Burn, Baby Burn

Trinks helped make breakfast today and has the scars to prove it. She took the waffles out of the toaster oven, with a potholder, but managed to burn her wrist. Isn't it ugly? She's a good sport, though.

2009 Project

Just because I have so much free time, I decided to take on a new project. The four of us will explore the great state of DE over the next twelve months. I even set up a new blog to track our progress. Click on Trinks and S explore DE to the right and catch up on DE news.

Our proposed trips include: Pea Patch Island, Bombay Hook, any state park we haven't been to yet, Jake's Burgers, various museums, and numerous places in slower, lower DE.

I witnessed this

And have no idea how the driver in the Mitsubishi is still alive. There was nothing left of the car. I looked up as the car was in midair, disintegrating, and watched in horror as it smashed into the pavement. I had to pull over because I couldn't breathe. Hubby missed it because he couldn't understand my frantic pointing because I couldn't speak.

Thanks Nothing Knew - didn't catch that!

Holiday pictures

Merry Christmas!

So Christmas Eve started with a bang - literally. Hubby was allowed to leave work with me at 4:50. We hit Wawa for gas prior to picking up the kids. It was crowded and hard to find a pump. I was doing my usual back seat driving and hubby was getting annoyed. He flung the car in reverse to go back to an almost open pump. He didn't see anyone behind him and didn't hear the frantic honking as hit hit the gas HARD. CRASH! In MY CAR!!!! Thankfully there was no damage, but I drove up to my parents after we got the kids.

Christmas Eve dinner was great - a nice late turkey dinner with my parents and grandparents. I have no idea who the little boy sitting next to me was. Instead of "I hate turkey", S kept saying how much he loved everything. Then he downed two apricots, a couple pieces of pear and a cookie. I guess he was hungry. We exchanged presents with my grandparents and then Trinks read us The Night Before Christmas. Santa was given cookies and milk, carrots were left for the reindeer, stockings were hung and the kids went to bed at 10:30. Then the fun began. We quickly put the presents out and it occurred to me to hide Trinks' big Santa present behind S's Thomas set from Santa. I put the small Samantha doll in front, so it looked like that was all she got from Santa. Then I went to bed.

When the kids got up this morning, they contained themselves and waited until we were downstairs before tearing down after us. As per tradition, they started with the stocking presents. Then they moved on to the Santa gifts. Trinks was happy with just the miniature Samantha doll and didn't complain. As she moved on to the wrapped presents, I pointed out her other Santa gift. She shrieked! She didn't ask for a Nintendo DS, but loved it on sight! She was excited about the two games - Tinkerbell and Cooking Mama 2. S was happy since there were enough things with wheels, or were Spiderman. Both kids were pleased. Trinks split her time between the DS and running her dolls outside in the triple stroller that will be kept at Mom Mom's house.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out, visitng my great aunt, and having dinner at my sister's house. They got a Wii from Santa. Then hubby and I got on the road because we have to work tomorrow. Ugh! At least the kids are at my mom's house. Hubby and I have a date night tomorrow. I think we're trying out the new burrito place down the street. He's been there, but I haven't. Can't wait!

And before I sign off - guess what my best Christmas present was? S is switching classes on Jan 5. I am so happy. He should do well in this classroom. I'm also looking into Kung Fu for him. He needs a confidence boost!

You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart

Am I wimping out, or did I find something appropriate? You be the judge. A couple of weeks ago I started a draft of a post for Karen on the one year anniversary of her death. I kept getting hung up on the unfairness of her dying so young. I am finally beyond the anger and the crippling grief. It seems pointless to harp on what I can't change. For my sake, I need to move in a positive direction. I remain sad, but I can see the blessing in having her as a friend for seventeen years. Even if it were fifty years, I would be greedy and want one day more. So without further ado, this says what I am looking to say.

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
Because I knew you

I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the thing I've done you blame me for

But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

And none of it seems to matter anymore

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

And because I knew you...

Because I knew you...

Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good.

Wii Fit

So far, I have determined Wii is a rude system. When you are trying to figure out how the hell the system works, the last thing you want is to hear nasty comments. Once I figured things out, all of a sudden, the Wii voice was nice. I would think a little patience with novices would be better.

But, in spite of that, I did a bunch of balancing exercises, some strength training, and a couple of body tests. My personal information is guarded by a password I hope I remember. I set goals for the next 3 months and got my calendar stamped. I hit several soccer balls with my head and ran through numerous gates on the slalom.

"Lighting" the menorah

We "lit" the window menorah.

Wii Wish you a Merry Hanukkah

I won the first round of bowling, and then gave up my Mii for hubby. He needed something to distract him from the Eagles' loss. The only complaint I have is sharing the controller with the kids. But bowling is fun. Trinks hit the people behind us about 15 times, and S took a game to understand when to release. By game two, they really had it down.

Tomorrow I am taking my last vacation day to celebrate Karen. I didn't think I could handle functioning politely at work on the year anniversary, so I decided to stay home. Karen and I used to go out to breakfast right before Christmas. Sometimes we would do last minute shopping together, popping into each other's car to watch the kids while the other ran into a store. It's the simple things like this that really defined our friendship. Tomorrow I will be thinking about her, posting something if I can get it to sound right and tackling the Wii Fit.

And the tree came down

It was all in slow motion. The tree slowly pitched forward and ended up as a crumpled mess on the floor. Surprisingly, only one glass ornament was broken, and it's easily fixed. Getting it back up was a little close to impossible. Hubby had to come in and help me. Then my mom pulled up as we were struggling to get it stable so I had the kids run out and tell her to leave everything in the car and come rescue us. It's still a little lopsided, but it seems stable. I think I need to find a new stand.

Evil Child?

Can a child be evil? I am convinced a child can be pure evil. And no, it's not my child. S has a classmate that has driven me crazy since they were both one. At conferences I would have to hear about how this evil child distracts S and how much better he does when this child is not at school. If S gets hit, or bitten, or kicked, it's because of this evil child. Having gone through this age with Trinks, I know this is normal to have children acting out. But this child is always tormenting my child. No other classmate has ever done anything to my son.

Things started to unravel for me after the latest conferences. Evil child started back full time, instead of the nice half days we were enjoying. A couple of weeks ago I walked into the aftermath of this child pulling my son's pants down and spanking him. Last night I walked into S crying and screaming "No thank you, evil child" Ok - he used the kid's name, but I am calling him evil child. This child had picked up S's train and thrown it on the floor to smash it. It was in several pieces on the floor and S was heart broken. I patiently told S that this child is NOT his friend because friends don't do this to each other.

