Saturday, October 29, 2011

:::Rubbing My Eyes:::

Please, put on your Sesame Street thinking caps and riddle me this Tadpoles -Which of these things is not like the others:

      A) A tornado
     B) An earthquake
     C) Flooding
     D) Snow in October

If you picked (C) . . . ding, ding, ding! Cookie Monster hands you a cookie.

I realize they are all types of weather [and therefore do go together] but the trick to the question is that (C) is the ONLY one that is a common occurrence in Virginia.

But, somehow, our lovely area has managed all four. Yipppeee!!!!!!!!!

We received enough snow today that they cancelled Virginia State Marching Band Competition. And a couple of homecomings and parts of the National Horse show. . . etc.  Go Figure.

All's well tho'.  Squirrel is home for the weekend and we will all hang out and drink hot cocoa, while watching the flakes fall.

Did I mention it is October?  In Virginia?

Have a good one Tadpoles.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Truth is Thursday. . .



Truth is. . .I have been doing a bit of commenting, but no posting because I have been sick.

Truth is. . .I will be around when I feel better .

Take care and have a great weekend Tadpoles.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Our Weekend: Day Three - Our Sunday In Pictures


On the way to visit Squirrel. 
The leaves are still thinking about it.
 Sisters!
 Always a favorite.
Chicken Caesar Salad
 Then dessert at the yogurt shop.
 Loves her Daddy!


Goofballs! 
 Pretty Campus, isn't it?




 Yes.  She is "owling."
:shaking my head:

 Better at self portraits than their Momma.
That's all. [Actually there are a 140 pics!]

And I bet you can't guess what missing from them all.

Yep, I think two days in a row is about my limit to go out of the house.  Although Squirrel was a wee bit sad [me too!] she promised to take the campus bus home this weekend.   That's a great trade. YAY!

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday.  See ya' on the flipside.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Our Weekend: Night Two - What a Great Teenager!

There are not many teenagers that can go to the mall, find a dress, shoes, jewelry and all the assorted sundries you need for the Homecoming Dance in under an hour and a half.

Wallene is one of those kids. [As Skippy looks to the heavens and silently mouths, "THANK YOU DNA FAIRY. SHE IS HER MOTHER'S DAUGHTER!]

This is the first time she has ever had to dress up and she did such a great job.

She tried on a total of three dresses.  The third was the charm:

Then came the shawl and jewelry:
Plus the cute shoes! 
[Those are going to be used again when she is an attendant at her friend's Quincenera. YAY!] 

And Momma did her hair:
 A French twist
ETA 12:15 AM - She just arrived home and not a hair has fallen out. All night, with all the crazy dancing! Wow.

She's all smiley and sparkly.

Did we not just give birth to this kid?  What is she doing going to Homecoming already?!? Yikes. 

She is off to have dinner with her 5 best girl friends at Olive Garden and then the dance until midnight.

I hope her Daddy survives this. heehee
What do you think?  [Yeah, me neither.]

Hope y'all have a fabulous Saturday night.  We'll see ya' on the flipside with an update from our road trip to JMU!

Hugs and sweet dreams.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Our Weekend: Night One - Not Quite a Sweater But Almost . . .

Tonight we went to Wallene's Homecoming game for High School.

No, you may not ask how the football team did.

But the band?

Look at my smiley little girl:

She is absolutely NOT supposed to be smiling.
That was the look on her face when she realized we were there.
We waited until after halftime and met up for a quick picture before Dad and I headed for home. It was cold.

Now, if you look closely at my lap. . . THAT is the sweater I was wearing tonight.  It is my favorite sweater, but I was gifted with a lovely Band Sweatshirt this evening, so, of course, I had to put that on.  No complaints - that sweater kept my legs very warm while sitting in my chair.

Still - I count it as sweater number two for the season.

Tomorrow?  Getting ready for the Homecoming Dance. Prep, primp and pretty up!
Sunday - I get doughnuts and diner food, plus a visit with Squirrel <----best part.

