From the archives

Because I'm too sore to think straight, here's "one from the vault" (and OMG if you get that reference? We are totally BFF). And I'll try to write a real post later:

Is there anything quite so disappointing as when you get a craving for iced coffee and then you get some iced coffee and it's all burnt and bitter and nasty?! Then do you go back and ask for a new iced coffee?

What if you were driving thru when you ordered it? Do you go to the nearest dunkies and say, Hi I bought this at the last Dunkies and it sucks so I would like another please? Or do you just open up a vein and stick the straw in so you get the caffeine without the nasty taste?

Today I took Miss D. and Baby R. to McDonalds for lunch. We went to the one with the new playground as a reward for the girls' being so good on our errands this morning. I needed caffeine so I tried the new Newman's Own iced coffee and it was gross gross gross. Burnt and yucky. So I threw it out.

Why did I do that? Isn't my money worth anything? I mean, really, why don't I just take the two bucks and chuck them in the trash? Why am I too embarrased to go up to the counter and demand that the minimum-wage person behind it make me a decent freakin coffee?!

See, now I'm all upset cuz I was forced to get my caffeine from a diet Coke. And it just isn't the same.

I love when you go to Dunkies or Starbucks on a hot sweaty day and you're on your way to work and it sucks to have to work on such a beach day and you get your coffee and it is the perfect balance of coffee, cream, and sugar and you sip it and all your cares just floooat awaaay.

You know, Mickey D's, I'm on a budget here and I cannot afford any more nasty coffees.

I should go work at a Starbucks. Have you ever had a bad coffee from there? I don't think I have. Although I hate when I forget to ask for it "with room," you know, for the cream. Anyway, I should go work there. Although I hear they pay for their WiFi, which kinda blows. I mean, did you not just pay $8 for a latte and now they want to charge for their internet too?

(By the way, I was going to link to the nice blogger who first made mention that Starbucks charged for internet use but now I can't remember which one she was. Just a little sign that I might be addicted to other peoples' blogs.)

When I have MY own coffeehouse one day it will have FREE internet use, and lots of yummy, perfect coffee for less than 8 bucks a cup. There will be no bitter-coffee-induced depression when you come out of MY place. So there

stop the world, i wanna get off

New designer eyeglasses: $300
Glitter paint for the girls: $5
Realizing you just set your new glasses down in the girls' glitter glue art: priceless

Agh, I'm so stressed. Why can't I be one of those together moms who is, like, organized and on time and with it and on top of things?!! I'd kill to be one of those moms.

Devy is starting Kindergarten in three weeks. THREE WEEKS. I haven't even registered her yet.

I agreed to help out as co-coordinator for the nursery and 2s and 3s room at church a while back because--well, basically because I was asked to and I was too chicken to say no because I was afraid that if I got a reputation for not wanting to do the dirty jobs no one wanted to do, I'd never be trusted with the fun stuff I wanted to do. Now you're probably thinking that it's pretty arrogant of me to label the position a "dirty job" because it might be right up someone else's alley and you'd be totally right. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking that way when it came up. And I'm also in charge of publicity for our moms group, which I admitted wasn't my calling but I was willing to help out. (If you're familiar with the concept of spiritual gifts you realize that some bells should have gone off--here I am with two ministries I feel no calling for.)

And now I'm kinda burning out, slacking off on the things I should be doing, and gaining a reputation for starting things and not finishing them. So now that I want to teach Sunday School (and yes, actually feel called to do it), my intentions are being doubted. I don't blame anyone--I've certainly given plenty of reason for people to doubt me--I'm just mad at myself for putting myself in this position.

So now I'm stressed cuz I have things to do that I don't want to do and that I've put off for so long that I need to do them now and on top of that I have other things that I do want to do and other things, like, oh say, cleaning my house, that need to get done...I've been up more nights lately trying to cram more hours into each day--it sucks.

I know I'm whining and that everyone else is busy and all but I should know better than to let myself get into these spots by saying yes to everything and yet I did it anyway.

Can someone just, like, take over for me for a little while? It's not all bad, there are some good things. I have good friends, great kids, plenty of fun things mixed in with the stress things. You can just be me for a while. I'll be back in, say, October. But, sorry, you're not allowed to share the hubby. He's mine.

post secret

Have you ever checked out Post Secret? That's the site where people send their deepest secrets--the ones they've never told anyone--and they get anonymously posted on the site. Sometimes they're happy secrets, but they're mostly sad (and then there are the ones I think/hope are just sent so they'll get posted). They make me want to find these people and hug them. But then, that would defeat the whole anonymous thing.

