Oh the joys of boys

Well, that's not all true and not all about boys. Drew is into EVERYTHING right now... the drawers, my make-up drawer in the bathroom, the cabinets, the bowls, the dryer, the dog bed, the toilet, the bathtub (fell in -- it was empty), you name it -- he's in it.

He's a bundle of energy too. He loves to be outside to pick up any leaves that may have fallen to the ground, dead earthworms, rocks that need to be washed off (in his mouth). He loves the outdoors. He's started saying Josh too. It's so cute to hear him say that. And socks.... anything that goes on his feet or that can go over his feet are socks.... it could be shoes, socks, booties, slippers, pants, pajamas, if they go on the feet -- they are socks. Got it? Are we clear on that?

Right now, he's fighting nap time because I'm sure there is something ultra interesting that he's going to miss and I'm trying to find (well, ok, not right this minute) a recipe to make mini meatloaves in my pampered chef stoneware baking mini loaf pan. I think it'd be pretty cool to have several small ones that cook faster than one momba-gomba one. Isn't that just a gross word -- meat - loaf. A loaf of meat. Sounds rather appetizing? BARF! lol...

I totally caved on my diet last night as we went to Red Lobster... oh the lobster/crab stuffed mushrooms topped with ooey-gooey melted cheese and sitting in a butter bath, oh the cheddar bay biscuits, oh the popcorn shrimp with tartar sauce. I did opt for the steamed veggies in lieu of a loaded baked potato and I only at 1/2 of a biscuit. I ate all the veggies and all my salad...only drank water and no dessert. :) It's been so long since I had a real meal so that was nice! :) Now back to my tofu, bark and rabbit food. Oh what joy dieting is to the pallate... it just sucks all the joy out of eating. I cook these wonderful meals that smell so wonderful throughout the entire house and I sit down with a big salad.. blech. BUT if it works, that's the best part! :)

Tomorrow I'm supposed to start back at the gym... I need dto wish myself luck and probably get into bed by like now to get up at 5:30 am. Blech. I hate exercise ... especially when I should be sleeping. Hopefully it'll just be a quick routine to get used to and then I'll be back in shape in no time! :)

Living in the world of walking on eggshells

Have you ever made a off-side comment, trying to evoke a bit of humor from your "audience" only to have it turn completely upside-down, inside-out and backwards? Wow. I pulled a doozy on a friend of mine today and WHACK.... what an impression I made (not!).

So... after you've offered your apologies (even if you can't get a word in) you look back and realize... I really didn't DO anything wrong. It's all with intent and perception. I didn't INTEND to hurt although it was perceived that I did. So am I responsible for hurting someone's feelings when it was obviously not my intention? No. I don't believe anyone should take ownership for something so completely out of their hands. Should they offer apologies for a misunderstanding -- sure. But once words are said and they're out there... they just can't be taken back. Should you have to walk on eggshells and not be yourself for fear of hurting someone's feelings... not only no, but HELL NO! Our friends ARE our friends because WE CHOOSE THEM to be. You're stuck with your family. Your friends, however, you get the fortune of picking! So, misunderstanding or not, friends forgive and forget as they wouldn't be your friend in the first place if they really think you would do something to hurt them. Life's too short to sweat the small stuff man. Just get over it! Think of how small and unimportant a single incident really is in the grand scheme of life. Will it matter in 10 minutes? Perhaps... 10 days? doubtful.... 10 months... probably not.... 10 years... absolutely NOT...

:) More later... just had to vent. Get over it... I am.

Puberty at 32?

Ok... so my face broke out in ONE spot. I should just forget about it right? NO! I just don't get break outs and when they do occur, I'd rather hide in a cave until they disappear! I am so thankful for my genes in that I've always had good skin. Mom - Dad...thanks!

Today was a typical day. Josh was supposed to have soccer skills training but he didn't -- because I didn't take him. I had an afternoon-napless kid that was entering melt-down zone along with picking up shards of glass from my floor -- yes the maid who conveniently didn't tell me she broke my crystal sugar bowl lid and didn't bother to clean up the floor afterwards? I'm like hello -- you've SEEN my two children running around barefoot in here. The very LEAST you could do is vacuum. I swear having a language barrier is a real booger sometimes. I think if you're IN America -- and you want to work in a SERVICE industry -- speak the freakin language. Is that really too much to ask? Oh, and that she keeps calling Drew... Alex? LOL... I'm like... hey.. check your alter ego at the door, Maria... this is Drew... D - R - E - W. I do try so hard to be compassionate with these that come here and do jobs that no one else will do... but come ON there has GOT to be some give somewhere!

My best friend Christie is making me a monster rock cd. I'm really looking forward dto that. She just turned THIRTY THREE! Yikes... I hate being in my thirties. I never thought that I'd be one to really detest aging but I do. I mean, you get wringles, things don't stay where God put them. Aging is a cruel joke. You need money to laugh back (so you can get your ass lifted back to where it's supposed to be!).

