wADmM5mNLtOv064mhMCS_CYE3Bc Just Dorothy: October 2011

Halloween

I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween.  I'm a big, fat scaredy cat when it comes to, well, scary stuff.  Just the sound of a scary movie sends me over the edge.  If I see a part of it on t.v. forget it.  I will freak out and think about it and run it over and over in my head for weeks.  It truly sucks to be that worried and panicked about it. 

But I love all the dressed up little kids that come to my door and say "trick or treat" and you know it's their first time ever trick or treating!  They're all so cute and sweet.  Ryan doesn't trick or treat anymore and Zach is on the brink of being too old.  The kids that are in that in between age don't bother me, I understand why they still do it.  What bothers me though are the (very) young ladies of the night.  You know which ones I'm talking about.  They wear their mom's lingerie and heels bad, bad eye make up and red lipstick.  Why would anyone let their daughter out like that?! 

We used to have a lot of kids come over when we lived in AZ.  Crowds and crowds of kids.  Here, we're lucky if our doorbell rings more than 10 times.  We used to have big parties at our house for the kid's classrooms and we'd have a nice turn out with family and friends too.  We don't do that anymore either.  The boys are older and it's just not "cool", mom!  Jeez!  We don't have friends or family here to invite either so there just wouldn't be any point.  I miss it, sort of.  I also miss figuring out costumes for the boys.  Both boys have been dinosaurs, "army guys", one year Ryan was a werewolf, it was completely awesome.  It's the stuff of scrapbook pages!  Maybe one of these days I can do this stuff again when I have grandkids.  Not that I'm in any hurry or anything.

Catching up!

It seems like I haven't blogged in a while.  I've been busy at work, busy at home, you know...all the excuses we all use all the time.  "Well, you know, I've just been SOOOO busy!"  So, I'm just going to stuff all these random items in one blog, get it off my chest and get on with my life.  Let it do what it do.

The high school football boys have had one helluva season!  8 and 0 in regular season and won their first round playoff game.  They hadn't been undefeated since 1959!  They also won the first round playoff game which hadn't been done since 1985.  Pretty cool to be a part of this as a player (right Ryan?) and a parent/spectator!  On to round two on Wednesday ~ Go Whippets!!

I took Two Toots to a craft fair and it went pretty well considering everything stacked against it.  The town was itty bitty and the Husker game was on.  I'm a fan of football but not a big fan of college ball so...whatev.  I sold stuff to what little traffic was there, so it's all good.

Today I have a big agenda.  Which is just a fancy word for "to do list".  I have it all written down, you know, things like, clean dresser, finish laundry, update both blogs, cook ... Who needs to write down that you need to finish laundry and cook??  My memory isn't THAT bad, but I just like to jot it down so I know that I want to get it done.  And when I write down cook it just means I want to menu plan, cook stuff and freeze it for the rest of the week.  Because I'm SOOOO busy you know. 

So here's the menu plan for the week in no particular order (because I know you like to see my menu plan! lol):  breakfast casserole, potato soup, chili, meat loaf, chicken tostadas, and that's as far ahead as I want to think.  Oh yeah, pork chops, too.  So I'll make the casserole, soup and chili today and half the meals already done for the week.  And I'm going to attempt coffee cake today.  People tell me it's not that hard.  Famous last words.

In 6 days my baby will turn 12.  Amazing!  He's a wonderful kid, kind, considerate, charming, handsome, a good student, a good friend, a good son.  Hard to believe this is the same kid that had the "terrible two's" from the time he was born until the day he turned 3.  I love him.

We were talking last night about moving back to AZ.  I want to but I WILL NOT take Ryan out of high school to put him in an AZ school.  Not going to happen unless circumstances drastically change.  And I mean, DRASTICALLY.  We never should have moved here to begin with but I can't say that I regret the education the boys have gotten, the opportunities they've been given and the friends they've made.  It's been much harder on me and Steve making the adjustment from city life to small town life.  Major culture shock.  I'm used to having friends and family around.  We don't have any family here which makes it hard.  But, it is what it is for now and we're making it work.  I sure can't wait until he graduates though.  The very next day I hope to have a U-Haul parked in my driveway.  Unless Zach wants to stay, of course.  :)

An Open Letter to Netflix

Dear Netflix,

I miss you.  I really, really do.  Despite the fact that you told me and my family that you didn't care about us, I miss you.  You made us feel like we didn't matter.  I bet you are sorry about that now. 

