. i opened up a vaporizer (she had recalled a conversation we had a month or so ago when my kiddos were sick with colds, and she had asked if i had a vaporizer, which i didn't.) and a cookbook (she knows i love to cook). she told me merry christmas, and thank you again for the homemade meals i had given her. and there i stood with nothing to give this wonderful woman who thinks only of others even when she could be (justifiably) withdrawn into self-pity. all i could do was give her a teary hug and promise to bring her something homemade from my new cookbook! she is truly amazing.

i remember a homily given by one of our priests years back regarding giving out of need, not surplus. while giving from one's surplus is admirable, giving away the very resources that you need is HOLY.

i continue to pray for her and her family, and to pray that God grants me a generous heart, so that i will have the courage give out of my need, in this Christmas season, and beyond. i pray the same for you as well.

thursday 13 #7

2006-12-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

Thirteen Things Carrie is excited about for Christmastime!

1. VA.CA.TION!!!!! it's only three days that i'm taking (i have christmas and the day after off anyway) but having all next week off to chill with the family will be heaven!!! i'm counting down the hours.

2. Honeybaked Ham for Christmas dinner!! Jerry got a gift certificate for $50 to the Honeybaked store from work (he actually works somewhere where the bosses give gifts!) so that will be christmas dinner. yum-o!

3. My family is out of town!!! Now, i know that sounds mean, but honest-to-God, it makes it so much easier. My sister and her hubby are going to oregon, and my mom is going to D.C. to see my other sis. i love to spend time with them, but for the holidays it's just so much easier to be at home, rather than driving all over creation to see mom, sister, and in laws, who live all over this huge city, and who are rarely willing to drive to OUR house. well, my sister is pretty good about it, but my mom really beleives it takes longer for her to drive to our house than it does for us to drive to her house. go figure.

4. 12 days of Christmas gift i'm doing for Jerry. i got this idea from Kelli in the Mirror. i'm going to give jerry one gift a day for the 12 days until epiphany, each one representing a part of the song - you know, partriges in pear trees, turtle doves, french hens, etc. because i'm his true love and all. so stay tuned as i give updates on how much he digs or does not dig this present!

5. gooey butter cake. i'm making one for christmas. it's paula deen's recipe. need i say more? i'll post the recipe later. did i mention that it calls for 2 sticks of butter? drool.

6. seeing the faces of my kiddos as they open gifts. sadie's too young, of course, to know what's going on, but aidan is really very excitable these days, as he learns and sees and remembers stuff. he went cuckoo over the tree and the lights already. he's going to flip when he sees the v-tec video games we got him.

7. mulled cider and/or wine. we've made this every year since jerry and i started dating. it's a tin of spices from williams-sonoma, and you basically just simmer your cider or red wine with them for 20 minutes or so. makes the house smell awesome, and it warms your body, mind and heart. defines the smell of christmas to me.

8. my last paycheck of the year will come right after christmas, but it will also reflect the raise i just got! it's a biannual merit raise, nothing too big. it amounts to about $40 per paycheck, but hey, it's $40 more than we had before.

9. i actually sent christmas cards this year!!! i've been planning on it for years, and even bought a bunch of wallet pics two years ago, but i never got around to sending them. i just put the last of them in the mail this morning. i rock!!!

10. did i mention that i get to stay home all next week? yes, i'll be cleaning up the house after all the eating and gift opening, and home with all four kiddos, but at least i won't be at work!!

11. going to mass at our churh, with just our family. historically, we have gone to my mother in law's parish for mass, together with her, and my brothers-in-law and their families, but noah is scheduled to alter serve on christmas eve, so we'll be going to our church, st. helen. i much prefer spending christmas in our parish, among our friends and community. plus st. lukes is more contemporary, and they play weird music. i'm just sayin'.

12. we actually have enough money this year so we don't have to skimp on the gifts for the kids. no, we're not rolling in dough, but we have been so blessed with jerry's new job this year, that we're finally able to see the light at the end of the debt tunnel. and christmas will not be all on credit this year. thank god!

