Labor Day

...anything but.

The Saturday before Labor Day our grad school friends organized a little trip to the lake. Friends traveled from New York, Florida, Louisiana and from all over Texas. It was so fun to catch up though there were plenty of people missed.

And as you can see the little monkeys were excited to see some old friends.

Here they are squished in the back of the Corolla.

The Accord's A/C is struggling.

Beth & Julie

Jenny & Jimmy

LoriAnn, Olivia, Emmy & Myself

Beth, Julie, Jenny & (always the lady's man) Bradley

Avery beating up her daddy, Keith.

Emmy being super brave and jumping off the pontoon boat to Ste.

Obviously pleased with the outcome.

Steven thinking he's helping Travis navigate (pshaw!)

Me, thinking I can use words like "pshaw",
and keeping Olivia from going overboard.

Don't worry, we figured something out to keep her seated.

Steven with the monkeys.

Simply proof that I got into the water.
Julie, Me, [the back of] Emmy, Beth, Jenny.

Well, 7,000 pictures later! I should apologize for neglecting my blog for so long. It was a long and trying week for many different reasons. Thus, I went on an internet strike. No email, no blogs, no cnn.com, no nothing. Okay, I did fill a couple of virtual shopping carts, but that was only to help lift my spirits.

Block Partay!

Our school has its own way of letting the students find out who their teacher is. The teacher shows up at your house during a specific time period to let you know you'll be in their class.
Well, last year we spent about an hour and a half with our noses smooshed up against foggy windows waiting. Finally as other kids in the cul-de-sac discovered their teachers, we ended up outside excitedly chatting (and waiting!) for our teacher to get there.


Sooooo, this year my neighbor gave me the idea of having a little grill session out front while we waited for the teachers. We ended up having more than our cul-de-sac show up.

First we put Joe to work filling water balloons.
He'll learn not to ask, "Is there anything I can do to help out?"

Then there was the water balloon tossing.
I think there was only one successful toss between partners.

Obviously they don't seem to mind.


What I thought would be a cute cake turned out looking more like a really pathetic triangle instead of a school pendant.


Lots of fun people. Plus, the losers behind the camera who weren't willing to get in the frame. You people....


Water balloons are always a good idea. They stayed up way past their bedtimes, but at least they didn't need to go home to take they're bedtime baths.

Anyway, after cooking 60 hot dogs and hamburgers, we all had full bellies and we were all excited for the school year to begin!

Polka-Dots

My friend, Shelley, needed reading pillows and curtains for her 1st grade classroom. She sent me home with the polka-dot material, and I went crazy figuring out the rest of the details. I don't think I've ever had so much fun doing a project.

They're even cuter in her classroom.

Take Your Pick

Reasons I've actually given people when they ask me

"why did you cut your hair?".

• What?! It's CUT?!?
• To lose weight (I am in a contest after all)
• I'm selling it to the highest bidder
• It was too sticky underneath all that
• I thought that's what you wanted me to do
  
• Donating it
• My hairdresser was bored
• I'm keeping it as a pet
• The last time we spoke, you implied that long hair was ugly
• I wanted to look more like you
• I was feeling like I belonged in San Angelo, TX
• Everybody's doing it
  

So if you're wondering why I cut my hair, I say take your pick from the list above; because in all honesty it's because of lots of reasons and most of them are listed above.

BTW, the hair weighs less than a 1/2 lbs.

The 'Do

To do this properly (for historical purposes and such -- because I AM going down in history for something) I'm going to post before and after pics.

With some curls.

And without.



15 inches, baby!

I really hate taking pictures of myself.


Then again, maybe it's just not very flattering to be in front of a camera.
Before photos taken by: Bradley
After photos taken by: Emmy

Thanks, monkeys.

Chop Chop

I cut my hair.



OFF.





You wanna see?






