May we always remember...

This was sent to me by a friend that is currently in Iraq.

This was written by a United States Marine who is currently deployed to Iraq, in reply to a recent comment made by Senator John Kerry.

Pass it along, it might inspire someone else to speak up!

"Yesterday John Kerry said, "You know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, and if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq...

So I wrote him a letter:I am a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I am currently on my second tour in Iraq, a tour in which I volunteered for. I speak Arabic and Spanish and I plan to tackle Persian Farsi soon. I have a Bachelors and an Associates Degree and between deployments I am pursuing an M.B.A. In college I was a member of several academic honor societies, including the Golden Key Honor Society. I am not unique among the enlisted troops. Many of my enlisted colleagues include lawyers, teachers, mechanics, engineers, musicians and artists just to name a few.

You say that your comments were directed towards the President and not us. If we were stupid Senator Kerry, we might have believed you. I am not a victim of President Bush. I proudly serve him because he is my Commander and Chief. If it was you who was President, I would serve you just as faithfully. I serve America, Senator Kerry, and I am also providing a service to the good people of Iraq. I have not terrorized them in the middle of the night, raped them or murdered them as you have accused me of before. I am doing my part to help them rebuild. My role is a simple one, but important.

You see Senator Kerry, like it or not, we came here and removed a tyrant (who terrorized Iraqis in the middle of the night, and raped them and murdered them). And we have a responsibility to see to it that another one doesn't take his place. The people of Iraq are recovering from an abusive relationship with a terrible government and its going to take some time to help them recover from that. We can't treat this conflict like a microwave dinner and throw a temper tantrum because we feel like its taking too long.

Senator Kerry, you don't have to agree with this war. You don't have to say nice things about those of us who choose to make sacrifices for the rights of every American rather than sit back and simply feel entitled to it. But please, Senator Kerry, if you're going to call me a stupid murdering rapist, stick by what you say. Don't tell me that I misunderstood or that you would never insult a veteran because you are one too. Having been there and done that does not give you a free pass to insult me.

My suggestion for you, Senator Kerry, is to remember that your speeches are recorded, and broadcast to us simpletons over here. You may want to write down what you want to say before you say it, maybe have somebody look at it before you say it and tell you what others might hear. Remember that we can't read your mind, if there are any misinterpretations in what you say, it's because you didn't communicate clearly.

Good luck to you Senator Kerry, if nothing else it's always entertaining to watch you try and climb out of the holes that you constantly dig for yourself.

Sincerely,
Somebody who is watching his daughter grow up in photographs so that you can have the right to say whatever you want about him.

To all the veterans who have served, who are serving and who will serve, I thank you for the freedom to say what I want, pray what I want, and blog what I want. God Bless You All!

Look Ma' no Helmet and Shellfish you are dead to me

Look Ma, No Helmet!!!

Behold the beautiful round head!

I am so glad to be done with that helmet. The doc said, "put it on the mantle, you're done!" Music to my ears! She has only hit her head once so far (you can see it in this photo) and she didn't even cry. That will change soon I am sure.

Shellfish...you are dead to me...

In September when we went to Austin to visit my sister and grandma, we ate at this restaurant that we have eaten at for years. They have really cheap peel and eat shrimp, and me, I loves me some scrimps. A couple hours later I started itching really badly on my stomach and my armpits and around my bra-line. We had left the window open while we were gone, so I thought maybe some no-see-em's (biting bugs) had gotten in and attacked me. I am very sweet (oh, you shushums) and I get bit everywhere I go by anything that can bite. I got bit at the butterfly exhibit at the museum, proof in point. Anyways, I took a shower and that seemed to help, and put on some Aveeno lotion and went to bed and the next day I was fine, so I didn't think any more of it. A month ago, I was back in Austin when my grandmother fell and broke her hip. Mom and I went and ate at the same place once again and had peel and eat shrimp once again. A couple of hours later and I am broken out in hives on my stomach, back, inner thighs, all around my chest and bra line and my neck. I also was having trouble breathing and was without my inhaler. I took a bath and I finally managed to scrounge up some Bena*dryl cream and some Bena&dryl caps and took them, but this reaction lasted a lot longer. When my Mom came home, she broke the bad news to me, it seemed I probably had an allergy to shellfish. What the???

So this morning I went to the doc and he said they could send me to the allergist to get tested to make sure, but it sounded like I was in fact allergic to shellfish and should avoid it altogether. I would go to the allergist just to make sure it wasn't just something in that one restaurants shrimp (I know, wishful thinking), but my insurance won't cover it and I'm not paying out of pocket for them to tell me what I know deep down already. Doc wrote me a Rx for an Epi Pen (sp?) and told me to stay away from all shellfish.

Goodbye scrimps that I love so much. Goodbye yearly crawfish boil with friends. Goodbye, lobstra, my dear friend. And goodbye soft shell, hard shell, all shell crab, my dears I will miss you so. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....

