Because there is always time for bum crack

Hey there!

Hope you have a good day and this brings a smile to your face.

how charitable of O to lend us his cute bottom?

:)

love mel

Lazy, crazy kind of day

Well, it's 10:30 PM, and I've done a whole lot of nothing all day. I feel so bad. (not really.) I had a whole list of "To-do's" but I never really got around to it. I slept in, took a long, hot shower, went to the store, and since it was a beautiful 60 degree day, I took the dogs for a long walk. However, There were a couple of interesting things that happened in between all that.


I got a rather interesting wake up call this morning. When the phone rang I reached over, looked at the caller ID, and saw that it was from Jake's school. To be honest, had it been anyone else, I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep. But when the school calls, a mom has to answer the phone. My first thought was "Oh no, he can't be sick two days before spring break starts." But when the woman on the other end of the line turned out to be the principal instead of the nurse, I did my best to try and sound like I'd been up since 6 AM. (I don't think she bought it.) Because her first comment had me questioning whether I was awake or not.
She said, "I'm just calling to let you know that I priced dry erase board -erasers at Office Depot, and they are $1.77. "

I had no idea what she was talking about. So I said, "Uh, okay . . .thanks." another long pause.

Finally, she sighed and said, "Jake didn't tell you about the incident a few days ago ?"

"Uh, Nooooo . . ." I said opening one eye.

She went on to explain, " Apparently, a few days ago, one of Jake's teachers caught him poking an eraser (for the class dry erase board) with a pencil. She asked him to please stop, (which he did.) and later, she realised that he had poked the words 'f--k you' into the side of it. We discussed the incident, and it was decided that Jake would pay for a new dry eraser."

"uh humm, I see . . . " I mumbled, trying to sound concerned.

"And I wanted to let you know that they cost $1.77. We gave the information to Jake, but I thought I should let you know as well."

"Ummmm, okay . . . . thanks, I'll take care of it." I said as I hung up.

THEN, I rolled over and went back to sleep.
Even after I woke up half an hour later, I wasn't completely sure that I didn't dream the whole thing, until I asked Jake about it. Jake was home from school when I got back from walking the dogs.

I said, "Jacob, have you been vandalising school property ?"

For a moment Jake's eyes were blank, then he seemed to put it all together. "Oh, yyeeeaah . . . I guess I did."

"Well, that little prank is going to set you back exactly one dollar and seventy -seven cents. I certainly hope that you have learned a lesson from this." I said. (Rather sternly, I might add.)

"Uh, okay, Mom."

Then I added, "And next time you have contact with school authorities, let me know about it, so that I don't look like an ass, please ?"

"Uh, Okay, Mom"

Sheesh ! A dollar seventy - seven !! How am I supposed to be all bad assed and outraged over a dollar seventy-seven !!! I'm not sure if I should ground him for it, or give him a gold star for spelling it correctly !

The other interesting, unexpected event also came in the form of a phone call. As I was pulling the ham out of the oven, and preparing to make some macaroni and cheese to go with it for dinner, the phone rang and the caller ID showed "unknown caller." Usually, that means that it's a solicitor and I considered not even answering it. I'm glad that I did, because it turned out to be Nick. For some reason, unknown to either of us at the time, Nick was transferred back to Johnson County jail. He was borrowing time from another inmate's card, so he only had a second to talk, and tell me that he had visitation at 8 PM. I hung up, looked at my watch. It was 7:15 PM. I called the Jail to find out why he had been brought back. (so that I would have some information to tell Nick, because they hadn't even told him !) They informed me that he had a court date on his Prairie Village DUI this morning; however, they were unable to get him back in time for it. So basically, it just turned out to be a waste of time. Anyway, I got up to visit Nick and we had a nice visit. I think that they are going to hold him here until they can set another date. (maybe a week or so ?) I'm going to make some calls and try to find out tomorrow. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for him to have no control over anything in his life. They show up to move him somewhere, without any notice, they don't tell him where he is going, or why, and when he gets there, he finds out that it was all for nothing. I guess the moral of the story is: Be very, very good children, or you'll end up in a bad place where chaos and insanity reign.

