It's official!

I'm a big fan of electricity.  I haven't thought about it in a long time but I really appreciate the modern conveniences we have.

Last night, I sat done for a half hour of self indulgence by watching Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory before starting work.  About 10 minutes in the power started to flicker.  I didn't really think it would amount to much but after the fourth flick it went out.  No big deal, I'll just work now instead of later.  Well, apparently my modem doesn't work without power. (Should I admit I didn't realize that would happen?)

On to plan three: reading for awhile before going to bed. Of course, I need some light to do that.  Out to the garage I go to find a flash light or camping light with the only light source available - my laptop screen.  Just a heads up - a laptop screen does not light up a dark garage enough to see the pile of pipe your husband may have laying on the garage floor nor is it bright enough to see how bad your toe might be bleeding after finding the pile of pipe.

I finally found a flashlight and I'm sure you can guess the next problem - NO batteries.  After rummaging through the cupboards and drawers I found the only 2 batteries and heading to bed to read.

An hour later, I realized I really like heat too (yeah the heat doesn't work either when the power is out - who knew?)

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Just throwing it out there

For my weekly confession I've decided that I just might be a little petty.  I have three wedding rings.  Twitch and I got married when we were pretty young and couldn't afford much in the way of diamond rings so we got what we could afford and at the time I loved it. Actually, I still do but it sits in my closet.  When he got a management job at the last company he worked for, I decided I really needed a bigger diamond so we got ring number two.  Then a couple of years ago, I decided I no longer wanted a yellow gold ring so we found a new ring in white gold and of course I had to get a bigger diamond.

Well, I have the itch again.  I don't even really want a bigger diamond but I really want a vintage looking wedding ring.  So, I've started the search.  Of course, I haven't shared this with Twitch, I'll wait until I find the "perfect ring".  I'm know exactly what he is going to say... "Um, you said the last ring you got was the perfect one".

I'm just wondering if I'm the only one that does this.  Should I just be happy with the three I have now and is it really tacky to not wear the ring I was married with.

At least my boys won't have to buy rings for their weddings - I'll have plenty to share!

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Interview with Rooster

I got a cute email the other day that I wanted to share. I had Rooster answer the questions this time and will have Tater do it too. It should be interesting to compare their answers.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
   ”Clean up your room”

2. What makes mom happy?
   ”Me, having a good day with no fighting. A perfect day!”

3. What makes mom sad?
   “When I don’t have a perfect day”

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
   “Everything!”

5. What was your mom like as a child?
   “A very good daughter”

6. How old is your mom?
   ”A girl never tells her age”

7. How tall is your mom?
   “5 feet 1 inch”  So close! But, I never forget the 1/2".

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
   “Work”  Okay, let me just put this out there - Just because I work all the time does not mean it's my favorite thing! 

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
   “Work”

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
    “She would be a supermodel”  I think he must want something.

11. What is your mom really good at?
    “Typing”

12. What is your mom not very good at?
    ”Cooking – just kidding. I seriously can’t think of anything.”

13. What does your mom do for her job?
    “Works for ChaCha”

14. What's your mom's favorite food?
    “Oriental Chicken Salad”

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
    “She loves her family”   Ahhh!

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
    “Minnie Mouse”  I'm not sure how I feel about this.

17. What do we do together?
    “We going on vacations together (Disneyland).

18. How are you and your mom the same?
    “We both have bad vision. We’re grumpy in the morning.”  That is the truth!

19. How are you and your mom different?
    “She loves showers – I hate showers.”   And... welcome to my world where I have to bribe or threaten my son to get clean.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
    “Christmas and Valentine’s Day- lots a gifts. She hugs me a lot.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
    “Bunco”.   Love my girl's night out!

23. If you could say anything to your mom what would it be?
    “I love you”   Double ahhh!

      

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Happy St. Paddy's Day!

So before I go off on a rant 

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I picked up some undecorated cookies (already made), sprinkles and frosting for the boys.  They had a blast decorating them after school.

Now, for my rant. I don't mean to make any moms feel bad for being on the ball and making the day fun for their kids but....
when in the hell did St. Patrick's Day turn into a give your kids presents kind of day?! And why didn't I get the memo?!
Last night I briefly thought about doing something fun for the kids beyond coloring their dinner green. But, started working and didn't give it another thought.

I went over to the school this morning and heard all the moms talking about coloring the milk and pancakes green, the leprechaun peed green pee in the toilets and made a mess in the house.  K- feeling bad mom worthy at this point but just wait.

Today was my carpool day and normally I love listening to the kids chat but today two of the boys were telling Tater how the leprechaun left them the clothes they were wearing, glow sticks and presents.  Tater told them that a boy in his class got $5 from the leprechaun then asked me why he didn't come to our house. WTH I didn't know he was supposed to! Then I remembered the cookies that the leprechaun left (wink wink) they just happened to have a grocery store sticker on them.

Bad mom trophy put away for another day!

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Dad's day at home

Twitch has to take one day a month off from work (damn economy!) and I thought it would be a fun little experiment for him to take  care of getting the boys to and from school.  I was pretty sure he had no idea what their schedule was like so I thought I'd ask him. 

Me: Do you know what time Rooster leaves for the bus? 
Twitch: Umm 7:00?
Me: Is he walking or are you driving?
Twitch: Oh, I'll drive him.
Me: He doesn't need to leave until 7:08 (yes, we have it scheduled to the minute)
Twitch: Does he get dropped off on the left or right side of 4800?
Me: He doesn't get dropped of on 4800.  Rooster can tell you where the bus stop is.