Okay, well first I need to explain that I had butterflies in my stomach all morning long and made frequent stops to the little girl's room. Then I was sitting in the salon chair, my knuckles were white as I gripped the arms (as if I'm getting my teeth drilled without Novocaine) and explained to dear Tabitha (my adorable, forgiving hair person) that the sound from the friction of the metal shears breaking each individual strand of hair was making me want to vomit.

And she said, "Good thing you have a cape on, 'cause there's no going back now."

And there you have it.

EEEEK!

I'll post all the "cute" pictures in a few minutes. Stop scowling, Ste still hasn't seen it yet. I'll feel like I'm cheating.

Wanna Be Like Mike

I wish I were more like Mike.

I guess, first of all, you should meet Mike.

Mike's a 56 year old VA Vet who still suffers from PTSD and lives alone in a motel room somewhere in Milwaukee. He's morbidly obese, missing most of his teeth, and smokes more than anyone should be allowed. We met him while living in the medical center in Houston.

Begging the question, right?

Mike keeps up with us the old fashion way. There's no IM-ing, no writing on my Facebook wall. He doesn't text or email. He writes us a letter asking us how we're doing and what the weather is like about once every two or three months and calls to check in about twice a year. I LOVE THAT!

I remember in the third grade, I had a pen pal somewhere in New England. That excitement and anticipation of getting the mail was palpable. Though, with this fast-paced world, we find ourselves annoyed with junk mail. But most of all we lack time to pen letters to one another and instead use emoticons and LOLs to let people know how we feel. I have a sense of gratitude for Mike in allowing me this infrequent opportunity to take the time and sit at my desk and write out my questions to him of how his aunt is doing and whether or not he likes his doctors.

Thanks, Mike. You keep me grounded when I need it most.
By the way, the weather is great.

Da*n the Joneses

There are 7 houses in my cul-de-sac.

Four of those houses have children under the age of 21.

As of last Thursday, three of those houses have the Wii.

Let's all guess which house doesn't.

Now, you all know I'm a sucker for peer pressure. Heck, I bought Girbaud Jeans in junior high (despite how their pockets made your derriere look the size of a barn and a tab on the fly that TOTALLY drew the eye). But now I feel obligated to buy a $400 system just to fit in. We all want to have that "cool" house that all your kid's friends want to come to hang out. For some reason I really want to be that house because when I was growing up mine was never that house.

When is it too much?

Where do you draw the line at keeping your kids "fitting" in?

And when do you tell them "don't worry, I still think you're cool." ?
BTW, no kid wants to hear that statement from their parent.

Oh, actually have several friends with the surname Jones. Love them all.

Allergens

A snippet from a conversation from this morning:

Bradley: It's been 10 minutes! Anything, yet?

Me: Nope. No allergic reaction.

Bradley: Are you sure? How do you know for sure?

Me: My eyes would look swollen and my chest would feel tight. You'd be able to tell just by looking at me.

Bradley: (with much chagrin) Aw, man.

Isn't he sweet.

Backstory: I tried out a new pain medication this morning. I'm sadly allergic to ibuprofen (she once was my best friend). We weren't sure if this would have similar results, so I prepared the kids and said they might get to go to a friend's house if I swelled up like a Macy's balloon. No such luck.

Summer Regrets

It's funny (or not). There are two more weeks left until school starts. I'm all bummed out that we didn't do more this summer. If you'll recall this entry, you'll see how time can certainly change one's perspective.

Okay, okay, I'm still looking forward to school.

But sadly, so is Bradley. What does that say about me?

The Runs

Because of this little diet thingy goin' on, I've been eating eggs a lot (way too much) for breakfast. You know, watching the carbs and all.

Lately, I haven't been so much eating them as I have been choking them down.

I'm wondering if there's some amazing way of cooking them up that I don't know about. Doubt it.