I think I need a nap.  Stay warm Tadpoles.  We'll see ya' on the flipside - all prettied up and girlie for Homecoming. [Well, Wallene, at least.]

WALLENE! Dagnabit Child!

Do NOT scare the crap out of your Mother that way. Jeesh.

It all started last night, when Wallene arrived home from school at 10:30 pm.  That is a 14 hour day for her and she was too pooped to pop - BUT, she still had homework to do.

We finally got her into bed at 12 am, while assuring ourserlves that her alarm clock was set for 7:30 the next morning.

Dad left for work at 6:30 am.
Mom [who had gone to sleep at 5 am] did not hear him leave or Wallene's alarm.
Apparently?  Wallene didn't hear her alarm either.

When I finally woke up at 11 am the first thing I noticed in the fridge was that Wallene had forgotten her lunch.  Hmmmm.  Then I thought, maybe, Wallene was still in the house.  She won't forget her lunch if we leave her a note [which Pooldad did] so I called upstairs, twice, but since I got no response from her room I figured she had rushed out of the house and just left it.

I sat down at my desk and phoned Pooldad to tell him not to be late coming home from work because Wallene would need her lunch before band and the Homecoming Football game.  As we chatted I heard a crash and then an "OMG!"  Guess who came running down the stairs, disheveled and carrying her backpack?

Yep!  Miss Wallene had waaaaay overslept, but had heard me downstairs and came running.

It scared the behoohoo out of me since I had already called up there twice.  Suffice it to say, my heart is pumping extra special fast this afternoon. heehee  Please know we are not upset at our daughter at all. She obviously needed the sleep.   We thought it was quite funny. :)

So, what have we learned?
1.  10 pm is an evidently an excellent bedtime for our daughter. Not 12 am.
2.  No more late nights at school, even if it IS Homecoming week.
3.  Mom should not take a Benadryl to help her fall asleep when she has insomnia.  [Do you guys SEE why I hate taking anything that makes me drowsy?  I don't do drowsy. I knock myself out. :D]

The bright side?  Pooldad got off of work 2.5 hours early to get her to school. YAY. Our weekend starts now! Woot!

We have a busy weekend planned.  There is the football game tonight, the dance tomorrow and Sunday we are off to JMU!

Have a great one Tadpoles.  We'll see ya' on the flipside. Or Monday.  If I survive. :D

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Truth is Thursday. . .



 

Truth is. . . I almost forgot it was Thursday. Where did the week go?

Truth is. . .Thanks for the well wishes for Spot.  She hasn't eaten any of her food yet, but at least she is drinking. 

Truth is. . .Today is definitely a sweater kind of day. High of 60, low of 40.

Truth is. . .Tomorrow is the Homecoming Football Game and Saturday is the Homecoming Dance. Wallene is all a flutter.  She will be at school for a total of 13 hours today between marching band practice and decorating committee.  Daddy is delivering her dinner when he gets home from work. That's a long day.

Truth is. . .we are going to see Squirrel on Sunday, for the day. She seems a little homesick.  Should be a nice drive if the leaves have changed. 

Truth is. . .today is Pooldad's meeting with his old company. I doubt it will go the way we want/need, but he is so tired of waiting on his current bosses to make a decision.  I guess they figure the longer they hold out, the more they can pay him at his old rate.  It is just so disrespectful.

Truth is. . .I don't have much today.   Not feeling too great and I haven't slept.  Same 'ol.

I hope you guys have a great end to your week and the weather is just as gorgeous where you are as it is here.  Go put on a sweater!  See ya' on the flipside.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Now I Know How My Husband Feels

I see my husband, everyday, worry about me. About my health. The fact we don't have the money for health insurance.  I see the weight of the world on his shoulders.

A week later and we are still waiting on his bosses to "make a decision" regarding his raise.

I can't imagine the pressure he is under, wanting to take care of all of us and being unable to do so in this economy.  He has worked, hard, his entire life. We have always paid our bills, never gone on welfare nor duped the government into giving us money under false disability, food stamp and welfare claims as I see so many doing.