On the way out, I ran into the school's director. She was getting ready to leave, so I felt badly in delaying her, but I asked if S could be removed from the class. I want him in the class across the hall with the older pre-K kids. I explained I can't leave him in his classroom because of this child. The teachers are awesome and I really hate to leave them, but I have to protect my son. There is no room in the other classroom, but when a spot opens, S will have it. I may lose patience in January and put him in another school. I hope I don't have to, but I am willing to do almost anything to get S out of the way of this child. And I know that there will always be a problem child. I just think I have been very patient putting up with this child for three years. I'm done.

I really love my new camera!

Longwood - last weekend.

Mammogram Results

I finally checked my voicemail at work. Yup - I have an obnoxious message advising I am not taking calls. But I had a message about my mammogram results from yesterday. Apparently I have benign calcification, but I'm ok. Well, I don't think so. I need more info than that. I called back the technician and left the following message:

I received my results, but I am confused. I don't understand what benign calcifications mean. Are they lucent? Popcorn? egg shell? group? cluster? linear? And how do I know that it's not Ductal Carcinoma in situ? In short, how do you know this is benign?

I didn't mean to be rude, but am I really supposed to be reassured by someone who can't tell me why I'm fine? So the tech called me back and advised it's milk in calcium and the calcifications are in my skin. I feel better. And she made the dr read the films again - I guess they don't write down the type of calcification if it's in the benign range. And I will schedule next year's as soon as they send the reminder.

So my advice to anyone undergoing medical tests - question everything until you are comfortable.

Happy Birthday to me!

I celebrated by getting McD's breakfast, killing a squirrel, turning my work phone off, getting 2 skin biopsies and having one piece of two different cakes that were made in my honor. All in all - not so bad. I even requested that tonight be junkfood night - hot dogs and tator tots. Can someone get me a salad? Now??? Please??

Merry Christmas Kathi

Today I went for my first mammogram. It wasn't as horrible as people say it is and I was giggling through a lot of it. It's not the squishing that is uncomfortable, it's the awkward positions you stand in while holding one boob this way, squishing the other and putting your arm over the top of the machine. I felt like I was playing adult twister. My only complaint is I WAITED, and WAITED, and WAITED to be seen. I think sitting around for 45 minutes before anyone brings you back is inexcusable. If a dr did that to me, I would never return. My time is too valuable to waste, even on medical tests. I'll give these people a second chance before I find another place.

Mrs. Grinch

I have been very Grinch like so far this month. This afternoon I really felt like Mr. Grinch, except it was when his heart grew three times its size. Having Forrest home after eleven days missing is a treat! And then we decorated outside and put up our three Christmas trees. Yes, a Christmas hater has three trees inside. I had a cute tree in college, which became Trinks when she was old enough. This year I sprang for a nice sized one for Scott's room. And we have my sister's old tree in the office.

Back in the day, we used to go out in the back of my grandparents farm on THE COLDEST day of the winter and wander around until we found the perfect tree. Then we would chop it down and drag it back to the car. Then, it would have to be evened out, and watered regularly. My sister and I had our own tree, possibly so we could keep all the hideous "store bought" ornaments away from the handmade ornaments. My mother has a beautiful felt and sequin Nativity Character ornament set that a secret Santa made for her one year back in the 70s. One year we took styrofoam ornaments and stabbed them with pins and sequins to make bizarre (mine) and beautiful (my mother's and sister's) ornaments. So the concept of separate trees was nothing new to me. What changed as I got older was a dislike of real trees. They give me hives and need water. I've already admitted I can't even take a vitamin every day, so watering a tree ain't gonna happen!

As I type, I see what a great job the kids did on the tree. And I see how short they are. A good two feet at the top is naked. S was so excited when we lit the tree. He squealed and clapped his hands. Trinks was able to help me in the attic - ok I made up things to do up there because she really wanted to help me bring the boxes down. She was also able to help put the tree together and string lights. This year I set up the remote for the lights. Nope - I have no use for the remote, but my mom got it for me last year and it is really fun to use it. The kids made the tree go on and off so many times it looked like we had blinking lights.

So we had a good weekend. The only major problem we ran into was S hates both types of cookies I made. So he inhaled two out of three of my pears. The third was safely stowed in my lunch bag. Tomorrow I'll make him chocolate chocolate chip. YUM!

We decorated!!!

So we decorated outside today. The kids were beside themselves. We haven't put the inflatable snowman up since Trinks was about 2. S didn't even know we had it. We got the trees last year because they looked easy to put up. They are.

My great plan of putting everything on a timer so our lawn is lit when we get home failed. I put the snowman on the timer and we'll have to activate the trees manually.

A Miracle

Miracles happen. I looked out the window this AM and saw Forrest. By the time I got out, Trinks' piercing scream chased him away. Hubby and I scoured the yard, front and back, he took a drive around to neighborhood, and still nothing. By this time I was starting to doubt what I saw. I let Stormy out and she was acting weird around the shed. I got down, flat on my stomach, on the cold, wet piles of leaves and looked under the shed. Nothing. I went back inside and did a few things.

Then I returned to the back yard and saw Forrest's head peeking around the back of the shed. I didn't approach him, but squatted and called him. He made a beeline to me. I pet him and then followed him in the house. Kitty greeted him with hissing, and then smacked him across the face with her nails. She really had a good time without him. Of course this whole time I've been crying because I never believed we'd see him again. And hubby and the kids are out, so no one can make sure I'm not dreaming. Out came the camera. Doesn't he look GREAT????

My hubby

Nothing Knew has also pointed out several times that I have been less than kind in talking about my hubby, So today I will point out sone really great things hubby does - G rated of course.

Every weekend, hubby takes the kids out of my hair to go grocery shopping. This frees me up to run though the house, vacuum, clean up and just have peace of mind.

Hubby is an awesome cook. He not only can read recipes without skipping steps (that would be me), but he can improvise with the best of them.

Hubby takes care of the trash most of the time. I don't like taking the trash out. I can do it, but I don't like it. Hubby doesn't mind it and usually replaces the bag. I do let him know if he can't do it, I will. But I usually get a break.

