Totally Tattoo'd Mother

Traveling Red Pink Dress

2012-01-13T14:58:00.000-05:00

I have decided to add to the Traveling Red Dress coffers with a beautiful pink ball gown style dress I found at a yard sale almost 3 years ago. I believe it was originally worn to a quinceanera.

I paid $25 or $30 at the time, and was so thrilled to have it. I didn't have a real reason for the purchase, I just knew I had to own it. It sat in my sewing room for a few months until I decided it would make a wonderful Glinda the Good Witch costume. I did some alterations on it since I was not a size 14 (add a few sizes), mainly making the lacing area a little more plus-size friendly. I did add some poofy sleeves, but those have since been removed.

Here is my daughter showing off the dress with the hula-hoop insert I made so the dress wouldn't touch the ground at the party I went to.

And here is my daughter in the dress without the hoop.

For reference purposes, my daughter is 5'8" and somewhere in the size 16 area.

I am seriously going to miss this dress, but if it can help someone see the wonderousness of themselves, it will be better served out and about rather than in my room being looked at occasionally.

Oh, and because it is so awesome - it has a pocket too :)

I'll try to remember to add a pic of the back of the skirt, because it is fabulous.

Someone (well a few actually) has claimed it, and as soon as we get some pictures in it (and an address) it will be mailed out to someone who needs some time in a beautiful dress.

Here's to The Bloggess, thanks for being awesome :)

Mmmmmmmmm!!!

2011-10-11T07:07:00.000-04:00

Why did no one tell me Nutella was so delicious? That it is like spreadable Ferrero Rocher?

Also, apparently I am clueless. I just went to Ferrero to do a link for the super yummy candy and discovered that they make Nutella as well.

I am slow.

But happy, now that I have discovered the joy of Nutella :)

Book Squeeee

2011-09-23T10:31:00.000-04:00

I just had to post that my library (ACPL) finally loans Kindle books!!!!!!! I am so happy for my cheap self.

Thank you, end squeeee

:)

Meh, I'm gonna post it anyway.

2011-06-07T13:15:00.001-04:00

I always feel like there should be all of these things I could blog about. Then I think about it for a second and unless you want to hear about how I just ate a whole bunch of caramels and now my teeth hurt you're kind of out of luck.

I guess I could talk about how my glasses are ALWAYS dirty, and how does that even happen? I don't touch the glass when I push them up (which is constantly). I work in a quite office, not a kitchen. How do they manage to get so greasy and dusty and just gross?!? Grrrr I would wear my contacts but for some reason when I get home and look in the mirror my eyes are RED? No irritation causing this that I am aware of, it just looks like super allergy has struck again and my eyes are the poor victim without the horrible allergy problems. Probably not a good idea to walk around causing fear in the hearts of ~~millions~~ ~~thousands~~ ~~hundreds~~ a few with my glowing red eyes, so I wear my stupid dirty glasses.

Oo, I can talk about how my stupid boobs are always falling out the bottom of my bra. Even the ones that fit perfectly. I love my boobs, but could they just stay where I put them and not try to escape all the time? I catch myself righting the girls all the time. Grocery shopping? Check. Getting gas? Check. Sitting in church? Check. In a restaurant? Check. Half the time I don't even realize I'm doing so until on the second boob. And the bra strap falling off the shoulder thing? ALL THE TIME! Having boobs is totally overrated.

Or I know I can tell you all about how I love shoes (it's a problem really) but hate to actually wear them. Oh, shoes, I love them so. Pumps, Platforms, Stilettos, Wedges, Peep-toes, Sparkly ones, Colorful ones, Stripey, Solid, Strappy, shoes just make me happy. Until I put them on. Then I'm all I don't care how cute these are, my feet want to be free. I love summer just because I can wear flip-flops everywhere then kick them off as soon as I get where ever I am going. Whatever, I just buy cute flip-flops and wear them as long as I can get away with. Which usually means until there is actually snow on the ground.

See, nothing worth talking about. Meh, I'm gonna post it anyway.

UPDATED: I figured out why my glasses are always dirty! Turns out my eyelashes are long enough that they just touch the glass, feathering (or lashing, whatever) oil onto the lense, which then gives the dust and whatnot something to stick to. :(

Anansi Boys

2011-04-28T12:17:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading this book.

Wow! What an excellent read. The end is just fantastic, really makes the whole story come together in a very satisfying way. It's been a while since an adventure choked me up, but there is something about the relationship between a man and his son and between brothers that Gaiman is able to capture wonderfully.

Just go read it and you'll see what I mean.

Wendy's Country Fried Steak

2011-04-01T07:47:00.000-04:00

Does anyone out there remember Wendy's Country Fried Steak sandwich from their 99 cent menu? It was just a peice of counrty fried steak with mayo and pickles on a small white bun? Rining any bells out there?

I used to have them add onions and boy there was just something about that sandwich!

And then...

Boom!

Gone. No more CFS :-(

Here is a link to a commercial for it.

from TV ACRES: Advertising Mascots

I say Bring Back The CFS!!!!!!!

Is Jesus enough?

2011-03-24T09:33:00.000-04:00

I ran across this in my morning reads…

http://storybleed.com/2011/01/when-jesus-isnt-enough/

Quoted from the article:

I add Jesus like salt and pepper to a tasteless dish.

He isn’t the main course, just an extra on the side.

This is so true for me.

Here it is

2011-03-18T11:08:00.000-04:00

http://violenceunsilenced.com/daisy/

I spoke out and just wanted give you a direct link.

I was really nervous prior to posting this. I wasn't sure how my story would be received. Because I stayed. I know many people out there are probably amazed at my stupidity and that was the reason I wasn't sure I should even go forward with my story.

But the comments I have received have been nothing but uplifting. Thanks for taking what I had to offer. Thanks for not judging me. And mostly thanks for caring, it really does make a difference.

I am so on it

2011-03-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I thought I might update the whole costume thing. (yeah the one from Halloween, What?)

I was Ursula the Sea Witch from Aladin, just kidding. Gotta keep you on your toes. She is from Little Mermaid - here's what I was going for.

image courtesy Kingdom Hearts

Here is my head shot (sorry about the horrible lighting)

Followed by gratuitous cleavage (the only shot I have where you can see my tenticles *winks*)

And just for fun a "Glamour Shot"

I tried to dye myself purple with food coloring, maybe a better way to do that would have been to thin the food coloring with vinegar instead of lotion?

On to this year's costume... "Oh no, I've lost my glasses!"

I'm Speaking Out

2011-03-07T13:44:00.002-05:00

I'm speaking out - http://violenceunsilenced.com/

For those of you who may or may not know my story, it will be posted Mar. 17 at the above link.

Brene Brown and Vulnerability

2011-02-10T10:14:00.002-05:00

This is an older TED talk, but it’s the first time I’ve been able to see it and it is so true. I have no idea who Brene Brown is, other than an author and researcher/storyteller. I’m not going to look into her right now to find any of this out. I want to post this while it’s still fresh for me.

If the video isn’t embedded, here's the page http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/1042

For some this was hard to listen to, for other it was just an affirmation of what they already know.

I have seen this in so many lives. So as vulnerable as it makes me feel, if you watch this with an open mind and heart to God, it applies to ALL of us. We are broken to the point that, as she says in the talk and as I am learning in my small group, even faith has become something we can be RIGHT about. We can use our own fear of vulnerability as a means to make others feel like they are wrong and thus less than. When in reality we need to be vulnerable and be loving and forgiving to everyone and chance that rebuke or rebuff.

Courage to say, “I have faith in the Lord” even though we may get harsh replies or even just ignored or whatever. Courage to not judge people who aren’t the same as we are. Courage to say I am not here to stand with you against a sinner but to show them that God loves them too. Courage to call fellow believers out when they are screwing up. And the courage to say, “I suck at writing, but felt like this needed saying.”

I'm a Whiner

2010-11-18T11:29:00.001-05:00

I have decided that I am too poor to buy Christmas presents for people that I don’t see.

Usually we have to buy stuff for all of the kids under 18. This ends up being the ‘how cheap can I get a gift that is even remotely age appropriate’ game. I am not a fan.

Since we are not doing so well monetarily, I have made the executive decision that I will be finding (or making) a few gifts for people that actually mean something to us as a family or me personally. This means that the things I give will actually be things I think will mean something to the person. So much better for everyone involved. No one gets a bunch of crap they don’t want or need!

Why does everyone seem to think that more crap is better than less not-crap?!?

It is so frustrating that I just refuse to participate. Give me a holler if you agree or have a rebuttal.

breathe

2010-11-05T09:34:00.001-04:00

Holy Crap…

Only 3 more weeks until the wedding

I think I am going to pass out.

I must remember to breathe!

and breathe

Come on, it’s not that bad, everyone in the history of weddings, has made it through this.

Stupid control issues

and breathe

It’s not like we have boutonnieres to make or food to buy and make or stuff for the guest book or pictures to print for the center pieces or figuring out how to decorate the church so it doesn’t look like a gymnasium or make sure everything comes together so that we can decorate the church, get married and then undecorated all in like 5 hours…

and breathe

cause yeah, all of that is left to do

CRAP!

Oh yeah and hopefully I still fit into my dress………

and breathe

Email handling - please read and delete my name & address per below

2010-11-02T14:39:00.000-04:00

For those of you who think some of your e-mail buddies could learn a thing or two about e-mail etiquette.

-----Original Message-----
From: I didn't listen to the e-mail

To: Everyone and their brother (Hi spammers)

Sent: Because people should know
Subject: Email handling - please read and delete my name & address per below

I am sending some instruction on e-mails to you. You can print them and check them out at your leisure.

IMPORTANT!! HOW TO HANDLE E-MAIL APPROPRIATELY

A friend who is a computer expert received the following directly from a system administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails. Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Don't you hate it?

Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. Sometimes even e-signatures with addresses and phone numbers.

As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer.

Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and they will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over five cents.

How do you stop it?
Well, there are several easy steps:

(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. Then scroll to the bottom and make sure no names addresses or phone numbers from you or anyone else is left on the e-mail either.

You MUST click the 'Forward' button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on 'Forward' first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses. Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses.

This is the way the people you send to will only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say 'Undisclosed Recipients' in the To: field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove any 'FW:' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.

(5) Have you ever gotten an e-mail that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.

A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition. (Actually, if you think about it, who's supposed to send the petition in to whatever cause it supports? And don't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it just isn’t so!)

(6) There are also those e-mails that say something like, 'Send this e-mail to 10 people and you'll see something great run across your screen.' Or, sometimes they'll just tease you by saying something really cute will happen.
This will not happen!!!!! (Trust me; I'm still seeing some of the same ones that I waited on 10 years ago!) I don't let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed. (Could be why I haven't won the lottery??)

(7) Before you forward an Amber Alert, or a Virus Alert, or some of the other ones floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just about everything you receive in an e-mail that is in question can be checked out. Just go to www.truthorfiction.com or http://www.snopes.com/ these sites have search areas where you can type in a few key words and bring up what you want to see.

It’s really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please do not pass it on. If it is true, then pass it on. If there is something saying Snopes verifies this or seen on Truth or Fiction, go to the site to check it out. Please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and viruses being passed via forwards.