We have been honest. We have done things the right way.  And yet?  It just keeps falling apart.

Six years ago we both had jobs. I remember back when we could afford things.

It was then that we adopted a pretty little dachshund named "Spot".  You all know and love her.

Well, I hope you love her.
She is "sitting pretty" for Momma.
At the time we had the money to afford our pets.  She had all her shots and was well fed and cared for, as good pet owners do. She is still well fed :).and has her shots. But....

Now?  We don't have dime one to take our little girl to the veterinarian's office tonight. And she is so sick.  She isn't an outside dog and we have no idea what she could've gotten into, but she has been vomiting for two days and is unable to even hold down water.  We bought her some Pedialyte, but she won't drink it.

I am tired of feeling so helpless.  I am tired of watching my husband work himself to the bone.  I worry when I look at him and I can see the the weight of our world upon him.

As I sit here and hold my puppy, unable to help her or find out what is wrong, I sort of understand what he is going through.  I can no more help her than he can help me. We are powerless to do anything.

I get so frustrated because we don't overspend. We don't go on trips, we don't use credit cards, we don't borrow money, we don't go out to eat on a monthly/weekly/daily basis.  There is no disposable income.  Not even enough to see what is wrong with Spottie.  It isn't that we managed our money poorly, it is just that there isn't any money to manage.

I am sorry to sound so down on this post, but I get so weary of people that cheat, lie and steal. I sometimes want to stop blogging because I grow so tired of the people who complain about their money problems, but then blog about how they are off on yet another weekend trip somewhere or claim they have to buy their lunch everyday because bringing meals from home is "so gross." [Yet, they admit to $50,000 in credit card debt. Stop whining and pack a sandwich.]  I run out of things to say on those blogs. I am supposed to tell you how glad I am that you had a great trip when I know your house went into foreclosure less than 3 months ago?

How can doing the right thing, for so long, be so punishing now?  We aren't perfect, but we have always tried to do the right thing.

Again. I am sorry. I will be back, happy, happy when Spottie is feeling better.  For now I will just hold her in my lap and hope for the best.

See ya' on the flipside Tadpoles.  I know there are bigger problems in the world right now - but this is mine for the time being.

Monday, October 17, 2011

I Wanted To Post Sweater #2, But. . .

Mother Nature is being her usual bitchy self in Virginia.

Sigh.  It is October 17th - keep it cool Lady. Let's go.

But no.  It is 80 degrees here.  YAY for not running the heater, but c'mon. I am ready. Cool, crisp weather.

Instead, I had to revert back to summer.  So I am the "lady in gray" today - jeesh.

Yep - the best I could do. A hoodie.  Although I think I am getting more creative with my "self" portraits.  This one was in the bathroom. Go me! [Oh, and I stole Wallene's camera. Don't tell. Shhhh.]

So now I am relaxing in my bed o' wonders.  [Yes, the comforter is still ugly. Why do you ask?] I have my computer and a nice warm breeze flowing through my bedroom window.

It ain't perfect, but it is about the best I can do Tadpoles.

Enjoy your week.  See ya' on the flipside.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Three of My Favorite Things About Autumn

My first sweater of the season!
1 of 30
If you know me, you get the joke.
 My favorite color nail polish
OPI
It's called :  "Nice Color, Eh?"
[Shout out to my Canadian Tadpoles]

My favorite perfume
Estee Lauder Red  Door
Spicy!

The weather is cooperating. Nice, crisp and breezy.

But? 
 I don't think the trees have gotten the memo.  
These are the views off my back porch.
 C'mon - change already!
Sorry about the cruddy pics, but I got left behind today and had to take my own.  Annie Liebowitz I am not.

Hope y'all are having a great Sunday and where ever you are you are enjoying a gorgeous day.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Pretzel Fail

First recipe I have ever pulled off off of Allrecipes.com that failed.
 :(  It had great reviews, I read the comments, learned a bit and yet?

