Quick Saturday Post

Yay! It's Saturday! Kiddo slept in our room last night, per his request, and Hubby slept on the couch and Kiddo's bed respectively. Sometime around 1AM, Little Bit woke up hollering. She didn't really want anything except to hang out with me. I tried rocking her; no good. I tried having her snuggle in bed with Kiddo and me; no good there, either. After several different attempts, I finally just dumped her unceremoniously back in her bed and let her holler. She yelled for about 15 more minutes, and then slept through until morning. This took about 1.5 hours! Kiddo had a restless night, too. After LB settled down, and I was sound asleep again, I was awakened by a loud "THUD" and then crying. I knew immediately what had happened; Kiddo fell out of our bed! Our bed is nearly 4 feet off the ground, so this was quite a fall! He bumped his head and cried some, but was asleep again about 20 minutes later. Poor kid. He's got a goose-egg sized lump on his noggin this morning, and complains that it's uncomfortable if I mess with it, but otherwise seems to be OK. Then I got up, did some dishes and made bacon and pancakes. I don't do this as nicely and swiftly and professionally as Hubby (he makes his from scratch and they are just the most wonderful pancakes you've ever eaten); I used that Bisquick Shake-n-Pour stuff. It does the job, but certainly doesn't even come close to being homemade! I burned the bacon. Of course, I like it that way, but Hubby, Kiddo and LB don't. I didn't mean to burn it... Now Hubby has gone to work and Kiddo and Little Bit and I are getting ready for a trip to Wally World. Yay fun! Kiddo dressed himself this morning and he did a perfect job!!! So proud of him. Well, here's to a wonderful Saturday! TTFN JMS

How To Give A Cat A Pill

This has been all over the Internet, e-mail & blogging communities, but since I laugh so hard every time I see it, I just had to share! Plus, this way - I'll never have to go through hundreds of old emails to find the one CRJ sent me years ago! ~JMS How To Give A Cat A Pill

1. Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.
2. Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.
3. Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.
4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.
5. Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.
6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigorously.
7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered Lladro figurines from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.
8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.
9. Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans, drink glass of water to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.
10. Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.
11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put door back on hinges. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Throw tee-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.
12. Call fire department to retrieve cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil-wrap.
13. Tie cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed, force cat's mouth open with small wrench. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of filet mignon. Hold head vertically and pour ½ pint of water down throat to wash pill down.
14. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture store on way home to order new table.

~Original Author Unknown

What a super night!

I had a super night! Really - that's not sarcasm! We had pizza (and I allowed myself 2 whole slices!) and then watched Max & Ruby and Dora the Explorer. Then I got to speak to my friend AKP for about 12 uninterrupted minutes (a minor miracle in itself, since she has 2 young'uns, too). Then I called SM to make sure she wasn't hallucinating again (a story for another time, but she's really fine). Then Kiddo, Little Bit and I played a rousing game of Hide & Seek; our own screwy version of the old classic. Kiddo and Little Bit hide in LB's room and "count" for approximately 10 seconds (more or less, depending on how quickly Kiddo counts). Then they holler, "Ready or not, here he comes!" I hide. I first hid in the kitchen next to the stove and between the stove and the counter, behind a red apron hanging from a hook. They found me right away, though I thought I was pretty well hidden! Then I hid on the far side of our bed in the bedroom and again, I was tracked down like a prison escapee; with swiftness and finesse! I then took LB with me, and she and I hid behind the shower curtain inside the tub, but because LB couldn't keep quiet (she was quite giggly) Kiddo found us immediately. If they can't find me, they call out, "Oooga, booga, booga!" (kind of like, "Marco!" followed by "Polo!" in the pool in the summer) and I respond in kind until they can track me down! (Blame Hubby - he started the oooga booga booga thing.) I also hid in two or three other places, before we switched and LB and I counted while Kiddo hid. It was a lot of fun. Then actual bedtime was not so much fun because the kids were wound up (I know, I know - playing a fun game right before bedtime was a stupid idea on my part...) but I eventually got LB settled comfortably and then read Hansel & Gretel to Kiddo. I watched about 30 minutes of something on HGTV (don't really remember what it was because I was enjoying being able to watch the television without 100 other things happening around me). Then I watched Supernatural on CW (ugh...what was I thinking?) and then I watched most of an episode of Animal Police (they were in Miami-Dade County in Florida) but it was honestly too graphic and I will probably have nightmares involving badly neglected and abused animals. (I'm wavering between a "...must...wash...eyes...out...with...acid..." mentality and a "...Oh, how absolutely awful! Who could ever do such a horrible thing?..." state of mind.) I don't know what I was thinking there, either. I'm noticing lots of parentheses (...) in this post - what's up with that? Then I got an uninterrupted shower. Ah, such bliss, I cannot speak about it lest I ruin the moment. A shower. (Isn't it funny how a shower can be something special enough to blog about when you've got children and a full-time job?) Then, I went to bed! It really was a super night. Yay! TTFN JMS

Knitsational: I Heart Giveaways

Knitsational: I Heart Giveaways If you want to try to win a great "something" for that great "someone" - check out this link above! Though I've entered myself, in hopes of maybe winning this "something" for GM for Valentine's Day, I certainly don't begrudge any of my friends (especially the one who sent me in this direction in the first place (Light & Writing, that means you!) but I sure do hope I can pull it off. I mean, um...I really do want MY name to be the one pulled out of the hat like a cute magical rabbit but I like my friends enough to share with them! :) TTFN JMS

H.O.U.S.E.W.O.R.K. should be a 4-letter word

I've decided something. It's almost an epiphany. It seems very profound. HA! I've decided that there is one thing - just one thing - that any person is really good at; and I'm speaking here only in terms of H.O.U.S.E.W.O.R.K. (That should be a 4-letter word; it makes me shudder and seems vile and vulgar and anyone who utters it should have their mouth washed out with soap like Ralphie in A Christmas Story.) For example: I am good at the laundry. As much as I hate laundry I'm good at doing the laundry. I can separate whites and lights and darks like a champ. I know what to wash in cold, warm or hot. I know what needs a delicate cycle and needs to hang to dry. I'm usually very good at remembering to check pockets; though sometimes something does slip through. Another example: Hubby is good at doing the dishes. As much as he hates doing the dishes, he really is very good at this task. He knows what needs to go on the top rack of the dishwasher and what needs to get hand-washed. He really does excel it. Hubby is also extremely good at ironing; I am not. In fact, I absolutely hate, loathe and despise ironing and get so frustrated when I try that I wind up making a bigger mess than I had when I started! The only part of dish washing that I seem to excel at is loading the dishwasher, but that is only because I learned from a champ! My mother taught me how to "bend dishes" when I only came up to her knees and it's a task I've never forgotten. Of course, this skill was probably taught to her by her mother, my grandmother - but I don't know how long dishwashers have been around so I can't go back any farther than that!!! LOL! Hubby is also very good at laundry, but he usually only does his own stuff - unless I get behind (which happens) and then he'll throw in a load or two. He has to wash all the sheets from his massage business every day, so he gets extra duty and our washer doesn't get paid overtime. Our water bill definitely suffers with as much laundry as we do in a week! So what H.O.U.S.E.W.O.R.K. skill do you have? Do you excel at? Are you champion with the Swiffer Duster? Are you queen (or king) of the mop? Does your sink shine like the top of the Chrysler Building in NY? Is your bathroom spotless? I'm just wondering if my theory - my epiphany - is valid...so help me out here! TTFN JMS

Beware - I'm Venting

I am the assistant to the director of the facility I work in. This is a wonderful position that I love and has some wonderful benefits, namely:

• I really do enjoy my job
• My boss treats me like I'm a human with feelings
• My boss knows that I'll get my work done and doesn't breathe down my neck
• My boss has 4 boys all under the age of 13 at home and understands if something happens at home (sick kid or otherwise) that it's a parent's duty to go take care of the situation, whatever it may be - and whether or not I have time to take (vacation or PTO)

On the flip side of this, the position has some definite drawbacks, namely:

• Sometimes I'm so busy I can't even think straight
• I supply administrative assistance to two and sometimes three other departments and/or people - depending on what is currently the hot topic
• People seem to always assume that I work in Human Resources; I do not
• Folks assume that I know everything there is to know about everything that goes on here; I do not
• Sometimes it's up to me to keep my mouth shut about stuff that doesn't need to be public knowledge

These things are not earth-shattering, I-hate-my-job, I-quit, walk-out-the-door-in-a-huff drawbacks, they're just a fact relating to the particular position I hold. I know this. But sometimes I get into a situation, like today where someone questioned me directly about something I was not at liberty to discuss with that person. Information that he shouldn't even have an inkling about to begin with! So first of all, how did this person KNOW to ask me? I know good and well that he didn't get it from me because I hardly ever talk to him in the first place! There are definitely factors involved that could have "leaked" to this person through others within the building, but anyone who knew about this subject also knew to keep their mouths shut about it, too! Secondly, I HATE to lie!!! So this put me in a position where I had to just say, "I'm sorry, I don't know anything," and leave it at that. The fact is that I do know something - but just bits and pieces - and I have been instructed that I should not discuss this "something" with anyone outside of the small circle of folks who are also in the know. I feel like I'm not making any sense, because I'm writing this just after "it" happened and I'm upset. I've called my boss so I could talk to him about it (I'm covering at the front desk for 3 days and so am not at my desk within easy screaming distance of my boss) and he said that he was going to a meeting and would have to call me when he got done. Writing this out was really an attempt to get the frustration out of my system before I went to my boss so I could try to discuss this with him without elevating the situation any more than it needs to be. The other thing is that IT REALLY ISN'T A BIG DEAL!!! I know this, too. But, I also know how it would look if "the powers that be" happened to see me talking to this person and then find out that he "knows" something he's not really supposed to "know"! I was purposeful, though, in having the conversation with this person in the front lobby, because our security guard was there through the entire thing and can be a very reliable witness to what I said, should that be necessary. I'm making this into something it doesn't need to be. It really is bugging me, though. I know good and darn well I haven't done anything wrong - but someone, somewhere did and it irks me that some bigmouth has broken the unspoken code. (Don't really know what that code is, but I know there has to be one or I wouldn't feel so awful about this.) I'm now waiting on New MD (my boss) to come down from a meeting on the 2nd floor so I can bombard him with my concerns. And, knowing New MD, he'll probably look at me and say, "Um, this is a big deal...why?" Or, he'll take the ball and run with it and handle "the situation" himself, taking me completely out of the picture in an effort to make sure that I don't find myself in an uncomfortable position again. He's a nice guy that way. So what am I doing to myself? Why am I working myself into a tizzy over something I KNOW will be seen as nothing by New MD? Sigh. I guess I just need to wait and find out what New MD says and go from there. Ok - now I've gotten it out of my system! TTFN JMS ----------------------------------------------------- UPDATE: I just talked to New MD and he said I handled the situation exactly right and that should I ever feel put in that position again that I can simply say, "Hey - that's above my pay grade! Talk to the man in the big chair!" (Here's me, wiping sweat off my forehead! I just was so convinced something was amiss - and, though it is, it's not something I need to worry about at all! Yay!) -----------------------------------------------------

It's Wednesday, and I want to talk about cats today!

I've mentioned several times, in several different places, how much I love cats. Veering from my normal "Mommy Blog" entries, I thought I'd take a few minutes to tell you about my three favorite cats that I've known over the years. Gypsy (a.k.a. "Little Man") Little Man was the cat I grew up with in West Hartford, CT. He was your standard, grey/black/brown striped Tom Cat with an "M" on his forehead, and absolutely the sweetest cat I knew. I remember my grandmother (Tennie) used to have this pinkish-salmon-colored velour bathrobe that zipped completely up the front. She called it her "house coat." Whenever she wore it, Little Man would get in her lap, kneed like crazy, and would sometimes put his little front feet up on her shoulders and kiss her chin. I think he liked the bathrobe more than he liked her, though. I was really young at this point, and don't remember too much about him, but I remember this: When he got old and arthritic, he couldn't jump from the floor to the counter in the kitchen where we kept his cat food and water dishes. (Up off the floor so the dog couldn't get them, and right next to the fish-tank!) When he needed to get up to the counter, he would jump from the kitchen floor to a chair, from the chair to the kitchen table, and then sit there and yowl until someone came to assist him in getting from table to the counter. Eventually, I figured out that if I bent over and made a bridge with my back from table to counter, he could and would walk right across my back! This became a daily thing. He also used the toilet sometimes, but we were never able to train him to flush! He was with us for 17+ years until he was, most unfortunately, hit by a car. He became asthmatic, arthritic and deaf, but he was always sweet and loving. Hector Murray Space-Shoe-Foot Rosenkranz Kitty (a.k.a. "Hector") Hector was a beautiful, big, white domestic short hair cat who was the love of my life when I lived in Mystic, CT. When I worked at the Seaport, one of the ladies there told me that her cat had just had kittens. At the time, I was feline-less, and of course asked her if she'd be willing to let me have one. She was. I remember riding in her beat up, old, once-burgundy Dodge Omni to her farmhouse somewhere in BFE CT. Once we arrived, we went into her kitchen and I was introduced to Momma Cat. I sat myself on the floor and was immediately surrounded by tiny white fuzz-balls. I waited, letting them come to me. The bravest and sweetest, but also the smallest, came over and climbed right into my lap and curled up. I'd found my furry friend. At nearly 8 weeks old, he rode with me back to my apartment, with his blue eyes wide; shaking like a leaf. If kittens could cry tears, his would have been crocodile-sized. Poor little dude. He immediately became my buddy. He did all kinds of funny things, up to and including kissing my eye lids if I blinked at him! Once, my best friend and roommate, CRJ, came home with a bag of catnip for Hector. She stored it in one of our kitchen drawers, thinking it was safe. The drawers in the kitchen had been painted so many times, they required quite a bit of effort to open and close them. This was when CRJ and I were working at Mystic Army Navy, I think. One day, we came home to find Hector had somehow managed to get the drawer open and was lying on his back, feet in the air, completely stoned - surrounded by catnip! He had chewed open the storage bag and eaten, rubbed and rolled himself into a catatonic stupor! He just looked at us lazily, upside down, and CRJ and I had a great laugh! When I moved to Virginia in early 1996 (um...try, January 1st, 1996) I had to leave him with SM and he then became her cat. I definitely regret having to leave him, but I couldn't bring him with me. He was funny and sweet and such a great, great friend. Tigger (a.k.a. Tiggy, Tiggs, Pig, Piglet...whatever comes to mind at the time) Tigger is not mine, and has never been - but he belongs to a very good friend of mine and I consider him mine...in a funny sort of way. He and I have always had a bond. He's a very lovely and large grey and white long-haired feline and I adore him, even if he is somewhat (um...how do I put this gently?) mentally challenged. (I know BG, Tigger's owner, will forgive me for calling her cat stupid, because I think she knows he's not quite all there!) He seems to know when I come over because after about 10 minutes or so, he'll come slinking around the corner (pushing his hockey stick paw that was injured years ago by a car) in front of him. He'll cry and then come right over to me so I can love on him for a while. Of course, I sneeze and wheeze and get itchy watery eyes, but I don't care. Tigger is my best bud (of the feline variety) and it always makes me feel good to get a fist full of his fur. His kind of Fuzz Therapy can last me weeks and weeks! And so it is, I suppose, that I am now destined to live out the remainder of my days cat-less. Unless, of course, you consider Harold (who's real name is Alex...don't ask) who is the neighborhood cat that comes to visit us occasionally. And he doesn't really count because, well, he's not ours. Tigger isn't ours either, but his family is my family so I guess he counts. TTFN JMS PS: Three other cats, Tiggy, Bob & Clyde (did I get the names right?) want to wish their Daddy a very happy birthday. They told me. They picked up the phone and had their mommy dial and then told me in their sweet little raspy kitty voices that they wanted to wish TennSwede a happy day and to remind him that they need extra treats when he gets home today.

