29 August, 2009

20 years ago I . . .(2009)

20 years ago I . . .
1. Was going into my Senior year at Simmons

2. Saw Aerosmith at the Garden
3. Dating Bpy Toy

10 years ago I . . .
1. Was living on Hollis Street but with a new crew of delinquents that made our lives a living hell (don’t worry, I made theirs even worse)
2. Was writing SQL statements for Vantive
3. Was wondering if Y2K was really going to be a big deal

5 years ago I . . .
1. Was working with PeopleSoft
2. Was pregnant and wondering if I was going to get stretch marks
3. Watched the news and saw that Hollis St burnt to the ground

3 years ago I . . .
1. Was working with SalesForce.com
2. Took Boy Toy and Spotty Chop to London
3. Had Spotty’s hair cut for the first time

1 year ago I . . .
1. Went to Disney World with Boy Toy and Spotty Chop
2. Had my first upper GI done
3. Got a new boss (yea!)

So far this year I . . .
1. Had our first “invite the whole class” birthday party
2. Went to my Favorite Brother’s wedding shower
3. Am blown away that Spotty Chop knows how to swim

Yesterday I . . .
1. Left Boy Toy and Spotty Chop at home while I went to work
2. Watched a new series Hot Wheels Battle Force 5...as a family

3. Ate a sausage and cheese calzone

Today I . . .
1. Will play cars with Spotty
2. Will do laundry
3. Watch to see what Hurricane Danny does

Tomorrow I will . . .
1. go to Gramie and Grumpa’s for Grumpa’s birthday
2. Get Spotty’s stuff ready for his first day as a STAR on Monday
3. Snuggle with Spotty

In the next year I will . . .
1. See the Other to celebrate the passing of my roomie (Viking funeral is ON)
2. Be watching (CRYING) as Spotty enters kindergarten
3. Hopefully find more time to myself to relax

20 years ago I . . . (2006)

20 years ago I . . .
1. was graduating high school

2. driving a 69 Camaro convertible (stock)
3. dating Boy toy

10 years ago I . . .
1. was living on Hollis Street with “the gang”
2. went camping almost every weekend in the summer
3. starting working with my first CRM system “Vantive”

5 years ago I . . .
1. went to London, for work, by myself
2. bought a house with Boy toy
3. was trying to deal with my mom’s heart attack

3 years ago I . . .
1. was living through the worst work year OF MY LIFE
2. watched as Boy toy redid our kitchen
3. worked, like a dog, like a damn dog, like a freakin “oh my god I have no life because I work for an insane person “

1 year ago I . . .
1. had given birth & realized I missed being pregnant
2. couldn’t figure out how I had lived without our baby Spotty
3. broke down and watched the Sly-Lie channel even though they cancelled Farscape

So far this year I . . .
1. have dealt with my mom’s cancer
2. had a “first” birthday party
3. bought a new (to me) car

Yesterday I . . .
1. picked up Mother’s Day and Graduation cards
2. tried a new ice cream place
3. worked from home

Today I . . .
1. was almost late for work because I just love to watch Spotty sleep
2. am going to REI to look at tents
3. am struggling with a co-worker who feels the rules don’t apply to him

Tomorrow I will . . .
1. do laundry, dishes, clean the bathroom…
2. snuggle with Spotty and kiss him at least once an hour
3. pick up Mothers day presents

In the next year I will . . .
1. hopefully take our first family vacation (camping is a lifestyle not a vacation)
2. take on more responsibilities at work with my new job
3. do a better job at scrapbooking, so I will be able to see how much Spotty has grown

28 August, 2009

Camping with B-52 and Lennon





Even though B-52 and Lennon haven't been camping in years they returned to it like pros. Not that Spotty Chop had anything to do with it....



We decided we really liked a pool that was between 1.6 and 4 feet deep



Wiffle Ball




Super cool water fun


Snuggles



Gratuitous Star Wars Shot

21 August, 2009

Thematic Photographic 63 - Summer

Wow – I can’t believe it has been so long since I joined this happy bunch.
This is one of the problems of not having a good digital camera. No excuse for not looking at other peoples photos though.

Time to take my head out of my (__!__) and join the ranks of the living.


