Just this week we got news that another person in our neighborhood (or more accurately connected to our elementary school) was diagnosed with cancer. That's 3 that I know of in the past year. 3. One woman is in her late 40's but the others are in their 30's. I continue to try to put myself in their shoes. What must it be like to look at your young children and wonder if you will see them graduate.
Today I went in for a sonogram and mammogram. I'd never had a mammogram before. I'd only heard that they are painful or uncomfortable. If you are putting one off, don't. They really are cake. If you've had babies, this is NOTHING compared to that. With my high risk twin pregnancy, every doctor, nurse, janitor and candy striper within hospital limits saw my who-who during those 8 months and by the end I was ready to show anyone who asked.
A mammogram is seriously nothing. It's definitely not painful and I wouldn't even call it uncomfortable. It just is. It's a relief to know that all is well after my doctor expressed a concern. Clean bill of health in my hands and ready to watch my kids enjoy Christmas. If you have a health concern, don't put it off. It just isn't worth it.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Picture of Creepy
As long as I'm posting perfection, how about down right weird. Here is the Edward Cullen Cat.
There are no words.
There are no words.
The Picture of Perfection
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Food For Thought...
http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/mark_driscoll/
The article was not earth shattering for me as we take on a similar perspective in our home. What WAS shocking was the 58 comments that can be found below. It shocks me to see the anger and protest that is contained. Would love to hear what you think.
The article was not earth shattering for me as we take on a similar perspective in our home. What WAS shocking was the 58 comments that can be found below. It shocks me to see the anger and protest that is contained. Would love to hear what you think.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
It Seriously Took 5 Minutes!
Not sure what got into me but I cleaned out the kitchen "junk drawer" today.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
Why do I put this off? How hard was that? I read one day that we put things off because we think it will take so much longer than it will (and sometimes it does!!!) but in this case, Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy as PlayHouse Disney likes to say! Here's a challenge: Clean out that junk drawer today and tell me how it went! If you have a blog, post pics! I want to see. What are the actual contents necessary for a kitchen junk drawer anyway?
Friday, December 3, 2010
Look What I Found...
Guess who found the ring?
Yep, Girl Wondertwin. Hmm. She just happened to find it in a random drawer (full of pictures) in the guest bedroom in the lower level. Guess how long it took her to find it? About 5 minutes. She just "happened upon it". Hmm hmmm.
Waterboarding...? Do you think it will get the truth out of her? Any advice you have will be honestly considered.
Oh yea, and look what else I found!!!
Ever Wonder...
what the inside of your vaccuum bag looks like? Well, I found out.
Gross! I had to voluntarily go into the darkside to find a lost ring. An engagement ring. J's grandmother's engagement ring. For the life of me I can't find this thing (yes, it's insured but I may never be forgiven by the in-laws...ugh!). It really has to be here somewhere...maybe in the same crevice or cranny as my lost Bluetooth. Pray I find the ring. And yes, I cut open the vac bag OUTSIDE as it was a nasty, dusty job Gross!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
My Hat...
because I haven't beaten this topic to exhaustion yet. Hubby still hates the hat. Well, hate is a very strong word. For a passive-aggressive like J, hate is not really in the vocabulary unless he's pushed to the brink. Rare, really. So, he's not a fan. We'll put it that way.
When he came home and saw my hat, he said, "So, it's back". I told him it's snowing and as long as it's snowing I get to wear the hat if I so desire. I then told him that I'd gotten 4 compliments on the hat that day.
His response? "Well, from women, right?" Meaning no man would dare compliment a hat like that.
Ha! Of course women. I don't regularly take in compliments from men and I think hubby prefers it that way.
So, we go to dinner. The hostess AND the waitress both told me how much they liked my hat. J makes it a point to say that you'd expect that from a woman. Then, on our way out a perfect female stranger threw out the nicest compliment regarding my choice of sombrero. Take that, J. Somebody (make that 7 somebodies...plus Blogworld) likes my hat! Ha!
And...I can't promise a shower every morning for the rest of the winter so this hat is my new best friend.