Me:  Do you know what time Tater leaves and how he gets to school?
Twitch: I have no idea.
Me: He leaves at 8:15 with John (our neighbor)
Twitch: Do you just send him over there:
Me: Ummm  yeah.

Twitch left for awhile and asked before he left what time Tater gets out of school so he could pick him up.  I told him clearly he gets out at 3:15.

3:25
Me to Twitch: Are you going to get Tater or should I?
Twitch: No, I'll go get him.
Me: He's been out of school for 10 minutes.
Twitch: Oh, I thought you said he got out at 3:35.
Me: Smacks my head!

Dear God, 
Please don't let me leave this life without getting my boys schedule written down!

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I can dream right?

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy whatever you wanted whenever you wanted it without that little voice in the back of your head throwing out little tidbits of information about what bills are due and what you should really be paying off instead.

A definite luxory item would be a Chronoswiss watch. The watches are classic and georgeous. They would be an interesting conversation piece. I'm just not sure I could spend the equivalent of several house payments on a watch - no matter how beautiful it is.

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Customer Service

I had the BEST experience shopping and felt like I needed to share. I tend to complain about the bad ones and don't give enough praise when I receive great customer service.

We had a new Kohl's open not far from our house and I was excited to see a quesadilla maker on sale for $14.99. I received a $10 gift card from them in the mail so I was set to pick it up for $5.

I went on Friday and the price on the shelf was around $37 with a sale price of $30 - not even close to what I planned on spending. I went up to the customer service desk and asked if they had a copy  of the ad that I would have gotten in the mail. She had to pull one out of the garbage and showed me that the $14.99 price was only good on Wednesday.  I mentioned how bummed out I was because it was such a good deal.  I'm pretty sure I would of still bought it but she said you know what I'm just going to honor the sales price!!!  I had to pick my jaw up off the floor.  I never expected her to give me the price it was totally my fault for missing the sale.  I am a die hard Kohl's shopper for life now!

We came home and made the best quesadilla - everyone got to pick there own ingredients and it was super easy!

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Exciting news!

I'm so excited to share the news that I got a new job today! I have been juggling no less than six jobs over the past few months and it was getting difficult to keep them all straight.  I can now get rid of all of the others if I want, but my plan is to keep one in addition to blogging. 

I think the best (and maybe saddest) part for me is I'm giving up on ChaCha. I really liked the job but with the recent changes my pay was cut so drastically that it wasn't worth it for me anymore.  

I've signed a NDA so I can't share too much info but it is a work at home position with flexible hours.  If you are looking for a great work at home job visit Leapforce's website and click on their apply button. 

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Stroke Signs

My dear, sweet Grandma is still battling health issues.  Two weeks ago she had a stroke.  We have truly been blessed that it was a minor one. She hasn't experienced any paralysis although she has tremors on her right.  For the most part her mental state is good but we have seen some personality changes and some unusual behaviors.  She is back home and doing better than expected. She truly is a tough woman!

She began experiencing symptoms early in the evening but unfortunately the symptoms weren't picked up by a family member that was staying with her.

I wanted to take a minute and stress how important it is for the signs of a stroke to be known.
1. Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, leg or arm (especially on one side).
2. Sudden confusion, trouble understanding speech or speaking
3. Sudden trouble walking, loss of balance, dizziness
4. Sudden severe headache with no known cause
5. Sudden trouble seeing in one of both eyes.

My Grandma has described feeling like the right side of her body was disconnected. She said she knew she was having a stroke but couldn't explain it.

Please if you think someone is having a stroke, call 911.

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Reality Check

Well, I got a big slap in the face by reality when Tater brought home his spelling test.  We have an ongoing incentive (read bribe) for Tater. If he gets 100% on his spelling test he can pick any activity he wants to do over the weekend.  He's only reached the goal once so I thought we needing to give him another smaller incentive (read bribe again).

For his last test, I told him if he got all of the first part of the test right, I would take him to get an ice cream.  I was so excited when I picked him up to find out that he earned an ice cream.  That is until I looked at a copy of his spelling test and got the news!

There was a note from his teacher that he was "peeking at another paper" while taking the test. Initially, my heart dropped I was so disappointed.  Then I was completely shocked - wondering how he ever thought to do it.  Apparently other kids are doing the same thing and he thought he would follow along. The saddest part is I really think he would have been able to do it without cheating.

Honestly, I don't think he'll ever do it again (at least I hope not).  I told Twitch that I thought Rooster had prepared us for anything and then Tater threw me a curve ball that I never expected!

It got me thinking though. I wonder if I put too much pressure on my boys to succeed at a level I think is acceptable. Or maybe he just really wanted an ice cream cone.

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Go!

We get a little crazy in our house about New York teams.  We are at best fair weather fans for local teams but give us a New York team and we go a little nutty.  All of us love the Yankees and Twitch and the boys love the Giants.  Let me just add here GO RAIDERS!!  Yeah I get a lot of crap for my slightly unheathly obsession for the Raiders and for the fact that they pretty much suck. But I've stuck by them for years and will always be a Raider fan.

Twitch is from New York and has a lot of his family still in the New York/New Jersey area.  What a fantastic surprise it would be to be able to get us some New York Yankees tickets along with some airline tickets and fly us all out there!

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