So I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be winning any mom of the year awards anytime soon.
Yesterday Trevor had a game and I was just puttering around until it was time to go. He was all dressed and we left right on time. When we were almost there, we had about 5 minutes to get there in time for the warm ups, I remembered that OH MY GOD. His game started at FIVE not SIX. So instead of being there 1/2 an hour early and right on time for the warm ups we were basically an HOUR late. Part of me wanted to just turn around and go back home but we went and he still got to play a bit. Of course this would be the time that Scott got there on time and he was wondering where we were!!
Yeah so that was kind of embarrasing.
When we got home I realized the recipe I was going to make for dinner was for the crock pot. UM yeah. So we went to Round Table Pizza for dinner. Go me!
This morning Trevor was all worked up about wanting some money for the book fair. I thought for sure I had posted about my hatred of the book fair before, but I can't find a post anywhere.
Why I hate the school book fair
1. I'm cheap
2. I don't buy books (unless it's at a garage sale)
3. We own library cards
4. We have a small house
5. My kids never want to read the books we actually own
6. The school gives the kids a "wish list" to fill out
7. My 8 year old wants $50 worth of STUFF on the wish list
8. He doesn't understand why I won't buy all the stuff on the wish list
9. When I send money he never comes home with a book
10. I'm cheap
So he went to school with $11. We'll see what he comes home with. Hopefully it's better than the time he got the fake phone that didn't even work as a calculator like it was supposed to.
Do you think it's fair to let the kids go shopping like that? Do you let your kids buy things at the book fair?
Life and Times of Julie
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
If Only I Got Paid To Stay Home
I feel kind of guilty for complaining yesterday.
In other news, I felt SO bad this morning. I turn down this little side road to cut out a big intersection on the way to work. There is almond orchards on both sides for most of the road with what I think is a chicken farm building in the middle. People are ALWAYS dumping stuff along that road. I've seen a bit of everything including a HUGE spa standing on end. Seriously? Take your crap to the dumps, it doesn't cost THAT much. Anyhow, today I noticed a Queensland dog, and then, noticed it was standing next to another one that looked just like it, only it looked to be dead on the side of the road. It's been eating at me all morning that I didn't stop and go check on it. I DID call animal control once they were open. I hope they go check it out. Poor puppies!!
Work is a freaking snore fest lately. All the support stuff for the applications is pretty much done, which is what I mostly work on. So until they are done with all the funding it's scraping around for stuff to do. The person I like to talk to the most at work is gone at a training all week so that's making it even less exciting.
Words With Friends anyone? I'm lil*jewels Yeah it's that exciting in here.
I've been counting down the time for lunch for HOURS.
Yesterday I finally finished listening to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo audio book. The beginning was rather boring and I had to keep going back and relistening to parts over and over again. My mind would wander off and I'd forget to listen. About half way through though, it got very interesting. I'm glad I kept with it. If nothing else, so that I'd be able to discuss it when people talk about it! I'm listening to the next one now, The Girl Who Played With Fire, which is interesting right from the start.
Audio book make the drive to work and back so much nicer! Not to mention that when I put them on my iPhone I can listen to it while doing dishes and cleaning around the house!
In other news, I felt SO bad this morning. I turn down this little side road to cut out a big intersection on the way to work. There is almond orchards on both sides for most of the road with what I think is a chicken farm building in the middle. People are ALWAYS dumping stuff along that road. I've seen a bit of everything including a HUGE spa standing on end. Seriously? Take your crap to the dumps, it doesn't cost THAT much. Anyhow, today I noticed a Queensland dog, and then, noticed it was standing next to another one that looked just like it, only it looked to be dead on the side of the road. It's been eating at me all morning that I didn't stop and go check on it. I DID call animal control once they were open. I hope they go check it out. Poor puppies!!
Work is a freaking snore fest lately. All the support stuff for the applications is pretty much done, which is what I mostly work on. So until they are done with all the funding it's scraping around for stuff to do. The person I like to talk to the most at work is gone at a training all week so that's making it even less exciting.
Words With Friends anyone? I'm lil*jewels Yeah it's that exciting in here.
I've been counting down the time for lunch for HOURS.
Yesterday I finally finished listening to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo audio book. The beginning was rather boring and I had to keep going back and relistening to parts over and over again. My mind would wander off and I'd forget to listen. About half way through though, it got very interesting. I'm glad I kept with it. If nothing else, so that I'd be able to discuss it when people talk about it! I'm listening to the next one now, The Girl Who Played With Fire, which is interesting right from the start.
Audio book make the drive to work and back so much nicer! Not to mention that when I put them on my iPhone I can listen to it while doing dishes and cleaning around the house!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Where's Daddy?
This was my view at dinner tonight.
Yes that would be my husband's empty chair at 7:05 PM with my dinner that took me about half an hour to prepare and an hour and a half to cook. Not counting the salad.
It drives me crazy that I never know WHAT time he is going to be home. I pretty much quit cooking for a few years because he was never home and we were on the go so much I didn't even care. Which of course, is not that healthy for the family. I've been trying to cook dinner every night. I've been making a menu and going to the store to get everything so I don't have an excuse for not cooking.
So the kids and I eat dinner and I put food on a plate for him and then I put the rest in the fridge and take it for lunch.
And try not to be pissed off that he's not here.
YES he commutes.
YES they are busy at work.
YES I appreciate that he goes to work and deposits his paycheck to support his family.
BUT it doesn't matter where he has worked, he hardly ever lets me know when he's going to be home. If he does it's usually at 6:30 to tell me he's working late or just leaving. Um yeah, thanks, dinner is already done? Not that I'm going to make my kids wait that long to eat.
What would you do? Obviously I've tried the call me and text me thing already.
Yes that would be my husband's empty chair at 7:05 PM with my dinner that took me about half an hour to prepare and an hour and a half to cook. Not counting the salad.
It drives me crazy that I never know WHAT time he is going to be home. I pretty much quit cooking for a few years because he was never home and we were on the go so much I didn't even care. Which of course, is not that healthy for the family. I've been trying to cook dinner every night. I've been making a menu and going to the store to get everything so I don't have an excuse for not cooking.
So the kids and I eat dinner and I put food on a plate for him and then I put the rest in the fridge and take it for lunch.
And try not to be pissed off that he's not here.
YES he commutes.
YES they are busy at work.
YES I appreciate that he goes to work and deposits his paycheck to support his family.
BUT it doesn't matter where he has worked, he hardly ever lets me know when he's going to be home. If he does it's usually at 6:30 to tell me he's working late or just leaving. Um yeah, thanks, dinner is already done? Not that I'm going to make my kids wait that long to eat.
What would you do? Obviously I've tried the call me and text me thing already.
BIG SCARY RIVER
Well now that the rains are over, we get to deal with the BIG BAD SCARY RIVER. We live right next to the river (hey it was cheap). I also cross the river several miles down the road on my way to work. Usually the river is pretty sad looking. Last summer there was actually big islands in the middle of it.
Back in 1997 the river was SCARY high. So scary I packed up my cat and the kid (only had Jessica at that time) and went to spend the night with my Grandma. There was water EVERYWHERE. Rushing water across the roads on the way to town. Lucky for us, but unlucky for a lot of other people the levee eventually broke on the other side of the river from us. AND flooded another area on the OTHER side of us.
Anyhow, today I decided to go see how high it is up on the levee by my mom's place. That's my mom's place, the big brown house. on the top left of the picture. I'm standing on a walk across bridge that leads to a water monitoring station. That brown part and the green part are the river side of the levee.
In 1997 it came to a couple feet from the top. Somewhere my mom has pictures of a stick that my brother stuck in the ground. Then pictures as the water came up and covered the stick. It was pretty scary.
Hopefully we'll all be ok! My house is actually quite a bit uphill from the river by the main road. Lucky for me!
I think if the river gets much fuller on the way to work it's going to start going over the road. Which is going to suck if I have to take another longer route!