Hubby remembers to medicate the kids when they are sick. Left up to me, the meds would be dispensed randomly. Heck, I can't even remember to take a vitamin, so remembering kids meds (and cats' meds) usually falls to him.

Hubby is a funny guy most of the time. Sometimes the humor is off color, but it's almost always funny.

Hubby can clean the kitchen back to a pristine state, no matter how big of a mess we let it get into and most of the time he doesn't yell about it.

Hubby can swap out loads of wash when I don't feel like it. He can actually do laundry all by himslef, but I am a freak about laundry and really prefer to do it myself. Everything has to be done in cold water, with Tide with Bleach. If it's washed in anything else, I rewash it.

And that's all I can think of this minute. He is truly an awesome guy for putting up with me.

My new camera

As Nothing Knew pointed out, I have not given even one hint as to what type of camera I have. We bought a Canon G10. The G9 was recommended by hubby's brother before he knew the G10 came out. Hubby and I have done extensive research and finally decided on this one. For once Amazon came out more expensive than Circuit City. Maybe it's because they are going out of business.

Check out hubby's awesome picture of a puddle, reflecting a tree above it. We had so much fun sharing the camera and trying for some really cool shots.

TGI... TGI Fridays? Since Friendly's isn't Friendly

We have lovely plans to meet Nothing Knew and family at Friendly's after we finished touring Longwood Gardens and they finished seeing the Nutcracker. Friendly's is a great place to go with kids because it really doesn't matter what they do. And you get ice cream. So we went in and were seated relatively quickly. Not bad for a party of 8. We gave our drink order to a waitress who seemed permanently confused. She came back with the drinks and took the food order, but wanted to stop after 6 orders. And then we waited. After a half hour of watching everyone seated around us get food, we asked for our waitress. The manager told Ivy she would personally see that our order was handled. Fifteen minutes later, we were still waiting. I got up and asked for drink refills and a new waitress. Ten minutes after that, we still had nothing so we walked out without paying for our drinks. Hopefully they had to eat the cost of our food, assuming the order was ever given to the kitchen.

We walked across the parking lot to Fridays. They told us we would be seated in 20 minutes. 10 minutes later, we were seated. We proceeded to have a lovely meal, with a very competent waitress. Then hubby decided to tell the waitress it was my birthday. I was sung to. The brownie was worth it. So we managed to salvage the evening. The kids were all great throughout this whole ordeal.

I am heading off to tuck the kids in and probably go to sleep soon. I just wanted to post before Nothing Knew - I'm sure he'll have more on it later. I'll post the gorgeous pictures the new camera took at Longwood sometime tomorrow.

It sucks!

Yes, my Dyson sucks again! It's amazing what cleaning the filter does. Hubby has been lectured to never use the vacuum in the garage again. Apparently he was too lazy to use either the push broom or the shopvac, so he vacuumed the dirt in the garage up with the Dyson. GRUMBLE!

But I fixed it and gave the office a long overdue vacuuming. I could knit a sweater with the amount of cat hair I picked up! Trinks and I are working on getting the faint cat puke stains out of the carpet. I think we found a winning solution - hot soapy water and Rubba Scrubbas. Rubba Scrubbas are awesome tools because they can do anything from brush a cat, clean a bathroom, or scrub veggies. Obviously, not the same rubba scrubba can do it all, but I have three for very distinct jobs. The steam vac never got the stains out, but I think we can have a stain free carpet by the time the tree goes up.

Please waste some time

Play this game and raise money for breast cancer research.

Even more pictures

Since I was up until 1:30 playing around with the camera and doing things to the computer, it is a slow morning. In fact, when hubby called at 8 to tell me his fishing trip was cancelled (after he woke up at 3:30 to drive all the way down to the place), I wasn't even awake. Trinks had a nightmare shortly after I made it to bed and I let her sleep with me. She was very kind and let me sleep until the phone rang. S got up shortly after that and I declared movie in the morning. They started Madagascar as I slowly made my way out of bed. YAWN! I was serving waffles when hubby got home. So here are the pictures I took over the last hour.

Pictures!

I have a camera that doesn't feel like I'll crush it when I take pictures! And here are the first pictures I took. S helped with some, and posed for others. Trinks was on the phone with friends (a new development!), so I only got her in a couple of pics. This is our Diva, Kitty. Not bad for a 12 year old?



But it was junk food and movie night, so I captured S with cheetos all over his face. And got a great picture of his bagel with turkey and cheese.

Come on megapixels!!

I ordered my new camera. We collected all the giftcards in the house, pooled them together with the January cash rebate we get on the credit card and bought a new camera. I cannot wait! I will pick it up tomorrow and will have it charged for the Longwood trip.

Now as a side note, and many minutes after placing the order, I can't use the VISA giftcards on any of the purchases I made. I am beginning to think no one takes them. I guess we'll try the grocery store next since I have tried 6 different places with no success.

Dominick the Donkey

After listening to Dominick the Donkey (the Italian Christmas Donkey)about 100 times this week, I finally get the song.

"When Santa visits his paisons, with Dominick he'll be, Because reindeer cannot, climb the hills of Italy"

Of course Santa has to use a donkey in Italy. The darn cars can't get up hills, so what makes you think reindeer would be able to?

The almost end of the Funk

I may be coming out of my December funk early this year. I have been entertaining myself by downloading free MP3s from Amazon. I picked Snoopy's Christmas (second only to Dominick the Donkey, but more on him later), the 12 Pains of Christmas, and Hallelujah (from Shrek, but not THAT version). Most of the holiday presents are wrapped. Very few things need to be purchased, and what does will have to come from Amazon because I hate going to stores these days.

I should get in the spirit more this weekend. We are baking some cookies, going to Longwood and meeting Nothing Knew and family for dinner. The kids and I will decorate the house and I may remember to find menorah candles. If this weather would break, I think I could actually be happy!

Somewhat urgent SOS to LRNs and Nothing Knew

Ok - just sort of, kinda did some bad things to my computer that I take full responsibility for. I can recover. However, I am completely out of disk space and need an external hard drive. It's not in budget until January, but if you can point me in the right direction, I can start researching my options. And, BTW, don't tell hubby. He never reads any of our blogs, so I feel safe.

Hot Tea with honey and lime

I am SICK! I am actually sick enough not to be at work. I never take sick days for myself! I have a nice pot of tea keeping warm in the kitchen, so I thought I would come and do stuff on the computer until I feel I need a nap. I have no plans to accomplish anything, but a load of laundry probably wouldn't kill me. Maybe I'll finish writing about NYC. I believe I have the first two sentences.