Yuck.

They looked pretty, but their interior had a biscuit like quality.  We did not like them at all. The dogs did tho'. They had lotsa' snacks last night. :)

Instead, we are making a Skippy Family stand by. It is one of our favorites and with the exception of a bit of white chocolate it is pretty healthy.

WHITE TRASH
r
Recipe:

White Trash
3 1/2 cups of cheerios
6 cups of Crispix cereal [or a mix of corn and rice Chex]
2 1/2 cups peanuts [we use unsalted]
2 cups of pretzel sticks [broken up]

2 bags of white chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.
Melt white chocolate in the microwave, stirring occasionally, until pourable. [Or melt in a double boiler on the stove.]
Pour chocolate over dry ingredients. Mix well.
Spread mixture out in a single layer on waxed paper. Let harden.
When hard, break into pieces, gift bag it and enjoy!

ETA:  This was a huge hit on the band bus. Looks as tho' I will now be signing up for the last two trips too. heehee


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Truth is Thursday. . .

It's that time of week again Tadpoles.




Truth is . . . I was so touched by your nice thoughts for Sous Gal yesterday. Thank you so much.

Truth is. .  . that was the best part of our Wednesday.

Truth is . . . Pooldad finally was offered a raise. After almost a year, they offered him less than half of what he was asking and no health insurance.

Truth is . . . It is insulting.

Truth is . . . the bosses told Pooldad to "sleep" on their offer.  He looked at them, thought for a moment, made a counter offer and then asked them to "sleep on it."

Truth is . . . I could've spent last night crying over it, but a funny thing happened yesterday.  Seems the owner of Pooldad's old job [where he worked for over 25 years] wants to talk to him.

Truth is . . . the old job would be better money and health insurance, but longer hours and a longer commute.

Truth is . . . I feel bad for my husband. The weight of this whole family rests solely on him and no matter how hard he works, it just never seems to get better.

Truth is . . . we will work it out. Just like we always do. :D

Truth is . . . this song runs through my head a lot lately:
Truth is . . . it took me three tries how to remember how to put that up there. Duh.

Truth is . . . I am making homemade snacks for the band festival on Saturday.  Instead of cookies or brownies Wallene and I are going to make soft pretzels. YUM!

Truth is . . . I had to laugh at Wallene last night.  Her bedtime is 10 pm and she was all tucked in, with lights out, on time, when I received a magical email from her at 10:19 pm.  She meant well, but . . . um, not allowed sweetie.

Truth is . . . I was woken up at 3 am by the loudest,  most prolonged crack of thunder I have heard in a long time.

Truth is . . . I am surprised I didn't find two dogs and a kid in my bed at 3:02 am.

Truth is . . . I found all my Halloween stamps, so I think I am going to work on Halloween postcards today.

Truth is . . . I used to really like "Good Morning America:", but lately it seems to be more info-tainment [fluff stories, celebrities, music] than news.  I miss the old GMA.

Truth is . . . this whole "Blackberry Blackout" has me laughing. "OMG we noes haz da' Blackberry powerz". Jeesh people, you'll live. I swear.

Truth is . . . Wallene is marching in the Halloween parade this year and has to dress as a pop star - each member in her section will represent one era of music - but I don't know what constitutes a pop star these days.  Any ideas? [ETA @ 9 am - I have already had two votes for Lady Gaga. Wallene doesn't want to be her. She finds Lady Gaga scary.  Who knew?]

Truth is . . . she might just get that blue hair yet. heehee

Truth is . . . I really wanted her to draw a 50's teeny bopper just so I could make her a poodle skirt. I have always wanted one of the girls to wear a poodle skirt.  Alas, never had any takers.

Truth is . . . it is time to go and start our day.

[Truth is. . . I have updated this post 5x since 7 am. giggle]

Have a great Thursday Tadpoles. We'll see ya' on the flipside.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Great News!

:skippyhappydance:

I just received word that my friend and fellow Tadpole, Sous Gal, is out of surgery and doing fabulous.