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And now for the not so funny. I have been praying my little heart out for two fellow bloggers that are going through horrific times in their lives and my heart is breaking for them. Both of these links are very, very sad, so read at your own risk.

Charming B. and her husband it seems have lost the battle to save their son. It is hard to tell from her latest post, but the situation was not looking good. I cannot begin to fathom their pain and grief. I cannot imagine how they will handle that pain, but I know they will, for they are strong, beyond what I could hope to be. I pray for peace and strength and hope for them in the days, months, years to come as they grieve the loss of this precious life.

This couple, I found just a couple of days ago through BusyMom (she can be found over there on the right). It seems the wife came down with some sort of sickness the week of Halloween and this week they are struggling to keep her alive. They aren't sure what the root problem is, but they are struggling to figure it out. They are so young and have two children. Another experience that makes me hold my family close and remember the things that really, really matter.

Pray for both these families this week and hold those dear to you close and tell them that you love them, for tomorrow brings things we do not know.

The Entertaining of the Un-entertainable and Longing

The is the blog tale of two halfs.

Seriously people, I am running out of things to possibly do with a pre-toddler. I say pre-toddler, because I refuse to acknowledge anything other than that. What do you people do with a toddler-like being? There are only so many games of peek-a-boo from behind the couch she will stay interested in. And also, my child cannot physically sit still. Without going into details, last week she had a raging diaper rash and everything I read to make it better said to leave them out of a diaper for as long as possible. Who can let their kid roam around without a diaper? Not me, as she is mobile every minute of every single hour of every single day. The child roams in her sleep. It's not that I am opposed to having to clean up an accident (ok, yes I am, but I would have done it if it had helped), but she would have peed all over the house. And if I wanted that kind of mess, I would have gotten a puppy not a kid.

Most days when I can no longer entertain her, we get in the car and go somewhere, but this generally leads us to a store, and as we all know, store=spending money=Broke, with a capital B-R-O-K-E, which = mad husband=mad me and so on and so forth, vicious cycle.

So, tell me what in the world do I do with a non-toddler. Keep in mind that I also have to work 5 hours a day, 4 days a week and 3 out of those 4 hours are worked during her nap time, so we can't stray too far from the house for very long.

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In other news, like there is other news besides the Boo Bear, I have been feeling...lackluster and longing, lately. (pretend there is a great segway here) We don't watch much TV in this house anymore because we don't let Boo Bear watch it. We only turn the TV on after she has gone to bed and we are done with dinner. I used to be a CSI fan, but lately they have gotten too gruesome and graphic for me, so I have stopped watching. I watch three shows on a regular basis, Gilmore Girls, Men In Trees and the UFC with hubby. That's it. Last week GG was a re-run, Men In Trees wasn't even on and we weren't home on Thursday night for UFC. I found myself longing for the days when I enjoyed TV. I found myself surfing channels hoping to find something that I would enjoy to the level that I used to enjoy it.

I know deep down that this longing has nothing to do with TV and everything to do with the fact that I am in one of life's ruts. Don't get me wrong, I love my life in the general, broad sense of things, but I am looking for something new, something exciting, something different right now. I know to leave well enough alone because I have lived long enough to know that you don't mess with those things and if you wait long enough, new, exciting and different find you on their own and sometimes, usually, it's not really quite what you had in mind anyways.

Hubby and I are both at points where our jobs are lacking the excitement and fulfillment they used to. I still love my job, but I love the job of being a Mom more and I'm tired of feeling like I am only putting 10% into each one of those. I am starting to think forward to having another child and if I thought the pressure of the holidays coming on our budget was killing me, the thought of having another child almost breaks me. Having another child without insurance. Having another child and living on one income so I can stay home with them. Having another child, the knowledge that I may never get a vacation with my husband again, all the while knowing that vacationing as we did BK (before kids) will never be the same anyways as it is. Like I said, I'm waiting for that next big change in our lives, and when it comes, I will shoo it away as it is not what I was expecting.

Also coming up is Thanksgiving. This statement is foreboding to many of us in and of itself, but for me, well, it brings with it a certain "doom" for lack of a better word. Every year for the past 3 years, we have done or had to do something major that has cost us lots and lots of money. 3 years ago we got married, 2 years ago we bought a house and last year we bought a car. The first one we chose, the other two were kind of chosen for us by circumstances. Imagine my delight when I tried to start my car on Saturday and it wouldn't start? Can you imagine, really go ahead and try. To my utter delight, hubby called and the auto shop said this: "It started right up for us and we've been driving it all day." Fabulous! Glad that my car has taken a dislike to me and that they enjoy using up my precious gas. So I am waiting for the Thanksgiving shoe to drop and hoping that this year, it will be minor. Actually, technically, we do have that shoe already as we are flying to NM to visit my Mom and Sister this year, so we have spent some money, although not the chunk we have spent in previous years and I am sure that I will be spent after flying with a non-toddler for the first time and spending 5 days away from home. Ahh... the holidays. I know there are people out there that love this time of year, but I just can't seem to figure out what is wrong with them.

Maybe I need to read a good book. Any suggestions?

