The story of a young lady raised in the San Francisco Bay Area who moved to Houston, got married, had 2 boys and moved to a small Southeast Texas town. Read all about it.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Yes I'm still here.....

I know you all (or as they say down here, Y'all) have been wondering what has happened to me.

(The sounds of crickets chirping in the background.)

Really? Not one person has been wondering? Oh well, I'll tell you anyways.

1. Well, we are currently in Round 3 of the "Department of Labor won't pay back pay until you can show us you are injured" battle. You would think that after working on this problem with them for 5 years I would have gotten use to the red tape. Nope, not a bit. Oh well, hopefully after they see the Husband MRI results they will realize that he is injured. Not that the constant pain isn't a big screaming clue.

2. Bear finished Kindergarten with flying colors. Well he could have done better with the discipline, but he's a boy in the country. What I worry about is when Bug goes to school and I get the first call that he has bitten someone. That call will come. Bear made some wonderful friends and I hope that in 9 years when they are all in high school I can embarrass them with pictures from Kindergarten. Moms are allow to do things like that.

3. We're going to Walt Disney World at the end of July. The boys, my mom, my sister and I. At the "Most Magical Place on Earth." I think the boys will like it. I also think that after driving down to Orlando & back (didn't I mention that?) I will need a vacation.

Well I think that is all for now. Have a Happy Fourth of July. Don't eat too much. Don't drink too much. And don't forget which end of the sparkler to hold!

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Oh, the Strangeness

I woke up this morning and had a wonderful surprise. After getting the coffee going and the dog outside, I turned on the morning news. As my wandering mind often does, I started to look through the channels. When I found one of the movies I could easily say is one of my guilty pleasures. Can't Stop the Music. Where else do you have a movie that not only has current reality stars Bruce Jenner & Steve Gutenburg, but also has the Village People. Throw in a little Valerie Perrine and Baby June Havoc (Gypsy Rose Lee's baby sister), a lot of catch songs that get stuck in your head, and New York City of late 70's and then you've got a movie. This is one of the movies that I remember vividly from my childhood. Others are Xanadu, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band, and Popeye. I had strange tastes when I was young. Now I need to go. It's time for the "Milkshake" song.

Monday, May 04, 2009

Oink, Oink, Cough, Cough

This is getting ridiculous. This morning I found out that the school district to the east of ours was shut down due to the chance there was a student who might have the Swine Flu (sorry, pig farmers out there, H1N1). So if this child has the dreaded virus, the whole district (which probably has 3,000 students total K-12) will be shut down for the remainder of the week. Which means that the parents of the students who work must find a friend or relative to watch the children that are not sick but must stay home or take unnecessary days off from work. That's going to do wonders for the local economy. So now we wait. Maybe this will cause our district to take a few days off before the actual end of year. At least I stay home, so I won't have to take a day off. On the contrary, I will have to work harder.

Friday, April 10, 2009

That's Some Heavy Music!

I have finally been allowed to listen to my music while I drive the Bear & Bug around. For months I have been stuck in an endless cycle of The Nightmare Before Christmas and George of the Jungle soundtracks. Last night when driving to the Bear's T-ball game (his team the A's lost the Yankees 21-6, or as the Husband say, "Just like the big leagues!") I took control of the music. We listened to the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack. I actually got thee kiddos to groove to the music. We also listened to Weird Al's Running With Scissors, so the boys got a kick out the "The Saga Begins" and the Polka Song.
While I did get to listen many of my CDs last night (yes I still use CDs), I think I pulled a muscle while lifting my CD case today. I have yet to convert to the digital medium of MP3s. Although I do think it would be funny if the iTunes store saves your preferences based on the music you have loaded on your iPod. I don't think those algorithims were designed to deal with a person who like Gershwin & Meat Loaf. The thought of confounding Apple is enough incentive to get an iPod.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Now that you're here, Now that you're near....