Back in 1997 the river was SCARY high. So scary I packed up my cat and the kid (only had Jessica at that time) and went to spend the night with my Grandma. There was water EVERYWHERE. Rushing water across the roads on the way to town. Lucky for us, but unlucky for a lot of other people the levee eventually broke on the other side of the river from us. AND flooded another area on the OTHER side of us.
Anyhow, today I decided to go see how high it is up on the levee by my mom's place. That's my mom's place, the big brown house. on the top left of the picture. I'm standing on a walk across bridge that leads to a water monitoring station. That brown part and the green part are the river side of the levee.
Turning straight out with the camera
In between the river and the top of the levee
In 1997 it came to a couple feet from the top. Somewhere my mom has pictures of a stick that my brother stuck in the ground. Then pictures as the water came up and covered the stick. It was pretty scary.
Hopefully we'll all be ok! My house is actually quite a bit uphill from the river by the main road. Lucky for me!
I think if the river gets much fuller on the way to work it's going to start going over the road. Which is going to suck if I have to take another longer route!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Keeping The House
Guess what folks? It's RAINingggg. Which means no baseball practice. BUT they had planned to go to pizza after practice and that's still on. Debating on if we are going to go or not since we just finished breakfast and it's almost 11. Yeah, thinking it's not going to happen since I haven't even showered yet.
I finished the book I've been reading this morning. I almost finished it last night but I had plans to go down to the bar with my friend and her sister. I was ALMOST done when she called and said she was almost here. I was like ok! Tried to slam out the rest of the book real quick but had one chapter left when she called again and was like WTF where are you?? Whoops.
Keeping The House A Novel by Ellen Baker
I thought this book was really good. By looking at the title and the cover you think it's going to be all about a woman's life of cleaning the house. Which is a tiny part of the story. Boy, could I connect with a few parts of the book.
She awoke, and looked over at Byron, sleeping next to her. The shape of his forehead, his nose, his chin, and every curve of each eyelash, all were distinct, even in the dimness. She could see his chest rising and falling as he breathed, and could feel the heat of his body under the sheets with hers. She wondered how it was possible to know someone so intimately, to have seen and touched every curve of his body, to have heard his most private moans of pleasure and pain, to know the heat of his skin while he slept , without knowing him at all.
At the top of some of the chapters of the book is an excerpt from an old magazine or book.
A well-prepared dish and an appetizing meal is a creative achievement; therefore-I shall derive happiness from work itself.
--The Modern Family Cook Book, 1942
The specific process of learning how to face marital conflicts squarely must be carried out in a marital relationsip by the couple themselves. There is no magic involved; it is a procedure of constantly trying to discover the truth about one's self, the spouse, and the relationship, no matter how distasteful that truth may be.
--Marriage (a textboook), 1949
The time to put on the brakes in checking runaway emotions is before they gain momentum.
--The Good Housekeeping Marriage Book, 1939
I think I enjoyed the little excerpts as much as the story.
The story itself is a Story of the Mickelson Family through the years and Dolly. Dolly is new to town and falls in love with the empty Mickelson house. She finds out the story of the house through Ladies Aid meetings, which are held right down the street of the Mickelson house. Through the ladies and her own efforts Dolly learns all about the Mickelson family through the years of war and heart ache. She is also balancing her home life with her husband Byron, who is anything but romantic and fulfilling to her.
This is definitely a book I would recommend. What a great story with a few lessons to learn along the way.
I finished the book I've been reading this morning. I almost finished it last night but I had plans to go down to the bar with my friend and her sister. I was ALMOST done when she called and said she was almost here. I was like ok! Tried to slam out the rest of the book real quick but had one chapter left when she called again and was like WTF where are you?? Whoops.
Keeping The House A Novel by Ellen Baker
I thought this book was really good. By looking at the title and the cover you think it's going to be all about a woman's life of cleaning the house. Which is a tiny part of the story. Boy, could I connect with a few parts of the book.
She awoke, and looked over at Byron, sleeping next to her. The shape of his forehead, his nose, his chin, and every curve of each eyelash, all were distinct, even in the dimness. She could see his chest rising and falling as he breathed, and could feel the heat of his body under the sheets with hers. She wondered how it was possible to know someone so intimately, to have seen and touched every curve of his body, to have heard his most private moans of pleasure and pain, to know the heat of his skin while he slept , without knowing him at all.
At the top of some of the chapters of the book is an excerpt from an old magazine or book.
A well-prepared dish and an appetizing meal is a creative achievement; therefore-I shall derive happiness from work itself.
--The Modern Family Cook Book, 1942
The specific process of learning how to face marital conflicts squarely must be carried out in a marital relationsip by the couple themselves. There is no magic involved; it is a procedure of constantly trying to discover the truth about one's self, the spouse, and the relationship, no matter how distasteful that truth may be.
--Marriage (a textboook), 1949
The time to put on the brakes in checking runaway emotions is before they gain momentum.
--The Good Housekeeping Marriage Book, 1939
I think I enjoyed the little excerpts as much as the story.
The story itself is a Story of the Mickelson Family through the years and Dolly. Dolly is new to town and falls in love with the empty Mickelson house. She finds out the story of the house through Ladies Aid meetings, which are held right down the street of the Mickelson house. Through the ladies and her own efforts Dolly learns all about the Mickelson family through the years of war and heart ache. She is also balancing her home life with her husband Byron, who is anything but romantic and fulfilling to her.
This is definitely a book I would recommend. What a great story with a few lessons to learn along the way.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
What's For Dinner?
Well it's been an exciting week.Rain
Rain
Rain
Rain
Did I mention that it's been raining? I'm about sick of the rain. The forecast is finally showing sun on SUNday. Imagine that! Hopefully we'll be done with the rain for awhile then.
Tonight I made Baked Spaghetti for dinner. When I was making my menu for the week I went through some old cooking magazines I had up in the cupboard. I've never had baked spaghetti before.
Here's the responses
Jess: I like regular spaghetti better
Liss: It was ok
Trev: (he put his between 2 pieces of bread?) seemed to like it
Scott: what was that? It was like a cross between lasagna and spaghetti.
Me: This is pretty good! (I'm not a huge spaghetti fan)
So I think it might be a keeper! It cost about $10 to buy all the ingredients and we have quite a bit left over for lunches.
Here's the recipe for you! The only thing I did different was use whole grain spaghetti noodles and I added olives to the top.
Do you have a favorite inexpensive but healthy recipe?
Monday, March 21, 2011
Not bad for a Monday!
Well today has been a pretty nice day!
I didn't have to worry about getting air in my tires
since I have 2 spanking new ones
since I have 2 spanking new ones
(and 2 that are only a few months old).
Work was pretty boring but hey I only work 6 1/2 hours
and went to lunch at a great place.
Baseball game was cancelled :SCORE:
Picked up the kids,
planted my shrubs while it sprinkled on me,
finished reading my book.
Did some laundry,
changed my sheets,
and made dinner.
Got a voice mail from my mother in law
that they were at the baseball field and no one was there.
that they were at the baseball field and no one was there.
OOPS.
We ate pretty late so everyone was home and we sat at the table.
Everyone liked the casserole I made
(it's one my mom made all the time when I was growing up).
And the best thing about today?
My $1000 credit is pending in my account
and tomorrow is payday x 2!
I think I might just cash my check
and get my coffee can out.
Too bad I pay all my bills online.
Now if Trevor wasn't coughing in his sleep it would almost be a perfect day!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Lazy Saturday
Yesterday sucked big fat hairy donkey balls. About lunch time I got a call from the bank. Someone used my ATM card for $1001.20 at Wal Mart. They attempted to do it a 2nd time but they were denied. Thank God! So once again we are going through the process of getting our money back. At least it was my card this time. Seriously. I'm so going to just start using cash everywhere and storing my money in a coffee can under a floor board somewhere. 