13. finally, i'm excited to wish all my bloggy friends merry christmas! i've only been blogging for a few months, and i love this great way to gab and converse with freinds, new and old. peace be with you all, and have a blessed christmas!!!!!!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

works for me #6

2006-12-20T14:14:00.000-08:00

i'm late for wfmw, but here is my cool tip:

this website has so many awesome gift ideas for those hard to buy for people! it will personalize recommendations for the "giftee", by asking their sex and age and the occasion for the gift. it links to tons of great sites for unique gift giving.

so happy shopping, all! only 5 days left!

don't forget to visit shannon at rocks in my dryer, the hostess of works for me wednesday, for tons of christmastime tips!

proud of my little guy!

2006-12-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

so aidan has been having speech therapy every week for the past 3 weeks or so. he was very resistant at first, and the two times i was there for the appointment i had to unplug the tv so he would even give the therapist the time of day...but yesterday i got the written progress notes that they left, and i was so pleased! she wrote that he said the full names of 4 of the animals in her animal puzzle - elephant, giraffe, puppy and bunny. and that when she arrive, instead of saying, "NONONO!" and closing himself in his room, like her first visit, he went directly to the spot on the living room floor where they usually sit while she is there, and waited for her to begin her activities. he also said "ready, set, go!" when they were playing with cars.

now, i am so proud of him, and happy that he is progressing in his speech!

however, not to sound cynical, but i don't think she was altogether truthful in her report. i know he says "fuh fuh" for elephant, and "raf" for giraffe. not the whole word. i also know he says "set, go" instead of ready, set go. my suspicious mind says she's falsifying his progress to make herself look good. i guess it's possible that he is performing better for her, but i doubt it. or maybe it's not an intenetional misrepresentation - maybe she thought he said the whole word or phrase. i don't know. i guess it really doesn't matter, because he is talking more than ever before. and that's the goal, right!?

at any rate, i'm glad he is having fun with her. he's growing up so fast. he'll be ready for school in no time. we do have him on a waiting list for daycare, so he'll probably go early next year. i have been so worried about that. cha cha really spoils him, and his whole world will be turned upside down. but knowing that he enjoys the learning and structured time he has had with the therapist makes me beleive that he'll enjoy daycare too.

weekend update

2006-12-18T08:31:00.000-08:00

first, let me tell you about the office christmas party last week - i was in charge of games. so many whiners that i work with. i swear, you'd think i was asking them to get up and sing karaoke, when just a little participation in some very innocuous games is all we were asking.
game #1 was each person was to draw a reindeer on the provided paper. the best drawing wins, to be voted on by all participants. the catch is that you must draw it blindfolded. people, it was like pulling teeth to get these weenies to do it. i'm thinking to myself, are you so insecure that to produce a poorly done piece of art in front of your peers might embarrass you? we finally whipped almost everyone into participating, and it turned out to be fun. until i handed out the prize for the winning picture. it was a christmas carol cd, the classics like bing crosby, gene autry, frank sinatra, the platters, all the oldies but goodies you hear in the department stores and such. so i go to give it to this chick, and she says - bing crosby and frank sinatra? i don't listen to that crap!!

hello?! can you be any more rude!? i told her, well, i'm sorry, i didn't know in advance that you were going to win when i was buying this prize with my own money. and she actually gave it away to someone else. the nerve of some people. lucky my feelings don't get hurt easily.

anyway, by far the funniest game was the unwrap race. for this game, i wrapped up a box in three layers of paper. nice and tight. everyone sits in a circle. you give a pair of dice to the first person and they take turns rolling until someone gets double sixes. that person gets to be the first to start unwrapping the present. this time, the catch is that they have to do it with oven mitts on (christmas oven mitts, provided by your truly) the one who gets all the paper off and finally opens the box is the winner, and keeps the prize. as the first person starts in on the gift, the rest furiously take turns rolling the dice until someone else gets double sixes. then the first unwrapper relinquishes the gift and gloves to them, and it keeps going. i could not beleive how competitive they got. at one point, two guys were actually fighting over the box, because one did not believe that the other actaully rolled the sixes, and he wouldn't give up the gift. the best part was when that dude finally won, inside the box was just a note saying "you're the winner", and the prize was the oven mitts. he was pissed, and we all had a good laugh at him.

by the end of the party, everyone decided that the games were cool after all, and that i needed to find a job as a cruise director. yay!

