New Blog Design Put A Smile On My Face

THANKS JENNISA!

So, how you do you like the new design? I'm all crazy for it. I think Jennisa at http://onceuponablog.org did a great, wonderful, superb job. I was soo excited to see my little mama up there. Of course, she is waaay too skinny to look like me, but it totally reflects me and my personality so if you'd like to comment on whether you like it or not, you can. I'd love to hear any feedback. Of course I won't be changing it, but feedback is always a good thing right? I really waffled between including Brent and the boys in the header but it is called Java Mama and I think it all came together rather well. I'm sure Brent's not interested in it in the least, although he does read it at work when he gets bored! So, I guess I'll just stick with what I know best, writing what I feel like writing. Oh yeah on another blog this lady wrote something about how someone told her to stop writing about this/that and that it was rude and you want to know what she said to the "anonymous" person who commented: "If you don't like what I write, don't read my blog." Yeah, I was so happy people stand up for their freedoms as put forth in the Constitution and do not cower and fold from the pressures of those who are too cowardly to even put their real name on a comment. Whew, ok now on with this post...

So we had a pretty good week and weekend. Took the boys to see Batman: Dark Knight and I actually stayed awake for the whole three hour movie. Heath Ledger, well, all I can say is that if he does win the Oscar for this role posthumously, he rightly deserves to win that little gold statue. It was the only Batman I have sat down to watch in a very long time, and it was rather riveting. We had errands to run all week and chase down bacon at a supermarket in Beaumont to be able to use some more of my $2 off coupons I bought off of Ebay. We ran into an old friend and I had so much fun talking to her. Of course the boys were bored to tears so I ran them by Barnes & Noble for a drink and we looked at some new anime books. Then they were hungry so I drove them over to Rao's to get the only tuna fish they will eat. Ian got the gelato and it was extremely good. I wanted some so bad but #1 - I do not need it, and #2, I'm lactose intolerant so I could just imagine the pain I'd be in had I partaken in such an act. I was, however, not going to buy it and not taste it. It was divine, heavenly. I told Brent he would love it. It's so creamy and well worth the drive. Haven't tasted too many other gelatoes that can compare -- even Liam liked it, and he's really picky with everything.

Of course, now we want to see several other movies and Ian's on this Space Chimp thing because our little neighbor went to see it. I just don't think I could sit through Space Chimps and he's a little too young to leave in the theater. I've never done it before, guess I shouldn't start now. I put some movies on Netflix for a family movie night and we ordered Pippi Longstocking and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Kind of corny but I am sooo friggin tired of my seven year old watching inappropriate things/movies/dvd's/games so now I'm doing what I should have done a while back, monitoring any and all media in the house. Our little neighbor (who is 7) came over and told us that he had his tv taken away because the 9 year old neighbor was over and put in on HBO or something like that and showed naked girls. YIKES.... where the hell were the parents? So, needless to say my children have always played at my house so I can monitor things like that and I guess it's not going to be changing anytime soon. We have some business to take care of when Brent gets off today and he has to get some things taken care of then I'm making big tacos and taco salad for supper. It was like 98 degrees all weekend and we didn't hardly cook although Brent did grill some pork chops last night. I'm in the mood for a big taco salad but I'll make the boys their choice of taco or burritos but most of the time they end up eating the taco salads anyway.


The boys got up bright and early this morning and with the help of the neighbor kids, repainted the inside of their club house. They are making it into their Pokemon trading card hide-away which we said yes as long as the paint was actually being used for the walls and floor and not just to paint their bodies. I haven't climbed up their yet to view the work of art, but I guess I will in just a big. They're letting it dry now and then need to add another coat. At least I hope it's all the same color. Ah, to be young and want to work out in the heat all day to accomplish something that you will reap the benefits and be able to enjoy. I remember those days. Our clubhouse was usually in the bushes along the field close by our house and we would put all our Barbie's out there and make houses for them out of shoeboxes. I know, sad and pathetic, but at the time all the girls in the neighborhood lived for that. Once, my friend across the street had a big oak tree that had some kind of lily or bushes growing all around its base and that was our clubhouse all summer. I loved it until ... that one awful, disgusting day I was laying in the bushes on my stomach playing with the dirt, waiting for her to come back with some drinks and I saw a grass snake. Scared me half to death. Come to think of it I never set food inside the bushes around that tree again. I think I was about 8 or 9 years old and I never, I don't think ever, laid down on the grass again without a blanket. See, I'm pretty good about that. It only takes once for me to learn my lesson.