Thanks to the rain today we skipped baseball practice, although they never did call and say it was cancelled I just pretended it was. It was sprinkling on and off, windy and generally nasty outside. If I don't want to go outside to run to the garage and change the laundry, I'm surely not going to make my kid go out and practice in it for an hour or two. Scott went and got my two new tires for me. Thankfully my bank robbers left us enough money for that. I don't think I could have made it any longer on that bad tire without getting a blow out or something.
I stayed in bed all morning reading. I finally finished reading
It took me over a month to finish it! It wasn't really that it wasn't good, it just wasn't as good as the first one. I don't want to give anything away in case someone is reading it but I was kind of hoping the ending would play out differently.
AND since the weather outside is crappy and I had it on my nightstand I started reading this one
and I'm half way through. I must just not have been in the mood to read the other one. Or this one is better? I don't know! The first one was definitely a good read! (The Little Lady Agency). I actually had to force myself to get up. Mostly because my back was killing me from laying around all day. I decided to make some lasagna for dinner to make up for me laying around and napping reading all day. (Picture taken by someone on my cell phone, nice!)
The lasagna turned out super yummy and now I'm so full!
I guess I'll go finish my book!
Friday, March 18, 2011
:Sniff:
I'm feeling rather depressed and emotional today. I don't know what my problem is. Last night I asked Scott to put air in my tire (hopefully getting new tires tomorrow!) and he forgot. So I had to drive on an almost flat tire for about 10 miles to the nearest gas station. I didn't really care at that point if I was ruining anything. I am just getting so tired of having to do everything myself. I hardly ask for any help anymore, and the one time I do he forgets. Is that really a reason to feel like crying? I think not. Sheesh I'm pathetic.
So the next 7 day weather forcast is rain, rain and more rain. I'm hoping it rains today and tomorrow so we don't have to worry about softball and baseball.
I have to take Trevor to the dentist today to get some cavaties filled. I made the mistake of saying something about drilling teeth and now the boy is all kind of worried. I told him they will make him numb like they did last time we were there and he said that that part hurt too. Poor kid!
Have you seen the movie Easy A? I watched that last night and totally laughed out loud at a couple spots. After I got done watching it I was kind of thinking I wish I would have been different in high school. Either be more INTO school, trying harder to get better grades or more into the having fun crowd. What a toss up, isn't it? Instead I was pretty boring middle of the road. No big great exciting high school memories for me.
Well have a great weekend! I hope someone has some exciting plans for me to read about!
So the next 7 day weather forcast is rain, rain and more rain. I'm hoping it rains today and tomorrow so we don't have to worry about softball and baseball.
I have to take Trevor to the dentist today to get some cavaties filled. I made the mistake of saying something about drilling teeth and now the boy is all kind of worried. I told him they will make him numb like they did last time we were there and he said that that part hurt too. Poor kid!
Have you seen the movie Easy A? I watched that last night and totally laughed out loud at a couple spots. After I got done watching it I was kind of thinking I wish I would have been different in high school. Either be more INTO school, trying harder to get better grades or more into the having fun crowd. What a toss up, isn't it? Instead I was pretty boring middle of the road. No big great exciting high school memories for me.
Well have a great weekend! I hope someone has some exciting plans for me to read about!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Watch out for Patty!
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!! 
When I think of St. Patrick's Day I think of Patricia. I met Patricia in the 3rd grade when she came to our school. Being the new girl she was all kinds of popular. I was lucky enough that she wanted to be my friend. Patricia was born on St. Patrick's Day. She lived with her grandparents. I'm not quite sure why they were raising her, but mom had left the picture. Patricia was fun for awhile. Then, the true Patricia came out. She was MEAN. I can't remember what we fought about but I remember her grabbing my shoulders and digging in her fingernails. I actually still have a few little scars from when she gouged out my skin. She ended up getting sent home from school that day and I'm pretty sure we weren't friends after that. Crazy Patricia. I wonder what happened to her? Maybe she's in jail.
When I think of St. Patrick's Day I think of Patricia. I met Patricia in the 3rd grade when she came to our school. Being the new girl she was all kinds of popular. I was lucky enough that she wanted to be my friend. Patricia was born on St. Patrick's Day. She lived with her grandparents. I'm not quite sure why they were raising her, but mom had left the picture. Patricia was fun for awhile. Then, the true Patricia came out. She was MEAN. I can't remember what we fought about but I remember her grabbing my shoulders and digging in her fingernails. I actually still have a few little scars from when she gouged out my skin. She ended up getting sent home from school that day and I'm pretty sure we weren't friends after that. Crazy Patricia. I wonder what happened to her? Maybe she's in jail.Wednesday, March 16, 2011
They need a woman in charge!
This was the sky Monday afternoon right before Trevor's game
I couldn't believe they weren't calling the game. They had to be there at 4:30, with the game starting at 5:00. When we left our house it was rather warm and I didn't make Trevor take a jacket. I just had a regular sweatshirt on. Not too long after we got there it started sprinkling. Then raining. Then raining REALLY HARD. They called the kids to come sit in the dug out under that shade cloth thing there on the bottom right of the picture. I ran to my car because I was getting soaked!! I sat there for a few minutes. Then I went out and asked the couch if they were going to call the game. He said they were waiting for it to be actual game time. We had about 5 minutes, it was still raining and everyone was soaked. The field was a muddy mess. I looked at him and said "seriously"? He said he was so I told Trevor to grab his stuff and left. Scott drove by a little bit later on the way home and he said the place was a ghost town.
I've decided that men should not be in charge of such matters. They seem to be lacking some common sense!
Monday, March 14, 2011
We went on a date, ALL DAY!
Sunday Scott and I went on a date! ALMOST all day! My original idea was that we would go to Alcatraz, since Scott has never been there. Then we were having a tsunami and I wasn't sure if they would still be open, let alone still standing, so I held off on getting the tickets. By the time I went to look again they were all sold out for Sunday. So the plan was to just go to the Fisherman's Wharf area and hang out.
We were trying to decide if we should drive or take BART. I decided we should just take BART since Scott doesn't do well in areas he doesn't know (or any areas with traffic, people, or more than 3 cars). I figured it would make the trip a little more mellow. So we hopped on Bart in Dublin and got off at the Embarcadero exit. I had looked at my trusty dusty SF tourist book I bought a couple years ago and saw that we could catch the F street car and it would take us right over to the pier.
When we got out of the tunnel I was slightly turned around but we saw a sign that said "Embarcadero" so we walked that way and eventually came out on the right street. We found where to catch the street car and then I realized that we didn't have any small bills. When the street car pulled up I asked if they made change and she said no but we could get on and pay on the way back. Nice! Scott had to stand up since there wasn't really any empty seats. He got his first street car ride in style!
I can't believe has lived here all his life and never been to Fisherman's Wharf. It's only about an hour and a half away! We hopped off when we got to Pier 39 and then we went to Bubba Gumps for a late lunch/early dinner. Scott LOVES the movie Forrest Gump and could probably recite the entire movie word for word if you let him! I figured he'd get a kick out of Bubba Gumps and he thought it was fun. I do wish we would have waited a little longer instead of taking the table that was kind of in the pathway to the bathroom though. The food was great though and the service was really good. I got the Delta Sunrise drink and it was super yummy! We shared a large order of fish and chips and had clam chowder for the appetizer. I was totally full for the rest of the day.
While we were eating it was raining on and off and we got lucky in that it had pretty much stopped when we were done. We walked around the pier and looked at the sea lions and walked down the wharf, over to the old arcade games that I love (I thought he would like them more than he seemed to) and back around out back and looked at the submarine. The big ship that was back there was all fenced off. Then we walked all the way down to the Ghiradelli Square. It started pouring when we were almost there so we ducked inside for a free chocolate and hung out for a few minutes. THEN we walked down to the Maritime Museum. I had never walked down that far before and you can step right down to a little beach. There were actually about four people swimming (and a dog right next to the no dogs on the beach sign). CRAZY!
That was about all we did besides walk back. ALL THE WAY back since we never got change and somehow just ended up walking all the way to the BART station. That's A LOT of walking. All in all it was a nice relaxing day. Nice to just hang out and enjoy each other's company.