NYC

Four adults and five children stayed in a large (NY standards only) junior suite for 3 nights and all lived to tell about it. The hotel will not be named in case they have google alerts and my parents don't need to be thrown out.

Once again, I braved the empty roads of non rush hour traffic to drive into the city. We arrived wihtout drama, which was great since waking 5 kids up, hauling them to the 17th floor and attempting to put them to bed was drama enough. Thursday morning we headed out. We started with getting tickets to the Christmas Show for Friday, hit the tree, American Girl, and Toys R Us. The kids took a spin on the Ferris Wheel. It was nice to get the shopping out of the way on a weekday. At this time of year, you can't get into the stores on the weekend. My sister and the Divine Ms M went to dinner with a friend she reconnected with through Facebook. My dad went to dinner with someone he used to work with. My mom and I ordered out from our favrite Italian restaurant. Their pizza is about as close as you can get to real Italian pizza without going there.

On Friday, we started out early and saw the Christmas Show at Radio City. It was great as usual. The kids loved it. Then we went to see the trains at Citibank. These trains are phenomenal. I asked how long it took to build the set. Apparently it would take 20 people a year and a half! To set it up every year takes 30 hours. Phew! That's a lot of work. We ended up eating at Benihana for lunch. It was a great show with really good food. My nephew was determined not to like anything, but he warmed up to trying the shrimp and was even seen laughing and smiling. Then we hit the Disney store and the kids helped an Elf earn her bells. For their troubles, they earned a jingle bell and some chocolate. Then it was back to the room so my sister and I could get ready to meet our cousin. We hadn't seen her in a couple of years and it was nice to catch up. It was also fun to navigate the subway system of NY. We almost ended up in Queens, and then over the Brooklyn Bridge.

y

Saturday was the last day of our trip. We woke up, went to the Brooklyn Diner for breakfast. Then we hit the park for an hour. Finally it was time for Mary Poppins. It was a great show. It was based more on the book than the movie. Now I want to read the book! We walked the 14 blocks back to the hotel, ate a quick dinner and loaded the car. By the time I reached my sister's house, it was snowing. It snowed the rest of the way back to DE. We arrived home late, threw the kids in bed and I collapsed. And I wonder why I'm sick today.

Things that make me sad

In no particular order:

Trinks told me when I die she will bury me with a picture of her because she loves me and knows that I love her.

S applauded when we were informed that donations made after Mary Poppins would go to support families impacted by breast cancer. He beamed at me and told me it was great they were supporting breast cancer. No four year old should know that.

Very few people were donating to help the homeless in NYC. I did my part and gave the kids some coins and bills to put in the water jug and Salvation Army buckets.

My damn cat is still missing and I can't sleep well with so much room on the bed.

The kids don't seem to miss the cat.

It's almost been a year since Karen died and I still reach for the phone when I need to talk to her.

And now, let's end with something funny. In the MIDDLE of Mary Poppins, S whispers to me, "Mommy! Bite me. Bite me hard!!!" WTF? I still have no idea what he really meant, but I shove an M&M in his mouth and stifled a giggle.

Housekeeping

So I tried to vacuum the stairs before sitting down at the computer. Someone vacuumed clumps of dirt up and now the darn thing isn't working. I still love my Dyson and I can take it apart in seconds to clean stuff out, but this has me stumped. I have no idea what to do. At some point, I will review the FAQs online and find the answer. In the mean time, my steps are disgusting!

But I took time to do some blogging housekeeping instead. I changed from a blogroll to a blog list with snippets - looks pretty cool. I'm trying to add this blog but it keeps posting the wrong one. This blog has me laughing most of the time. It makes me wonder how different college would have been if we had today's technology! And some of you know this guy - can't wait to see what he does after graduation.

And I would like to welcome Ivy to the blogging world. While her entry to this world was through a diagnosis of MS, it is still nice to read her thoughts and see how she's coping with a onslaught of information. I am learning a lot about MRIs, and tests, and drug information packs.

Outsmarting the Rooster

Nothing Knew posted about NapSounds last week. NapSounds is a great guided 20 minute power nap. I tried it out at work and was teased by a few people who caught me. I didn't care because I was really relaxed. It is a little annoying to be awakened by the rooster, though.

This week, I was in NYC. There will be a longer post about what we did and how my mother should have been kicked out of the hotel, but the purpose of this post is NapSounds. I subscribed through iTunes and had a lovely selection of naps in both the nature and classical variety on the iPod. We arrived in NYC very late, with a vanload of 5 kids. Since they all had fallen asleep at some point in the trip, they were pretty cranky and didn't want to go back to sleep. By the time we wrestled the last one in bed/on the floor, I was full of adrenaline and had a 4 year old sharing the roll out cot with me. It's been a lifetime since I shared a twin bed, but this was even smaller than a regular twin! So, out came my iPod and on went the NapSounds. I set the sleep timer for 15 minutes, a viola! No rooster. I had to do this a couple of times to actually relax enough to catch 2 hours of sleep, but it was wonderful.

Merry Christmas to me

Hubby and I rarely exchange presents on the actual holiday. Again, holidays mean nothing but horrific drives to faraway places. There is no sense in bringing more shit than we need. So we shop for each other and give each other the gift when Amazon delivers it. Hubby couldn't contain his excitement, so I've known for a while what I am getting. I now have a docking station alarm clock for my iPod. We set it up and I am completely in love with it. Now I think I can get some nice meditations downloaded and fall asleep to that instead of the TV. Hubby usually waits until he thinks I'm asleep and changes it to sports.

Missing!

Missing - a pain in the ass, sweet, lovable, awesome cat. Answers to the name Dumbass, Forrest, ReRe, hey you, and the sound of any can being opened, in hopes that it is tuna. The damn cat has been missing since last Wednesday. It's possible that he snuck out in the AM when S left the door open when he ran out to go the the bus stop with Trinks and me. Of course it's always possible he's still in the house and we'll find his dead body when it starts to decompose. Lovely.

I was in NYC until late last night, so hubby has been in charge of finding the cat. He has been to the SPCA twice, scoured the neighborhood a couple of times, and checked every closet to make sure he isn't trapped somewhere. We're beginning to feel this will not have a happy ending.

