home sweet home?

Ahh, home sweet home...  or is it??

We flew in yesterday from South Carolina, concerned that somewhere along the way we'd get delayed because of the crazy stormy weather we're expecting.  Thank Cod I didn't try to get an extra day out of the weekend, because if we had flown today, we'd pretty much not be making it home any time soon.  Travel is a mess right about now - flights, trains, public transportation - seems like everything is affected.

There are all sorts of "states of emergency" popping up all over the place on the East Coast.  So far, we haven't seen much more than a nice grey sky and a few random raindrops, but apparently it's going to get pretty bad.  I am not super concerned where I am though, but I am worried about some people that I know who are right in a bad path.

They dismissed the kids early from school today, due to the impending storm.  Hm.  I get that if they didn't close school and something bad happened, they'd be in trouble.  But really?  Closing because you think it might get stormy?  Without even much of a raindrop yet?  I kind of think that's a little premature.  Maybe it's just me.  Maybe because I am so close to the school that if something were to go down, I could get all three kids and have them safe in my car in about five minutes.

I would pretty much bet a lot of money on the fact that they will close school tomorrow, tonight.  I mean, like in advance, before they even know for sure what tomorrow will bring.  Wanna bet?

So anyway, I had a great, busy, fast weekend away.  I'll have to tell you all about it as soon as I have time to put together a coherent post.  

back but holy travel, I'm out again tomorrow

So I went to CA to meet up with my sister and friend for a few days.  It was really fun, we did some stuff that I didn't do last time I was in California, had some good eats, checked out some cool sights, did a little shopping.  Those guys walked my face off - I even had a blister!  Sheesh.  Thankfully I am highly prepared at all times and I had a band-aid.  As well as pretty much anything else I could possibly need, just in case.  My packing for basically three days away was ridiculous.  It always is.

I have a packing problem.  I'm a packaholic.

All in all, good get-away.  This one wasn't super planned though, I just kind of tagged along with my sister and jumped in on her get-away.  Not sure where I'll go next - I'm thinking Seattle, maybe UT.  I am pretty much planning on going to Denver in January for a wedding, maybe I will extend that stay... who knows?

Speaking of weddings, that's where we're going tomorrow.  We're going to South Carolina for a wedding, flying out tomorrow morning.  It'll be nice to see some of Alex's family, which doesn't happen very often, but it is going to be a pretty quick visit.  We're flying home on Sunday.

Man, I feel like I've barely seen my kids at all this week!!  Boo to that.  Kara and her boyfriend are coming home to babysit, so that'll be nice.  I like when they're here.

So anyway, I may not be checking in til next week or so.  Maybe I'll have some time to do a post tomorrow, not sure, but if not, happy weekend!

tied to me

And all of these days they pass like water
Should I even tighten the grip of my hand
I get the sense that we're all chasing after
The same simple thing that I don't understand

To carry you on

And you wear a color that I don't remember
Your hair so much shorter than it used to be
Years cannot change all the secrets we gathered
Years cannot change what you still mean to me

To carry you on
Tied to me

I'd like to linger with you till the morning
And pretend the winter has given to spring
Conjure up guilty reminders together
And fade into this like we both used to be
-william fitzsimmons

friday five

It's Friday, late afternoon and it is pouring.  It's been pouring all day.  This morning I rolled out of bed so freaking early,  I felt like an animal.  How do people get up at 7:00 am?

I am not a fan of sleeping in actually, I can't really do it.  I can never sleep past nine.  I hate wasting the day, even if it's dark and dreary out and warm and cozy in, and under the covers.

So anyway, I had to get up at the asscrack of dawn to go pick my girls up from my Mom's house so I could get them to school on time.  They spent the night because we were out at a freaking awesome concert last night til late.  We went to see Morrissey.  I love him.  I don't care that he's not into girls.  I just love his smooth, velvety voice.  

So we went to this concert and I was so happy because I was not surrounded by a bunch of young kids feeling all out of place.  However, I was surrounded by hipsters - tons and tons of them, all wearing their glasses and hats and beards.  Several pompadours were observed, especially in the front row.  Which I had a good view of.  Because I had great seats, that's why.  I did feel a little out of place surrounded by the hipsters, I have to admit.  It's hard to fit in and feel somewhat cool around them.  