My heart is breaking...

A fellow blogger, that I do not know and have only been reading for a short while, is dealing with a situation that no one should ever have to deal with. Her and her husband are having to make life and death decisions regarding their new baby. If you are the praying type, please add them to your prayer list. I will be praying for a miracle. My heart is breaking for them.

SPH: Windows

This was taken from the atrium dining room of the

Embassy Suites in New Orleans last weekend.

Because it's my duty as a parent

Halloween!

Yes, that is a thermometer in her hand. In order to get her dressed these days, we have to distract her with something, anything, so she doesn't flip over and crawl away. As soon as I got her into her costume, I started laughing, so she started laughing. My Dad and Step-Mom came up to experience her first Halloween. I took her to two of the neighbors' houses to "trick or treat.", but mainly her costume was for our own enjoyment.

SPH: Safe

I tried to post this Saturday evening when we got home from a busy day, but Blogger was not cooperating!

I hope that I can always keep her this safe.

What exit should I take to sleep?

My MIL recently bought a house in our neighborhood, one street over actually and we are so excited to have her so close. She is very excited as well. Unfortunately, we are still waiting for her to sell her house in town, so she is commuting back and forth in the interim. Last week, hubby went down to get the guest bed from her house so that she would have something to sleep on in the new house. Thinking that the box spring and the mattress were wedged in good enough with boxes on the trailer, hubby made his way back north on 45. About half way into his trip, a couple people pulled up beside him honking and pointing. Hubby looked and looked before he realized that the mattress had flown out of the trailer. Not knowing how far back it had flown out, hubby circled around and around in search of the mattress, he finally found it. Luckily it had not caused an accident and had somehoe flown across two lanes to land on the left shoulder. Fortunately, the mattress was salvageable. Unfortunately, the shoulder was so narrow, that hubby might have been killed trying to load it back onto the trailer. Needless to say, MIL was not thrilled about the loss of her mattress.

My Nana-In Law called my MIL the other day and said, "I was just calling to see what exit I'm sleeping at next time I am there." That lady cracks me up!

This that and the other

I present to you, randomness. It's been awhile since I did a "real" post. As in, not just filler or pictures, but something real that reflects on the goings on in the world. Albeit my world.
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When I grow up and become a parent of a school aged child, I have decided that I will proudly display a bummer sticker that says simply "Proud Parent". Technichally I guess I don't really have to wait until she is school age.
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Last week when our babysitter came over to watch Boo Bear so the hubs and I could go to dinner with friends, she told me a shocking story. She is 18 and going to a local community college. She was telling me that soon she would have more time to babysit if I needed her. I asked her why that was and she told me that she may be dropping out of her English class. It seems that her professor gave them a speaking assignment in which the purpose was to hone their public speaking skills. (sidebar: Back when I was in college, we had English and we had Speach, two very distinct classes) The subject matter for this 10 minute speach was to be P0rn0gr@phy. I'll let that sink in... I don't care what age you are and what class it is, I think it is completely unacceptable to assign this topic in a school. If I was paying for that class, I would be throwing a fit. Anyways, her Dad was livid and was going to pull her out of the class. I would to for that matter. There are plenty of other interesting and controversial (if that was the purpose) subjects to discuss out there these days without having to bring that into the mix.
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My life is full, my days runeth over and my wheels keep spinning and I am so thankful for all of that.

I should post something

Something.


Kidding. Life is moving along at a pace that lately I am having trouble keeping up with. It seems, just when I get a handle on my day, it's over.

Boo Bear is crawling all over and pulling up on everything, so my life is full of following her around and picking up or moving whatever she is trying to stuff in her mouth or pull on her head. It's called babyproofing, one minute at a time. And cleaning as you go.

She is so mobile that I can really only work while she is napping, which in itself is a moving target right now.

I am finding that I really don't want to do anything outside of the house because it is really so much trouble. It takes forever to get out of the house; trip to the car, put baby in, turn car on, realize I forgot something, leave car running with baby in it (before anyone freaks out, we live in a very small, very out of the way neighborhood that if you don't know where it is and you happen to be here, you are lost), make mad dash inside for whatever I forgot. Rinse, lather, repeat, at least 2x. An any outing farther than say Target, the bank or Walmart is sure to mess up Boo Bear's schedule and I really can't have her napping in the car, because as I said, I have to work while she naps and I can't do that while driving the car. Hence my being tied to the house.

I also find that even outings without Boo Bear, leave me less than thrilled. It takes a lot of work to leave a breastfed baby anywhere without boobage for any length of time. And my free time, read, alone time, is very scarce and frankly I would just be happy sitting on the couch vegging instead of driving somewhere, spending money I don't have, carting child and 10 million of her necessary items to and fro, so on and so forth.

So, as you can see, I'm a grump, a pain, a short-tempered, hoo ha and did I mention that it seems my Aunt Flo has come back to visit, despite the fact that I am breastfeeding, but I am sure that has nothing to do with my foul mood.

Going back under shell now...