New ones are posted every Sunday, and today's was in the form of a movie. Check it out: post secret

such a dork

Do you ever find yourself saying "It bugs me when..." or "One of my pet peeves is..." and then thinking Gee, I kinda say that a lot. Maybe I need to lighten up.

Well, anyway. One of my pet peeves is when I go to a place that says "Open til Midnight" and I get there at 11 and I just got out of work and I'm starving and I have a lot to do and need some caffeine so I order a bagel, toasted, and a latte, but the bagel toaster is shut off for the night and the latte machine has already been cleaned so I have to settle for just nasty burned iced coffee and a stale sliced-but-not-toasted bagel instead and still have to pay the same amout I would pay for good food at 8 am.

I mean, I know you want to go home. But if your sign says you're open til midnight then I should be able to get what I want until midnight. And if you have to stay til 1 am to close up afterwards, well, that's what you're getting paid for isn't it?

Is it because not a lot of people come by for that sort of thing so late at night? Well then, why are you open so late? Is it because you get a lot of coffee orders that late but not much else? Then, maybe your sign should be "Open til 10. Just-coffee from 10 to midnight." Then you could just make it drivethru only from 10 to 12 because no one needs to go in to order just-coffee.

Is it just me?

Oh! And that reminds me of another thing that irritates me! Earlier today I went to get an ice cream cone before work. (I know, I need to stay away from the fast food places but it was a crazy day.) And I was helped by this guy who helped me the last time I went for ice cream in this particular place. And the last time I was there for ice cream, I licked it and it went plop! right on the pavement so I went back inside and ordered another one and was very thankful the dude didn't make me pay for it because it was his fault.

Why? you ask?

Because he didn't push the ice cream into the cone. He just let the big round scoop of ice cream sit on top of the cone. I hate that. You can't do that! Because then, when you lick it, what happens? Plop!

So today I went in for an ice cream and I was so excited because they had coffee-Oreo which combines two of my all-time favorite flavors so I got a single-scoop cone and was helped by that same guy and I walked out to my car and licked the cone and sure enough--plop! And of course I looked into the cone and there was no ice cream in it.

I was about to storm into the store and give the guy what-for--and now, thinking about it and getting all mad all over again, I wish I had--but the complacent part of me was pleading with the angry part of me, convincing me that we really had to get to work and did we really need that ice cream anyway?

So your lesson for today, kids, is push the ice cream into the cone, and don't tell me you're open if all I can get is burnt coffee.

no sleep for me tonight

We've been having trouble with the air conditioning lately. Trouble as in, it's just not working. And we've called the landlord about a billion times, and he's called the A/C guy a billion times. Trouble is, we're on the bottom of the totem pole because for some reason that I've forgotten already, the landlord doesn't have to pay the A/C guy for service. So we get the shit end of the stick even when, oh, say, it's been 90+ degrees for like a week and there's no A/C.

So today, FINALLY, the landlord comes over and says the guy should be here to fill up the coolant tank or whatever and he's dying the coolant so he can come back in a couple of days and see where the leak is. Sure enough there was a noisiness at the back of the house indicating that either a small plane had landed in our nonexistent backyard or a very obese air conditioning service man was trying to fix our unit.

Then said service man came into the house to ask where the filter was so he could change it. I told him I didn't know where it was but my husband had already (gotten sick of waiting and) changed it himself.

That was about 3:30 this afternoon.

It didn't hit me until just now, at almost 11:30 at night as I was just about to fall asleep:

A/C guy didn't knock, or anything, to get in the house. He just opened the door to our garage from outside, and then went through our garage and opened the door from the garage to the house, and came in.

This is not a happy thought when it's late and dark and your hubby and children are sleeping and all your windows and doors are unlocked because it's been so hot that you've been keeping everything open all the time.

I just ran up and down the house in lockdown mode, visions of news stories in which children are snatched from their beds by skeevy service people running through my head. I was somewhat comforted by the fact that this guy would never fit through any of our windows, until I thought of accomplices.

It's times like this when an imagination is a curse.

Now I can't sleep.

I can't wait to see my landlord. Man is getting an earful. Friggin walk through my house.

mind yer p's and q's

Is it just me...or is politeness way out of style?

It seems like everywhere I go nowadays, people don't look at each other. Don't smile as they pass. Don't say "excuse me" when they squeeze past you in the aisle at the store.

At my job there are a bunch of new hires--kids, all just out of high school. I smile, try to act friendly so they'll feel welcome in their new jobs, but apparently I am just too old and uncool to react to because they just stare straight ahead like I was Kimmy the Uncool Ghost.