We enjoyed having you around.  You were a cheap and easy date night.  We could use you when and how we wanted to and not worry about anything.  If we were desperate enough we could stream you directly to our t.v.'s.  If we were more patient or more interested in something specific we could take our time and peruse you.  But you had to go and screw it all up. 

You tried to take what was good and kind and beautiful and make it something it wasn't;  A money hungry whore with a split personality.  Your attempt to change failed miserably and I have to say I'm a bit smug about that.  I was hurt and angry when you wrote your own open letter to "Dear Netflix Customer" and said, essentially, that you knew I would be leaving and you expected it and it happens and there's nothing you could/would do to stop me from leaving, that there were more people out there just like me that would appreciate you and pay whatever you wanted because you were just that good.  You never guessed that I would be only one of 800,000 that would turn my back on you, much the same way you did to us. 

Even though you've treated me and my family so horribly, I want to forgive you.  No, really.  I do.  But so far, I just can't.  I refuse to cave and pay what you want now.  Maybe someday I'll be able to forgive you for trying to stick it to the "little" guy, but until then, my family and I will be smirking when that number changes to 800,001, 800,002, 800,003 ....

Sincerely,
Ms. H

Giveaway ~ your choice!

Two Toots Soap Shop is giving away a Lip Balm or a Solid Perfume, your choice! 

Made with organic shea and cocoa butters the lip balm will smooth and soothe your winter lips!

The solid perfume is delightful and comes in your choice of scents.

Both are sized right for travel, just toss in your handbag and off you go!

Hurry and enter, giveaway ends soon!

He's stuck around for another year....

So tomorrow is our 17th anniversary.  It doesn't even seem possible that we could even be married for that long.  I feel like a young girl still.  Ok, except for the bifocal contacts, the diabetes, the high blood pressure and the memory loss.  I almost forgot to add the memory loss.  We usually go out to dinner and maybe do a little shopping.  Without kids.  Most of the time this is all we can manage because of schedules, money, kids, etc.  And that's ok.  We almost always exchange cards but I'm kind of iffy about cards.  I used to keep them all and then it got to be too much and so I started keeping just a special few and then I wondered why.  I come across them again only when I'm cleaning something out.  But I just keep on keeping the special ones. 

Today he said that he was remembering one song that kept playing when we first met and it reminds him of me.  It's Cranberries "Linger".  Another song that reminds him of me is Sixpence None the Richer's "Kiss Me".  He says it's because I always used to say that...Kiss me.  Kiss Me! 

It's all so innocent and cutesy I can't stand it!  :)  So I just you tube'd it and we're listening to it as I write this.  He's sitting across from me playing some computer "impale them with a stick" game.  It's all good. 

So Kiss Me....

Perfect Gift Ideas

Looking for a great gift for any gift giving occassion?  Going to travel by air soon?  You should probably check out Two Toots then!  Solid perfume and lip balm in delicious flavors and scents.  Each one made by hand and perfectly sized for travel and gift giving.  Each one is only $5 bucks and includes FREE SHIPPING!  Don't subject yourself or anyone else to "winter lip" ~ get Two Toots Lip Balm and smooth and sooth!

(Just so you know, I made all that up myself, like all fancy and whatnot!)  :)

It seems like yesterday...

This coming Saturday, Steve and I will celebrate our 17th anniversary.  Well, actually I don't know if we'll do any "celebrating" because he'll probably have to work the night shift but, we'll figure something out.  We've never been big on that kind of thing.  We try to go out to dinner or something.  Maybe walk around the mall or Target.  Gosh, you'd think we're in our 80's!!  I don't know why, it's just how it always ends up working out.  Anyway....

Last night I came across two scrapbooks from back in the early days of scrapbooking.  It really does look like a "crapbook".  But the important pictures are in there so it stays that way.  The first one was from our wedding.  We have the rehersal, wedding, reception and a few from the honeymoon in Mexico.  Our kids were cracking up over the pictures last night.  Our 15 year old talked about his Dad's "80's porn-stache".  Just to clarify, Steve's never had a "porn-stache" but to Ryan, anyone with a mustache back in the day had a "porn-stache".  I'm just curious how he knows about 80's porn-staches though.  Hmmmm.  And then Zach said, "Wow, Dad had hair!!"  Then Ryan asked if we had a traditional wedding and if he was the reason we got married.  We reassured him that we are celebrating our 17th anniversary and he's only 15.  And he insisted that that's not what he meant.  Yes, our kids are such a joy! lol