Alcatraz
We were trying to decide if we should drive or take BART. I decided we should just take BART since Scott doesn't do well in areas he doesn't know (or any areas with traffic, people, or more than 3 cars). I figured it would make the trip a little more mellow. So we hopped on Bart in Dublin and got off at the Embarcadero exit. I had looked at my trusty dusty SF tourist book I bought a couple years ago and saw that we could catch the F street car and it would take us right over to the pier.
The flowers along the wharf are always so beautiful
When we got out of the tunnel I was slightly turned around but we saw a sign that said "Embarcadero" so we walked that way and eventually came out on the right street. We found where to catch the street car and then I realized that we didn't have any small bills. When the street car pulled up I asked if they made change and she said no but we could get on and pay on the way back. Nice! Scott had to stand up since there wasn't really any empty seats. He got his first street car ride in style!
I can't believe has lived here all his life and never been to Fisherman's Wharf. It's only about an hour and a half away! We hopped off when we got to Pier 39 and then we went to Bubba Gumps for a late lunch/early dinner. Scott LOVES the movie Forrest Gump and could probably recite the entire movie word for word if you let him! I figured he'd get a kick out of Bubba Gumps and he thought it was fun. I do wish we would have waited a little longer instead of taking the table that was kind of in the pathway to the bathroom though. The food was great though and the service was really good. I got the Delta Sunrise drink and it was super yummy! We shared a large order of fish and chips and had clam chowder for the appetizer. I was totally full for the rest of the day.
While we were eating it was raining on and off and we got lucky in that it had pretty much stopped when we were done. We walked around the pier and looked at the sea lions and walked down the wharf, over to the old arcade games that I love (I thought he would like them more than he seemed to) and back around out back and looked at the submarine. The big ship that was back there was all fenced off. Then we walked all the way down to the Ghiradelli Square. It started pouring when we were almost there so we ducked inside for a free chocolate and hung out for a few minutes. THEN we walked down to the Maritime Museum. I had never walked down that far before and you can step right down to a little beach. There were actually about four people swimming (and a dog right next to the no dogs on the beach sign). CRAZY!
That was about all we did besides walk back. ALL THE WAY back since we never got change and somehow just ended up walking all the way to the BART station. That's A LOT of walking. All in all it was a nice relaxing day. Nice to just hang out and enjoy each other's company.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Baseball Opening Day!
Today we totally re-entered the world of little league baseball. At the nice and early time of
8:00
for the pancake breakfast. WHICH I was lucky enough to get the slightly undercooked pancakes instead of the slightly OVER cooked pancakes this year. (Scott got those).
This year Trevor's coach bought his whole team tickets to the breakfast so we only had to buy them for ourselves (minus Jess of course, 8:00 on a Saturday? and she hates pancakes).
We got there promptly at 8:10 with my wet hair in a pony tail and wearing flip flops. Trevor lined up with his team.
TWO STRAIGHT LINES
While Scott, Melissa and I got our pancakes and disgusting sausage. I think, like childbirth, the pancake breakfast always sounds like a good plan because you have a whole year to forget that it's really. Not.That.Good.
Eventually the kids came in and ate their pancakes. I decided to get a mamarazzi picture for the scrapbook.
Oh look how nice, my kid is the one actually looking at the camera.
After we got done eating we went outside and sat at a picnic table while we waited for the kids. I knew it was opening day but I was kind of hoping to skip that. I totally missed that opportunity though when they brought the boys out and walked them in
TWO STRAIGHT LINES
over to the ball field where we promptly waited for AN HOUR AND A HALF for the opening ceremonies to begin.
After sitting there that long and through most of the ceremony which just drones on and on and on (seriously if you want to thank tons of people for past service? have a banquet!) we got up and walked around a bit and EVENTUALLY our kid was let loose to join his family again.
I really wanted to go get tires for my car today but we only had 3 hours, which from past experience is NOT enough time to get tires in our town on a weekend.
So we went to Big 5, where I was met with every mother's nightmare.
At one point Scott called me over to "help" and I told him I didn't require him to help pick out maxi pads so I thought he could handle it. Seriously.
Eventually he closed his eyes and picked one and we were out of there. With that thingy, a new bat, a decent undershirt, and extra socks for him and Jess. (MUST have for all baseball/softball players!)
We walked down to the food court and had lunch. Then we walked the mall to see what other stores had left the premises. Our mall is looking like a ghost town. I'd guess that at least half the stores are empty now.
After that we drove over to get Scott some new shoes at the Outlet Center. Only to find out that HELLO that store is gone too.
At this point we only had an hour left so we went over to Scott's parents house to hang out. His mom is super excited about baseball/softball season. That's the only time she leaves the house other than the grocery store and bowling once a week. We hadn't told them about today's game since it was at a different school and that was just a wee bit too confusing for them I thought. I'm sure they will be there for Monday's game though.
Finally, time to drive to the game. We got there and the other team we were playing had the exact same uniforms, just a different team name. Awesome.
AND no shade.
AWESOME.
Trevor got to play catcher for the first 3 innings (and wear that new cup!) He was so worried about the batters discarded bat every time they got on base. I think by the last batter in the 3rd inning he finally got it that he didn't have to worry about the bat!
He WAS super cute in the catcher's gear though.
Sadly he didn't break in that new bat very well. (Probably due to the fact that the coach was throwing the balls REALLY fast!) Although he did scrub it clean and dry it when we got home. Pretty cute!
8:00
for the pancake breakfast. WHICH I was lucky enough to get the slightly undercooked pancakes instead of the slightly OVER cooked pancakes this year. (Scott got those).
This year Trevor's coach bought his whole team tickets to the breakfast so we only had to buy them for ourselves (minus Jess of course, 8:00 on a Saturday? and she hates pancakes).
We got there promptly at 8:10 with my wet hair in a pony tail and wearing flip flops. Trevor lined up with his team.
TWO STRAIGHT LINES
While Scott, Melissa and I got our pancakes and disgusting sausage. I think, like childbirth, the pancake breakfast always sounds like a good plan because you have a whole year to forget that it's really. Not.That.Good.
Eventually the kids came in and ate their pancakes. I decided to get a mamarazzi picture for the scrapbook.
Oh look how nice, my kid is the one actually looking at the camera.
After we got done eating we went outside and sat at a picnic table while we waited for the kids. I knew it was opening day but I was kind of hoping to skip that. I totally missed that opportunity though when they brought the boys out and walked them in
TWO STRAIGHT LINES
over to the ball field where we promptly waited for AN HOUR AND A HALF for the opening ceremonies to begin.
I really wanted to go get tires for my car today but we only had 3 hours, which from past experience is NOT enough time to get tires in our town on a weekend.
So we went to Big 5, where I was met with every mother's nightmare.
At one point Scott called me over to "help" and I told him I didn't require him to help pick out maxi pads so I thought he could handle it. Seriously.
Eventually he closed his eyes and picked one and we were out of there. With that thingy, a new bat, a decent undershirt, and extra socks for him and Jess. (MUST have for all baseball/softball players!)
We walked down to the food court and had lunch. Then we walked the mall to see what other stores had left the premises. Our mall is looking like a ghost town. I'd guess that at least half the stores are empty now.
After that we drove over to get Scott some new shoes at the Outlet Center. Only to find out that HELLO that store is gone too.
At this point we only had an hour left so we went over to Scott's parents house to hang out. His mom is super excited about baseball/softball season. That's the only time she leaves the house other than the grocery store and bowling once a week. We hadn't told them about today's game since it was at a different school and that was just a wee bit too confusing for them I thought. I'm sure they will be there for Monday's game though.
Finally, time to drive to the game. We got there and the other team we were playing had the exact same uniforms, just a different team name. Awesome.
AND no shade.
AWESOME.
Trevor got to play catcher for the first 3 innings (and wear that new cup!) He was so worried about the batters discarded bat every time they got on base. I think by the last batter in the 3rd inning he finally got it that he didn't have to worry about the bat!