anyway, on to party number two, on saturday night. i drank homebrew cider all night, that our hostess's brother in law brought. let me tell you, this was some very good, very potent stuff. i got pleasantly drunk, just enough so i started telling my friends i loved them, but still remember the whole evening. felt a little woozy in the morning, and i remember (again) why you just can't party til 1 am when you have babies. they don't understand that when mommy has a hangover, they need to not wake up at 6 am. but they were relatively mellow, so at least we could relax in bed and let them play in our room while we recuperated. man, i don't know how i did it in college. used to be, i could (and did frequently) go out for a night of heavy drinking and still be able to get up for class or work in the morning. now, i have to budget in a whole day's worth of lying around doing absolutely nothing if i plan on drinking at a party. this thirty-something stuff is killing me. oh, well.

oh, and i was able to find a cool black pants outfit with a big sparkly snowflake on the front on friday night for $50. what a bargain - i love marshalls.

so now i'm one of about 5 of us here in the office this week. sigh. oh well, at least i have next week off.

happy monday!

another meme....get to know me!

2006-12-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

got this from mama d.

1.Explain what ended your last relationship. oh, lots of things. my ex and i got married for the wrong reasons (namely, to spite my mother, but that's a story for another time...) and he refused to attempt to meet my emotional needs. he even admitted that. and then i fell in love with someone else.
2.When was the last time you shaved?
this morning in the shower

3.What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.?
just arrived at the park and ride lot.

4.What were you doing 15 minutes ago?
sending an email to my friend kelli

5.Are you any good at math?
i can do anything up to and including algebra. no trig, calculus, or geometry.

6.Your prom night?
sucked. my boyfriend and i had been broken up for about a month, but we went together anyway. i was still devastated and desperately in love with him, but he already was dating someone else (whom he eventually married...) he spent the whole evening hanging out with her, while i sat with my friends and watched him across the room.

7.Have you had to take a loan out for school?
yup. still paying on it, too.

8.Do you know the words to the song on your myspace profile?
I don't have one.

9.Last thing received in the mail.
christmas cards, bills, and credit card offers.

10.How many different beverages have you had today?
diet coke on the way to the p&r, and two bottles of water here at work.

11.Do you ever leave messages on people’s answering machine?
all the time.

12.Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to?
erasure at astroworld in 1989! awesome concert!!! still have the t shirt!

13.Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach?
sure.

14.What was the most painful dental procedure you have had?
had 4 wisdom teeth cut out of my head. i swelled up like a balloon. then the stitches didn't hold and they started bleeding again, so i had to go back to get them restitched. i was in bed for a week. i wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.

15.What is out your back door?
backyard with 2 dogs.

16.Any plans for Friday night?
shop for clothes to wear to party on saturday, put up christmas lights outside

17.Do you like what the ocean does to your hair?
ick. no. makes it feel like straw.

18.Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns?
not me personally, but a guy who works with our office gave us two of them. butter, cheese and caramel corn. i only ate the caramel corn.

19.Have you ever been to a planetarium?
tons of times in school.

20.Do you re-use towels after you shower?
sure, i figure you're clean when you use them, right?!

21.Some things you are excited about?
aidan talking more, sadie sitting up and trying to feed herself

22.What is your favorite flavor of JELLO?
lime

23.Describe your keychain(s)?
My husband always teases me about all the crap I have on my keychain. tags from all the grocery stores, astros keychain, car alarm
24.Where do you keep your change? in my wallet coin purse

25.What kind of winter coat do you own?
over coat that's too small, a black leather jacket and a brown leather jacket, beige fake suede with faux wooly trim

26.What was the weather like on your graduation day?
don't recall at all. for either one.

27.Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed?
open so aidan can come in when he wakes up in the middle of the night.

28.Tag three people:
It's a busy time of year. Do it if you have the time. but i also tag janeen and aimee, if they haven't done this yet!

thursday 13 #6

2006-12-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

ok, so the funny thing is that yesterday i was so frazzled, that i thought it was thursday. so i did this post, and actually tried to link it too. then i realized, umm, yea, only wednesday. so now the cool thing is that some of these things have been done already!

update on the christmas party later.

Thirteen Things that i absolutely must get done asap!!!