It's Xanadu! One of my most favorite movies since I 5. Tonight as I was flipping through the channels of basic cable while the whole house slept, I saw that there was a strange confluence of Olivia Newton-John, Electric Light Orchestra, roller skating, Greek mythology and Gene Kelly. Xanadu. Ah the strange fashions of the early 80s (leg warmers, zoot suits, electric orange jumpsuits) along with a crazy soundtrack featuring OLJ & ELO. A match made in heaven, or Olympus to be more exact. Throw in a dash of Gene Kelly and we're set. I am so sure that I tortured my parents by listening to the album, trying to roller skate on the living room carpet. I remember on a trip to Seattle begging my parents to take me to Mount St. Helens because I thought that was where the muses were (I misheard the movie, but to my defense it was a BetaMax tape) and utterly disappointed when I didn't see them dancing around. I am completely certain that this movie was 100% responsible for my love of Greek Mythology. The only thing that makes tonight even better. The last 30 minutes of Hackers. Why can't we have such cool computers now?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Muse Has Returned

I know it's been a month since my last post. I just couldn't write anymore. I don't know why, but I'm back now. I'm busy as all get out with the Bear's T-ball practice. Tonight the team is having a scrimmage, which will be the first time many of these kids have been on a baseball field. It will be fun to watch. I'm exhausted. I have to be at the school to pick Bear up. He gets out of school at 3:30, but I have to be there early to "line up". The earlier, the better, so I'm there at 2:45. And I wait. With a 2 year old in the back. Then it's back home for him to change, usually home by 4:00. Then we leave at 5:00 (around the same time the school bus is dropping the kids off!) to back up to town for practice at 5:30. I spend the next hour and a half chasing the Bug around a field that is about 2 football fields in size. This week has been even more fun since we had so much rain last week that the field is more mud & water than grass. At least tonight, the scrimmage is at 6:00. But it's further away from my house. So I'll probably leave earlier. Oh how I can't wait for a vacation.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Day 18

#18. I do not understand the fascination with Sweet Tea. I like Iced Tea. It's refreshing, especially in the south in the summer. What I don't understand is why when I go to a restaurant and ask for tea, I will inevitable be served sweet tea. I try to tell by smelling it, but it always takes a taste test. Blech! How hard is it ask the customer? Or better yet, only serve unsweetened tea, and provide sweetener on the side. Much easier.

Day 17

#17. I went through the "black clothing" phase. In high school. I would claim it was because I was on the theater crew, so we needed to wear black to keep from being seen. Yeah....OK. I even dyed my hair black. The week before my senior picture was taken. Ask my mom what she thought about that. So, I've finally gotten out of that phase. I wear colors now. Dark colors, but colors. Mom would be proud.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Day 16

(A day late, but here none the less!)

#16. I love History. When we moved to our new home, I want to know everything about the area we were moving to. Not just about the schools and where the nearest grocery store is, but the people that have lived here over the years. At the church we go to, I love hearing stories from everyone about what they did before moving to the area as well as the stories of the people who have always lived here. I find it fascinating that there is a lady at church who had a monkey as a pet! I want to know about the floods that have impacted the area. I want know what is it that brought all these people to this spot at this time.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Day 15

Half way through. Thank goodness it's just February!

#15. I love to read. Pretty much anything. There are times I will cereal boxes just so I am reading something. This love of reading will get me to wander through Wikipedia, clicking on links, reading about stranger and stranger things. But it all ends up in my vault of useless knowledge.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Day 14

#14. I love holidays. I like to celebrate. It makes me feel happy because I can make others feel happy. My husband doesn't. I still haven't figured out why he is like that. So what would you think I'm doing on this Valentine's Day? Well probably the same thing I do on any given Saturday which is to clean up after all 3 of my boys. But tonight I do get to do something different. The church we go to is having a Valentine's Dinner. It should be very nice. I get watch the kids in the nursery. Well that is the job I was hired to do.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Day 13

#13. I think 13 is a cool number. Friday the 13th is even better. My husband however is so scared of "Friday the 13th" that he will stay inside to avoid bad luck. So I am having a long day of my husband staying home. Only 2 more times this year!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Day 12

