wADmM5mNLtOv064mhMCS_CYE3Bc Just Dorothy: January 2011

So, now we're a pride?

Oh yes he did. He went there. We were just talking about the resiliency of kids and how when Ryan was little there were several "mishaps" that happened to him. A can of Pepsi accidently skimmed his forehead (that was my fault), he fell out of the high chair (that was all Steve and a farther distance, thank you very much) and fell out of a swing face first into sand (that one was Grammy!). And we were remarking on how those things (and many others) haven't seemed to affect him very much at the ripe old age of 15. Steve said, "in fact, he's kind of cocky. You know this reminds me of a pride. When a lioness has one male he pushes the boundaries of the dominant male. The "lion king" will only take so much of it before he tells the young lion to get the hell out and find his own place." Um, yeah, it's like this at my house. The young lion and the lion king and I swear these conversations actually take place.

Oooo La La

There's really nothing to Oooo La La about but it sounded good! Actually I have a Awwww, la la moment to report. Came home today at lunch time and my awwww-mazing husband had the kitchen clean, the floor swept and mopped, the last loads of laundry dried and the chicken marinating. Oh, and he vacuumed too! He pre-cooked bacon for breakfast tomorrow (which, in itself is totally worth accolades! I love me some bacon!)and took out all the trash. In the entire house! Eat your hearts out ladies (and maybe a few gentlemen??) he's taken. Forever!

Do you need an exam?

No, really. When was the last time you had a check up? A "yearly". A "girl appointment"? If it's been awhile, get one. NOW! This is a PSA to check ya self before ya wreck ya self.

I've had two women 2 days apart tell me that they need a biopsy or surgery for cancer. One breast and one cervical. I know it's uncomfortable, I know you don't want to do it. But if you don't do it for yourself do it for your families. They worry about you. They care about you. Make an appointment today!

Blogger Gone Wild!

So my home page on my computer is MSN. On MSN comes juicy little tidbits of information. It's just sitting there on the page, almost daring you to click on the link so you can read the story in all its full, gory detail. Now, I'm not one to read the "celebrity" ones very often, mostly I scoff, yes, scoff at the one liners and say out loud, "who cares!!!??". However, sometimes I just can't help myself and I got sucked into two stories on Wonderwall.

First, Kelly Osbourne's fiance apparently likes transgenders. According to the story, Kelly called off the engagement because she found out he had an affair. With a transgendered girl. Boy? Actually, I'm not sure. I think he's a boy because he has a penis but looks like a girl with clothes on. So, he's a she and Kelly's ex fiance likes that. Kelly, apparently, does not.

Second, Vince Neil the lipstick god of 80's hair bands is headed to prison. Prison. Vince Neil. Bet he wishes he'd rethought that whole lipstick thing now. He still wears guyliner I guess, so... Ok, but that's not really the big dealio because it's 15 days in prison for a DUI. Pshhhawww. He also owes more than $1 million dollars in back taxes and the feds are after his hiney. Suppose they will have to wait in line, he's got to get his hiney out of the pokey first. But here IS the big dealio. The thing that shocked me most. He's turning 50! Vince Neil. Is turning 50! Fifty, people! Now that's just hard to wrap my brain around.

Uppin Our Game

Last night Steve and I were talking about the dreaded "holiday" coming up. Yep, Valentine's Day. It's all hearts and flowers and we're not all hearts and flowers. Neither of us is overly romantic and we've never really done anything "special" on this day. But last night I said we should probably try to be more "romantic" towards each other. He said, "Leesh, after 16 years of marriage you want me to be romantic? I don't know how to be romantic." I said neither do I but I feel like I needed to "up my game" in that regard. So, here's the scenario last night: we ran out to get Subway and Steve had unwrapped my sub, put it on a plate, made me a glass of Pepsi and let me sit in the "big daddy chair" to eat it. Oh, yes ~ my heart just swelled at that! However, when I asked for a refill he said, "don't go overboard or anything on this whole romantic thing." Yep, that's MY guy! So, we'll keep trying to up our game and do nice little things here and there, not because we have to but because we want to.