When he came home and saw my hat, he said, "So, it's back". I told him it's snowing and as long as it's snowing I get to wear the hat if I so desire. I then told him that I'd gotten 4 compliments on the hat that day.
His response? "Well, from women, right?" Meaning no man would dare compliment a hat like that.
Ha! Of course women. I don't regularly take in compliments from men and I think hubby prefers it that way.
So, we go to dinner. The hostess AND the waitress both told me how much they liked my hat. J makes it a point to say that you'd expect that from a woman. Then, on our way out a perfect female stranger threw out the nicest compliment regarding my choice of sombrero. Take that, J. Somebody (make that 7 somebodies...plus Blogworld) likes my hat! Ha!
And...I can't promise a shower every morning for the rest of the winter so this hat is my new best friend.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Go or No Go???
If you feel so inclined, leave a comment and tell me: Go or no Go on the hat. I won't be offended (for long). I've almost gotten over the feedback from the shoes.
There's always hope...
I was in the customer service line at the grocery (I practically live there...when you use as many coupons and I do, it's inevitable...but you should see how much I save!!!) and ahead of me was an 85+ year old woman. Guess what she was buying?
Yep, lottery tickets! Cracked me up. I wanted to say, "Wow, what will you buy if you win?"
Imagine winning the lottery at 85 or 90! Lucky kids...although her kids would be in their 60's!!!
Yep, lottery tickets! Cracked me up. I wanted to say, "Wow, what will you buy if you win?"
Imagine winning the lottery at 85 or 90! Lucky kids...although her kids would be in their 60's!!!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Insanity Continued...
I posted yesterday (yes, 2 posts in a row!) about my over-zealous daughter who ate her lunch before lunch time and then told the cafeteria volunteers that her mom didn't pack her enough to eat. Here is an excerpt from my dear friend who was in the cafeteria when this all went down:
"Those women in the cafeteria were saying that they were worried about Girl Wondertwin because she was a child without means. I had to set them straight! I didn't want them to think that of her! They just made it up as they were staring at her and saying she probably doesn't get much food at home. I told them to look at her brother's lunch--Boy Wondertwin was sitting at the same table as her but not with her. His lunch was LOADED! I almost snatched it. It was really an eye opener about how opinions are formed with very little information."
Oh goodness. What am I going to do with my sweet daughter? I talked to the office ladies today as I was in the school to volunteer. They are all well aware of my attention seeking, overly dramatic, sanguine daughter. Somehow they thought all of this was cute. Hmm. They don't live with her. Who knows what the cafeteria volunteers are thinking now. Hope I don't meet them.
And no one called CPS. Big sigh of relief.
"Those women in the cafeteria were saying that they were worried about Girl Wondertwin because she was a child without means. I had to set them straight! I didn't want them to think that of her! They just made it up as they were staring at her and saying she probably doesn't get much food at home. I told them to look at her brother's lunch--Boy Wondertwin was sitting at the same table as her but not with her. His lunch was LOADED! I almost snatched it. It was really an eye opener about how opinions are formed with very little information."
Oh goodness. What am I going to do with my sweet daughter? I talked to the office ladies today as I was in the school to volunteer. They are all well aware of my attention seeking, overly dramatic, sanguine daughter. Somehow they thought all of this was cute. Hmm. They don't live with her. Who knows what the cafeteria volunteers are thinking now. Hope I don't meet them.
And no one called CPS. Big sigh of relief.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Ring Ring!
It's Childrens Protective Services on the line.
Just kidding. Hopefully.
Sorry I haven't posted in over a month. I've been pretty busy over at www.4our2cents.com
It's a fun endeavor but it takes a lot of time and energy.
Back to CPS. Let's hope I don't hear the phone ringing. Here's what happened.
Girl Wondertwin (GWT) was "in a mood" this morning when she woke up. She refused to eat her breakfast, taking just one bite of her toast. At school during snack time she ate most of the contents of her lunch, leaving her with just a fruit snack and a half of a sandwich.