He WAS super cute in the catcher's gear though.
Sadly he didn't break in that new bat very well. (Probably due to the fact that the coach was throwing the balls REALLY fast!) Although he did scrub it clean and dry it when we got home. Pretty cute!
I was kind of wishing I had that lady's stupid hat by this point. The sun was beating on me so much I got up and walked down the field a bit. Which actually made for better "no fence" pictures.
Finally at 5:00 the game was over and we got in the car and drove home. That was one LONG day.
I need to get my act together and get my softball bag going.
Blanket
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Hat
Sunflower Seeds
Water
Money for Snack Bar
Etc.
Next game is Monday. I'm so excited. Maybe my face will look a bit less lobsterish by then.
Friday, March 11, 2011
I need a "Mom's for Dummies" manual.
Well I went and watched Jessica's softball game today. She said she might get to be a pinch hitter, whatever that means. I figured that was good enough for me to go watch. She did get to go up to bat but ended up striking out. So did several other girls. Almost all the juniors were sitting on the bench. MVP from last year? On the bench. The girls that were out on the field made error after error after error. The final score? 0 (us) to 11.
After the game was over the coach gave them his "pep talk" or whatever it was. LONG talk. I was waiting for Jess to get done so I could give her the energy drink that Trevor had bought for himself. Yeah like an 8 year old needs an energy drink. Anyhow, I was waiting for her so I could give her the drink. After the talk I could see her wiping her eyes. I was hoping she was just having allergies. But no. She was crying. Apparently part of his pep talk was telling the girls that if you don't usually get to play, when you do get to play, you need to be extra extraordinarily. Pressure much? The coach told them that they have to pay their sports fee on Monday, $150.
I've known we were going to have to pay the sports fee, it's part of playing sports at the high school. I'm fine with paying the sports fee, especially this year when I won't have to drive her since they provide a bus to the games that are out of town. Jessica on the other hand was worried about the fees, especially since she hasn't been able to play. She asked the coach if she was going to play more and he said he couldn't guarantee it so she told him she was going to quit. His response? "Okay"
So then she comes out of the dug out bawling. She's crying to me that he obviously didn't care if she was on the team. How she really likes playing softball but she hates being on the bench :cry: I was pretty flabbergasted that the coach was so rude about her quitting.
I was standing there talking to her when the coach was leaving so I asked him if I could talk to him for a minute. I told him I was pretty disappointed in how he pretty much just wrote her off and didn't even offer to talk to her. I told him I thought he should be more encouraging. I also told him how I thought it was really sad that pretty much the whole team from last year is sitting on the bench and not getting any playing time. I told him I thought it would be nice if he could rotate the girls in a bit more, especially when they are losing so bad anyways. I told him it's really not about the money to me, it's about my kid getting some time to play. Especially when she's been going to every practice, every day, going to the games, missing hard classes at school and trying her hardest.
He was actually pretty nice after the first minute or two (when I asked him if it was a political thing, he didn't like that too much). He actually apologized for being so abrupt with her when she said she was going to quit. Told me that he thought I was right about several points and that when I apologized for kind of bombarding him, he said I did the right thing as a mom. He said he hopes she doesn't quit and to think about it more over the weekend.
When we left I Jess and I had to go separate ways since I had to park in a different parking lot. She sent me a text that said "I love you mom".
I tell you, being a mom is the hardest freaking thing in the world.
After the game was over the coach gave them his "pep talk" or whatever it was. LONG talk. I was waiting for Jess to get done so I could give her the energy drink that Trevor had bought for himself. Yeah like an 8 year old needs an energy drink. Anyhow, I was waiting for her so I could give her the drink. After the talk I could see her wiping her eyes. I was hoping she was just having allergies. But no. She was crying. Apparently part of his pep talk was telling the girls that if you don't usually get to play, when you do get to play, you need to be extra extraordinarily. Pressure much? The coach told them that they have to pay their sports fee on Monday, $150.
I've known we were going to have to pay the sports fee, it's part of playing sports at the high school. I'm fine with paying the sports fee, especially this year when I won't have to drive her since they provide a bus to the games that are out of town. Jessica on the other hand was worried about the fees, especially since she hasn't been able to play. She asked the coach if she was going to play more and he said he couldn't guarantee it so she told him she was going to quit. His response? "Okay"
So then she comes out of the dug out bawling. She's crying to me that he obviously didn't care if she was on the team. How she really likes playing softball but she hates being on the bench :cry: I was pretty flabbergasted that the coach was so rude about her quitting.
I was standing there talking to her when the coach was leaving so I asked him if I could talk to him for a minute. I told him I was pretty disappointed in how he pretty much just wrote her off and didn't even offer to talk to her. I told him I thought he should be more encouraging. I also told him how I thought it was really sad that pretty much the whole team from last year is sitting on the bench and not getting any playing time. I told him I thought it would be nice if he could rotate the girls in a bit more, especially when they are losing so bad anyways. I told him it's really not about the money to me, it's about my kid getting some time to play. Especially when she's been going to every practice, every day, going to the games, missing hard classes at school and trying her hardest.
He was actually pretty nice after the first minute or two (when I asked him if it was a political thing, he didn't like that too much). He actually apologized for being so abrupt with her when she said she was going to quit. Told me that he thought I was right about several points and that when I apologized for kind of bombarding him, he said I did the right thing as a mom. He said he hopes she doesn't quit and to think about it more over the weekend.
When we left I Jess and I had to go separate ways since I had to park in a different parking lot. She sent me a text that said "I love you mom".
I tell you, being a mom is the hardest freaking thing in the world.
Going Shopping Online?
Do you like to shop online a lot? I don't really shop online that much. Since I'm a little "fluffy" I have to try on my clothes. The kids have to try on most of their clothes too. Scott on the other hand? Is impossible to find clothes for in the store. He's 6'6" tall, which means you can't just walk into the store and buy pants. Or shoes. Shirts, underwear, and socks he can wear what's in Target. He's ALWAYS getting frustrated when he needs pants and shoes. He's not much on fashion. I know to NEVER EVER buy him a baby blue shirt EVER again. He hates baby blue shirts. It might as well be pink!
For Christmas my mom got him 2 pairs of jeans but they ended up being too small so I took them back to JCPenny's and got a return-gift card type voucher. Today I finally went online to buy him some more pants. Most people can go online and just browse all the pants. For him? I put in the size he needs and see if anything decent comes up!
Most savvy shoppers know that if you are going to shop online you should first search for coupon codes.
I recently got an email from http://www.couponchief.com asking me to try out their site. So I went there and looked at their JCPenny's coupons to see if I could find any good deals. I tried one for 15% off, but it didn't work. Something about my items didn't qualify for that discount. I ended up using one for free shipping though, which saved me about $15. With that gift card I had I only ended up paying $30 for 2 pairs of Levi's. Not a bad deal.
Oh look they even have some Van's Coupons. I'm going to have to look on there and find him some new shoes. His shoes look like crap. He got them at the Van's Outlet and they've been worn out for about 6 months and he STILL hasn't went and got some new ones. I bet I can find him some on there!.
Do you have a favorite place to get coupon codes from?
I was contacted by Coupon Chief for this review and will be compensated, however, all opinions are my own.
For Christmas my mom got him 2 pairs of jeans but they ended up being too small so I took them back to JCPenny's and got a return-gift card type voucher. Today I finally went online to buy him some more pants. Most people can go online and just browse all the pants. For him? I put in the size he needs and see if anything decent comes up!
Most savvy shoppers know that if you are going to shop online you should first search for coupon codes.
I recently got an email from http://www.couponchief.com asking me to try out their site. So I went there and looked at their JCPenny's coupons to see if I could find any good deals. I tried one for 15% off, but it didn't work. Something about my items didn't qualify for that discount. I ended up using one for free shipping though, which saved me about $15. With that gift card I had I only ended up paying $30 for 2 pairs of Levi's. Not a bad deal.