And at the store! Just the other day I was looking for some stuff in Michaels and their aisles are really tiny and this kinda big tall lady squeeeeezed past me and didn't even acknowledge that there was another person in the aisle with her.

And at work the other other day I was helping one woman and there isn't much room at the counter so when she backed up to get away from the desk the other woman who was right behind her almost got stepped on and instead of saying "excuse me" she just gave the backing-up woman a rude look. When she came up to me I said "You could say excuse me," and she went off on how she wouldn't be stepped on by rude people. Is it just me? Is it too much to just be polite even if the other woman could have been more careful? I mean, the second lady was kind of up the first woman's butt--she was kind of asking to get stepped on.

So your assignment for today is to go out into the big wide rude world and go out of your way to put some politeness in it. Hang up the cell phone before going up to the clerk at the counter, rather than forcing her to guess what you want while you chat to your other party. Say excuse me even if the other person was wrong. Smile and make eye contact when you pass someone in the store aisle. Just be nice for cryin out loud!

I swear, it will make your life, and everyone else's, a whole lot better! Do it for me, OK? ;)

We just got a call yesterday telling us that the father of one of Jo's classmates was killed in a really bad car accident. He wasn't even 40.

The phone call was to ask if we wanted to donate to a group donation in the daughter's name. Then we got another phone call today asking if we wanted to come to a big birthday dinner for the daughter. I guess her dad was planning a huge bash for her.

It's so sad.

I want to do something for the family that's a little more personal, and that might help with with what they really need the most, like making dinners or taking Jo's classmate out with us to the zoo for the day or something. But I feel awkward asking, since we really didn't know the family besides Jo going to last year's birthday party.

What do you think that family needs most? Money? Food? Time alone? Fun time? Right now, I'm just praying for their peace.

i'm done!

Finally done with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and it was SO SO good. It ended just exactly the way I wanted it to.

I don't know anyone else who has finished it yet so I'm dying for someone to talk about it with. If you read the book and want to discuss, email me at kimberlypaine at comcast dot net and we'll chat. :) I'm reading it again, slower this time. That's how good it is--as soon as you finish you want to go back and do it all again. ;)

Well the downside of all this (besides no new HP books) is that I seriously have to go clean my house. Three days of reading nonstop except to pee and possibly eat means that my house is a total disaster. Fun fun!

get mad

I am so mad about this. The New York Times somehow got its grubby paws on a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and has published a review, complete with too much information for anyone who wants to, oh I dunno, wait until they can read the book for themselves.

Who'd'a thought the NYT would stoop to scooping a story like HP#7 and spoiling it?! I'm in disbelief. That's something I'd expect from some trashy tabloid. Not that I read those. Well, OK, I might. I might even use them as my main news source. But anyway...back to the NYT.

The Leaky Cauldron has posted a letter you can send to the paper at letters@nytimes.com. You can use theirs, which I am reposting here, or you can write your own. Theirs is pretty good though. Here it is:

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to express my disappointment that your publication printed an early review and details of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This goes against the express wishes of the author and anyone that calls themselves a true Harry Potter fan.

It is hard enough for a Harry Potter fan to avoid spoilers on the Internet and news stations now that the book appears to have leaked; now we have to avoid trusted outlets as well. You’ve not only disappointed millions of children around the world with your actions, you have disappointed the millions of adults who look to the New York Times to be a bastion of good taste and standards. When the New York Times succumbs to such tabloid tactics, who won’t?

Many ask why we care - why fans aren’t all so rabid to get the book that we’ll sop up any illegal download or purchase. There’s one simple answer: We respect the author. We thought that a newspaper like yours, where so many of your reporters become authors themselves, would understand and respect that. We’re so saddened that we were wrong. We feel let down by you and your editorial board.

Sincerely,

Your name here
Harry Potter Fan, and member of Jo’s Army

So, go now, send the letter. It's your duty as a fan!

book 7 is coming. be ready.

If you've been living under a rock for some time, I'm going to tell you: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the 7th and last book of the ten-years-in-the-making Harry Potter series, comes out at 12:01 on Saturday.

I'm very excited.

I get like this with any series of books in which I'm all invested in the characters. To me, any writer who can make me feel like I know his or her characters personally is a good writer--even when it makes me look superdorky, talking about (and caring about! and crying over!) the characters like they really exist. Like, they're real live people whose lives will continue on even if we don't get to read about it.

But this one gets me even more excited because there are movies! And merchandise! And book release parties! And billions of other fans who want to do nothing else but theorize on what's going to happen in the very last book!!! So, it's all pretty intense. Which cracks me up because if you're not a fan, you probably haven't even noticed.

