zoeymnstr

Back to school for everyone

2010-09-09T08:57:00.004-05:00

So, since I have been unemployed since March and since Eli was going to start kindergarten this fall, I decided that I would go back to school as well and try to get a degree to teach. I figured since no one will hire me that I may as well learn something instead of laying around eating bons bons and watching my "stories". School is a lot different than it was (gulp) 20 years ago. Back then, if a teacher had an assignment, they would just hand you a form or write it on the chalkboard. Now everything is computerized. They have something called Blackboard where your teacher has the option of putting your assignments, grades and any learning tools on this website. The only problem is, they can basically put it anywhere on the website. It could be a main folder or a sub folder of another sub folder. And not all of them use the Blackboard either. Now they have something called a Math Lab where you do your homework for math. That particular teacher doesn't use Blackboard. She puts everything on the mathlab website. I feel so old!
I can now look back and realize that I have no memory of doing any actual work when I went to college the first time. I was a theater major and I did pretty well in those classes but, other than English, I tanked on the other classes that I took. Did I even go to some of the classes on my transcript? I pledge to do better this time around. My attention span isn't that great but I am fortunate that the majority of my professors are pretty engaging and not boring or anything.
Eli has started Kindergarten and it has been an adjustment. Socially, he isn't exactly up there with his peers. I mean, he spent the last year and a half being raised with a bunch of inreverant teenaged girls! He does love school and freaks out if he thinks that he isn't going to be able to go and he loves loves loves riding the school bus. He did get into trouble the other day because it was storming and the teacher was trying to calm all of the kids now and my son was happily talking about tornados. What can I say? He is obsessed with weather. He wasn't scared or anything. He just likes talking about tornados. Of course, in his short lifetime, he really hasn't been around too many storms so, given an actual tornado warning, his excitement might turn to fear.
Anyway, that is what is going on right now. Charles has an interview today for a better job so please keep him in your prayers about that. I have an essay due next week and still don't have a topic so please pray about that. And please pray that Eli does his best in school and that he doesn't drive his teacher insane! Prayers are also needed for my sister who has been having some health problems.
As for fostering, we are still waiting for the agency to get our old file from Houston. I have been too busy lately to really bug them too much about it but I know that it will happen.
That's all for now but things change from day to day so tune in tomorrow folks!

TTFN

We are on our way!!!!!

2010-06-17T19:49:00.002-05:00

So we have finished our foster training and are waiting to take care of some last minute things before we do our homestudy. Charles has decided to get his teaching certification and become a teacher. This will help him with his mission to help kids. We are hoping to have a placement by maybe the end of the summer. It is just amazing to me how God can work in your life even when you think that he has given up on you.
I have this theory. Some call it "the secret". It is basically where you visualize things happening and they actually happen. I am not trying to get all hippie on you or anything but sometimes being relentless will get results. It's not being a pollyanna or anything like that. It is basically hope and faith that get me through any situation. If something bad happens, I cry. I rant. I shake my fist and say "why me?" But then I get up, take a deep breath, and soldier on. God has worked wonders in my life. He has introduced me to some amazing people. He brought me my husband and my wonderful son. He provided a roof over my head and food (sometimes too much) in my belly. With each failure came a new opportunity to succeed.
I can see Charles teaching. I can see Eli starting kindergarten in the fall. And I can see us taking in children for years to come and, hopefully, that faith may rub off on them a little.
Stay tuned, dear readers....the adventure has just begun!

ttfn
The Fostermomma

A Joyous Reunion!!!!

2009-10-16T23:05:00.005-05:00

After not seeing them for a little over a year, our former foster children, Sugars and Dab Dab were reunited with us for a short visit this week. Their grandmother, who has custody of them, was kind enough to let us see them. We met at a hotel we were staying in and were waiting in the hallway when they came out of the elevator. They both got off the elevator and saw me and Charles standing there. We weren't sure if they would remember us or hide behind their grandma. They froze for a few seconds and, while they didn't race into our arms as expected, they calmly and softly walked up to us and raised their little arms for our embrace. I being the total sap that I am immediately began to cry. Within a few moments, it was almost back to old times. Sugars and Dab Dab, along with Eli, decided to singlehandedly dismantle what started out as a somewhat clean and put together room. You couldn't hear yourself talk with all of the laughing and yelling but it was probably the greatest sound I have heard in a year. After awhile, we took the kids to McDonalds while grandma went grocery shopping. I forgot how hard it was to keep up with three little ones scattering in every direction. I think that was actually the reason we stopped going to Micky D's when we had them=)
So we ordered the McNugget Happy Meals and got the requested toys that they all picked out. After a few bites of food it was off to the play area. Dab Dab busied himself with taking his toy, which was ball shapped, to the top of the play area and dropping it down the slide. Great idea if you have the slide all to yourself but he kept getting ticked off if someone grabbed the ball before he got down there.
Sugars, even though she went up the play area several times, decided to get "stuck" at the top and started crying for "Daddy" to come up and rescue her. Charles climbed up there the first time and got her down and decided to take the slide down. I do wish, dear readers, that my snazzy camera had video because it was a sight to behold. The second time, I tried to send Dab Dab and Eli up to rescue her and she shooed them away and demanded that Charles come back up and rescue her. She is only 2 but she already knows how to bend men to her will.
We met Grandma back at the hotel in the parking lot and said our goodbyes for the evening with the promise of a quick visit the next day. Before they left, we gave them their presents that we have had for them since last Christmas. I swear that Dab Dab wanted to set up his new t-ball set right there! Sugars loved her Cabbage Patch "baby" that looked just like her.
The next morning grandma had to work so the babysitter met us for a little bit in the hotel lobby. We played and I took pictures. It wasn't easy because Sugars and Dab Dab never liked to sit still. Eli, on the other hand is always camera ready and starts saying "Cheese" as soon as he sees a camera. We ran up and down the halls and gave piggy back rides and shoulder rides and then raided the lounge for snacks which consisted of apples (cut with love with a dull plastic knife), stale fruit loops and little cups of water. It was fun and crazy and magical. Then it was time to say goodbye. Sugars said that she didn't want to leave and I told her that we would come back and visit at some point and she seemed to be okay with that. We put her in the car in her car seat and she gave me some "sugars". Dab Dab on the other had, remembered that last year when he said goodbye he didn't see us for a very long time. He grabbed onto Charles neck and would not let go. He started screaming and crying and we pratically had to force him into the car. He is only three and doesn't understand the circumstances to which he and his sister came into our lives. All he knew was that at one time, we were a family and then one day we weren't. Even though I am a big advocate for fostering, that is definately one of the downsides. It is hard enough to explain things to children who are old enough to understand these things, let alone to children who don't. All we can do is keep trying and to let them know that we love them and will always remember them.
We would like to thank their grandmother for taking such good care of them and also for finding it in her heart to let us remain a part of their lives. I know that the time that they were away from her was a dark time but she has managed to look past that and keep us updated on how they have been. She has also graciously allowed us ot post their pictures for all to see since they are no longer in care.
The picture above is Charles, Eli and myself as well as Sugars and Dab Dab...also known as Gavin and Ryleigh.
TTFN

World Domination

2009-09-10T06:39:00.003-05:00

So I have been saying for awhile that I need to write this stuff down so that I can remember it years from now (or at least by 12/21/12 since apparently the world will end on that day). The girls that I care for look perfectly ordinary on the outside. I have every color of the rainbow in my cottage.....I have black, hispanic, white, half hispanic and even a Hawaiian thrown in for good messure. They are all in their own way unique and beautiful and think they know everything and have all of the answers...basically your typical American teenager.
But underneath all that lies a genious that us mere mortals can only hope to achieve. Here are a few examples:
Three girls were practicing dancing on the back porch of our cottage. No, I am not talking about tap dancing or ballet. I am talking about the kind of dancing you get paid for. They were using mop handles as poles! Oh, and by the way, they were 7 and 10 years old at the time!
They have snuck into an neighboring cottage and grabbed a cordless phone handset that is compatable with the phone we have in our cottage. Then they just plugged it into their room and used it in the middle of the night.
They cut the screens on the windows either from their rooms or in the hallways to sneak out at night. This makes no sense because since we have our own apartment and sleep in there at night, they could have just walked out the door but let's try to destroy some property while we are at it.
Someone from another cottage had a PSP. Those can hook up to the internet so the boys decided to stand next to a houseparents apartment and hook into their wireless internet service so that they could surf porn!
Since access to myspace is blocked at the library, the kids have figured out that if you go to another website that has a link to myspace, that they can get on that way. One of the sites they chose???? An abstinance website called www.whyshouldiwait.com
Two of my girls left the school campus at lunch and went to a store across the street. When confronted with this, the girls admitted it but also informed us that they didn't jaywalk and that when they did skip and leave campus, they were safe and used the crosswalk!!!
And finally, my fave:
Last night one of the girls was on restriction for sneaking out of the house. She was not permitted to use the phone. So she stole a cordless phone from another cottage (a different one from last time) and switched out with one of the phones from our cottage. The problem with this was that the two phones, while being the same brand, looked entirely different. As soon as I discovered that the phone was missing, I hit the locator button on the base unit and the sound led me to the perpetrators room.(Okay, they aren't ALL geniouses but you have to give her credit for originality).
Since taking this job I have learned a very important lesson about myself....I have too kind of a heart and am entirely too trusting of these kids. Do we get along? yes, most of the time we do. We joke and they confide in me(to a point) but the fact of the matter is they are all sisters brought together by bad circumstances and in the end, they will stick together. This is one of those situations where blind trust is not an option. All of them at one point or the other has given me a reason not to trust them.
I guess I am an eternal optimist but am getting a little more cynical every day. But I still see good in these girls (even the most sneaky ones) so that is no reason to give up on them. Besides, it makes for interesting reading, doesn't it?
Oh well, 14 hours until I go off duty and can have a stiff drink and wonder....What will they think of next?
Stay tuned and, until then, TTFN

Onward and forward.....

2009-07-13T22:46:00.003-05:00

Hello readers! Long time no blog. Things have been crazy busy here but I am determined to write when I can since it can be a great outlet for me.
At this time I have 10 girls ranging in age from 10 to 17 years old. One of my girls is out of town visiting relatives. Two will turn 18 next month and leave the nest. This particular post is about those two girls.
To protect their privacy, I will call them Dena and Sam. Dena is what you would call a "spitfire". She doesn't give you very much rope to hang yourself with. She can be combative and petulant but can also be very sweet when she chooses to be. She came from a foster home where the rules were very lenient and has had a hard time adjusting to a house with actual rules (though I don't really believe our rules are that bad around here). When she turns 18, she wants to move into something called "transitional living" where she will have a small apartment on campus and will be able to adjust to living on her own. There will be no one there to make her do her chores or to get up in the morning. There will also be no one there to cook her meals or keep her company when she gets bored.
Sam just kind of likes to "ride the wave" so to speak. She reads constantly and is perfectly happy spending the entire day in her room either sleeping or reading a book. When she turns 18 next month, she will move in with a relative and hopefully will start attending college. Again, there will be no one there to get her to get up in the morning, make her take a shower and be presentable, no one there to make her not read one of her books in church(don't ask...it has happened).
The fact that I have very little time left with these two does not mean that I will give up on them. They don't understand that the lessons we try to teach them are to prepare them for later in life and not just so we will have something to do. We want them to help in the kitchen so that when they get out on their own they don't just have to exist on Romman noodles or toast. We nag them to get up in the morning so that when they are out on their own, they aren't late for class or school.
My main goal right now is to teach them three things, the first being manners. Yes maam and no maam, please and thank you, excuse me, all of these things are important things to learn in polite society. I also want them to consistantly do their chores and do them well. There are 10 of them and the chores are split up so it really isn't too much on anyone particular person. The third things is to stop tearing each other down so much. They can be very cruel to each other. I want to teach them kindness and empathy. Some of these kids have been through so much that they really have lost the ability to feel sorry for anyone but themselves.
Well, folks. That is about it for now. I hope that the next post I have will be more like my old self and a little more witty. I am a little beaten down right now but I will prevail.
TTFN

Latest update on Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T23:35:00.001-05:00

It has been awhile since I updated on what is going on with us. My hubby and I got a job as houseparents at a residential group home last November and packed up the family and moved to San Antonio. We are houseparents to 10 girls right now ages 7-17. We have a 3 bedroom apartment that is attached to @ 5000 sq ft house with 8 bedrooms. We usually work 7 days on and 3 to 4 days off at a time. Some kids in our care are in state custody (CPS) and some are privately placed by family members who cannot take care of them.
It is hard sometimes because I grew up with having manners. Saying please and thank you, yes maam and no maam, holding the door for people and giving my seat up for someone older or frailer. I grew up learning about common courtesy and overall human kindness. A fellow staff member once used the phrase "These kids act like they were raised by wolves" and that isn't too far off target. Some of these kids are tough. They have been through more and seen more than most adults.
The thing I like about it is that none of these kids are hopeless. Yes, I get frustrated and sometimes I get my heart broken over and over again but I cannot imagine doing anything else at this point. Previously, we had two foster children ages 1 and 2 and we also have a bio son who is 3. That had its challenges but they are also so little and cute that you forgave them no matter what they did. The older kids are of course not as little nor nearly as cute and they do try your patience and sometimes, even your sanity. I had a girl who recently left my cottage who was a senior in high school. She was smart and beautiful and could have had tons of scholarships for track because she was so talented. The problem she had was that she didn't want anyone telling her what to do and she thought that rules and chores were "stupid". I tried and tried to get through to her but, when she turned 18, she signed herself out. My husband said that all you can do is try. I guess knowing that I tried my hardest will have to be enough. You can only give them the tools and point them in the right direction. You cannot make the journey for them.
So anyway, we are still on the foster to adopt list but it would have to be straight adopt as we cannot foster and do this job as well. The thing that sucks is that there are so many great kids up for adoption who live here on campus but their policy states we cannot adopt anyone from here. I guess they feel that it would create resentment amoung other residents.
Hope all is well with everyone and I hope you had a great Easter!

p.s. I still have my fostermomma.com website and have gotten a few hits since I moved down here trying to get people interested in fostering!