1. i have got to do laundry. this morning, my hubby had to dry off after his shower with an old beach towel, because all of our towels are in a pile in the closet. sorry honey!
2. i have to figure out some games and prizes for our office christmas party that is tomorrow. i already got a gift card and a cd, and i'm planning to make hot chocolate jars too. gotta hit the dollar store tonight for the jars and ribbons.
3. need to go shopping again for an outfit to wear to a friends christmas party on saturday. these are some "fancy friends" of ours, so we decided we need to raise the bar a bit so we're not underdressed. last weekend was casual, but i think something sparkly and slinky is definitely in order for this party. (woo hoo! two shopping trips in a week!)
4. must get a haircut. seriously, all i need is a green shirt and brown pants, and a dog named scooby doo. like, jeepers!
5. we haven't decorated our house at all yet. got to get it done! i swear, when i get home, i'm just so tired, i just want to put it off until tomorrow. plus i'm dreading fighting with aidan over why he can't tear down everything we put up. did i mention he's in his terrible twos?
6. must send out christmas cards. finally got the stamps yesterday, now i'm trying to locate/organize all the addresses.
7. take off old polish/re-do my toenails. i don't have the i'm-pregnant-and-i-can't-reach-my-toes excuse anymore for how bad my feet look. right now my toes are half natural nail, and half maroon. i'm embarrased. i think i'll do them sparkly red for the party.
8. finish processing these two new hires i'm working on. instead of blogging at work.
9. buy aidan some chicken nuggets and string cheese. i always feel like a bad mommy when our nanny tells me that we're out of something and i need to go to the store. she asked me this morning to get some nuggets and cheese, because we are out, and they are some of the only things aidan will eat these days. and i even went to the store last night, but i totally forgot. sorry, kiddo.
10. pull out my mom's and sister's gifts to wrap and take to them on saturday. they're both going out of town for christmas, but we'll all be at my mom's this weekend for our annual cookie baking day. so i need to have their gifts ready.
11. get deodorant. i managed to scrape enough off the edges today so i don't smell (i have an emergency one in my desk drawer at work, so i used that when i got here, just to be sure...) but i need to buy more today, cause now it's really gone.
12. figure out which bills can wait until next paycheck, and budget for the rest of our christmas shopping. good thing is, we get paid three times this month, so mortgage can wait til next paycheck. cool.
13.get myself some chocolate or something,quick, because i'm starving!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. becky
2. mikala
3. chupie&j's mama

4. caylynn

5. carmen

6. phdatc

rowr.

2006-12-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

just in case anyone was wondering, i didn't get the job. but i feel good about how i did. my friend got the job, and she really was the best choice, i guess, based on her experience. what will be fun to watch now is how the petty backstabber takes the news....oh, early fireworks this year!!

i didn't have a works for me wednesday contribution today. my brain is just...empty. i'm tired.

aidan has apparently decided that there is no bedtime for him. for the past week, jerry and i have taken turns trying to get him to go to sleep or at least stay in bed, to no avail. we start at 9:30 ish or so, and it's a struggle for an hour or two, then he will finally go to sleep. and usually it goes like this:

9:30 - tell aidan it's time for jammies and brush teeth. aidan replies, "NO!"
9:40 - after trying to convince aidan to follow me into the bathroom, pick up said child and bring him in. wailing ensues.
9:50 - pull up is changed, jammies are on, and teeth are brushed. mom has just had her workout for the evening, and aidan is released.
9:51 - tell aidan to give daddy kiss goodnight. aidan replies, "NO!"
9:52 - daddy kisses aidan anyway, and aidan appears to understand and comply, taking mommy's hand and going upstairs
9:54 - mommy reads a book, aidan sits contentedly in bed, listening and getting drowsy.
9:58 - aidan gets his second wind, and hops out of bed to play with toys. runs to the door and up and down the hall. plays peekaboo under the covers.
10:02 - mommy corrals aidan, gets him back in bed. sings his bedtime songs, and aidan appears to calm down and snuggle in to bed.
10:05 - as soon as songs are over, aidan pops back up and gets back out of bed to play.
10:07 - mommy asks aidan, do you want powpows? (pop on the butt. apparently this is common hispanic slang for spanking, that i was unaware of) aidan says, "NO!" and hops back into bed.
repeat the last three entries (with intermittent pops on butt included) until 11:00.