Genuinely Needed Support

An friend of mine from blogland is in need of your thoughts, prayers and support. He is dealing with an issue that I am very familiar with. This man has helped me with blog issues and work issues and although I have never met him, I have met his wife and have spoken with them on the phone and considered them to be true friends of mine. Please go and give them some of your kind thoughts and support.

SPH: Lost

I had some trouble with this subject. Rather, I didn't already have anything that would fit. And then I realized that the leaves are falling and my crepe mertle is all but gone. This must mean that despite our 80-90 degree weather, fall is indeed making it's way into South Texas. Happy Saturday folks!

Before you do anything else today...

... go tell her HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My life is truly blessed because she is in it. May you all have at least one friend like her.

Update: Link should be working now. I'm a dunce.

SPH: Sleeping (Two days late) and Photo Friday

I had totally planned on being on the ball and posting a fabulous picture for last week's SPH and Photo Friday. Unfortunately, I had to make an impromtu trip to Austin. My grandmother fell and broke her hip, my mother flew in and me and Boo Bear went to visit and make grandma all better. Well, as much as we could. Grandma had her surgery yesterday and it went well, hopefully she will make a full recovery. As full as an 86 year old can make, we hope. She is now recovering and giving all the nurses what-for, something she is quite good at.

So here are my late photos. Sorry for the delay and I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

SPH: Sleeping

This was taken probably when Boo Bear was about 1.5 weeks. It's when we first noticed her sleeping with her hands behind her head. Something that would later lead to her wearing her helmet and sleeping like this.

Photo Friday: Thin

Dear Daughter

Dear Daughter,

This letter is different than your monthly updates that talk about your cuteness and your milestones. This letter is about the things I hope that I can do for you as a Mother. This world we live in, it is a harsh world. I will never gloss that over, because it is important for you to know. But I hope to protect you to the best of my ability.

In this world we live in, I hope someday you will understand the decisions that your father and I make when it comes to you. I hope that you will understand why it is so hard to just let you go outside and play without watching over you like a hawk. I want you to feel free, but want to protect you from the predators in this world that may be disguised as community leaders, religious leaders, teachers and friends. I want you to be like the other kids, but understand why we do not let you watch TV. There really is nothing on there worth watching anymore and I know that I shouldn't watch it either. I hope to teach you the joys of reading. The places that books can take you and the things you can learn without ever having to experience them for yourself.

I hope that when the time comes to send you to school, that the bureaucrats have gotten their act together and decided that more important than getting money for more passing test grades on state tests, is learning and teaching our children, not only the things they need to know for tomorrow, but how to "fish" in the world, not just be handed the fish. I hope they can find a balance between discipline, self-esteem and learning. Life is hard, it is not fair and it never will be, so coddling our children is not in their best interest. I hope that you never have to experience being held hostage and watching friends be hurt or killed and I hope I never have to stand outside a school praying that my child is alright.

I hope you will understand why you have a curfew and why it is so important to keep it. Good things do not happen after midnight. Night time is dangerous and I only want to protect you to the best of my ability. I hope that you will understand that when you start driving, why you can only have one other person in the car with you. Driving takes skill, practice, and focus. You cannot have focus with 4 other teenagers in the car. If you do have focus, odds are it will be on a boy or some other interesting thing at school, not on the road. I hope I never have to be on the receiving end of a late night phone call telling me that you are not coming back from wherever you have gone. I hope that the lesson death brings is a lesson you do not learn too young. Losing friends at any age is difficult at best, but the teenage years are hard enough and full of other lessons just as hard.

I hope that I never have to hear a doctor tell me something is wrong with you that cannot be fixed. I hope that you never know real pain, but I know that is not possible. Pain is a part of life. I hope I can teach you how to deal with it gracefully. Someone once said, just because you have a pain, doesn't mean you have to be one. Handle pain and heartache, difficult situations with grace, others will notice.

I hope that I can teach you to make good decisions so that when I am not with you, you will make good decisions and be proud of them. Sometimes good decisions go against the grain. That's okay. Stand up for what you believe in and remember that all fads pass and you learn more with age. I hope that I can lead by example and not be a hypocrite, I will do my best. For I should never say, "do as I say, not as I do." I hope that I will make you proud and that I will make God proud for how I raise you.

I hope that you know that I will always do the best that I can do. Sometimes my best will be better than other times. I hope that you will realize that I am human and make mistakes, much sooner than I ever realized it with my parents. I hope that you will be forgiving when I do make mistakes and I hope that I can do the same for myself.

I hope that my marriage to your father will be a living example of a healthy, happy relationship that you will someday model your own marriage after. I hope that we will teach you that arguing is good and healthy, and that when you love someone, it's not about who's right or wrong, but about making it right. It's never too late to say, "I'm sorry."

I hope that you always know how much I love you and how beautiful you are. I hope that I can teach you the true meaning of beauty, both inside and out without blurring the line. I hope that I can break through the hold society has on appearances and teach you how to love yourself for you and to never feel bad about who you are. Self esteem is such a fragile thing, easily broken, hard to repair. Pride can be dangerous as well. Balance is one key to a happy life.