A Whole New Adventure

2009-02-15T18:26:00.003-06:00

So we went from being parents of three to parents of one in one horrible day. We missed our Sugars and Dab Dab and poured all of our love on our Bunny. Now, God has taken us in a new direction and it is certainly an adventure!
We are houseparents in a group home to nine, yes, I said nine, girls ages 9-17. They, along with our Bunny, make up our home at this time.
Some people ask me how I can take on such a challenge and still maintain my sanity. Well, there is one thing that drove me crazy when I first started this but, once I accepted it as fact, I am now much calmer. That fact is this....TEENAGERS WILL COMPLAIN ABOUT ANYTHING!!!! Yes, if you were to get them a flashy, brand new blue car, they would complain that they wanted a red one. We have a huge house and there are nine girls. Each girl has a chore in one part of the house. You would think that we are asking them for one of their kidneys when we ask them to do their chores. On the other hand, they have forced me to live outside my bubble and embrace new cultures and, more importantly, music. Some of the music these teens listen to these days (gee, did I just sound like my grandma?), is just downright hysterical. I like to listen to country music and it usually has a story to tell. I think that the whole point of their music is to get it to rhyme. Don't get me wrong, it does have a good beat and you can definately dance to it. But some of the lyrics are downright skanky. It kind of reminds me of when I was a kid and I would be watching tv with my parents and a love scene would come on and it would be totally uncomfortable. It's the same thing when one of those "songs" comes on. I don't really think that it is appropriate for a 9 year old to be singing about wanting to "make love all night long". Yes, I realize that she probably doesn't know what she is singing about but it is the principle of the thing. This is just one of the numerous challenges and adventures that we can expect. How do you let them be kids and embrace their individuality but still protect them from the bad stuff? Do you trust them that they will do the right thing or police them at every turn? These are beautiful, talented young ladies and it is our job to help them to be all that they can be. It is a little overwhelming but if we can handle three toddlers at one time I am sure we can handle this.

Stay tuned!
TTFN
The Fostermomma

They live on.......

2008-10-07T13:21:00.004-05:00

So with Dab Dab and Sugars gone now, we have been solely concentrating on our Bunny. While he misses his foster brother and foster sister, I think that he is really digging being the only kid again. I must say we are having a pretty good time. We have been on impromoptu picnics, the pumpkin patch and Daddy and Bunny like to have races in the backyard. It is there that I noticed that he has picked up one of my traits from when I was younger. He runs like he an idiot. He flaps his arms like he is preparing to take off and he shakes his head back and forth as he runs. I never realized that I did that until a very rude P.E. coach pointed that out to me in junior high.
Well, while my son looks a lot like his father, he has absorbed some of my annoying traits:
The running
He bites his nails. I have been doing that since I was 3 years old!
He has a quick temper but is over it fairly quickly.
He is super impatient.
He is overly dramatic.
He has horrific allergies.
He sometimes has night terrors like I suffered through when I was a kid.

On the bright side, there are traits in him that could only come front one source, my late father.
He twirls his hair when he gets sleepy. My daddy used to twirl his hair until he had little corkscrews sticking out all in the back of his head.
He has my daddy's dimples.
He has my daddy's temperment.

Even though my dad has passed on and he never got to meet my husband or Bunny, I know that he lives on in our child and any other children we may have in the future. I know my dad would be tickled to know that.
TTFN

OH--NEWS FLASH!!!! Bunny actually went to potty today at school! This is a welcome change from just sitting there for two hours and then immediately relieving himself once he got a pull up on. Go Bunny!!!!

Attached is a pic from our latest venture to the park for a picnic. There are very few pics of Bunny and me since I am the one who normally takes the pics!

Goodbye, Sugars and Dab Dab

2008-09-19T23:35:00.002-05:00

So Tuesday I finally got the call. Sugars and Dab Dab, who have been in our care for almost a year, were going to go and live with their grandmother until their mother could get custody of them. Just like it did when those two marvelous creatures entered our world, our lives changed after that phone call. While we are happy for their family, our hearts break for the loss of a son and daughter, a brother and sister to our son, a niece and nephew to my siblings and a grandson and grand-daughter to my mother. We spent most of the remainder of the week in mourning. I would start to cry everytime they would do something cute because I knew that after this week, they wouldn't be with us anymore. I would start to cry if they did something that would normally drive me nuts because I knew that even though it did drive me crazy, I would miss it when they were gone.
Today we said goodbye. This is my farewell blog to these two beautiful children who changed our lives so dramatically.
Goodbye Sugars. You were only 7 months old when you came to us but you were such a happy baby. You looked just like a little cabbage patch doll. Your temper was something to rival even mine. You were quick to laugh and sometimes quick to cry but you were a constant joy.
Goodbye Dab Dab. You were 17 months old when you came to us and you were all over the place. When you came to us you wouldn't really look us in the eye. It took a while to gain your trust and even longer to gain your love but we will cherish it forever. We will miss your constant attempts to make our heart stop by doing things that could hurt you. We will miss your giggles and your dancing blue eyes. We will miss your wet, sloppy kisses.
God speed, our little ones. We hope that you will continue to carry the love we gave you and that, while you may not always remember us, you will remember our family and the fun we had.

Attached is my favorite picture of them. Even though I am not in it, to me this pic captures what family is all about. This is my husband Charles holding our son Eli in his lap with Sugars and Dab Dab on either side of him. Our dog Zoey, who passed away this past summer, is on the couch behind them. This was taken Christmas Eve last year as Charles read "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Fostermomma, insanity is my name!

2008-09-03T21:32:00.002-05:00

So preschool started yesterday for the kiddos. Bunny was signed up for Mon-Thurs, Dab Dab was signed up for Tues and Thurs and Sugars is supposed to go Mon and Wed. I go to drop off Bunny and Dab Dab yesterday and, because my pill of a stubborn son Bunny refuses to go on the potty, he can only go two days a week this month. If he isn't potty trained by the end of this month, he will not be able to go to school there. No pressure, right?
We started trying to train him when he was 2. We bought him a potty chair that played songs when you made a "deposit" in it. He was terrified of the little cup that they put on there for boys to help keep the bathroom from being painted in pee pee. We took that off and then he was scared to sit on the big boy potty even with a training seat on it. I guess in his mind something is going to come up and grab him or something. Anyway, we got "Potty Time Elmo" and he loves the songs and will watch it with such intensity that you would think that something is getting through to him......Nope! He will now sit on the potty with no problem. He will sit for hours. He will watch 5 movies, read war and peace and balance our checkbook but HE WILL NOT GO ON THE POTTY!!!!!! As soon as you let him get off and put underwear on him, THEN he goes. I don't want to push him too hard but gee whiz!(pardon the pun)
Dab dab had no trouble in his class. The only time he pitched a fit was when they were out on the playground and the teachers said that it was time to go in. That was when he did his "throw himself down on the ground and sob hysterically Scarlet O'Hara and the oscar goes to" fit that he (and his sister) like to perform. When they came back inside it was time for snack so he was all good.
Sugars' first day was today. She had a great first day but I swear, after I picked her up, she had a little bit of an attitude. It was almost like she was the popular girl and I was the nobody geek who she "allowed" me to be near her and carry her books. She just through she was the shizzle!
Of course, with Sugars being at school, that left the boys at home with me. I believe that the last time I counted, we watched "Blue's Clues" 6 times. No, not different episodes. I am talking about the SAME episode! Needless to say, I set my TIVO to record some different episodes tomorrow. We got along pretty good. They got along better than I expected. Of course, even though our house looks like a toy drive exploded, the boys always manage to try to covet the exact same toy.
Then it was off to pick up Sugars from school. When we got back home, the kids decided that it was now three against one (actually five against one if you count the two puppies). I looked at them. They looked at me. It was on like popcorn! The endless stack of laundry that I folded obviously looked too neat because Dab Dab toppled it over. The toys I picked up and put in the toy box? Why would we do that when Bunny is the best about relocating them all over the place. Sugars posed the age old question...."Why can't I dance on the dining room table?".
Listen, don't get me wrong. I love these kids with all of my heart but being a SAHM is hard! I never realized how easy I had it working full time. This may be the toughest job I have ever had but I am determined to master it. Now, excuse me. I need to go and pass out now.
TTFN

Hop-A-Long Dab Dab

2008-08-19T22:55:00.003-05:00

For someone with a broken leg, Dab Dab sure does get along pretty well. Right now he is just limping along like a little old man without a cane. The doctors mistakenly thought that if they put the cast on all the way up his leg and bent it some at the knee that it would keep him off of it....WRONG! It took him about 5 minutes to figure everything out. First he kind of scooted around. Then he crawled. And now he is ready to run. He still has two weeks to go before the cast comes off (boy, does it look gross!) but he definately isn't letting it slow him down.
Here is a pic of him with his cast on. He fell asleep on the couch with this big giant smiley face ball. He face is hidden to protect his privacy.

Tiny terrors on the loose

2008-08-19T22:44:00.002-05:00

So we got two puppies. Their names are Lulu and Lenux(Hubby named him after his favorite operating system)They are part weinie dogs and part boston terrors...oops, sorry terriors. I forgot how destructive puppies can be. They had already eaten through one set of computer speakers and a USB cable. Last night, I installed a cheap set of speakers. It took me about 5 minutes to install and only about 5 seconds for Lulu to chew through not only the speaker cable, but also through the USB cable for the speakers as well. As I type this, they are playing tug-o-war with a plastic slinky that someone left in the floor. Nothing is sacred to these pups. Shoes, whether they are on someones feet at the time or not, are very easy targets. And lets not forget the mad dash to see which one of them can nibble at your toes the most from their kennel to the back door when you let them out to do their business in the morning.
I will say this about them. Since we got the pups, the kids haven't thrown as many temper tantrums. It is really hard to throw yourself on the ground in a fit when two tiny puppies are trying to lick your face off.
Its a good thing they are cute.....or we would have to lock them up. I am pretty sure I am talking about the puppies=)
TTFN

The daring young boy.........

2008-08-01T22:30:00.003-05:00

So, we have been taking care of Dab Dab and Sugars for 10 months and this past weekend, we had the first true injury. There have been bumps and bruises along the way but, miraculously considering Dab Dab's penchant for mischieviousness, there have been no ER visits for him. Well that all changed Sunday night. When he woke up from his nap, he decided to climb up onto his headboard, which is about 1 1/2 inches wide, and peel the lettering on the wall above his bed. He got two letters of his name peeled off when he slipped and got his leg caught between the headboard and the wall. Daddy immediately went in and rescued him and checked him out and he seemed fine. We even went to McDonalds that night and he played for a few hours. The next afternoon I discovered that his left calf was bigger than his right and that it was tensed up. I thought that maybe he had pulled a muscle or something. But when I took him to the ER and they did an X-Ray, it turns out he had a fractured Tibea!!! He was such a brave boy. They put a splint on him and told me to keep him from walking around. Yeah, right! I think that this child may have come out of the womb and a fast walk! He doesn't run as much as he flies.
I was hoping that they would put a walking cast on him but it ended up going up to his mid thigh and they bent his leg at the knee. But it does have dinasaurs on it, which he thinks is really cool.
This week has basically been spent tending to his every need and trying to keep him happy. Since I just got out of a cast myself, I know how frustrating it can be. While he cannot walk right now, he is getting really good at scooting around on his bottom. He is also pretty good about ordering me around. I live to serve, I guess. I am just glad he is feeling better since he got his cast on. I think that the splint allowed too much movement and it was hurting him.
So, since he is too little for crutches or a walker, we will carry him around or push him in a stroller. He is being a little trooper and hopefully will be back to climbing and jumping in no time.
TTFN

What is it about Daddy?