"Hm? Harry Potter? Are those books still around?" :)

So yeah, the hubby and I went to see Order of the Phoenix the other night, which just served to feed my pottermania, and as I watched the movie that tried to cram the longest book of the series into the shortest movie of the series I couldn't help but glance over at hasn't-read-the-books hubby and wonder if he had any idea what was going on. Cuz, you know, there is just so much to everything. He said he liked it OK, but of course that's only because he has no idea of the vast array of information he is missing.

Like, OK. Where to start.

[Oh, and Spoiler Alert in case you haven't seen OotP yet, or read the book. In which case, get a move on already.]

[Ready??]

[I warned you.]

[OK.]

• We never see Sirius's dear old mum. We just hear her mumbling behind her curtain. Frankly, I think this is a good thing. But still.
• There's no sense of how they spend the entire summer cleaning the house, and how Kreacher sneaks stuff off.
• The whole bit with Molly and the boggart? Not there.
• No indication of the new Divination teacher or how he got booted from the forest.
• No Quidditch. I know!!
• Cho is substituted as the squealer, revealing the DA, courtesy of Veritaserum.
• The fight at the Ministry is cut super-short. There's no brains trying to eat Ron (poor kid gets no scenes nowadays), no spinning hall of doors, hardly any evidence of all the kids' hard work in the DA paying off.
• The whole bit with Rita Skeeter and the way Hermione blackmails her? Gone.

[/spoiler alert]

Basically, everything is on fast-forward. I know that they didn't cut out anything superimportant, but jeez, I could have standed it being like twice as long, at least. All the fun stuff was gone, like Ron taking the lucky potion (that was OotP, right? crap, I'm all confused. better read them all again.) All my favorite actors (Emma Thompson! Helena Bonham Carter!) and characters (Mad Eye! Tonks!!) were on screen for like, two seconds.

The wierdest thing about the movie, though? Everyone looks so old! I mean, of course the kids do. But in one scene there was a close shot of McGonagall and I wanted to cry, she looked so old! And Hagrid, and Snape...(My apologies to the actors--I should say you look older, not just old. It's just weird. It's like seeing your aunt when she's 38 and not seeing her again til she's 58.)

Ugh, I have to go. It's 1am and I have lots of ebay posting to do and I just don't make any sense at this time of night. But anyway, if anyone in my area is going to a release party on Friday night, take me with you!! Just give me notice so I can grab a Mischief Managed tee shirt beforehand. :)

summer movies

Summer. I have a love-hate relationship with it. On one hand, summer means squeezing into shorts and tank tops and bathing suits and worrying about who sees me in them. It means sweating a lot. It means mosquitos. But on the other hand it means school's out, daytrips with the kids, summer camp and my favorite summer thing: summer movies!

I'm not really a huge moviegoer. Too much other stuff to do to get to the theater. But there is so much coming out that I just have to see.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Do I even need to explain this one to you? You know what it is. I'm dying to see it, and then to read the last book.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3
Just saw this. Loved it! I'm really really hoping there will be a fourth. Note to Hollywood: you keep putting Johnny Depp up on the screen, I'll keep paying hard-earned cash to see him.

Transformers
My boss says this is the best movie he's ever seen. While I do think that might be overstating a little, I am excited to see this. Which surprises me because hello! Transformers are a boys' toy. Barbies are for girls. Duh.

Live Free or Die Hard
Love Bruce Willis. Love Die Hard movies. Probably wait to NetFlix this one though. Sorry Brucy, I can only shell out so much for movie tickets. I'm on a budget, y'know.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
I know, I know. I'm a sucker for the big summer blockbuster. It's not my fault; you think I could get my man's-man hubby to some indy film? Heck no. That's my story and I'm stickin to it.

A Mighty Heart
I'm not sure this one is still in theaters. I really want to see it though. In the beginning I was kind of like "eh, whatever!" But I've read the things that Marianne Pearl says about the movie and about her friend Angelina Jolie's part in it and, taking into consideration that I'm getting my info from drugstore tabloids, I really want to see it now.

The Bourne Ultimatum
I had no idea they were making a third Jason Bourne movie until it's practically out. I liked the first two...but I'm going to have to watch them again right before I go see this one just so I can remember what the heck is going on.

Stardust
I've been a fan of Neil Gaiman's stuff since high school and, while I haven't invested as much time reading him as say, Stephen King (such highbrow, literary reading I'm into, no?), I just started a collection of his short stories that has reignited my interest in him. So I was excited to see that they're making a movie out of this book, Stardust. I'm going to have to find my copy, dust it off and reread it. Gaiman is producing, and we all know that including the author in his movie adaptation is a good thing, right?