#12. I love British television. I'm not an expert on it, I just love the shows that they produce. As I write this, I have a DVD of Brideshead Revisited playing. I watch Are You Being Served?, Monty Python, and Doctor Who regularly. Ten years before House, I had watched Hugh Laurie play Bertie Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster. Now if you want to see what a superb actor Hugh Laurie is, watch both shows back to back. Then you can tell me what a great actor you think he is. I already know.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Day 11

#11. I could never be a vegetarian. It's not that I won't eat vegetarian dishes. I actually eat tofu by choice. Most people I meet around here have either never heard of tofu or they think it's some strange hippie food. Anyways, back to the topic. I love meat. If they could find a way to make bacon vegetarian, and still be just as tasty, I'll be there. What is so funny about this is that my oldest son will eat vegetables before meat. I'm sure it's a phase, but if he wants to go veggie, I'll be there for him. So long as he doesn't mind the aroma of bacon, we'll do just fine.

Day 10

#10. I love Sci-Fi. Most people see a spaceship on a TV show or movie screen and run the other way. I don't know if it's because they can't grasp the "sciency" part of it, or they would just rather muddle their head in a Ashton Kutcher flick. If the Sci-Fi show has something about time travel in it, I am there. Somehow I can separate timelines easily. And it bothers me when screenwriters write stupid time travel. Timecop is the best example of that kind of writing. Wouldn't a super secret agency that patrols the "time stream" have officers that understood that they could change time, and therefore they may not come back to the same "future"? Anytime Jean-Claude "Do you realize I'm Belgian?" Van Damme returns form the past, he's surprised at the changes that have occured. Even though he is at, or sometimes the cause of, the time changing event. Ah, but then that was only an action movie, and thankfully we've past all those movie-event times. But who knows?

Monday, February 09, 2009

Day 9

#9. I hate being sick. To the point I won't even throw up. And why am I writing on this lovely topic? I think I'm sick. With the flu. After having a flu shot. The wonders of modern medicine.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Day 8

#8. I worry a lot. Not in a paralyzing, can't get out of bed worry, just the every day worries. I worry that my son's school hasn't gotten rid of tainted peanut butter. I don't sit by the phone waiting for the call, but I do trust that the school district has already taken care of it. My biggest worries come from my husband's direction. Every day my husband goes to work, I worry that I'll the call from the government saying there was an accident as his airport. Although with the amount of time I spend online, I'd probably be calling them after reading a local report. And they will tell me a training exercise or some other junk.

Friday, February 06, 2009

Day 7

#7. Seven (or number equally divided by 7) show up all over my life. My birthday is the 28th (in 1977!). My husband's is the 7th. Our oldest son was was born on December 7th (another great day in history, but that's another post!). Of my stepchildren, one was born on the 14th and the other was born on the 7th. I would include our anniversary (7/1) but we chose that date, so it doesn't really count. Other numbers show up, but since I look for 7 that's all I see. My sister sees 3s everywhere. Even in my freckles.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Day 6

#6. I have a great range of music tastes. Currently I have in my truck I have Johnny Cash, Nightmare Before Christmas, Sweeney Todd, Bride & Prejudice, George Gershwin, Mozart, Aerosmith, and the Wiggles. Granted the Wiggles CD is not mine, but there are times I like to listen to it. I also like Zydeco, Swing, and Metal. The only "style" of music I can not get my head around is Rap. It has never appealed to me. Hopefully I'm extending my love of music to my boys. I just hope that by the time they are teenagers 80's music is back in style. Tears for Fears rocks.

Day 5

#5. I love living in the country, even though I miss parts of city life. I love that I can go outside at night and see stars. Lots of stars. It is a humbling sight, when you realize that the universe is that huge. I love that I can not hear my neighbors through the walls and, conversely, they can not hear me. I can breathe the air here and I can not see it! But then I miss the noise. Not the car alarms, ambulance & police sirens, or gun shots, but the different sounds that come from people talking and enjoying each others' company. Also, I miss the ability to go to the grocery store at 2am, just because I want to.