2008-07-22T22:37:00.003-05:00

What is it about dads? Let's face it. The moms are usually the ones who take care of the kids during the day into the evening. We feed them. We change them. We wipe their noses and their backsides if the need arises. Yet somehow, we are overshadowed by that magical creature called "Daddy".
Take yesterday, for example. The kids were hitting, biting, scratching, screaming, pushing, pulling and stabbing each other(okay, that last one is an exageration...but not by much). The new dog is running around tripping over his own legs. All three kids are yelling to watch a DVD and none of them are choosing the same one. My house looks like a war zone. Both boys had to be put in thinking time...twice. It's fire, flood and famine over at our household until......we hear the garage door open. In walks Daddy.
Suddenly, a choir of angels is singing. The birds are chirping. The bees are buzzing. I swear a ray of sunshine falls on my husband as he makes his way through the door and into the arms of the three little beings who, just moments before, were playing "wack-a-mole" with my head. It's all hugs and kisses and playing and laughing and dancing. Meanwhile, I am huddled in a corner talking to myself and twitching. I can only glare at my husband and hope he slips on the milk that is in the floor from when the boys decided to have a spitting contest. I don't think they ever decided who won.
Oh well.......I am going to go and pass out now.
TTFN

This is for you, Zoey

2008-07-12T23:07:00.004-05:00

I am going a little off topic tonight. For those of you who know me, Zoey, my sweet dog that I have had for almost 14 years, was what I would consider my "first child". She passed away tonight.
I officially became Zoey's "person" when I went to the SPCA looking for a dog. There were many dogs to choose from but this dog was sitting by herself in a little kennel with her head cocked to one side. It was almost as if she was waiting for me to pick her up. From then on out, it was love. She would sit on my shoes in the morning in the hopes that this would prevent me from going anywhere. Whenever I was packing a suitcase, she would sit in it while I was packing. She would sometime sit on my feet so, if I decided to leave, she would be the first to know about it. Whenever I would go out of site for two minutes to use the bathroom or something, she would greet me when I was done like I was gone forever. She would be the baromenttor by which I would measure all of my dates. If they didn't like her, they were out of there! If she didn't like them.....well, who am I kidding. She loved everyone! My husband(at that time, my boyfriend) told her he loved her before he ever said it to me. When I brought Bunny home from the hospital, I started calling her "big sister" and so one of Bunny's first words was, "Sista". So, somehow, because of that, she was called "Sista" by all of the kids more than she was called Zoey. She was our family. We loved her and we will miss her tremendously.
IN MEMORY OF ZOEY MARIE HOGAN ROOF OCTOBER 1994-JULY 2008

Of all the toys that we have..........

2008-06-29T00:12:00.002-05:00

So our house basically looks like a toy store exploded. We finally regulated the ride on toys to the outside but there are still tons of toys for the kids to choose from. It was pouring down rain outside and the kids were going stir crazy. They had already spent time watching our back fence blow down and now it was time to move on to something else. Dab Dab slowly looked around. What to play with? Which do I choose? Should I pick the ball? What about the firetruck? No, wait! I've got it! I will dump out the laundrey in one of the netted laundry baskets and put that over my head and run around with it! Sugars went and dumped the other one out and did the same thing. Since Bunny couldn't find another one, he tried to take Sugars' laundry basket. Dab Dab was not going to have that. He could laundry basket-jack his sister, but no one else can! He made a run for Bunny and knocked him down. Then he went over to another regular basket and handed it to Bunny, kind of like "Use this instead but stay away from my sister". We went and found another netted basket just like the others had and gave that to Sugars. Before we knew what was happening, they were racing back and forth from the living room to the front door and back again with those things on their head. Of course, it was kind of hard for them to see out of them and sometimes they would crash into each other but that did not let that stop them. Oh well, I guess it is better than dog poo=)(read previous post)
TTFN

Respect the handicap, darn it!

2008-06-25T19:36:00.003-05:00

So I recently had surgery on my achilles tendon. I basically go from my bed, to the potty, to my computer desk in my bedroom, to a chair out in the living room where I can hang with the kiddos. Well, whenever I go to hang out with the kiddos, their favorite activity lately has been to move my little knee walker, the only way I have to get around, out of my reach. They think that it is so cool to push Mommy's "bicycle" around the living room. How funny it is to hear Mommy yell that she has to use the bathroom and the scooter is no where within reach. Let's all have a jolly laugh as we watch Mommy hop around on one foot half way across the room as she tries desperately to retrieve her only means of transportation.
It's funny what passes for entertainment around here=)
TTFN

And a child shall lead them.......

2008-06-19T20:13:00.004-05:00

So picture this, the kids are outside at the picnic table. Bunny keeps bringing pieces of grass to the other kids to "eat". They all sit down at the table and hold hands. The kids say a prayer. It is a cross between the "Now I lay me down to sleep" and the mealtime "God is great, God is good" prayer. They held hands and closed their little eyes and said their "Amens", just like we do during mealtimes and bedtimes. This should prove to you that you must watch your behavior around kids at all times. They not only copy anything negative you do(cussing, fighting, etc) but you also have the opportunity to show them positive things as well. This could be anything from saying prayers to giving kisses and hugs and teaching manners.
ttfn

Oh how we love the rain........or not!

2008-06-17T22:11:00.003-05:00

So most of you know that I have been laid up this past weekend after having surgery on my Achilles tendon. I was pretty much bedridden all weekend with my mom and husband taking care of me and the kids. I can now get around okay, I just can't put any weight on it for awhile. So I hear it start to rain this morning and I heard my mom go "Bunny, no!" So I hobble on out in the living room to see what was going on. Bunny had made a dash through the doggy door and was outside in the pouring rain shaking his little fist in the air and yelling "No, no rain!" Not to be outdone, Sugars follows him out and is just absolutely tickled to run out on the grass and have the rain hit her in the face. She thought that it was the greatest thing ever. So my mom finally gets Bunny back into the house but, if anything, Sugars is moving further out because she is totally digging it. My mom has to go out into the yard to get her to go in while I am trying to keep Bunny from making a run for it again AND am trying to find the cover for the dog door so that we can cover it. Dab dab, in the meantime, it just calmly watching all of this take place from his place by the window.
Needless to say, these angels keep up on our toes (or toem in my case) but when you have kids this young in age, you are pretty much prepared for anything.
TTFN

Sugars---The tiny tornado!

2008-06-11T14:04:00.001-05:00

Sugars had her appointment today to get evaluated to see if she would be in need of special services(speech therapy, etc) The appointment was at 11 so I decided to take her into work with me rather than get the boys all riled up at the sitter because I picked Sugars up and not them.
Needless to say, Sugars made her first and only trip to my place of employment. In a matter of 5 minutes, she managed to bump her head of the corner of the desk, twice, then she picked something up(we never did figure out what it was) and got it stuck in her mouth, emptied out the trash can in my office and emptied out my purse. Then when I insisted she put everything back, half of the contents of my purse ended up in the trash! She also kept dropping her bottle and spilling milk everywhere because it was apparently really funny to see the adults keep picking the bottle up for her. She also kept dropping pieces of pop tart on the floor and I would somehow always manage to step on it.
Of course, during all of this time, she is completely oblivious to the havoc she is causing. She is content to be her little old adorable self. Her personality and behavior is so much different than Bunny's when he was her age. She seems more aware of things, even if she cannot vocalize it.
Regarless of this little tornado, I am blessed to have her and can't wait to see what she does next!
TTFN

A slight miscalculation.......

2008-06-10T22:58:00.002-05:00

So when I went to pick up the kids after work, I decided to stop by the carwash. I had finally gotten my fostermomma car magnets in and my van was too filthy to put them on. I figured I would get the car washed after I picked the kids up. They would think it was cool. Well, I was 2/3 right. Bunny kept yelling "It's raining". Sugars was too busy chewing on the window blind. Dab Dab however, was less than thrilled. He started crying and yelling "No rain! No Rain". Of course, by the time I realized he was terrified, I was stuck in the middle of the carwash with nowhere to go other than try to get to the back of the van and comfort him. He is screaming and Bunny keeps yelling, "It's okay! I'm here". Needless to say we probably will not be doing that for awhile.
TTFN

The Tale of Poo

2008-06-10T11:17:00.004-05:00

Okay--so the kids are playing outside yesterday evening. There are two swings, a jungle gym and three slides for them to choose from. What toy do you think they chose? Yes! You guessed it. They headed straight to a small pile of dog poo. First Bunny bent down and said "Yuck!" Then Dab Dab kind of nudged it with his foot. Finally Sugars, who has a very sharp mind, saw that I was upset her brothers were playing with the Poo so she just went over and grabbed a big handful! Now I can watch all kinds of bloody movies and can change nasty diapers with the best of them but, I can honestly say that on this one, I wanted to yack! Not only was it poo but it was also "been out there all day and gotten rained on" poo. Gross just doesn't cover it. So Sugars came running toward me with her little chubby arms outstretched expecting a big poo infused hug. No, no sister girl. Not on your life! She was met instead with a wet washcloth and lots of antibacterial wipes.
I guess that will teach me to check the yard before I let them outside from now on. Lesson learned......
TTFN

Love at first sight?......Not really!

2008-06-09T22:34:00.002-05:00

June 9, 2008

Love at first sight?......Not really!

The kids were cute. No doubt about that. They both had beautiful blue eyes and Sugars looked just like a Cabbage Patch doll. I was so excited to have these two new additions to our family. We got them on a Friday evening and then decided to take them to the pumpkin patch the next day. That is when reality set in. I did not have a double stroller at the time so we just put Sugars in the single stroller and let Dab Dab walk along with Bunny. It was a nightmare! Bunny went one way and Dab Dab went the other. Charles chased down one kid and I tried to chase down the other while dragging the stroller through dirt and gravel. Keeping up with three is a lot different than keeping up with one.

I soon realized that I will be 15 minutes late for everything! I went from having a laundry "day" to laundry "days". My car is covered in pop tart. My house looks like ToysRUs exploded. I have three big ride on toys that the kids love to drive around the island whenever I cook. There were days at the beginning where I wanted to rip my hair out.

One day, after I realized that I was going to be late for work for the 15th time that month, I finally decided that I just couldn't do it anymore. The boys were trying to see who could bite each other the hardest and Sugars had just dumped her bottle out on her lap. I decided that after work, I would call CPS and tell them that this was just too much for me. Then a strange thing happened. I went to get the kids out of the car and Dab Dab and Sugars were looking at me with their heads together when I opened the door. They were grinning and holding their arms out for me to pick them up. Something inside me just melted. Suddenly, I went from just being their full time caretaker to actually being their "mother". Yes, I know I am not their mother. I did not give birth to them. They actually have a mother who loves them very much. But I had finally made that connection.

I realized that it wasn't about me. It was about the kids. They needed me, and, I realized that I needed them too. Someday, they will go back to their other family. My heart will break. But I will comfort myself knowing that I helped them in a monumental way and hopefully, they will be better for it and remember me.

TTFN

Fostermomma blog--1st post-June 6, 2008

2008-06-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

Web log June 6, 2008 First post!

Well, I finally got my website up and am starting to spread the word. I want to get as many people to at least think about fostering.

Most people know my story. I was laid off after 7 years with a company that I had put my heart and soul into. I didn't love my job anymore but I was comfortable there and basically "used to it". After I got laid off, I was at a loss as to what to do with myself. With the exception of maternity leave after I had Bunny, I had worked all of my adult life.

So, what to do? After a WHOLE lot of retail therapy, I started staying at home and watching lots of soaps and Ellen. No, not Oprah, Ellen. I am firmly convinced that Oprah is slowing trying to take over the world and I will certainly not help her do it! After I got bored with daytime TV, I started surfing the net. I came across the AdoptUSKids website. This basically had photo listings of children available for adoption. Something just hit me. Up until then, I had been struggling to figure out what do to with my life and what I would actually be good at. I consider myself a person of many talents and a master of none of them. I have wanted to be anything from a veterinarian to a truck driver to an event planner. I wasn't sure if I would actually be good at any of these things. But the one thing that I knew I was good at was being a mom. I had always said that if I couldn't ever have children, then I would foster or adopt. Well, I have had a biological child and I could still try for another one but I felt "called" to do this. I am fortunate enough to have a husband who is supportive and who loves kids as much as I do. So I became a fostermomma!

While we went through training, I left Bunny in childcare and started getting the house ready for our two girls ages 6 to 12. That was the age range and gender that we were prepared to foster. Bunny had his own room and I bought some bunk beds for the two girls to share a room. I had the house safety inspected and went, room by room cleaning as I went. The house was cleaner than it had ever been. The whole colony of dust bunnies that I evicted are considering a lawsuit.

We go licensed and I just knew that the phone would ring that very day. Days and weeks went by but no phone call for a placement. I kept bugging the intake director. "You are still on the list" she said. So I decided to open up the age range from 0-12. I figure that if we at least got a 5 year old she would be in kindergarten and I wouldn't have to worry about childcare. That day we got a call. They didn't have a 6-12 year old girl but they did have a 6 month old girl and her 17 month old brother. Would I be willing to take them?

Now understand, Bunny had just started a MDO where I was teaching as well. We were in school 4 days a week and the pay wasn't much. I didn't have alternative childcare set up for two little ones. I didn't have an extra bed to put in Bunny's room so that he and the new boy could share a room. I didn't have Bunny's old baby bed set up for a 6 month old and it would barely fit into the room with bunk beds.

So, what do you think my immediate answer was? HECK YES!

I called my mom and before you know it, we were on a journey of a lifetime!

Stay tuned for more.

Until then,

TTFN

up next....The first time, ever I saw there faces.........

How to go from a bad mood to happiness in 2 seconds.....