It's kind of funny to look back on my days as a movie reviewer for my college newspaper. Seriously, I like pretty much everything. So every week I'd have to find a different way to say "I liked it." I'm just no critic. I do have to make time to go see something low-budgety, though, before the blockbusters rot my brain.

i'm back

Well finally, after a whole week of lovely, lovely vacation, I am finally home with my family where I belong. Don't get me wrong--I had a blast in Orlando, hanging out with my hubby, going out exploring on my own, meeting new people and all. But it is so good to be home. Pretty soon I will be asleep in my own bed with the sleep-sounds of all my kids as evidence that we're all together, safe and sound and happy. :)

Actually, I don't think the kids wanted to come home. Bek, my little baby who is a total mush for all things mommy or daddy, barely even moved when we came in the house. I was expecting an ambush! And the girls had tons of things to tell me about their week--I hope they're not bored to be back to the everyday routines.

I missed them so much! I was pretty good most of the week but by the time Saturday night came, just watching someone else's kid cry about something or be happy about something or really, just exist and be cute, was enough to send me into melt-down mode.

Hey, on Saturday before we went to Universal (which was fun but I wish we'd had more time for Islands of Adventure next door, with its wicked-looking roller coasters), hubby and I went to a rock gym. I'd wanted to go the night before while hubby met up with an old colleague for drinks, but you needed to bring your own belay partner so he said he'd come with Saturday morning. We had so much fun! Fortunately we've both had a little bit of climbing and knot-tying experience, because the kids running the rock gym were kind of like, "OK, here's how y'do it, now go do it." I don't know how someone with no prior experience would learn so fast, but they must do OK because the kid pretty much expected us to know what to do.

Belaying hubby was way easier than I expected it to be, although I didn't know it was going to be such a workout on the arms. He fell off the wall once and I hardly even felt it. I wasn't sure if I was going to have to strap myself down so I wouldn't go flying up, slapstick-style. :)

We got a good workout. Right now my shoulders and legs are feeling it still. We're going to check out the rock gym near us and see about memberships for at least me and Jo, if not hubby and Devy too. I'd love to get the kids into it; there were some girls there who looked younger than Jo who were really good!

It's way past my bedtime so I'm not sure if this post is coherent, or if there's a point, or anything like that. ;) Just wanted to give you the lowdown on the last part of vacation. I really had such a good time. It was an adventure. Going out by myself during the day while hubby had his thing, and other stuff like riding single rider on the theme park rides and the plane, and going to unusual places and doing new things--they all allowed me to meet people and have experiences I wouldn't have had if I'd played it safe and stayed in the hotel or waited for hubby to hold my hand all week. And it was so, so incredibly good for the two of us to have time together as hubby and wife without also being mommy and daddy. I'm very blessed to have married him--my sweetheart and my best friend.

Sigh...that's the danger of letting me post this late. I get all corny. :)

So--whacha doing for the fourth?

tipping

I would like to take this time to reflect on something that has popped up a lot over the last week of our vacation: tipping. It's everywhere. I want to know what you think about tipping. How did it start? Why does it continue?

I don't really get it. Aren't people getting paid? Why should I pay them more? Because I thought they did a good job? Shouldn't they do a good job because it's their job?! I understand that a lot of jobs don't pay very well, and that a lot of waitresses and stuff like that make much of their living from tips. But then, why don't you just charge me a little more for the service so you can pay your employees more, instead of involving me in this intricate game of how to tip, when to tip, and how much!?

So I mentioned I got my nose pierced the other day. They guy who did it was very nice, and very clean, and did a good job, so thumbs up. But all over his parlor there were signs about tipping--tip me! tip me!!! But um...they guy owned the place. Doesn't he get all the money anyway? If you want 5 more dollars for your service, charge me five more dollars.

I know I'm not the most business savvy person in the world, so by all means if someone has more insight to this feel free to let me in on it. And please don't think I'm a miserly tipper. I tip well when I eat out and when I get my hair cut or my nails done. But some other stuff just bugs me.

Like at the airport. Some guy took our bags for us and loaded them up on the x-ray belt. And stood there.

"I'm with [name of company]." he says.

"OK." we say. "Thanks."

"I'm with [name of company]." he says, smiling, and still standing there.

Hubby finally reaches in his pocket and hands him an indecipherable amount of cash. I wanted to puke. Because in my opinion, that was just nutty. Because as far as I could tell, all this guy's job consisted of was taking people's bags and putting them on the belt one at a time. So that is what he is getting paid to do. And that's what he did. So...what am I tipping him for? Not tossing the bags through the air or stomping on them before loading them?

Don't. get. it.