11:01 - mommy is draped over the side of aidan's bed, falling asleep sitting on the floor. still trying to sing, but so tired that i'm confusedly singing my to-do list for tomorrow instead of 'goodnight my angel' lullabye.
11:44 - mommy wakes up with a stiff neck and one arm totally asleep. aidan is snoring peacefully. at last. mommy stumbles downstairs and dives into bed without brushing teeth. ahh.

any suggestions on how this routine could be improved?

carrie is the most

2006-12-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

i like these google memes. they make me laugh. so do your name, and see what you come up with. Just google ""yourname is the most ". oh, and i got this from jenn's site.

Carrie is the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot of people.
Carrie is the most monogamous of the four women.
Carrie is the most persistent person. I have ever met.
Carrie is the most delightful and charming lady you could possibly want to meet
Carrie is the most competitive girl in the western world
Carrie is the most unpopular girl at school, who happens to possess telekinetic powers
Carrie is the most amazing person and her diverse legal experience and commitment to public service will make her a great judge
Carrie is the most hardcore rocker!
Carrie is the most improved player on the team
Carrie is the most neurotic!

wow, i sound like a force to be reckoned with! watch out for neurotic judges with telekinetic powers!

sneaky sneak

2006-12-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

so maybe it's not fair, but oh well. since i'm in human resources, i have access to the hiring database, and well, you see where this is going.

i'm one of the top three! it's now between me and the two other women who have actually been assisting in court for the past few years. one is my friend, and the other is a silly unprofessional backstabber (which is why she doesn't already have the job).

so yay for me! i guess i did do better than i thought.

in other news, the christmas party was fun, and no, i did not get hypnotized this weekend. however, since jerry is new at the job, he was one of the hypno-tees! (how cool, i made up a new word!) now, anyone who knows my husband knows that he is outgoing and goofy, but a very strong willed/opinionated person. and i was so sure that they would not be able to 'get him'. in fact, the thought occurred to me that i might even lose a modicum of respect for him if he was, in fact, "weak" enough to be put under.

so the guy chose 10 people to be up on stage, then started his relaxation suggestion stuff, which took about 7 minutes. i think they take that many poeple just because they know that not everyone is willing or able to be put under. so as he went on, he kind of weeded out the ones who couldn't be done.

i was rooting for him all the way, the whole time in my head, "don't let'em get you babe!!" and sure enough, he was the first one asked to go sit down. he said he really wasn't fighting it, but he couldn't keep his mind from wandering and thinking and checking on itself, so he felt pretty much nothing. i told him how proud i was of him, which he also thought was funny. and he was happy that i would still respect him in the morning.

anyway, the ones they did get did some moderately silly things, like be in a strong man contest, and make ugly faces at a teacher they didn't like, and explain to a turkey what will be happening at the thanksgiving dinner. so it was pretty entertaining.

aidan and sadie spent the evening with my mom. aidan was crying already when we left. mom said he cried for about 1/2 hour, then calmed down, and was willing to play with her. sadie did fine until around 9 pm, then cried for about 1/2 hour also, but that's her fussy bedtime anyway. so i was mostly pleased with that.

anyway, that's the weekend update. now i'm just waiting on pins and needles for the job news! i'll keep you posted!

eeh...it was alright

2006-12-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

i didn't feel like i knocked em dead, but it wasn't too bad. i feel like i managed to spit out what it was i wanted to say, but it didn't flow really well. and i got kind of flustered and felt my face heating up a little, but i kept my composure.

my boss was on the interview panel, and later on, she said i did great. so what happens is the panel submits their choices for the top three candidates, then the deputy director chooses the person from those top three. since i have access to the personnel database, i'll be covertly checking to see if i at least made the top three....if i did, i'll be happy, even if i'm not chosen. i'm friends with most of the people who interviewed, and a few of us were sitting in the waiting room before and after the interviews, talking about the job, being nervous, how we babble like idiots in our intervies, etc. i felt good about that, just knowing that we all are mature professional women who arent' catty about this job. i know a few who are catty and stupid about it though, and i'm glad they weren't in the room with me. i just feel good knowing that if i'm selected, the people whose opinions i respect will be genuinely happy for me, since they all know we're all very qualified. it's good to work with people who are cool like that.