But as I was eating them (AGAIN!) this morning, I thought of my sister, Kristen as well as my friend, Shelley who might as well have over-easy eggs be against their religion (in fact I'm pretty sure Kristen's still in therapy over childhood traumas with runny eggs and Shelley had to choke down some bile because of the picture above). Now, I don't totally abhor the things, but they make me a little queasy if I don't have something else with them.

So tell me (because I obviously can't think of anything else to blog about)

How do you like your eggs?

Eager

I really want to be settled.

We've moved 6 times and been married only 7 years. I'm waiting for that 7th and final move (okay, maybe not FINAL move, but at least somewhere we can be for longer than 2 years). We're planning on waiting until the new year, but...

These rising interest rates are giving me a rash.
The lowering of housing costs are making me antsy.


Anybody got a couple hundred thou' they want to lend me at, oh, I don't know, 3%?


Juuuuust checkin'.

Breaking Dawn

I had to finish the fourth and final book of the Twilight series before I could post about the night it came out.

If you're a dork, keep reading.


Some ladies and I headed over to Barnes & Noble for the midnight release. It was totally fun. First we met downtown for a delicious Italian meal (Thanks again to Tracy L*!).
Then for some crazy reason, my friend Angela actually talked me into dressing up like one of the characters. Can you say,"GEEK"!? I was feeling like a trekky for a while. Then when people actually asked to get their pictures with me I thought, 'nah, they're the trekky. I'm just a sucker for peer pressure.'

Here are some pics from the evening.

L to R: Me (with my huge head), Shannon, Angela, Shelley, Tracy, Michelle, Stacey.

We're pretty hot. Plus, "Edward" called during our appetizers and said that "he'd take care of the meal." So cute to whomever set that one up!

L to R: Shelley, Moi, Angela, Stacey

According to the judges, I was runner up for Victoria....I swear it looked way cooler in real life. Then again, I was wearing espadrilles and I'm not sure Victoria hunted in those; Alice, maybe.

I need another release to come. Those midnight parties are about as wild and crazy as a Mormon gets.

Tragedy

Did you ever count your blessings only after learning of someone else's sadness?

I wrote this letter to a friend a few years ago when her brother passed away. I used much of what Joseph Wirthlin said in a talk he gave during a general conference. We all have grief and sadness in our life. It's times like this that I'm grateful for my knowledge. The plan our Heavenly Father has given us makes sense and makes us complete. This doesn't mean we'll have picture perfect lives where nothing bad happens, it just gives us hope, peace and comfort that life here on earth is not all that we're living for.

Elder Wirthlin said is so eloquently when he explained dealing with his own grief and the loss of his wife. He gives some wonderful advice. It's a wonderful article and all I can say to her is Sunday will come. Here is an excerpt from the talk:

"When Christ rose from the grave, becoming the firstfruits of the Resurrection, He made that gift available to all. And with that sublime act, He softened the devastating, consuming sorrow that gnaws at the souls of those who have lost precious loved ones.
"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.
"Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day they stood triumphant.
"I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world's history, that Friday was the darkest.
"But the doom of that day did not endure.
"The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.
"And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.
"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
"But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.
"No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.

In Loving Memory of Madison W*

This is FUN! (dripping with sarcasm)

I'm hungry.



Which means I hate everyone right now.



Yup, that includes you.



I'm sure the celery I'm going to go eat right now will make it all better.

Hot Stuff

I'm hot.

Now, you could have Paris Hilton's voice saying this (so sorry if you do), but you shouldn't. Because this is an icky, sticky, hotness that comes with July Texas heat and an impending hurricane (hurricane's raise the temperature right before they find you). I think her name's Bonnie or Dolly or Lucifer.... I can't seem to remember which.

This morning as I applied deodorant, I couldn't help but think, the manufacturers certainly wouldn't mind if I applied this elsewhere, say... down my cleavage and small of my back so I don't get that weird tickling sensation while I'm talking to my elderly neighbor and I instinctively begin itching while she wonders why I'm insane.