Which brings me to the second "crapbook".  This one is really bad, construction and creativity wise, but the content is brilliant!  It's titled "Our Kids" and is full of, well...our kids.  It shows me preggo with both.  The pg picture with Ryan shows me with pre-eclampsia, completely swollen and just done. My nose was swollen and spread out it looked about twice its normal size.  My lips were so swollen they were slightly blue.  I was happy yet miserable.  And once that 9lb 4oz baby was born it all went away and 4 years later we decided to do it again!  That pg picture of me with Zach is completely different.  My face is not swollen, I'm smiling, I feel tired but really good.  My mom snapped it of me right before we walked around with Ryan in his dinosaur costume for Halloween.  5 days later, my little 8lb 7oz Zeenie Weenie was born.  Speaking of weenie, it's the one thing Ry pointed out about that book last night...(girly giggle)"look at Zach's little wiener!"  Ok, seriously, he's a 15 year old boy....what did I really expect for him to point out?  After that, all the pictures were randomly posted in there with a few bad captions hand written in my horrible handwriting.  Ryan with his fruit roll up wrapper made into a ninja head band, Zach and Ryan with permanent marker mustaches and goatees (Steve didn't know I only used eyeliner to do that, NOT PERMANENT marker) both in the tub, those wonderful future blackmail pictures.  And there are some of Zach being super cute and sweet and sleepy, you know those ones that capture the moment when you see that they are the perfect angels from God. 

It was nice to look back at both of those books and reminisce and see how far we've come and how much we've accomplished.  And how much we've changed.  No more bangs for me, no more hair for Steve (ok, he just keeps it really short...he knows it's a losing battle so why not just work with whatcha got, right?)  Anyway, it doesn't seem like it can already be 17 years of marital bliss.  Maybe I'll dust of the VHS tape and torture the kids by making them watch our wedding video with us.  We'll be on the look out for the 80's porn-stache.

Free Children's World Atlas

Good Saturday morning!  It's a bit breezy here in Nebraska today but temps are heading towards 75 degrees today.  Last night we froze in Milford for a football game.  My throat is a little raw from yelling for our boys.  They are now 7 and 0 with one more game at home next Thursday.  Tomorrow the pee wee's play their "playoff" game.  I'm not sure what that means at this level but that's a whole other story.  And today I head out with my Zeenie Beanie and we're shopping for pants.  The kid refuses to wear jeans and it's starting to get cold.  I've also tried basketball type pants.  He's not a fan of those either but will wear them if he has to.  I might even splurge for lunch, too. 
Anyway, this post has a purpose, too.  I joined Barefoot Book about two years ago (free, of course) and never pursued it.  Not sure why, just didn't.  I posted on this a few days ago too.  So...being a literacy advocate, especially for young children and families, this is really important to me.  Books are amazing tools!  Isn't there a quote that says "give a child a book and you give him the world"?  I don't know, it's something like that.  I don't have a kit, I don't have inventory, I do it all online.  I don't do home parties, I don't do shows.  I CAN, I just haven't.  Yet.  I WANT a kit, I just don't have it.  Yet. 

Have you ever wanted to do something like this?  You can sign up, it's easy, it's FREE and you can get a Children's World Atlas.  Go to www.ladybugjuly.barefootbooks.com and join my team.  You will get the free atlas and the opportunity to share the world with your children!

The Ultimate Blogging Challenge!

Lacey over at Little Miss Nerd Girl threw down a challenge my way.  You KNOW I can't resist!  Here's what I had to do:  List seven previous blog posts based on various criteria, then issue the challenge to seven other bloggers.  No problemo.  Except it was harder than I thought...I back tracked through a lot of posts.  It sure did bring back a lot of memories, though.  So, here ya go:

Most Beautiful Phase 2 of my 3 Phase Life

Most popular Menu Sunday

Most controversial Don't Talk to me About Politics

Most helpful Brain Bleach - You never know, I might have sparked an idea for someone to actually invent something!  It could happen....

Posts whose success surprised Aging Part Deux Ok, it didn't have "comment success" but it got a response on facebook and from my family.  So there.

Post that got undeserved attention Blogger Gone Wild  Not any comments once the perves that were googling it realized it wasn't what they wanted.  Lots of views though!! LOL

Post I’m most proud of  The Real Dorothy McFadden  This is how and why it all started.  I love her.

So now to pass the challenge on to 7 other bloggers:

1. Barefoot
2. Belle
3. Pam
4. Prew
5. Sarah
6. Lisa
7. Heather

Ready, set....go!!!

That reminds me. Or, Amy, this is for YOU!