anyway, jerry's company christmas party is tomorrow. filet mignon and shrimp for dinner!!! and they're having a hypnotist as the entertainment. no, faithful readers, i will not be hypnotised into doing all kinds of crazy things, so don't be loooking for that story from me on monday!!!

oh, and i did get two new suits from palais royal last night!! they were having a one day sale, so one was $50 and the other was $24!! and i got hose and accessories to go with - and only spent a total of $134. i was thrilled. AND jerry kept the babies at home with him for two hours while i shopped, just so i could have my sanity. what a great guy.

ok. 2 hours til the five o'clock whistle blows!!!!!

interviewing for promotion!! (tt#7)

2006-12-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

Thirteen Things that I will say in my interview tomorrow!

1. My nine years of experience in various division of the department have prepared me for a supervisory role
2. I am adaptable,
3. professional,
4. dedicated,
5. and am able to work under any type of supervision.
6. I am functionally bilingual.
7. I understand the challenges of this position, and am eager to meet them.
8. I can offer knowlege of and experience with all aspects of the probation department,
9. which will support me in this role of representative and liason to the Court.
10.I work well with others,
11.I am creative,
12. and I look forward to using these traits as a leader, to improve the quality of work and morale in the Court unit.
13. I'm the best candidate for the job!

and of course i will back up my claims with examples.

so what do you say - would you hire me? unfair question i suppose, since you haven't met the other applicants.....

here's the problem. i really do want this job, but i'd prefer it to be in one of the other courts. we work in three of them, three different judges. the judge in this court is pretty off the wall and rather snarly. so i think to myslef, i would love this job, but what if i actually get it? i'd have to work under judge s! but then the practical side of me kicks in - $6000 per year raise. hmm. gotta go for it. when it comes down to it, we're all pretty sure that the powers that be already know who they will promote, and the interviews are just a show. but i figure, if it's not me they choose, i should at least make the "chosen one" sweat it out and work for it. ;-)

i'm going tonight to buy a new suit - the few i have either don't fit all that well anymore, or have buttons missing!!!
going to hit the palais royal one day sale.

wish me luck!!!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
my 2 cents

chupie&j's mama

carmen

aimee

gail

works for me wednesday #5

2006-12-06T10:09:00.001-08:00

banana bread tip!!

my family loves banana bread, and i have a few different recipes i use. you can use whichever one you want, but my secret to making very moist and yummy banana bread is to use baby food bananas instead of just mashed bananas. i discovered this once when i only had two bananas left, so i mashed them up, then threw in a gerber #3 size jar of baby food bananas. my hubby went nuts over the result, and from then on, i replace one banana with the gerber. i've also used the banana with mixed berries one, and put strawberries in the bread too, for bananaberry bread. it turned out great.

so try it!

don't forget to visit shannon at rocks in my dryer, the hostess of works for me wednesday, for more tips!

just for fun....

2006-12-04T13:25:00.000-08:00

hey, why don't you head on over to jenn's blog to play monday at the movies?

a little monday trivia does everyone good.

happy monday!

2006-12-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

i'm at home this morning - chacha has a dr. appointment, so she'll be here around noon. which works out well, because aidan has speech therapy again today, and last week when they came, he wouldn't play with her, and the only word he would say was "no." he's a little more comfortable when i'm here.

he has been improving, little by little. we had an appointment with the audiologist on thursday, just for a hearing screen. i knew there was nothing wrong with his hearing, since he can hear the train whistle blowing from a mile away while we're inside the house (he yells, choo choochoocho choo choo!! until we acknowlege that yes, i hear the train!) so we just went and spent $25 on a specialist copay to tell me something i already knew - no hearing problems. and he only was able to complete one test, because he freaked the hell out when they tried to put the things in his ears to test them separately. i had to sit in the chair with him and hold him with my arms and legs, just so the doctor could look in his ears and mouth. this kid haaaates doctors. and barbers. and pretty much anyone who isn't a family member touching him. oh well, we won't have to work too hard to teach him stranger danger....