Don't worry, I didn't try it. I'm waiting for someone else to admit that they have.

No takers?

Professor Blog

I'm teaching a class on blogging.

When you catch your breath from laughing, please feel free to respond the following question(s):

What do you wish you had known before starting your blog?

or

What is keeping you from beginning your own blog?

Or feel free to give any sort of advice to a sucker lined up to teach a class on blogging.

Trippin'

This one's going around. I thought it'd be ... interesting to read some memories.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Unique

I like to think I'm unique (in a good way) in more ways than this.

I also wonder how accurate it is???

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Surf's Up

Brian is slowly getting me a couple of pics (Thank You!).
Here's some of them.

Ste went out surfing while we were there. He had such success the first day that Brian and I went out to watch the second day. I think we jinxed him. On his second ride, his ankle strap broke from his board.

Not a good sign when your surfer's walking in without his board.

I ended up rollin' up the old sweats and retrieved it for him.
Isn't is so beautiful there?

People are always surprised when I describe Santa Cruz's weather like this. It's not always overcast, it's mostly in the mornings, but it definitely isn't LA-esque. Santa Cruz is in the bay area leaving it subjected to morning fog and chill and sunny, breezy afternoons.

....my ideal weather.

Isn't he absolutely delicious?

He's gonna kill me.

Money, Money, Money

Yesterday sucked (and I don't let my kids use that word).

We got a surprise $450 bill from the dentist.
Our electricity bill was $100 higher than it's ever been.
The water bill was $70 higher than it's ever been.
Our health insurance situation just changed to a more expensive plan.
I had to buy gasoline for the car ('nuf said).
The reimbursement we were expecting came and we didn't even notice the slightest surge in our account.

Money always seems to be an issue with us.

But then, there's a silver lining...

Abdul Kujamar just emailed me and he wants to share his inheritance of $213 million.

With me, of all people.



Sheesh, I feel lucky.

10%

I wish I could say I'm having a hard time losing my baby weight. But I lost it. And then I found it, again.

I keep telling Steven something new must wrong with my thyroid. I already take stuff for hypothyroidism but I feel tired a lot and there's these 15 lbs that have inched their way back on. But I don't think it's my thyroid anymore.

It's my butt.

Yep, my butt is making me look fat, not my thyroid.

So, here's the deal. I'm going to try and re-lose this weight and I always do better with some help of companionship....or competitors. A couple of friends want to lose some of their extra weight and I did this little contest a couple of summers ago with some BFFs. I lost 19 lbs on South Beach.

If your in here are the rules:

• Email me at mickmonkeys@gmail.com
• You'll need anty up $50. If you're the type of person that doesn't trust yourself to pay up if needed and want to send it to me now, fine. Otherwise you can just keep it until I win it from you (yeah, I'm already talking smack).
• We start Monday, July 14th.
• You can use any method to lose weight that doesn't involve a trip to Mexico with a scalpel and vacuum.
• You have 12 weeks to lose 10% of your total body weight.

Game on.

Back from CA

I'm back and raring to go.


Er, something like that.



Our little family just returned from a lovely little vacation to Santa Cruz. It was heavenly, as usual. Though, because all of my BILs have sweet new cameras, we didn't pull ours out once. Let's just say you'll get SC, CA post when they all send me cds full of pics, and probably pics of their families. Oh well.

PS For those of you who are having trouble commenting (Ruth, Shelley, Kay etc.) try using the "Anonymous" option and then just sign your name. And for those of you who aren't commenting, you're dumb.

Only KIDDING!

PPS For those of you who don't use google reader, thanks for sticking with me. This summer has been tough on my little blog. I vow to be better.

Inevitable

It was looking a little ratty by the time we took them out. I had strectched Emmy's hair-do a few days longer than I should have. We were just around the corner from dreadlocks.

This is some wicked crimp job.