As much as we have complained about Re, he is the best cat I have ever owned, cat puke and piss issues included. The darn cat has cost us thousands in home repair, but his winning personality has made it worthwhile. I have never known a cat who can take up half a king sized bed. I also don't know of a cat who can stand being poked in the face and not react. I am holding on to a very small hope we will find him soon. With cats, you never know.

Organizational Goal for 2009

I am on a roll today with my goals for next year. I figure if I get started a month early, I can get a jump on accomplishing what I set out to do. My aim is to get rid of paper clutter. I just emptied Trinks' backpack which was STUFFED with paper clutter. I then wrote a note to her teacher asking her to restrict access to green striped paper. It is ridiculous how much paper she wasted!!

I have a pretty good handle on the mail. The shredder resides in the front hall. Pictures, however, are a huge issue for me. I don't even print them out anymore. I make digital books instead. They look a lot nicer and if I lose it, I can always print out another one. So for 13 months, I will focus on my pictures and other paper clutter. Now I need to fine tune my health goal and I am all set for New Years!

Restored

At first glance, it appears my iPod is fixed. I can now play more than 2 songs in a row, without a full factory setting restore. Thanks LRNs, I will keep that in mind if I have further problems. LRNs is as much in love with his iPod as I am. He has the Touch now. I don't think I would like the Touch - too fancy for my incompetent technological skills. The 80 GB is the best gift I have ever gotten.

Financial Goal for 2009

I haven't had a specific goal in a while. I just finished reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover and I am more convinced than ever that the car loan, HELOC and mortgage have to go. I have never been comfortable with the myth of "good debt". I have nightmares about being crushed by our mortgage, and it is less than 1/5 of our take home. I would love to see us completely debt free in 15 years. It sounds tough, but with some careful planning and a lot of budgeting, it can happen.

Total Money Makeover is a great book. Dave tells you upfront he will tell you nothing you don't already know. It's true - I knew everything in the book. He just gives you some great tools to make your financial goals a reality. I realized how much of a mistake the HELOC was 2 years into the loan. Although the car loan isn't big because we put around half down, we probably could have waited until we had a little more to put down to get rid of the debt sooner. And the mortgage? We definitely should have done a 15 year loan. The only thing I can do is a "debt snowball" to clear these things as soon as possible and never make these mistakes again.

So my 2009 financial goal is to make great strides paying down the car loan. Once I get rid of that, the extra cash will go to the HELOC. After that, everything extra will go to the mortgage. And then, I can rest peacefully.

Twelve whole years

Happy anniversary to us. Some days it feels like forever and others it feels like just yesterday we were involved in the hoop de doo of wedding preparations. I have to thank the mothers for putting all that together - planning huge events gives me hives. It turned out perfect, but the process was painful. For our 10th, we went back to the Hotel duPont for a night away from the kids. I think we may try that every 5 years - it's fun to reminisce.

I still have my wedding dress. I loved it, but now what? I did some research about Brides Against Breast Cancer and after the holidays I think I will happily donate my dress. What the heck will I do with it? If Trinks really wants to wear my dress, I have enough pictures of the darn thing to have someone reproduce it. Right now it is rotting away when it could be blessing a new bride who deserves a happily ever after. And it can bring money to fight breast cancer - what could be better?

A fun time was had by almost all

Really fun Black Friday

After breezing through Target, I decided to have some fun with the kids. Back when I used to enjoy the holidays, we used to have dinner at Turkey Swamp Park. It's a great place, and appropriately named for the holiday. Everyone would bring a dish, work together to put the meal together. There was always a nice fire going and after dinner we would occasionally roast marshmallows. Ok - I now realize it was a logistical nightmare to coordinate this, but it made for awesome childhood memories. I didn't know anyone else who rented the shelter in a park and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.



So the kids and I took off for the park. We hit the playground, which is way more awesome than the one they used to have when I was a kid. Then I dragged them on a hike around the lake - or is it a pond? It seems to have shrunk since I grew up. I promised them a stop on the other side to play on a different playground. Depending on what part of the hike, S thought it was either really awesome or a death march. We ran through grassy patches, played shadow tag, chewed on teaberry leaves (used to flavor wintergreen mints), tracked deer, and just plain had fun. And S has officially learned how to pump his legs on a swing, so I didn't quite know what to do while they were on the swings. It was a beautiful, though cold, day. I had fun telling the kids that I learned how to ice skate on the pond. They'll probably never skate on a pond because I'll never buy them skates. Their feet will grow before it ever freezes enough to use them.



So we ended the adventure at Panera with lunch with my mom who had to work today. The good news is my grandmother is doing awesome. She'll probably be released tomorrow. Trinks and I visited her and then arrived back at my parents' house. We were supposed to go to the beach, but ended up at the Christmas store buying wreaths and garlands. It's almost time to leave for the lobster dinner at my sister's house. I'm looking forward to the leftovers from yesterday.

My iPod is sick

I just about had a heart attack last night driving to NJ. I tried to play music for S just to the bridge. Then I would switch to the book on cd I had. The damn thing kept playing 2 songs and then wouldn't work anymore. I was sick. This thing has changed my life for the 11 months I've had it. I listen to it a minimum of 1 hour a day, in the car, while walking, while making dinner, while cleaning the house, etc. It is the best ting I have ever owned.

So tonight I decided to google the problem. If other people are correct, it was a bad synch and either re-synching or restoring the pod will correct the problem. I will wait with bated breath until I can get home and check my settings. But for now, I will listen to my 2 songs, go back to the menu and play 2 more songs. This is the problem of owning things - maintenance!!!

Must fight urge to overspend

Over the past several months, hubby and I have been on a mission to reduce unnecessary spending. Part is due to the economy and the other part is we really want to save a lot more money than we are. It's not a dire situation; just fine tuning a decent system. I think we are finally making great progress. Several children's movies recently came out. Previously, I would have bought them (from Amazon) as soon as they came out. This year, I flung those movies on the kids' wish list. If we don't get them, eventually they will arrive on Netflix or the library. Savings - about $50. I am finally getting over the child having a tantrum feeling of giving in to instant gratification. I can wait to get things after great thought.