Lastly, I can only hope that as you grow, this world just might make itself a little better. I hope that as a Mother, I can be a part of making the world a better place, not the other way around. I love you, dear daughter and pray for your safety.

Love,
Momma

More hubby humor

It was brought to my attention that I didn't make the joke below clear. Hopefully now it adds more funny!

What is Snoop Dog's favorite flavor of Oatmeal?

Peeyaaatches and Cream.

I love that man.

And more...
As we discussed Boo Bear's long fingers and her possible musical talent.

Me: Maybe she will play piano.
Him: The better to hold her harmonica with. (Note: I bought my husband a harmonica last year for Christmas because he mentioned in passing he might like one. I have created a monster. We now have 7 harmonicas and he spends any free time he has playing.)
Me: I don't think she can get a full scholarship for harmonica, not even to Julliard.
Him: You never know, there's probably someone out there who got a full ride for the triangle.

To know him, is to love him.

Austin Trip

I really have no time to post, but did say that I would post about our trip to Austin. It was awesome. The kids were great and I got to spend some great time with my sister and brother-in-law and my grandmother. Here is the trip in pictures.

The boys were never quite sure what to do with Boo Bear, but she had a blast hanging out with them.

Aren't they all adorable? I'm not biased either!

In the interim, makeup goodness

I don't know the quality of the make up, but I ordered a boat load and spent $14 with shipping. If it's bad, at least it's less than Maybeline.

"The web address below is for a new makeup line that Nordstroms is going to start carrying, but they are trying to get the word out first by selling everything for a buck… Don’t know if it is any good but I ordered some, what the heck for a dollar you cant complain…"


https://www.eyeslipsface.

Illness party of two...

We are still recovering from the trip. Allergies are kicking my butt a la Sinus Infection and are also giving Boo Bear some snottyness and all around irritability. Add to that the fact that I had to go back to work today and catch up from being out of the office for a week + Nana staying with us + everyday life and waaaaah I want to go crawl in bed. I promise to do a vacation post with pictures of all the adorable children soon, but for now, I'm struggling to make it through the day.

SPH and Photo Friday

I am using the same picture for both subjects this week.

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt the subject is eyes. My girl's got some killer eyes!
Photo Friday the subject is "girl", so here is my girl!

Vacation all I ever wanted...

I'm off tomorrow to Austin to see my sister, my brother-in-law and my nephews as well as my grandmother. I'm under no delusions that this trip is going to be easy with an 8 month old and two 20 month olds, but it will be absolutely wonderful to get to spend a whole week with my sister. I probably won't be checking in much so enjoy the archives or check out someone on my blogroll that you have never read before. Have a fantabulous week!

8 months and counting...

I had this all ready to post yesterday on time and everything. But my internet has been down since Thursday. I know, very sad indeed. Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt is the next post down.


Dear Boo Bear,

I think I start every one of these letters with, "I can't believe it's been ___ months." But I can't. The past 8 months can't have possibly gone so fast and yet I watch you growing every day. I can't remember when you were "little" hardly, but then you we go to get you wieghed and you haven't even doubled your birth weight yet. You eat like we will take it away from you, and don't worry I won't. You have no qualms about telling me when you don't like what you are eating, you just don't eat it. You clamp your little mouth shut and make your turtle face and I know (I think) that you don't like it. I also know that when you do like something, you will eat and eat and eat until I don't see how you could possibly put all that food in your little bitty body, yet you do.

You have finally started showing us when you are excited too. I was beginning to worry that you might be too laid back. When you get excited you flap your arms up and down and if I am holding you, my arm gets a nice little beating. But it's so darn cute, so I let you beat on me, as long as that means you are happy. You rarely get to see your father during this time of year because he has to work all the time, so when you do, you smile so big and get so excited, beat, beat, beat goes the hand. He tries to get you out of bed every morning for just a small glimpse of you. You hug his arm while he changes your diaper and play and when he brings you into our bathroom as I blearily brush my teeth, there goes that arm. When I come to get you in the morning, you cry, because, hey lady, you got the foods, forget my diaper, gimme the boobie.

You are becoming mobile and I am running around in circles chasing my tail about what to do about it. The other day I set you in the middle of our very long bathroom like I always do to take a shower. You promptly slipped onto your stomach and began scooching towards my closet. Since I couldn't recall the full state of my closet and despite the fact that my floors are filthy, I really didn't want you chomping on my shoes, I banged on the shower door to grab your attention. Grab it I did as you moseyed on over to check things out. Two minutes later I realized stupidly that with you laying right outside the shower door, I potentially could be stuck in the shower. Now there may be times, quite frequently really, that I would not mind being forced to hang out in the shower, but this was not one of them. Something about inquiring eyes and the lack of relaxation being the reason. Luckily, you laid your head down and the shower door was just high enough to skim over your helmet. I am sure this is just the beginning of how you will terrorize your Mother, dear girl.