Any thoughts?

p.s. I would, however, totally like to give $1,000 to the pilot who successfully landed our plane that day. The turbulence on the way down had me gripping the seat in front of me with one hand and the frame of the window with the other. We were see-sawing back and forth, descending more steeply than I can ever remember doing in any plane before, and all I could say was "well, at least we don't have far to fall from here..." If I'm never on another flight that ends in applause, that will be just fine with me. ;)

things about florida (or at least orlando) that are really weird but that i love anyway, with the exception of exit only lanes and stripper joints

1. The animals are crazy. If they want a piece of food on the ground and there are people all over the place, they totally don't care. They just march on up, look you in the eye, and say "step off my food, beeyatch!" and then run away with it.
2. There are lizards everywhere. Prior to this little trip I was under the impression that lizards came from the pet store. And if you wanted to find one in the wild you had to go to, like, Brazil. But at SeaWorld the other day there were little anoles all over the place! The people trying to catch them to bring home included a 12-year-old boy, his 9-year-old little sister, and me. ;) Well, OK, I didn't actually try to catch any, but I might have yelled out "Run, little lizards, or you're coming home with me!!" And they were sunning themselves on the curb between the sidewalk and the bushes, and as you walked by they'd scoot into the bushes, then as you walked and looked back, you'd see them pop out again to continue their sunbathing.
3. The signs here are all in English AND Spanish. I have 5 different Spanish radio and five different Spanish TV stations to choose from (love my Spanish radio!!). Everyone everywhere speaks Spanish.This would be fine, except I'm under the mistaken belief that I can speak Spanish too. So I make a fool out of myself trying to, say, order breakfast in Espanol. (I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't serve bald monkey fritters.)
4. I think I mentioned this in my last post but they let you just walk around with your alcohol. Now, for someone who has lived in Massachusetts all her life, this is just nutty. I mean, you can get arrested for walking around with a beer in your hand, can't you? Or at least sent home? I mean, we just started being able to buy liquor on Sunday. But only between noon and 6. And you can't get it just anywhere; you have to go to a liquor store. Otherwise known as a packie. But here we were, walking around Disney MGM studios and people were just walking around with it! And on the CityWalk at Universal, there are just stands where you walk up and get alcohol to go. Freakin nutty. So we went to a reception and a show at SeaWorld the other day and since we had some time to kill between the two, we thought we'd try out this crazy idea. We walked toward the entrance of the park with drinks in our hands, and we were sure they were going to stop us at the gate, right? Nope! Did not even look twice at whatever we were carrying. Craziness!
5. Friggin "Exit Only" lanes. They're everywhere. I hate them.
6. Stipper joints. Even more abundant than the exit only lanes. And anything else in that category: escort services, adult "!!!XXX!!!" entertainment, you name it. Gotta keep those traveling businessmen happy. (Ew ewewew ew skeeve ew ew ewww)
7. This hotel we're staying in? Doesn't let you park yourself. It's required valet. Which isn't bad or anything, just kind of a pain, and pretty unexpected since it's not exactly a fancy place. It just cracks me up though cuz here I am, here for over a week, coming and going as I please, running the valet boys ragged. Go get my car! Now put it away! Now get it again! Now put it back! Oops, forgot my coffee in there, go get it! Now! Now! Noowowww! :)
8. The speed limit signs, at least the ones in I-4, are digital, and they change. So, the speed limit today might be 50, then tomorrow it might be 55. They just change it. Kooky! Does that make it easy to fight speeding tickets? "Well officer, it was 65 when I passed it."
9. Another thing that's everywhere that is a lot more difficult to find in MA because it just became legal like, yesterday: tattoo and piercing parlors. The major thing keeping me from getting something stuck in some part of my body was the scarcity of parlors. We don't have any near my house--I'd have to drive pretty far away to get one. Here? They're everywhere. I know part of that is probably because I live in a suburb and I'm staying here in a major city, but still. So by the time I passed the 10th parlor I was like, "Heck! Why not?!" and went in and got my nose pierced. (The verdict? I love it. Hubby? Not so much. His approximate quote: "So, is this like a phase thing, or do I need to get used to it being permanent?" I said I didn't know.)
10. There's a big excitement over the fact that Blue Man Group has arrived. Their show just started this month over at Universal. The signs are everywhere, the radio keeps playing the ads, the whole thing. This cracks me up, because BMG has been in Boston for what? 10 years? I'm hoping we get to see the show here though. Love those guys. :) My brother wants to be a BMG. Maybe he could move to Orlando?