Well, in the process of writing this blog I have managed to finally get myself fed, and I should probably go try to accomplish something. If I don't, I'll wake up tomorrow morning and be so overwhelmed, that I'll spend hours walking around the house in my jammies muttering to myself. Of course, that's what I usually do.

Have a great day, Love to all,
Susan

P.S. I've been wondering, what has become of my friend Christopher ? I wonder if he is off on another adventure ? Where ever you are C., I hope all is well and you come back soon !

Birthday cakes are EVIL !

Hey !


Wow, This weekend has just whizzed by. I can't believe that it's Sunday night already - and I'm no where near being prepared for Monday. Of course, regardless of what kind of weekend I have, being unprepared for Monday seems to be the one constant.

After having a houseful of kids last night, who really have no concept of how Day Light Savings Time works, nor the effects that it has on people over the age of 30, I grudgingly crawled out of bed at 11:00 AM this morning. The fact that Roy, who went to bed at a normal hour, was already up with all the kids meant nothing. My house was the typical Sunday morning train wreck and I had only an hour to get myself together, load up the kids in the car, and get to Chuck E. Cheeses for Caleb's Birthday party. Before I could even wrap my mind around all the steps required to pull off such a feat, my hubby informed me that he had a call that he had to take care of, and he would meet us at the party. Okay, no problemo.

Jasmin had planed a three year old's fantasy birthday for Caleb - which means it was total insanity. I don't know how, but we somehow managed to get there ten minutes early, just as Jasmin, Jason, and Caleb arrived. Caleb came bounding in dressed for the occasion, his blonde hair spiked, wearing an orange sweat suit, a t-shirt that said "My parents are EXHAUSTED !", and a big smile. After we all had our left wrist stamped with the secret, glow in the dark code, that supposedly insures that no one leaves with a kid that doesn't belong to them; We made our way through the Chaos to find our reserved table, already decorated with balloons, party plates, and cups.

As if the noise of a couple hundred screaming children wasn't enough, all the party tables are located directly in front of the stage where a 9 foot tall animated mouse danced and sang along to bouncy 1980's dance videos, (starring Chuck E. Cheese, himself) that played on several giant T.V. screens. As the Children arrived, they were each given a cup full of tokens to to feed the various arcade games and rides. In return, the games spit out tickets for high scores to be exchanged for worthless junk toys at the redemption booth. Exactly the sort of thing that kids love !! It's always fun to watch the occasional greedy, spoiled child running from game to game, their hands, and every available pocket, overflowing with literally hundreds of tickets. They're usually the ones that are wailing that they still don't have enough tickets to buy the giant blow up octopus, or whatever it is that they must have.

While Jasmin and Jason greeted the guests, Heather and I took turns shepherding Caleb as he ran from place to place plunking his tokens into the hungry slots. Of course he had no idea how any of the games worked, he just picked the loudest, brightest machines with the most buttons to push.

It's funny how all the kids run out of tokens about the same time, and come wandering back to the table one by one, just in time for pizza. You would think that they would have all kinds of stories of arcade adventure to share, but half an hour in the game area leaves them absolutely famished ! They all wolfed down their pizza just in time for the Happy Birthday song, and a trio of candles. Jasmin started to worry that they were running out of time, so she started cutting the cake and handing the slices of cake to me, to pass around to all the guests. By the time that everyone was served a chunk of chocolate, sugar frosted, heaven, with blue dye #3, Jasmin had several extra pieces cut. I set them aside for anyone who might want seconds, and snatched a tiny piece for myself.

Roy had finally arrived, and I stood next to him as I watched Caleb tear into his gifts. As everyone smiled and commented on his gifts, I savored every sweet, creamy bite. Eventually, my mind started to drift, recalling how birthday cake was always a special treat at our house when I was growing up.