So my little sister is now a married woman.  Wait..."woman" is just so....not her.  Not that she's not old enough or smart enough.  It's just that she's my little sister and I don't want her to be a "woman" yet because then that means I get to be "old lady".  We're 19 years apart.  And this whole thing is completely beside the point and I'm rambling again.  Here is the point of this blog:

Menu Planning!  Yes, I do it (mostly), yes I love it and no, I don't follow it religiously.  BUT, she's been checking in to it and wondering out loud on facebook and sending texts and stuff like that, so I thought I'd give her a little help and post my own ideas here and hopefully she can get a few ideas.  They are a military family and young so their budget is a bit lower than mine is but she should be able to work around it.  I haven't menu planned in a long time.  Football season makes it almost impossible.  But, Amy, maybe this will help!

Pasta and beans are cheap and go a long way.  Ground beef...find a good sale.

(Meatless) Monday: Garlic spaghetti (your mom makes it, it's fabulous and she has the recipe)

Tuesday: Chicken pot pie-cream of chicken soup and a bag of frozen veggies, thawed and drained.  Mix soup and veggies, heat up a little bit and put in a baking dish, put a tube of biscuits over and bake.

Wednesday: Pot Roast in the crockpot ( 1pkt onion soup mix with can of cream of mush. soup)
Thursday: Tasty tostadas -Left over pot roast shredded up, mixed with green onion, cilantro, salsa and black beans, spead over a flour tortilla and baked at 350 until golden brown.

Thursday: tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Don't be afraid to try different cheeses

Friday: Homemade pizza and salad (use a premade crust. use a can of mushrooms, add onions and ground beef.  Brush the crust first with just a little bit of olive oil. Or use ranch dressing as the sauce, add a can of cooked chicken and a few pieces of crumbled bacon and have bacon ranch pizza.)

Saturday: Potato soup

Sunday: left overs!!

Mim, I hope this helps you a little bit and of course just use your imagination. A lot of meals are made by trial and error!!  Love you!

Award Winning Blog!

Got your attention, right?  :)  A huge THANK YOU to Lacey at www.littlemissnerdgirl and Mikki over at www.momsbestnest.blogspot.com for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award!  The "rules" of this award are simple:

1. Thank and link back the person that awarded you the...award :)
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Send this award to 15 other bloggers and let them know you have awarded them!

#3 is probably the hardest part because there are so many wonderful blogs!  So, here we go, starting with 7 things about me.

1. I turned 40 this year.
2. I have 2 dogs, Rex and Jerry and 1 cat, Ana.  I love Rex.  I tolerate Jerry and Ana.  I dislike ALL of their fur though.  I'm an equal opportunity fur hater.
3. I was diagnosed with diabetes this summer and it's a bummer.  I quickly got on the healthy bandwagon.
4. I started back to work after summer break and quickly fell off the healthy bandwagon.
5. I create and sell my own lip balm and solid perfume.  Lookey here: www.twotootssoapshop.blogspot.com
6. Did I mention I have another blog?  ^^ See #5^^
7. I'm actively seeking a new career direction

And, ta-da, 15 blogs I adore:

1. www.beacauseidontscrapbook.com
2. www.aroundmyfamilytable.com
3.www.amomseyeview-lulu.com
4. www.crunchyfrugalista.com
5. www.forblogs.blogspot.com
6. www.grandmasguidetolife.blogspot.com
7. www.growingupgeeky.com
8. http://istinkatcouponing.dyndns-blog.com/
9 .www.lifejustsaying.blogspot.com
10. www.littleredhenry.blogspot.com
11. www.massholemommy.com
12. www.pmaynardwrites.blogspot.com
13. www.samplervillage.blogspot.com
14. www.sewbeastly.com
15. www.tightwadinutah.com

I encourage you to check out these ladies' wonderful sites!

Little Miss Nerd Girl

Lacey at Little Miss Nerd Girl is hosting a Two Toots giveaway for a .5 oz solid perfume in your choice of scents.  You can read the review and enter the giveaway by following this LINK. 

Good luck!!!!

Half off custom stickers!

Oh Sticker You, how I love thee! As many of you know (and if you don't, click HERE ) I create lip balm and solid perfume. Soap too, but let's focus people! :)

Anyway, I've had a heck of a time figuring out my labels for my uber cute tins. I've got the retro slider tins for lip balm and round tins (and some plastic) for solid perfume but can NOT make labels for either.  It's very frustrating.  The average address label is too big for the sliders and it looks dorky when I cut them.  The round tins obviously don't work with a rectangular label.  What's a lip balm, solid perfume loving/creating girl to do??  Luckily Eversave came to my rescue and I had this link in my email inbox this morning....
http://www.sharethesave.com/justdorothy/online/stickeryou
I got 4 sheets of various custom labels and only paid $5.94 in shipping costs.  Thank you, Sticker You, thank you, Eversave!!