Tomorrow (or 45 minutes from now) is Black Friday. I am venturing out to a higher end discount store to finish up my shopping. I have a handful of things I'll buy later, but I think I can finish most everything this weekend. The problem with Black Friday is I am looking through flyers, which I don't see anymore since I cancelled the newspaper. Now I see all the STUFF that's out there. I am actually considering a mad dash through the aisles of several stores to get the "perfect" holiday presents. Ok - time to get back in the zone. I just don't need a lot more crap (and it all is crap since I don't need any of it) in my house. I hope I can retain my focus tomorrow and get what I need (I have a list) and return to my parents to take my kids to the local park. It will probably be deserted.

Pan - $8, 5 Gingerbread people - priceless

My mother planned a great craft for after Thanksgiving dinner. And yes, these gingerbread people are 11.5 inches tall. The kids measured. But, I don't think they included the legs.

S had a good time with his.


C-Dog's creation



Trinks heaped on the icing.



M-Cat was in it for the icing and candy.



And the divine Ms. M and her delicate creation.

Proud to be an American, again

It has been a long 8 years, but I am finally proud to be an American. It has not been fun traveling overseas and admitting I am American. I saw the flags waving in Rock Center and couldn't resist taking a picture to capture my pride.

December

The dreaded month of December is rapidly approaching, no matter how much I don't want it. Historically I have hated this month. There is too much going on because not only do we have both Christmas and Hanukkah, everybody's freaking birthday is in December. We usually have plans every weekend, just not in DE. Thankfully, the price of gas has gone down, or we would have to file bankruptcy just to get through this horrible month. This year, I am trying to change my negative outlook. I am trying to get over my intense hatred of the holidays.

But this year, I have a rare coping mechanism. I have ONE FREE WEEKEND. I refuse to travel this weekend. In fact, weather permitting, hubby is going fishing. I plan to spend the entire weekend decorating the tree, making dozens of cookies, and enjoying my children. There is absolutely NOTHING that will get me to leave the house. Each child will have the opportunity to select types of cookies they want to make and I will make my favorite cookies - Russian Tea Cakes.

I have pleasant memories of Christmas from when I was a child. A few weeks before Christmas, we would start making dozens of different cookies. We were home on Christmas morning and could open our toys without losing every piece. We could relax and hang out with our family over a breakfast of homemade pastries. When I think of Christmas day, I think of the smell of homemade stuffing cooking. I'm sure my mother doesn't have the same warm and fuzzy memories I do because she was working so hard to put the meal together, but it really set the bar for the perfect Christmas in my mind.

These days I have to hope for early dismissal from work. Then I have to run around and pick the kids up, load the car and go to my sister's house and pray I get there in time for dinner. Hubby does not get early dismissal, so he gets to miss dinner and is less than thrilled. Then it's a flurry of activity before we go to my parent's house for the night. Sometimes it's so crazy we forget to hang stockings. The only thing right about Christmas is breakfast. We have monkey bread (ok - it's not my mom's awesome coffee cakes, but at least it's fast and good) and an egg casserole. Then we rush around to get dinner ready before we have to run home to go to work the next day. It completely sucks running around like that.

But, this year I will put forth the effort not to get overwhelmed and try to enjoy the time. It's a tall order, but maybe I'll be a little less like Scrooge this year.

**************After I posted this, I thought about it for a while. I really sound bitter. I'm not really. I know I have a choice whether to show up for holidays or stay home. Once the kids stop believing in the magic of Christmas, I will stop traveling on Christmas. I can't put my parents in the position of having to choose which state they want to be in on Christmas while the kids are so young. I have stopped traveling on Mother's Day unless it suits me. Slowly I will regain control over the nonstop traveling we are expected to do. I'd love to host more family events, but that will never happen. I just feel the most pain in December.

Snow

S has been asking for a snowman every time there has been a mere dusting of snow this week. Finally on Friday, I could scrape together some snow from the car to sort of form a snowman. Then he wanted me to get him a carrot for the nose. Even a baby carrot would have caused the poor thing to topple forward. Then he wanted to bring the snowman to school for show and tell. Ummmm.... no. By the time we got home Friday night, there was a wet spot on the porch. The darn snowman peed before he ran away.

Worried

My grandmother has been sick for about the last month. It started with a sinus infection she just couldn't shake and now she's just not doing well. I know just enough to allow my imagination to run wild, so I'm worried. Hopefully we'll get some answers today and I can stop being worried.

Kung Foo Fighting

Trinks tested for her belt this week, just as my computer was being fixed. I've been itching to write about it because I am so proud of her. Trinks has been studying kung foo for three months now and I am in awe of my child. Here and there I have caught portions of her classes. She's amazing. And yes, I am biased. I am amazed at how patient the instructors are, and how they know how to get the best performances out of the kids.

There were three sections of the test. For Endurance, she had to do sit ups for two minutes. These were knees up, elbows to your knees type up sit ups. Then she had to do a series of push ups - first ones were standard, the second ones we a variation on one handed push ups. Wow - she nailed them both!! She had to stand in a couple of different poses, completely still for set times. I found out she actually CAN be still. Then she had to do kicks - you know, the high kind. She had to kick into her hand, up front, to the side - nothing I could have imagined doing when I was seven. At the end, she had to do the kung foo form. She has been practicing this religiously and did very well. Overall, her score was 94. For endurance, she scored 100, for technical, she scored 88, and for form she scored a 94. Now she is a yellow white belt. Her next test in in February to earn a full yellow belt.

This after school program is the best money I have spent on her education since I sent her to private kindergarten. I can't wait to get S in the program. He is going to be observed this year in buddy days and parents' nights out to see if they will accept him in summer camp. He's a bit young at 4, but the staff knows him and think he might do well. He needs to work on his self confidence and learn to tell Trinks to pound sand when she tries to speak for him.

Kathi update

I haven't updated Kathi is a while. I also haven't talked to her in a while because we have been so busy at work and I know she goes to sleep early. I talked to her husband on Tuesday and he said she is doing much better. She may even get the clearance to drive next week - very exciting. I think I will make calling her a priority tomorrow.

Oh Sugar

Guess what I found in Trinks' cubby at Kung Foo? A bag of sugar! A sandwich bag of sugar! With two spoons. Seriously. She watched as we blamed her brother for stealing the sugar from the sugar bowl. She didn't speak up to defend him. The sugar bowl is now locked up.

Sick

I cannot go to school today, said little Peggy Ann McKay. I have the measels and the mumps, a gash, a rash and purple bumps....

Oh wait! Not that kind of sick. My computer came down with a nasty virus. Without immediate intervention from Nothing Knew, our computer would have died. I am blessed with friends who can help out when I break my stuff. And ones who humor me when I think I am a techno person. Going forward, I will NEVER let my anti-virus stuff expire. NEVER.