Oh look they even have some Van's Coupons. I'm going to have to look on there and find him some new shoes. His shoes look like crap. He got them at the Van's Outlet and they've been worn out for about 6 months and he STILL hasn't went and got some new ones. I bet I can find him some on there!.
Do you have a favorite place to get coupon codes from?
I was contacted by Coupon Chief for this review and will be compensated, however, all opinions are my own.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Inspiration
I'm home today. Trevor was coughing up a lung last night and this morning. Although miraculously he hasn't hardly coughed at all in the last 3 hours. Imagine that. So I've been putting around the house, doing laundry, picking things up, etc. I made put dinner together last night and had it all ready in the crock pot so that's been cooking all morning. It's starting to smell good.
When I look through my magazines I dog ear the corners of things that interest me so I can go back later and scan them if I want to save them. Here's a few out of Better Homes and Gardens August 2010 (yes I got a bit behind on the magazines)
I love the bench with the table idea. I've wanted to do something like this for a long time. Look at all that storage you would have inside the bench too!
It's actually a front yard vegetable garden! I love the bricks! Look how lovely the garden looks and NO GRASS to mow. AWESOME. Not to mention growing your own food! (and look you can go online and get the garden plans, I didn't even notice that until after I scanned it.
Now I can give my magazine away and I didn't even ruin any of the pages so the next person can enjoy it.
When I look through my magazines I dog ear the corners of things that interest me so I can go back later and scan them if I want to save them. Here's a few out of Better Homes and Gardens August 2010 (yes I got a bit behind on the magazines)
I love the bench with the table idea. I've wanted to do something like this for a long time. Look at all that storage you would have inside the bench too!
I LOVE this look into the garden. Doesn't it look like you are going to have a nice stroll and find lots of beautiful flowers to look at? Maybe you'll find a nice chair to sit and read and enjoy the garden.
Now I can give my magazine away and I didn't even ruin any of the pages so the next person can enjoy it.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
I've actually been cooking again!
Before I went shopping on Sunday I picked out 7 recipes from the Kraft foods site. In hind sight I picked too many chicken recipes so I've been trying to put the non chicken ones in between. I've been trying to track our money a little better now and got all anal and figured out how much each recipe cost me.
First up we have one of our favorite recipes, Creamy Pasta Primavera. I've made this quite a few times, but this is the first time I've actually used asparagus like it calls for. I used whole grain pasta also.
First up we have one of our favorite recipes, Creamy Pasta Primavera. I've made this quite a few times, but this is the first time I've actually used asparagus like it calls for. I used whole grain pasta also.
Here's a little breakdown:
Dressing (usually I have some but I was out) $1.89
neufchatel cheese $1.99
can of chicken broth $.78
pasta $.98
zucchini $2.78 (due to bad weather in Mexico the signs said lol)
asparagus $1.83
chicken $7.58 (too bad it wasn't on sale)
Grand total: $18.52
Which is A LOT! BUT it was enough for the whole family and for me to take for lunch for 2 days.
Next up: Three Bean Turkey Chili. I didn't buy the crackers. Who eats crackers with chili? I made a big batch of corn bread. This cooked in the crock pot all day and was awesome. I thought I might have to eat it for lunch everyday but Scott LOVED it. I didn't tell him it was turkey until he was done eating and he didn't even care. I took it for lunch yesterday and last night I had HORRIBLE HORRIBLE GAS. So just saying you might not want to eat this when you want to be sexy or something haha. I was fine the first night though, so not sure what the deal was. Maybe it makes more gas the longer it sits? Weird.
Beans: $1.00
Beans $.68
Beans $.68
Salsa $.2.78
Tomatoes $.58
Turkey (only used half the rest is in the freezer) $3.69
Cheese $1.98
I had on hand the other ingredients
Grand total: $11.39
That was enough for everyone to eat (Jessica gagged a bit down, she hates beans). Scott had SEVERAL helpings and I took it for lunch one day.
Last night was Greek Style Lemon Chicken. Probably would have been better if the chicken had been fully thawed and fully cooked. I had to throw it back in the oven after the family picked off the "done" pieces. It was just ok. I have some left over that I'm going to make some fajitas out of.
Greek Dressing (lots left obviously): $1.89
Lemons: $.28
Chicken: $5.68
Grand total: $7.85
Like I said I have some left over to make another small meal or lunch from so not bad price wise on that one.
That's enough for now, dinner's done!
All these opinions are my own, I wish Kraft would hire me to review their recipes that would be AWESOME ;)
On a rambling train
Well today started off on the wrong foot AGAIN. I thought for sure we were going to miss the bus because it was time to go and we weren't even near ready yet. I was yelling "HURRY!! HURRY!!" to Melissa and Trevor. Of course Trevor does not quite understand the term "HURRY". I think that boy needs an extra hour in the morning to get ready. He loves to lay in front of the heater (we have a wall unit) and just do nothing. Which of course is fine if you wake up an hour early, which we never do. We did actually get to the bus stop on time and I even had time to write Trevor's a teacher asking what he has to do to get his toy back that the teacher took away yesterday. It's an exciting life I lead.
Speaking of the teacher. I have such a mental block with my kids teacher's NAMES this year. I, for the life of me, cannot remember those teacher's names for more than a couple of hours. I'm starting to think there is something wrong with my memory. Isn't there some kind of herb I can take to help that? Oh and I can never remember my sister in law's mother's name. EVERY TIME we go to my brother's house and they are there I spent about an hour running through names in my head trying to remember. Of course it never comes to me because she doesn't have a common name. Her name is DeeDee, I don't know why I can never remember that. It's quite embarrassing.
Jessica is supposed to have another game today. Hopefully she'll get to play. There is also a game on Friday. I told her if she doesn't get to play by Friday she might as well quit. I don't know what's the point of being on a team if you are only sitting on the bench. She was telling me this morning that two other girls that she has played with the last 3 years have also been warming the bench and these girls are GOOD PLAYERS! I'm talking like hit a home run every time you get up players. It's quite perplexing to me.
Last night Trevor had practice at the big ball field where the high school plays. He wanted me to stay so I walked around the complex for about 40 minutes. I'm about sick and tired of none of my clothes fitting. I'm just about to the right mind to do something about it. Baby steps I guess. I've really had my eyes opened recently to how much of the food we eat is not real food. It's quite scary actually.
When Scott got there I ran to Target to get Jess some paper for school. I picked up a pack of almonds to snack on for the ride home because I was STARVING. I ate all 3 servings on the way home. When I finally got home it was almost 8:00. Trevor was in my room crying that he needed some shorts. I found some in the dirty clothes basket and went in to see about eating some dinner. Trevor hadn't eaten yet either, which apparently no one else thought about while they were stuffing their faces.
Seriously.
So I got him some food and some food for myself and ate dinner and did the dishes. Then I did a load of laundry and put away the pile that had been cascading all over the floor in my room.
Doesn't it seem sometimes like the days are 100 hours long? Sometimes I'm so tired. I don't know how I do it and I end up yelling and being grouchy. It's days like these that I want to quit my job and just be a stay at home mom again. Maybe once I get my car paid off. I don't know. There's always so much we need. Including the insurance I have through my work. I guess it's not even really an option when you factor that in.
Speaking of the teacher. I have such a mental block with my kids teacher's NAMES this year. I, for the life of me, cannot remember those teacher's names for more than a couple of hours. I'm starting to think there is something wrong with my memory. Isn't there some kind of herb I can take to help that? Oh and I can never remember my sister in law's mother's name. EVERY TIME we go to my brother's house and they are there I spent about an hour running through names in my head trying to remember. Of course it never comes to me because she doesn't have a common name. Her name is DeeDee, I don't know why I can never remember that. It's quite embarrassing.
Jessica is supposed to have another game today. Hopefully she'll get to play. There is also a game on Friday. I told her if she doesn't get to play by Friday she might as well quit. I don't know what's the point of being on a team if you are only sitting on the bench. She was telling me this morning that two other girls that she has played with the last 3 years have also been warming the bench and these girls are GOOD PLAYERS! I'm talking like hit a home run every time you get up players. It's quite perplexing to me.