She will be resting comfortably in the hospital for a few days and then will return home where she will recuperate over the next few months. And I get to tease her for being a slacker. heehee [I kid, I kid]

She is an amazing friend and Chef! I couldn't be happier that she came through with flying colors.

You can visit her at her blog: "Here. . .taste this" 

Hope you all have a fantastic Wednesday! I know we will. WOOT! :D

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

My Husband Is A [Sometime] Single Parent

Truly. He is so great at what he does, so, yes, I can overlook the electricity thing. [That post was supposed to be funny btw.]

I know I am here everyday. I can call the school, sign paperwork, coordinate carpools, sign up for the family to volunteer, answer the phone, take messages, send emails . . . but, let's just look at what Pooldad manages on a random Monday:
  • He arrived at work at 6:45 am and worked 8.5 hours
  • Before he left for work he ran to the store to get a few things I needed
  • On his way home he picked up the youngest from a sleepover
  • Once home he finished three loads of laundry
  • Grocery shopped for the week -we call this big shopping & it is big
  • Made homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner
  • Baked two kinds of homemade cookies - some for lunches, some to send to our daughter at college
  • Made sure I was okay while I bathed and dressed for bed
  • Fed, watered and walked the dogs - not to mention cleaning up a dog mess
  • He didn't want to go to bed early, although tired, because we like some time together at night  
Best part? He doesn't have a blog. No, wait. I kid, I kid.  He does all of this without complaint and those of you who have read my blog for long know this.

What I do is nominal.  And no, I am not looking for anything else to be said here, so please don't. He could easily do what I do in addition to what he does, but that fact that he does all of this happily and without complaint makes me a very, very, very fortunate woman.

Please do not think that I don't know that.

It isn't a birthday, anniversary or some other special day. It is simply a random day in our life.

And I think my husband does it with aplomb.

Thank you S. I love you.

Monday, October 10, 2011

My Failed Experiment

When you were growing up did your parents tell you to turn off the lights when you left a room? Do you tell your own kids to do this?  I do, my husband doesn't.

I grew up hearing "turn off the lights" constantly.  My Dad was the king of penny pinching and we knew from a young age that electricity cost money, so we were to use it sparingly and never, ever leave a light, TV or radio on if we left the room - even if we were coming back almost immediately. Goodness knows, half the time we didn't return to that room anyway. [true!] After a while it just sank in. Turn off the lights.  Hey, my parents were "green" before it was cool. [This was the 60's and 70's].

Let's talk about my family.  It appears as tho' my beloved in laws neglected this one important fact [that electricity costs money] because my husband has absolutely no concept of turning off lights and TVs.  It drives me crazy.  Take today for example.  He left for work early, when it was light outside, and I slept in.  When I came down the stairs at 1 pm there were three - THREE! - lights on and one of them is the lamp in our kitchen that has 5 bulbs.  When I went to bed last evening the light on the nightstand was on - who can sleep with the light on? Evidently Pooldad and Wallene and Squirrel.  Nightlights, fine. Table lamps, not so much.

We do have one small lamp in the living room that we leave on from bedtime until dawn, in case anyone gets up in the middle of the night.  It also has one of those new energy saver bulb in it [as do all our lights] but he never ever turns it off when he beats me out of bed. EVER.

He swears he turns it off all the time. I know he doesn't, but I decided to stop turning it off myself and see how many days it stayed on before he finally turned it off.

It took five days before I came into the living room and saw it was off. HA!  Finally, he turned off a light.

Imagine my chagrin when I went to turn the light on that evening and discovered the bulb had burned out and he had not, in fact, turned it off. :headdesk:  I was all ready to give kudos when I realized my experiment had failed.

We don't have an all electric house, our cooking and heat are gas, but I get so sad when I see the electric bill and know we could've saved $50-60 a month.

I am back to the experiment with the living room light and so far?  It has been on since he changed the bulb a week ago. BAH!