(8) Remember, as easy as it was for you to delete previous e-mail addresses for you, it is just as easy for someone to change the e-mail itself. What started with certain information can be changed very easily.

(9) Links in e-mails can lead to pages you don’t want to go. Please be very careful clicking on links in e-mails if you aren’t certain where the original e-mail came from.

As an example I can type www.snopes.com but if you click on that link you will see that it takes you to Google instead. So, please be very careful.

E-mails are great fun and can be informative, but please be aware that not everyone that uses e-mail has your best interests at heart.

Costume Contest updates

2010-10-15T11:20:00.001-04:00

Alright, no one has any guesses so far; I must have made it too hard. Here are some updates on what I’ve done with the costume so far:

Out of the shells I made a necklace and earrings (the earrings are the prize for whoever guesses)

Out of the black satin I cut 4 wonky trapezoids, then sewed them together to make a dress leaving the bottom ¼ unsown and cutting up from the bottom in the center of each piece about ¼ of the way up

Out of the purple satin I cut 8 very skinny triangles and sewed them to the 8 bottom sections of the dress

I have straightened 19 hangers and attached 16 of them together at one end in sets of 2 and taken the last 3 and made a big circle

I think that’s it so far. I only have another week to work on it, and I still have so much to do. Crap.

Hopefully I will have some decent pictures this year. Last year all of the pictures were very dark (I guess that’s what happens when you only take pictures with your phone).

grieving a stranger

2010-10-04T11:08:00.000-04:00

I don’t really know Nancy W. Kappes, Paralegal. The only exposure I’ve had to her is through The Bloggess. I came close to meeting her when Blogher was in Chicago, but ended up not being able to make it.

This woman I never met was also from Indiana and I always felt closer because of that.

But I feel strange grieving a lady I’ve never met.

R.I.P. Nancy, you will be missed by people you didn’t even know existed, let alone made laugh endlessly at your wonderful inappropriateness.

questions answered and hints given

2010-10-01T12:56:00.000-04:00

So I just had to call and talk to my credit card company…

Yeah, that is just not a fun call to make when you’re trying to find out any information.

But I have to give them props. The first call I made was super frustrating, so I hung up and fumed a little bit. But. Then I calmed down and called back and got a different representative, and she patched me through to the people I needed (yay). I talked to the next rep’s supervisor because she couldn’t answer my questions, but wasn’t trying to feed me a line.

Here is the best part… The supervisor was actually able to answer my questions and give me options!!! I know holy crap someone that could actually do their job.

Color me super pleased!

PS on the costume front: I have just cut into both the black & purple satin, making several purple triangles and a few black quadrilaterals

My Fair Lazy - Jen Lancaster Updated

2010-09-29T10:16:00.001-04:00

It took me a while to finally pick this up (really download for listening), but I have to say, Hoorah!

Jen Lancaster is so good at what she does it’s silly.

In Such a Pretty Fat, she made me want to get healthier, even if I have to work at it, and in My Fair Lazy she totally makes me want to get off my ass and do something interesting. Open my mind to new things. Her Jen-aissance might just be what I need too.

I think if more of the American populace were to dig into cultures and do it to learn, we might really grow as a country.

But enough of that, this is simply a really funny look into one woman’s attempt to find culture and class instead of being cultureless and clueless.

Look into it, it makes me want to do things instead of watching others do them for me.

Mystery Costume

2010-09-20T12:18:00.001-04:00

I have finally started work on my costume this year. I have been putting it off for a while now. I was going to be Peggy Bundy but I just wasn’t feeling it. I have decided to go with something I have been thinking through for a while…

Here are your clues:

Purple Lamé

Black (crepe backed) Satin

Purple (crepe backed) Satin

Coat Hangers

Pillow Stuffing (tmi?)

Green Corduroy

Lime Green Tulle

Possibly a Hula-Hoop

Lots of Hairspray

White Hair Color Spray

3 Sea Shells

Misc Make-up

I will do my best to come up with a gift for the first person to correctly guess, and so you can have hints along the way I will let you in on what I am doing occasionally.

Right now I am making Purple Lamé yo-yo’s and I took apart a pair of dark green cords (as an aside I am attempting a skirt for regular wear out of the top of these).

I hope to find some way to post pictures by way of e-mail entries but I’m not too hopeful.

P.S. Salt, no giving it away ;-)

well crap!

2010-09-15T15:11:00.000-04:00

I guess we just won’t be enjoying anymore pictures.

I’m sorry.

That means I will have to learn how to make thousands of words make sense.

Boo!

Wish me luck!

Also, I will be deleting those test e-mail-to-blogs.

They anger me.

This is a test

2010-09-15T14:43:00.001-04:00

This is a test of the e-mailing blogger system.

If this had been a real blog, pictures would be posted here:

With instructions to follow, such as:

Please leave comments regarding content

Feel free to exit without commenting due to severe cases of lurking

Encouragement to enjoy the rest of your day

Not to fear. Barbie’s fate does not have to be yours, simply follow the rules and no one gets hurt.

This has been a test.

Thank you

blog by phone Updated

2010-09-12T18:56:00.001-04:00

I have come to the realization that trying to blog with only a qwerty phone keyboard sucks. It is hell, especially when you have 2 big thumbs.
Boo.
What I really need to look into is blogging by e-mail. That should be an option. Especially since I am too poor for internet or a computer (at home).
Whatevs.
Guess the phone will just have to be good enough for now.
:-P

*Update*

I am slow.
Have set up my blog by e-mail.
Posting might occur regularly now.
Please pay no attention to the (wo)man behind the curtain.

Somewhere near the beginning.

2010-07-21T16:58:00.000-04:00

Alrighty then.
I guess I can start at the beginning of the drawn circle.
At some point in my single digits (I think this was probably when I was 4 or 5) I became a christian.
I lived with my grandparents, my grammy is a nurse and papa is a (substitute) pastor, for a year or so during that time.
I don't remember the moment, just that I wanted Jesus to be in my heart.
Several years later I was baptised. I was 11. My papa did the honors.
A little while later I made a commitment to remain a virgin until marriage. I even got a promise ring.
I tell you all of this to give you some background for the up and coming set of posts. Because even with a really strong background of faith (and the faith itself has not faltered) I fell really hard when it happened. Then I stayed there for a while.
Hopefully this will be a good thing, but I am sorry if my words fall short for you. Writing is not really my gift, but I feel like someone might need to hear what I've been through to know that forgivness is a beautiful thing.

Yay! revisited

2010-07-10T19:49:00.000-04:00

so, i just had this post all typed up and mostly ready to go and i deleted it. now you're getting a short little note instead. ready?

got a new phone with unlimited web for a month. love it!!!

also debating whether to do a series of posts from my stupid teenage / early 20's years.

sorry the post is short and totally un-capitalized. i didn't really feel like going through all of that again. small phone keyboard and all.

let me know how you feel about the series and we'll see if my thumbs can handle the outcome.

Black Friday Anyone?

2010-01-23T16:53:00.003-05:00

I am totally getting married!

On my 13th anniversary.

Which is on Black Friday - Every Year. (Yeah we're strange like that)

Despite rumors to the contrary...

2009-11-07T20:30:00.002-05:00

I'm alive.

So, I haven't been able to update the blog in a while without the internets lovingly taken away by my employer.

I'm at my friend's and decided to hijack her's.

I just went to a phone service provider to help a friend get a new phone. And let me tell you, the salesman - he was a douche! All the phones that were available for purchase were pieces of crap. Especially the ones she was interested in. All except some blackberry thing. She liked it but when she asked about the internet options for it, he told her that the only internet available was $30 a month. So she said she don't need internet that bad and he walked away. He walked away several times, then once she was finally ready to get her phone, he was nowhere to be found. Just an all around bad sales person. Boo.

On to different phone issues, my phone (all touch screen all the time) no longer has a working touch screen unless it decides to work. It has a ghost. Or something. Whatever. I am mad at it. I don't have to pay for anything though. Can I get an amen for Warranty!?! Whoot! Now I just have to wait for the new one to show up.

On to new topics of interest to only me... Jonzey has really pulled a Saul to Paul transformation. He is really a bright spot in my life now. He makes sure I don't have things to do when I get home, like the dishes are done and the (and this is the best part) SOCKS ARE FOLDED!!!!! Dude. There is nothing better than coming home to a basket of folded socks. Mmmm... better than good foreplay.

Anywhoddle, I just thought I'd put a little somethin on here to show that I'm still alive and kickin. Hopefully I'll be able to this again soon. I have pictures of Halloween costumes. This year I did a Tinkerbell and Glinda the good witch of the North. Hopefully I'll be able to get them off of my phone sometime soon.

what's been on my mind...

2009-08-03T19:51:00.003-04:00

So I'm sure there have been some of you out there at least wondering what the hell was going on in February to make me lose it.

It has been brewing in the back of my head and I can't really go forward here without coming clean.

Jonzey (my significant other for the last 11 years) is an alcoholic. On the anniversary of his grandmother's death he went crazy. He's been drinking since he was... oh... 12 maybe??? He had gotten drunk before then, but wasn't really "drinking" drinking. And it all culminated in a serious episode.

Jonzey tried to kill my brother.

The day (Sunday) started out ok... Jonzey went out trying to mediate between my brother and a common friend. I can't remember the deal but there was no animosity.

The day stretched on and the drinks flowed. Jonzey got drunk as usual and then decided to get all up in my brother's friend's face (we'll call him DT). Well DT couldn't defend himself due to court restrictions, so my Bro got up and told Jonzey he needed to back off and it escalated into a huge blow out in the strip club. They split up after and went their separate ways. Jonzey got home several hours (and drinks) later and *told me to call my brother (*told has more to it than words, but I'll leave that to your imagination). I got my brother on the phone and Jonzey fired a gun off in my house while I was on the phone with him. Needless to say my bro headed over immediately, not sure what was going on and scared for his sister.

In the mean time Jonzey and I went outside to wait for him (Jonzey had very bad intentions and I had to be right there).

When my brother pulled into the driveway Jonzey immediately started firing at his car. Thank God the only thing hit was the rear driver side window of his car.

Finally the cops showed up and I left with my friend.

He moved in with his grandfather the next day.

Now I know there are those of you out there are all.. WTF?!? And I have to say I agree.

Between a friend and I we kind of figured out the he was trying to either commit suicide by "cop" (my brother isn't a cop, but that's the closest I can get). If my brother died, he figured one of the family would do it for him. Not the best plan and also completely sub-conscience.

There is good news besides my brother's health.

Jonzey is now going to A.A. twice a week, trying to get his Honor GED and getting straight with God.
We are trying to work things out.

It is going really well.

He hasn't had a drink and has said that he doesn't *really* want one. It is still hard to walk into a bar, but not impossible.

He has lost a LOT of his anger, but still has to work through some of it. Now instead of "beer" bottling it up we talk through it.

He is still living with his grandfather, but we see each other regularly and are "dating." He watches Lu every day and will be going to take some classes as soon as he gets his Honor GED. This is something that he has needed to do for a while. He dropped out of school after 8th grade.

Crap!

2009-07-09T17:31:00.003-04:00

I just wanted to post a quick note to say that my posts are going to be even more sporadic than ever.