Pity Party Part Deux

Yes, yes, another pity party for me. This has been the week from hell and I'm so done with it. Except I'm not. I still need to "fix" what is wrong. And I don't know how I'm going to do that. We still have a leak, no washing machine because of it, not enough money from the insurance company and a contractor that I liked on sight but still has not given me an estimate or my paperwork back from the insurance company. On top of it the blessed wedding shoes arrived today and came no where close to fitting my wide effin feet! AND on top of that Ry has the flu. The REAL flu, not just the "I feel sick puke, puke" kind of flu. The "I see gangsters from Beyond Scared Straight in my dreams, Mom" kind of flu. Fevers of 102 degrees and body chills kind of flu. The preventative Tamaflu for your family costs nearly $400 dollars kind of flu. AND, I text Steve to have him bring something home and between the text and him calling me back I forgot what is was that I wanted him to bring home. Being a grown up sucks!

Party bus!

So this morning I was thinking about the boys games that we travel to. Not sure how the basketball coach handles it but the football coach/parents provide food, snacks and drinks for the boys when they have an away game. My thought is this: why not take the big bus for parents? Put a cooler in there, fill it with beer and what-not, have a big mess of subs with all the fixins and run it up to where the boys are playing and then head back. Not saying a bunch of drunk parents should show up or anything but think of the fun it would be to be drunk on the way back! With a designated driver! Let's start a petition to the school board. Who's with me?

Oy vey

Is it Oy vey or Oy vay? Either way I'm sitting here listening to the "snake" the plumbers are putting down the pipe. This is the 3rd or 4th time they've done this since we've lived here. Our basement has various cracks and pipes are put together in a somewhat nonsensical way. Apparently the dishwasher/sink/disposal uses the same pipe as the washing machine so every 6 months or so it gets clogged and starts backing up. Our washing machine is the only appliance that gives us a sign. It starts leaking. I still haven't figured out where the water is coming from exactly. I mean, yes, the pipe, but the pipe is never wet and neither is the ground underneath the pipe. But underneath the washing machine is wet. Also, there is no drain in the basement to make this not run towards the side that is slanted towards my sons room. Therefore water just runs straight towards the shared wall. Now the plumber just informed me that it's not coming up through the crack but doesn't know where it's coming from yet. We went back into the bathroom and there is now black water coming through THAT pipe. It's not sewer water, thank God, but it's not dirt either. That's never happened before. The carpet outside the bathroom door is saturated. Saturated. Carpet. Equals mold eventually. And the linoleum has been soaked too but there is no water coming from where you would think water would come from to just have water sitting there!!! I have no idea where this water is coming from. My idea would be out through cracks in the cement, under the linoleum and under the carpet. But he doesn't think so. Now, I'm not a plumber or a rocket scientist but wouldn't that make sense?? I feel a large bill and a headache coming on. And moldy carpet (which was just put in 2 years ago).

Yes, I'm one of THOSE parents....

My kids play sports. So I'm a sport's mom. I take my kids to practice, pick them up from practice, sometimes stay for the whole practice and cheer them on at their games, even if they are sometimes a 2 hour drive away (realistically sometimes I just can't make those ones). I make sure Ry has something to eat for either the bus ride there or the bus ride back or money if they are going to stop. We shop for special shoes, special pants and even special socks. So I'm invested in this. I'm IN. Therefore, I really want to see our boys win. Whether it's Ry's freshman team or Z's 5th grade team I want to see a win. I want to see them make those other boys suffer, just spank them up and down the court or the field. Ok, that's a little bit harsh, I actually feel bad if our boys win by too much.

So I sit on the sidelines or in the stands and I yell. Not at the boys, of course, but just yell in excitement, encouragement, etc. Like today, for instance, Z's team was playing basketball and seemed to have a hard time remembering to get UNDER the basket and to REBOUND. So a few of us were kind of yelling (i.e. reminding) at them to "help out!", "hands up!", "rebound, rebound!", "get your guy!". Now, I'm not for sure, but I think the few of us were the only ones yelling this stuff to our kids. Maybe we were just so loud that we couldn't hear the coaches from where they were sitting? Anyway, the other team just started out kind of spanking us but we were able to "rebound" in the 2nd half. The other coach was really taking it out on his kids. I didn't like that. But at the same time, I was kind of hoping that some of the kids would take an elbow to the gut and puke and have to be taken out of the game. Or maybe they'd fall and hurt their knee. Not permanently, of course. I'm not a barbarian! I just wanted out kids to win. We lost, 17-14, but it was a good 2nd half. Now if they could be an all quarters team instead of just a 2nd half team, maybe I could relax a little and not wish the other team bad luck. Until then, I'll be the one yelling, I mean encouraging, from the stands.