Day 4

#4. I'm queen of Useless Knowledge. I don't know why, but I collect useless bit of trivia. It's like belly button lint in my brain, you know it's there, but you have no idea how it got there. It does make me fun when watching Jeopardy. And solving crossword puzzles. I think part of it comes from reading so much. Maybe from the osmosis of growing up with my dad and all of his books. I don't dislike having all of this in my brain. I just wish that I had a Pensive so I could store things that I don't always need, and have plenty of space for more important things. Example: I could take my Harry Potter knowledge out and have plenty of room for the dry weight of an octopus.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Day 3

#3. I have 3 loves-My family, food, and movies. I will do anything to protect my family. Which includes my husband, kids, parents, sister, in-laws (yes I do like them!), friends and various cousins. As long as it's legal, I'll be there to help.
As far as food goes, I have found a love for cooking. I'll find a recipe and fiddle with it until I get it where I want it. Then I change it around again. Just to see if I can make it better. My sister says I should have my own Food Network show. Well if I did, it would probably be like Iron Chef, but in a home environment. For the mom who realizes that she doesn't have everything and she doesn't have time to go to the store to get something else. I sweep in and look round her fridge and pantry and make a meal her family will love. It's a dream.
Now movies. My husband will call me from work to ask me about "That movie where the guy from that Scotland/Africa movie breaks into a house and it's got Jodie Foster. What's it's name?" I can answer those questions. Not because I've seen all of these movies, but I read about them. And yes I've seen a great deal of movies. I'm just like that.

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Day 2

#2. My Grandma Judy (Dad's Mom) was born in Punxsutawney, PA. The place where the groundhog is. I always thought it was cool. I also thought of February as her month. She was born on Leap Day. Last year she would have had her 22nd birthday. It reminds me of Pirates of Penzance. Except my grandma wasn't a pirate apprentice. She was a postal employee. She ended her career in Mendocino, CA. I loved to visit her up there. I think that's where I got into my head that I would like the east coast for college. One of these days, I hope to take my husband and kids up there so they can see a different part of California.

Day 1

On Facebook, I've been seeing my friends write notes about 25 random things about them. I was thinking about how I could adjust it a bit. Here's my contribution. Each day this month I'm going to tell a random thing about myself. And I will explain it a bit as well. There will probably be pictures. Don't say I didn't warn you. On to the list.

#1. I really love being a mom. Growing up I thought I would have a career. I knew I'd get married and have kids eventually, but I thought I could do both. Well, I've found that I couldn't do both. I didn't want to do both. I sort of worry about what will happen when my youngest goes to school. I probably will get a job at one of the small stores around here, but my kids come first.
When I talk about my kids, most people think I'm talking about my 6 & 2 years olds. I also consider my stepson one of my boys. He's barely 10 years younger than me (by 2 weeks) but I treat him the same as the little ones. If he needs me, I'm there as much as if my biological kids need me. That is the part of being a mom that has amazed me.

My boys in their natural habitat.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

It's My Birthday

Well today is my birthday. I'm 32 and not afraid to tell everyone I see. My mom just called me for birthday wishes and I told her happy birthday, at least to her liver. She had a transplant 12 years ago, so I suppose it's like having a little brother whose birthday is also yours. You can't help but remember the date.
Anyhow, I've been up since 6am, got the Bear ready for school, roasted, ground & brewed coffee for the Husband, picked up the dry-cleaning, went to the gym and came home. I didn't expect my husband to have miraculously decorated the house while I was gone, but a "Happy Birthday" would have been nice. Three hours later, and I'm still waiting for him to put it together.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