My great Aunt Bea who cooked, cleaned, and cared for, myself and my 3 brothers, was a wonderful cook, but not terribly creative. She specialized in down home, country cooking. Things like basic meat and potato meals. The meat was almost always fried, and she knew 101 ways to prepare potatoes. (mashed, boiled, deep fried, potato cakes, potato soup, potato salad, etc) And we always had couple of vegetable dishes at each meal, nothing very fancy, but always tasty. However, when it came to baking sweets and pastries, she either didn't have the time or interest. My mom has always been (and still is) a sugar freak, but not home made, store, or bakery bought sweets. Birthday cakes were always special ordered from Madame J's Bakery, and the cake was always the most magical part of birthdays.

By the time that Caleb was done opening his gifts, I looked down and realised that I had eaten THREE tiny (kids sized) pieces of Birthday cake !! To be honest, it wasn't that much, and I tried to convince myself that it was probably okay, since I didn't have time to eat breakfast; but deep down, I knew that I would pay for it later.

I returned home ( with my normal number of children - two ) around 3:00. Before I even pulled into the drive, I was starting to feel that familiar high blood sugar sleepiness and unquenchable thirst. About two blocks from the house, I mentioned to the kids that I needed to take the dogs out for a long walk when we got home, you know, "since the weather was so nice . ." When I screw up, my mind starts trying to squirm out of the inevitable consequences. I rationalized that a couple two mile walks, behind a couple pairs of over excited big dogs, would would help me to burn off some of the calories, or inspire my body to produce some insulin . . . or something ! The last thing I wanted to do was spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon sleeping off birthday cake !
Have I ever mentioned that my dogs are psychic ? All I have to do is think the word "walk", and they start bouncing around with that "look" in their eyes. They had "that look" before I even walked through the door. By the time that I slammed down a can of diet coke, which did nothing except make me feel full, and even sleepier, they were whimpering, and jumping up on me frantically. I had every intentions of grabbing my sweater, putting on my sunglasses, and walking the dogs. Instead, a little voice in my head said "You can't take them out while their so excited, they will drag you for blocks ! Maybe if you lay down for just a second, they will calm down?" So I laid down on my bed, and the dogs jumped up and started licking my face and crying madly. I shooed them away by waving my arms at them and making promises. Just as they were starting to settle down, and my eyes were starting to flutter closed, Roy came home. The dogs ran full speed, over my body, to the door . Instead of rolling over and pulling up the blankets, I actually got up and let them drag me around the neighborhood for two hours. THEN, I came home, crawled into bed, and slept until 8 PM. Which is why I am sitting here at 3 AM blogging. Damn birthday cake! Stupid Day Light Savings Time !!! My sleep schedule is screwed again !!!

I think that I've rambled on long enough. I'm going to TRY to go to sleep now. It really was a lovely birthday party - I just wish that I had a little more self control !

Good night. Hope you all have a wonderful week !
Love,
Susan

Good Day with the grandkids !

Oh my, what a day ! It's almost 11:00 PM and things are finally starting to quiet down . . . a bit.

Roy was supposed to wake me early this morning so that I could put a turkey in the oven for tonight's dinner. Since I was late to bed last night, he let me sleep in an extra hour. I really needed it, but after being up just long enough to get things started, Jason called and wanted to know if he could bring the kids over early. (He had camped out all night to get KC Royals opening day tickets, and I think he just wanted to go home and get some sleep before Jasmin got off work and they went out.) So I rushed around, got all my errands done, and the kids arrived at 1 PM instead of 4 PM.

Caleb had been looking forward to hanging out with Nanna (that's me) and Jake and Heather all week. So he walked in with a whole list of things he wanted to do - Most of it involved talking my ear off ! Caleb was one of those little guys that didn't have much to say until after he was two years old. He'll be three years old tomorrow, and he makes Oprah seem like a shy little wallflower !! I guess he's making up for lost time ?