We used to use a timer on the living room light and although it worked for a while with that ONE light, everytime the electricity went out it wouldn't reset itself.  We have power flickage often during inclement weather, so this happened a lot.

In the scheme of things it isn't a deal breaker. It's just a habit I can't seem to break them of in our otherwise frugal household.

Ah well, just another Monday.  I hope you guys are having a great one and are enjoying lovely weather like us!  See ya' on the flipside.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Cleanup On Aisle Three

So your ex boyfriend has a new girlfriend.
And you and the new girlfriend both have babies with him.
Yeah, I can see how that might make you mad, but. . .
Life happens.
People move on.
Sometimes they even have more kids with other women.
I am sure that doesn't sit well with you, but did you REALLY need to follow the new girlfriend into Wal Mart and attack her with bleach and Pine - Sol? Seriously?

I don't know if any of you have heard this story on the news, but I don't know whether to laugh or just shake my head.  The link is here:  link  if you would like to see the prize winning mug shot of the woman who started it and read all about it.

The attack ended with 14 people going to the hospital with one person having serious eye injuries.

I am just glad the attacker didn't end up in the Hunting section of Wal Mart. Whew.

Hope all my Canadian tadpoles are having a wonderful Thanksgiving. Enjoy a piece of pie for me!  See ya' on the flip side gang. Have a great Sunday.

Friday, October 7, 2011

You're Driving Me Bananas And That's Not Nice

It does not take seven lenghty emails to explain why you are right and we are wrong that the school lost our  $200 deposit for Wallene's band trip to Philadelphia.

The bottom line is find the money order or Wallene does not attend.

Here's the scoop on band mother volunteers:  They are NUTZ. They have entirely too much time on their hands to scribe emails.  They are just not emails that do any good in the long run. [I will say I appreciate their hard work, but c'mon ladies. .  . a little less type A personality goes a LONG way.]

Within a few days of school starting in August we were asked to submit a $200 deposit for Wallene to attend a trip to Chicago.  We arranged with the band director to turn the money in on the morning of 12th of September [the soonest we could afford it- it was 4 days after the deadline] and confirmed she would be attending.

Forward to the week of the 19th/September and we were informed, via email, that the Chicago trip was off due to lack of participation [the trip was very expensive] but they had rescheduled a quick trip to Philadelphia instead.  All we had to do was click the box on the email that informed them that we would transfer, our already paid deposit, to the Philadelphia trip.

While confirming all student balances for the trip we received a plethora of emails.  I inquired as to Wallene's balance and was told she had $58.27 [This is money she made fundraising].  Yes, doesn't look like $200, does it?  On October 5th they informed us that they never received a check, but if we had the check number they would research it.

I sent along an email stating that we had turned it in on Sept. 12th, and included the receipt for the money order. I did ask why we weren't informed back in September, when we transferred the deposit, they didn't let us know that they didn't have it then?  [Bookkeeping at it's finest, but wait. . .it gets better.]

Having already had one child go through the nightmare that is school band [seriously, I love band, but this stuff drives me bat sh*t insane] we know not to write a personal check.  We always send money orders. The reason being is because they have lost our personal checks before.  We have reissued them and then they have found the lost check and cashed both. Instead of refunding the money we have been given a credit. We won't make that mistake again.
 
I received an email this morning informing me that the band mother had found Wallene in school and asked her about the check.  When she found out that the check had been dropped off in the office she chastised  told Wallene that EVERYONE knows that you don't put money anywhere but IN THE SAFE in the band room!!!!!!!

Here's the problem with that - [I mean, besides she took exception with my kid?] Pooldad dropped off the check, in an envelope, completely labelled with what it was for and amount enclosed.  He is not allowed to go back to the band room during school hours. nor will the office ladies pull Wallene from class to come pick up the check so she can put it in the safe herself.  It went into the band director's mailbox, so HE could put it in the safe. [I am pretty sure he is 45 years old.  And competent.]

