Quick additional post..

I spoke to my mother today who brought it to my attention that she and my daughter were not mentioned in the Thanksgiving post.

Let me state that my mother and Calli were at the parade with us.

Happy now Mom??

CABLE!!!!!

Aaahhhhhh I can not tell you the joy and rapture I received last night. I walked into the house telling the kids I had a surprise for them. Nick stood in the living room with a puzzled look. I pointed towards the tv (John had it on). Nick was quite for about 2 seconds and then screamed "CABLE!!!!!" It was just so exciting!!

And then he was over it and wanted to play Carbon - thanks Shell. I said, NO WAY. I am watching tv tonight!! There will be no Wii. There will be no fighting. You will be lucky if I feed you! There will be no disturbing of the Mommy while I watch all these wonderful commercials! - Hey, when you've watched George of the Jungle 347 times, even a commercial looks good.

For those of you that don't know, we've been very poor and haven't had cable in about 6-8 months. It's been hell. We pretty much have a Blockbuster at our house. A million and one movies. And our friends kept giving us more knowing that we needed them. Well, we watched every one of those movies about 46 times.

And then we had the "Hot Favorites" that were watched over and over and over again.

The afore mentioned George of the Jungle - which I can't complain about too much since it's cute and I'll never turn down a look at Brenden Frasier in a loin cloth. - Yummy

Then there was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - although a classic, that one gets old at about the 68th viewing. And I never understood how Dick VanDyke can live in England, have a British father and British kids and be completely American?

Barbie Fairytopia - Ug. I don't believe any other comment is needed. (Thanks Donna)

The Aristocats - Again, how is it that every person/cat in that movie is British, except for Zsa Zsa who speaks, I don't know, was it Austrian?? and the boy cat who seemed to be from like Jersey or something.

The Flinstones Movie - This is the live version with John Goodman and Rosie O'Donnell. I like this movie.. or I should say, I LIKED this movie. Now I'll be happy if I never see it again. John now cries every time they put it on. LOL Although a cute movie, it convinced my son that they had cars back then that they drove with their feet. That they lived in rock houses and so on. It took an hour long conversation one day to explain to him that The Flinstones Movie is NOT a documentary! ** HA quick side note.. As I'm doing spell check, it pulled up Flinstone and suggested Flagstone... HA LOL

I'm sure in a few years I'll allow them to watch a movie out of the cabinet. But for right now, I'm locking the door!

Last night I watched Survivor!!!! I love that show and I've missed the entire season. I also saw CSI. Someone fill me in... How did they get busted on the love affair?? And what happened to her? How did she break her arm and her face??

That's it for me this week. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. See ya Monday.

PS - Spread the word on my blog.

PPS - if anyone is looking for a Christmas present for me... Josh Groban put out a Christmas cd called Noel! That man gives me the vapors!

Comments..

Now THAT'S more like it! I expect you all to read and comment every day!

Wow, it's 8 not 3! I'm FAMOUS!

Chicken and Money

I love making people smile. When I see a friend who is having a really bad day, I love to cheer them up. I know I’ve used them enough for my bad days. This is my way of giving back.

Today my friend was telling me about the horrible day she had yesterday. One bad thing after the other just fell on her. I was able to cheer her up. It made me happy.

Did you know Chicken cures all!! My wonderful friend had made me a chicken when I had a really bad day (see post below). So when she was telling me about her bad day, I said, “That really sucks. Want me to make you a chicken?” It made her laugh. I think that’s why I do this blog too. I know it will make the 3 of you that read it smile. HA

So, from now on, when you’re friend is having a bad day… make them a chicken!

Ok, on to the disappearing money. As some of you know, I won a lawsuit against a grocery store (fell and broke my ankle) and got a bunch of money. Don’t get too excited it was only 4 figures. (Wished for 7, but no luck) So, we decided to pay all our back bills. It’s really nice to be able dig out from under. We’ve at least got our part of our hands and a big toe sticking out. We just need to dig the rest of the way. Some one hand me a shovel!

It is amazing how fast you can go through money. I do it EVERY time we get any. We see all that money in our account and start spending it. Let’s go out to eat, Let’s go to Wally World, Let’s SPEND SPEND SPEND. And then Ta Da!!! You’re down a thousand dollars and can’t remember what you spent it on. How does that happen???