A girl and her shoes

So...I found them. Shoes. For. The. Wedding. My online search for shoes has finally paid off and they should be in my hot little hands and on my very wide feet within 10 days! They were on clearance and even with shipping they were under $30. It's like a shoe dream come true! They are "wides" but that doesn't necessarily mean Alicia wide. Keep your fingers crossed and pray that they are and I can just be done with the whole thing!

Treasure box

When I was in high school I collected stuff. Just random little trinkets here and there, stuck them in a box and there they sat for the last 20 years. During one of our snow days this week I took down one of the boxes and went through it. I found a fingerless glove, Madonna's Like A Virgin type, that I wore for my 8th grade graduation, name cards from my high school graduation invitations, a tin heart-shaped box with a teddy bear on it and a heart-shaped pencil shapener and eraser still in the package. I don't know what made me keep them back then, I just did. I kept everything as is except the eraser and pencil sharpener. I took those to work. And the name cards got tossed. They had my maiden name on them anyway.

One more thing that was in the box ~ a wooden A and a wooden licia, all in cursive and painted red. My dad made this for me while I was either in 8th grade or a freshman in high school. The A keeps falling off no matter what I try to make it stick. It doesn't matter though. Both parts will stay in the box, just waiting for me to take them out again.

I have other collections too, although they aren't as cool as my first. I have this habit of collecting empty boxes, thinking I'm going to use them for something later. I never do and then end up throwing them away after several months. I also collect cans, like coffee cans. My idea is to wrap them in cool scrapbook paper or card stock and use them as unique gift wrap. Never do that either.

Maybe one of these days I'll get better about decluttering my life, but for now, I'll keep the one box in the closet and the ONE empty coffee can. Our current coffee can is full anyway.

Don't talk to me about politics

So I recently became a twitterer. A person of twit?? Anyway, I joined twitter and I've become addicted. I've found people I want to follow and people I'd love to have follow me. And then some crazy nut job shot up Tucson, Arizona and twitter went friggin nuts. Some of the people I'm following are Republicans and some are Democrats. To be fair and honest, I didn't really know or care what their prefered party was when I decided to follow them. Now I'm getting a bit irritated and have decided to "unfollow" them. It just got to be too much.

And here is why: at an early age it became clear in my family that you just didn't want to discuss religion or politics. My Nanny and Poppy, whom I absolutely ADORED, would argue (and argue, and argue) with anyone, even each other, on both of those topics if they didn't agree with them. And the arguments got heated. Way too heated. Especially about religion. So I'd go off into my bedroom, turn my TV up and blur everything else out. It just seemed to me that it caused a lot of animosity and confrontation and I wanted no part of that. So to this day I don't know jack squat about politics. And that's ok with me.

I purposefully turn the channel or turn the TV completely off if the discussion is political. Some might call it irresponsible. Don't get me wrong, I vote, and I have opinions on who I think belongs in office. Here's my system: I usually vote for the one I think is less of a liar. I voted for John McCain but not because Sarah Palin was his running mate and not because Obama is black. I just didn't think on-the-job training was what our country needed in our President. I still don't. I was very clear on that part, at least, with my friends and family when they couldn't decide on whom to vote for. And by clear I mean opinionated.

It's not that I'm completely stupid or naive when it comes to politics. I hear people talk about it (never on purpose though)and they share their opinions but I'll never really "discuss" politics. So I get the gist of things but I don't know enough really, to have a debate with anyone about it. A long time ago my Dad told me that GOP stood for the "Grand Old Poobah". He's a joker, that guy. Today I googled it and it so does not stand for that!

Anyway, it's not that I agree or disagree that Palin's camp has some responsibility in what happened in Tucson. She didn't pull the trigger. She was careless and thoughtless with her words, yes. Words, as well as actions, have repercussions. I think she's adequately smart, I like that she has 5 kids and can relate to moms/women, etc. But I don't think she's smart enough to keep her mouth closed when she needs to and she seems to suffer from foot and mouth disease. That's why I won't vote for her if she runs for president. I think she'd cause more trouble within the whole forgeign political arena than we could handle. But, she didn't make this crazy friggin nut job in AZ pull the trigger. It didn't have anything to do with her but everyone is jumping on the Hate Palin bandwagon and making her the scapegoat.

Not that I will discuss that with anyone.

Cock Fighting

So tonight at dinner, Zach told me all about cock fighting in Mexico. Right down to the metal talons. I don't know how he knows this stuff. He's never been to Mexico! hahaha

Take your shoes and shove them up your arse...