The concert was good.  Rather loud though, I know I sound like my grandmother saying that.  I probably looked like my Nan too kind of holding my ears closed a snitch.  It really was LOUD!  I bet if I was younger I wouldn't have even noticed.  The drummer was awesome and there was a gong.  No, not a bong (darn it!) a gong.  We were five rows back and right smack in the center, so I could literally see the sweat on Morrissey's brow.   It was awesome.  He has a really sexy underbite.

Anyway, moving on... tomorrow will be another asscrack of dawn kinda morning for me, because I am flying out to San Francisco to meet my sister and friend.  We're going to hang for a few days like girls.  It'll be so nice, I can't wait.   Hopefully the weather is good.  That reminds me, I better go pack!  

So if you don't hear from me for a few days, don't you worry.  I'm all good (unless I die a fiery death in a tragic plane crash.  in that case, farewell.) and I will catch up when I get back sometime next week.

Happy weekend!

here we go

Uh oh.  Someone started phase one of years of braces...

upper and lower expanders

Good news, she doesn't look too distraught.

Text conversations I have with my husband v3

Me:  Hey.

Husband: A dollar makes me holler, Honey Booboo.

Me: Weirdo.

Me:  What will five dollars make you do?

Husband:  Never been asked that before.  Hmmm.

Husband:  Run around the house naked with a wiener lasso?

Me: Darn it!  I only have two bucks on me.

Husband:  Your loss!


And I ask again, is everyone else's husband a 12 year-old boy disguised as a grown up?

different and the same

Gotta do my Monday Listicle.  Because you know, it is Monday.  And I love lists.  And lamp.  I love lamp.  Anyway, the topic is ten ways that you are the same or different than your younger self.  So here goes...


1.  I don't waste my time on irritating people.  I just feel like life is too short to even waste minutes on people that you don't like if you don't absolutely have to.

2.  I don't hairspray the shit out of my hair.  Or get body waves for that matter.  I like easy.  Easy and low maintenance means a lot to me.  I don't have the patience to do much more than dry my hair these days.  Maybe I should do more, I don't know.

3.  I don't read "real" books nearly as much as I used to.  Kind of miss holding a book and turning actual paper pages.  This electronic age has kind of changed the amount of books on my bookshelf.  Which is kind of sad, don't you think?  

4.  I don't work.  Well, outside of being a mom.  Trust me, I know that being a mom is a ton of work, but I used to be a mom and work outside of the home and phew.  I think now that I'm old I have less energy, and juggling both of those things would be much harder.

5.  I don't really enjoy swimming.  I'll wade.  Or walk.  Or even float, but I don't love to swim anymore.  

6.  I love most veggies now.  When I was younger, I avoided veggies big time, except corn.  These days I avoid brussel sprouts.  And maybe extra soft cooked broccoli, but other than that, I'll try whatever.

7.  I'm a little more interested in politics and the issues of the times.  I think back in the day I registered Republican because it helped me get a job at the state.  I actually had no idea what the difference between Democrats and Republicans were, and honestly, I didn't really care.  Now I know, and now I care.  And now I'm registered differently.

8.  I still love music.  I can't really remember a time when music didn't matter to me.  From records, to 8 track tapes, to cassettes to Cd's to iPods... lots of change, right?  The thing that hasn't changed is the love part.

9.  I still suck at sports.  Yeah, I've never been coordinated enough to be good at anything.  I've never liked playing team sports.  I guess I felt like there was too much pressure and I was always worried that I'd look stupid or let my team down.  I'm very happy to watch, especially sports that my husband or kids are playing. I guess if forced, I'd choose individual type sports, like biking or walking or running or something along those lines.  I'm not too bad at tennis though I guess.

10. I still love being a mom and taking care of my family.  From the moment I held my first kiddo, 23ish years ago, I knew that being a mom was one of the things I would be kind of good at, one of the things that I was put here to do.  I still kind of feel that way.  I still love taking care of my family.  I kind of feel like it's my purpose. 