"Starving" (remember, she's the dramatic one), she gets the attention of a cafeteria volunteer who looks at her lunch box and judges that I have not packed her enough lunch. After calling over every mom who happened to be in the school at that moment, they all decided that GWT should be sent to the office to call her mom. I was on the treadmill and did not answer.
GWT then begged the secretary to give her more lunch. A lunch was purchased (putting an account I didn't know I had!!! into deficit) and she ate to her heart's content.
Receiving the message on the treadmill I had my husband call the school. He talked to the principal who thankfully knew of GWT's dramatic ways and did not judge us based on this particular situation. At the end of my workout I rushed over to the school to smooth the waters. All was well among the secretary pool but when I arrived at home I got an email from a well-meaning friend who told me that many of the cafeteria moms were sure that I didn't pack enough in my daughter's lunch. Hmm.
Reminding once again...know the whole story before you decide to judge another's life. Thankfully my well-meaning friend knew me well and seemed to stick up for me in this "sticky" situation.
GWT will be paying for half the cost of today's lunch. I struggled with whether or not to punish her but knowing my sweet but overly dramatic daughter, this would surely become a habit. She's now tasted the likes of school lunches and in her words, "Me likey".
The day they start serving lunches with vegetables and fruits I can identify is the day she can buy lunch at school.
Thoughts? This parenting stuff is tricky.
Just kidding. Hopefully.
Sorry I haven't posted in over a month. I've been pretty busy over at www.4our2cents.com
It's a fun endeavor but it takes a lot of time and energy.
Back to CPS. Let's hope I don't hear the phone ringing. Here's what happened.
Girl Wondertwin (GWT) was "in a mood" this morning when she woke up. She refused to eat her breakfast, taking just one bite of her toast. At school during snack time she ate most of the contents of her lunch, leaving her with just a fruit snack and a half of a sandwich.
"Starving" (remember, she's the dramatic one), she gets the attention of a cafeteria volunteer who looks at her lunch box and judges that I have not packed her enough lunch. After calling over every mom who happened to be in the school at that moment, they all decided that GWT should be sent to the office to call her mom. I was on the treadmill and did not answer.
GWT then begged the secretary to give her more lunch. A lunch was purchased (putting an account I didn't know I had!!! into deficit) and she ate to her heart's content.
Receiving the message on the treadmill I had my husband call the school. He talked to the principal who thankfully knew of GWT's dramatic ways and did not judge us based on this particular situation. At the end of my workout I rushed over to the school to smooth the waters. All was well among the secretary pool but when I arrived at home I got an email from a well-meaning friend who told me that many of the cafeteria moms were sure that I didn't pack enough in my daughter's lunch. Hmm.
Reminding once again...know the whole story before you decide to judge another's life. Thankfully my well-meaning friend knew me well and seemed to stick up for me in this "sticky" situation.
GWT will be paying for half the cost of today's lunch. I struggled with whether or not to punish her but knowing my sweet but overly dramatic daughter, this would surely become a habit. She's now tasted the likes of school lunches and in her words, "Me likey".
The day they start serving lunches with vegetables and fruits I can identify is the day she can buy lunch at school.
Thoughts? This parenting stuff is tricky.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Edge of Your Seats
| You are wondering aren't you? What did the boys do during Girl Weekend? Well, this for starters. Yep. It appears that Boy Wondertwin had a fight with a table. Looks like the table corner won. The boys were at a Cub Scout campout when the fateful event occurred. From what I could ascertain, Little Dude was chasing him, he tripped over a chair and hit the corner square on. There was a doctor on the premises and apparently the cut didn't require stitches although it looks pretty bad to me. The eye area is quite swollen and will get worse before it gets better. If I get any more colorful pictures I'll definitely post. J keeps quoting Rocky. "Cut me Mick, Cut me". Leave it to the dad to pull out the Rocky quotes when things get serious. | |||
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Girl Weekend
The day we found out we were having boy/girl twins we began to dream of weekends spent with our little ones. We had plans to do daddy/daughter weekends and mom/son dates. We first tried it when they were 4. We decided that choosing to be miserable is a really silly thing. Guess they were still too young to appreciate our plans.