OK that's it for me. I have big plans for today: gym, shower, nap, pool, read, write, coffee, email the kids (my kids! I miss my kids! But not enough to come home yet...). Big day. ;)

de vaccaciones

Hey people, long time no blog. Guess where I am? No really guess. I'm in F-L-O-R-I-D-A!

We've been here since Friday and (apart from the missing of the kids and the worrying of the mom) I'm totally loving it. I just dropped hubby off at his conference and now I'm sitting in BadAss coffee house, sipping a BadAss Mocha which is a very, very tasty mix of hot dark and white chocolate. Yum. So much for my light, lowfat breakfast. ;)

Hubby and I spent all Sunday at Disney-MGM studios. That was fun. I've never been to Orlando before so everything's totally new to me. We saw an Indiana Jones stunt show which was really nifty cuz they reenacted scenes from the movies with the actual stunt doubles (so...how long have you been doing this show, exactly?!) to show how they do everything. It was pretty cool. I was bummed we didn't get to go on any rides--these crazy summer t-storms kept washing through, which made for prime time to browse the streets while everyone else ran for cover but closed the roller coaster and big drop ride--but we shopped and saw shows and had a good time.

Yesterday we went to see Shamu Rocks at SeaWorld. I didn't get to go on that rollercoaster--the Kraken, which just tickled my little PotC-loving heart--either, because we were there with a group and didn't have much time, but the show was fun. Hubby and I sat in the very front row and got completely drenched by the whales. Fun stuff! I'm going to have to replace the library book that was in my bag though...

What else...we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe which I was afraid was going to be lame because aren't most things that all tourists do lame? But they play excellent music (I seriously thought "Hard Rock" was just a catchy name...I don't get out much, OK?) and there is rock memorabilia all over the walls--it was just cool. And my drinks were excellent and the food was really tasty and hot and we got to shop in the store afterwards...what more could I want? Oh yeah. Dessert. I was too full. :( So tragic. :)

I got an email from the kids yesterday, which thrilled the heck out of me so I replied with a total book on what daddy and mommy have been doing so far. I know my in-laws will get a kick out of that.

After my mocha and my blogging I'm heading back to the hotel to grab my art stuff then I'm headed to college park, the local bohemian hangout so I can release my inner artist. :) I'm hoping to have something to show you by the time I get back.

Themes of the week so far:

1. being led around in groups like cattle
2. please exit the ride through the gift shop
3. it's getting dark but the temperature hasn't dropped
4. please oh please let me try to speak to you in your native Spanish so I can feel cool and don't laugh at my American accent?!?!

**later.

Pst...guess who got her nose pierced?!

On a more serious note: Please click on the link under the new graphic on the side of the page. One of my biggest fears is that while I'm here in Florida, one of my kids will drown in the in-laws' pool. This blogger just lost his son to that exact fate. If you can help the family by donating $5 please do. And please pray for healing for the family in this terrible time.

My first troll, yay!

Hey, I had to change some stuff on the blog because I started getting nasty stupid comments from nasty stupid people. So now you can only comment if you are registered with Blogger, and there is a word verification form too, which I hate, but I thought I'd get that in there while I was at it.

So I'm sorry if you want to comment, but can't because you don't use blogger. If we're cool, you can always email me! ;)

OK, back to packing for Florida. And cleaning. And packing and cleaning and cleaning and packing and cleaning...

Tag!

I was tagged by KB and thought I would share, since y'all know I love memes.

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so:

Maggie at CoffeeShopMofia
Slacker-Moms-R-Us
Big Dreams and Pixie Dust
K.B. Squared
Tragically Unhip

Next select 5 people to tag: (that means you have to post this on your blog!)
Connie
Hilly
and um...you. and you and you. I don't have too many blogging friends. :)

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Let's see, 10 years ago I was 18. So that was a little before kids. I was just finishing my first year at college, trying not to fail too much but not really succeeding because I liked skipping class better than I liked going. I was starting practice for my second season as an apprentice actor in the local rennaisance faire (dork!). I played a pirate, and I totally totally loved it. I was living in an apartment with my family--we'd just moved out of the house I grew up in. I was working too many hours at Blockbuster as assistant manager.

What was I doing 1 year ago?

One year ago I was just finishing breastfeeding and was NONE too happy about it--it was all Bek's decision. She was only 3 months old but I'd been back to work for a month and a half and she liked the bottle she got while I was at work better than she liked my boob, I guess. So about one year ago is when hubby came in from work to me, rocking Bek, feeding her a bottle, crying, saying "Why doesn't she want me?!!" :) Ah, hormones.