Another Effin Hurricane - Get Prepared, Run for the Hills

So, we had a really great weekend. The couple's shower yesterday for my nephew and his fiance went off great and I think everyone enjoyed themselves, even the guys. Hey, you really can't go wrong when you invite the guys and beer to the party. Brent actually said it was ok, considering it was his first shower. Well, he did go to the end of one of my baby showers so he actually had seen one in progress before. Saturday we got a bunch of stuff done and all our shopping for the shower gift and things like that. Liam and Drake hung out at Drake's for most of the day so we accomplished a lot with only one child. I hit Office Depot Friday night and purchased $18.47 worth of school supplies for $2.64. Not bad if I must say so myself. It doesn't even put a dent in what they actually need on their lists but it was just stockpiling a lot of pens and paper and such for during the school year.

Christene and Bailee came in for the shower and they spent the night here last night and got up to leave at 7am this morning. Way too early for me, I went back to bed after they left. But Bailee had conditioning at 10am so they had to be back by then. In case she reads this, me and the boys are going to come and stay after y'all move. I can help you unpack and get organized. The boys and I cleaned out every little part of Ian's room on Thursday. Ian and I spent the better part of six hours in there getting all of his toys weeded out and going through all of his books. We organized his toys and book shelf and we had two blank bookshelves to work with so we got the books on those and have utilized every available space he had once again. I have a ton of books (he calls them baby books) but early chapter books and easy readers that I need to pack in a box. We then organized his closet and his clothes according to color. He really liked that. I was doing laundry on Friday and gave him a couple of shirts to hang up and he came back and said that he put the tan one with the browns and the kind of red one with the reds. I told him that was fine. I think he's proud of his color coordinated closet. oh shit. I just thought about something. Hopefully that's not a precursor to any homosexual tendencies... now I have something else to worry about. Maybe I'll go mess all the colors up and see if he freaks out. Nah, just kiddin. I wouldn't do that, I don't think. I'll let you know tomorrow what I decided about that whole dilemma.

Ian went to his cousin's birthday party with his Granny yesterday and had the best time. He talked about the party and the golf cart and having a water fight so I'm guessing he had fun. His birthday is August 18th so now he's already started planning his party. He said he wants a "crawfish slash swim party." I thought that was pretty funny. I think that would be fun for a family party but I'm not sure what he'll want for a school party once school starts. He's going to have the same kids in his class plus two more and one of them is our little friend Abby so I think that may take some of the first day jitters away. We'll see. Need to take Liam school clothes shopping soon but he won't speak of it. I told him if he doesn't go I'll just do all the shopping for him. They have mandatory uniforms this year so he is sssssooooo pissed about but oh well, he has to do it so I told him he may as well do it with a smile. I'm actually pretty excited about the prospect considering I cringe every time I think of how much $$$ I spent last year. He is ever so picky in his clothes, the brands, the way they fit, the way they feel which does not make for easy shopping. Ian is different and he pretty much says yes to anything. He does not have to wear uniforms until fifth grade but I've been buying shorts here and there when I go to the mall so he has some really nice ones already. So he needs shoes, underwear, backpack, lunch kit and shirts. I'm banking on t-shirt type material because it's sooo hot in August and September and they sweat so much at P.E. I hate to put anything heavier on him. He's already wearing some of Liam's shirts so that may work out, although Liam isn't willing to share.

This is a satellite image of Hurricane Rita that hit us in September of 2005. I think I still have PTSD symptoms from that whole evacuation scenario.

OK, so there's a storm in the Gulf of Mexico and Brent just called and said he thought the hurricane warnings were all the way up to Galveston. I'll have to check the National Hurricane Center and we may need to start making plans. That will be horrible because my little momma is at the rehabilitation hospital for physical, occupational and respiratory therapy which would seriously freak me out if we had to leave and her go somewhere else because of her oxygen dependence. She evacuated with me and the boys in '05 with Hurricane Rita and even though I bitched about it and was stressed out, at least I knew where she was and that she was being taken care of. Of course I think she regretted coming with me and the boys (I was wound a little tight those days) it was an experience none of us will ever soon forget. I bet she remembers Lenny and the "tube." She was hilarious and can be ruthless when she needs to be. Better go get some dinner started and finish the laundry I started this morning. Having a lazy day today that's for sure. But I played with the boys and watched Ian and his friends do ramp jumps on their bicycles until it got so freakin' hot you couldn't breathe. It's ridiculous. Those kids are liable to get dehydrated if they're not careful. Well, ciao bella.