Can someone hand me some spandex and my walkman.
I can't remember what's on TV tonight...Mr. Belvedere or Alf.

Sorry, Ashley M*. I promised you this post a week ago!

Emmy's 4th

Emmy's birthday made me realize that she truly is a middle child. First of all, it was a week ago (June 15th), and I'm only blogging about it now (June something or other, maybe July ... I haven't looked at a calendar all month).

Secondly, Bradley's birthdays have all been major events. We've had grilling parties, camp-outs, blow-up machines, etc. Even Olivia's first birthday was a more exciting. We had gone shopping weeks before, thought about the gifts and had friends visiting from Houston.

Poor, poor Emmy. The night before her birthday, we go to pick up a cake (a fact I'm proud to admit...I had actually ordered a cake - but wouldn't a loving mother make one from scratch instead?) The cake order had been lost, so we get a different for free (thank you, Target, for recognizing your mistake). Then we proceeded to walk up and down the toy isles asking her to fill the cart with what she wanted.

Seriously?

I feel extreme guilt.

Anyway, my mom had sent her gifts a month earlier, mostly because she's the psychotic opposite of a procrastinator (is there an antonym of procrastinate ... A-type personality, maybe?) So thank goodness we at least had that. Emmy would never have known the difference but I'm sure at 14 she'll be reading through some of my blogs labeled "Emmy" and demand therapy or a new car or something...

Here's some pics either way.

Emmy and her second-choice cake.

Here she is in her new tu-tu that Grandma sent. She's had it on so long I think it fused to her skin.
Next year will be way better, Em. I'm not talkin' MTV's Super Sweet 16 or anything, but it'll be awesome. Maybe a freaky clown or something.

The Race is On

My kids just competed in a local race.
I was going to do the 10k, but Ste was on call. Oh, darn.Emmy getting all psyched up. Or something like that.

Bradley looking all sorts of ready.

They did so well and ran the whole time! I'm so proud.

A blue faux-hawk and corn rows weren't enough,
we had to get our faces painted.Aren't they presh?

My New Baby

As you can see from the prior post,
we have a new member of the family.

Our only regret is that we didn't get one sooner.

I've already paid for half of it with the students I've already acquired. It's been so fun! The kids are eager to learn and Steven's eager to remember. PLUS I even have the ability to finally tune my violin.

Thanks to everyone who helped move it. Trent (for not completely destroying it while driving the trailer), John and Matt (for breaking their backs), Steven (for, uh, organizing the move?), and Christi (for hookin' us up with some dollies).

Em's Hairy Situation

We're at the pool a lot.

A whole lot.

Daily, in fact.

Emmy's hair is slowly being destroyed. So we are trying something new.

First we did this:

But, come on! Who can take this poor girl seriously.

So we moved onto option 2:

It's been the most wonderful thing I've ever done. She's happy (well, not while I was doing it) and I'm utterly thrilled I don't have to do her hair ever day.

Plus, she's so dang cute! I'm hoping it lasts a couple of weeks.

Season's Greetings

Steven came home early on the wrong day.

He stepped out of his car and I yelled, "I'd leave your phone inside!"
It's hard to see, but he's dumping water out of his shoe.

The kids had a blast .... and so did Steven.

Two New Weekdays

I thought you should know about the new weekdays that have been put into the western world's calendar. At least our calendar at home. Let me explain.

It's the first week of summer for us,

The first week that Bradley's home,

The first week of maintaining my house with three monkeys,

The first week of Emmy giving up her throne of decision-maker,

My first week of "event planner".

I could swear to you that someone threw in an extra two days this week! ...Friday? Really, it's Friday? Finally! I thought it was Friday on Wednesday. Today feels at least like Saturday. Did you happen to not notice Junsday and Yernsday? Because I sure did. You know, those two days that God threw in this week because He thought it'd be funny to watch me writhe around freaking out at what we're going to do ALL SUMMER LONG!

Panic.