Evidently, 3 weeks later it hasn't made it.  Sigh.  So, in addition to giving Wallene a hard time about this I received a lovely, long, email lecture about what we did wrong.

Look, woman - your band director has a big itch to take these kids out of town. Anywhere - he HAS TO, he has always been this way.  We accommodated you, signed up for Chicago, paid, re-signed up for Philadelphia [a ridiculous trip at best] and that $200 is valuable to that trip happening.  Don't lecture me on what we did wrong. We did the best we could and were assured it was fine.

The best part?  I received several frantic emails [mass] that were begging for the money, after we had paid, because they HAD to make the appropriate deposits in Chicago and then Philadelphia.  They needed X amount of kids to get the discount and make the trip affordable.

Band mom mentioned, as of today, they had yet to deposit a single check.  So, your rush to get the money, to make the appropriate deposits [in September] and ensure a discount, was because?  :headdesk:

I don't know if I am up for 4 more years of this.

And any Tadpole that understood this?  Here ------> have an internet cookie.

Have a good Friday Tadpoles.  And I hope all of you living upstairs have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. I am so jealous. And sad. No one invited me. giggle

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Truth is Thursday. . .



Truth is. . . the whole concept behind a "Wordless Wednesday Post" is to not comment on the pictures you post.  We get it. No captions necessary, otherwise it isn't wordless. [I see so many people do this. Don't you?]

Truth is. . . you can't exactly rant about "stopping the teen pregnancy epidemic" in this country now when you gave birth to your child at the age of 17.  Besides, teen pregnancy rates have dropped dramatically since 1987, the year you gave birth.  You need another pulpit.*

Truth is . . . if you are going to go to another blogger's site and chide her to "save herself for marriage" because it will be so much better and then berate her because she is wrong "to give herself away", could you possibly BE married when you make that suggestion?  Instead of living with your boyfriend of six years, with one child and another on the way?  You just won hypocrite of the week blogger. *

Truth is. . . I find a lot of humor in what people forget they say on their blogs and then come back with their little causes.  Which is it?  You were a perfect teen Mom and raised the best child you could [your words], but no one else should ever get pregnant out of wedlock before the age of 20, like you?  Or a 20 something, educated, self supportive, woman who loves her boyfriend shouldn't have sex, she should wait and save herself for marriage because you said? Meanwhile you are shacked up, not married, and have a kid and a half by your boyfriend? [your words]

:headdesk:

Truth is . . . I like other people's opinions. Heck, that is the nature of blogland. I don't care about babies out of wedlock, or people living together and :gasp: fornicating. Go for it! giggle I learn a lot by blog hopping - but stop contradicting yourself.  The only thing worse than a liar is a hypocrite.

Truth is. . . I am not really cranky, it just sounds like it. Honestly.  Those three things have been on my mind for a while.

Truth is . . . I made the gang a very yummy white bean soup tonight, in the crockpot.  Pooldad walked in the door and exclaimed, "I LOVE the FALL!"  It smelled so good.

Truth is. . .  I completely screwed up the yeast rolls and they over raised. [That's what a 5 hour nap will get you.]  It was a massive sheet of dough. Meh.  They looked weird, but cooked up wonderfully. Just hack off a piece.

Truth is . . . Scooby ate three pieces of raw dough.  So far so good. I knew it would raise in his stomach, but it was hours ago and he hasn't swelled and the vet thinks he is big enough to absorb it. [Dang dog.]

Truth is. . . I love that Wallene's school has a microwave. I have so many more options to send to school with her when it is cold. And it is cold here.

Truth is. .  .We packaged up a big Halloween box for Squirrel at college.  And we managed very little candy. It is pretty cool.  We have cavities to take care of so I figured less candy and more "treats" like stickers, pens, ornaments, papers, etc - would go a long way to making her feel all holiday spirit without rotting her teeth more. grrrr
I decorated the front like this. . .
. . .and Wallene did an awesome job on the back!
Truth is. . . I am glad Sarah Palin announced that she isn't running for President. Now, could she get off of the bus, head back to Alaska and take care of her family?  You know, the REASON she QUIT the governship - to take care of her family? Remember?