I've also had Ana, Christian, and Khris to keep Jake and Heather entertained today - or at least that was the plan. The boys have had Roy running them all over town; and the girls, decided to be my little kitchen helpers today. We made a cheese cake and Chocolate-chocolate chip muffins together. There was no way that Caleb was going be out done by a couple of GIRLS, so he made sure that he was my personal assistant when we made the vegetables and mashed potatoes. Of course, once they were all fed and it was time to clean up, they had much more important things to do. That's okay, it was nice just to have a bunch of happy, hungry kids to fill up my table. (stupid stuff like that makes me happy.)

Jasmin and Jason had tickets to the comedy club tonight, so I'm not expecting them home until late. Around 8:oo PM, I had Caleb gather up some toys, and I ran him a nice warm bath, hoping that it would help him to calm down from the days excitement. Boy, was I wrong about that ! This kid LOVES his bath, and I think it got him more wound up than a whole day of chasing down the big kids. The funniest part was watching the dogs try to figure out why anyone would get so excited over a tub full of soap and water ! (they have never been terribly fond of bath time) Ever since Caleb was born and he started visiting, Peter has been his furry guardian Angel. Pete would always lay by the play pen while he played and napped, once he started walking, Pete made it his duty to make sure that the puppies didn't steal his M&M's or cheesey puffs. (Caleb's favorites) So of course, Peter was a little puzzled by Caleb's bath time fun, but he managed to find a dry spot next to the tub and stayed by his side. If Caleb stood up and tried to close the shower doors, Pete would jump up, perk up his ears,, and start to cry. I guess he knows how dangerous this bath thing can be, and he wanted to be able to keep an eye on him !

After bath time, Caleb informed me that I had to "wrap him up like a burrito" in the bath towel to dry him off, because that's the way Mommy does it. We snuggled into bed together and, big surprize, he talked my ear off for another hour ! He informed me that he is hoping to get a new, red concrete mixer for his birthday. (His daddy drives a concrete mixer at work - except Caleb calls it a concreek mixer.) Sadly, Caleb needs a new mixer because, he filled the old one with glue and now it won't mix anymore !

Well, Jasmin just called to say that she is on her way to get the kids. Little does she know, that Ana and Christian are going to beg and plead to spend the night - I hope she's in a good mood, or there could be a lot of tears.

I have to go get things picked up and turn the clocks forward an hour so that we aren't late to the Party tomorrow. That should be another adventure !

Good night all,
Love ,
Susan

FRIDAY

Hey, it's Friday !! I survived another week ! Really, it's been a pretty good week. We got the kids computer up and working in the family room, so that has eliminated alot of bickering and squabbles. I get so much more accomplished when I am not playing peacemaker.

Things are still slow for Roy at work, but he has managed to stay busier this week. He actually spent half a day scratching off some of the chores on his "honey-do" list at home - Gasp !! Roy NEVER does work on OUR house, usually, by the time he gets home, he doesn't want to think about fixing things anymore.

He's also had one of his old customers call him. A couple of years ago, Roy rehab- ed a chiropractor's office. As his practice has grown, he calls Roy to do all his work - if he is available. This week, he's spent a couple of days doing some work for him, and as a bonus, The Dr. set Roy up to get some tests and adjustments done on his back. I suppose, that's a good thing. The problem in the past has always been, that Chiropractic is a long-term, manipulative kind of therapy that isn't always pleasant at first. Roy has a tendency to focus on the immediate discomfort rather than the ultimate goal, so he usually gives up too soon. I'm hoping that his relationship with this Dr. will cause him to hang in there long enough to see some results. Right now, he's just pleased that he's getting some extra attention.

I think that I've finally reached the point where I'm ready for spring. I'm so tired of feeling cooped up. It's been so cold this week, the furnace is drying out my delicate skin, and the static electricity is driving me mad !!! Every time one of the dogs rub up against me, I get a shock that I can actually see and hear! It's supposed to warm up next week, but we woke to an unexpected snow this morning, so I'm not going to hold my breath. We only got about a quarter inch, just enough to cover the grass, but at least it gave me a break from wiping muddy paws! Of course, once it finally does warm up, it will take me weeks to repair the back yard. I still haven't got a plan for that yet.