Work shut me down.

I can no longer post from work, and since I have no internets at home (I am in the dark ages, no cable either) I can't update unless I steal my BFF's internets.

So, I'll see you occasionally.

I'll miss yous guys.

It's all for the dogs!

2009-06-30T15:31:00.005-04:00

I recently made the decision to ban the dogs from my room every other night. This way I can have a semblance of regular sleep. In order to keep them out of my room and from completely trashing the house, this means that they must stay in their cage all night or sleep in Lu's room.

Since Lu's room looks like a clothes bomb went off all over the place, they are stuck in the cage for the time being.

Lu and I were discussing the best strategy for her clothes when we realized that we don't have one. She needs to get rid of clothes that don't fit her and find places for the clean clothes that do fit her. Now this wouldn't be a huge problem if she had anywhere near a normal amount of clothes, but she doesn't she has mountains of clothes. I'm not even kidding -

She also needs to have a plan of action for her "play room." Since we bought the first stupid house we even looked at (We're morons). We managed to score a 4 bedroom house (for 3 freakin' people - what were we thinking). That leaves us 2 rooms to use for whatever. One is my sewing room (a huge mess also), and the other is the room we use to throw all those toys that people insist on buying her (I would like to say here, that having an only child is the best way to accumulate a bunch of unnecessary crap), (and for people who can't figure out what to buy for "only children" start a college fund or something, no one needs that much STUFF).

We have been through that room several times armed with nothing but trash bags and even though just 4 months ago we got rid of this -

Her room? still looks like this -

She has until Saturday morning at 6AM (when the trash guys come) to get this taken care of. I am not doing it for her.

The deadline is all because of a giant Scooby toy that I've been trying to throw away for years. She brings down this stupid Giant Scooby, because "Mommy, it has a hole in it (yay!), and can you fix it?" I tell her, no, it's time to just throw it away. So she walks into the kitchen puts him down by the trash can (I'm in the other room and can't see her) and is gone for like 5 minutes. I walk in to see what's up, (thinking maybe she's down stairs or something) and I find her crying very quietly. She loves this stupid thing and really doesn't want to get rid of it. So we make a deal. Clean both of the rooms before trash day, or Scooby goes out with the trash. And as a bonus, once you've got your rooms clean, you can have the dogs every other night (Yeah, I'm sneaky like that).

If you have strategy that a 10 year old that likes to look at everything before it gets thrown away can follow I am ALL EARS.

HELP!

Jade meets Sarah...

2009-06-29T17:24:00.007-04:00

It's on!

SMACK!

SLAP!

OOF!

"He's mine!!!!!"

THWAP!

"You made me bleed!"

"Give me that knife!"

And Sarah gets the knife...

"Let's see you walk now!"

"OMG!"

AGHHHHH!!!!!!

SPLAT!

THUMP!

"Don't lose your head Sarah."

mmm.........

Victory is MINE!

I'm waiting Joe.

It's Ok, no harm done - she is a Barbie(t).

The doctors have put Sarah's head back on, and she is resting.

Sarah and Jade have made up and are good friends now.

Will they want to separate for Joe?

*See the other version here.

She will cut you She is very skilled in combat

2009-06-24T10:40:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine is looking for a speaker companion for his mascot, so I asked my daughter if she would contribute a Bratz to the cause.

My daughter picked Jade -

{Now I don't know if any of you are knowledgeable in the Bratz world, but Jade? She's the Asian. The Bratz have friends of all colors and there isn't a main Bratz doll, like there is a "Barbie." The Bratz have Jade (Asian), Jasmin (Hispanic), Sasha (African-American) and Chloe (Caucasian).}

Then sticks her in a "I smooch Paris" shirt.
To go live with GI Joe.
um... really?

Here's Jade -

Jade is kinda hot for Joe -

Now Joe gets to pick his mate, so I thought he might want to see her practicing her duties.

Here she is practicing sitting on a speaker -

And here she is holding her first dollar -

Jade also wanted me to pass on the message that ~~she will cut Joe if he doesn't pick her~~ she is very skilled in combat if that kind of thing is required -

Good Luck Jade!

Thirsty Thursday

2009-06-11T08:19:00.004-04:00

I just realized I hadn't posted a drink recipe in a long time, so I thought I'd post this one -

Fizzy Navel
(It's the cousin of the Fuzzy Navel)

1 part Peach Schnapps
2 parts Orange Soda

Serve on the rocks

This is very similar to the Fuzzy Navel, but the soda is sweeter than juice. Also you get the bubbles, and bubbles always make things better.

*As a side note, we stumbled across this recipe when we didn't have any juice up at the lake, but had tons of Orange Soda. So we were all, "Hey, why not?" Then come to find out we are copy cats. I was looking for names to use, so I searched "Fizzy Navel" and low and behold it is a common drink. Damn! I thought we were special. Oh well. Shoulda known better.

Aaahhhhh!!!! So. Excited!

2009-06-10T14:18:00.003-04:00

So I'm not going to be at Blogher, but I'm totally going to the People's Party!

And I've got my bi-atch talked into going with! YAY! Now I'll just go off and practice hiding in a corner, cause dayum... do you know who all is going to be there!!!!!

*scurries off to quiver in anticipation*

Happy Birthday!

2009-06-08T15:50:00.004-04:00

I finally got to spring the great surprise on my daughter! She is turning the big 1-0 tomorrow, and she has been begging me to try to win her tickets to go see Taylor Swift. I told her we were trying to win her tickets but to not hold her breath. Of course as soon as I found out Ms. Swift was coming so close to us, so close to Lu's birthday, I immediately purchased 2 tickets (waaay back in Feb.).

Yesterday was the concert. She still had no idea! I had made her a skirt from some material we got at a garage sale for free, and I told her Auntie said she had to wear it. (Today is Auntie's birthday). So she's all decked out:

Then we tell her we have something for her to open for her and Auntie's birthday.

She sees, but doesn't really believe it...

Wait for it... There it is! She gets it, and is THRILLED!

And behold... two very happy birthday girls.

Prop. 8?!?

2009-05-28T12:45:00.002-04:00

This is in response to Prop. 8 being passed yet again in California.

I would like to argue against marriage (as a legality) altogether. Since we have a separation of church and state, when did the state decide it was their responsibility to maintain authority over a church's concept. Editied to say; I just learned that the state got involved during a particularly awful outbreak of syphilis. Blood testing became a requirement in order to get a newly required license, so they could put a stop to the ever spreading disease. Marriage is something that was born in the church. It is not a concept that even needs to be "on the books" anymore.

I myself have been in a monogamous relationship for the last 11 years and the only thing stopping me from getting married is the fact that the government has to be involved. My daughter does not have issues just because technically she is a "Bastard" and there is only stigma about our relationship from those who were born before 1950.

I guess I just don't understand the feeling that the government should have any say whatsoever in "Marriage." I kind of get why the government is involved in it to some extent, taxes and insurance lawsuits (huh, I was all set to list several things and that's really it). But really, other than that, their place in marriage should not exist. What really needs to happen is a change in how insurance companies do business. My "old man" had insurance at one time that allowed a box for significant other as opposed to spouse. This would also take care of the emergency/icu room issues. And hell, people can change their name anytime they wish. How exactly is it determined that this person is the spouse? A driver's license has your name on it, not your spouse's. I know they don't really expect anyone to carry around their marriage license.

If people wish to go through a ceremony, to vow in front of their friends and family that this is the person they want to be with for as long as it's easy, then have at it! There should be no intervention from the government at all. Unless of course they want the government to document it (like a will). Then by all means have the government involved. Civil unions for everyone, no "marriage certificates" at all.

I would get married if I could go to a pastor and say, "I would like to have a wedding ceremony performed, but I don't want this to be sent in to the clerk's office. I just want God as our witnesses and you as our overseer." I don't however wish to enter into any kind of legal contract to anyone that requires me to go to the government to make sure they approve.

I apologize to anyone who welcomes the government into their lives, I'm just very passionate about having a life outside of what the government documents.

Solid Potato Salad - What?

2009-05-21T11:31:00.002-04:00

Holy Crap! I stole this from youtube and my friend from work. You have to watch past the singing (which isn't bad just a little strange in th lyrics dept). You will be amazed and shocked.

Ice Cream Faces?

2009-05-20T10:09:00.002-04:00

The other day (which could mean as far back as 6 months, or as recently as yesterday) we were out having a nice Sunday afternoon. We had a beautiful day and were totally taking advantage of it. Went to Fox Island to go nature walking.

- side story about that: The first time we took our daughter to Fox Island we walked around picked up neat things to show her and when we got home she said, "That was kinda like a nature walk, huh?"

- Anyway, it was kinda warm and we decided to go get some ice cream cones. So we hit a drive through and got some cones. I'm driving us back home or to Grandma's or something when I get this cold squishy feeling on my cheek. Jonzey had totally smooshed his cone on my face. So what do I do? Of course I start giggling uncontrollably because I'm trying to figure out how to get him back without him being aware of what is about to happen.

Then? Madness Ensues! I'm smooshing my cone in Lu's face, Jonzey's face and even occasionally my own face (potholes you know). Lu is trying to get something other than the back of either of our heads (back seats suck for ice cream fights, in case you didn't know) I got a cone stuck up my nose at one point. It was great! I don't think I had had more fun in quite some time. We made it wherever we were headed and commenced to cone-ing everyone there too. Lucky for us they didn't have any ammo. ;-)

I wish I had pictures, but alas I was driving and had to keep at least one eye on the road. I totally recommend at least one cone fight per summer, cause memories are important (it has nothing to do with that feeling you get when you squish ice cream in someone else's face, I promise) .

Flowers, Casa & Hair

2009-05-14T09:54:00.007-04:00

My mom and my daughter did this together for me, for Momma's Day -

Lovely, no?

Then I got to go have my favorite salad ever for lunch.

My gift to myself on Mother's Day? A hair cut.

Around 9PM on Mother's Day, I decided I needed a hair cut. So I went into the bathroom and went to work. The only thing I had in mind was that someone I've never met thought this was cute.

So I went with it -

Sometimes I even impress myself. :-)

Aaaaghhhhhh Bills!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-11T15:32:00.001-04:00

Just thought I'd pop in and say that...

Cause, um... that is all I can think about right now.

I'll let you know when I can think again.

Thank you,

That is all.

commando?

2009-05-07T10:52:00.006-04:00

Yeah, not talkin about the movie though...

What I want to know is how many of you have an opinion on going commando. Like does the lack of coverage induce extra whorey-ness? Or is it just "cleaner" to have coverage of the "moister" bits? (huh, I seem to be extra "quotey" today) Anyway, I guess my personal opinion is, anything that makes it easier for me not to wet my pants is okay in my book (what with squirting kids out and all). That extra layer having to come down often takes precious time that my kegel muscles just aren't prepared to deal with. Oh, and you know on those extra humid days how much fun it is to try and pull those suckers back up (especially if you are not quite the "hard body" you want to be). So now that I've got everyone thinking about their delicate bits...

How do you feel?

I've got the itch...

2009-05-05T07:27:00.002-04:00

Yeah, um... Not that itch.