I got tagged!

I got tagged by Light and Writing to share 8 little random facts (random is what I do best, after all) about myself, and then tag 8 others. I usually avoid these things like the plague, but I seem to have been tagged quite a bit lately and so, without further ado: 1) My uncle by marriage, Stan Drake, used to draw Blondie. When I was young, he would draw Dagwood's daughter Cookie's shoelaces in the shape of a cursive "J" for my first initial. 2) I am an admitted cat person living with a dog because I'm violently allergic to cats. That doesn't stop me from getting my Fuzz Therapy when the opportunity presents itself, though. I can tolerate the sneezing, wheezing and itchy watery eyes for a little feline affection. 3) I hate, loathe, and despise shopping. But, more specifically, Mall shopping. If I find something I really like and don't buy - I'll regret if for days. If I find something I really like and do buy, I am happy about it every time I wear/use it. 4) I am addicted to blogging. This will come as no surprise to most folks who read my blog. What might surprise you, however, is the level of my addiction. I sometimes write an entire week's worth of posts and then schedule them to be posted ahead of time. I'm sick, aren't I? 5) I'm getting to know my long lost aunt and uncle (my mother's younger brother and his wife) in bits and pieces and this pleases me to no end. I'm at the point in my life where I'm settled and trying to rekindle relationships that have fallen to the wayside over the years. I would hate to leave this world (whenever that may be) without knowing who my real family is or having my real family know me. 6) I can type nearly 100 WPM. (woo hoo!) 7) I secretly wish I lived in Italy. (Wait, doesn't everyone secretly wish to live in Italy?) 8) I'm a vampire fanatic. 'Nuff said. Maybe a couple of these were also posted on my FaceBook page where KB tagged me there to share 25 Random Things. This was harder, and easier, to only choose 8. So now here's the part where I'm supposed to "tag" 8 others to share 8 random facts about themselves. I nominate: TexNan Procrastination Diary Overtly Trite Wonders Never Cease TennSwede The Road Home to Tennessee Incidents and Accidents and, last but definitely not least, Malfunctionology101 (She'd kill me if I put a link here, so I won't. Ahh...I know her too well!) If you've already done this - and I haven't done my homework by checking ahead of time - then please feel free to ignore the incessant poking on your shoulder telling you, "Do this!!! Do this now!" :) Have fun with this! TTFN JMS

Little Bit's Mantra, Clean Laundry, & Nursery Furniture

I feel like the meanest Mommy in the universe. As you know, I'm trying to wean Little Bit from her nightly bottle. She hasn't had a bottle at bedtime in 6 days now, and this has been relatively easy because she's been sick for most of that time and rocking her for 5 minutes seemed to do the trick. Now that she feels better, however, she realizes that her nightly routine has changed. She is not happy. She screamed bloody murder last night and once even managed to fall out of bed in a fit of pissed-off-ness. (I made that up - you like?) "I want a bottle, Mommy!" Over and over and over and over until I was ready to throttle her. She eventually screamed herself to sleep around 11:30PM, but was up again at 1AM hollering "I want a bottle, Mommy," like it was her own personal mantra. At this point, I thought maybe rocking her would calm her down, but it seemed to only make her angrier. "I wanna take a nap!" (This means she wants to be in her own bed, not cuddled up with me.) As soon as I put her back in her bed, she started chanting her mantra again. Throwing my hands up in frustration, I left her to holler loudly in her own room, and went to the living room where Hubby was still watching TV. I said, "I don't know what to do with her! She's making me nuts!" (He can't hear her screaming because he can only hear out of one ear, and that one ear was plugged with an ear bud so he could listen to the TV without disturbing anyone.) He said, "Just let her scream, then." I hated to do it, but I got back in bed with Little Bit still yelling about her bottle. Finally, when she woke up again around 3AM, I'd had it. Rather than get her a bottle, I got her a sippy cup with some milk in it. (Just enough to shut her up.) I hoped that she would be so happy to get anything at that point that she would accept the cup and not say another word about it. I got lucky with this and didn't hear another sound from her. She's going to be even more pissed off when she wakes up this morning to find that mommy is not there. Like I said in a previous post, she's been completely attached to my hip for the last few days; not letting me out of her sight and screaming if I even looked like I was going to walk away from her. I hope that Hubby doesn't have to deal with her screaming for me all day. Thankfully, though, she's not had a fever for over 24 hours now and is actually well enough to attend Camp Faith at church today from 9-noon; none of the other kids (or parents of said kids) should have to worry about Little Bit contaminating the nursery. This will give Hubby a few hours of blessed peace and quiet. We'll see how that goes, huh? On another note, I'm finally nearing the end of my battle with the laundry. I'm down to the dregs; the things that have wound up under pieces of furniture or were somehow looked over in my mad quest for clean clothes for the entire family. Hubby has a closet full of freshly-washed and hung shirts and pants. Kiddo has a dresser full of freshly-washed clothes. Little Bit's clothes are clean, but not put away yet; this is my project for tonight when I get home. And, on one last note, if you know of anyone who might be interested in purchasing Little Bit's (and Kiddo's) nursery furniture, let me know. I've not priced it yet because I'm waiting to hear from my SIL about where she got it (16+ years ago) and how much she paid for it. It's definitely been used, but is still in fabulous condition and the stuff is just beautiful. There's a large armoire with 4 drawers, a side cabinet and a space for a television (?). There's a crib and also a dresser with a changing table top. This stuff is all absolutely beautiful and heavy and all matches. The material that SIL put on the drawer-faces can be changed, but is currently a blue-striped Laura Ashley material that SIL has requested she get back. Can do. Let me know! TTFN JMS

No Fever AND Feverishly Cleaning

Yay! No fever! I gave Little Bit a dose of Tylenol last night before she went to bed, even though her temp was only slightly elevated - and this morning, blessings abound, no fever at all! Though she's still attached to my hip and won't let me out of her sign even for a second! "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Though tears and sobs and snot. I ran to the little corner store that is less than 1 mile from our house to get a Coke Zero this morning, and though I was only gone for about 10 minutes, when I got home Hubby said Little Bit had cried the entire time. zxaqpoifred (This is Kiddo's addition to my blog entry today. He's been sitting on my lap practicing his spelling. He can spell his own name without any help, but he needed some assistance with mommy's, daddy's and Little Bit's names. I promised him I'd leave his contribution on today's post if he would quit giggling, because even though I love to hear him giggle, Little Bit is sleeping right now and I might have to strangle him if he wakes her up! Kidding, of course...) I did laundry until 11:30 last night, and then crashed - hard. I tried to sleep in a bit this morning, but with all the screeching and gaiety floating around the house, sleep was fruitless. Kiddo came in and said brightly, "Mom! Breakfast is ready!" I thought Hubby might have made pancakes or something (though I couldn't smell anything particularly yummy - not even coffee - and I couldn't fathom how he could have cooked anything in the disaster area called the kitchen), but I awoke to find a bowl and spoon had been placed on the table for me. I got cold cereal, which, to be quite honest, was exactly what I wanted. Now, though I'm still doing laundry, I've made quite a bit of progress and hope to have our bedroom finished today. Hubby spent a good amount of time in the kitchen this morning and now it looks like it could be in a magazine! I've just sent Hubby and Kiddo out to Wally World for a couple of small things and, once I get everything done laundry-wise, I'm going to put new, clean sheets on the bed! I love a freshly made bed!!! OK - so this probably bored you to death, but it's Sunday, isn't it? I'm satisfying my urge to write something, even if I do nothing more than write about my day. Have a wonderful Sunday! TTFN JMS