Your smile still makes all the worlds problems go away in one fell swoop and when you laugh, I could conquer anything. You make me laugh with your giggle and your mischevious little grin. Speaking of grin, you are getting your bottom two teeth. I will not say anything about the teething experience for fear of jinxing myself and ruining the rest of my life as a mother. I plan on having other children, no need to mess of the balance of the universe with one stupid comment. Despite the doctor saying from the day you were born that you would teeth early, you waited until 7.5 months, just like all the average babies. You are far from average though baby girl.

You have started to discover that your hands belong to your body and will stop what you are doing and look at your hand while you slowly open and close it. Open. Close. Open. Close. Then you resume what you were doing. Your favorite toy is a tooth brush that has some sort of noise maker in the base of it and you fling that thing around like you are playing an instrument. Of course after slobbering, I mean, brushing your teeth, on it, you like to fling the slobber like the best of them too.

You have definitely found your outside voice and you love to screach repeatedly. This is a huge hit at playgroup because all the older children think it's fun too. Not so much. Mommy likes her head feeling like something other than the day after a college party. If I am going to have a headache, I better get the fun that came before it. You have also started blowing raspberries. Not on anything, but repeatedly pursing your lips and blowing like there is no tomorrow. Cute in general, not so cute when you have your mouth full of food.

A few days ago I sat you in your crib so that I could vacuum your room and you promptly grabbed the side rail and pulled up to standing. Holy Crap on a stick, batman, help me. You then let go and fell over and cried and cried. When I sat you back up you promptly grabbed the side once again and pulled yourself back up to standing. Three days ago, we walked in to get you in the morning and there you sat all by yourself. Gah! We have now lowered the crib and I go back and forth every day with whether or not to take out the bumper. I fear you will use it as a foot hold for climbing, but then all also fear you will get your little hands and feet stuck in between the slats and break something. Half a dozen... Today I came to check on you about 15 minutes after I had put you down for your nap. I opened the door and there you sat playing. When you saw me, you quickly flopped onto your stomach and laid your head down. I couldn't help but laugh as I walked back out of the room. You little sneaker-pot.

It is only a matter of time until you figure out that you can move faster on your knees than just pulling your body along with your hands. You move very quickly now and I can no longer work with you on the floor because you move quick as a flash under my desk, taking a beeline straight to all the cords and wheels and other fun things I can worry about you killing yourself with. I guess it's time to baby proof (is there really such a thing) this house.


You have recently started to sleep on your face. This terrifies me, but there is nothing I can do. You sleep mostly on your side or stomach now with your nose and mouth buried in the mattress. I can only hope that when we take off your helmet you will stop doing this as the helmet is at least a little bit of a buffer. My sweet girl you are too cute when you sleep though, with just the smallest little snore. I am constantly coming in and placing my hand on your back, making sure that you are still breathing. Please keep breathing.

Boo Bear, you light up my life. You bless me in ways I never dreamed of. I love you. I love you. I love you. A million kisses a day.

Love,
Mommy

SPH: Looking Up

Crap on a Stick with hand bells

I was letting Boo Bear play with my cell phone this morning while I tried to keep her entertained with anything and everything. It is one of her favorite things to play with so I let her have as a last ditch option. Well, she had it open and I kept hearing the ding - the signal when you make changes. Sometimes she is able to save random numbers so I don't worry too much, I just take it away from her and close it and hand it back. Well, I just went to look up a number and it seems she managed to delete all but like 12 of my stored numbers.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!

Did I mention we don't have a home phone, so all my numbers are on that cell phone.

Oy to the Vey!

UPDATE: I talked to a Cingular rep. He told me to turn the phone off and then back on. All the numbers were there. I told him he was a genius.

Moral of the story: No more open face phone time for Boo Bear.

Free travel..sort of

If you have the income to travel, but want to experience more than you can afford, check this out. You will get reibursed for your stays in exchange for reveiwing the very high end properties. You have to pay for your travel, but hey, you get double your money's worth by getting to stay and some pretty high end places. Now where did I hide that extra million dollars?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Tidbits of Hubby Humor

While flipping through the channels and coming across the Football game last Thursday between Pittsburgh and Miami,

Hubby: "Look, it's Pittsburgh and Missing In Action."

*****************************************

Preface: We have an outdoor cat named Tigger.

Hubby: "Whadda up my Tigger?" (Said in the way Conan O'Brien says "Whaddup my babieees!"

I gave him THE LOOK, (I HATE the N-word) and he says, "What, that's how you greet the cat homeys."

*****************************************

My hubby is very hard on his cell phones and we have to get him a new one about once a year. His current phone is at the end of its life. The end button and down button and various others no longer work. In order to hang up his phone he has to hit a series of buttons. I joke that he is entering the secret code. I told him, "We've discovered Mission Impossible IV, hanging up your phone."

*****************************************

SPH: Food

Photo Friday: Boy

Can you say yummy balls of goodness... and fat.