I'm itching to start working on Halloween Costumes already. I got my sewing machine working (after like 3 years of it being down) and everyone seems to be down to go Disney themed (in pairs even).

DJ - Hook (maybe)
Lu - Tinkerbell (definitely)

Caca - Lilo
Triscuit - Stitch

The Woman - Little Mermaid (maybe)
Me - Ursula (maybe)

They can all be seen here from last year.

Now, I really want to be Ursula. I've got the design done and some of my accessories. All I need is to find the material I want (am open to suggestions). She is an Octo-person, so I think her Octo-skin should be super shiny, to look like it's perma-wet. The only thing I've found that is close is expensive ($34 / per yard) and a pain to sew (seen here). Went to search for pics of the expensive stuff and *poof* I think I found my material. Yay! Now, if for some reason I decide not to be Ursula, my back up is Raggedy Ann. Kinda interesting, I'm goin for either Evil Sea Witch or Cute Lovable Dolly. Yeah... I'm weird like that.

I know that I've kinda lost the whole book theme (I haven't stopped reading though). I think I'm just gonna give that whole pretence up and say this blog has no general direction, just wherever my ~~chubby~~ little fingers take it.

TTFN... ooh I have a brilliant idea, maye I can talk Jonzey into being T-I-double Guh-er? Yeah I didn't really think so, but that would be cute yo.

The evils of Blackmail!

2009-05-04T10:57:00.003-04:00

So, I've been blackmailed into writing more often. Hm... I still don't have anything blog-worthy. I guess I might be pursuaded into writing about going to the Vera Bradley outlet sale.

So, I took Friday off work to go shop at the sale with my SIL. We got there about half hour early so we wouldn't get stuck waiting in line outside. The capacity is like 5,000, and can't hold everyone that shows up at the beginning. After waiting the half hour, we went in. This was my SIL's first experience with this sale. She was ready though. We scored a couple of matching purse / wallet combo's, but most of the patterns didn't have a matching wallet. I got my mom a couple of place-mats for Mother's Day, and a couple of purses for myself. We aren't the crazy women that come to buy as much as possible for as cheap as possible, just so they can sell it.

Anyway, enough about that. We also went to the park this weekend. And can I just say, some kids should not be allowed to go to the park. There was one (he was with some friends, but I think if he hadn't been there, his friends wouldn't have been too bad) who just wouldn't stop. "Oh, here comes some ugly," " Hey you in the stupid American flag shirt - Come here so I can kick you're ass," "yo-mama - - - - ." The look on the kid's face that was "ugly" when he said that, and the "stupid American flag" shirt kid was mentally challenged. Didn't faze her though, she was runnin around talkin about how her super powers would take care of that bad guy.

I guess I don't really have anything else.

Oh, Jonzey hit the 60 day mark in AA (yay!) Still lives with Grandpa, but he's doing pretty good.

Yeah, that's it I guess. Maybe later this week I'll have something about our wonderful Dust-Control customers. You know how entitled everyone is now, I'm surprised I haven't gotten a lot of crap about - how expensive/ why isn't it free / my taxes this / you work for me... blah, blah, blah.

Regularity ;-)

2009-04-29T13:01:00.002-04:00

I feel like such a ~~posser~~ ~~posier~~ poser. I have this blog that just sits here getting dusty. I read all these people I don't know (but feel like I do). I try to comment if the inspiration strikes. But I'm just not regular, damn it! (heh, heh I wonder if they make laxative for blogging)

Anyway I guess I just don't have the necessary gene for this. I'd like to be able to just run rampant about what happened yesterday... um... nothing? Or write several paragraphs on how I took the dog for a walk and he pulled me through puddle after puddle of gross mud (yeah that didn't happen, and it still only took like one sentence). Maybe my life is just too boring (yeah, it's not I promise I don't want anymore excitement), or I just suck at this whole writing thing in general. <- that right there is probably it in a nutshell.

Whatever, I'm still here trying to keep it regular (heh, heh still cracks me up). I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I suck and I'll try to remember that it would probably be funny to read about how my dog that likes to sit in my lap when I'm in the recliner, once jumped into my lap and sat right down in my full bowl of cereal. You know it's not funny when you're kinda late to work because of it, but in retrospect, it is kinda funny that I said "fuck it," and ate the cereal anyway, then changed.

Here's to me trying to remember that I too can be regular. Even if that means once a week or something. (also can I just say how bad that would suck)

Jerry's Kids need your help

2009-04-13T09:06:00.003-04:00

I am being locked up for "Good."

Help Me

I have to raise $1,600 by Jun. 2 or they'll lock me up.

If you are in the giving mood and want to help keep me out of jail go here.

If you would rather they keep me, they can be bribed here.

I am such a thief...

2009-03-27T12:42:00.003-04:00

I am a new reader of The Bloggess and can I just say, um... WOW! She is one funny ass chick. Well today on her site was a video she had created on xtranormal.com. Leading me to see what I could make... Well here you go:

Heh, heh... Grandpa gets the credit for this one!

Red Water

2009-03-12T14:48:00.001-04:00

This song makes me cry everytime I really listen to it.

Where'd I go?

2009-03-09T12:44:00.003-04:00

I know I suck. Let's just get that out of the way now. But every time i try to think of something to post, it doesn't really seem to hold my attention. Of course nothing really seems to hold much of my attention anymore. I'm 2 episodes (3 tonight) behind with Heroes, I haven't even tried to watch Ugly Betty in 2 weeks or so (so lost there) I haven't really turned the T.V. on for the last 2 weeks. And just so you know I am usually an avid T.V. person (well if someone else turns it on anyway). Left to my own devices I just sit and read or stare at the wall.

I did manage to watch Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium on Saturday though. Really nice movie. Made me cry a few times though. Damn emotional scenes. I'll never get over how good some actors really are. Dustin Hoffman is the man!

I just thought I'd pop in and tell you what's goin on. Oh, and let all you man cleavage fans down lightly... I just couldn't get anyone to pose for me. I think it might be inappropriate if I just take the picture and post it without their approval. So I'm off to figure out where I went. Let me know if you see me so I have a good chance to start looking in the right place m-kay?

"Real Life" crept up on me

2009-02-27T11:35:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I know I haven't posted in a super long time, but I've had reality all over the place. That's more important right? Anyway... About that reality thing. I feel like I should at least talk about what's going on, but I'm gonna skip over the parts that would have you all over my ass with judgements. (trust me - I'm all over my ass with judgements m-kay?)

Skipping over all the really crazy bits to say that - Yay, Jonzey is getting the help he needs to fix whatever it is thats not right in his brain!

Good thing #1 - He is trying to make up with God.
Good thing #2 - (relates to #1) Is going to get some counciling at a church.
Good thing #3 - Is going to AA tomorrow night.
Good thing #4 - One of his friends is going with him.
Good thing #5 - My brother is alive! - Yeah - I am so not going into that one.

So now that you're all confused and curious I'm gonna go back to work, m-kay?

Hm......

2009-02-19T13:03:00.001-05:00

My last post pretty much sums it up for me (it's a burn out). I just don't know what to say anymore. My cousin thinks I should have some kind of cleavage shot of the week (or something like that). I have to say I'm sure that would totally bring the traffic, but I'm not sure I really want that kind of traffic. I will concede that it might be fun asking people I know (or don't) if they would like to put their Lady Lumps on the internets. Of course then there's the man cleavage... That would be hilarious. I might have to do it just to watch the stats. I can just imagine the comments that would come from that.

*Man searches internet for "Cleavage"
*Man get sent to this sight and is show "Man Cleavage"
*Hilarity Ensues...

So just so my ~~readers~~ reader doesn't walk away from this post completely dissapointed...

(.)(.) <- There you go 'Foxy' those are for you.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-10T14:35:00.001-05:00

Oh Crap, why isn't the water going down?!?

2009-01-28T10:48:00.004-05:00

What's been goin' on at my house lately? I'm glad you asked... This here picture below is what I've been dealing with lately.

We tried plunging, drain clearing liquids, plunging some more, boiling water, snakes (only to find out whoever designed the pluming in this house was really stupid), and more plunging. So Instead of just leaving the dishes piled up (see above picture) and just eating fast food every day I began to take the dishes here ↓

Yeah, that's my bathtub (sorry about the stains). Now I'm sure there are those of you out there that know how much fun it is to be on your knees for 1/2 an hour or so, but for those of you who don't know... It sucks pretty badly (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more). So we had to resort to:

They had to drill a new hole under my sink because the original pipe went down from the sink backward into the wall and then made a 90 turn right to meet up with where you can see the old pipe in the picture above. So now we have a pipe that runs straight down from the sink as you also can see above. We had to hook into the old pipe because we couldn't find the air vent, so we just ass-u-me-d it ran up from the old pipe.

Also as a bonus you get to see how very creapy gross my basement is (we call this area our "Dead Body Room"). This room is the old coal storage room. Can I just ask how smart it really was to put the sink plumbing right next to the coal shoot?

Wuthering Heights

2009-01-26T14:34:00.002-05:00

Let me just say first that I haven't read this yet, just seen the Masterpiece Classic on PBS. I've got it on hold at the library as we speak (read?)

I've noticed in the past as well as recently that the classics are just that. There is a reason that they have sustained long lives. I've read several "classics" and most of them really tell a wonderful tale. Deep, insightful, clear... anyway...

Like I said I got to watch Wuthering Heights and it really touched me. Usually I can do without movies made from books. There are exceptions (as with most rules), but this was beautiful. I think I might have a hard time reading this book due to the pouring forth of tears, but I'm going to try anyway. As long as the language is easier to get through than Dickens, I think I'll be okay. (yeah, I know I'm a blasphemer - You don't like Dickens? - Whatever)

So, I guess as soon as I get this finished I'll bore you all with what I think about it, without telling you too much at all about the story itself. Cause that would just be too easy.

Anyway... are there any books that caught your interest because you saw the movie?

It's Thursday again!

2009-01-22T13:24:00.003-05:00

Alright. Since I just finished Twilight last week I figured I should come up with something to drink while reading it. First I thought Bloody Mary, but then I was all "Obvious Much?" Then I thought, since it's a teen book anyway, let's go virgin! So, while we read Twilight, we'll be having Strawberry Kisses in honor of Bella's hair.

Strawberry Kisses

3 oz strawberry puree
1 1/2 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz whipping cream
1/2 tsp caster sugar

Blend briefly with half a glassful of crushed ice in a wine goblet. Garnish with half a caster sugar-coated strawberry, and serve.

For all of you that need the "hard" version just add an ounce of your favorite liquor. I personally would suggest a nice spiced rum. MMM........

Makeover?

2009-01-21T08:04:00.006-05:00

I call this "The Posh"

And this one is "The Flapper" This one can just be "C"

This here's "The Bitch Hair"

That makes this "E"

And this "F"

And then we have "The Marilyn"

So yeah, here you go... A full on view of the face, no makeup, no nothin'. And I just noticed while posting this that I totally have "Charlie Brown" eyes with out my glasses. Can't you just see the weird eye parenthesis? Anywho... I think my favorites are, The Posh, The Flapper and F. Which is your fave?

The Big 3-0, that ain't shit!