Well, by default we tried it again. Cub Scout camping weekend sneaked up on us and so we decided to take advantage. J went with Little Dude and Boy Wondertwin while I had the whole weekend to spend with the princess. What would we do, where would we go? Perfect timing. Secretariat came out so we decided to splurge and see a real movie in a real movie theater. Did you know movies are $7.50 during the day now? WHAT???
Anyway, amazing movie. The 6 year olds (3 of them) had a tough time sitting through the whole thing as there was a lot of talking but the 3 moms LOVED it and honestly, if I wasn't such a cheapskate (and it wasn't 85 degrees outside today) I'd go see it again. What an inspiring movie. Phenomenal.
After the movie we ate at a Dave and Busters kind of place and then played games. Girl Wondertwin was in heaven. We rented 2 movies and got ice cream at our fave place.
She was in bed (MY bed) by 11pm and didn't wake me up til 7:30am. We had such a great time and honestly, I think she really did appreciate it. We're growing up.
Well, by default we tried it again. Cub Scout camping weekend sneaked up on us and so we decided to take advantage. J went with Little Dude and Boy Wondertwin while I had the whole weekend to spend with the princess. What would we do, where would we go? Perfect timing. Secretariat came out so we decided to splurge and see a real movie in a real movie theater. Did you know movies are $7.50 during the day now? WHAT???
Anyway, amazing movie. The 6 year olds (3 of them) had a tough time sitting through the whole thing as there was a lot of talking but the 3 moms LOVED it and honestly, if I wasn't such a cheapskate (and it wasn't 85 degrees outside today) I'd go see it again. What an inspiring movie. Phenomenal.
After the movie we ate at a Dave and Busters kind of place and then played games. Girl Wondertwin was in heaven. We rented 2 movies and got ice cream at our fave place.
She was in bed (MY bed) by 11pm and didn't wake me up til 7:30am. We had such a great time and honestly, I think she really did appreciate it. We're growing up.
Friday, October 8, 2010
High School Reinvented?
I live in a bubble. I'm not kidding. It feels like a cross between the little town in Back to the Future and something out of the Real Housewives series. Pick your city. They're all the same.
My neighborhood is about 1000 houses give or take a few hundred. It has an elementary school and a quite lively subculture within the neighborhood. The parents in the school are tight and basically it's one of those places where someone sneezes and everyone else knows about it within seconds. Something about it reminds me of the 1950's or how I imagine the 50's would have been.
Anyway, to call this place social is the understatement of the century. There is always something going on. A party, camp-out, a day spent apple-picking, a pool party. Whatever. It's happening. Every weekend there is something and whether you're invited to the Big Event or not, you hear about it. On Facebook. It's one thing (as an adult) to deal with life, friends, cliques etc. Imagine how it must be to be a teenager in the age of Facebook. I remember when the most evil thing you could do to a friend was use 3 way calling to get her to talk about your better friend who was listening in on the 3 way call. Ooh, that was evil.
Imagine now. Parties, pictures, boyfriends. All of it is splashed all over Facebook. All you have to do is stumble across a status update to see the latest party you weren't invited to or which of your friends are spending the weekend with other friends...without you. But we're adults now, right? We've learned that life isn't fair and when life give you lemons...you know the rest.
But sometimes you still feel just like you did in high school. Can anyone relate?
I think I hate Facebook.
My neighborhood is about 1000 houses give or take a few hundred. It has an elementary school and a quite lively subculture within the neighborhood. The parents in the school are tight and basically it's one of those places where someone sneezes and everyone else knows about it within seconds. Something about it reminds me of the 1950's or how I imagine the 50's would have been.
Anyway, to call this place social is the understatement of the century. There is always something going on. A party, camp-out, a day spent apple-picking, a pool party. Whatever. It's happening. Every weekend there is something and whether you're invited to the Big Event or not, you hear about it. On Facebook. It's one thing (as an adult) to deal with life, friends, cliques etc. Imagine how it must be to be a teenager in the age of Facebook. I remember when the most evil thing you could do to a friend was use 3 way calling to get her to talk about your better friend who was listening in on the 3 way call. Ooh, that was evil.