Little Bit Update OR How I Can Update My Blog with Sick Children

Little Bit is still sick. The Tylenol helps to relieve the fever and such, but she still doesn't feel well. I can tell because she cannot, for the life of her, decide what she wants to do. She wants to color, but she throws the crayons across the room and hollers, "Don't wanna color either!" She wants to be held, but as soon as you pick her up, she screams to be let down again. She wants to eat, but doesn't want anything you give her and only says "Yes!" to something you don't actually have because you never thought she'd say "Yes!" to it in the first place! She needs a diaper change, but yells about not needing it changed through the entire changing process. Poor Hubby dealt with her all day yesterday, and today, it's my turn. Yay! This morning she woke up around 6:30 with the fever raging again. I didn't even bother to take her temp because I could feel the heat rising off of her in waves. I got her some Tylenol, which I almost had to force down her throat, and then we rocked for a little while in her room. I was nodding off sitting in that uncomfortable wooden rocker, so I collected Little Bit, her blankie, her bunny, and various other things she needed to bring with her, and we retreated back to my room and my comfy bed. We snuggled well and happily and before I knew it, Little Bit was snoring like a champ. Woo Hoo! I got another hour of sleep! Meanwhile: Kiddo was awake and playing quietly in his room (so far, he's exhibiting no signs of feeling badly) and Hubby was wandering around getting ready for an early and long day of work. Now it's 9:30 and they are both fed. Kiddo is happily playing at the dining table with the generic play-doh that Hubby found at Sam's Club and being really super good. Little Bit is on her belly on the rug in the living room using her triangle crayons and a pad of lined paper and coloring quietly. Of course, the goodness and quiet happening right now only meant one thing: I got to check email and update my blog! Hopefully this sickness will only last another day or two. Poor kid. TTFN JMS PS: Just as I finished typing "JMS" - Little Bit just came running into the room and made a bee-line for me. She threw her arms around me and said, "I love oou Momma!" I told her how much I loved her too, commented that her head felt much cooler, and then she said, "Let's dance, Momma!" Now we're listening to "Witch Doctor" - "Ooo eee ooo aahh aahh ting tang walla walla bing bang!"

Under the Weather, Baby

Work yesterday morning was busy and I was feeling like I was "in the groove" if you know what I mean. Then I got a call from Hubby asking if "the school" had called me. I hadn't even noticed the red-light on my phone indicating a message. I'd just gotten back to my desk and hadn't brought my cell phone with me, either. The Director of our children's school called to say that she had Little Bit in her office and she was sporting a 102° fever. Of course I said, "I'll be right there," and, after a quick call to my boss who was at home in bed nursing a migraine, I hauled butt to the school to get her. When I arrived, she had just woken up from a nap on the Director's lap and when she saw me, she said in her sweet little voice, face flushed, "Momma, I sick." "I know, baby. We're going to go to the doctor right now, OK?" say I. "Uh huh," she said as she reached out for me. Fast forward 45 minutes: definitely 102° fever, ears OK, throat a bit red and inflamed, Strep culture negative (yay!), finger pricked (my brave girl only whimpered for a second!) and slight anemia pronounced. Tylenol, rest, fluids. They'll do a 24-hour Strep culture and let us know one way or another. She slept all night and was up at 6AM wanting her sippy cup. (Oh, no bottle now for three nights in a row!!!) So we'll keep an eye on her and keep her comfortable, but she's not deathly ill - just not feeling 100%. Well, she's probably not even feeling 50% but that will increase daily. Aside from the fact that one of my babies isn't feeling well, we also don't get to go to GM's house this weekend to celebrate her birthday. This is a bummer (love that word) because we got her a really great gift and I was very excited to see her face when she opened it. Ah well, maybe next weekend. TTFN JMS

Walk Down Memory Lane OR Proof That I Was, Once, A Blonde!

While cleaning our bedroom last night (...yes...I do clean our bedroom on occasion...) I came across an old combat boot box (from my years working at Mystic Army Navy Store) filled with an old and random assortment of photographs. They ranged from me as a young girl to friends and family frozen in a moment someone thought special enough to capture. I wrote a note on FaceBook to the folks who I had pictures of or for...but I also found several pictures of me at around the same age that Kiddo and Little Bit are now. I thought I would post them for your viewing pleasure. (HA!) I showed them to Hubby last night and he said, "Who is this? They look like [Little Bit]!" Yes...it really is me in these photos!

This is also proof positive, for those who ask where Kiddo and Little Bit got their blonde hair, that it is, in fact, possible for it to have come from me!

TTFN JMS

Incidents & Accidents

I'm going to begin today's entry by griping about something - so take this as a warning and if you don't feel the need to be lectured you might want to stop reading now. Right now. No...really...now. OK - you asked for it. I've written a few times now about my need for and love of snow, right? I am absolutely amazed by the stupidity that follows the falling flakes. What in the gosh darn heck is she talking about? you may be asking... Well I'll tell you. I'm talking about folks who think they can drive in and on the snow like they would if it were 75 degrees and sunny with a straight road ahead of them and no traffic to speak of. I'm talking about the folks who rush to the grocery store en mass to stock up on milk, bread, toilet paper and whatever else they can't live without. (I said that yesterday, I'm saying it again.) I'm talking about folks who think that walking on surfaces that have recently been covered with snow that has melted some and then refrozen (this is usually called ice) is the same thing as walking on a sandy beach in Tahiti. Use your brains people! And there wasn't even that much snow to begin with! Not that I'm saying I'm perfect, because God knows I'm not; I'm one of the most accident prone people I know... But I do pay attention when I know the weather might trip me up, both literally and figuratively. Which brings me to a slightly different, though still accident-related, subject. Hubby broke our French Press last night. (...this is me pouting...) He was putting dishes away and dropped a heavy glass tumbler (a virtually unbreakable thing I got at Kroger for $0.99 about 2 years ago) on to the fragile lip of the poor coffee press. The glass of the French Press burst into several large (and small) shards, and Hubby got a nasty cut on his finger. Of course there was blood and air being sucked through clenched teeth for pain control and hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin and a Band-Aid... Then the clean-up of the glassy mess began. I took this upon myself because Hubby was now an invalid and I didn't want him to bleed everywhere. Then, Careful Idiot (that would be me...or, as Hubby called me later, "Dumba**") managed to cut HER thumb on the broken glass, too! Mine was superficial and didn't require any doctoring, but it did bleed a tiny bit and I'm honestly afraid of glass right now. (Remember the Foot Incident at Tybee Island?) Anyway - everyone's OK. Hubby is still sporting his Band-Aid and I'm doin' fine. The only real tragedy was the loss of our lovely French Press. Oh - and in case anyone is interested...I must really be a dumba** because about 20 minutes after the "accident" I almost asked Hubby if he wanted me to start the water so we could make coffee. (Um...what?) TTFN JMS PS: If anyone is interested, I found a GREAT blog called Incidents and Accidents - I laughed SO hard at the post titled Jump to the Jam, Boogie Woogie Jam Slam. Enjoy!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow - then just try to drive in it!!!

I wished for snow - and guess what? That saying that goes something like, "Be careful what you wish for..."? It's snowing!!! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Of course, I must be completely honest here - there's not quite enough to satisfy my Yankee upbringing.

This is a flurry; a dusting.

Yes, it's enough to make the roads slick and make people race to the store for various things they absolutely cannot live without, but I want SNOW, you know?

MK was nice enough to send me a picture of all the snow she has up in Canada - and it was so wonderful to dream about waking up one frosty morning to inches and inches of the white stuff covering every available surface... Now, that dream is nearly a reality, except the snow that is currently falling will not - cannot - last. That's just how it is in Tennessee.

But I'm most definitely appeased. It's not even 7AM and I'm at work!! See - I guess it must be because I learned how to drive in January in CT. Snow is not a big deal; ice, on the other hand, isn't fun. I was very careful driving in today and kept to well below the speed limit - just in case. I paid attention to what was going on ahead of me, just in case another driver hit a bad patch that I was headed for. I listened to the radio for traffic reports. I made sure my windshield and other windows were scraped off before I even got started. And, though my car has no heat (as I seem to not be able to say enough about) the drive was, thankfully, completely uneventful.

I arrived at my office in one piece.

Yay!