But, I did a little better this time (not much, but a little). When I saw the money flowing out quickly, I grabbed all the bills and started paying. I owe my friend money who has been VERY patiently waiting for me to pay it back and I think I managed to actually keep enough in there to give her at least half. Cross your fingers folks.

My problem is, I pay all these bills and add them up and say ok, it’s $4,000. I have $5,000 in my account. I’m good. And THEN, all the bills go through and my account is negative $300. WHAT??? HOW?? Ok, so I kinda know how. See what happens is, I forget to add in the trips to the grocery store, gas, miscellaneous food purchases, whatever John buys, and so on. I need to give someone else our money every week. They can open an account and put it all in there and pay our bills and give us an allowance. (Shelly… interested???) hee hee

(All amounts in this post are fictitious. Except for getting the lawsuit money and right after we get our tax return … we NEVER have $5,000 in our account. We’re lucky if we can keep it in the positive!) Please tell me there are other people in the world as bad with money as I am!

For those folks who actually read my blog… don’t forget to leave a comment! I wanna know who’s here. (If you’re reading, I want to make sure I don’t say anything nasty about you!)

Early morning cries..

I was very rudely awakened at 5:30 this AM by our two new precious kitties. Both of them sat in the hallway calling out to the great Cat Gods of long ago. They also woke up my son who jumped into bed with me. Now, I would have rather the cats jumped in bed with me instead of waking everyone up. We were able to go back to sleep until the next serenade about 15 minutes later. And then the alarm started going off. Ho Hum

I think I have mentioned in previous posts that I am NOT a morning person. The cats are lucky to be alive. They are also lucky that I do not function in the morning. I can't see very well due to the fact that my eyes refuse to open and my walking ability is that of a 11 month old child. Not to mention that I can not speak until after my shower or a hot cup of coffee. Otherwise I might have caught them and thrown them out the window.

I am not one of those women who wake up beautiful and chipper. Ready to make breakfast for everyone. I know when I was little we had a hot breakfast every morning. My kids are lucky if I throw dry cereal in a bag for them as they head out to school. I feel bad until I get to my daughter's day care and see 3 other kids with cereal in a bag. HA, I'm not the only one! John always jokes that I should get up early and do the whole Donna Reed thing, but he knows better. I barely get up in time to shower and get everyone out the door with food for the day. If he wants someone to play Donna Reed, he better get a second job and hire an Alice. Mommy don't play that!

Icing poisoning..

Nick's cake was very yummy. Because his birthday was on Thanksgiving and there were a million other deserts, we brought home about half the cake.

We munched on it here and there. Last night when I got home John said, hey, don't you need to refrigerate this? I said, hmm, I don't think you have to for butter cream. Well, because he brought up the cake, of course I was drawn to it. So while I was cooking dinner, I grabbed a fork, lifted the lid and dug a nice piece out of the center.

Ok, so the moral of the story is... You DO have to refrigerate butter cream. Let's just say that fermentation had taken place and it is quite possible that if left another day, we could have had a very nice vintage icing. It was to my own detriment that I didn't taste the horridness of it until after I swallowed. So all night I prayed that one bite wouldn't be enough for food poisoning. Luckily, it wasn't. PHEEWWWwwwwww.

The store I got it from called it "bettercream". Well now... if it was better than why did it go bad?? huh?? They need to invent a cake that never goes bad. We will sometimes make a cake for no reason other than craving cake. We'll all have a piece and then cover it up. When the craving comes again, the cake is petrified into rock and is in no way edible. Then you feel bad throwing that one out just to make another that you know is going to end with the same fate as the first. If they could only stay moist and fluffy forever... aaahhhhh Bliss.

Holiday Update

Why is it that when you have a long weekend, you're always more exhausted then when you were working?? I could barely roll my butt out of bed this morning. And Nick HIGHLY protested going to school.