I saw a gargoyle today.

So today I was all up and at 'em kind of early, I felt like getting some errands done before noon so I figured I'd just head off after dropping Brooke at school.  I was kind of in a shitty, downish mood and I need a dress for a wedding that we're going to in two weeks.  Two weeks!  The countdown is officially on, my husband's brother Jonathan will be getting married in South Carolina (oh! hey Pam!).  Aw.

Jonathan is the youngest of my husband's brothers.  No wait, make that the second youngest.  Because Alex's dad got remarried and re-had a few more kids with his second wife.  Since they live so far away, we don't see them much.  Like honestly, we've really only seen his little brother and sister a handful of times, which is kind of sad.  Also, Alex's youngest  siblings are like, younger than Megan, so you know, that is kind of different.

So where was I... right.  I needed to do errands.  On my errands list was running into Eddie Bauer, because so far on my quest for the jeans that make me look the least disgusting, they are number one.  I hate shopping for myself.  I hate dressing rooms and trying on things.  I hate that things don't ever look nice on me.  Which leads me to the dress that I need.  I hate dresses too.  I have like, no idea what to wear to this wedding.  It's down south, and apparently kind of casual.  But not like, pants casual I'm sure.  Which mean skirt or dress.  Ugh.  What does one wear to a southern fall fairly causal wedding anyway??

So I went into Target to kill some time, because I got to the stores too early.  They don't open til like 9:30 or 10.  And really, who passes up an opportunity to go into Target for a few minutes?  I did need to pick up some Tide.   Apparently I can go into that place needing a tub of laundry detergent and a case of seltzer, and come out with $164 worth of stuff that wasn't even remotely on my list.   I'm trying to think of what the eff I bought that would add up to $164.  Hm.  It didn't seem like my shopping basket was overflowing or anything.  

So anyway, while I was ambling through the aisles of Target, my husband texted me to see if I wanted to meet him at this salvage place kind of nearby.  And you know, the text made me feel like I was so over shopping, so I said I was in.  Forget the freaking dress, and forget the quest for the stupid best jeans ever.  I was sick of being there.  

We are in the process of buying this little cottagey house on a lake up northish, and we have some cool ideas for making some changes.   We kind of want an old-timey vintagey look, and we're looking to get some salvaged stuff.  I absolutely love those kinds of places.  I could seriously spend hours poking around looking at things.  The first place we went to had more current-type salvaged things.  Some a little bit older, but mostly nothing we're interested in.  Well, except for this massive, cool cast enamel kitchen sink top.   I want that thing.

The second place we went to was way more my style.  The first think I noticed when we were walking up to the door, which was surrounded by old yard things like benches and tables and chairs and fountainy things, was a gargoyle.  Alex asked me if I wanted it and I was all, no way!  I can't have a gargoyle in my yard!  Those things are scary.  They make me think of the hunchback of Notre Dame, and not the cartoon version.

So we went in and I thought I might be in heaven.  This place was gigantic and filled and overflowing with stuff.  My kind of stuff.  Reclaimed fixtures, lights, chandeliers, just these amazing amazing old light fixtures.  And wood and posts and beams and wainscoting from old barns and houses.  Doors, moldings, oh man just everything.  It was actually a snitch overwhelming.  I think we need to go in with like, a clear purpose, which we can't exactly do until the papers are signed and we actually own the cottage.

So it was a fun detour.  And I got to avoid the horrifying dressing room mirrors for another few days.  And now we know exactly where to get a gargoyle if we ever need one!  Happy Friday guys!

what the eff?

There's really only one thing about fall that I can't stand.  The fucking fall fundraisers.  Or, as I like to refer to them, the FFF.

Fine, I don't refer to them as the FFF, but they are so annoying!  Maybe it's just me.  But really?  Come on, they have a whole assembly to show all of the kids the super cool awesome prizes they can win if they sell only 299 rolls of wrapping paper!  So then I have to break the news to my kid that she won't be selling 299 rolls of wrapping paper, because who buys wrapping paper for $4.99 a roll?!   And, and you guys?  You know that $4.99 roll of wrapping paper that you just bought?  Well, it wraps about 3 presents!!  Seriously, have you ever seen what it looks like under my tree on Christmas morning?  $4.99 rolls of wrapping paper are not going to cut it here.