Ok, I'm trying to buy shoes for a wedding I will be in in July (hi Amy!!). The wedding is in Arizona and the dress I have can be dressed up with close toed shoes or you can wear sandals. I prefer sandals. But I can wear either, doesn't matter to the bride. But I have one teeny tiny problem. I have very, very wide feet. I have always had problems buying shoes, even as a kid. I could never have the cute trendy kind all the other kids were wearing because they just wouldn't fit. Times have NOT changed in that regard. Why does the need to buy wide shoes mean you have to settle for UGLY! I'm not 90 and I don't need orthopedic sandals that have an extra large toe box for my non existant bunions! Zappos isn't cutting it and I really, really don't want to pay $80 for shoes I will wear once. Just my little vent. I will find something sooner or later, I still have 6 months. Oh my God, I only have 6 months!!

Momma's boys

When I had boys I was relieved. No, really! I have never really wanted a little girl. Sure, the idea of them is fun when you think about getting them all dressed up in frilly, girly clothes and being able to paint their nails, get their ears pierced and having a shopping buddy. And that is where the fun would end for me. They reach a certain age, become hormonal (and that age is getting younger and younger from what I understand)and then you gotta tell them about periods and stuff. No thank you. I don't even like dealing with my own let alone someone elses. And the hair and makeup thing...I do my own and that's it. I don't know how to do hair so she'd just forever be in a ponytail or her hair would always be stick straight.

But there is something about boys that I just thought when I had them I would be like the uber cool mom that could and would talk to them about anything and everything. Only I'm not. I mean, they CAN talk to me about anything but I don't know that I want them to. Like puberty and boy body parts and stuff. I'll take a pass, thank you. When Ryan was in 5th grade his school had "the talk" with the class. We had talked to him about a few things but definitely not in the detail the school did. So he comes home and asks about body hair and more about puberty. And sex. All I could do was look at Steve and say, "this is all yours." I wanted to be able to handle it but I just couldn't. I could not look at his round little 5th grade baby face and tell him about ejaculation and such. Fast forward to 9th grade. The word "shaft" comes out of his mouth. Oh yes it did. I was pulling open a drawer that he was standing in front of and he says, I kid you not, "whoooaaa, hey Mom, you almost hit my shaft." CRINGE! I said, "don't ever say that word to your mother ever again." He just laughed. I thought it was both funny and gross at the same time.

And the music he listens to doesn't help his vocabulary or his sense of propriety either. "Bottom's Up" and "Bedrock"....yeah. It's all I can say. I'm not some strict, hypersensitive mom. I laugh at most of the stuff he does because he really is a funny kid. It's not a punishable offense to just be a goofy, dorky kid. He puts it all out there and is an honest, kind, good kid who is exploring his boundries. And mine. So he tells me a lot of stuff because he knows he can. And he asks me a lot of stuff because he knows he can. But he also knows that sometimes I can't answer and he just has to ask his dad.

Step Uno

I like to think of myself as a creative person. But I don't think I really am. I like to start a lot of stuff but I never actually go through with a whole project. There's a lot of unfinished projects in our guest room that have gotten pushed to the side. And I'm forever vowing I will get a few pages on the scrapbook done so I can move out of 2008 and on to 2009. On a side note, I was thinking that each boy needs their own scrapbook of themselves and I have yet to start one. It's all family ones, with all of us. Ryan is a freshman, I should probably get started. I digress. Anyway...

I have a book cover and a book binder. I have card stock, regular colored paper and a printer/copier/scanner. Why don't I make my own book instead of sending it to a publisher? The story I want to publish/illustrate I would have all the pictures for since it relates to Ryan when he was about 4 years old. So, why not scan them, print them and bind them in the book all by myself? I'm gonna do it. I swear I'm gonna do it. Soon. I have to find the 4 year old pictures first.

Just a kid thing?

So my youngest kid is really a go with the flow kind of guy. But if you piss him off (and you aren't family) he will hold a grudge against you. He does not put up with being messed with. There is this boy in his class that he somewhat befriended. Things were going well it seemed. The boy has to take medication for "behaviors". He would come over and play xbox and spend the night. Other mothers warned me that he was weird and somewhat "neglected". Their words, not mine. Anyway, this kid would come over, I'd give him rides home from practice, from school, etc. But if he doesn't take his meds he gets all crazy and takes it out on Zach. Treats him like crap. Zach got tired of it but knew I felt sorry for him so kind of dealt with it (I didn't know the extent of the craziness). The final straw for Zach was a few weeks ago when the kid called him names and threw basketballs at his privates. That was MY final straw, too. I told Z that he just needed to tell him no if he asked to come over or if he wanted a ride or whatever. So today after the basketball game he calls my cell phone twice. And I ignored it. And I didn't tell Zach. And then I felt guilty. So...is it just a stupid crazy kid thing and should I continue to feel sorry for him and "let" them be friends again? I just want to protect Zach and I don't want to be taken advantage of, but I do feel bad for this kid that seems to just have a crappy home life. Blahhhhhhh

Ok, how weird/crazy/stupid is this?