2007-09-30T23:10:00.001-05:00

Folding laundry and complaining to yourself how much you hate doing it and then hearing your husband and son's laughter as he gets a bath upstairs. Somehow things don't seem to bad whenever Eli giggles.
ttfn

Little Ears, Big Mouth

2007-09-14T23:33:00.001-05:00

So today, Eli and I were in the car running some erands when a car pulled out in front of me. Startled, I said "Jesus!". A little voice came from the back seat echoing my sentiment. I told him not to say that word and, of course, he repeats it louder and lounder each time I tell him not to. Not knowing what else to do, I just said "Amen!" He said "Amen" back and that was pretty much the end of it. I guess it'ws a good thing I didn't say what was really on my mind when that mindless idiot pulled out in front of me!
Speaking of Amen, Charles and I have gotten int the habit of actually eating most of our dinners at the dining room table and saying grace beforehand. We all hold hands and either Charles or myself says the prayer. When we are finished, we all say Amen. Well, Eli has decided that he really likes to say grace so he usually stops us three or four times during the meal to hold hands. He will then squint his little eyes and mumble something and then say "Amen". It is sort of an awesome thing knowing that there is this little person out there who wants to do what you do. It is a big responsibility too and we are taking it very seriously.
Okay, let's talk about it. You know what I am talking about. I have two words for you....Britney Spears. I could only think of one comment...OH......MY.....GOODNESS! Bless her little pea pickin heart! Don't get me wrong. I really wanted her to do well. My thinking was that after being a trainwreck for pretty much two or three years, that this would be her comeback. I used to have a major girl crush on her and just thought she was the greatest. Then she married THAT GUY and it was all over for me. Now her life is a tragedy of a sham of a not so great life. First of all, lets get this out of the way. The outfit. As my friend Tara would say, she looked like she was stuffing 10 lbs of sugar in a 5 lb bag. Now I don't have a great figure myself but I know better to go prancing around in front of millions of people in a skimpy bikini. Of course, she still looked better than me on my best day but that isn't saying much.
Second of all, the dancing. If she was going to dance around like a hippie after having too many "magic brownies", she should have had her backup dancers dance that way too. It looked like she was in slow motion and they were in real time.
As for the vacant look in her eyes, well, I don't know what to think about that. There is a lot of pressure on her and I wouldn't really blame her if she decided to take some sort of relaxation pill but it's probably not a goot idea to do that right before a major performance that could make or break a career that no one thinks is worth saving anyway. I don't know if it was a broken heal, bad choreography or some sort of chemical interferance but please, Britney, get some help. I really would like to see you rise about all of this stuff and be on top again. I have joked repeatedly that, as licensed foster parents, I would love to take both Britney and Lindsey and foster them for awhile and show them what a normal, day to day life is like. It may not be glamourous, but we don't have the tabloids camped out by our house either. Keep your chin up, girl!
TTFN

p.s. Congrats to my friends, Luis and Rosemary Rivera, the baby girl that they are adopting was born today. Elizabeth Rose Rivera was born today weighing in at 7lbs. Congrats!

Lot to tell......

2007-08-30T21:47:00.000-05:00

So I am back! I haven't really gone anywhere. I mean I am back to blogging. I may not to be able to do it every day but I will try to keep up with it at least twice a week if possible.
Since I last blogged a ton of things have happened. Most importantly, Charles and I are now licensed foster parents with the state of Texas. While we haven't gotten a placement yet, we are confident that it will come at the perfect time, such as when we both have to work or when we are out of town. It would probably never happen while we are home twiddling our thumbs.
We are hoping for two girls ages 6-12. We are licensed to foster to adopt so if the girls become legally free for adoption and they don't think we are total losers, we can adopt them. We actually came really close to being able to straight adopt a two sisters but they chose another couple who didn't have any other kids. The angel on my right shoulder says that the important thing is that the girls get adopted. The devil on my left wants me to track them down, rip off their arms and beat them with it. Good thing I am on happy pills.
I now have gone from a career secretary to a preschool teacher. Yes, I will be teaching music/movement and spanish classes to 100 plus kids beginning next week. I have a part time job at the church as well being in charge of "Angel Town", which is the baby room, toddler room and two year old room. Life is funny sometimes. It seems my path is to take care of children, one way or the other.
We had a "Meet the Teacher Night" last night and my room was filled with children jumping off things, kids beating on drums and kids running all over the place. Someone turned to me and said "You must really like kids......or noise". I just replied, "I have a 2 year old". That seemed to explain everything.
About my two year old, Eli. What a curious little creature he is turning out to be. I don't think that I was fully prepared to have a child exactly like me. While he looks a lot like his father, his temper is purely mine. Even though he has more toys than he knows what to do with, during the day he only wants to play with me. I am his favorite toy. If I am trying to clean the kitchen, he is right behind me shutting cabinet doors as I am trying to put dishes in them. If I go into the pantry to get something or put something up, he is right there trying to shut the door on me. If I have to go to the bathroom......well, let's just say it is really hard to do your business with two eyes staring you down.
Even though he is codependent, he is also amazing. He now says "I wub you" without anyone promting him and he gives kisses without being asked. One of my earliest memories was of me, at three years old, standing on a table at Pizza Hut singing "Have You Ever Been Mellow" by Olivia Newton John. I was a performer from a very early age. I see that in Eli as well. He cracks us up and bosses us around and I have to say, we are loving every minute of it!
TTFN

Still going strong.....

2007-06-19T23:20:00.001-05:00

Still taking the fostering classes and learning something new everyday. We cleaned out the spare room and purchased bunk beds so we will be ready to foster as soon as we are licensed. Getting nervous because it is going so fast but am thankful for the support we have gotten.
Stay tuned for details of our trip to Waco this past weekend where Grandma and Auntie literally had Eli doing flips....
ttfn

Back from vacation

2007-06-10T23:06:00.000-05:00

We took our family vacation to Florida last week and it was fun. Eli was pretty good on the plane and loved meeting his aunts and his cousins and seeing his Grammi Marci. I do have one complaint to make about Florida though. What is up with those highways????? I live in Dallas and we don't have as many highways and you guys do. And, they all look alike. I usually have a pretty good sense of direction but for the love, some directional signs would work just great in the future.
Okay, I do have one more complaint. These freaks of nature called "Love Bugs".
What the hell? It's these freakish black bugs that fly around stuck to each other. I realize that they eat mesquitos and that is just great but do there have to be so many of them? I swear a person could open a "I clean love bug carcusses off of your windshield" business and they would clean up!
Disneyworld was great. Great rollercoasters and attractions. The first night, Eli had an allergic reaction to nuts and his face was all swollen. After recovering from that, the next day his dad takes him on the tea cup ride because he had a fond memory of it from his childhood. We he made another fond memory this time. He will now never forget how his son puked all over him in the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom after taking him on the tea cups. Men never learn.
The last night in Florida, we stayed in what I can only describe as the depths of hell. The website for this "motel" showed it overlooking the water during a sunset. The website did not show the inside of the motel and we soon realized why. It looked like a crack den. Or at least what I have seen crack dens look like in the movies. It was disgusting. The only reason we stayed there was that I had already paid for it and I couldn't get my money back. The sheets were clean but we did not take a shower there or anything. Gross!
So we survived our trip and now it is back to reality and time for me to seriously find a job for the summer. Keep us in your prayers that I find something that will make me happy and not crazy like the last job.
ttfn

What to do........

2007-06-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

So after I got laid off I was upset for about a minute and then I had to think really hard about what to do with myself. I did some major retail therapy but you can only shop for so long(did I just say that?)
Anyway, I kept soul searching about what I was supposed to do with my life. My previous job was very stressful but I was comfortable there. Getting laid off actually made me have to think for once. I have heard people say that they feel "called" to do something. I always thought that was crazy. But folks, I came across a website in my many hours of surfing the web and it just hit me. The website was adoption.com and there was a photolisting of all of these kids who are being put into foster care. Kids who are victims of neglect and abuse.
I kept trying to figure out what I was good at. I always thought of myself as a person of many talents but a master of none of them. But one thing I think that I am good at is being a mom and taking care of children. So hubby and I have decided to become foster parents. There is a posibility that if it all goes well we may eventually be able to adopt but right now there are so many kids who need homes and we can at least help out a few of them. We have applied and we have started the training courses. While we would like to have another child of out own in a few years I truly believe that this is what we are supposed to do. I guess you could say I feel "called" to do it.
So I will continue with my witty blogs you guys have grown to love but there will be some seriousness along the way as we make this journey.
I hope that we will have peoples support in this. It is a big step and to know that our friends support us is important. We will keep you posted.

Call me Afro-Dynamite!

2007-05-12T21:21:00.000-05:00

So what is with this weather? I was anxious for winter to be over so it could warm up a bit. I didn't know it was going to skip spring and go straight to summer! It's not even really that hot yet but the friggin' humidity! I leave my house, feeling all sleek and sexy with my hair all flat-ironed and straight. Then, POOF, the minute I step outside my hair turns into puffball city!
Of course, with the heat comes the possibility that I may actually get some color in my cheeks as opposed to looking all pale and pasty. I tried those so called "Self-tanning lotions" but they actually expect you to put it on every single day. I want to be tan. I don't want to walk around feeling all icky and gooey.
Don't you sometimes wish you could just go back to when you were a kid. I don't mean the gawky teenage kid but the younger kid where the worse thing that could happen to you is that your mom made you finish your beets or something gross like that? I remember not really caring about how I looked. I just wanted to play. I wanted to go crawdad fishing with the neighborhood boys Lonnie Niswanger, Troy Don Swanner and Charlie Brown. We would tie bacon on the ends of string and lower it down into the crawdad hole by the railroad tracks. We didn't really know what to do with them once we caught them but we had fun.
I want to help my neighbor Lonnie turn my daddy's old shop-vac into a go cart and have him pull me up and down the street.
I want to play "Light as a feather, stiff as a board".
I want to play with my other neighbors, Tracy and Christy and pretend Bo and Luke Duke are our boyfriends.
I want to build a playhouse with a sign on the front that says "No Boys Aloud"
And yes, I want to try to dig to China!
I look at my son and I want to try to give him experiences from my childhood. I don't want him thinking the end all be all of everything is having the next hot new video game. I don't want him to be chained to the TV like I am. I want him to play and have fun and hopefully I will be able to experience a sort of second childhood myself.
ttfn

I am going through a change.....

2007-04-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

No, not menopause. After seven years of faithful service to the company I worked for, I got laid off. It's not that I was so attached to the job or the money that allowed me to have such luxuries as a roof over my head and running water, it was the people. Some of them were like family to me. But I guess everything happens for a reason. If I had never moved up here from Waco, I never would have met Charles and I wouldn't have Eli. That is a scary thought. Now I just have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. I would really like to be a party planner. How fun would that be? Spending other people's money and getting to throw parties? I had a blast planning my wedding and this time I wouldn't have to pay for anything, they would pay me. I just have to find a way to get my foot in the door.
With my severence package I received, I was able to book us a trip to Orlando at the end of May so that we can see Charles' sisters, nephews and mom. We will also be going to Disney World. I found out that the week we are going to be there, it will be "alternative lifestyles" week or "Gay Dayz". How cool is that? My friend Brent says that straight people usually don't make it past lunchtime but I say "bring it on"! I will wave my straight flag proudly. I believe that we can all live in harmony and all of that crap. I am not sure about my sister in law and her kids though. Do Mormon's have a problem with gay people? It should be an interesting trip.
So today I went to my first job fair in about 10 years. The line was around the building. They hearded us through like sheep and when I finally got into the room where the employers were the first booth I came to was for "Wendys". Now, no offense to the burger flippers out there but I really don't want to have to work in any of the food service industries. I don't think they make a soap or perfume that can cover up the smell of burgers and fries. Yuck!
I hate having to start over. It's like breaking up with someone or getting a divorce. You think that you never would have to be "out there" again. Of course, this would be the perfect opportunity to reinvent myself. Maybe go blond or start speaking with a british accent. That might get me a job. Is it wrong that I had doubts at the job fair today that the guy in the wheelchair was really crippled? He sure wasn't able to handle the chair very well. You would think that if he had been crippled for very long, he would be a whiz at driving that thing. Maybe I can claim I have a fake leg like that Heather chick on "Dancing with the Stars". She didn't win but she made it pretty far. Do you think if I claim I have a false leg that they would make me take it off during the interview? No, I probably can't pull that off (pardon the pun). I could say that I have a metal plate in my head or maybe Touretts Syndrome. I could start yelling cuss words and calling them jerks and they would have to give me the job anyway because I would be "handicapped".
I had better think this through some more. Either that or I need a whole lot of therapy.
ttfn

I'm not that bright apparently.....

2007-02-14T13:08:00.000-06:00

So I finally got my myspace page up and running. There is music. There are pictures. There is bubble wallpaper. So I think I am pretty damn clever for someone who didn't even know how to use a computer 10 years ago. Well then I start getting comments posted on my home page. It's not just "Hello, how are you?". There are graphics and cute fonts and pictures. I don't know how to do any of that crap! So now I look like a complete snot because I have been too embarrassed to post just a boring old "Hello, how are you?" comment. I am also not crazy about my bubble wallpaper but I am afraid to change it because I might mess up everything else. It's hopeless. So now I have to add a computer guru on my list of people I would hire to do stuff for me if I ever won the lottery. This would be a maid, housekeeper, remote control finder(that thing always eludes me), personal trainer and a person to actually excercise for me, and now, a computer tech to make my page pop!
On a happier note, Eli seems to be adjusting well to his new daycare. He clings to me every morning when I try to drop him off and I feel like crap for half the day but I am hoping that will pass eventually.
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p.s. The page I am speaking of can be found at www.myspace.com/stacyroof

There's a change a comin'....