Last night Trevor had practice at the big ball field where the high school plays. He wanted me to stay so I walked around the complex for about 40 minutes. I'm about sick and tired of none of my clothes fitting. I'm just about to the right mind to do something about it. Baby steps I guess. I've really had my eyes opened recently to how much of the food we eat is not real food. It's quite scary actually.
When Scott got there I ran to Target to get Jess some paper for school. I picked up a pack of almonds to snack on for the ride home because I was STARVING. I ate all 3 servings on the way home. When I finally got home it was almost 8:00. Trevor was in my room crying that he needed some shorts. I found some in the dirty clothes basket and went in to see about eating some dinner. Trevor hadn't eaten yet either, which apparently no one else thought about while they were stuffing their faces.
Seriously.
So I got him some food and some food for myself and ate dinner and did the dishes. Then I did a load of laundry and put away the pile that had been cascading all over the floor in my room.
Doesn't it seem sometimes like the days are 100 hours long? Sometimes I'm so tired. I don't know how I do it and I end up yelling and being grouchy. It's days like these that I want to quit my job and just be a stay at home mom again. Maybe once I get my car paid off. I don't know. There's always so much we need. Including the insurance I have through my work. I guess it's not even really an option when you factor that in.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Coaches Suck
I'm so annoyed right now. Today was the second game for softball and Jessica sent me a message telling me to "don't bother coming". Because for the second time she's going to be warming the bench. I just don't understand how you can go to practice EVER DAY for SEVERAL HOURS and not get to play AT ALL. WTF? I know they "want to win" and what not, but whatever happened to giving every one a chance to play? If you aren't going to play the kid, cut them from the team. What's the point of keeping them on the team if they aren't going to play? Nothing like making a kid feel like shit.
Busted!
Well apparently it's time for me to actually bite the bullet and get a blue tooth stupid ear thing for my phone. I just got pulled over this morning for talking on my cell phone while I was driving. Lucky for me I wasn't speeding or anything else and the Sheriff let me go with a warning and a promise to never do it again.
I know it's DANGEROUS, but really, I'm a mom. I can multi task! And everyone knows that a cell phone is so not as distracting as three children in the car. I think they should make THEM illegal to drive with.
I'm mean who hasn't had some kind of object thrown into your lap when you are driving?
Kids screaming!!!
Someone puking. (in your new car NO!!!!)
She's touching me!!!
MOM he won't stop LOOKING AT ME!!!
Move over!!!
Stop kicking me!!
Someone trying to open their door???
Get your head back in the window!!
Yeah. Talking on the phone? Piece of cake.
But I promise not to do it again.
I'll put it on speaker.
I know it's DANGEROUS, but really, I'm a mom. I can multi task! And everyone knows that a cell phone is so not as distracting as three children in the car. I think they should make THEM illegal to drive with.
I'm mean who hasn't had some kind of object thrown into your lap when you are driving?
Kids screaming!!!
Someone puking. (in your new car NO!!!!)
She's touching me!!!
MOM he won't stop LOOKING AT ME!!!
Move over!!!
Stop kicking me!!
Someone trying to open their door???
Get your head back in the window!!
Yeah. Talking on the phone? Piece of cake.
But I promise not to do it again.
I'll put it on speaker.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Cousins and More Babies
Well we've had a pretty nice weekend so far! Friday night I ended up scanning old pictures all night to put on Facebook for my cousins. They had asked me if I had any pictures from when they were little. Everyone seems to enjoy my efforts of scanning all night!
Saturday was Trevor's baseball picture day and practice afterwards. Amazingly he didn't wipe out his outfit before the pictures this year!
After his practice we went over to my brother's house for a BBQ and hanging out. I found out I'm going to be an Auntie again!! So excited! Is it wrong for me to hope the baby is a girl? Little girl clothes are just so cute! I'm hoping everything goes smoothly for my niece/sil. This will be her first baby. She's so excited and I think that the company that makes and sells pregnancy tests is going to go out of business now. She must have bought 100 of them in the last few months!
Scott had to go to work today. We have no food so I guess I'll be off to the grocery store soon. I've got my list made and all my recipes printed out for 7 days so meal time will be figured out. We have softball and baseball almost every day this week so I'm going to have to be on top of the dinners so we don't eat out.
AND my throat is all scratchy. UGH. I hope I'm not getting sick.
(that's Jess with squatting on the bench)
Saturday was Trevor's baseball picture day and practice afterwards. Amazingly he didn't wipe out his outfit before the pictures this year!
After his practice we went over to my brother's house for a BBQ and hanging out. I found out I'm going to be an Auntie again!! So excited! Is it wrong for me to hope the baby is a girl? Little girl clothes are just so cute! I'm hoping everything goes smoothly for my niece/sil. This will be her first baby. She's so excited and I think that the company that makes and sells pregnancy tests is going to go out of business now. She must have bought 100 of them in the last few months!
Scott had to go to work today. We have no food so I guess I'll be off to the grocery store soon. I've got my list made and all my recipes printed out for 7 days so meal time will be figured out. We have softball and baseball almost every day this week so I'm going to have to be on top of the dinners so we don't eat out.
AND my throat is all scratchy. UGH. I hope I'm not getting sick.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Happy Heavenly Birthday
Today would have been my Grandma Marilyn's 79th birthday.
I can't believe she has been gone for almost 11 years already.
Happy Heavenly Birthday Grandma!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Living The Simple Life
One thing I've noticed the last few years is how some people are really into THINGS, while others, more like myself, are not. These things are really in my face when I meet new people. Trevor just started baseball season so that of course, gets you kind of hanging out with other moms.
A few things I notice are:
Coach Purses
Fancy Shoes
Designer Clothes
Fancy Cars
Latest Phones
Big Houses
Those are the things that show the most on the outside.
This is what they probably notice about me:
Clearance Purse
Tennis Shoes or Flip Flops
Sale Clothes or Goodwill
Car bought for better gas milage
One step behind the lastest phone (that's a vice of mine lol)
Little Country House
Sometimes I wonder what people think of what I'm wearing. Sometimes even feel ashamed a bit of my cheap plastic-y purse when the person next to me has a nice one. But I could NEVER bring myself to pay more than $20 for a purse. $20 for a purse is a splurge for me. And you can bet that I will use that purse until it starts to fall apart.
I'm all for comfort when it comes for shoes. Those nice boots with the heels sure look pretty. But I know your feet hurt like hell.
The closest I get to designer clothes are ones I find at Goodwill or at Garage Sales (although I haven't been to a garage sale since I was laid off). I kind of got into the designer clothes when I got into selling on ebay. Although my favorite "designer" was GAP. Not much of a designer I guess but they jeans sure did sell well on ebay! One of my favorite pairs of jeans are a pair of Lucky jeans I bought for $5 at Goodwill. They were brand new at the time, although I've "worn them in" rather well.
When we bought our car, although we did buy it "new" I really had wanted to buy a used car. I'm not quite sure how we ended up with a new one. I don't ever want to buy a "new" car again. They are SO expensive. I put so many miles on the car that to me it's kind of dumb to pay that much. Although I do have a thing about driving a car that has issues. Growing up we always had POC (piece of crap) cars. We were forever pulling over so the car could "cool off". I remember one time my mom came to pick me up at the mall. We had this huge old ugly brown station wagon they got for $600. I was a teenager so that totally sticks out in my mind. Anyhow, she pulls up and we get in and I look in the back and there is this huge piece of metal in the back on a piece of cardboard. I'm like "mom, what is that? She says "I don't know but it fell off when I was driving and it's pretty big so it must be important". (I think this is why I married a mechanic). Once car starts crapping out on me I start hinting for a new one. So far we've had great luck with our cars though. I had my 1980 POC Sunbird that my parents gave me in high school (appropriately Lemon Yellow). When I was 21 we bought the Saturn, which Jessica is now driving. My car I have now, the HHR is a 2007 and knock on wood, we have had no problems. I still have about a year to get it paid off. Let's hope it stays running good. I'm already up to 90K miles.