So, Thursday was great. We got up at the crack of dawn and set out for the train. Nick was very excited about that. He really enjoyed the train ride, but was annoyed with all the stops. (hee hee, gotta love NJ Transit) We got into the city about 8:30 am and we were told by the lovely man from the NYPD that we would have to walk down 700 blocks to get anywhere near the parade. SURE, NO PROBLEM. Luckily, we only had to go down about 5 blocks before they were letting people in.

Nick was not all that thrilled with the parade. He liked the marching bands, but unfortunately for my back, he was a bit to short to see it. I had to hold him up. The kids weighs 85 pounds!! What a nightmare. He was up and down most of the time because we couldn't hold him continuously. We just told him there was nothing there at the time (He didn' t need to see EVERYTHING!!)

I realized how old I am watching this parade. I'm watching the floats go by and saying "Hey look, it's .... I have no idea who that is!" I knew Dolly, Wynona, Ashley Simpson (can't miss the new nose, fake and bake and cleft chin) and Terri and Bindi Irwin. That's IT! Am I so out of touch? I guess so. Most of the people were young groups. My kids are too little for the obsessions of music groups. I didn't feel bad though. I was asking the people around me... none of them knew either. HA!

As per my last post... Dear Hubby was about a half a second from being left in the city. He made it with some decorum until the very end of the parade. But trying to get out of the mayhem at the end...He lost it. He's very very very very lucky that he had the car keys in his pocket. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I would have done.

The rest of the day went good. Tiring, but good.

Saturday I went Christmas shopping. I usually do the 4am black Friday shopping, but I was way to tired this year. I got nearly everything I needed. Next year, some one remind me to do all my shopping online!

I also got 2 kittens. lol, stupid me went into a pet adoption and walked out with 2 kittens. They were buy one get one free!! Couldn't resist that deal. So now Mocha and Muffin are our newest members of our family. We now have 2 cats, 1 dog, 2 birds, a snake and fish out the wazzooo. We can't feed ourselves... but hell, let's get more animals. I know, it doesn't make any sense. Don't try to understand me. You'll never do it.

The stupidity of men..

Who pays $40 for a pair of kids shoes???? They grow out of them in 2 MONTHS!! It's just insane. I walked into the store, looked at the price, threw up all over and left. OK, so I didn't throw up, but I could have. After 2 other shoe stores, I ended up going to Wally-World. Not the best selection but more than the others and a hell of a lot cheaper.

John calls. I tell him I got Nick shoes (which I hate, but they were the only ones in his size. - Which by the way... He's in a size 3 1/2.... HE'S 7. This kid's gonna have mondo feet) I also got Calli a pair of black patent leathers. I just needed to get her a brown pair.

This is were the stupidity of men comes in...

My sweet husband says: Why does she need a brown pair? I thought you got black ones.
Me: Yes, the black ones are for Christmas. The brown ones are for Thanksgiving.
Him: Why can't she just wear the same pair for both?
Me: Her Christmas dress is black and pink, hence the black shoes. Her Thanksgiving outfit is cream, pink and brown, hence brown shoes.
Him: SHE'S 3
Me: So? She needs to match!
Him: No she doesn't, she's 3!!! You can NOT start her out on the shoe thing already. It's too soon. I've seen your closet.
Me: K honey, I won't, bye

So, we got the black ones and a really cute pair of brown boots. (Teaching your daughter about shoes is a mother's duty. As is teaching her to appease your partner and then do whatever you want anyway.) And, let me add that it was my daughter, not me who wanted to buy 15 different pairs of shoes. Men just don't understand. It's not something you learn. We're BORN with it.

Brownies (Nick wanted this instead of cupcakes - phew... so much easier) did get made last night. I swear I only ate one... ok, I also ate the stuff that fell off when I cut them... and maybe that one in the middle that was really oooy and goooy. I obviously could not send that one to school!! I was gonna do goody bags too, but after 35 shoes stores, I totally forgot. Oh well. Another tick in my horrible mother of the year award tally (I'm gonna win this year!!)

I can't believe my baby is 7. Where has the time gone. I feel so old and I looked at him this morning and he looks so grown up. ho hum.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Run Run Run

Just so all of my loyal readers know (all 3 of them!) I don't have internet at home so I wont be able to blog unless I can get on my friends computer on Thursday. I will be AWOL Thursday - Sunday. Posting again Monday no doubt.