Barefoot Books

Did you know I'm a Barefoot Books Ambassador?  You can check out my website here: www.ladybugjuly.barefootbooks.com.

Barefoot Books is a grassroots community that fosters imagination, exploration and creativity. 
Have you ever seen the statistics on people that have low literacy skills?  Really, just google it and the facts will amaze you.  I'm very thankful I have two children that have a love of reading!  Give the children in your life the wonderful gift of books.  You can even become an ambassador yourself if you prefer.  For more information follow this LINK.

Why I Miss American Bandstand

We're goin' hoppin' (Hop)
We're goin' hoppin' today
Where things are poppin' (Pop)
The Philadelphia way
We're gonna drop in (Drop)
On all the music they play
On the Bandstand (Bandstand)

If you are a person of a certain age, this song is now stuck in your head.  You're welcome!  I remember back in the day getting up and watching American Bandstand.  I watched it in the 80's.  I think I might have watched it a little in the 70's too but I was only 9 so...who can remember back that far?  Anyway, I loved to watch that show and am a little disgusted at the "progression" music has made over the last decade or two.  I like music of all kinds and I like new music but there's a lot of bad music out there in every genre.  American Bandstand was a place where the artists seemed like they did it simply for the love of music and didn't go all showboat and get stupid.  Today it seems like musicians strive to be over the top, the more bizarre the better.  Just play music, dude, because you love it.  Not for the fame or fortune but because you truly LOVE what you do.  And for God's sake, please make music videos that make sense, are not overtly sexual and make women look like tramps.  Let's bring back good music and American Bandstand.  As long as it's got a good beat and I can dance to it.

Sins of the Father...or as I like to call it, Crap my Dad says

Ok, that is the title of a book already published (not by me of course, I could never be that clever.  Like how I made never and clever rhyme?  Yeah, me too.)  But seriously, my Dad is a funny guy.  Only you have to know him for him to be funny.  You have to look at his face when he says something for him to be funny.  He is quick whitted and dry.  And often starts a story with, "Oh, Alicia, you would have DIED..."
He's the guy that wears an "I LOVE HUGS" button at family functions but tells my little sister that they don't give drivers licenses to buck toothed skanks.  And to clarify Amy is not buck toothed nor is she a skank.  But said in his dry way and with the quick whit, my brother and I were rolling!  Ok, so that probably just makes him look like a jerk.  But really, he's not. 
He's the guy that takes 2 of my nephews and my sister's 8 year old brother in law to Sam's club, buys cans of Spam for each of them, goes to the antique store, the comic book store and sometimes the movies.  This is on a regular basis.  Everyone gets something on these little outings with Dpa, even if only a can of Spam.  My sister in law lets the boys eat the Spam and then sends them over to Dpa's house for the rest of the day.  Actually he told me she's banned the Spam. 
He's the place where dreams go to die.  His words, not mine.  Which actually makes him sound like a jerk again.  Boy, his hilarity is not transferring well at all!  In all reality it just means that he will tell you the honest truth about stuff and not sugar coat it in any way.  He's always the one that will be honest and bring you down to earth, no matter what your grand ideas are.  Not that he's not a supporter of dreams, because he is.  Mostly.  But he'll tell you all the possibilities that could happen, good or bad and even things you've never thought of.  It's helpful.  Mostly. 

So, I'm going to think on where I was going with this post and try to think on how I can translate his funny bone onto it! 

Etiquette 101

So, this new Face Book is driving me nuts.  I've had a love/hate relationship with fb since I joined a while back.  People definitely overshare.  And they feel entitled to just say what they want when they want.  We've all heard the reports that facebook has been the cause of a lot of break ups and divorces and friendships exploding.  Families have been torn apart by actions/posts put on facebook.

Here's the etiquette as I see it, for posting on any social media that your family has access to:

1) Shut your trap.  Just shut it.  Don't try to make people take sides in something that does NOT involve them.

2) Don't air your dirty laundry on Facebook.  NOBODY wants to see it.  It makes you look foolish.

3) Are you seriously turning to social media to ask for money?  You realize everyone can see this, right?  It's ok to ask for prayers, encouragement and to make people aware of what's going on but for goodness sake, have some class!  Maybe a blog would be a better medium for you.

4) When in doubt, just don't post it!  Think before you "share".

We have a winner!!!

Congratulations to Nicole!  She's the winner of the Two Toots Lip Balm Giveaway :)