I GUESS THAT ABOUT SUMS UP MY MOOD TODAY. HOWEVER, I REFUSE TO LET IT INTERFERE WITH OUR DAY. I AM GOING TO BE HAPPY TODAY, I AM GOING TO BE SWEET, I AM GOING TO HAVE FUN WITH THE BOYS.

OK, now that I've gotten my mantra for the day out of the way, I hope your day is great and I'll post more later. Lost my last post I'd been working on and I'm too peeved to re-do it so I may later after I get this huge list of errands out of the way.

I have a couples wedding shower is this weekend and I have some food to prepare for that so I guess I need to make a list of what I'll need and think about something to get them. The theme is Around the Clock and I have 5:00am so I'm kind of stumped on what to get. Any good ideas out there for a gift that you would use at 5:00am??

Guess I better get dressed and get the boys up and out of here. They bought new games the other day at Circuit City and they sure are eerily quiet this morning. Ciao!

Psychos and Talking Yorkies, And July Just Started

Can't sleep. It's almost 2:30am and I'm nowhere near being sleepy. Brent worked on the computer and bought new this/that and it's back in working order, tip-top shape. The poor man literally had to rebuild this piece of equipment and then go and buy another sound card because somewhere along the way ours was corrupted. He had to update the BIOS and cmos this and waaay too complex for me. Boring. But the good news is: I can hear everything now. I can hear the songs on my blog and I love that because at this point in my life, I love these songs or I wouldn't have put them on here. So, how was the fourth for y'all?? Ours was really pretty awesome. I wanted to take pics but my camera wasn't charged up so that blew big time. Brent's parents and his brother and my SIL and their two kiddos stopped by and they all popped fireworks. It seemed like the boys would never run out but we had a good time just watching all the fireworks going off around here. My brother-in-law bought a really pretty and big one that we did close to the end and that's the ones I like the best. Liam and Ian really enjoy the ones that are loud and louder and the more obnoxious, the better. Brent had bbq'd all day so when everyone left we stayed out until after 12:30, came in, ate again and we all took showers and watched some tv until the boys got sleepy. Needless to say it was after 3am before Brent and I got some shut-eye. They let us sleep in though and that was really nice. I really should have quick charged my cameras and taken some photos. I made a blueberry crunch for dessert and although I didn't eat dessert until about 2am, it was DELICIOUS. It was lovely and moist, and fruity and blueberryey ?. Brent loved it and so did the boys. Ian cannot get enough of it.

So, trying to find some fun stuff to do next week. I have a few things in mind for the boys but we'll see how that goes. Have a return on a computer software thingy from Circuit City and some errands to run on Monday, but other than that no big plans. My psychotic brother is up to his bad habits and to say the least, it's embarrassing. Have a little couth, gain some composure, act like an adult and check yourself back into rehab so you don't fuck away the next half of your life. I have no patience or room in my life for people that don't help themselves first so that chapter is closed. I'll just pull my Scarlett O'Hara thinking out of the closet that I haven't had to use for a long time and remember that "I'll think about that tomorrow." I used to be pretty good at it so hopefully time and age have been good to me and I'll be able to do it again. So, needless to say I won't be worrying about that.

I added Twitter to the upper right corner so keep adding updates. It's a pretty neat thing and I'm still trying to get used to it, but I can definitely see it getting more popular. I kind of messed around with it and you can go into Everyone and catch a glimpse of what others are saying and if you get interested, you can stay up on their updates via your phone and text into your updates. It was kind of cool so I might be adding to it periodically.

OK, so Brent and I had fun last night. I was outside watching them ride the four-wheeler and dirt bikes and then Brent took Ian riding on the Buell. That kid loves that motorcycle. He loves his daddy too but put them both together and it's a winning combination. OK, so no more blah, blah, blah about the boys and Brent. Anyway Brent rode up to me and said "How in the hell can I still be in love with you after all this time? We should be over this by now, right?" I don't know if it will ever happen but I'm just enjoying the ride while it lasts. And what a great ride it is....

UPDATE... UPDATE: Psycho bitch next door had a booty call and we witnessed it. Well, not actually THE booty call but I was out watering and Brent came up and said the guy on the motorcycle is there so we ran and looked and YUP, an actual booty-call.

I guess now I can sleep well knowing that highly disturbed, painfully ugly people out there in this world are getting a piece of ass every now and then too.