2009-01-16T14:22:00.002-05:00

Okay, I've been thinking about this for a little while now, and I really don't get the big deal about 30. I turned 30 (dahn, dahn, dahn) in August and really don't get the drama. Of course I really shouldn't be surprised, I don't generally get what all the drama is about. I must be dense. I mean ooh, I'm a whole nother year older... My age ends in a zero... Whatever. What gets me is when I randomly think of something that happened the other day (you know, or so it seems) and then I bother to figure out when that actually was... I realize hey that was like 20 years ago. Then I'm all, wow, Wow. No way.

So, I get that getting older is weird, what I don't get is why it revolves around "decades." Is it because we as a people just like to have all these landmarks to use so we can make people feel worse because they hit them? Maybe. I think we should celebrate each new decade we get to instead of dreading it. We need to embrace the wisdom that comes with age. Because really there is no other way to learn some things. I know this because I remember thinking at my mom that she should "just shut up already and let me learn this crap on my own." So it's not likely that listening to our elders is going to be an option.

We need to appreciate what life has taught us and the fact that there is no way we would know even half the shit we do with out it. Also something that life has taught me is that mom (or dad, or friend etc...) should not just shut up and let me learn it on my own. She should in fact tell me anything she can remember. Because now that I am no longer a stupid teenager, all of my elders can't remember half the shit they know.

It's kinda irritating. One of the oxymoronic things. When grasshopper is ready to learn, ant can't remember what to teach him. I believe we should call the people we know care about our welfare and get them to talk our ears clean off. Even if what they have to say is a story we have heard a kajillion times before. Maybe now there will be a new lesson inside. And from the state of the economy right now, I would suggest doing this with the oldest person we can find. Because 30? That ain't nothin baby! I'm waitin to rock out in my 90's!

I realize as I'm writing this that my Great Grandmother, she's gotta be like 90-something and she? She still walks around the neighborhood. She would still walk to church every Sunday if they hadn't moved it out to the highway. She is my hero. And I hope I have the balls to live like she has.

Hold on world... I'm only 1/3 of the way there. And I am burnin it up!

Thirsty? Good It's Thursday!

2009-01-14T12:06:00.002-05:00

Alrighty then, this here is for when you want to read something very light. Very Light. OOh, like People or The Enquirer. You don't really want to have to pay too much attention, and really this is more of a "Hey everybody, party at my house!" kind of drink.

I don't really have a name for it, but if you come up with one it should probably have Southern in it according to protocol or something.

1 Fifth of Southern Comfort

1 Fifth of Ameretto

1 Gal Pineapple Juice

1 Large-ish Jar of Maraschino Cherries (juice and all)

Mix all together and let sit for an hour or so, so the cherries soak in some of the liquer (yum) Also if you're feeling particularly frisky (and if you're making this how can you not be?) you can add pineapple chunks too. Be sure to eat these, they will have quite the yum factor.

All in all a very sneaky kind of drink. So please drink responsibly. ;-)

I got nothin!

2009-01-14T10:56:00.002-05:00

So, I know it's Wednesday, but I don't have any good pictures to put up. I guess I'm just gonna ramble on about nothing. I've never really been too good at stuff like that, but I've noticed that when you're new and you take time off, you lose readers. So, let's see what I can come with, m'kay?

Well, there's always that thing where I'm "Sweatin' to the Oldies" with the In-Laws. It's been really fun. We get to be entertained by Mr. Simmons (and not the one that can lick his own eyebrows either) and laugh with each other about how frickin' hard it is to keep up with some of the moves. And Holy Crap is that really my pulse??? Dude, Richard Simmons is a great (okay I'll level with you here, I know the word I want but I can't remember it so you get this one) "Lifter Upper." He has this accent when he's workin out that is so much fun. And (OH RIGHT MOTIVATOR! That's what I wanted.) So anyway, I'm just lovin' it. And it was totally cheaper than a gym menbership. I'm kinda worried about the 2nd DVD though, it's like 85 minutes worth of stuff, and were kinda losin' our drive around the end of the first one (about 45 minutes). We'll see though. When you know there are other people doin' it with you it makes it that much easier.

And then there's the snow... well really I guess there isn't a whole lot to say about snow. It's sticking. It's blowing. OMG it's a blizzard! Yeah, not so much. Maybe a little North of us, but no reason to cry wolf all over the place. We've had all kinds of warnings and watches and advisories. What happened to, "Hey y'all, It's gonna snow for a few days, but you'll be okay if you just drive slowly and stay home for a while." I kinda miss the days without all the drama. You know, when the news wasn't totally out to scare a puddle out of you. "Keep 'em Shakin" that's our motto. Whatever, I'm not gonna go all "The Media is EVIL" on you so we'll skip ahead. Shall we?

Yeah, I guess that's all I got for now, but stay tuned... Tomorrow's got a doozy of a drink in store.

I really did...

2009-01-12T10:57:00.002-05:00

I picked up Twilight at the library on Thursday evening. Yeah, I know, but the book I wanted to read I had managed to get the Spanish version. So, I wandered over to the Express checkout section (these are the newer / popular books that can only be checked out for a week due to popularity) and saw it. Well I had to see what all this hype was about. Did I have another Harry Potter on my hands?

It's a good book, but it's definitely in the Young Adult category for a reason. I've read here and there that the heroine of the story is kind of whiny. And you know? I really didn't think she was any whinier than your average teenager. I read this book and was really pulled back into my own teenage years. The book has the right voice for its genre. Now, I haven't read anything but the first book (I expect to though), but I think these are great for the age group they were written for.

I also think they have some room to wiggle. It wouldn't be awful if say a 9 or ten year old were to pick this up and read it (it's very PG). And I think it kind of plays to the youthfulness in the "Older" adults (you kow as opposed to the "Young" ones). But so far it doesn't have the depth I look for. I won't say it doesn't show up in later books, cause I don't know. I will say that this is great if you are looking for a love story with all the feel of a FIRST LOVE. Stephanie Meyer did a fantastic job making you feel the freshness.

So all in all, I really enjoyed my trip to Forks, and I wouldn't be opposed to going back. Just not right now. I really have way too much on my plate to do that. (Cause I just know I wouldn't get anything done until I read them all)

Anybody out there read this and have an opinion? (No Spoilers please like I said, haven't read them all yet)

On the verge of pulling out ALL of my hair (not just some)

2009-01-07T13:49:00.003-05:00

Who decided that a girl should start her period around the same time PMS is really kicking in for her mother? Also was that person put in front of a firing squad, or just quietly poisoned?

Also along the same note... when did it become okay for children to even have hormones that make hating their parents acceptable? What happened to the thing where parents were right and teenage girls were nice, you know like in all those shows from the fifties?

Oh, and my daughter is not quite there, I'm just terrified because of how much of a shit I was to my mother.

My Rant

2009-01-07T13:20:00.003-05:00

Okay, now this might get me in some hot water, but I can't let it go any longer. In my neck of the woods, winters make for lots of icy roads. Now I understand that it is kinda rough driving on slick roads. I also know that usually if you slow down (and stop driving like a freakin maniac) it's not so bad. What I don't know is, When did it become standard operating procedure to EXPECT that the roads would be wonderful and easy to drive on during winter storms? Do we not live in a climate where freezing rain & snow happens during the winter months? What happened to expecting that it might take a day or to to get the roads cleaned off? Or some roads not even being touched if it so happens that the storm just keeps dumping more & more crap. Where did this sense of entitlement come from?

I live in the city and I know that if you live on a side street, you're lucky to get a plow truck down your road on the third day after a storm (unless it's something really nasty, then, well, don't hold your breath I guess). We had a freezing rain and some flurries that decided to stick starting some time yesterday, and I am getting calls from people on side roads already! (right, I guess I should say that I work for the road maintenance section of the county (not city) and I get to take all the calls from concerned citizens about their road being to slick to drive on and they could need an ambulance and how would it get to them in time and AGHHHHHH SHUT UP!) Now I guess I wouldn't be so irritated if it was really bad like on Christmas, but come on it's only a little slick! Fricken Slow Down! Don't tailgate, definitely don't use your cruise control, and grow some common sense.

Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I feel ever so much better.

I'm alive!

2009-01-05T14:40:00.006-05:00

So, my vacation was good. Thanks for asking. It also happens that it was VERY busy.

I had to finish buying stupid Christmas presents. But let me say this right now, I love buying that present, you know the one. Where you just know the person you're giving it to might cry... Yeah, that one. I even love buying the presents that are kinda "just right." You know, not too expensive, fit in with what the person likes, easy to wrap... It's the presents that are only bought so some brat, that won't appreciate them anyway, has something to open along with the rest of the kids. Yeah, I hate buying those presents. But everyone had something to open (except Key - Sorry, I forgot it at home).

Once I had all the buying done, I had to wrap the stuff (I totally wrapped everything on Christmas Eve). And Goose even got a letter from Santa (hand written with a little doodle and everything).

Then we had a small family Christmas with Jonzey's immediate family. It was really nice, of course it usually is. The next morning we did our Christmas. Which consisted of presents for Goose. We got each other a stay out of town at a hotel. (More on that later). Then we had two more Christmas's (yeah all in one day), My immediate family & then Jonzey's BIG family Christmas.

It was really nice. We got to see all the people we don't usually see (even though we live within like 20 miles of each other). And I brought like 15 lbs of Mac-N-Cheese (with shells because the store was completely out of elbow noodles - even the healthy ones) that was almost gone when we left. If you talk nice to me, I might leave a recipe for it someday (it's completely fat free - he, he, he NOT).

Onto New Years... We gave ourselves a trip to the casino near us. And WOW, let me tell you I have never seen so many slot machines EVER. I was kind of excited about playing poker for money (you know like they show on T.V.) and we walk in and NO Live tables at all. It's all this:

And you know what? I had a lot of fun. Between the two of us, we totally broke even, and in my book, that is winning. Here's to winning for the whole year of 2009.

More Icy Goodness

2008-12-23T09:27:00.008-05:00

This is my back yard just this last summer

Same back yard - slightly different angle

The tree that bends, does not break

I still had some greenery left.

I just liked this -

I've smacked my head on this branch every morning since the freeze.

I hope you're staying warm where ever you are.

A much deserved rest.

2008-12-22T15:58:00.012-05:00

For the last post of the year (until Jan. 5) I thought I'd let you all in on why this is called Totally Tattoo'd Mother.

This is blurry, but it's my wedding ring.

This is my "Pain in the neck" ;-)

Lower back area - Soon to be a family tree for my daughter.

The top half of the above picture. It might have helped if I had had help taking the pics. but you're stuck with what I could accomplish myself.

There is a phoenix on my calf, and a really poor shot of the flower with my name on my foot. See below for better shots.

What kind of tattoos, if any, do you have?

Also - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Winter is GREAT!

2008-12-19T09:59:00.004-05:00

We are having a small ice storm here, and between the power lines and the trees falling down, our county has ~~lost~~ 50% power. Yay!

The trees and grasses are beautiful. The cars, not so much. While I was scraping my winshield this morning, I put a hairline crack all the way across it. Go me!

So That is my post for today. Hope your winter isn't so exciting. I'm going back to work now. Have Fun.

Oil Love

2008-12-15T11:11:00.003-05:00

Yeah, don't get excited. I'm gonna tell you how to make the most yummy oil to cook with or give away as a gift (or both like me).