The kids start spring break this coming Wednesday and our schedule is already starting to fill up. Tomorrow, I've got Jasmin's kids for the evening. Sunday, we have a birthday party for Caleb, my grandson who is turning 3, at Chuck E. Cheese's. (That should be totally insane.) The 17th is Roy and my 18th anniversary - also, St. Patrick's day. Two days later, on the 19th, is Roy's birthday. I think that Easter is on the 23rd this year. And I have no doubt that my house will be over run with kids until the 24th, when they all (finally) go back to school. By then, I will probably be wearing a cozy, comforting little jacket that buckles in back, talking to myself in a nice little padded cell. I have informed my husband that in 2 years, on our 20th anniversary, we are going to do SOMETHING. Somehow, someway, we are going to escape the children, and all the spring break madness, and go away together. We haven't decided where yet, but it will be somewhere calm and peaceful.

Well, since it's Friday night, Jake has one of his friends from school spending the night. I banished them to his bedroom upstairs about an hour ago, and now (since it's 2:30 AM) I need to go get them to turn down the noise, and hopefully go to sleep.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone !
Love,
Susan

Personaldna personality test

Hey there,



I just took this really cool personality test that I got From Sometimes Saintly Nicks site. It's fun and I think, pretty accurate. If you want to check it out, it's at : http://personaldna.com/tests.php These are my results. I am a Respectful Visionary. Gosh, I'm so glad that I finally know who I am !






You are a Visionary

Your imagination, self-assuredness, and knowledge of the world combine to make you a VISIONARY.
You have clear notions of how things could be, and the confidence to try to make them that way.
You enjoy having a routine, and prefer comfort and familiarity to risk and adventure.
Not needing others' approval to forge ahead, you are confident in your designs for the future.
Your imagination allows you to envision the world as a better place.
You're better at thinking of the big picture than you are with details, and you can see wonder in abstract things.
Style and appearances are important to you, and you have a good eye for beauty.
You are somewhat rigid in your beliefs, which comes from both confidence and an aversion to change.
You are good at creating works of art in forms with which you're familiar.
You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.

If you want to be different:
Appreciate the earthly, functional elements of things.
Your clarity of vision sometimes prevents you from being open to new ideas. Try expanding your horizon of experiences, and experimenting with novel ways of doing things.
how you relate to others


You are Respectful

Your reserved nature, understanding of the world, and faith in others make you RESPECTFUL.
You trust those around you to do the right thing, so you tend not to get involved in other people's affairs.
You have fewer friendships than some, but the relationships you do have are very meaningful and important to you.
Your careful and practical observation of your environment has led you to understand that others' situations can be very complex.
Because of this, you are slow to pass judgments on others, even if sometimes you can't see what it is about certain things that upsets them.
You tend to enjoy the world through ideas and reflection, which allows you to get a lot out of the time you spend alone.
Your friends would describe you as laid-back and easy-going.
As someone who is calm and centered, you aren't likely to rush into things—this patience allows you to see many different perspectives and options.

If you want to be different:
Try letting your insight into the world and trust of others allow you to understand the feelings of those around you.
While you know how much can be learned from observing your world, remember that much of life can be lived by experiencing it, not just understanding it.

What do you think ? Is it me ? I think it's pretty close.

In other news . . . . uhhh, there really is no other news. I've been writing alot of letters to Nick since it costs me almost $17.00 for a 15 minute phone call to him !!! So, to be honest, by the time I am done embellishing my very ordinary life to entertain my son, my fingers are smokin' and I'm not really in the mood to blog much.