I do have an iPhone. I'm an internet junkie though. I don't have the 4 yet, but I am starting to seriously think about upgrading.
And of course, our house. Where we live is like a mobile home park with houses (or a condo type situation). You own the house but the land is owned by all the members of the "club" and you have to pay membership dues. Because of this unique club situation banks will not loan you money to buy a house out here. This of course, drives he prices of houses way down. We paid $20K for our house when we bought it in 1993. We paid it off in 5 years. I can't tell you how awesome it is to NOT have a house payment. Even though we only have one bathroom, I have to walk out to the garage to do laundry and we only have 3 bedrooms. Sometimes I'd like a bigger house. I definitely get house envy when I see other people's nice houses, BUT my house is mine.
I think growing up on the lower end of the middle class definitely has had an impact on my way of thinking about "things". I'm a pretty simple person. I like simple things. Fully functional without a lot of frill. Take it or leave it I guess!
What about you? Are you a "things" person?
A few things I notice are:
Coach Purses
Fancy Shoes
Designer Clothes
Fancy Cars
Latest Phones
Big Houses
Those are the things that show the most on the outside.
This is what they probably notice about me:
Clearance Purse
Tennis Shoes or Flip Flops
Sale Clothes or Goodwill
Car bought for better gas milage
One step behind the lastest phone (that's a vice of mine lol)
Little Country House
Sometimes I wonder what people think of what I'm wearing. Sometimes even feel ashamed a bit of my cheap plastic-y purse when the person next to me has a nice one. But I could NEVER bring myself to pay more than $20 for a purse. $20 for a purse is a splurge for me. And you can bet that I will use that purse until it starts to fall apart.
I'm all for comfort when it comes for shoes. Those nice boots with the heels sure look pretty. But I know your feet hurt like hell.
The closest I get to designer clothes are ones I find at Goodwill or at Garage Sales (although I haven't been to a garage sale since I was laid off). I kind of got into the designer clothes when I got into selling on ebay. Although my favorite "designer" was GAP. Not much of a designer I guess but they jeans sure did sell well on ebay! One of my favorite pairs of jeans are a pair of Lucky jeans I bought for $5 at Goodwill. They were brand new at the time, although I've "worn them in" rather well.
When we bought our car, although we did buy it "new" I really had wanted to buy a used car. I'm not quite sure how we ended up with a new one. I don't ever want to buy a "new" car again. They are SO expensive. I put so many miles on the car that to me it's kind of dumb to pay that much. Although I do have a thing about driving a car that has issues. Growing up we always had POC (piece of crap) cars. We were forever pulling over so the car could "cool off". I remember one time my mom came to pick me up at the mall. We had this huge old ugly brown station wagon they got for $600. I was a teenager so that totally sticks out in my mind. Anyhow, she pulls up and we get in and I look in the back and there is this huge piece of metal in the back on a piece of cardboard. I'm like "mom, what is that? She says "I don't know but it fell off when I was driving and it's pretty big so it must be important". (I think this is why I married a mechanic). Once car starts crapping out on me I start hinting for a new one. So far we've had great luck with our cars though. I had my 1980 POC Sunbird that my parents gave me in high school (appropriately Lemon Yellow). When I was 21 we bought the Saturn, which Jessica is now driving. My car I have now, the HHR is a 2007 and knock on wood, we have had no problems. I still have about a year to get it paid off. Let's hope it stays running good. I'm already up to 90K miles.
I do have an iPhone. I'm an internet junkie though. I don't have the 4 yet, but I am starting to seriously think about upgrading.
And of course, our house. Where we live is like a mobile home park with houses (or a condo type situation). You own the house but the land is owned by all the members of the "club" and you have to pay membership dues. Because of this unique club situation banks will not loan you money to buy a house out here. This of course, drives he prices of houses way down. We paid $20K for our house when we bought it in 1993. We paid it off in 5 years. I can't tell you how awesome it is to NOT have a house payment. Even though we only have one bathroom, I have to walk out to the garage to do laundry and we only have 3 bedrooms. Sometimes I'd like a bigger house. I definitely get house envy when I see other people's nice houses, BUT my house is mine.
I think growing up on the lower end of the middle class definitely has had an impact on my way of thinking about "things". I'm a pretty simple person. I like simple things. Fully functional without a lot of frill. Take it or leave it I guess!
What about you? Are you a "things" person?
Feeling better and Moving on!
Well you will all be happy to know I feel a lot less of the "doom and gloom" today. I'm sure that doesn't have anything to do with me trying to finish up the left over wine from book club last night.
Yesterday was a nice afternoon. The sun was out when I got home and Trevor didn't have practice. I spent a couple hours outside pulling grass out of the rocks in the front of the house. I didn't know that your fingernails could be sore, but mine sure are!
I threw some left over chicken in the skillet with some onions and green peppers. Then I chopped up 2 left over baked potatoes and threw those in there along with a little bit of water and some salsa and wahhhlaaaa threw it in some tortillas and we had a yummy dinner. Melissa had been kind of turning her nose up at it all but when she was done eating she told me it was "surprisingly good" and that it would have been better with "just a little bit less peppers". Obviously she watches too many reality cooking shows! I think it's so funny that she loves cooking shows, yet she's super picky about food. Maybe I'm just not making it right, eh?
The rest of my evening was spent washing dishes and surfing the net. My youngest brother and sister in law are finally on facebook. He has a stalker ex-girlfriend so they were really leary of getting one. So they have the combined name and ultra weirdo blocking features on.
I hope today ends up being a good day. They are having a little "to do" for a girl at work that is getting laid off. I always find that such a strange situation. Here's your party, even though you don't want to leave, enjoy your last day! Tomorrow is actually her last day but a lot of people aren't going to be here so they are doing it today. Poor girl!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Life's like a roller coaster. Can I get off now?
Today is dark and gloomy. Raining and very windy. It's a perfect stay at home and lay in bed and read day. BUT, I'm at work. I don't really feel that well either (went to bed at 7 last night with a headache and stomach ache). Jessica must feel the same way because she sent me a text saying she wanted to go home from school (which hasn't even started yet). I told her to just go to class and maybe she'll feel better. I can tell the poor kid is totally feeling depressed. Between the phone call the other day and then yesterday they had their first softball game and she didn't get to play at all. Which I'm sure is because she missed practice the day before because she had to go get her physical. Life sucks sometimes.
I'm sure my husband hates me too since last night I totally yelled at him. He has to talk to the people at the fraud department at the bank AGAIN because the guy I talked to on the phone Saturday lied to us about adding the second charge to the first one. Which I figured out when we got a credit for the first charge and not the second. I called and of course they have to talk to HIM because it's on his card. Even though we've already talked to them ten times and told them what happened. So when he got home I told him he had to call and he goes into his mini hysterics. I told him, everything you need is in the envelope. Call this number, this is the charge here's all the stuff. So he starts to call and dials a bit and then hangs up and starts freaking out. Apparently he had to put in the debit card number and he wasn't ready with that yet. :Sigh: So I took over the phone and yelled at him and told him he's a freaking genius but he can't do these simple things and OMG will you please stop over complicating everything!!! Yeah not one of my finer moments but seriously. It's not that fucking hard. I've called the place so many times I almost have it memorized. So I call and finally get to the actual person and their fucking system is down. Seriously? I'm sure I probably have a flag on our account for all the nice and lovely things I've told them. They are supposed to call HIM back in the next 24 hours. I told them they better have all the info and make it easy on him because he can't handle it. :sigh: I would just go change banks but I JUST got our new debit cards and checks yesterday and it's a fucking pain in the neck. AND I'd have to still get the charge reversed anyways. I'm about ready to go stand outside the bank with a picket sign that says "this bank lets people steal your money and you have to work to get it back yourself".
On a postive note, Melissa's going ice skating today for Honor's Society. I told her please don't fall down and break anything. That's all we need.