I don't know if this is a testament to my Winter driving skills, or just sheer dumb luck - but I like to think it is my skill that got me here. (Hey, I can think whatever I want to think - it's MY blog! Tee hee!)

TTFN JMS

PS: For those friends who are reading this with whom I also work, pay no attention to the sign in the front yard!!!

Superfantabulous Weekend! (tee hee)

Oh, the weekend. I don't remember what we did on Saturday, so obviously it wasn't important. Although, now that I think of it, I did take the kids somewhere with me first thing that morning... Wow - really drawing a blank here. Doesn't matter...move on. Sunday was Sunday. Church, Sunday school, lunch, afternoon nap (for Hubby and Little Bit). Kiddo and I went to New York and Company so I could find a black blazer and a pair of jeans that fit. (Success on both - YAY!) Kiddo was such a big help and actually picked out the jeans! Then he gave me a running commentary as I was trying things on; I heard snickering from the next dressing room. It was pretty funny. And, when I made a comment about my foot hurting (something like, "Hmmm...I wonder why my other foot hurts today?") he said, "Well, Mom...I'm not a doctor, but maybe you have arthritis!" The snickering next door became an outright laugh, and I joined in. He's 4!!! He shouldn't even know what arthritis is!!! So OK - maybe you had to be there, but it was really hysterical. (Hysterical is one of Kiddo's new favorite words.) The rest of the day consisted of laundry, making an attempt to put away the Christmas stuff that is, admittedly, still up and on full display in our living room and trying not to get in trouble with Hubby for being addicted to FaceBook. Also - didja notice that I'd put up two recipes? Don't think I was kidding when I said I'd post them. I'm wondering if that might be a new feature on the weekends; recipes Jen likes. Maybe next weekend I'll use Hubby's chicken casserole recipe and the sweet & sour meatballs that I love so much. Hmmm... I still think it's strange that I, who really doesn't enjoy cooking all that much, intend to put recipes up on my blog. It may not happen. If it does happen, it might not happen for long because I'm sure I can only lay hands on a few recipes that are worth sharing. I don't have pages and pages of awesome food to share. Although I admit I did get the baked ziti recipe recently from KB. (I'm trying to make absolutely certain that I give credit where credit is due, you see.) Anyway - it's Monday again and I'm back at work. I'm fully organized (HA!) and ready to go! Yay! TTFN JMS

Recipe: KB's Baked Ziti

1 lb dry ziti pasta 1 onion, finely chopped 1 lb lean ground beef (I used turkey b/c I don't eat beef, could also use spinach if you want a vegetarian dish) 2 (26oz) jars Hunts 4 Cheese spaghetti sauce 6oz provolone cheese - sliced (about 12 slices) 1 16oz pkg sour cream 6oz mozzarella cheese, shredded (or more, if you like lots of cheese!) 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or more, if you like lots of cheese!) Preheat oven to 350° Bring large pot of lightly salted water to boil Add zit pasta, cook until al-dente (about 8 minutes) Drain well In large skillet, brown ground beef (or turkey or, just use uncooked spinach leaves) & chopped onion over medium heat Add spaghetti sauce Simmer 15 minutes Butter your biggest casserole dish (it will overflow!!!) Layer as follows:

• 1/2 ziti pasta
• all provolone cheese
• all sour cream
• 1/2 spaghetti sauce mixture (w/ ground beef, turkey or spinach, whichever you use)
• remaining ziti pasta
• all mozzarella cheese
• remaining spaghetti sauce mixture
• top with Parmesan cheese

Bake 30-40 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted inside and out.

Recipe: Danish Butter Balls

2 Cups All Purpose Flour - Sifted 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup butter - softened, not melted 2 tsps vanilla 2 cups unsalted pecans - finely chopped 1 cup powdered sugar (for rolling after baked) Preheat oven to 325° Combine dry ingredients Work in butter and vanilla until smooth Add pecans and mix until well combined Shape in to 1/2 inch balls Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 20 minutes Roll in powdered sugar while still warm Store in tin box between layers of parchment paper Makes a lot.

Good and Productive Day

Guess what I did nearly all day yesterday? Manned a popcorn machine at work, side-by-side with my friend AKP who was spinning cotton candy all day. I had a Relay for Life meeting last night at 5:45, so I rushed home to shower because all I could smell was popcorn and burned sugar. I had wisps of sugar in my hair (though not as much as AKP - she looked like she'd just walked through insulation), blobs of sugar on my sweater and oily popcorn stains on my pant legs. I'm sure I would have been a vision of professionalism had I entered the RFL meeting, towing 2 kids, covered in cotton candy and reeking of popcorn. The shower was absolutely necessary. As it was, the kids were little demons. I was running behind, so rather than going to McD's and eating there, like I'd planned, we went through the drive thru and hurried on our way. While the kids did eat their meals in relative silence, as soon as they were done eating, the nagging, picking, whining, "mine, mine, mine," "I wanna go home," began. I didn't really have a choice but to bring them with me, unless I wanted to leave them both at home alone - which I would never have considered for one moment. (OK - maybe I would have thought about it, but I wouldn't have ever followed through with it. Moments of silence are rare with kids and parents can't help wishing for that which they can't have until their children are old enough to leave the nest.) I enjoyed the meeting. It was a committee meeting, so it looks like I'm going to be on the committee that helps plan this year's RFL. I'm actually very excited about this. Anyway - by the end of the day yesterday, I was completely exhausted and battling a headache of monster proportions...but it had been a good and productive day. I like good and productive days, don't you? TTFN JMS

My newest attempt at finding my Inner Creative Person

Yep - it's an addiction. At least it's a healthy ADD-iction (capital letters intended). I've started another blog. It is completely different from Random Ramblings and I will not be sending any email about when I update it. Some of you may have heard of Project 365? The creator, Becky Higgins, must be rolling in it ($$$) right about now. Apparently the Creative Keepsakes Scrapbook Kit sold out in minutes on January 1 and now interested folks are trying to find alternative ways to do the project. What started as a scrapbooking project seems to have ballooned. I, of course, jumped on board - being interested in both scrapbooking (which I really haven't done anything with since before kids) and photography. I try to bring my camera with me wherever I go, because you never know when the mood will strike to capture something in stillness. (Awww! Ain't that poetic?) So - I started taking pictures of my everyday life; random, non-people things that tell a small story about what I (or we) did that day. I'm purposefully not photographing people; I want the things to tell their own story. I may use a part of a person (a tattoo) or something a person is wearing (a ring or a shoe) but not the whole person. I've called it the JMS 365 PIX PROJECT. Since I started a bit after the New Year, I'll not have exactly 365 pictures - and I've been told not to worry, that I'll miss some days anyway. (Knowing me, it will be either lack of batteries or the fact that I have lost my camera.) This should be a fun way for me to "express" my creativity. Thanks to Toodlebuggs for answering my barrage of emailed questions!!! Wish me luck in my newest attempt at finding my Inner Creative Person. I know she exists somewhere outside of the words she writes every day. TTFN JMS

A Poem Shared

I had a couple of things I was going to write about this morning; like the ice on the windshield of my unheated car that I tried to scrape off with Border's Rewards card after trying, unsuccessfully, to locate my real ice scraper. Or, the fact that I came home to a disaster in the bathroom last night because Hubby (bless his handy heart) had worked for several hours on installing the new light fixture and medicine cabinet in the bathroom. The mess didn't even bother me. Or, that (thanks to KB) I'm becoming a good cook. I made a recipe that KB sent me for baked ziti - and it turned out fabulously! I even made garlic bread - and didn't burn it! But...that was all before LW sent this to me. ****

T’was The Month After Christmas T’was the month after Christmas, and all through the house, Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse. The cookies I'd nibbled, the chocolate I'd taste At the holiday parties had gone to my waist. When I got on the scales there arose such a number! When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber), I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared; The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared, The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please." As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt And prepared once again to do battle with dirt... I said to myself, as I only can, "You can't spend a winter, disguised as a man!" So, away with the last of the sour cream dip. Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip. Every last bit of food that I like must be banished Till all the additional ounces have vanished. I won't have a cookie, not even a lick. I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick. I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie. I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry. I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore... But isn't that what January is for? Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.

Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet.

**** I don't know who originally wrote it, where it came from or anything about it except that I loved it enough - felt close enough to it - to share it with you. And, though I would LOVE to be able to take credit for writing it, I did not. TTFN JMS

Fun Saturday Evening & Forgetting Important Stuff

We went to the house (the beautiful house) of some very good friends J&EB for dinner on Saturday night. (I think it was Saturday... I've slept since then.) EB was making pizza. EB can cook like nobody's business. The pizza was fabulous! She even made brownies - from scratch! She's 7.5 months pregnant and can run circles around me, who is not pregnant...just old and tired. We had a great time. Our kids play together very well. Their son is two days younger than Little Bit and they've known each other their whole lives. They wrecked the place with books and toys and various bits of who-knows-what. They ran themselves silly. They screeched in delight. They fell down some (hardwood floors are tricky in footie jammies or socks) but picked themselves up and kept going. They all got bathed at the same time. It was quite a scene; water everywhere. But - they all got clean and then, after they were clothed in their jammies for the evening (we borrowed some from EB for our kids) they ran some more! Both Kiddo and Little Bit fell asleep in the car on the way home. We didn't leave until after 9PM which is late for us so it must have been really late for the kids. Good times all around. REWIND 5 HOURS: See, I really do have a point in telling you about all that fun we had. The evening started off on a somewhat even keel - us getting ready to go, making sure we had everything. I'd just baked a small batch of Danish Butter Balls to take with us to J&EB's house. The kids had just gotten up from a nap and were excited to go visiting. We piled in the car and began the 25 minute drive. After we'd gone about 3/4 of the way, Hubby looked at me (I was driving) and asked, "Um...did you turn the stove off?" I went blank. Completely blank. I couldn't remember even touching the stove after getting the cookies out of it, much less turning the thing off. Of course, there was no way I was going to enjoy my evening without going all the way back home to check on the frikkin' stove. So I dropped Hubby and the kids off at J&EB's house and promptly turned the car around, drove 25 miles back home (chanting a mantra of sorts all the way so I wouldn't forget the other things I wanted to get - since I had to go back home anyway) only to find that the stove was, indeed, turned off. Dammit. I got my iPod, my camera, and the thing from the other car that lets me play my iPod through the tape player in the Corolla...(all part of my mantra, "Stove, iPod, camera, thing from the car..., stove, iPod, camera, thing from the car...")...and headed back to J&EBs house listening to Phantom of the Opera as loudly as my car speakers would let me. Hey - I didn't have the kids in the car so I only had to worry about my ears! TTFN JMS

I lied. I didn't mean to, but apparently I lied anyway.

I said I probably wasn't going to have time to write today, but circumstances are such right now that I'm having to wait until I can complete my early morning project at work. Not really a huge deal, but my finalizing this little project was contingent upon the assistance of another person, and she's not here yet. Oh well. So I wait. **** At church yesterday, we were thrilled to be part of the baptism of our very good friends' son. Of course, I told them I was standing up with them, as part of the family, and there wasn't nothin' they could do to keep me away. (Thankfully, they didn't mind. Or, at least, they didn't say anything to me that would make me think otherwise.) I also commandeered the beautiful babe after the ceremony, so I managed to get my sweet, sleeping baby fix. (No, I don't want another one...but I can live vicariously through my friends' children, can't I?) **** Well, I guess I'm off to see what other things need to be done, since I'm here bright and early. Maybe I'll make a fresh pot of coffee. Hmmm....coffee! Yes. That's exactly what I'll do. Happy Monday! TTFN JMS

Stupendous Sunday - In Lieu of Monday

I'm probably not going to get a chance to write tomorrow, so I thought I would do it tonight, considering it's 8:30 PM, both kids are asleep, Hubby is flipping between the Steelers game and a James Bond Movie (Sean Connery!!!)...and I have a few minutes to myself. We had a good day. No major issues. That definitely puts it right into the middle of the "Good Day" category. **** I made 2 batches of cookies today. The first were called Danish Butter Balls (no jokes, please and thank you very much) which I remember from childhood. I spoke to SM just prior to Christmas and after a 30 minute discussion, was able to actually find the recipe online. (I love the Internet!!!) They turned out quite good and I'm considering even putting the recipe on here for anyone who wishes to try them. Can you imagine it? An honest-to-goodness RECIPE on MY blog? Talk about Random! Talk about crazy! Maybe I'm losing it. Or...maybe I'm getting in touch with it. Who knows? Then, I made chocolate chip cookies. Kiddo doesn't like the Danish Butter Balls so I wanted to make sure there was something here he did like. What's so funny or great about making chocolate chip cookies you ask? Well, it's funny and great when your Hubby comes to you after taking a bite of said cookies and exclaims, "Hey, wait a minute! How come these are good?" I explained to him it was because I made them - but that was a joke and he knew it. He asked again, "Why are they good? Why are they better than mine?" I told him it was because I actually followed the recipe! Q: Which recipe did you use? A: The one on the back of the chocolate chip bag. Q: Where's that bag? A: I threw it away already. (By this time, yes...I am silently gloating on the inside. It felt soooo good!) I am imagining Hubby saying, "Who are you and what did you do with my wife?" Anyway - now it's time to fold a couple loads of laundry and crash for the night. Productive day. Oh...and I did 2 rounds of dishes in the dishwasher and several loads of laundry today, too! Am I becoming Ms. Susie Homemaker??? Should I be scared? Should Hubby be scared? Ah well, it will all probably to back to normal tomorrow. Which is Monday. Which is the first day of 2 weeks of H. E. Double Toothpicks at work... Yay! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself! (See? This is me...COMPLAINING LESS!) TTFN JMS

RSP (Though I suppose they're not so rare anymore, eh?)

It's Saturday morning. I'm sitting at the computer with a cup of hot coffee and feeling the rain outside the window. I'm happy. I'm calm. I'm content in my little world. This morning, Kiddo got up around 7:30. I know this because he started padding around the house until I told him to go back into his room and play quietly for a while. I think I startled him. Then he had to go potty (of course, he needed my help). Then I caught him sneaking M&M's from the jumbo bag of Christmas colored ones SM brought with her when she came to visit. (Hubby had been into them last night and left them open and accessible. Oops.) "What are you doing?" I asked him in a stern whisper. He froze mid-chew; wide-eyed; surprised at having been caught. I quietly picked them up, sealed the bag, and put it out of reach; amused. **** Harold, our neighborhood cat, came to visit me this morning. He's a very sweet Tom cat who really likes attention. Hubby saw Harold out the kitchen window and said, "Babe? There's your boy." Of course, I had to go outside and get some Fuzz Therapy. Harold came trotting right over and immediately jumped on my lap and lay down. And yes, I did wash my hands as soon as I was done loving on Harold. Being allergic to cats is such a downer, you know? Well, Happy Saturday! TTFN JMS

Isn't it Funny... (Funny Interesting, Not Funny Ha Ha)