Nick is settled in at his present location and he is hanging in there. They play alot of cards, and as per his most recent letter, He has discovered the classics. I just got a full page review of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations from him. LOL ! He's absolutely amazed that this "Dickens guy" is such a great writer ! Why hasn't anyone told him this before ?! Seems to me, that I had mentioned him once or twice, but apparently, old, dead writer's don't really appeal to teenage drug addicts - big surprise ! (I guess Great Expectations would be a bit tedious for a coke addict.)

Right now, my biggest goal is to get my sleep patterns back on track. I was starting to feel kind of vampiric, and totally out of sync with the rest of the world. Do you guys have any idea what time the sun comes up around here?!!! Thank God we are setting the clocks forward in a week or so - something needed to be done about that.

Okay, I've got stuff to do. Not very exciting stuff, but stuff none the less.
Hope every one's week is going well.
Mel - I'm still waiting for those puppy "demon" puppy photos.

Love to all,
Susan

Another late night

Hey there !

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but my husband and daughter have apparently hijacked my computer. I've been spending a large part of my day refereeing the two of them as they bicker over whose turn it is on the computer, and who has been on the longest.

Heather, of course has a ton of on line friends that she simply MUST remain in constant contact with; and my husband, has a new fetish - on line Texas hold em! (on Face Book) The scrabble infatuation has worn off (mostly because I keep winning, I think) but this is even worse. He doesn't have to wait for someone else to make a move, or play a word, with cards, he can jump into a game anytime. As if football, basketball, and every off the wall "sport" on ESPN wasn't bad enough ! I don't know if it's become apparent to anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis, but my husband is a very "addictive" personality type. The fact that his family are all on face book doesn't help much either. His whole family has been sending me "gifts" and invitations to play some crazy, goofy game at least five or six times a day. I've reached the point that I don't even want to check my mail, or my Face book account. I just delete everything on my page except messages, and scrabble stuff. I used to worry about offending them, but they just don't give up !! I can't imagine anyone having THAT much time on their hands. Seems like they always have to have something to distract them from reality.

I probably shouldn't bitch. With my husband being otherwise distracted for the past week, I've been spending all my spare minutes reading. I'm already done with the second book in the series I mentioned in my last post. I don't get a chance to really enjoy a book very often, but when I do, I just gobble them up. Usually, I make a list of books that I've been wanting to read, and if I'm lucky, I get a couple for Christmas or my birthday. Usually, it only takes me a few days to consume them, then I'm back to the real world. I guess I just needed an escape, so I splurged and bought them. Besides, since Heather is reading them for school, I sort of feel like I can justify it - a little.

I haven't heard anything from Nick in response to my last letter. I'm not sure what to make of that. I sort of threw some "tough love" at him in my last letter. (basically told him to pull his head out of his ass and grow up.) I've never really been fond of the whole tough love concept. I think it's too easy for people to abuse, and use it as an excuse to be selfish, self centered, assholes. I think that most of the people that tough love is directed at, (usually teens)would probably be more impacted if they actually received a little kindness, understanding, and affection. I think "tough love" is only effective if there's a foundation of trust and respect - and that usually isn't the case. Most parents that advocate tough love, are weary and desperate. I know how that feels, but there is nothing that can be substituted for doing the real work required to build a relationship. Anyway, I'm being patient and hopeful. My son is not stupid. In spite of all the abuse he has given it, his brain still works pretty good. He'll figure it out.

Other than that, I can't think of alot that's new, or note worthy. Seems like all the little things that are so important get lost in the blur of life that keeps whizzing by. I'll be glad when I get the other computer back up and running and I won't have to fight so hard for my time. Life makes more sense to me when I can look at it a little piece at a time.

Right now, it's late, and a have a few rowdy (and fury) "children" that need to be settled down before I can get myself to bed. It's been raining and thundering all day, and Pete has been a nervous wreck. Now that it's stopped, he has a whole days' worth of energy and tension that needs to be released. The fact that it's 4AM, means nothing to him. So, I'm off to try and reason with the unreasonable mind of a neurotic Labrador retriever. I may have to break out the peanut butter.

Have a great week.

Love ya,

Susan