2007-02-09T21:38:00.000-06:00

So I put Eli on a waiting list for this pre-school near my work. It felt more like a preschool than a daycare. They told me there were about 20 people on the waiting list ahead of me so I figured I would get a call back from then by the time Eli started college but, surprisingly, they called me two weeks later and said that there was an open spot and that he could start the next week.
I'm a little nervous because he was so used to his regular daycare and I just don't want him to be scared. They don't have the internet viewing that his old daycare had so I can't even peak in on him from time to time over the net. Would I get arrested if I started hanging out by the daycare and peeping into windows? I'm not a pervert I just want to make sure my boy is happy and safe. Oh well, I guess I have to wait and see what happens. I just want him to get the best education possible and I hope I'm not making a mistake. I want him to be independent but right now, he needs me and it feels kind of good. Except in cases like this where it is complete torture if you drop him off in a place that isn't familiar to him and he grabs onto you and won't let go.
So I will keep you posted on whether he does well or if his mommy has a nervous breakdown or not.
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I'm back! I suck!

2007-02-08T16:27:00.000-06:00

So I know I haven't been very diligent about blogging lately. It's not that I haven't had anything happen or haven't had anything to say, it's just that I am either tired or it's new tv season or I am having to fight my husband over control of my computer.
TIRED
After working all day, I just want to play with Eli and then sleep. It's not really an ideal way to keep the romantic fires burning but what can you do?
NEW TV SEASON
I know it's not normal but I can play with Eli and still get the gist of my favorite shows at the same time. If it's something really good then I can rely on my good old friend TIVO to record for later viewing.
FIGHTING FOR CONTROL OF MY COMPUTER
My husband is a geek. A wonderful, thoughtful and sexy geek but a geek just the same. He thinks Bill Gates is the anti-Christ. He hates Microsoft Windows. He uses an operating system called Linox. He has his own computer that he built himself. I cannot even figure out how to turn it on and you have to go through some sort of voodoo chant sort of thing in order for it to powder down. That's how complicated it is. Well, he decided that there are some things he needs my computer for so I have to fight him for use of my computer. It used to be okay because I was hardly ever on it but now I have my mom's groups and I am into my space and instant messenger so I need it a little more. Anyone want to donate a lap top or another computer to ensure future domestic bliss? I will win if this keeps up.
Eli is awesome as usual. He did get munched on the other day at daycare. I no longer have to imagine how I would feel if he was bitten. Last time he was a biter. This time he was the bitee. Neither is a good feeling.
I had him on a wait list for a preschool near my work and they called me Monday and said they had a place for him. He starts Monday and I am really nervous about how he is going to do. He only wants to be with me(can you blame him?) and if there is nothing to distract him in the morning when I drop him off, I may end up having to stay there. I don't really think that it's right to pay a daycare to watch Eli and the I be the one to take care of him. Maybe they will hire me. They pay in the high 60's, right?
It's just another too adult decision that I have to make since becoming a mom. It seams that all you want is to get and do everything for your child that will be the best for them. It's a lot of responsibility. I do love every minute of it. He is becoming his own little person and it's awesome. It goes by so fast and then other times so slow.
Anyway, loyal readers, I will try to get better at blogging. Thanks for being patient and waiting for me.
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Our little mini muncher.....

2007-01-16T21:58:00.000-06:00

So it turns out that, while we didn't know it, Eli has decided to go on a diet just like his mommy and daddy. Daddy and I are cutting out carbs and are eating lots of meat and veggies. Eli has added one more ingredient to that....human flesh. Yes, today at daycare, he had an "Incedent Report" written up about him. He bit one of the other children for trying to take a toy away from him. When they told me this, I felt like they had just told me he had just knocked over a liquor store or something. It's not like we sit around each night and instruct him on just the right place to bite for maximum effect but I still felt guilty. I mean, what am I going to do? Ground him? Put him in time out? Pull his teeth? The daycare people acted like I should have somehow prevented this. Where were they when my child decided to chow down to defend his stuff? They won't tell me which kid he bit and they will not tell the kid's parents who bit that kid. That's all I need is some angry parent and myself getting into a throwdown in the middle of snacktime.
I guess I just have to chalk it up to babies being babies and hope Eli doesn't do it again and that he doesn't become a recipient of some munching.
Parenting is hard!
ttfn

The diet is on........

2007-01-06T20:53:00.000-06:00

So Charles has entered this contest at work. The goal is who can loose the highest percentage of body weight in 3 months. The prize is money, the ultimate incentive. So we went to the store and bought way too many groceries to go on the South Beach Diet. A year before we got married, we both went on it and each lost 45 lbs. We started this past Tuesday. I am so sick of eggs already. It's been okay so far but the hardest part is when we are at home. At work, you have all sort of distractions to take your mind off of the fact that you would like to devour everything in sight. I think I had 3 sugar free popscicles. It did no good. I actually had to leave the house to get my mind off of it so I took Eli to the mall to play in the children's play area. Of course, at the mall is the cookie stand, ice cream stand, and all other kinds of fattening places. If God wanted me to be skinny, why did he make so much good crap for us to eat??? Lord, give me strength.
Weigh in is Monday night. I will keep you posted.
ttfn

Martha Stewart on Steroids...

2006-12-26T19:06:00.000-06:00

So I decided I wanted my entire family to come to my house for Christmas. Okay, not my entire family but the family that was, at least for now, speaking to each other. Anyway, I wanted it to be perfect. Not having a real dining room table, I put together the redneck version of two 8' tables put together to make one big one and threw in some nice metal folding chairs to complete the look. It actually didn't look that bad. I had two matching table cloths and a runner with a nice centerpiece and some candles. I had gold charger plates and white plates with poinsettias on them. I even had matching crystal glasses for us all to drink out of. When it got time for us to eat, I looked on the counter and there was one glass that hadn't been claimed yet. I inquired as to who was trying to drink out of a Dickie's cup instead of my fine crystal and my cousin Joey said, in a quivering voice, that it was him and then he started apologizing profusely. It was then that I decided I was taking myself way too seriously. We just aren't usually a "sit down at a real table with matching plates" kind of family. That's okay. The important thing was that we were all together and got to chow down on some kick ass food(if I do say so myself).
Eli decided to take a nap during dinner which was a good thing. He is demanding more and more attention and is getting pickier in his eating by the minute too. We will hand him something in his high chair for him to eat and he will look us straight in the eye, and with all seriousness, drop it on the floor for the dog. He is starting to exert a little stubborness. It's basically a toss up on who he got that from. His father and I are equally stubborn but I am a little more vocal about it and Eli is not silent about his demands. Can't wait and see what happens next.
So all of the Christmas stuff is put away and Charles and I are preparing for a New Years diet. The last time we seriously dieted we lost about 45 lbs each. Wish us luck! I will keep you posted.
ttfn

Mutant Rats

2006-12-16T22:15:00.000-06:00

So the other day, charles kept hearing rustling noises coming from our garage. We had some rat poison left over for when we lived in an old house in Richardson so he opened it up and put it in the garage by our bicycles that we havent ridden since the 1st Bush administration. Anyway, he goes out there today to check on it and....not only did the rats eat the poison, they took off with the entire friggin box! That's right ladies and germs, the box that had the poison it it disappeared. These are some very industrious rats. Maybe they took it to where the missing socks go that always seem to disappear in the dryer. Or maybe they are with that earring that I dropped and, when I bent down to pick it up, had somehow bounced into another dimension or something. After Christmas, we are going to clean out the garage and see if we find the box and, hopefully, some rat carcasses. I will keep you posted.
ttfn
p.s. stay tuned for a pic of Eli with Santa. It was sketchy there for a minute but he did great! It was even past him bedtim and everything.

How random am I????

2006-12-11T22:22:00.000-06:00

So one of the women in my mom's group told me how she was on My Space and found Kevin Smith on there and was now officially one of his friends. For those of you who don't know who he is, shame on you! He is responsible for Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma among others. I love Jay and Silent Bob. Fans of his will know who I am talking about, Snootches!
Anyway, I did a search and I think I found him. It was supposedly "the real kevin smith". We'll see. Of course, if he isn't Kevin Smith, he could be a serial killer who stalks bored housewives over the internet. Or he could be the real deal and we can become best buds and he will invite me and my family out to LA and support us for the rest of our lives in the style to which I can become accumstomed to if given the chance. I would actually settle for a happy medium. I'm not sure if I am willing to move to La La Land. California has earthquakes, floods, fires and, worst of all, Ryan Seacrest! Scary!
I will keep you posted.
TTFN

Headphones are a great pacifier!

2006-12-07T15:22:00.000-06:00

The greatest gift we can get ourselves and give to Eli this holiday season? Headphones and a mobile DVD player!

Eli with daddy at Merry Main Street

2006-12-07T15:20:00.000-06:00

Eli loves his daddy!

Busy Weekend...Part 3

2006-12-07T15:12:00.000-06:00

So Sunday, we went with another couple and their three kids to Greenville to cut down a Christmas tree. This is our first year with a real tree and I am hoping to start a tradition. We get in their car and they have wireless headphones and a dvd player. I put the headphones on Eli thinking he would immediately pull them off but he was mesmorized. I think we have struck gold and found the secret to keeping him quiet and entertained.
We get to the farm and ride a hayride out to the field. My original goal was to get at least an 8' tree. I ended up with something like 0 1/2 or 11'!!!! They were just so big and beautiful I couldn't help it. I also bought 10' of garland to go on our fireplace. I chose 10' just because I didn't know how much I needed. We also had to buy a tree stand too. So we spent enough money to almost successfully give Charles and heart attack and then headed home. See attached pic for Eli's choice of tree.
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p.s. It is now Thursday and we have only succeeded in putting the lights on the tree. I usually have everything up by the weekend after Thanksgiving! I am so ashamed!

Pic from Cleburne

2006-12-07T15:09:00.000-06:00

Here is Eli waiting for the parade to come by. If only life could be this easy

Busy Weekend...Part 2

2006-12-07T14:51:00.000-06:00

So we spent Friday night at my friend Diana's house after the parade. Her husband was out of town and her son, who is 3 weeks younger than Eli, was at his grandma's house. Eli loved playing with all of his toys. He also liked slamming the walker down on her hardwood floors. Sorry Di. Mr. Destructo was on the move and couldn't be stopped. Thanks for the great breakfast!
After we left, we decided, since we were far away from home anyway, that we would check out the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine. I had heard it was fabulous and we weren't too far away. I figure it would be cheap because all we wanted to do really was look around. We get there and self parking is $8. We pay that and the garage is about 3 blocks from the hotel. We go inside and walk around and it is pretty impressive. They have this giant atrium in the middle and one wall looks like the Alamo and there is even a little mini riverwalk as well. Charles decides that he is hungry so I suggest we find something to eat there. He says that it will be too expensive and I said "Look. There is a place called "The Riverwalk Cafe". Anything with the word cafe in it can't be too expensive, right?" So we make our way down there and I go to the hostess stand to look for a menu. That way we can see how much stuff costs before we committ to eating there. The last thing you want is to already be seating and then realize you can't afford to eat there. Well, it turns out that they don't have a menu. It's all you can eat. So I have to ask the question that I didn't want to have to ask and that was "How much is it?". It turns out the price per person is $21!!!! If this were Vegas, I would be tempted. They have shrimp and crab claws and lobsters on their buffets but I couldn't even see this buffet and I didnn't think I was $21 worth of hungry. So we retreated and left the resort. For $8 I expected my car to be started and the heater running for me when I got back to it but, alas, I was once again in the cheapskate area. Oh well.
Saturday night we went to this nightmare called "Merry Main Street Christmas" in Frisco. It was nuts! They had horse drawn carriege rides right through the area where people were walking. There were often shouts of "Coming through" and "Watch your step" and "Move it" mingled with Christmas carols. It was cold and crowded and Eli was mad he couldn't get down and walk around. We did what any other American family would do, we escaped to the mall. There Eli was able to frolick in the indoor playground. Good times!
ttfn
p.s. This is a pic from the resort.

Busy Weekend...Part 1

2006-12-07T14:46:00.000-06:00

So Friday night we went to a parade in Cleburne, Texas. It's about an hour and a half drive and Eli did fairly well. We really need a portable dvd player or some tranquilizers or something. He gets antsy. We also went to this place called Hulen Park to look at Christmas lights. I don't know what Eli liked more, the lights or running around like a maniac. Anyway, fun was had by all.
ttfn

When did this happen????

2006-11-30T22:17:00.000-06:00

So in the space of a week, all of a sudden, our son has forgotten how to entertain himself. His daddy and I are his universe and all he wants to do is hang with us. Who can blame him? The other day, he was almost literally up my butt. He was walking around behind me holding on to the seat of my pants. He follows me into the bathroom. Any sort of loud or unfamiliar noise scares him. It's weird. He is also talking....a lot. Sometimes I think I understand what he is saying and other times he will basically say an entire paragraph and I have no clue. It's like Russian or that language they speak when you get your toes done. For all I know, he is calling me a looser or quoting Shakespeare. He also has to be constantly entertained. Any trip longer than five minutes in the car now results in a screaming hissy fit. The only thing that calms him down is if I sing Old Macdonald. You would not believe how may different animals I have had to come up with to keep that song going. Do camels make a sound?
All of these things are just another day in this roller coaster called parenthood. When he is happy, I feel like the best mother ever. When he isn't, I think I need to call CPS on myself. It's scary but it's also a great ride!
Tomorrow night we are going to Cleburne for something called the Whistlestop Christmas. There will be a parade and lots of lights. Who knows what joys the night will bring. I will keep you posted.

My main man..