So, I am back. I have a few great posts I may get around to posting tonight. A night of heavy drinking last night has wiped me out and may get me to bed pretty early, though. But for now, we are going to eat dinner while watching Underdog.

Shrek the Musical

I recovered from my tantrum Friday night. It's important to note I didn't scream at the kids. I just let everything overwhelm me for a night. I just get so frustrated that we have too many things to take care of that we don't always have enough family time. Yesterday we solved that. We took off at the crack of dawn, stopped at my parents house to dress the kids and got on a bus to NYC.

We saw Shrek the Musical. Previews started last weekend and opening night is December 14. While I didn't leave humming a catchy tune, I thought it was well done. Before we got there, I wondered how Lord Farquaad's size would be handled. The answer, of course, is very humorously. The kids loved it, my parents had a good time and hubby enjoyed hanging out in the city with his brother rather than watching the show. S fell asleep after intermission, which is what he did for Lion King. I guess getting up so early in the AM is the problem. For Mary Poppins, we'll at least start out in the city.

The weather turned out pretty nice, too. The rain stopped while we walked around the city before the show. We saw the unlit tree and the skating rink. And of course, Saks has their famous snowflakes up. They aren't lit, but they are up. We took Trinks for a brief visit to American Girl. S got so excited about a Bitty Baby stove and a pumpkin doll costume. It was pretty funny.




I'll be in NYC again next week, but it's adults only. The only challenge is where to eat. I know I can't go wrong with any restaurant. Narrowing it down is the trick.

Fed Up!

Warning - this is complete whining! I had a really tough day at work. Then I found out Trinks was in trouble at school for the 5th time in 2 weeks - and that's with 2 days off from school! We went out to our favorite place to eat because we haven't been there in ages. We had lukewarm meals and my burger wasn't done right. It wasn't up to the usual standards and I have no desire to go out again for a long time. So, I needed to take action.

Hubby took the kids to the pet store, which is a great, free activity for the kids. I went home and proceeded to box up all the crap in Trinks room. I discovered she cut Jess's hair. There is nothing like spending a shitload of money on a fucking doll just to have the hair cut off. I boxed up American Girl clothes, shoes, horses,whatever Trinks decided she hated enough to leave out of the special 5 drawer dresser I set up for the doll clothes. By the time she got home, I had one side of the room boxed up and she was in tears. I will continue to remove every god damn thing in the fucking room until it is empty. She has too many fucking toys and I hate every one of them right now. Christmas will non existent for the kids because they have too many things. I hate being the caretaker of crap and today really got to me. I feel several trips to Goodwill coming on.

So we have another week of early bedtime for Trinks and iCarly may be permanently banned from her viewing pleasure. I am going to sleep now so I can get out of this funky mood. My kids are really great kids. I want to spend more time with them instead of whining over putting crap away. It's days like this when I wish I could strip the entire house of everything and live with 3 beds, 2 couches and a kitchen. We really don't need much more than that.

Surgery

Today was a productive day. I received a clean bill of health from the endodontist - and no co-pay. I then ventured to the dermatologist. I have been dreading this trip for a while because my imagination has run wild about my freckles and moles. Then I find out I need SURGERY!

I am being dramatic, of course. Two slightly questionable spots will be removed and biopsied. I need a STITCH! Oh the drama. And the kicker is, it's scheduled for my birthday. They offered to reschedule, but I have to work that day anyway. I could use the break. The dr did tell me I wouldn't be able to cook and I would have to go out to dinner. I think we'll try the new burrito place up the street.

Batter blaster

Batter blaster is such a great idea. I have no idea why Bisquick hasn't stolen it. I bought it at Whole Foods yesterday, and although the price is steep, it's still cheaper than going out. It's the same concept as Reddi Whip - push the top and the batter comes out. I amazed my children with Mickey Mouse and triangle pancakes. I would have taken pictures, but it was early in the AM and it was before coffee.

I have big balls

Today I made matzo ball soup. I have never been much of a soup maker, but we had the chicken broth that we made last weekend and it's been cold lately. Matzo ball soup is, hands down, my favorite feel good soup, so I thought I should try my hand at it.

I opened the mix and made one packet of matzo balls. I frowned at it because it looked so little. I opened the other packet and added it. I started rolling it into balls after it sat for a bit in the fridge. I thought they were pretty small. After they finished cooking in boiling water for 20 minutes, they were HUGE! One packet would have been enough.

Trinks liked it, S wouldn't try it and I think hubby liked it too. It was a nice comforting meal after running around the park this afternoon. And the even better news is we are seeing a drop in the grocery bill because we are doing more with the food we have. We saved over $40 this week. Nice!!!

I am worried

While I was gallivanting in Houston, Kathi was taken to the hospital. Tests revealed she has a blood clot in her lung. I received an e-mail from her and another from her husband and nothing else. I'm pretty sure she's going to be fine, but I haven't heard from her so I'm worried. This is not supposed to be happening. DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) is the BEST cancer to have. It is easy to cure. Her path has not been easy and I for one am fed up. I am done with cancer. Shoo! Go away!!! Don't come back!

Please keep Kathi in your thoughts and prayers.

If I had a nose full of ... Cheerios?

I swear my son is out to get me. This AM, I took him to Bob Evans. It was just the two of us. We had a great time and then I dropped him off at school. What a wonderful start of the day. When I picked him up, he wanted to snack on the the leftover Cheerios that have been sitting in my car for a couple of weeks. Since I had to go to the grocery store after picking Trinks up, I let him. We finished shopping, got back in the car and headed home.

I heard S crying a little and saying something hurt. I asked Trinks what was wrong and she informed me S shoved a Cheerio up his nose. I dissolved in laughter (I was driving, so there was not much I could do) and could barely breathe. I managed to tell Trinks to block the one side and blow out the other. She helped him and it came out. A horrible thought came into my mind and I screamed, "DON'T EAT IT!!!!!!"

I was too late.

Something funny

I found this link while looking for election stuff. I find this funny for 2 reasons:

1. Kids will be kids and in college my friends and I did similar things, such as steal College Pro signs.
2. Someone actually set up a video camera to see who was stealing it.

BUT, I understand how annoying it is to have people take stuff from the front lawn. One year some kids tried to steal a pumpkin from our front porch. It's not the act that was scary. It was scary because I didn't hear them get that close to the house.