We just came back from 6 Flags. Great summertime fun, but DAMN was it hot. Not a lot of photos were taken. We just tried to survive the heat. Well, some of us didn’t have a problem.










20 August, 2009

bet you wish you were my kid...









just sayin

18 August, 2009

We're going on an adventure...


and it might include



and perhaps some of






there may be





or





You will just have to wait and see now won't you?








16 August, 2009

Words of wisdom from a 4 year old

Keep your penis away from the PEZ dispenser

12 August, 2009

Book Review: if i am missing or dead

This is a story of two sisters, and a lifetime of abuse. It’s an insiders peek into how this sort of thing might happen. How what you experience in childhood really can affect what happens to you and how you grow up.

At times it is funny and other times so brutally sad you want to vomit. Many will wonder why don’t they just leave? Others will understand that life is sometimes complicated.


Regardless, this is a story that should - no must be heard. If not for you, maybe for a friend, a stranger, a co-worker.

And while you’re thinking, think upon this: 1 in 4 women will be abused in her lifetime.


Go to Maggie’s and cheer on a survivor.

11 August, 2009

Book Review: White Night

Book Nine of the Dresden Files

Harry: He’d better not have…I have given him years, years, and I will not be cast aside like last season’s shoes…Never date a beautiful man. It isn’t worth what you have to put up with.

Harry: The Black Council had been, if you will pardon the phrasing, a phantom menace.

Harry: Bring it Darth Bathrobe!

Harry: I was going to say evil, but I’m increasingly unsure exactly where everyone around me falls on the Jedi-Sith Index

Apparently Harry celebrated my birthday with me…

10 August, 2009

Dear Spotty Chop you are 53 months old recently because I am apparently just sick of the computer and refuse to look at in during the weekend.

You now have a big boy bed! And it’s not just any big boy bed it is a (queue 70’s music) water bed. That’s right you are now cooler than about 90% of the US population. You have Star Wars sheets (that match mama’s), Dr. Seuss sheets (which have far too many turtles on them you feel) and some kick ass tie dye sheets. The bed is big enough for the two of us to snuggle and read books in. You can do your crazy night time wandering and still be totally comfortable. We can even fit daddy on the bed if we have to.

Angel chorus of Hallelujah

You now sleep in your room the whole night (you will of course immediately stop doing this the moment I hit save.) Do I miss at times waking up at 3am and having your head nestled under my chin? Yes. Do I miss rolling over and having you reach up to play with my hair? Yes. Do I miss moving my head and getting a whiff of you? Yes. Do I miss waking up every night falling off of the bed because you used your father’s stomach as a springboard and your head as a battering ram? No. Do I miss being woken up at 4am because in the midst of getting comfortable you slammed your skull into my nose? Not so much. Do you wander into our bed around 6 or 7 am to snuggle? Yes. Is it good ? Hell Yes. More importantly, I think you are getting more sleep. You seem to be more even tempered. You are proud of your bed. You love to show it off.

Have I mentioned swimming? You now swim? Underwater? Do backwards somersaults? Underwater? Can almost do front somersaults? Underwater? No floaty things for you. You want to be FREEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I can’t wait to get you into lessons. Great exercise. Good family times. And most importantly? COOL POOL TOYS!!!!

We had friends over for dinner. You showed them your Bakugon collection. When you came to the end you said “and last, but certainly not least….” You crack us up.

We had one of your school friends over to the house. Our first hosted play date. You were great. Shared your things, didn’t have a meltdown. Can’t ask for anything more.

You found a “costume” box I put together and now you and daddy run through the house in disguise. Mainly as THE GOOD GUYS (full SWAT with accessories). I have been relegated to the “Evil butt stink monster”…

You and your daddy were drawing with chalk. You wanted purple chalk but we didn’t have any. You told your daddy that maybe you could use the color stuff for water. Boy toy had no idea what you were talking about so you brought him to the cabinet where I keep baking stuff. You both came to ask me if we had food coloring. I put a few drops in water and off you ran. Stuck the chalk into the water. Guess what happened? The chalk turned purple. My first instinct would have been to hop in the car to buy purple chalk. You are so much smarter than we are.

YOU ROCK.