2006-11-26T22:44:00.000-06:00

So I just have to brag about my hunka hunka burning love! Both of us are basically useless when it comes to fixing things. It's much easier just to work around something is broken and procrastinate so much you don't even miss it anymore. Take our vegetable sprayer for instance. I used it about a month and a half ago and the thing would not stop spraying. I took it apart trying to fix it and then couldn't get it back together all the way so we just started using the sprayer every time we needed to use the sink. We had to pull the hose out some because if we didn't, we would forget that only the sprayer worked and shoot water across the room. So I went yesterday and bought a new sprayer. I get it home and realize that they are both different and basically give up. I am already having visions of the awesome new faucet I am going to get. I'm thinking of one of those faucets that you can pull out and it becomes the veggie sprayer.
So anyway, my hubby takes a look at it and gets out his tool kit. It takes him awhile because, who are we kidding, we don't use it that often. I am in the living room and I hear him tinkering around in there and don't really think anything of it because, again, WE JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIX THINGS! Well kiss my grits if my macho macho man didn't fix it good as new? He is so cute! He did crush my hopes of a Kohler faucet but I am so proud of him! Now if he could just fix his garage door opener which keeps opening and closing by itself we will be all set!
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Eli is so freaking cool!

2006-11-26T22:37:00.000-06:00

So just this weekend, Eli has started really interacting with us. He is going through a growth spurt wants food all the time so he is really wearing out the baby sign language sign for "more". Today he got in Charles' face and kept doing it until he fed him something. The other day he decided his new favorite passtime was to chase the dog around with either the talking lawn mower or the walker toy. I am not sure Zoey thinks this particular interaction is cool or not but it sure if funny to watch. We invented a game called "Leap Eli" where Eli makes a run for us and we sort of do a hurdle over him. This is so fun to him he could keep doing it all day. Tonight when we were at Garden Ridge, he pointed to one of those inflatable monstosities and said "tats peety" which I assume means "that's pretty". This kid is even more entertaining than my Tivo and that is saying a lot. I can't wait to see what he does next!
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A reason for children...

2006-11-24T21:03:00.000-06:00

So Daddy stayed home with Eli all day while mean Boss made mommy work. By the time I got home, Daddy needed to be rescued. Eli was cranky. So I decided to take him to our hometown festival in McKinney called "Dickens of a Christmas". They block off the downtown square and have all sorts of activities for adults and children as well as a big giant Christmas tree that they were going to light tonight. I thought the lighting was at 6:30 but it turned out it was at 6:00 and by the time we got there it was already lit. It took forever to park and the streets were pretty crowded. I was beginning to think this was a bad idea and I was starting to get cranky myself. Then I took Eli over to the Christmas tree. I took him out of the stroller and we stood there staring at this beautiful tree with it's colored lights and ornaments. The look on his face took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes. I realized that besides being a miracle brought to you by God, children also help you see things differently and with a fresh pair of eyes. Despite how cranky he was or now tired, all of that was forgotten in that one moment with his mommy standing in downtown McKinney the night after Thanksgiving looking at a Christmas tree. He probably won't remember it but I sure will.
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Redneck baby gate..

2006-11-20T12:34:00.000-06:00

This is what my husband came up with:

Short people can't help me.....

2006-11-19T17:46:00.000-06:00

So I am at my favorite store, Walmart, and I am grocery shopping. (Don't make fun of Walmart! I love that friggin' store. No matter which one I go in I usually have no trouble finding stuff and it is usually cheaper than anywhere else.) I am in the frozen food aisle and I am looking for Michaelina's formed mashed potato and chicken popper meal that Eli loves. Apparently, every little rugrat on the planet loves it too because the only ones left were on the top shelf way in the back. I tried to reach it but, short from me standing on the side of the freezer and risking certain injury, no cigar. So I figure it's the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the store is filled with people and pretty soon someone taller than myself will wander by and I can ask them to help me. So I wait and wait and pretty soon, coming around the corner and heading right for me is.....a midget(or a little person, a dwarf, a person of short stature or someone who is vertically challenged). No matter what you call her, the only way she was reaching that shelf is if she got on my shoulders(okay, I was ready to go and I did consider it for a minute but then decided against it.) So I waited some more. I am not kidding you. I waited about 5 minutes and then finally went to the end of the aisle and grabbed someone to help me. As we got back to the cooler, there was a guy probably 6 1/2' tall getting something from the bottom shelf! Oh hey, let me get that for you. For all I know, you were just waiting for some short person to grab something from the bottom shelf for you so you don't throw your back out. Nice timing Lurch!
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Manners of men and bad mothering

2006-11-14T20:30:00.000-06:00

So I have had three experiences in the last two days that lead me to believe that chivalry is dead. I go to Lifetime Fitness to work out and and I have Eli in the stroller because I am about to drop him off at the daycare center. The door opens outward and there was a man coming out of the daycare center as I was going in. So I swing my stroller around because I just know this guy is going to hold the door for me and when I turn back around he has let the door shut and is already sauntering down the hall. I call after him and tell him thanks. No response. Butthead! Then, on my way out, another guy lets the door shut on me. Even though it makes me mad, I just chalk it up to too much testosterone or something somehow must attack the good manner gene. But the same friggin' thing happens when I get to work this morning. I was heading into my corporate office struggling with bags and briefcases and this yahoo doesn't hold the door for me. What is wrong with people? I was raised to say yes sir and yes maam and to give up my seat for old people and to say bless you when you sneeze and excuse me when I burp(or whatever) and most especially, to hold the door for people if they have their hands full. I had a little 6 year old boy hold the door open for me the other day. If he can do it, I am sure the average adult male can be bothered to as well.
On another note...
Parenthood is usually by trial and error. They don't exactly tell you that in the parenting books but I figured it out all by myself. I learned a valuable lesson this evening when I was at home alone with Eli. It was 7:30pm and Charles wasn't home yet. So I decided we would call him and give him a hard time....on speaker phone. Eli heard his father speak and his eyes immediately traveled to the door leading from the garage as if he was just around the corner instead of 30 miles away. When he couldn't find his daddy, he started crying. Very nice, Stacy. Why don't you just shoot his favorite stuffed animal execution style while you are at it? So a word of advice to my loyal readers out there: Do not use the speaker phone on your toddler until you know he understands what it is. After that, I had to give him a bath and put him to bed. Funtime was over. Hopefully mommy won't ruin Thangsgiving and Christmas too. Oh well. Live and learn.
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Rejected....

2006-11-09T21:54:00.000-06:00

So Charles came home early today and we decided to go and pick up Eli from daycare together. We parked, went inside and signed him out on the computer, and then went in to his classroom to get him. Now understand that the best part of my day is when I go and pick him up from daycare and he comes towards me with those little arms outstretched and a big smile on his face. I have even seen him knock some little girl out of his way to get to me. Today his father and I walked in together and are standing side by side. He comes towards us, arms outstretched and a big smile on his face and...goes straight into his friggin' daddy's arms. What the H? I carried that child for almost 10 months. I brought him in to this world. Now I am cast aside like yesterday's news. I am trying not to take it personally but it would have been so cool if, given a choice, he would have picked me. Not cool for Charles but cool for me.
I realize something. Eli is fickle. There are some days where Charles will try his best to entertain him(he is, after all, Eli's favorite toy) and he will just cry for me. Is it kind of wrong that something like that makes me feel good? I know he loves us both. It's funny how you can have a crappy day and a smile from your little one can just make everything right.
I guess I will forgive his rejection this time. It's really hard to stay mad at someone with those dimples.
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Sisters Unite!

2006-11-08T08:24:00.000-06:00

So what is it about women and their inability to get along? Sometimes a womans first instinct is not to like someone they just met. I love my mom's group I am in and so far, as far as I know, I haven't been on the receiving end of any dislike but I have seen a few catty remarks by a few people and it sort of bugs me. I'm not saying "Can't we just all get along" but can't we at least get to know someone before we decide that we don't like them? Because I tell you, that dislike can spread and before you know it, all of us are uniting and that person is persona non grata. There are just some people who aren't happy unless they are stirring things up. I joined this group to meet people and to make friends, not to intentionally leave anyone out. Come on ladies! Who's with me? Let's channel that negative energy and focus it elsewhere! Hubby's, watch out!
TTFN

2nd Time was a Charm...

2006-11-03T10:02:00.000-06:00

So I finally decided to make my Louisiana Cream Cheese crab cakes using actual crab this time instead of the imitation. It worked like a charm. With the fake stuff, it looked all stringy and gross and it didn't stick together. This mixed together beautifully. It tasted great! I am set for stardom! I did have to make a small substitution on the sauce because I didn't have any cayenne pepper so I used crushed red pepper instead. I thought it made the sauce too hot but my co-workers thought it was great. Look out Emeril, here I come!
TTFN

Method of communication

2006-11-01T13:54:00.000-06:00

So yesterday, my corporate office had a halloween shin dig. The kids of employees were invited to come up and go trick or treating. Eli was in his incredible hulk costume and looking cuter than ever and a little girl about his age came up to him dressed as Pochahantas. She walked straight up to him and stuck her finger in his nose. Is this some sort of new way or saying hello? The funny thing was he didn't seem to mind.
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Don't make him angry....

2006-10-30T12:18:00.000-06:00

So we went to a Fall Festival at our church this past Friday. Children got to dress up in their costumes and go trick or treating all throught the church. There was face painting and carnival games and all sorts of stuff to keep them busy. Eli was dressed as the incredible hulk. Incredible for sure since he only weighs about 26 pounds. He had to take a quick powernap before the festivities.
When we arrived, he woke up and was ready to party! I ditched the stroller and let him walk for awhile. He was easily distracted. He had little slippers with witches on them and the witch heads would bobble whenever he would walk so he had to stop and stare at them for awhile until he discovered they were not bobbing anymore. This went on for awhile. He liked the cake walk music but was getting a little annoyed when they kept stopping it. He really likes to jam.
He was facinated by the puppet show for about a minute and then got bored so he started growling at me. I'm just glad he didn't start turning green like the hulk.
He enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with his daddy, who was dressed as a train conductor. All in all, he had a great time. I had a great time too but finally realized how exhuasting it will be to keep up with him. He is a maniac right now. He is into everything and loves to crawl on everything. He goes at everything full force whether it can hurt him or not. He is just having too much fun to really care. Can I get some bubble wrap or something?
ttfn

tipping...

2006-10-28T22:07:00.000-05:00

It is a tradition as old as time....okay, maybe not as old as time but it's bean around awhile. I am talking about tipping. You go into a restaurant and you generally tip the waiter or waitress accordingly. They only make around $2.00 and hour so tipping helps make up their salary. However, the other day I went into the dounut shop and there was a tip jar there. What am I tipping them for exactly? Am I tipping them for having to turn around and grab a dounut and then painstakingly put it in a bag? Or am I tipping because they may have to make change when I pay them? When did tipping start to be expected for counter service? It's not like they gave me a dounut and then gave me a pedicure. The same thing happened at Quizno's as well. What is going on? I am not trying to sound like a cheapskate but there is a reason people choose to do fast food and not sit down dining and the majority of the time it is either because it is cheaper or faster or both. I usually give just a little tip at Sonic because they have to bring the food out to my car and sometimes, they even come out on rollerskates!. (Is it wrong that I wait with baited breath for one of them to bust it or fall off of the curb?) Anyway, the situation is out of hand. It puts me in a situation where, if I don't tip, I am the bad guy. I hate being the bad guy. I want to be good and for everyone to like me. It's pathetic. Like my whole self image is wrapped up in whether or not the freakin' donut person likes me! I know I need help but the tip jars have got to go!
ttfn

Busy Saturday

2006-10-22T22:35:00.000-05:00

So I left Charles at home and took Eli to this little fall festival at this place called Storybook Ranch. They had hayrides that would take you back to this old western town. It was pretty cool. In the saloon they had this old fashioned soda fountain where you could get shakes and pumkin ice cream. It would have been great except they had only one poor girl working the counter. It would take about 3 minutes for every shake and if you have ever frozen homemade ice cream, you know how hard it is to scoop. They had a woman with one of those spindle thingys weaving stuff. They had these cowboys do this fake gun fight. They had this caricature artist named Doc. Bless his heart, he was a very good artist except everyone he drew had the the same face and just different hair. I couldn't really enjoy too much of the festivities because being the genius I am I left the stroller in the car and allowed Eli to walk half the time. At one point, I caught him trying to eat rocks! Hold on there son. I'll get you some dip.
After that, we went to the Texas State Fair. It was crowded and a total pain in the butt but I think we enjoyed ourselves. We had free tickets to get in from my company but it costs us $10 to park. As we were going into the fair, this guy was leaving and asked us if we wanted his remaining coupons he had left. We thanked him and on closer inspection, discovered he had given us about $12 worth of coupons. What a nice guy!.
What is with the whole coupon thing, anyway. You have to go to a booth and buy coupons and you use them for rides and food. I am assuming they just don't trust carnies with cash.
ttfn

Friggin people!