I know, I know, add these things to the long line of fried things that will go to my hips and probably kill me later, but how I want to try these. And by these, I don't mean the fried green beans. Because although they boast the fried and I do love the fried, the mac and cheese fried. Heaven in a ball. A fried ball.

Hard lessons of life: Blogging for Books

This Months' Blogging for Books Entry:

For this month's Blogging for Books, write about a time when you either: 1) learned a harsh life lesson, got punk'd, or simply had someone make an ass of you;2) gained a spectacular new insight into life; or3) decided to educate yourself about something.

The following story probably encompasses all three, because I got schooled for sure and made a fool of and certainly learned my lessons, albeit quite slowly.

I was 19, a sophomore in college, the epitome of young and carefree. Still enjoying the newfound freedom being away from parental guidance gives. Little did I know that this year would forever shape my relationships with men. My roommate and I both worked at a country bar and decided to go hang out on a Tuesday night since we were both off and what better place to hang out than where you work (read: cheap drinks). Long story short, I met a guy. He was cute, he was charming, he seemed perfect. That should have been my first red flag.

We started dating and moved along quite quickly. Pretty soon he was staying at my place a lot. Of course, his living situation was the couch at a friends' one bedroom apartment where 5 other guys were living as well. Second red flag, duh!

One weekend we decided to make the trip up to north Texas to meet the 'rents (his, not mine). I had to work, but we decided to leave late after work, so our drive from Austin began around 11 PM one night. Not sure why now, but we had borrowed one of his buddies cars to take with us and had to clean it out because it was full of beer cans. On the drive we talked and talked and it was during this trip that I saw just a glimpse into his shady past. He told me about warrants for traffic violations and minor other things as well as a little check fraud thrown in for fun. BIG RED FLAG WAVING WILDLY. RUN THE OTHER DIRECTION. But he's cute and did I mention he's cute so I'll just overlook that little bit of law breaking.

About 4 AM we are about an hour from his parents place when it happens. The lights, red and blue behind us. He is driving, and oh, by the way, license suspended. No biggie, right. The short of it. Cop. Window. License and Registration. Run license and registration. Step out of the vehicle. Search the vehicle, find beer can. Handcuffs (him, not me). Crying (me, not him).

At this point, I am still a young, scared female whose heart beats out of her chest every time she's sees a cop, not to mention getting pulled over. I am freaking the hell out. The officers won't let me go with them to the jail, because duh there is no where for me to hang out. We are in the middle of no where and I have to now drive to a town I've never been to, call people I have never met and tell them that their son is in jail. (Little did I know that they were used to this) But I was not used to this.

I'll spare you the details of the meeting the parents, the trailer, the missing teeth, the (and I am so not being a snob here) below my level of living that I was accustomed to. We discuss how we (I) will get him out of jail. He calls crying, "get me out of here." CRYING. (Say it with me, SUCKER) Cost of his freedom? $2000.00. You read that right, two, zero, zero, zero dollars. I don't have that kind of money. His parents sure don't have that kind of money. I call my best friend and she loans it to me. His father assures me that it will all get paid back, every cent, no problem, they will figure out a way to pay it back, we're good for it, blah, blah, blah, lies. We deal with the transfer of the money and after 24 hours of no sleep, spring him from the pokey.

Skip forward two weeks. I'm waiting at work, for Mr. Wonderful-not-so-much to pick me up from work. No call, can't find him. Finally get a call from one of his friends. Bet you can't guess where he is? JAIL, again. He calls me CRYING again. Bet you can't guess what I did. If you guessed, left him there, well, that would be the logical thing to do, but no, $800 later and his truck impounded (where it would stay forever), we were back home. One big happy, stupid, couple.

Life went on for awhile without him getting his butt thrown in jail and it was all hunky dory while his best friend and other friends all moved in with us and then his sister moved in with us and I raised her and bought her clothes and blah, blah, stupid, blah, sucker, blah. One night we had a party at our house, his idea, not mine and he disappeared. He was gone all night and the next day. I had learned by now that I would call the jails first, then the hospitals. This was the night I found out he was cheating on me. This was the night that naiveté slapped me in the face, called me its b&$ch and said, honey get OUT! So I did.

A couple months later my roommate and I ran into him and the hussy he was cheating on me with in a bar that we frequented. My best friend worked for a lawyer at this time and we had spent months trying to get the money back that he owed us for his jail stays. (We never did see any money) He had recently received a phone call from one of the attorneys regarding the money. He told the lawyer that I was paying all the money back. LIAR. (That is actually what did end up happening, but it took me 10 years to pay back and lost me 4 years of a friendship) So when I saw him there with the hussy, I walked up and asked him what kind of man can't pay back his own debts. The hussy stuck her hand in my face and pushed me. After recovering from my initial shock, I lunged at her, I was going to beat the crap out of this girl. I've never been known to be a fighter, but I will defend myself and I do have a temper if riled up enough. Unfortunately my roommate had gone to get her boyfriend and he showed up just in time to pull me back. I was pissed. Roommate was pissed. Bouncers were called, things got ugly. We knew the head of security so my roommate was trying to talk to him and he was trying to calm her down and she shoved him. It was innocent really, but the other bouncers didn't know that she knew him. We were thrown out of the club. The club we were regulars at. We made it halfway home before we spun that car around and headed back. This was our turf and I was not about to let him or her get away with kicking me out of my own turf. When we got to the door we had to agree to behave in order to be let back in. We did, but only because Spineless and Hussy had left.