Truth is. . .I am done for this morning.  See ya' on the flipside Tadpoles. Hope you have a great Thursday.

*These two women are different people and neither are on my blogroll. These are just things they voiced one day that I have been thinking about for a while.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Sparkly Clean!

Pooldad and I have the biggest bedroom in our home. Actually it is the biggest room in the house.  I have never seen such a big bedroom, but meh. . . we deal.  The biggest problem with having a bedroom so large is everything [and I mean everything] gets tossed in our room when we are cleaning up the rest of the house. It is a depository for all manner of things.  We just pile it up on one side and ignore it for a few months until it starts to infringe on our ability to walk through the room. 

That day came last week.  Pooldad got a bit fed up and decided the time had come to gut our room. WEE!

It looks wonderful!  He enlisted Wallene and they did a fabulous job. They even rearranged the room which makes me very happy because it tends to get chilly with the bed under the window.  Plus we can now relax on the bed and watch TV. Yippee!  Look:
Some of you may remember when my lovely husband bought that  comforter.
Yep, still stuck with it. At least it is warm.

Still have to hang up the pictures.

Need to add some chairs to the craft table

Our "new to us" TV
We had to relocate a lot of sweaters to give this puppy a home.

The remainder of my craft supplies


The pictures really don't do it justice as it looks so great and it's so nice to be able to walk through, in the dark, and not worry about tripping on something.  Although my husband did mention that perhaps I shouldn't look in the closet just yet. Heehee  [He was kidding.]

Hope y'all have a great Wednesday. If you need me I am going to be snuggled in my bed watching a "Law & Order" marathon.

See ya' on the flipside.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Bubbles And Good Health

I found something new on the market that is so delicious it has replaced soda in our home.  Soda was always a treat, but we seemed to have been treating the kids more often.  So when I saw these I bought some.
They are Ocean Spray Sparkling Juices. Since I love cranberry I bought that flavor. YUM-ME.

The best part about them is that they are much healthier than soda, but just as bubbly. I like what I drink to have carbonation or in this case sparkling water.

The ingredients on the one we bought are : grape juice from concentrate, sparkling water, cranberry juice from concentrate, natural flavors, furmaric acid and vitamin C. The sugars in it are naturally occurring. No fructose or corn syrup.  It says "all natural ingredients" on the can so I looked up fumaric acid because it didn't look too "all natural" to me.  It is. YAY!

Here is it's description:

A Naturally Occurring Acid with Unique Advantages

Fumaric acid is an organic acid widely found in nature. In humans and other mammals, Fumaric acid is a key intermediate in the tricarboxylic acid cycle for organic acid biosynthesis (the KREBS cycle). Fumaric acid is also an essential ingredient in plant life. 

One can has 90 calories, 0 g of fat, 35 g of sodium [yay me!] and 50 mg of potassium 

I hope y'all have a great Monday and it is as sparkly as mine is going to be.  See ya' on the flipside.

Disclaimer:  Blah, blah, blah - no I was not contacted by Ocean Spray, nor given any compensation for writing this post. I am just excited about them and they are so good.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

You Know It's Cold When. . .

It's time to turn the space heater on in the bathroom.

Yep! Fall showed up today. With a vengeance. It is barely 50 degrees F here this morning and that is down right cold Tadpoles.  Doesn't look like it is going to get much warmer than 53 today, so it is time to pull out the blue jeans and sweaters. YAY!

It actually snowed in the mountains west of us.

It also appears that this chilly weather is going to hang around for a while.  Which is fine by me, as long as we at least HAVE fall and don't go straight into a winter wonderland. You guys know me and know I love snow, but let's hold off until after Thanksgiving, 'kay? Thanks.

If you need me, you know where I'll be. :)

Oh, and you Canadian Tadpoles?  You can stop laughing at me now. I know this is balmy to y'all. heehee

Have a good one gang.  We'll see ya' on the flipside.