The next couple days are going to be CRAZY. Tomorrow is my husbands birthday, Thursday is Nick's birthday and Thanksgiving. I have to take the kids to the store tonight to buy dress shoes. Who knew that dirty, grungy sneakers wouldn't look good with dress clothes?? Then, take them home and drop them off to dad while I go BACK out and buy birthday presents. Come home - make cupcakes for school tomorrow and somehow figure out how to get them to school in one piece.

Tomorrow, go to work, come home, make a special dinner for hubby. Thursday, we're taking the kids on the Path train into the city to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We thought that would be a good birthday for Nick. I just can't wait to get up at 5am to get them ready and out the door. Have I mentioned that I am NOT a morning person?? And, John is working nights this week again, which means he's not going to get ANY sleep. He's gonna be lovely. He is just the sweetest thing when he's tired. (Can you sense the sarcasm??) Hey, we're gonna be in New York.. if he pisses me off, I'll leave him there for the wolves.

Speaking of New York. I LOVE the city. I am a New Yorker by blood on my father's side. They were all born and raised there. We went there all the time. I was street smart by the time I was 3. I NEVER had fear of the city. My sister on the other hand, would be rolling up the windows and locking the doors as we passed the New Jersey/New York split in the Lincoln Tunnel. (Explain to me how someone was gonna jump us in the tunnel going 60 MPH?) I swear I was adopted. When I got my driver's license, I used to take day trips into the city. I would park the car and just walk around looking at everything. I love Central Park. I love the Village. I am a total people watcher. I could just sit and watch people go by all day long. New York is the best place to people watch.

Now that I'm married (to a man that HATES the city - Did I mention how LOVELY he's going to be on Thursday) with kids, I barely ever get to go. I need to change that. I miss all the entertainers. The smell of the city (even the not so nice scents). The hustle and bustle of the streets. If you've never been there... GO, it's shear joy.

Let it Snow!!!!

I woke up this morning to 4 inches of snow. It was lovely... until I remembered that I still had to go to work. UG.

So then it's a race around the house. Get everyone up and dressed so we can leave early. My beautiful 3 year old comes down with a skirt and a little off the shoulder number. I laugh slightly and send her back up. My son comes down with a long sleeve shirt (good) and shorts (bad) BUT he also has his snow pants. He figures snow pants negate any need for long pants. No and no. Back up for you too.

Now to find the paper that gives the info on school closings. Realize that we can't get in the radio station at our house. Look at the paper again to see what else I can do... hmm check out the internet site??? Nope, no internet (we're poor) Ok, now what. I call the school. Just a message saying they're open. I can not call this school every two minutes to see if they are delaying. Hop in the shower.

Calli: Momma, I can't find my other sneaker, so I'm wearing my pretty shoes (pretty shoes being dress up opened toed heels) NO

Nick: Mom, I'm going out in the snow. NO

Get out, get dressed, call the bus driver. "The roads are horrible, I'm sliding all over" Hmm... not something you want to say to the mother of a child you are about to pick up. AAAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh.

Get all done, everyone bundled and out the door. Bus driver shows up and says he's gonna take his time. Noooo problemo.

Get Calli to day care and then SIT IN TRAFFIC FOR TWO HOURS.

Boy, I'm so glad I rushed. Maybe the snow will still be there when we get home and we can enjoy it.

Happy snow day everyone!!

I'm the worlds BEST backwards knitter...

WHO KNEW!!! I bought myself one of those books that teach you how to knit. It has directions and pictures on how to do each thing step by step. Obviously they MISSED a step.

I went over to my good friend Donna's last night. I had a stress day yesterday and she was nice enough to cook dinner for my clan. (Ain't she sweet) While I was there she gave me an impromptu knitting lesson. I had asked her to help because even though I had this wonderful book, I was doing something wrong.

I said, ok, so I put all the thread on... got it. I knit a row.. got it. Now I have to knit it again..... Who knew you actually SWITCHED needles??? You put the full one in your left hand and the empty in your right. HAHAHAHA All this time I was leaving them be. Knit from the left one to the right one and then do it backwards and knit from the right one to the left. My dear friend Donna just looked at me in awe and tried very hard not to laugh at me. "That's not how you do it. OMG, how do you do that!" I have invented the "Kaylene Stitch"!! I'm a genius. Someone give me lots of money!! Might I add that this little tid bit of information was NOT in the book.