I love meeting new people. It's such fun to learn about them - their likes and dislikes, their beliefs and disbeliefs, their trials and tribulations. It's especially good when I can understand, sympathize or empathize, or help in some small way. Lots of you, my beloved readers, got an email from me yesterday regarding FreeCycle, a group I have been part of for many years now and highly recommend. I have, in the last 24 hours, met two new and wonderful women through FreeCycle. (Though, meeting friends is definitely not what FreeCycle is all about, you certainly do get to talk to a variety of folks about a variety of things - especially if you pay attention!) WW1 (this means Wonderful Woman #1) lives in the next town over and we've been emailing back and forth about everything except our original FreeCycle conversation. She's 4 years older than I and seems to have a lot of the same interests and thoughts as I do. We could be friends, but I don't want to scare her off by being overly solicitous ("I'm desperate for a friend" which, thankfully, I'm not) or pushy ("Tell me more, tell me more!") too soon. LOL! Maybe she'll forgive me for posting about her after only "knowing" her for less than a day? WW2 (this means Wonderful Woman #2) lives a few streets away from me. I called her last night to discuss the FreeCycle stuff and we wound up chatting for nearly 30 minutes! She's nearly 20 years older than I, but who cares? A kindred spirit is a kindred spirit, regardless of age, right? She is best friends with a woman who I, and my husband, know well, and like very much. It's a small world, isn't it? WW2 is planning to move to another state as soon as she sells her house. She said she is trying to convince her mother to move with her, but is hitting a brick wall. I said, "Well, leave her with me. I'd be happy to check in on her occasionally and keep you posted." And I meant every word. It's funny how God puts people into your life, isn't it? I mean, I would never have met my wonderful husband if it hadn't been for God - pushing me in the right direction. This is both the literal and figurative truth. I met one of my best friends in the whole world while I was sneaking a cigarette break (nearly 17 years ago now, if you can believe that) in the bathroom of the restaurant that I worked in. She walked in, saw me hiding out in the stall looking sheepish and said, "Um...you're not supposed to be doing that in here, are you?" Then she grinned her wicked smile and we've been friends ever since. Now, although we don't talk every day like we used to, and our lives have gone in two very different directions, she (CRJ, btw - see Cast of Characters at right) is still among my favorite people on the planet. Anyway - that's what I believe. I certainly don't expect anyone else to believe the same way, but I know these people were put into my life for a reason. TTFN JMS

Wishing for Snow

I just commented on someone else's blog, and as I was writing, I realized it might be a good blurb for my own. She was talking about the fact that it has been snowing where she lives, how the snow changes the sound, either amplifying or muffling it, how she actually enjoys shoveling snow, and how they - wherever they are - should be getting more snow. I commented that I had hoped to wake up this morning to find at least an inch of the white stuff and that the Evil Weatherman had gotten my hopes up only to let me down with a resounding "THUD" once again.

No snow.

It's not even really cold out - and I drive a car with no heat for goodness sake!

I can pray for snow. I can pretend that I know an ancient snow dance and perform it for the amusement of my children. I can turn my pajamas inside out hoping that it might do something, anything, to entice the snow to fall. I can try to pretend snow doesn't exist, or stop looking for it all together; because, you know, as soon as you stop looking for something you find it...right? Is waiting for snow like watching water boil?

My kids haven't really seen snow. Well, Kiddo probably has, having visited CT with me once in the wintertime, but Little Bit has never seen real snow. She's seen flakes, but really doesn't understand what snow is. I said to Little Bit last night, "Guess what? It might snow tonight!!" I put all the excitement I could muster into this and, to my great amusement, she squirmed happily in my arms, gasped her baby gasp, widened her beautiful blue eyes, and said breathlessly, "Oh! I go put my coat on, Mommy!"

The only thing that doesn't excite me about snow is the shoveling. But, since we get so very little snow here (in my estimation, that is), I suppose I don't even have to worry about it.

So, here's to all the folks who are shoveling themselves out today...wherever they are. And, here's to all the folks who are shaking their fists at the sky, wishing for snow that didn't come. And, here's to all the folks who are silently (or vocally) relieved that the snow left us alone again.

It's January. There should be snow!!!

TTFN JMS

Movie Review: The Bucket List

Well, probably not a review - exactly - but take this however you will...review or not. I made the mistake of watching The Bucket List Monday night. By mistake, I do not mean that I regret watching this movie; the movie was wonderful. But, by nature, I'm an emotional person and this movie put a lump in my throat that didn't go away for the entire length of the film. I knew it would be a good idea for me to turn it off and not watch it after the first 20 minutes. I knew I would be a sobbing, sloppy, slobbering, sniffling, puffy mess afterward. I watched it anyway. Usually, I could take or leave Jack Nicholson as an actor; he's not my favorite, but he's not my least favorite, either. I think he's been in some absolutely wonderful movies and when he shines, he really shines. (That was, and yet was not, a reference to The Shining; a truly spectacular scary movie.) He was a quintessential Jack Nicholson character in this movie - crass, crabby, self-oriented, selfish - he was perfect. Morgan Freeman, whom I love, was equally compelling in this movie. He was the Yin to Nicholson's Yang (or vice versa - I really have no idea which is which!). He was the sugar to Nicholson's salt. He was sweet and kind and knew exactly what he wanted. The relationship these two "friends" form is unusual but thoroughly entertaining. I'm glad I watched it - even if I did cry my eyes out at the end! I also had two shots of the Amaretto Disaronno (the only alcohol in the house besides beer [ick] and isopropyl) to calm myself down before attempting to sleep. TTFN JMS

That's One Elegant Mommy!

Is there such a thing as an "Elegant Mommy?" If there is, I would really love to be one. Here's what I mean: This morning, I had the rare opportunity of dropping my kids off at school. Hubby had to work early and I had a mid-morning doctor's appointment (routine follow-up, nothing special) so I stayed home to take care of the kids. I dressed in a clean pair of blue jeans, a long-sleeve Race for the Cure T-Shirt, and sneakers. Over that, I had my new, red, wool coat. I'm telling you I was quite the fashion statement. (That's sarcasm folks...sarcasm, ya know?) Anyway - I arrived at the kids' school and noticed that every single other mommy there was dressed similarly: Jeans, an easy-to-wear shirt of some kind, sneakers or slip-on shoes. Only one or two had a jacket on. The nicest-dressed mommy there was wearing jeans, sneakers and a pretty sweater! I want to be the "Elegant Mommy" who shows up to drop her kids off at school wearing what I am now wearing to work! It's a beautiful pair of wide-legged pants with a cuff, a gorgeous blue short-sleeve turtle neck, a black 3/4 length sweater, jewelry and black heels. I want to waltz in looking all put together, drop my kids in their respective classes, get the requisite hugs and kisses from my babies and breeze out again, leaving everyone to wonder about Kiddo's and Little Bit's oh-so-stylish mommy. Not gonna happen. Ever. TTFN JMS

Dora Bed, Gift Cards & Phantom of the Opera

Little Bit actually slept - all night long - in her big-girl bed. YAY! Yesterday, when I put her down for a nap, I didn't put up the gate, I just closed the door. When she woke up from her nap, she stayed put and simply hollered, "Mommy! I awake!" or "Mommy, where ah oou?" It was pretty funny. This morning, she and Kiddo spent some time in her room and she kept saying, "Look at my new bed, [Kiddo]!" Suffice it to say, I think she likes her new totally Dora bed. Thank goodness for small favors. **** On Saturday, Kiddo, Little Bit and I ran around town using up some of the gift cards they got for Christmas. Our friend BG gave them each $15.00 gift cards to Toys-R-Us and their step-grandmother gave them each $25.00 gift cards to Wal-Mart. Also, our favorite Microbiologist, SW, sent us a gift card to Applebee's. So, yesterday morning saw us out of the house around 9AM driving to Toys-R-Us, where the kids wasted no time picking out exactly what they wanted. Then we went to The World of Wally. I picked up a couple prescriptions and again, the kids made short work of their gift cards, finding some very surprisingly educational things they wanted. (Honestly, I really didn't have to help them that much!) Then we went to Applebee's for lunch. It was a good morning. Little Bit fell asleep rather quickly and napped well. Kiddo didn't sleep at all, but was quiet. **** Speaking of gift cards, for Christmas, "the kids" gave me a $15.00 iTunes gift card. (Since I adore my iPod Nano, they knew this would be a wonderful gift for Mom!) I used my card right away, knowing exactly what I wanted to get. I got the Original London Recording of The Phantom of the Opera. Now, for me, this was a risk for a couple of reasons. Reason #1: Because I used to listen to this before my mother died in 1989. I listened to it regularly and knew it backwards and forwards at 13 or 14 years old. I adored the music, the singing, the drama, the story - but I never did see it on stage. My imagination was more than enough for me. Reason #2: Because I haven't listened to it since my mother died in 1989. I was afraid that I would have a complete emotional breakdown. I was trying to get better, get stronger, and move on with my life, not do things that reminded me of my mother. That was not what my multiple therapists would have said; they would have told me that listening to it would help me feel my feelings and move on through the grieving process. Um. Yeah. Sure. The thing is, I really love this music. I love it with my whole heart. It's almost a part of me. (Does that make sense?) Ever since my former boss called me into his office and said, "Hey - I'll bet you've never heard this..." (he was always trying to show off how "cultured" he was) and proceeded to play it for me, I've wondered how I would react to listening to the entire thing. I told my former boss that not only had I heard it, I knew it backwards and forwards; surprising him greatly, I think. I wondered, because when he played it for me, all I could do was smile and think of good things and remember the love I had for the music. I didn't have a breakdown (of course, I only got about a minute or two of music at that time) remembering my mother. So I purchased the entire score of The Original London Recording of The Phantom of the Opera - and I've listened to it now three or four times through, without having a breakdown once! I still love this music. I still feel for the characters. It still is an absolutely incredible piece of work. I still have never seen it on-stage. I mentioned this to Hubby, saying wistfully, "I would give my eye teeth to see this on Broadway." He said, "Be careful what you wish for." What does that mean? BTW: It's best when it's loud (but I need to keep my ears...)! Happy Monday! TTFN JMS