1st - get some clear bottles with a good lid - maybe like this with this

Once you have your bottles you'll need to sanitize them. This can be done with your dishwasher. If you don't have a dishwasher pour boiling water down into the bottle, while it is sitting in a sink of hot water (this way the bottle won't break from the shock). Then dry well (a hair drier will work well for this).

Now you'll need different herbs and spices for a variety of oils - here are a couple of options. (Feel free to substitute or add extras)

Herb Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Thyme - 3-4 stalks
Rosemary - 1 nice stalk (6-10 inches long)
Garlic - 5-6 cloves sliced
Whole Pepper Corns (black or various colors is fine) - 2 Tbs
Salt - 1 Tbs for a large-ish bottle (16 oz or more) less for a smaller bottle.

OR

Hot Oil
Any kind of Vegetable Oil (the flavor of the oil won't matter too much)
Dried Chiles - 10-15 whole chiles - or - 1/2 cup crushed
Pepper Corns - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 8-10 cloves sliced
Salt - 1 Tbs for a large-ish bottle (16 oz or more) less for a smaller bottle
Sun Dried Tomatoes - 3-4 pieces (dry packed)
Thyme - 2-3 stalks

For either of these you'll need enough oil to fill the bottle you've chosen.

Okay now for the part that makes your house smell good...

For either of the oils, pour the oil into a pan that will hold everything. Heat the oil until it starts to shimmer. Put the herbs and garlic in first and let those fry? for 2 minutes or so, until the garlic gets a small amount of color (maybe kind of yellowish?). Then pull out the herbs and garlic and add everything else. Tongs work much better than fingers for this step. This step is where the oils differ, for the Herb Oil let the pepper corns go for maybe 2 minutes. But let the Hot Oil go for about 8-10 minutes. This way it will have a good heat.

Now strain these into your bottle and cork the hole (with whatever you have chosen). Once the bottle has cooled (wouldn't want to burn your fingers), wash the outside so there is no oily residue.

You can use these for a number of things. The Herb Oil is really nice to put on a pizza crust before you bake it, or use with some balsamic for your salad dressing. And the Hot Oil does really nice things for soup. Just sear your meat in the oil and go from there.

Note - If you give these away, make sure you label them. Wouldn't want anyone to get a hot mouth from their salad or anything like that. *evil laugh here*

This says it all

2008-12-12T13:42:00.002-05:00

I don't know how she got this so right, but this is me...

Here are the lyrics:

I say I'll move the mountains
And I'll move the mountains
If he wants them out of the way
Crazy, he calls me
Sure, I'm crazy
Crazy in love, I say

I say I'll go through fire
And I'll go through fire
How he wants it, so it will be
Crazy, he calls me
Sure, I'm crazy
Crazy in love, you see

Like the leaf that shakes the bough
He moves me with just a little smile
The difficult I'm gonna do right now
Oh, but the impossible that's gonna take a little while
I say I'll care forever
And I mean forever
If I have to hold up the sky
Crazy, he calls me
Sure, I'm crazy
But crazy in love am I

Like the leaf that shakes the bough
He moves me with a smile
The difficult I'm gonna do right now
But the impossible that's gonna take a little while
I say I'll care forever
And I mean forever
If I have to hold up the sky
Crazy, he calls me
Sure, I'm crazy
But crazy in love am I

This isn't quite the version I wanted but I can't find Billie Holiday's version. And the only difference, really is that the wind should shake the bough, but this wonderful version is the closest to Billie's I can find.

Yay, it's Thurdsday!

2008-12-11T08:06:00.004-05:00

Let's get down to it. I had a wrong side of the bed day yesterday and I'm ready to drink. So, what do you say we pull a chair up to the bar and hit that good lookin' bartender up for a drink?!?

I'm not even in the mood for a book so we'll just skip right to the drinking!

Since it's cold up here, we'll go for my favorite evening warm up: Godiva Cocoa

You'll need your favorite cocoa mix (just one packet)
3/4 cup Water (maybe)
1/2 cup Milk
2 oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
1 tsp Vanilla
Ginger
All Spice
Mini Marshmallows

I know it looks like a lot of ingredients for some cocoa, but it's really worth it. We're doing all of this in the pan, so don't pour into a cup till I say. So you'll need to follow the directions on your cocoa, but only use 3/4 of the liquid it calls for (for some cocoas you might not need water at all). Now, most cocoas are going to make 8 oz so we'll add 1/2 cup milk and 2 oz Liqueur, sprinkle a little ginger & all spice. Whisk these together and let simmer for a moment. Get your favorite mug and drop a handful of marshmallows in. Pour the cocoa mixture over the top of these.

This is so delicious. Also, I guess it would work with any steamy romance novel. That way you'll warm up in all kinds of ways.

Enjoy!

Missing you...

2008-12-10T13:26:00.003-05:00

Thirsty Thursday

2008-12-04T09:54:00.005-05:00

Okay, I'm sure this is already out there on some other blog, but dude, I swear I just thought about using it last night. If some one has already trade marked it, I'm sorry. If not... Yay me!

So, here goes. If I can remember, I'll be putting up drink recipes that may or may not go along nicely with a book. Since I am very blonde and also a woman I reserve the right to change this as I go along to suit my own whims. *grins*

We're going to start with Patricia Cornwell and any of the Kay Scarpetta books;

It's my recommendation that when you read one of these books, you should be drinking wine. Now my own personal choice would be a White Zinfandale (I like Beringer's), but I think a full bodied red would be more along Ms. Cornwell's taste.

Holy Crap!!!

2008-12-02T14:36:00.003-05:00

I'd like to say I had a really relaxing and pleasant holiday weekend (4 whole days!) I would, however, sort of be lying. It has been a tradition in Jonez's family to go out and shop on Black Friday since before I was adopted in. Now, I'll admit the first year I was intrigued... What is this Black Friday, and how does one go about it??? Yeah. Just in case anyone out there is as naive as I was way back when (11 years ago). Unless you are well prepared, prepare to go down.

I have never witnessed any tragedies (for this I am VERY grateful), however, I have witnessed many acts of rudeness (I'm talkin to you line cutters, pushers & shovers) complete & outright Bitchery (yeah, that's you, stealer out of cart lady), and strangely enough some real kindness (thanks for the use of your phone, unknown lady, when forgot mine).

But this year has to take the cake... instead of going out all early on Friday, we decided to be really stupid and go out on Thursday night. Um... can I just say Holy Crap again?!? So we all (there was 6 of us) piled into a mini van at 11pm on Thursday to go to the outlet mall 70 miles North of us for their Midnight Sale. Kripes! That was nuts. We almost managed to run this guy over in a parking lot cause he just ran right out in front of us. Then we had to wait in line out side The Children's Place because they were too full. There was a woman out shopping who thought it was a wonderful idea to bring her 2 month old along. And some really grumpy pizzeria owners (to be fair we did go in just to use the restroom). And that was just the first place we went.

We spent enough time up there and driving that when we got back to town we were right on time to get to all the 4 o'clock openings (yeah, we didn't really have a plan, totally flying by the seat and all that stuff). So like some geniuses we went to Kohl's (don't do this without a map, list & several friends) and got stuck in line for like an hour (probably only 20 minutes but still - Time Is Money People!) Then we went to Meijer and shopped like we had all the time in the world (by this time it was like 7 and we still had loads more places to go). We left Meijer and decided to break for breakfast... mmm... Then we thought Menard's would be a good spot cause they had been open for a while and should be quieter... yeah I think everyone else had that same idea. That was the idea from hell I tell you. We almost wrecked into like three different people who wouldn't stop long enough to let us get out of their way. Aghhhhh. So we left and went to the South (insert your own scary sound effect here) side of town - also where we were all from anyway (duh some times we can be so slow) and poof... every one was nicer, and dude it was way calmer. So we hit Menard's, Walmart & K-Mart all in like 3? hours, maybe? I don't remember, by then we were laughing at shadows, at one point we almost hit a racoon, a deer & a bear (yeah, the bear was a bush & mailbox but that doesn't mean we didn't see a bear) all in like a mile long stretch of road.

Then we went for the big finish at Darlington Farms (no website, but they're a place where you can get all of those things in the fundraisers your kids bring home for $1.39 each). We finally got home at 1pm on Friday, tired & happy. with a whole bunch of crap!

Also for anyone who read this all the way through, go see this, it's a super fun game (all four chapters).

Merry Gentry

2008-11-21T15:25:00.002-05:00

I have been reading this series for a little while now and I must say... Looooove IT! So we have a Fairy Princess who is still going through all of the drama before her "Happily Ever After." Oh, and don't forget, she is totally having sex with anything that might meet her fancy, so she can bring magic back - She's bringin magic back (yeah) them other fairies don't know how to act (yeah). Okay, enough JT.

If any one reading this needs to get some Hott back in their life pick up a Merry Gentry book by Laurell K. Hamilton. Cause let me tell you... Whoo! That shit is fire. I really enjoy series books because I like to get really involved in the character's lives. I also really hate series books, cause then I have to wait... and wait... and w a i t... aghhhh. Stupid authors can't just spit the whole series out at once so I can read it and be done. I truly hate the waiting part can you tell? Anyways... I know there are other sites out there dedicated to the subject of specific books, or series' but I like to read all kinds of stuff, so this is not what will ever happen here. However, I will come back to these books whenever the next one comes out because that is how I roll.

Now, I won't be doing a report or anything like that, all I have to say is that if you enjoy reading romance novels (yay smut) but also happen to like to read books with action, mystery and substance (yay thinking) AND you happen to particularly enjoy reading just because (yay escape) you can have all three in these books. I like to call them cake. Cause you get all the important things (eggs, milk, flour) and all the extra things (butter & sugar) and together they make a really wonderful treat - CAKE.

So go out and pick one of these up (they're in order on the first link) and have yourself a little birthday celebration (you can even use the candles later when you're all heated up and stuff).

Digital T.V.

2008-11-19T12:46:00.005-05:00

I am so tired of hearing the PSA's for the change over to Digital Broadcasting that are playing, oh, I don't know, at least every hour on every "free" channel in my neck of the woods. Um... these PSA's have been airing since early this year. Now, I'm not sure if these companies think every one is completely stupid, or they just don't kow that every one has seen them. But either way... I AM SO TIRED OF THEM! yeah, it's that bad. Now for anyone who hasn't seen one, but for some reason reads this blog - here you go -

I can't find any from our area, but I can see how this would be equally annoying. (although at least she's a cute lil ole Lady) I just thought I'd share the pain. Have any of you still not gotten your box, new T.V. or whatever new direction you are going?

Remember - LAZY

2008-11-18T16:04:00.004-05:00

I got this from Persnickety Ticker
Um... yeah I totally stole it off of her blog - remember - LAZY

OK, the rules are simple. Copy and paste the list, putting the things you've done in bold. I'm not tagging anyone, just play if you feel like it.

1. Started my own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band
- Does "RockBand" count?

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than I can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sung a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught myself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown my own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught myself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had my portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had my picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Had sex outside
- Might I add - Best Sex EVER!