Sometimes, I try the old sneak and toss method, where I just sneakily toss the whole fundraising packet, and if the kids remember about it before it needs to be turned in, I claim ignorance.  Sometimes you just have to do that.

You know, I get fundraisers.  I understand why they do them.  I just don't like them.  I think, you know, I pay my school taxes.  And I pay a lot!  Why can't that be enough?  They should  make it really clear that the fundraisers are optional.  Because you know what ends up happening every damn time??  I feel guilty and buy the cute checkbook cover, the huge tub of cookie dough, a roll of effing $4.99 wrapping paper and a key chain, spending approximately $89.00 on junk that I will never use (except the huge tub of cookie dough. who am I kidding.  mmm), all so my kid can get a crappy plastic necklace prize that will break way before she loses it.  Like in ten minutes.  So, in other words, I just spent $89 on a cheap plastic kid's necklace.

Huh?  I don't even spend $89 on a necklace for myself!  Well.  Except that one time when I bought myself that fantastic necklace from Tiffany's by accident.  But whatever!  You know what I mean!

Here's the kicker, which is maybe why I get so annoyed by fundraisers in general.  I have 3 kids in school.  I get those packets from each kid twice a year (minimum!).  That means I have to deal with that crap SIX TIMES a school year.  And that's only the school fundraiser!  Last week I got two dance class fundraisers and a soccer fundraiser!  My Cod.  I cant even keep up anymore!

Anyway, that's my rant for the day.  Sorry.  I'll move on now.

I love a really great sandwich

Do you think it's weird to take a picture of a really great sandwich?  Maybe it is.  Sometimes I take a quick picture of a good looking plate of food.  I think maybe that's weird, but I can't help it.  I like food.

My husband and I went into Rhinebeck, NY to just amble around.  The kids were all off in different directions, so we went for a ride and ended up there.  We parked and walked a bit, and went into this little shop that had a sandwich board out front describing some of their specialty sandwiches.  

I love specialty sandwiches. 

I got this amazing thing - fresh mozzarella, local organic tomatoes and basil with pesto sauce on a homemade ciabatta roll.  Well yum!  It was awesome.

I couldn't even finish mine, so I brought half home for later.  After sandwiches, we just so happened to stroll past this little ice cream shop called Jane's Ice Cream.  It was all home made ice creams and frozen yogurts.  I got killer chocolate and it was possibly the best ice cream cone that I've ever had.  I wish I had a picture of that!

friday 5

It's Friday.  My sister Jen is coming in to town tonight so I'm happy.  I don't think we've hung out since summer, and I hate when too much time goes by.  It's so hard when school starts, because we have to work around all of our kid's commitments.  And they sure seem to have a lot of commitments. Damn kids.

Nah.  I love my kid's commitments.  I love going to watch Alex play soccer, which is the biggest time suck for me in the fall.  In fact, Jen is coming to see some soccer games this weekend.  It's homecoming weekend in our town, at my old school.  There are all sorts of games going on, football, soccer and field hockey, maybe volleyball.  One thing that I'm looking forward to though is watching the alumni games.  My husband is playing soccer along with my BIL Tbone, who also grew up here, and my sister Ali is playing field hockey.  It's going to be funny to see all of the old graduates playing.  Ali just turned 40, it'll be pretty funny to see her with a field hockey stick again.  Running.  With the stick.  My husband plays soccer fairly regularly, so even though that will be fun to watch, it probably won't be as funny as Ali's game.

Yeah, I know I am making fun of the old players, and of course I'm not actually playing myself.  Yes, well, that's because I am as uncoordinated today as I was back then.  If I got out there and attempted to play soccer or field hockey, someone would get hurt.  And that someone would be me.  I suck at sports and I always have.  I never played any sports in high school.  I'm really good at watching though!  I'm great at cheering them all on from the sidelines!  WooHOO!

Well, I guess time's up!  Happy long weekend to you.

skipping...