I'm doing great with the baby weight loss thing now that I'm able to win the battle of the will power in my mind. Why is that little freakin devil sitting on my shoulder all the time going "snack snack snack"... finally I kicked his horny little butt and I've lost over 15 lbs! :) I've got about another 15-20 to go and I'll be happy with me again. Well, that and a tan... and some extensions LOL... just kidding (about the extensions)... I'd love my hair to be long again... and to be COMFORTABLY back in my size 6's again.... my day is coming...and I will NOT put on that Holiday 10 everyone talks about. :) I'm going to be THE ONE that continues to lose during the holidays... you watch.

Santa... I'm asking Santa this year for my CKU classes in Atlanta. I'm so excited to go!!! : ) That and an OTT light for my scrap room... AND... (I know, isn't that enough)... peace on earth (HA!)... where's my freakin tiara! just kidding... and... oh there was somethign else... Oh yeah, a complete Demdaco nativity set. Well, at least a piece or two so I can START the darn thing. :) I've bid on so many of those on e-bay only to get outbid and it really sucks!

I've gotta go bathe a little guy... he's talking into a microphone right now...and then going ultrasonic...sounds kind of like a little howler monkey. I'll get it on cd one of these days... my luck it'd be some babboon mating call and they'd all swarm! lol.

Late-

Move Over Rachael Ray!

I seem to outdo myself quite often in the kitchen. Tonight -- manicotti florentine. YUM-O! :) I should BE so lucky to get paid for cooking!

Great day for the most part. Ran errands, finished up Christmas shopping. Gotta shop for the little people.

Right now, jammin on Kid Rock and about to Scrap! :) Need to post some pics of my goodies... we'll see how that goes. I'm sure it'll be a long night -- little man went down an hour early without dinner so I think he'll be doing an 11 pm feed me session.

Sigh... oh well.

The little man

Well, to spend some time focusing on the little man today -- Drew. What a wonderfully bright and energetic little spirit. A funny quirk of his is that when he walks, it's like he's always falling. I guess that's why he's a toddler. He must be in constant motion. Curly blonde locks in the back that I dare not cut! Yes, he's a boy and I dress him as such but I can't bring myself to cut those off. He loves Little Gym on Tuesdays but that's only because once he's spent about 10 minutes playing, he gets to run to the closet and say "bah" (ball)... he wants to get the balls out and play. He has a small but ever-growing vocabulary...

bah - ball (first word)
mah mah - that'd be me
dah dah - doggie
kah kah - cracker (this stands for any crunchy food)
soss (sounds like sauce) - for socks... it can be for booties and shoes too... pretty much anything that goes on his feet. :)
nah nuh - banana
touch - touch -- this is because I let him touch the fringe on our lamps upstairs every day and now if you pass anything with fringe he wants to touch.
bi bi - bye bye
meh - milk
emma - Elmo
tah kah - Tiger -- Andy was letting him watch golf and shows him Tiger Woods yesterday. He was like a little parrot

He knows sign language for milk so he usually does that for milk and doesn't say it.

A newly acquired talent is from watching the Wiggles. Yes, I do sit through and endure an episode of the Wiggles (well, at least 10 minutes of it) daily. They do a song where they sing "Quack Quack Quack Quack Quack Cock-a-doodle-do" and have these little hand motions that go with it (kind of like the chicken song done at lame wedding receptions) and he likes to make like he has little wings and flap them. It's very cute indeed!

He likes to dance by squatting up and trying to jump -- usually by landing right on his bum. He loves the dogs -- even though he's generally chasing them around the house with things to poke them. Books are a treasured commodity in this house! he loves the ones that have movement and pop up. Board books are good chew toys we've discovered.

And, his latest love -- ELMO! :)

More later!

The beginning of it all.

Well, it's a blog. What can I say. I'm going to use this to see if I can get my thoughts down daily. Not that my life is overly exciting, mind you, just rather, I'd like to see what kind of life it's really like being a true soccer mom. :)

More to come but for now... back to my online chat at www.scrappergal.com :) It's an AWESOME site for scrapbooking and I'm not just saying that b/c I'm on the design team. :) Check it out!

AAAhhh sweet memories

I made a crock pot full of stew last night and made a big pan of cornbread to go with it. Just now, I went into the kitchen wanting a tidbit of a snack. I believe Pooh would call that a smackerel. LOL. So, I got a piece of cornbread, broke it up into pieces and put it in a coffee cup. Then I poured milk over the entire thing and got me a spoon. My grandmother (I called her "MawMaw") and I did this as far back as I can remember. She always had buttermilk in the fridge to make cornbread and homemade biscuits but whenever we had this special treat she called it “cornbread and sweet milk”. Sweet milk was just regular milk. I’m sure anyone else would find it strange to make “cereal” out of your cornbread but for me it was like a step back in time… a little bit of my grandmother and me again at the table. Are there any things you find completely normal but others may find it odd that you can attribute to your parental or grandparental moments? I think I want to keep this little “note” and use it as a reference to scrap a page about her.