Imagine now. Parties, pictures, boyfriends. All of it is splashed all over Facebook. All you have to do is stumble across a status update to see the latest party you weren't invited to or which of your friends are spending the weekend with other friends...without you. But we're adults now, right? We've learned that life isn't fair and when life give you lemons...you know the rest.
But sometimes you still feel just like you did in high school. Can anyone relate?
I think I hate Facebook.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Minimalism Redefined.
So I've always claimed to be a minimalist. I like things as simple as possible. I'm not cheap exactly as I like quality. Sometimes minimalism is a few things, sometimes expensive things but just a few. That feeds my frugal side. Well the term "met my match" comes to mind but it doesn't fit. I'm not only NOT in the same league as this individual but not even on the same planet. I liked to call myself a minimalist.
Compared to her I'm the Queen of England. I seriously don't understand how a person gets by on so little.
Your thoughts?
Compared to her I'm the Queen of England. I seriously don't understand how a person gets by on so little.
Your thoughts?
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Alone
The thing I've looked forward to for the past 6.5 years is finally being realized. I'm getting a small taste of what it is to be alone. I thought it was just an imaginary thing or maybe something that just the lucky few got to experience. Well, folks, it's happening to me. 12 hours per week I'm free to come and go as I please. I can clean or not. I can shop or not. I can work (uninterrupted) for long hours or grab a cup of coffee. I'm the master of my own destiny. Okay, so that's taking it a little far but really, I'm alone. And I'm enjoying.
Immensely.
Amazing that one could forget the feeling of alone. Not loneliness, mind you. Just alone.
Fear has struck though in the midst of being alone. In 11 months I will be alone for 7 straight hours a day. No one to take to Library Story Time. No one to interrupt my shopping trip with an emergency stop in the bathroom. No nasty poop in the shoes to clean up. All the sweet times that I've enjoyed with my trio over the years are coming to an end. Now I'm...emotional.
I couldn't wait for the twins to go to first grade and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Little Dude and I are living it up. I've already earned a free Menchies Yogurt...that means we've been there 9 times since school started. 9 times.
Yesterday I watched a 40 some year old woman walk out of Menchies with a huge yogurt in hand...alone. That's going to be me. Feeding my Menchies addiction all by myself. I'm going to miss my little buddy. You're wondering why I'm freaking about this in September...a full 11 months before Little Dude goes to Kindergarten. Well I just found out that our district will be installing Full Day Kindergarten in the Fall of 2011 and I was counting on half day. Not sure how I feel about it all yet. I know Full Day will be good for Little Dude. I think he needs it but amazingly I'm going to miss the little guy. A lot.
Immensely.
Amazing that one could forget the feeling of alone. Not loneliness, mind you. Just alone.
Fear has struck though in the midst of being alone. In 11 months I will be alone for 7 straight hours a day. No one to take to Library Story Time. No one to interrupt my shopping trip with an emergency stop in the bathroom. No nasty poop in the shoes to clean up. All the sweet times that I've enjoyed with my trio over the years are coming to an end. Now I'm...emotional.
I couldn't wait for the twins to go to first grade and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Little Dude and I are living it up. I've already earned a free Menchies Yogurt...that means we've been there 9 times since school started. 9 times.
Yesterday I watched a 40 some year old woman walk out of Menchies with a huge yogurt in hand...alone. That's going to be me. Feeding my Menchies addiction all by myself. I'm going to miss my little buddy. You're wondering why I'm freaking about this in September...a full 11 months before Little Dude goes to Kindergarten. Well I just found out that our district will be installing Full Day Kindergarten in the Fall of 2011 and I was counting on half day. Not sure how I feel about it all yet. I know Full Day will be good for Little Dude. I think he needs it but amazingly I'm going to miss the little guy. A lot.
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