anyway, so he is improving his speech though. he now says pupp-ee for puppy, instead of puh. and oww-ee, and uh-oh. they were concerned that he didn't say any two syllable words, without them being the same syllable repeated. oh, and he also said his first two word phrase too!!! he calls our dog, saying "dii! meer!" (translation: dixie, c'mere!) i was so proud of him. big step.

he also, apparantly has discovered some jewish roots, since his uh-oh has for some reason turned into "uh-oy!" cracks me up every time.

now on to the girl: sadie has cut her second tooth, and can sit up for about five minutes at a time without doing a face plant. she's awesome. she loves to sit in the high chair and play with colored plastic bowls. loves them, even more than whatever toy i put up there for her.

so that's the update on the kiddos.

now on to something completely different.

so i have two coworkers who are men, who really can't stand each other. why? one's an ex-military, very intense manly guy, and the other is a goofy, whiny kissass (for lack of a better term - sorry.) so i'm very excited because we're going to do a secret santa, and rig it so they have to buy each other gifts!! my two female coworkers are in on it too. i'll let you know how it turns out.

speaking of work, there's this supervisory position i've applied for. interviews should take place later this week. six thousand more per year! not that it's just about the money....it's a position in the courtroom, as a liason between the probation dept and the court. i've got all the experience necessary, and i really am ready to get back to working with our clients instead of hr. i mean, it's what i went to school for, it's the reason i've stayed with this department for all these years. so we'll see. wish me luck.

anyone got some good interview tips to share?

Thursday 13 #5

2006-11-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

Thirteen Things that i have already bought as gifts for people this year

i will not be listing gifts bought for those who might read my blog - too bad!!

1. sweater for mother in law. her b-day is actually 12/23, so i still need to get her a birthday gift too. and i really want to get her something great, because of the whole kitchenaid mixer thing!!

2. set of yummy body butter lotions for neice #1. spent $10 on her, and jerry thinks that's too much, because she really is a very spoiled and snarky girl. but hey, it's christmas.

3. set of lip glosses for neice #2. ditto for above. these girls are 18 and 15, and are very materialistic and snotty. so why spend tons of money on gifts that won't be appreciated? they have their parents to do that.

4. toe socks and earrings for nieces #3 and 4. the younger neice, and "step-niece". young enough to appreciate silly cute girl gifts.

5. cologne for nephew. the step nephew, who is a teen and what on earth do you get for a teenage boy that isn't electronic and costs $100?

6. subscription to smugmug - online photo hosting site for brothers in law. it really is a nice gift, since they have no where to post their pictures, they just print them out at the store.

7. soduku (sokudo?) book for my mom. she never wants anything, so i always have to get her something small anyway. and she does this number puzzle thing on the bus to work everyday in the paper.

8. fruitcake for father in law. don't worry, he really does like fruitcake! i haven't actually bought it yet - i'm going to make one.

9. playmat/activity center thing for sadie. she's going to love it - i just hope i can keep aidan off of it.

10. puzzles for aidan. he's so cute when he does the sign language for puzzle. two "thumbs up" signs bumping together.

11. well, that's about all i can list, because anything else might be discovered by prying eyes!

12. i guess the knife set i bought could technically count for a present for me, since it was on my list.

13. when jerry bought his rifle a few weeks ago, i told him "merry christmas" so as far as i'm concerned, i'm done shopping for him. mostly.

i stil need ideas for the kids!! what do you buy 15 and 10 year old boys, who already have everything?

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. chickadee
2. aimee

3. chupie&j's mama

doh!!

2006-11-29T13:05:00.000-08:00

You Failed 8th Grade Geography

Sorry, you only got 5/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Geography?

how much do i suck!?

works for me wednesday #4

2006-11-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

i think it's number 4....

anyway, this is my christmas shopping list tip. starting in november or so, i keep a folded piece of paper with the names of everyone who i'm buying a gift for, in my wallet. whenever i think of a good gift idea for someone, i'll take it out and write it next to their name. i'm one of those "ideas-come-to-me-at-odd-times" kind of people, and if i don't write them down, i can never remember what my great idea was!!

so this way, i have a running list of ideas for each person, so when i actually go shopping, it saves me from wandering the store looking for something to grab my attention. then when each person is bought for, they get checked off.

maybe it's simple, but it works for me.