5 ways to relax, damn it

1.  Breathe.  Yes, dummy.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves to breathe.  I know, I know, the brain stem basically has the breathing thing figured out for us, but sometimes we need to breathe consciously. Like, when we are upset or tense or stressing because someone just dropped a glass of sticky apple juice on the kitchen floor pretty much 5 minutes after you mopped.  Or when you asked your kid no less than 11 times to pick his fucking sneakers up.  Those times.  You know that old thing, count to ten slowly?  Really, it works.  Count to ten slowly, while consciously breathing, and you'll feel better.  Maybe not all better, but better.

2. Do something you like.  Us moms, we are usually last on the list of people we aim to please.  Or maybe that's just me.  But you know, a pissy, stressed mom makes an unhappy family.  If reading a book is your thing, carve out a snitch of time to read.  Even if it's reading a few emails while you're on the crapper, at least it's better than trying to read those same emails with a maniacal 2 year old trying to climb up your body and get your attention.  Do something little, that you like, just for you.  Smell something delicious or eat something exciting, take a bubble bath or listen to music.  Just, whatever it is, enjoy it in the moment.

3.  Exercise.  Wait, what?  I always thought that exercise stressed me out, not calmed me down.  And then I realized that it's more the thought of exercise that stresses me out.  When I force myself to exercise, I inevitably feel kinda good when it's all over.  I mean, it feels like I have accomplished something good for myself, and it definitely is relaxing.  Pop on some tunes and dance around if you're not into formal, sneaker wearing exercise.  It's fun, and it's something you can do anywhere.  Well, maybe not the boardroom of your office, but if you're creative, I'm sure you can find some time and space to get your heart pumping.  Go on, get some fresh air and sunshine on your face! 

4.  Take a power nap or meditate.  This might sound like a no brainer, but even if you close your eyes for 15 minutes and just calm the voices in your head, it's worthwhile.  Taking a little nap gives you that recharge that you so desperately need once the afternoon fog sets in.  Your brain needs a breather at some point.  Give it a rest.  

5.  Dump your inbox.  Seriously.  You know those people who have no piles?  I just envy those people.  I envy the people that seem to grasp the whole "now/later/never" philosophy on mail and papers and emails.  We just have to declutter sometimes.  A cluttered life is stressy, it just is.  If you know that you have eleven hundred emails to respond to, or fourteen school papers to fill out, or a stack of bills to open and pay - you're just going to be stressed.  That stuff sits in your mind, looming and hanging there like a black cloud of doom.  Deal with things as they come in and the black cloud of doom will be over some other dingbat's head, I promise.  Get a system in place.  And use it.  

What to you guys do to chill out?

on becoming a wino

Sometimes I feel like such a loser because I don't drink much.  Like, all everyone talks about is wine.  How great wine is, how much wine they drink, how fun and relaxing it is to be a wino, how wine apparently is just like sunscreen.

I mean, who knew?  Get drunk instead of have to apply annoying thick, sticky cream to your bod every few hours?  Sign me up!!  On a side note, would it be considered child abuse if I gave my kids wine to potentially stave off skin cancer on really sunny days?  Because really, it is kind of a catch 22...

What does catch 22 mean anyway?  It means a no win situation, that's what it means.

I hate applying sunscreen.  It's so annoying.  What ever happened to the good old days, when we could go play in the woods without having to worry about pervs, and roll down hills without having to worry about Lyme disease, and we could go outside and play without having to worry about skin cancer.  Sheesh.  We had it good back in the day, didn't we?

Anyway, back to my loser status regarding personal wine consumption.  So like, what's so great about it anyway?  I think I would prefer to carry a glass around so I just looked the part of sophisticated drinker.  So I fit in with all the cool kids.  And besides, I'm sick of always being the assumed driver.  Everyone always assumes that I won't want to have a drink!  Well, I'll show them... and in the process I will make an ass out of u and me.  Or wait.  No, I'll make an ass out of them and themselves because lets face it, I'm not the ass here.

Anyway, I think I'm going to start drinking wine.  I'll start with red.  Something fruity maybe?  Nothing dry.  I hate dry.