I love Netflix

I love all kinds of movies. Musicals, foreign films, dramas, chick flicks, really bad B-movies. I don't love every movie, but I can tolerate a wide variety. A perfect example is the few times of the year my husband decides he wants to watch a few movies in one day. He will look through the movies we have and pick 3. And without a doubt they will be Gladiator, Braveheart, and We Were Soldiers. To be watched in that order. I have nothing against those movies. I just can't watch them in one day. One after the other. Just to be fair, he watches other movies too, but those 3 are joined together. The only time he watches them separately is when they happen to be on TNT or something like that.
Back to the original track. I was thinking of the movies I've watched this year because of Netflix. I watched My Favorite Year with Peter O'Toole. I love watching that movie, especially with my dad. Thankfully, BBC America just happened to be showing it Christmas night, when my parents and sister had come down from San Francisco for a visit. So while I felt a little sorry for my mom and sister having to sit through a movie that my dad and I can quote word for word, it felt really good to be able to quote a movie word for word and have a partner.
The Disney Channel had the cartoon Alice in Wonderland on during the Christmas break. I think it's alright as an introduction, I started to think of my favorite version of Alice. I remember watching a live version of it on PBS when I was little. What I remembered from it was the costumes, props and backdrops seemed to come from the actual books (I was maybe 6 or 7 at the time). So I set upon to find a copy of it, because the last copy I had of it was a 1983 BetaMax tape that my parents graciously taped for me. So I looked online, and found out that Netflix had it. And so this weekend, I watched with my 6 year old Bear. He loved it. He would ask me if the actors were real, because mice aren't really as big as little girls (BTW, Nathan Lane played the Mouse!). After telling him they were actors in costumes, he enjoyed it even more. I found myself remembering it far more than I thought. Maybe as he gets older he will want to watch My Favorite Year with his Mom & PeePaw.

Thursday, January 01, 2009

I don't want to be a Nitpicker.......

I know that 2009 is not even 24 hours old (at least here in Southeast Texas) but I'd already like a refund, please! The Bear decided he wanted to stay at a friend's house last night instead of partying with his parents. I guess I need to learn sooner rather than later that my kids are going to want to spend New Year's Eve with friends, but I didn't expect him to start at 6 years old. Oh well. He had fun. However......
When he got back this morning I noticed he was scratching his head. After looking at his hair and scalp for bug bites, I saw the dreaded nits. My little boy had lice! After several moments of scratching my own head, I looked at the Bug's head, and thankfully there was nothing there. But I still had to deal with the Bear.
So off to the neighborhood Walgreen's. After searching for the Rid and nit combs, I finally find the boxes on a bottom shelf, wedged between the blue-hair rinse and the hair straightener. Then I noticed the strange thing. The shelf was surprisingly bare. Was there a lice outbreak I wasn't notified of? What crazy Christmas Vacation stories are the kids going to come back with on Monday? Whatever. I picked up enough poisoned shampoo for the boys, my husband and I, just in case. I also picked up 4 plastic shower caps that my mom suggested I get. Thanks Mom!
Back home we went. I decided it would be better to wait until my husband got home so I could have help. I didn't think it would be as bad as washing the dog or cat (yes I've bathed my cat, but that's a story for another day). Boy was I wrong. Bear was easy. Well as easy as keeping a 6 year old boy with itchy scalp from scratching his scalp. Then on with the shower cap. Bug saw the "hat" and wanted one too. Great! This should be really easy, a willing victim, I mean customer. After having Bug run from the bathroom twice, I realized I should probably lock the door. At least he'd be confined. Saturate the hair, throw a cap on, and back to living room to wait. After 30 minutes, Bug decided he had worn the hat long enough and took it off then jumped on the new couch. Oh well, at least it'll keep the bad bugs off the furniture. Off to the shower!
Try to explain to a 2 year old anything. Especially that if he doesn't close his eyes the water will hurt them. It never works. The screams echoed loudly, but the Kiddos were clean. Then they passed out after getting PJs on. The night is almost over, then my husband wants me to look at his hair. Thank goodness, he's fine. Then he looks at my hair. And right now I'm waiting my 30 minutes with a shower cap on my head. 2009 is going to be a great year!