Wake Up Alone

2008-11-14T09:25:00.007-05:00

Yeah since I am at a total loss for words I give you this -

Crack-smoking, coke-sniffing, liquor-drinking, and whatever other derogatory things you can come up with can't compete with this voice. If I think about this song too much, I hurt.

Also I love this one -

Thank you for putting up with my lazy. Also enjoy my vocal crush. Who are your favorite voices to listen to...

Just call me "Slacker"

2008-11-13T10:07:00.003-05:00

I know I haven't posted in a while, and really there is no good excuse, HOWEVER, I will offer up the only one I have. For anyone out there reading this and doesn't know me, I am LAZY. I am fully aware of this, and I try to work around it most of the time, but it catches up to me occasionally. I also have the added benefit of being a perfectionist on top of the lazy. This together means that if I can't do a job 'perfectly' I just don't do it. I can't allow myself to half-ass anything. I'm not sure what the term is for that, but I think it's just cause I'm lazy. The less things I can do to my own standards the less I have to do. YAY! Only really not so yay when I need to get things done that I know won't meet my standards. I have found that if someone comes over to help, I don't mind so much how things get done cause, I didn't do it all, so I don't need the perfection. Yeah, does that mean I am enabling myself? Hm...

So the real reason I haven't posted anything is not because I couldn't do it to my standard, but just cause I'm lazy. Okay this is not even the post I want to put up, but I'll leave it here just so anyone that wants to know, can.

As an aside, a friend of mine and I were singing karaoke online at her house the other night and it was a total nerdy blast! If you really want to you can check us out here.

Disappointment

2008-11-04T13:55:00.020-05:00

All of the posts on costumes and I forgot to take a picture of me, Lu (my daughter) or Jonez. I did get pictures of some of the costumes that I either helped on or did all of.
This is DJ, she decided she wanted to be a dead Prom Queen, so she dug through her closet and found the dress she hated the most, and we destroyed it. She also thought that it would look cooler if she wore it backwards like her neck had been twisted all the way around. So we stuffed the front of the dress and flattened her front. I think if you click on the picture you can see better. The dress has been stained and ripped and all manner of degradation.
This is her front but the back of the costume. We had a grand old time ripping her bow, and tearing her sleeves. She told me getting a good tire tread across her dress was kind of a bitch though. They had to paint the tire with black paint then roll over the dress. Also since this dress was made of some kind of non stainable material they had to paint the blood & dirt on. Rolling around in the mud didn't do a thing once the dress was dry.
This here is Caca, she was going to be a "hoodlum" but we talked her into beeing a Zombie - much more in the spirit of things don't you think? We stabbed and stomped and stained this shirt and pants combo to it's current glory. Oh and I guess if you look closely you can see my daughter's head in this picture. I guess I'll have to make her put her dress on just so I can get a good picture of it.

This is Grandma, she wanted to be half man, half woman. We went good willing and found a pair of pants & skirt to go with this color shirt, Then I sewed them together. Then I made the shirt more girly on one side and added pearls & a tie. She did her hair and make-up the morning of Halloween so she could wear the costume to work.

And last but not least we have - Wonder Woman. This costume was a pain, but it turned out so good I can't complain too much. You can't really see her cape here, but she did a really good job on it. Also not seen are her super stripper boots. They are here if you want to see them.

So you can see the pictures better, just click on them, I had to do all kinds of weird stetching and stuff so they would fit on the page properly.
Now I know I shouldn't be so disappointed but, I really wish I had remembered to get pictures of our little family and not just the members of our bigger family. Oh and the animals did a fine job with all of the people running around in costumes.

yay!

2008-10-30T16:16:00.004-04:00

No new posts till Monday, cause I am not gonna be working tomorrow. It's the rare Friday off! Woot! Also since I won't be here I thought I'd wish everyone a great Halloween. Kisses!

It's Wednesday, I'm Lazy

2008-10-29T12:27:00.003-04:00

I've strayed

2008-10-28T14:58:00.002-04:00

Okay, so originally I thought I'd just blog about books, but it turns out I kind of really like Halloween. So I apologize to anyone who began with me and now is all... WTF girl? I'll be back to books soon. But I thought maybe I could keep going with other random stuff. Who knew I would like doing this so much?!?

Anywho, I just thought I'd update anyone who was maybe a little curious as to how a book blog got turned into who's being what for Halloween, and how I'm helping. I do have some crafty tendancies (insert evil laugh here) as some people tell me, so I'll probably keep going with crafty stuff sometimes.

Halloween is my busy season in the crafty department so it will definately ease off after Friday, however I will post some pictures of various costumes in finished form with the wearer inside, just so everyone can see the finished product.

Tell me if you're doing any costumes this year. Is it something you have to do or something you love?

Captain Schmaptain

2008-10-27T14:12:00.010-04:00

Okay, so here we are getting ready for a Halloween party and Jonez decides that Captain Spaulding is out the window - yeah, I totally bitched too much, what? It was way creepy, he is entirely too much like that creepy ass clown guy - Now he is Mr. Lupinya, Pishaw Lupinya (say it out loud) the Russian Assassin. He did his costume all by his little self and everything. Are you ready for this? Top to bottom -

- Plain Black Woolie Cap

- Plain Grey T-Shirt

- Plain Black Trench Coat

- Plain Uniform Pants

- Plain Black Work Boots

Can you say easy? Turned out something like this (only with a 45 cal.)

Yeah... um... everyone (yeah all of them) thought he was this guy -

Funny, but soooo not right!

Aww Crap!

2008-10-23T09:05:00.005-04:00

So, I just found out that instead of a werewolf, Jonez wants to be this guy -

Yay me. I am so thrilled. Ewwww. Now I have to get him to decide which version he wants to be, so I know which costume we have to get together. Here are his choices -

In case you aren't familiar with this particular character (yeah, I had no idea who this guy was) He is Captain Spaulding from The Devil's Rejects and I guess he had a part in House of 1000 Corpses too. Either way *shivers* I am gonna have a hard time being around him on Halloween, cause nothing says spooky like a fucking killer clown! I guess I'm off to find him something to wear.

Wordless Wednesday - Canine Edition

2008-10-22T13:33:00.004-04:00

I am totally Cheap...

2008-10-17T15:31:00.004-04:00

Ok, I totally forgot to take pictures of the girl's costume for the blog (cause I am so blond like that). So, instead of pictures, you're going to get a cheap Christmas idea.

I am nothing if not totally cheap. Here you go: I take pictures for my own pleasure. I'm okay at this if I have enough time to really work with my camera, I am also totally enthralled with putting makeup on other people, and I love to do hair. (Do you see where this is going yet?)

So, for Christmas I am giving the girls under 16 certificates to have a photo shoot with me. Hair & Makeup included. I will then send an 8 x 10 & disc - with all the pictures from the shoot - home with them. This way the parents get a gift too! - See cheap.

However, I'm still not sure what to do for the boys in the family. The photo shoot would still be nice for the parents, but there really aren't too many boys in the family who would enjoy it. That makes it not a gift for them. - What do I do? Help me if you can, I'm open for original ideas.

Once again, I apologize for my blondness. I'll try for pictures this weekend.

Oh! I forgot to tell you... The Wonder Woman costume is coming along brilliantly! We got the top and bottoms sewn together. The belt is made and was being attached last night. I got the eagle drawn and cut out, it was also being attached last night. She's having to do a lot of the sewing on her own, because the band on the bottoms is so very stretchy she has to actually sew it while she is wearing it - very awkward. But once it was all pinned together it looked so good! Also she found these weird ~~beer~~ can coozies that are really 2 snap bracelets glued to foam, that we cut to fit her wrists and added gold lamé to them to make her wrist cuffs - or as she likes to call them - gauntlets - They look pretty good. So now all that needs to be done is - find her a skin toned body suit - make her crowny thing - finish up her cape (if she still wants it) - and add all of the stars to everything. Not really too much.

Then I have to sew the Man / Woman's clothes together so it will be easy to get into and voilá MIL will be done too! - We found her clothes this weekend at the goodwill. Yay! I'll let you know how everything else is going, Monday maybe? Who knows? Not me that's for sure.

Enough Procrastination

2008-10-16T13:36:00.003-04:00

So, I am onto a new book. I am now reading Genesis of Shannara - The Gypsy Morph by Terry Brooks. If you don't know who he is, you have probably never read any Fantasy Lit. I'm not saying he's the first, the best or anything like that. It's just kind of like the statement - If you don't know who Stephen King is you've probably never read any Horror Lit. I guess that's not really a good comparison, how about - If you don't know who Shakespear is you've ~~got your head in a hole~~ probably never read a play - no that's not it either. All I'm saying is that Mr. Brooks has an abundance of titles in the Fantasy Genre. Yeah that works.

On to the book itself. It is the third in a series of books coming after The Word and the Void books and before The Shannara books. I started this series completely by accident. I went to the library and saw Armageddon's Children , picked it up because I used to read Mr. Brooks when I was in, I don't know, like middle school maybe? So, I was all, hm... maybe this will be good. And yeah, it was pretty good, but the biggest pull of this series is that he keeps leaving people hanging. I have to read the rest of the books so I know what happens to everyone.

Now I've read the first two books of the series so when this one came out (I was totally watching for it) I got on my library's web site and put it on hold. So come back if you care to see how I feel about it, or if I find another quote I just love.

Also on for tomorrow... My daughter's new costume - still the dead bride thing, but maybe with pictures - If I can freaking remember to take them. o_o I am totally a blond.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-10-15T13:31:00.004-04:00

For Reals this time

2008-10-14T10:23:00.005-04:00

Okay so it's been a week since I posted last, but I had to finish The Stand. It took me longer than I thought it would obviously. So let's get down to it.

The whole time I was reading this I couldn't stop thinking about how bad the world needs to start over right now. Then I would think about how it would really suck to die just because some dumbass slipped through emergency protocol. Then I would think about how it would suck to live too. Then of course there's the fantasy; but what if my family lived intact. We could have the oportunity to travel that otherwise doesn't exist. It's all about the money right now. So that's how the book affected me personally.

Now onto the part of the book that I just didn't get. Okay, I understand how there would be several people who got into their cars to escape the city if they were still well. And I also understand they would probably get sick in their cars and die while still in them (due of course to the speed the virus killed some people) what I don't get is why there would be so many people dead in their cars having had accidents in the middle of the roads and pile ups on the highways. Um... wouldn't a great number of people stay home trying to beat the sickness??? Also if I were that sick I know I would at the very least pull off to the side of the road or something. Okay the more I really think about this the more I understand it... I have been noticing lately how extremely rude drivers have become, and I think maybe Mr. King has it spot on. A massive amount of people would be all - Every man for himself and such. So I guess I can see where all those cars would come from.

Okay, about what was bothering me in an earlier post. The farther into the book I got, the less it mattered anymore. In the beginning I had problems with some continuity issues, but those resolved themselves once everyone who got the plague died.

I did still love the book, and had forgotten a huge amount of what happened (like 99.4 percent even). This was a good read for me. It took me forever to read this (longer than I though it would anyway) but I didn't read it like I usually read either. I gave myself some breathing room. Most of the time when I read a book, it's nose in until I'm done. This time I really only read when I had the time to sit for at least an hour. No catching a couple pages here and there for this one. However, once I got to BookIII I couldn't put it down. Yesterday I was in that book fron the beginning of the day 'til dinner. The only problem with that is I was in a fog most of the day. I wasn't here, I was in Boulder, and Vegas, and all points in between.