So, I'm super excited for this Ted Williams guy and I think it's wonderful that he has all these opportunites being offered to him. It's heartwarming to hear/see this when there is so much "wrong" going on in the world right now. My first thought was a sincere, "good for him!!". My second thought was, "must be nice. I wish I could get that lucky." Is that weird?? To actually have that thought? Of course, a nano second later I was chastizing myself saying, yeah, if only you were so lucky to be a homeless pan handler for the last decade or two and have a drug and alcohol problem. If only. And of course I know what I actually meant. That it must be nice to be "discovered" like that, somewhat by accident. And then things snowballed quickly and he's offered a job with the Cavaliers. And Kraft Mac & Cheese!!! Yeah, I'm a little jealous. *sigh*

A major vent!

I want to know why, why, WHY some people feel it is ok to completely abuse the "system"! Like it is their God given right to lie and cheat me out of our tax dollars so they can do whatever it is they want to do. Why is it ok to have 5 kids, all under the age of 5 and not work yet still send them to daycare that is PAID FOR BY THE STATE!!??? This totally infuriates me. And it should infuriate you, too. Our tax dollars support this program, right? Of course I'm venting about a particular situation yet I know this is definitely not an isolated case. She had the balls, yes the freaking biggest balls, to actually say to her daughter (in front of me!) "no, you can't come home with me, I have to do a few things at home and then I need to relax." Relax from what, exactly? Your hard day? You dropped your other 4 kids off at daycare earlier that morning and after you dropped your preschooler off you went back home and went to bed! And now you pick her up and drop her off at daycare? So you can do a few things? Welcome to being a parent you lazy bitch! Deal with it!
Do not misunderstand. I know some people need serious financial help. I totally get it because I've been there, too. Food stamps I understand, WIC I understand. Use it if you can people, times are hard! I even understand not working because you have 5 kids and actually paying for day care would mean you make absolutely nothing. But to abuse the state resources for day care when you DON'T WORK. It's completely shameful.

Finally!

The new year has started off on the right foot. I got a shaky handle on twitter. Zach said to me yesterday, "You're a twit??" Yes, darling boy, I am! I have 7 followers thank you very much. And I only personally know one of them. The rest are probably just trying to get their numbers or lists up or whatever it is you do that for. Anyway... I finally, finally figured out one goal I really, really want to reach this year. I want to have my story that was published in an anthology in AZ republished with illustrations. And I'm broke, no joke so I have to find resources that can do it for pretty much free or for under $50 bucks. Laugh all you want but I'm a very resourceful girl (not really) and I WILL find a way to make this happen.
I've also come to terms with this whole weight thing. Yes, I want to lose big time but I'm not going to starve myself, I'm not going to obsessively weigh myself (like I did over the summer) I hope, and I'm not going to count every friggen calorie. I will have a small bowl of ice cream if I want it and I won't have second thoughts. I will, however, watch my portions. And realize that I can say no to food.
Amen

Good Evening, Arizona!

One of the things I miss about Arizona is the news channels. I don't really miss the news. It was all sad, bad and depressing. Here in NE the highlight of the news is if corn prices rose or fell. Not much goes on. And that's ok by me, it beats hearing about home invasions, major traffic accidents, drug busts and murders. But I do miss having news anchors that are not hokey or monotone or overly uh...non-monotone?? The inflection of some of these talking heads is just waaaaay too much. I haven't really watched the news since we moved here. Kind of sad, I'm not really caught up on world events. Or even local events. Maybe ignorance is bliss though.

Beautiful Day


The sun is shining and there doesn't seem to be any snow coming our way in the near future.  I like this!  It's still super cold out but I should go out and watch Steve shovel the driveway.  With a nice hot cup of coffee.  I might even bring him one, too! 

I'm still figuring out how to do all this blogger stuff and trying to make the page more appealing so bear with me.  I'm adding a picture just to see if I can do it.