RSP stands for Rare Saturday Post or Little Bit's New Bed

OK, so my RSPs are becoming slightly more frequent than they use to be, but I think that's just because FaceBook came into my life and I cannot get my butt out of the flowery desk chair! **** So after much ado, and many phone calls to local consignment shops, I found a Dora the Explorer toddler bed, in very good condition, for $20.00! I hauled it home and set it up in Little Bit's room; all the while, she and her big brother were watching my every move from their vantage point in her crib. (They like to hang out there and play while I clean her room or put away her laundry and it keeps them out of my hair.) They "Oooh'd" and "Aaah'd" in all the right places and when I was done, I hauled them both out of the crib and slapped the mattress on the "new" bed. Immediately, Kiddo and Little Bit had Winnie The Pooh pillows and were "testing" the bed. Little Bit pronounced it "comf-able" and Kiddo said he should have a Diego one. (Ha!) Then, Little Bit and I high-tailed it to The World of Wally to get her some Dora sheets for her new bed. My idea behind all this was that if I could make her like her bed a whole lot, she'd actually stay in it for the night. New sheets washed and on the bed and Little Bit was ready to climb in. She got her blankie and her bunny and her bottle (we're still working on the weaning thing, and I figure that now she's had such a large change I'm not going to force the issue) and was asleep in moments. I've got the baby gate in front of her door in case she decides to get up and start wandering around in the middle of the night. I've also got her door closed, though she can open it on her own; hence the gate. I have also taken a picture of Little Bit sleeping soundly for the first night in her new bed, but I'll have to post it on Monday because I don't have the cable for my camera at home! So - load off of my mind? You bet. At least if she decides to fall out of bed now, she only has inches to go instead of feet! Happy Weekend! JMS

Little Bit's Crib Crashing and Kiddo's Bathroom Breakdown

The first day of the new year was mostly uneventful - except Little Bit decided she should pick today to learn how to climb up and fall out of her crib. Needless to say, I'm not happy about this. Now that she's figured out that she can do it, I can pretty much guarantee that it will happen again and again until we get her moved into something lower. I've posted on FreeCycle for a used toddler bed (we can use the crib mattress and sheets we already have) and have a co-worker that used to have a toddler bed she was trying to get rid of. I'll just ask her if she's still got it. Other than that lovely bit of fun, we did laundry, drove around town, shopped a bit at Target and a couple other places of interest in the "Poultry Stream" area. (Yay fun!) Then we went home and after a little while, I took Kiddo out to see The Tale of Despereaux. It's a cute, fun tale that really doesn't have much excitement for a 4-year-old. He kept asking me to take him home and I kept putting him off - unwilling to pay for a movie and not sit through it. Especially since I wanted to see how it ended. He also took the time to have a complete breakdown over washing his hands in the restroom at the theater. I was lifting him up and he was screaming, "Ouch! Ouch! The water's too hot (it was cold)! I can't reach the soap (that's why I got it for him)! Ouch! Ouch! You're hurting me! (Don't really understand that one, because there really wasn't any way I could have been hurting him.) Then, to make matters worse, when we finished "washing" his hands, he immediately launched himself into a high-pitched screaming fit, clutching my leg and wailing like someone was trying to kill him. I just stood there looking bewildered and getting sympathetic looks from the other mothers in the restroom. Kiddo is very lucky I didn't drag him bodily out of the theater and forget the movie all together. This might not have been a bad idea, seeing as how he was constantly asking me to go home anyway. What a friggin' nightmare. I told him it would be a very long time before I took him to see a movie again. ...but we still stopped for Wendy's after the movie because they had Despereaux kids meals. ...and he told Hubby that the movie was (and I quote) "awesome!" So I wonder... TTFN JMS PS: Happy 31st Birthday to my younger (he hates it when I call him "little" because he's 6'2") brother, Jeff. Yep - I'm using your real name, so get over it. Love you "Kiddo" - you'll always be "Kiddo" to me...where do you think I got the idea of calling my Kiddo, "Kiddo"?

The Very First Post of 2009 Is All About Attainable Goals.

It's going to take some serious retraining of the fingers to be able to type 2-0-0-9 rather than 2-0-0-8. I'm still writing 2007 on things for goodness sake! Ah well, by the time this new year is over, I'll have gotten 2007 out of my system and will have begun banishing 2008, as well. I hope 2009 turns out to be a good year. To that end, I have set up for myself 3 attainable goals. Call them "Resolutions" if you must, but I'm not sure I want to use that word this year. If I refer to them as "Attainable Goals" I will remember that they are, in fact, attainable, and not pipe dreams. Attainable Goal #1: Lose 30-40 lbs. No, really - I neeeeed to do this. I can do this. If being able to lose 14 lbs since the beginning of October is saying anything, I know that I can do this. Granted, I will need to give myself some slack if I, say, gorge myself on chocolate cake or cookies every now and then, but... Also, I am going to call this a "Lifestyle Change" rather than a "Diet." D-I-E-T is a four-letter word, after all. I got the idea of calling it a "Lifestyle Change" from Nora Roberts' character Quinn in Blood Brothers. I think Quinn definitely has the right idea! Way to go, Nora! Attainable Goal #2: Keep my desk at work clean. I can do this, too. My desk is a complete disaster - which really isn't saying much because my house is a complete disaster, too. I'm hoping that if I can school myself enough to pick up the desk every night before I leave, it might carry over into my home life, too. This shouldn't be too hard...I hope. Attainable Goal #3: Use my Franklin Covey Planner. I got one earlier in 2008 (there...you can't tell, but I just had trouble writing 2008!) and have used it sporadically. When I do use it, and use it properly, I find myself to be more productive and organized. When I don't use it, well...everything falls apart. This should also help in reaching Attainable Goal #2. I'd like to set Attainable Goals for my kids, too. I'm honestly not sure how that would work out, though. I think it's more reasonable to expect some cooperation from Kiddo than from Little Bit. He, at least, is old enough to understand what we're asking him to do. I had tried, sometime after Little Bit was born, to give Kiddo some daily/weekly chores to do. (If you follow this blog regularly, then you'll probably remember - but if not CLICK HERE.) Now, I think that if I give him only 1 or 2 chores (maybe 3), he'll probably respond much better than he did when we tried this the last time. Kiddo's Attainable Goal #1: Feed the dog every night. Kiddo's Attainable Goal #2: Put your toys away every night. Other AGs I'm thinking about for Kiddo include: putting his laundry in the hamper, eating all his dinner, not fighting with his sister, learning how to tie his shoes...I could go on and on. So here's to 2009 Attainable Goals. I feel like I've already over-used those words but I don't care. Attainable Goals, Attainable Goals, Attainable Goals. Welcome 2009 and Happy New Year to my loyal fans. All 3 of you! :) TTFN JMS