So to wrap this up (it'll be as long as the book soon if I don't shut up already). I thoroughly enjoyed the trip Mr. King took me on. Although I knew I would, (I always enjoy reading Mr. King) I don't beleive I have ever read a Stephen King book I didn't enjoy. And I have read as many as I can find. All of them I think, but I can't really be sure. You know I guess there was one, Danse Macabre was the only one I did not like.

Let me know how you feel about Mr. King.

Hey y'all I'ze smart!

2008-10-07T10:26:00.004-04:00

So this is pretty lame, but I get sucked into all kinds of random time wasters when I'm online, and I fell onto this one. Here's to hoping this is right!

Free-IQTest.net - Quick Free IQ Test

Let me know how you do.

9 Year Olds!

2008-10-06T12:31:00.004-04:00

Isn't it just like a 9 year old girl to completely change her mind! She went from wanting to be a dragon girl to wanting to be a dead bride. So... now I've taken the 2 year's ago "Vampire" costume - really just my old floor length-black velvet-spaghetti strap-thigh high slit-dress that had been altered (by me) to fit (and modestly cover) a 4'-5" 7 year old (yeah that was fun!) - and I have added chunks of black lace (left over from my prom dress) to it so it looks all ripped up. Also we went to Jo-Ann's and got 3 yards of black tulle to make a veil for her. This will still require 1/2 hour minimum of make-up time and I'm not sure how well she'll deal, but she asked specifically for sunken in eyes and deathly palor (just not in so many words). She will also be dealing with 15 - 20 minutes of hair time. She wants a pretty up-do that has been destroyed. I think I might even get to throw in a sliced neck - won't that be great! I will definately be posting pics! The funny thing is this is from the girl who always wants to be something cute & pretty for Halloween! Seen Here -

Also in other news, I haven't been able to finish The Stand due to a baby shower next weekend. I'm crochet-ing (sp) a blanket and can't read and crochet at the same time. (I know I should be more productive - but whatever) We'll see what comes next...

The Dragon Girl

2008-10-03T14:17:00.006-04:00

Alrighty then, I'm not done with The Stand yet (I just reached 'Book II'). I thought I'd have it done by now, but I've been slacking. So instead I'll be showing you what I hope to do with my daughter's costume. We were reading the Jennifer Scales books and she decided that she wanted to not just be any dragon girl but instead be Jennifer Scales for Halloween. Now since I had already bought some stuff in the wrong color, I told her we'd try for one of her friends.

We are starting with a green elf-like leotard with a full mid thigh skirt and sleeves that are tight 3/4 of the way down the arm with long ruffles on the arm (I'll have a picture Monday I forgot). Then I've got some silver stretch lamé I'm going to cut into the shape of a stomach and attach to her stomach area. I found some really neat sheer black material that has silver stars and moons on it that I'm going to make wing ribs in and attach to her wrists to look like she has a sort of dragon / bat wing with hand thing going. Add some shimmery black tights and some kind of shoe (I'm kinda lost there) and we get to move on to the super fun stuff - Make-up!

So I've been browsing through the super time-waster Ask-Me-Makeup (best site ever!) and I found this-

I'm going to attempt this on a 9 year old in green and silver, and possibly add horns in this manner-

I'll let you know how that goes. (She may very well shoot me)

3.7 pounds?

2008-09-30T10:54:00.003-04:00

Alright! The library had it. Well duh of course they did it's a book most every one has at least heard of. If only for its size. My daughter saw it when I brought it home and her first comment was "How many pages is that?!?"
You may have guessed Moby Dick? War and Peace? Gone With the Wind? Nope, I'm finally Re-reading The Stand. Yay me. I loved it the first time and I'm hoping age and a family hasn't changed that. I am reading the "Complete & Uncut Edition" and so far the only thing I'm not too fond of is the updates (Mr. King chose to update it to 1990 since that's when he re-did it). Some of the updates don't work with the original book's ideas. This was originally written in 1978 and a twelve year change to only some of the book is kind of jarring.
So... I guess you should give me oh I don't know... till Friday? And then I'll let you know. Wish me luck.
Oh and for any one who's waiting, I'll be talking about the Dragon Costume tomorrow.

My pants are on fire

2008-09-29T09:31:00.006-04:00

Okay, so I lied. Well not totally. I didn't read Little Altars Everywhere cause I left it at work. And really I didn't have time to read this weekend anyway. So I thought I'd tell you more about the costumes. (Yeah I really am a costume geek) So without further ado -

This is the costume we are gonna start with. "The woman in Charge" wants to go as the "Linda Carter - Wonder Woman," so we'll be altering based on this -

Let's go ahead and start at the top shall we... We will be finding a wig like this one hopefully. Her husband has some copper he is going to cut and shape for the tiara (the one from the cosume ~~sucks~~ is sort of cheap. Moving down. We will be removing the little "W" wings and making this -

out of gold lamé possibly, and then stitching it on. Also her husband is going to try to make some arm bands from the copper too, but we're not sure they'll go over her hands and still be small enough around to stay in place on her arms. Moving down some more... The skirt that came with this is well a skirt! What the hell?!? Um... Wonder Woman has hot pants or high cut "panties" for lack of a brain that can think of the proper word. So we are either going to make the skirt into hot pants, or get some blue hot pants and put white stars on them. Now onto the boots. What came with the costume was weird shoe covers made of stretch velvet. Now I've seen WW's boots on amazon and such but "The woman in Charge" says she needs to be able to try them before she buys them (probably a smart idea don't tell her I think so). So we're kind of at a loss as to where to find them. Once we get the boots she'll have a quality costume she can wear for years (yeah she likes that idea) or until she thinks of something else anyway.

We'll move onto the next costume tomorrow, cause I just can't get into the idea of starting a new author right now when I have so many other more intersting thing on the fire. Apologies to anyone who was waiting for me to talk about the book. I know I suck.

A poem...

2008-09-26T14:02:00.003-04:00

~ The Addiction ~
Me

My voice is slowly taken from me,
as I become what you have allowed.
You have used my need and destroyed me.
My love for you is an addiction.
You are narcotic in form.
I need you to live.
And yet,
as I partake,
I am slowly killing myself.
Oh, to quit you.
Oh that I would desire to.

Yeah it's a little dark, but I only seem to be able to write poetry when I have the inspiration also know as - when the shit REALLY hits the fan (so to speak).

In other news...

I am so excited about Halloween! We are having our first party (costumes required) and I LOVE getting all costumed up! I'm also making several costumes (or at the minimum helping get all the right crap together for someone else). So if you don't think it's too big a leap from books to costumes (both help you hide from the world) tell me if you want to see pics of the stuff I end up putting together.

I'll be making or assisting with the creation of:

Wonder Woman

A Dragon Girl

Half Man / Half Woman

Were Wolf

Pirate (this one's easy - it's me)

A possible pin-up girl - (she doesn't really know yet)

And Something else (she has NO IDEAS)

Ooh, I had an idea!

If you have any suggestions I'll try to talk her into it. She's a 20-something and not into all that slutty stuff, so let your ideas abound...

The Stand

2008-09-25T15:19:00.003-04:00

I was all set to start re-reading The Stand today, when I discovered (much to my chagrin) that I don't own this book. Anyway, I was pretty upset and had to pick some other (as I totally disrepect whatever I do pick) book to fill in. So I picked up Little Alters Everywhere by Rebecca Wells. However I never got a chance to start it today. So I should be able to comment on the state of things come Monday. Hopefully it's a worthwhile adventure (feel free to post your fave bits or tell me it's awful and to put it down before I hurt myself) but if it's not I'll still have The Gingerbread Girl to look forward to listening to, once I pick it up from the Library. Once again hit me with your favorite book stuff, I'm always looking for a good book to read.

Huh, I finally did it...

2008-09-24T10:32:00.004-04:00

Well this is the first of what I hope will be a decent compilation of quotes from and thoughts about the books I read.
I'll start out with this quote from Odd Hours by Dean Koontz:
"Grief can destroy you - or focus you. You can decide a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end in death, and you alone. Or you can realize that every moment of it had more meaning than you dared to recognize at the time, so much meaning it scared you, so you just lived, just took for granted the love and laughter of each day, and didn't allow yourself to consider the sacredness of it. But when it's over and you're alone, you begin to see it wasn't just a movie and a dinner together, not just watching sunsets together, not just scrubbing a floor or washing dishes together or worrying over a high electric bill. It was everything, it was the why of life, every event and precious moment of it. The answer to the mystery of existance is the love you shared sometimes so imperfectly, and when the loss wakes you to the deeper beauty of it, to the sanctity of it, you can't get off your knees for a long time, you're driven to your knees not by the weight of the loss but by gratitude for what preceded the loss. And the ache is always there, but one day not the emptiness, to take solace in it, is to disrespect the gift of life."

That's it for today. I'll be adding more quotes and such when I come across them. Send me your favorites so I can enjoy them too.

Totally Tattoo'd Mother

Traveling Red Pink Dress

Mmmmmmmmm!!!

Book Squeeee

Meh, I'm gonna post it anyway.

Anansi Boys

Wendy's Country Fried Steak

Is Jesus enough?

Here it is

I am so on it

I'm Speaking Out

Brene Brown and Vulnerability

I'm a Whiner

breathe

Email handling - please read and delete my name & address per below

Costume Contest updates

grieving a stranger

questions answered and hints given

My Fair Lazy - Jen Lancaster *Updated*

Mystery Costume

well crap!

This is a test

blog by phone *Updated*

Somewhere near the beginning.

Yay! revisited

Black Friday Anyone?

Despite rumors to the contrary...

what's been on my mind...

Crap!

It's all for the dogs!

Jade meets Sarah...

She will cut you She is very skilled in combat

Thirsty Thursday

Aaahhhhh!!!! So. Excited!

Happy Birthday!

Prop. 8?!?

Solid Potato Salad - What?

Ice Cream Faces?

Flowers, Casa & Hair

Aaaaghhhhhh Bills!!!!!!!!!!

commando?

I've got the itch...

The evils of Blackmail!

Regularity ;-)

Jerry's Kids need your help

I am such a thief...

Red Water

Where'd I go?

"Real Life" crept up on me

Hm......

Wordless Wednesday

Oh Crap, why isn't the water going down?!?

Wuthering Heights

It's Thursday again!

Makeover?

The Big 3-0, that ain't shit!

Thirsty? Good It's Thursday!

I got nothin!

I really did...

On the verge of pulling out ALL of my hair (not just some)

My Rant

I'm alive!

More Icy Goodness

A much deserved rest.

Winter is GREAT!

Oil Love

This says it all

Yay, it's Thurdsday!

Missing you...

Thirsty Thursday

Holy Crap!!!

Merry Gentry

Digital T.V.

Remember - LAZY

Wake Up Alone

Just call me "Slacker"

Disappointment

yay!

It's Wednesday, I'm Lazy

I've strayed

My Fair Lazy - Jen Lancaster Updated

blog by phone Updated