2006-10-20T23:32:00.000-05:00

So I finally stepped out of the box and went out on a Friday night which I have not done in forever. I was going to meet some ladies and a paint your own pottery place in Richardson. I tractor trailer almost cut off the back end of my CR-V. I guess he didn's see me before he changed lanes but he was so close I was going to have him examine my colon while he was back there. People drive like idiots on Friday nights! What is with that? Are they in such a hurry that they would risk killing themselves and others to get where they are going? Wise up people and quit driving like assholes. You are making me crazy!
ttfn

A Busted Illusion and Dreaming of Geckos

2006-10-18T20:21:00.000-05:00

So it finally happened. After working together for almost 7 years I finally burped in front of my boss. It was a total accident. It was one of those your just minding your own business and out it comes unexpectedly burps. I was mortified. It's not that I think he believes I don't do anything gross like pass gas or poop but this opened the door to him actually having to think about it at all. It's kind of like the first time you cuss in front of your parents or pass gas in front of your mate. There is no going back now. But rest assured, if I do accidentally pass gas in front of him, I'm out of there. There are just some things you don't recover from.
On a totally unrelated note, I had a dream last night about the Geico gecko. I have no idea what it was about or anything but I do remember that cute little cockney accent of his. I just love his commercials.
So the crack pot is back at Lifetime. She finally came back but I don't think she is in our class anymore. It was weird. She had the workout sheet but she got on a row of treadmills directly in front of us and sort of did her own thing. She didn't use the weights or the resistance bands and completely ignored the trainer. She didn't make one peep or anything. So I had to think of other ways that she annoyed me. The main one was that she was sweating like crazy but refused to take her warmup jacket off. She had it on the whole time and she had to be burning up. I am so over her. If you aren't going to participate in the group, honey, take your butt to some treadmills on the other side of the club. I am over you.
TTFN

Heart attack waiting to happen....

2006-10-16T22:13:00.000-05:00

So what is it with infant/toddlers, anyway. Out of every single item in our house, he gravitates towards things that could hurt or kill him. Yesterday we caught him trying to lick an electrical outlet. Luckily, we had outlet protectors on but still. He will bypass his goldfish crackers and go straight for a penny we didn't see lying on the floor. He has over $100 worth of toys but he would like to climb the stairs whether someone is there to catch him or not. There are all sorts of things to keep him occupied but he would rather lean against the oven door while I am baking something. He has tons of stuffed animals but he would rather amuse himself by pulling the dogs ears and terrorizing her. Imagine all of the people on earth and then think to yourself that they were once all little and faced all sorts of dangers. It's a wonder anyone lives long enough to grow up. I would like to write more but I am exhausted from guard duty. More to come later.
TTFN

the hunt was on....

2006-10-14T21:29:00.000-05:00

So I started looking for Eli a costume for Halloween. It's tough because you never know if it will be cold or warm at the end of October. Last year I got him a little warm up suit with a skeleton on it and he almost had heat stroke.
Anyway, I went to this random place in Plano called Cow Costumes. It was one of those places that someone sets up only during Halloween with a big inflatable Godzilla in front. What Godzilla has to do with Halloween, I don't know but it does grab one's attention.
So I go inside and I find a Yoda costume for Eli. I imagine with the way he walks right now, he would look darn cute in it. But the hope that maybe I would find something even cuter and the other two fly by night costume places I have seen stops me. So on I go without Yoda. The next place I go to is cool but doesn't have anything that I find cuter than Yoda. So I go to this place called Spirit Halloween. It has always had tons of costumes in the past so I figure it would have some cool stuff. It turns out it is set up in this old furniture store and the parking sucks. It takes me 10 minutes to find a space and it turns out to be right next to a girl who is sitting there in her car with her kids smoking a cigarette. I guess she is waiting for someone but Eli and I have the privelidge to inhale her second hand smoke while I get him out of the car and into a stroller. Good times.
We get inside and the only good thing I can say about it is that they had Halloween character pijamas for $5 each. The rest had been picked through or they didnt have much in stock. I was totally disappointed. So I went across the street to Party City and decided on a superman costume for Eli. He needed something that either had a hood or didn't require anything on his head because he will not wear a hat. Superman seemed like a logical choice and was in my price range. Well, apparently party city decided to only have two cashiers working on a Saturday night. I have twenty people up my butt asking me if I needed them to get a costume for me from the back but when it came to someone actually taking my money for it, they were nowhere to be found. I waited and finally put the costume back and left in disgust. Moral of the story, buy online. I didn't have anyone ignore me or try to cut in line or anything when I was sitting at my computer and Eli will look just as cute in the Hulk costume I bought him online as he would have in anything I bought him at the store. Next year, Eli will want to choose his costume and I may be stuck driving all over town or worse, Gulp, having to make something!
Now, if we can only do something about the weather and insure it will be not too warm and not too cool, we would be all set.
ttfn

the crazy woman at the gym and Eli's escape attempt

2006-10-11T21:31:00.000-05:00

So I had to leave my workout class early on Monday because of a blinding headache from my sinus infection. I got weighed in and I had lost 2 lbs in the three weeks I had been in the class. Not too bad. Well, apparently after I left, the crazy woman in my class got weighed in and she had gained 1 pound. Now let me preface this by saying that she works out 5 days a week so she has probably gained some muscle in what she may have lost in fat. So this is not necessarily a bad thing. But apparently she went postal on our poor personal trainer, Seth. She started ranting and raving about how he is too pushy and she hates pushy people. Uh, does she not know the job description of a personal trainer? Psycho. So I left early and I apparently missed a good show. Oh well.
Today, right after my class, I got paged to come to the child center. I figured Eli was fussing because he has an ear infection but it turned out he only had a poopy diaper(Lifetime Fitness will watch your kid but I guess they draw the line in dealing with poop). So I changed him and we got ready to go. They told me he is ready to move from the baby room to the toddler area. So I decided to let him practice his walking by letting him walk from the childcare center to the front door of the club. We had taken no more than two steps outside of the childcare center when he took off in the opposite direction. What hurt the most was that, as he was toddling away, he was blowing kissed in my direction like "See ya later, sucka!"
I am definately going to have to be in shape to keep up with this kid.
ttfn

On the road to recovery...

2006-10-10T21:27:00.000-05:00

So I finally got my sniffer and my taste buds back. It wasn't fun to be hungry and not be able to taste anything. On the plus side though, I did loose 4 lbs since last week. My head is still a little stuffy and my sinuses are still bothering me a bit but I no longer feel like I want to die. Thanks for those of you who gave me advice and wished me well. As for the rest of you, and you know who you are, thanks for the love! Just kidding.
So I have a friend who writes a blog. Her name is randommommy. She is actually the one who turned me on to the blog idea in the first place. She is totally cool. She writes things in her blog that some of us may think but would never actually say out loud for anyone to hear. It's refreshing but it sets the bar pretty high. I obviously cannot write about me and my husbands sex life (or, as he puts it, lack there of) or anything remotely sexual in nature. My family totally reads this on a regular basis. This can be a block if I am trying to think of something to write. So I have to choose other material. So instead of writing about my sexual experiences and stuff like that, my only choice is to write either about my husband, son, or what freaks people are. So props out to you, randommommy. I'm your biggest fan. Stay cool and keep giving me something to read at work while I am supposed to be working.
ttfn

My punkin at the pumpkin farm

2006-10-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

It was a beautiful day. We went to a place called the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm. It was located at Bill Bates Cowbory Ranch in Celina. Way out in the boondocks. We went in and paid and they give you a coupon for a hot dog and a cup of animal food for you to feed the goats, lambs and cows. They were total pigs. Some of them would try to snatch the cup right out of your hand. Eli touched one of the goats but that is about it. When Charles put him down on the ground, he fell over and as he was getting up, he grabbed a handful of pebbles and tried to eat them. What is it about kids wanting to eat things that can make them sick or kill them? I tried to get him to eat lunch and he wouldn't touch it but give him a bunch of rocks and it is on!
Anyway, we stopped for some photo-ops with some hay and pumpkins and then headed out to the pumpkin patch. He loved walking around and when we tried to help him when he stumbled, he would become independent on us.
We got on the hayride and went around the farm. Along the way, there were signs that told the story of a missing hay farmer. He had been missing all year. They were asking if anyone saw him, could they please let his wife know where he is. SPOILER ALERT: Toward the end of the ride, there was a large round thing of hay that had what looked like the bottom half of a man sticking out of it. It was cute.
So after we were done with that, we went and picked out a little pumpkin for Eli and stopped for one more picture. We got a good one of Eli and then I decided that we needed to get our picture taken together. It was up on top of this wagon with no steps to get up. I asked this guy if he would take our picture and then proceeded to try to get up by myself. Charles tried to help me and I almost busted it. It was embarrassing. My heart had the will to get up there but apparently my butt did not. The guy taking the pic had to help me.
So the trip was a lot better than last year. Last year Eli started crying and wouldn't cooperate for any pics. This year he was a whole lot better. He won't remember it but his daddy and I will. It was a good day.
ttfn

Whatever.....

2006-10-06T11:47:00.000-05:00

Day nine and I still don't feel good. This crud has now settled in my chest. I don't know if it's a cold or if it's allergies. I'm not sneezing or anything. No matter what I take, nothing works. The only time I can actually breathe through my nose is when I am on the treadmill during my workout. Please tell me I don't have to stay on it to feel good. You know what else sucks? I can't taste anything but I still get hungry. So I can eat but I can't enjoy anything. I am officially in hell.
Meanwhile, at Lifetime Fitness.....
J. didn't show up for class on Wednesday. I had called the head trainer to complain about her and I thought I had succeeded in getting her kicked out. But, alas, I am not that powerful. She just missed a day. She should be back today and they are going to talk to her about interupting all of the time and spouting her nonsense.
I would hate to have to kick her butt in my weakened condition.
ttfn

On a darker note...

2006-10-05T13:39:00.000-05:00

What the hell is wrong with people? We've got pedophiles in congress, people shooting at the Amish, and husbands out cheating on their wives. I watched "Hotel Rowanda" and almost couldn't finish watching it because it was just so hard to believe that people can be that mean and hateful to other people. I have spent the majority of my life trying to believe the best in people but sometimes, my faith is shaken. People do horrible things and then blame it either on alcohol abuse or a tortured childhood. I am sure that those two things do not help when you are trying to become a well adjusted person but people have to take responsiblity at some point for their own lives.
Everything that glitters isn't necessarily gold. I think everyone tries to put on a good front to make it look like their lives are peachy. I have never learned to be mysterious and private. I pretty much share just about everything that is going on in my life. Others, however, do not. That is why it always comes as a surprise when a seemingly happy couple falls apart due to infidelity or whatever. I know its hard to share problems with others sometimes because people can be judgemental. I don't like it when someone tells me what I should do with my life so I don't usually give advice unless I am asked. I would love to tell women that if their spouse cheats on them, kick them to the curb. However, being on the outside looking in, it's easy for me to say. Each person has to look inside themselves and make up their own mind. Do you stay together for convenience and hope he never does it again or do you cut and run? There isn't only anger to deal with but there is also hurt and maybe a little longing to just forget about it. Tough stuff for sure.
As for Foley, who was caught sending inappropriate emails to young boys and now blames it on alcohol and being molested when he was younger, get over yourself! It's really sad that you were molested when you were younger(if that's true) but it's no excuse. The chain has to be broken. He has a problem and he needs to deal with it and take responsibility for his actions.
I'm not sure where I am going with any of this but I needed to vent.
ttfn

Greatest Dad

2006-10-05T09:39:00.000-05:00

I usually don't get mushy but I just have to say that I have the greatest husband ever. He doesn't blow off his parenting responsibilities like I have heard other women complain about. He occasionally watches Eli while I go to bunco or book club. When I met Charles I knew he was a great guy but, more importantly, I knew he would be a great dad. He didn't have the best childhood himself but he is making sure that Eli always knows that he loves him. To see the look of love he has on his face sometimes takes my breath away. I hope that any women who read this and are single and are looking for a mate take this into account. It's great if the guy you like is good looking or has a lot of money but the most important thing to look for is patience and kindness. The guys who have that make the best husbands and fathers.
ttfn

The workout

2006-10-03T08:14:00.000-05:00

So I have been doing this workout at a local health club. This workout is a group effort and you actually have to pay on top of your monthly membership dues. So there is some investment that you are making and you dont want anything to throw you off or distract you from your true purpose. That purpose would be to get rid of this disgusting butt and bulging tummy and get in some sort of shape. Well, the class started out with just 4 women. Two of them were really cool. Then there was this other woman. To protect the guilty, we will call her J. She is awful. She started out talking the first day and has not shut up since. This is coming from me, a perpetual talker. Her boyfriend is a trainer there and she thinks she knows everything about everything. She knows everything about fitness and nutrition and working out. This is rather strange since she is not what you would call a small woman. She constantly tries to wow our trainer with her knowledge. Bless his heart. He tries to be patient and go along with her but I can see he is irritated too. If I was running the class I would have snapped her with my sweat towel a long time ago. Picture this: we are on an 8 to 10% incline going at a 3.0 speed. We have been doing this for two minutes and he is getting ready to tell us to drop our incline and our speed. Right as he is about to say something, J. interupts and starts talking about how your fat leaves your body by way of your urine. She knows this for a fact because she heard about it on Dr. Phil. I wonder how much knowledge she can spout with my foot up her ass? I am over it. The thing that gets me is that I am actually paying to be this annoyed. She has got to go. I will figure out a way. Either she goes or I want my friggin money back. i can get this annoyed at work and they actually pay ME.
ttfn

Sugar high...

2006-10-02T12:13:00.000-05:00

we had a great weekend. Eli wasn't teething and he is walking all over the place now. yes, i can safely say that this weekend, we were the typical American nuclear family. Then, last night, i got the bright idea to give my son a small slice of chocolate cake. he loved it. he licked almost every last piece he could find on his hands. then i cleaned him off and got him out of the highchair. then, he went mad. he started screaching and laughing and pacing back and forth. the pacing was a little un-nerving because he just learned to walk so he was walking in the little frankenstein way that new walkers like to walk. he was a maniac. he had cake before at his birthday party and he didnt have this kind of rush. it must have been the cake. it came from market street and i think it was double chocolate or something. i only gave him a little bitty slice but i packed a heck of a punch. lessoned learned.
ttfn

Eli is on the move...