TSA

The TSA people have new, snappy blue uniforms. Same attitudes, new uniform. On the way to Houston, I behaved myself. Philly security is usually humorless and rude. I managed to get through security only to be backed up behind the idiots who think they should get dressed at the conveyor belt. Philly is behind the times and has no line for experienced flyers. I always get stuck behind the people who have no idea how to put their stuff in. I mean, you wait in a line for a bit and they are always surprised when it's their turn. I have to take my shoes off? And my belt? My laptop has to go through in the container and not in my bag? Really? And there are a million signs and announcements and these people think they are better than the rest of us and don't have to comply.

Coming back, there were separate lines for experienced, newcomers and families. Phew. Getting behind people with small children always pisses me off because most of the time these people are clueless and take forever getting the kids shoes off. I'm spoiled because my kids fly so often they know the drill. I managed to get behind 2 idiots who didn't have out id or boarding passes. The TSA guys bypassed them and took me.

I played What can I get away with? A word of caution about this game. You have to be prepared to sacrifice the contraband. I had a water bottle with an inch of water in it. I didn't put my lipstick in a quart bag. I had my pedometer in my pocket while going through the scanner. It was harmless stuff. Nothing happened. It's fun to play this at various airports, to see who is stricter.

Houston

I love going to Houston. I've gone every fall for the past four years. This year I didn't really want to go since it was a whirlwind overnight trip. And I was going to be there on election night. But it ended up being a decent trip.

The first sign of good things to come was the flight out. We flew Southwest, now my most favorite airline. I was number A42 in their goofy line system. I boarded, sat in the aisle while my co-worker took the window. I sat down, buckled up and looked at the front of the plane. The door was closed and we were preparing for take off. There were 50 people on the plane, including crew and pilot. Amazing. The flight attendants roamed the cabin with huge boxes of snack and urged us to take as many as we wanted. We got full cans of drinks, and even a second beverage a couple of hours later. They kept asking if we needed anything. I felt as if we were in first class.

We landed, grabbed our gear and headed into the city to our hotel. It was a beautiful, small, old hotel. There was free internet (hence yesterday's post) and actual keys. Seriously, not a key card, real jangling keys. The rooms were small, but comfortable. My only complaint is the TV remote didn't work. And it wasn't me screwing things up. My co-worker couldn't get his to work either and he's mechanically inclined.

The next morning we started out in the 83 degree weather and walked the three blocks to work. We passed the hurricane damaged buildings on the way. It was hard to contain our excitement about the election, but we couldn't really celebrate because people were a bit somber. I got through five presentations and only started to lose my voice in the last session. I have 4 more to do this week and I think 6 more next week. Ugh! I need lots of tea with honey.

Coming home was another better than first class experience. I took an entire row. I almost always choose the seat over the wing. For some reason, flying where the noise is the loudest is strangely comforting. I flew first class once and it was so quiet, I was scared we lost an engine. Overall, it was a good flight. Between the two flights I finished both library books I brought. At one point, the weather got bad and we started bouncing around. I looked out the window and saw the hideous yellow bridge in slower, lower DE. I believe the official name is the Senator Roth Bridge (this guy was a genius and gave us the wonderful Roth IRAs). Even in the miserable weather, I was able to track where we were.

The weather was pretty miserable for landing. It was the kind of descent that had me calculating my chances of survival if we just dropped out of the sky. And then the pilot did the wing thing that always gets me sick. You know, when he rocks the plane from side to side to drop faster so he can stick the landing? By the time we were on the ground, I was sick. Then we spent about 15 minutes taxiing to an elusive gate.

I was thrilled to on the ground, and even happier to be home. I went into each child's room and kissed them and snuggled them. Neither woke up, but it was nice to see them again! I love going away, but coming home is always the best part of any trip.

WOW!

"Shine on me sunshine, walk with me world it's a zip a dee do dah day! I'm the happiest girl in the whole USA!"

Ok - enough celebrating. Time to face several rooms full of red state people. But I have the Houston Chronicle for today - Wa-hoooooooo!!!!

Getting the hang of this Recession/Depression thing

I impressed myself. I convinced my stubborn hubby that we needed to roast a chicken. He hates chicken on the bone and dark meat. While dark meat isn't my favorite, I'll eat it, and the kids will eat drumsticks. With the price of boneless/skinless chicken breast skyrocketing, I am willing to try something else. Plus, chicken on the bone has a better flavor.

So we roasted a chicken in the convection part of the microwave, and an hour later, we had dinner. It was wonderful. I even made mashed potatoes and rolls and green beans. After dinner, I proceeded to pick it clean, throw water on the carcass and simmered it for hours. We now have homemade chicken stock! I emptied the fridge of old veggies and they simmered right along with the chicken. I can't wait until I get back from Houston to make a proper soup.

With this economy, I need to relearn the lessons of my youth. Learning how to stretch food just makes good sense. I've gotten away from my roots! This is the stuff I watched my grandparents and parents do. I guess I didn't realize money was tight back then, too.

Trick of Treat

As I post, the kids are wandering aimlessly around the neighborhood in the fruitless pursuit of candy. We let them eat some, but most ends up at work, or in the trash. There has been a lull in the trick or treaters, so after I cleaned the front hallway and shredded the millions of Terry Spence flyers, I downloaded some pics. Alright - in fairness, I am recycling the damn flyers, but I shredded all the personal mail. I think it would have been therapeutic to shred Terry Spence.

I thought this outfit was too small, but the picture on the bag shows the belly should be hanging out. A black shirt fixed that.



And he's off to fight something or other!


Spooky!

Terry Spence

If I get one more piece of mail from Terry Spence I swear I am going to find out where he lives and throw it on his lawn. I got a call from one of his people last night and they asked if they could count on my vote. I explained that he sends too many advertisements (plus a birthday card every year) and I prefer someone who actually cares about the environment. And before he could even try to defend himself, I hung up. I'm sure Terry Spence is a nice guy. Heck, he even paved our development roads one year right before election day. I just don't want to hear from him.

And by the way, I had to go to Wikipedia to find out his party affiliation. Republicans are really ashamed to stand up and be counted. The DE Democrats sent out a note explaining how we need to vote. I haven't decided if I am voting for Biden for Senate. It would be too weird.

Pumpkin Pics

Kids and knives

Phillies

The family of pumpkins