5 snacks I enjoy

1. Nachos. Loaded. And if there is a margarita to go with? Even better!


2. Brownies


3. Ice cream


4. Blue tortilla chips and red pepper hummus


5. Peanut-butter-covered pretzels

5 songs that I know all the lyrics to…

1. Barenaked Ladies--If I had $1000000


2. Barlow Girl--On My Own


3. 10,000 Maniacs--What's the Matter Here?


4. Panic! at the Disco--I Write Sins Not Tragedies


5. Ani DiFranco--Untouchable Face

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire

1. Give give give


2. buy a house!


3. go on vacation


4. open a coffeehouse


5. go shopping

5 bad habits

1. I'm bad at keeping in touch with my friends


2. I pick the nail polish off my nails as soon as it's dry


3. I eat too much junk food


4. I sleep too late


5. I swear too much

5 things I like to do

1. Hike


2. Camp


3. Be creative


4. Write


5. Act

5 things I will never wear again

1. Two pairs of socks in two colors in a check pattern


2. crocheted sweaters


3. tapered leg jeans


4. my wedding dress


5. anything in navy blue

5 favorite toys

1. Laptop


2. My art stuff


3. face paint


4. roller blades/skates


5. my Dance Dance Revolution game

Well that was fun. Oh! Here's a drawing I did a while ago, before Bek was born, that I thought I'd share. It's supposed to be Jo and Devy, all dressed up:

to do

So...I've been slacking big-time on my blogging. I vaguely remember a New Year's Resolution about blogging every day.

Oh well, resolutions are made to be broken, right? ;)

Well look. I've been busy, ok? Trying to get to the gym, spend time with my kids, actually clean the house and keep it clean... I have a to-do list a mile long, and my computer time is the first thing to go when the rest of my day is packed.

I can't help but think how much more I'd get done if I didn't have to sleep, y'know?!

Here's just a little sample of the stuff I have to do:

1. go to the gym
2. email so-and-so about guitar lessons
3. finish mother & son drawing
4. find the next local Zumba certification class
5. bring books back to the library
6. print new schedule, nametags for nursery and toddler rooms at church and bring them there
7. blog
8. work
9. clean
10. pray
11. suck it up and call the damn dentist before teeth fall out
12. find presents for fathers' day, sister's birthday
13. look up that word my coworker called me
14. take kids to playground
15. buy milk. look into cow--landlord doesn't allow pets
16. groceries--plan menu, make list, actually go sometime this month
17. eyebrows--threatening to take over face
18. call mom
19. Halofest @ brother's apt
20. find brother's apt?
21. visit Jo's biography fair at school--look interested
22. write, print, distribute survey for employee club @ work
23. put together mailing list for MOPS* newsletter and send the damn thing out before the preschoolers are in high school
24. stop swearing so much--kids notice?
25. register Devy for Kindergarten--get name change paperwork back?**
26. pelvic floor squeeeeeeeze***
27. fix blogroll
28. transfer old blog stuff to this one
29. update dvd queue on blockbuster.com
30. pass out biz cards for MOPS promo
31. sell MOPS newsletter advertising
32. email old boss to say hi--send letter instead?
33. buy art
34. sell stuff on ebay
35. post free stuff on freecycle
36. teach Jo how to ride her bike--kid's 8, cryin out loud
37. swim lessons for girls
38. find out how to get paid for something I'm good at--writing? drawing? sex? kidding...?
39. get bloody organized--why 3 planners for same year, nothing in them?
40. email all the friends I haven't talked to lately. playdates? *cringe*

Wow, when I type it all out like that it seems...massively overwhelming. I swear to you, bloggy buddies, the next time I pop in, I'll have crossed half this list off.

Or...a third.

A quarter for sure.

What're you up to?

* MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers, and is a great organization for mothers of kids aged birth through Kindergarten. Check it out here.

**When I was pregnant with Devy I had this great idea of how I wanted to spell her full name. She was born, I filled in the great new name spelling on the birth certificate form, we took her home, and I promptly realized I was a hormonal idiot who totally misspelled our daughter's name. We're finally just getting it changed now, in time for her to go to Kindergarten. Seriously...change one stinkin letter and you'd think we were trying to smuggle her in from another country or something with the paperwork and lawyers and fees...

***If you haven't read I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson? You should. It will give stay at home moms a huge respect for working moms, and will make working moms laugh at their own crazy lives while being proud of what they do for their families. And when I'm a huge famous writer I'm totally denying ever reading chick lit. So there.

all done

Here's my guitar drawing, all done. I know it's nothing spectacular, but I'm proud of it anyway. ;)

guitar

Just some art I'm working on. I sketched it out at work last night, and then this morning I started experimenting with painting it in Photoshop. I've never done that before; it's kinda neat! :)