2006-09-30T21:40:00.000-05:00

well, it finally happened. eli went from only sporadically walking to full fledged thats about all he will do walking. its exiciting but also terrifying. he is facinated with electrical outlets and stairs. there are twenty million things to peak his interest in our house but he picks those two things. its a heart attack waiting to happen. and he's so freakin' proud of himself its really hard to get onto him about it. so i just put in some outlet covers and run interferance on the stairs. he also thinks its alot of fun to torture the dog. his thinking is that if he smiles real cute it doesnt matter that he is trying to pull her ears off and she will just forgive him instead of biting his head off. i keep trying to tell him that he wont ben this cute forever and he wont always get away with things be we both know i am full of crap. look at him for God's sake. he is a certified dumpling. we are so screwed. do you think the judge will think he is this cute when he gets sent to juvie for knocking over a liquor store because his father and i were too soft to give him the discipline he needs? i sure hope so.
ttfn

is pregnancy a cure for the common cold?

2006-09-28T13:55:00.000-05:00

last year when i was pregnant with Eli, i did not get sick once. not the flu, not allergies, no colds, nada. in the 13 months since i had him, however, i have been sick a bazillion times. it sucks. someone can just look at me and i get a cold. i am over it. if i have to stay knocked up the rest of my life, i will do it(hubby would probably appreciate the trying to get pregnant part anyway). its like i had some sort of immunity. now i drop him off at the germ factory(daycare) and he will either get it and give it to me or it will just skip him altogether and jump straight to me. life is just not fair.
oh well. i have to go. a total lack of oxygen is causing me to be light headed. i can't stop sneezing and can only breathe through my mouth. if a fire broke out at my house right now i wouldnt know it because i cant smell anything. food has no tasted though unfortunately, my appetite has not gone away. crapola!
ttfn

what is wrong with people

2006-09-25T22:09:00.000-05:00

i have had this discussion with the women in my mom's group before. here you are, walking along at the mall or whatever, with your precious child and someone passes you and doesnt even crack a smile or gush over how outstandingly beautiful your child is. that just shows a lack of soul. i know every mother thinks that their child is beautiful but when i know for a fact mine actually is, it really bugs me. every time i see him, i just want to eat him up so i know he has to be cute. i think that all of us moms should carry some sort of device that, is used upon them, would send all non-gushers into fits of pain or boils or something. a little harsh i know but so is passing by God's gifts and not taking in their beauty.
ttfn

the gym, neo and cell phones

2006-09-23T22:42:00.000-05:00

so i did my makeup workout today at lifetime fitness since i missed yesterdays class. this was one tough workout. 53 minutes of going up and down hills. so i am doing my workout and i am sweating like a stuck pig. this was like a very large amount of sweat. what is going on? then it hit me. one of the huge tv screens had the first "Matrix" movie on with subtitles and that movie in itself is a workout. trying to figure out the plot is a aerobic workout of the mind. dont even get me started on the other two.
so after the gym and after i sat for awhile to recover, i decided to take eli to the park. it was beautiful! the sun was reflecting on the lake. kids were frollicking. the geese and ducks were out in full force. then i came across this beautiful scene of these two little boys fishing with their grandfather watching them. it was a scene straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting except for one small thing---the dude was on his cell phone! then i took a closer look around and realized that there wer at least three other people going on a peaceful walk with their friggin cell phone glued to their ears. when did this happen? it used to be that you went to the park to excercise and get fresh air and to be with your family or friends. now its something you have to do while keeping yourself entertained. i would have started yelling at all of them if my cell phone hadnt rang just then.......
just kidding.
ttfn

the temptresses

2006-09-22T15:50:00.000-05:00

so last week we are all trying to eat right and it was a coworkers birthday and we said we would take her to lunch. she decided to go to maccaroni grill. like i can actually set foot in a place like that without having the penne rustica(from heaven, yummy). so i blew diet bigtime. this week i have done pretty well until renee decides we need to go to scotty peas. like i can really set foot in there without having the cardiac fries! umm, i am beginning to sense a pattern. maybe i shouldn't set foot in these places and remove the temptation. i'm just weak. i have pms this week and want to eat everything. i have a big thing for food. unfortunately, my butt has a big thing for it too.
ttfn

they will rue the day....

2006-09-22T08:59:00.000-05:00

i am having problems with Eli's daycare. he just moved up into the bigger kids room last week and they have breakfast with the general population in the cafeteria from 7 to 7:30. i usually drop Eli off at 7:40. well, they are refusing to feed my son breakfast if he gets there late!
so today i dragged my lazy butt up and managed to get Eli there at 7:25. the morning teacher, who i do not care for, proceeded to tell me i had to stay with Eli while he ate because i got there too late. oh no she didnt! i then proceeded to gripe her out and yell at her and act like the P.M.S.ing fiend i am. the manager is supposed to call me to work this out. if they can't, i will get on my mom's meetup site and tell anyone who will listen that they suck! no one messes with my boy. i will go kung foo on their butts.
ttfn

traffic sucks

2006-09-20T09:28:00.000-05:00

yesterday it took me an hour and a half to get from mckinney to keller springs and the tollway. i decided to take preston down and the light at frankford and preston was flashing so they had one lone cop directing traffic. by the time i got to work, i wanted to kill someone.
i am from waco. you can get anywhere in waco in under 14 minutes. in dallas, 14 minutes may take you five miles if you are lucky.
when i got off of work. i decided to take preston(no, i promise i am not slow, i just figured the light was fixed by then). the light was fixed, but then they were doing contruction further up. aw, hello no! i quickly made a beeline for a side street and ended up in some residential neighborhood and got completely turned around. i eventually got back on track and it was smooth sailing after that.
then this morning, i leave my house extra early and drop the kiddo off in time for the nazi daycare to feed him breakfast(separate blog later to explain). then there is a wreck on 720! the brilliant frisco cops were letting the east bound lane go through and then they would let about 2 cars at a time go through on the west bound lane. you will never guess which lane i was in.
maybe i will move out to the country and grow veggies or something. i can't take much more of this crappy traffic.
ttfn

monday and tuesday ups and downs

2006-09-19T21:34:00.000-05:00

started my excercise class last night called "team weight loss". did the treadmill for 43 minutes going up and down hills. it sucked but i managed to finish without having a heart attack or passing out. its the little victories that get me through it. Eli proceeded to throw up on me this morning and then fell into a blissful sleep while daddy and i had to actually get up and go to work. i was able to get about 45 more minutes of sleep than daddy.
tonight i had bible study and 30 minutes into it i got paged to go to the nursery. i figured he was just fussy but when i got down there he was sitting in just a diaper next to a gigantic pile of puke. i felt so sorry for the women working in there. i kept apologizing. i felt bad but not bad enough to clean it up. i wanted to hurl just looking at it. even if it came out of your precious gift from God--its still puke.
so last night charles came home bearing flowers and a very sweet card. he said he read my blog and felt bad. i was using the blog just to vent so it was never my intention to make him feel bad but if it got me flowers and his attention, so be it. i just want to say that despite what i have said in previous blogs, i do have the best husband ever. i used to think it was corny when women would say that their husbands were their best friends but now i know exactly what they meant. he's everything.
ttfn

hubby's back--all is good

2006-09-18T10:58:00.000-05:00

Hubby came back yesterday from his mission trip to new orleans. i saw the van drive up at church and i took Eli out so he could greet his daddy. He gets out and heads straight for us. i have my arms outstretched(which is really hard since i have the baby in one arm and an umbrella in the other hand). i imagine our reunion in slow motion and i hear romantic music playing in my head. He reaches us and immediately takes Eli from my arms. i had to pratically beg him to kiss me hello.
somehow, with the birth of Eli, i have become numero secondo in my husbands eyes. i always thought that if he did ignore me, it would be for some blond who was young, firm and fully packed. i never imagined it would be for some short bald guy.

poor husband...not

2006-09-17T00:27:00.000-05:00

so here i am pining away for my poor hubby who sounded miserable last night when i talked to him. he is in new orleans doing some demo work for a mission trip at church. he sounded so tired and i figured he misses me as much as i miss him. so last night when i was on the phone with him i asked him to call me the next night.
9:45 and still no phone call. so i call the number he had called me from the night before. i left to a message to please have my husband call me when he got a chance. i figured he was up to his ears in nasty, foul smelling rot and just couldnt get to a phone. so when he does call me, where does he call me from? Friggin bourbon street! sounding like he was having the time of his life and not missing me a darn bit. here i am taking care of our son and trying to not think about him being so far away and he is out partying with the church folk! the only thing that makes me feel okay about this whole thing is that he doesnt ever drink and knows how to keep it in his pants. he keeps talking about getting a mistress but we have both agreed i am all that he can handle right now and he sure cannot afford another womans shopping habits.
so come home charles! we miss you!
later
slr

Eli the masochistic muncher

2006-09-15T22:20:00.000-05:00

so i decided that just firmly saying no to Eli when he tried to bite me wasn't working. he just looked at me and smiled. so i took his fingers and gently bit down on them(please do not call CPS) to let him know having your leg (or worse, your boob) bitten does not feel good. He looked confused for a minute, looked at his fingers, and them proceeded to shove them back into my mouth like it was fun. is it too early to start him on therapy? He thinks its fun!
so we just got back from the mall to try to find Eli his first official pair of shoes. i have looked for shoes for him before but i would just eyeball them and hold them up to his feet and assumed he wore a three. the lady at Striderite measured him and he wears a 4 1/2 wide! because he wears a wide width shoe, they will be more expensive because they do not always carry wide width childrens shoes in std stores. the shoes the lady at striderite tried to sell me were $42! this is for something he may be able to wear a couple of months and them he will have grown out of. one of my problems is, unlike most women in America, i hate to buy shoes. i would much rather buy clothes. i am afraid i am starting to feel the same about shopping for Eli. why pay $50 for a pair of shoes when they have such cute little boy outfits?
so if you see my son walking around with tin foil or kleenex boxes on his feet, don't worry. its just that his mom is not a shoe horse.
slr

first attempt at culinary stardom was a bust

2006-09-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

i took a cooking class last week and learned how to make cream cheese crab cakes. i was so excited i decided to make some tonight and use my co-workers tomorrow as guinne pigs.
now i would like to point out that never once during the class did the chef instruct us to use anything but lump crab. right after the class i went and looked and about 10lbs of lump crab would be $10. being the economically minded person that i am (don't laugh at that charles. i like to spend money. just not on silly things like food.), i decided to buy some imitation crab meat and use that instead. it was only $2 a pound. apparently, there was a reason she didnt say you could substitute anything other than genuine lump crab. it was awful. it wouldnt stick together and before too long i had some sort of stringing looking concoction going in the skillet that didnt even remotely resemble the beautiful crab cakes the chef prepared. i ended up trashing it without even tasting them that looked so bad. on a more positive note: i did make some herb cheese bread and it was awesome. after looking at the recipe, however, i am convinced Eli could have made this if he could reach the counter.
so when i have the funds, i will buy some actual crab and i am sure it will be wonderful. i can cook. i just need to have directions i can follow and not deviate from them.
on a side note that has nothing to do with the blurb above: how can i convince Eli not to bite me? he comes at me with mouth wide open ready to devour anything his mouth comes into contact with. when i firmly but lovingly tell him no, he grins and goes for me again. i'm thinking he is on to the fact that his dad and i melt whenever he smiles at us and therefore has free reign to call all of the shots. we are in so much trouble!
Charles is in New Orleans right now doing a mission trip for church so i am left to my own devices. Umm. by myself and payday is tomorrow. however will i pass the time? crap! i promised charles i would be good so the extent of my shopping this weekend is to buy Eli his first official pair of shoes. Yes, i know he is 13 months old now and it is totally trashy to let him go barefoot but i didnt get the memo about what is appropriate or not. its not like i let me wander about in just a diaper. its just bare feet. plus i love his smelly little baby feet. i guess its time to grow up. i'm talking about me, not him.
off to my lonely bed without hubby. i'm not sure who the dog is going to spoon with now.
see ya!

Well, here it is...

2006-09-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

My first official blog entry. A mom friend of mine has a blog and it is so engrossing that I thought I would try it.
I am preparing myself for Charles to be out of town. He is going on a mission trip to New Orleans to demo a house for four whole days. That means I have to find a way to entertain Eli. It usually doesn't take much. The great thing about having a kid is that they are, at least temporarily, your biggest fan. Just about anything you do is amusing to them. Of course, he is just as entertaining. It's kind of like having your own little circus monkey around all of the time. He is doing this thing lately where he does this half walk, half crawl thing. He basically crawls on his hand and feet and doesn't bend his knees. It's hysterical. (Don't get in too big of a hurry, bunny. I am in not good enough shape to try to chase you yet.)
So I am starting a sort of mini boot camp next week. It's basically Monday, Wednesday and Fridays from 6pm to 7pm). It's going to be a beating but I have to do something. Big birthing hips are not the "in" thing right now. If they were, I would be the spokesmodel.
Anyway, more to follow as the mood strikes me. I know this is probably a boring first effort, but I will work on it.
Happy Wednesday!

First Post

2006-08-18T11:32:00.000-05:00

I may not have as much time to spend on this and some friends do, butI think its a great idea to spout off every now and then about this and that.
Stay tuned!