So, I'm having a party tonight. My house is a mess (see post below - the fairies never came). I try so hard to clean it. But people here at work (see sick post below), my husband and my best friend have all seen fit to shower me with their germs. I've had a sinus headache for 4 days now. (Haven't taken my happy pills either which will add to the headache). So when I get home, I am in no mood to clean. But, I do feel free to yell at my husband for not doing anything all day. (even though he should be sleeping cause he's working nights) NO, that's not the point, he should have the house PERFECT before he goes to sleep. Is that asking to much??? Ok, so maybe a little.

Even though I've felt exhausted the past few days, I have come home and cleaned. So... as long as no one goes upstairs tonight or in the play room, or laundry room, or sun room... I should be ok. HA Come in Come in... Sit down.. DON'T MOVE! Oh crud... They're gonna want to pee. I'm going to have to do the bathroom. Hmm, wonder if the neighbor will let us use hers?

Hello? (tap tap) Is this thing on??

I feel like I'm writing to myself! And, well, I guess I am. Hopefully the traffic will pick up here sooner or later.

Anyway - the topic of the day, Magical Messes.

I come home every day and clean my house. (ok, maybe not EVERY day...) I clean the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom. I vacuum, do laundry, dishes and dinner. I look around and the house is lovely. Clean enough that I would actually allow people to come over.

BUT.... by the time I go to bed, I look around and it looks like I never lifted a finger. There are clothes and toys thrown all over the floor. Crayons, markers and coloring books have mated and multiplied throughout the front room, living room and bathroom (who colors in the bathroom???) The dog has green and blue teeth because she has eaten some of the newly born crayons. The kitchen has thrown up all over itself. My dear husband who was kind enough to clear the table, left the dishes all over the counter and stove with food still on them. The garbage is exploding to the point of no return and so is my head.

I just can't keep up. I clean and it magically messes up all over again, but twice as bad. I used to have clean furniture and carpets. I used to have a kitchen counter that I could see. I used to have a toilet bowl I wasn't afraid to touch. (Gotta love 7 year olds who refuse to lift the seat and to flush.) I used to be able to walk a direct path in my house without having to step over something or leap to my left because there is a baby carriage race being held in my living room.

I wish for a cleaning fairy to come in at night after I go to bed. That way, when I wake up in the morning, it's sparkling. Just like The Elves and the Shoemaker. I'd be more than happy to make her some little outfits. (read the story) Or how about I win the lottery and hire an "Alice"??

Either way, something MUST be done. I'm having a party at my house Friday night and I'm trying to figure out how I can possible allow others to enter. And WHERE are they supposed to sit. Well, I suppose I can put someone in the Dora chair, and some others in the aformentioned baby carriages. Maybe I'll put some sheets on the floor to cover the juice and coffee stained floor. (My daughter is the BIGGEST clutz. And she has an unexplainable attraction to coffee.) Sure that'll work. HA

So then after this party, which I'm sure will only intensify the mess, my very good friend/realtor wants me to do an Open House. HA ROFL LOL He's SOOOooo freaking funny.

That's all for now. May the cleaning fairies bless your home, this and every evening to come.

(Editing credit given to Donna Edwards - Thanks chick!)

LOCK THE DOOR!!

My husband is working nights this week. Coming home at the time I need to wake up. So this morning... he uhm..."woke me up" Hee hee hee. Of course, in the midst of the fun, my son (who by the way, I usually have to DRAG out of bed) is standing next to the bed. "Mom what are you guys doing." OMG!! OMG!! I've just traumatized my son!!! Nope. I said, Nick, go in your room, get dressed and go down and brush your teeth. Close the door on your way out. He does, but on his way out he says, "You guys are doin' Roooomance!" Ok, so my son has just completely traumatized ME!