Oh and this piece of information I know you just can't live without: According to Tricia: dogs CAN talk. She called me this morning swearing up and down that Toshi wanted to go out and he was whining at the door and she swears she heard him say, hang on to your ass cuz this is one for the history books, dogs can TALK, she heard Toshi say "Maa Maa." You know, momma. WTF?? I think she's worked at the post office soooo long that now she's going postal. As in over the edge crazy. So, Toshi can now call her name when he wants to go out. I bet Maizee is all jealous and starts talking before long. You can bet your ass I won't be volunteering to bring that little sucker to his groomers anytime soon. Could you imagine driving down the road with Toshi in his little carrier all buckled up and all of a sudden he says "Bitch, you better not be dropping me off at the old dyke's house to get my balls washed!" To which I would reply: "You better shut-up or she'll find you in a pan of water on her stove when she comes home from work today!" Yorkies, aarrrhhh!! Ciao.

I Am What I Am or Am I? A Tale of the He/She Dilemma

Hopefully soon I'll have a new blog design. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and after the link from Kadie over at A Womb at the Inn (sane) I need some ideas bigtime. I don't want anything too cutesy, too girly, too boy(ey??), but just right. After really inspecting my site I realized how boring it is and it needs some action. Some oomph!!! Any ideas come to mind?? The boys' picture is cute, no, it's downright adorable and all, but who wants to look at them every time they visit my site? I do, but I'm sure no one else does. I know I've said it's my blog and I can whatever I want, but I want people to l-i-k-e it (whine) and I want people to c-o-m-e b-a-c-k to it. (more whine)


Of course, I offer no sound advice, no coupons, not even any real or practical suggestions to real problems. But I do like jokes about the dregs of society, hearing real gossip about people I know and don't know, and anything else that people really shouldn't say or do. I know people can be cruel and that's it... it's a cruel world. Grow some hide and roll with the punches. I have recently decided that I will not be controlled by what others think I should say, do, or how I should act/react to situations. I am tired of people wearing their emotions, political agendas and religion on their sleeve. I don't try and force anything down anyone's throat, don't do it to me. I like to read funny things and laugh. I LIKE to be entertained. I DO NOT LIKE thinking about serious stuff all the time, talking "feelings" hardly at all. You know I just realized that maybe that's why Brent loves me so much, deep down maybe I'm a man. Maybe I look like a girl on the outside (and the inside I guess because I did bear my own children) but on the rings of my DNA I may be a male. I may be a he/she that I have bad dreams about. Why else would I like nasty jokes, laughing at them and then trying to remember them to tell my sisters? Why else would I hate romantic comedies and movies that center around love.? Don't get me wrong. I loved There's Something About Mary and the ones like that but Definitely, Maybe was too boring for me. I loved Knocked Up, mainly because it was hilarious and I can definitely see the sexy humor in Seth Rogan! My favorite movie since Brent took me to see it years ago has always been Predator. I think it's the greatest movie ever and I just don't think many girls/women (am I a woman or a girl or a lady or a he/she??? I'll ponder that one later too) think that about this particular movie. It has the elements of excitement and mystery and the gore (which I love, the more blood and guts and scarier) the more I love it. I loved Wrong Turn. It's about some psychotic killer in-breeders and it is hilarious. I actually think it's a black comedy -- which brings me to Fargo. I love that movie, although I love, absolutely adore Four Weddings and a Funeral and Muriel's Wedding. So, now I'm really confused. Is I a girl or isn't I? Do I have to stop getting my mani's and pedi's and cut off my long brown, blonde, black, coco highlighted with red strips underneath hair? Really, I usually have about four different colors highlighted when I do get my hair colored and highlighted but it's not all ugly and punk or anything. Really subtle yet with a modern flair. Except for the gray that seems to be poking out all over as we speak. Do I have to cut it off into a mullet and stop buying and wearing my beloved MAC make-up? I dare not speak of such things. Maybe I can have some "man" things in my life, like porn, scary/gore movies, and hating when strange people cry in front of me and still be a girly-girl? Maybe I'm so used to being around all the boys and men in my life that I forgot what it's like to "feel" and have the "emotions" of a woman. Whatever, it's all bullshit anyway. In the words of Popeye "I am what I am." Was it Popeye that said that or one of the Little Rascals? hmmm. Ciao.

Oh, and by the way. I did the Walgreen's and CVS thing with coupons from all the websites I've been reading and it seems that I didn't do too good of a job but I am definitely making headway. I spent an out of pocket total of $123.46 and yet my total savings from in-store sales and coupons (both store and manufacturer coupons) was $83.62. Not bad. No pictures or anything like that because I bought a lot of stuff I'm not too proud about the prices. Like $16.99 for my Neutrogena Body Oil - sesame scented. I love, love, love that stuff and I hope they're making more as we blog!

And.... I'm not a lesbian. My friend just told me it sounds like I'm trying to come out of the closet. Nah, just wondering if its nature vs. nurture.