He didn't mention it the rest of the morning, but why do I have this sinking feeling that he's at school right now regaling his little friends with the morning news. How does he know what we were doing anyway??? We haven't had cable in months. The only thing he's been watching are scooby doo movies and the like. What is Scooby up too???

So, my advise to those of you who would like to have impromptu morning nookie... LOCK THE DAMN DOOR!!

At least I woke up this morning..

I got up, my husband was not in bed. I woke up my son with very little protest on his end (wow.. I'm gonna have a good day). Went downstairs, let the dog out and found my husband on the couch looking not to healthy. Great. Nothing is going to be done around here today (he's working nights this week). Took a shower, got said son dressed, brushed, fed, lunched, jacket and out the door before the bus driver called to yell at me. Ok.. still possible good day.

Then, the demon awakes. My 3 year old daughter tests my patience on a daily basis. I'm hoping it's the age, a fase that she will soon grow out of. She doesn't want to go to school, she doesn't want to brush her hair, teeth? NO, socks? NO, shoes? NO BEATING?? no... Sob, whine, cry, temper tantrum. OH CALGON>>>> Finally get her done and we're out the door.... 1/2 hour late. Lovely. Not to mention the little man in my head who has started his day mining behind my eye and in my temple.

Luckily, it's Veterans day and not too much traffic, so I still got to work on time. I open my email and find a lovely letter from the boss letting me know how close I am to be fired because my attitude sucks and so do my hours. HA. Well, this day is going to be GREAT!!!

But, at least I woke up this morning.

I used to have brain cells...

I don't remember remembering anything. LOL I was going to say, I remember when I could remember things.. but hence, no.

They say you loose brain cells with each child. I've had two (three if you include my husband) so I think my IQ is that of a third grader. My husband knows better than to give me a list of stuff to get at the store. Even if he writes it down - I'll forget the note. He can tell me "get milk, bread and ham" I leave my house, go the mile down the road to the store, walk into the store and call him on my cell, "What was I supposed to get?" Why is that?

I know I had rough pregnancies, but come on!! This is just crazy. I need some ginko biloba or something. (I was just going to type something and forgot what I wanted to say!!!!) ARG!

I think it all comes back to laziness. I'm just too lazy to remember things. It's not worth my effort. LOL And I procrastinate. (I'll remember to do that later)

Of course, my kids forget NOTHING! "Hey mom, remember when I was 2 and you said I could have that monster truck when I turned 7? Well... I'm 7!" Uhm ok, honey, I can't remember what I ate for breakfast.. you think I remember that? Sure, whatever, let's go to the store and you can remind me why we're there when we go in.

Lysol... Take me away!!

Ok, I know it's cold and flu season. But can we PLEASE be adults about this? If you are in an office with a billion other people breathing your air and you need to cough or sneeze .... COVER YOUR MOUTH.

Is it just me or have we all forgotten our manners? I tell my kids every day, cover your mouth please (not to mention "Get your finger OUT of your nose!") But when you're an adult, wouldn't ya think you'd rememeber to keep your germs to yourself? Don't we get enough of them from our kids who hang out with other peoples germy kids and bring them home to share?

I love getting the notices home from school. "Three children in Nick's class have strep throat. " Thanks for the warning. But do you think Nick gets strep throat? NOOoooooooo Mom and Dad get it. Gotta love it.

So I say... Hear Ye Hear Ye - GET A TISSUE!

Holy Halloween Batman!

Remember when we were young and we felt like we could go to every door in the state without breaking a sweat... What happened to those days? I took my kids down 3 streets and was ready to pass out!

I also remembered the days that your mom MADE your costume. Now we're so busy (or in my case, have NO creative talent!) and we just take a trip to Wally-World and grab one off the rack. The problem with that.... there are 400 Batmen, 600 Spidermen, and about 50,000 princesses. Holy cow. It's like, "didn't we pass that kid 4 times already? Oh no, that's a different Superman."

I'm obviously not bashing any store buying parent, as I am one. I just miss seeing those hand made costumes. They're so much better.

Ok, gotta go eat some chocolate... The kids can't have chocolate!! It's bad for them. (they get all the crappy sugar candy, ie; lolly pops, sweet tarts and sugar babies) The chocolate is mom and dads - unless they remember they got some! HA