I won;t go into the details of the verbal abuse I took during this relationship and the person that I became while with him. Let's just say I'm not proud of who I was during this time. I'm not proud of things I did during this time. I'm not proud of the stupid mistakes that I made or how stupid I felt for letting someone like this get the better of me. This man was a con artist and a coward and probably still is. God help any woman that comes across this man and God help any woman who actually marries him. I know that people can change, and maybe he has, but I doubt it. These were hard lessons and ones that have shaped every relationship since then. I can tell you that I have never let someone treat me like that since and I never will.

My next boyfriend after this one got a nice little lecture when we started getting serious. It was pretty simple, you get thrown in jail, don't call me because I won't be the one to bail you out.

Moral(s) of the story: If it looks like a loser, walks like a loser and talks like a loser, it probably is. If he gets his butt thrown in jail once, you might bail him out. If he gets his butt thrown in jail twice, LEAVE HIS BUTT THERE.

What's in a name?

A couple weeks ago Barb at A Chelsea Morning asked how we came up with our blog name. Because I am busy (read: a mother of a 7.5 month old) it has taken me this long to write the story.

Shooter is my nickname given to me by my darling husband. Interesting name you say? Technically Shooter is only half of it. My full nickname in all it's glory is Pooter Shooter. Now, while you go get that visual/auditory out of your head, I'll wait. It really has nothing to do with either pooting or shooting. My husband generally finds nicknames for everyone he becomes close too. Some are more creative than others. When my hubby and I were just friends, he started trying to come up with a nickname for me. The first one he tried out was Cheeseballs and frankly, I didn't quite like that one. Again, doesn't bring up the greatest visual. Well, one day he started calling me Pooter Shooter and it stuck. The nickname has many variations, some of which I never thought I would find endearing, but I do. He may have to stop using them thought when Boo Bear gets a little older. It will be hard enough when she tells her teachers that her Mom's name is Shooter, but using some of the other variations such as Shooter Acapulco, poo head, poo poo shoo, poo shoo, may just get her kicked out of school.

The station part of Shootersstation comes from a gun range that I pass on occassion, it's name is Shooter's Station, hence the name of the blog. I am not a "shooter" of real guns, wasn't raised around them and don't care to shoot them at all. They make me nervous, but I thought it sounded like an interesting name for the blog, so it stuck.

And that is how I came up with this here blog's name. How about you?

Friends like these...

This girl is awesome! Why? Well, there are tons of reasons and I could go on and on, but right now there is one particular reason. She brought me 6 pairs of pants. Pants that fit or are close enough to fitting that when I get my lazy butt up and start exercising will fit. That's 6 pairs of pants that I didn't have to go shopping for, that I didn't have to risk what's left of my sanity for, that I didn't have to pay for. She gave me free happiness, happiness in the form of jeans and oh how happy I am! Thank You. YOU ROCK!!!

On The Road Again, Just can't wait to get back on the road again

Man, I do love my Willie. That sounded dirty, or is it just me. Moving right along.

It's not the greatest picture, but this was taken on our mass exodus from Hurricane Rita last year. We took back roads to Austin and made it in 6.5 hours or so, decent time considering. This was taken in Hutto. Note the Hurricane Victims Collection sign on the right. This trip was surreal and all the days surrounding it were surreal. I can only imagine the experience Hurricane Katrina was for those who lived it.

My little inch worm

Boo Bear is becoming mobile. Agh!

How to tell when your child's clothes are too small

Diaper camel toe.

The pressures of blogging

I know that we all say that we blog for ourselves. Okay, maybe not all of us, but those of us not amazing writers who have found a way to make a living doing what the rest of us call a "hobby" for lack of a better term. But I think that a little piece of all of us wish for more readers, more comments, more attention. Or maybe that is just me.

I find myself reading blogs and thinking, surely their life isn't all that more exciting than mine, they can just convey it better, with more panache, more excitement, more humor...

Tangent.. why does blogger spell check not recognize the words blogging, blog or blogger?

Resume post...

I have always been a "writer" and I use that term loosely. But when my writing is in the great big blogosphere next to the likes of people who have things published, well it seems flat, boring, without meaning of sorts. Yes, I do blog to flush out the thoughts in my head and to share with family and friends the little things we might forget to mention in the occasional phone call. But a part of me would like to be a better writer, to amuse, to entertain, to enlighten others with my words.

Perhaps I should commission famous bloggers to tell my stories, a la the new Geico commercials. Perhaps Heather A. could add her twist to my current intestinal woes such as Charro adds her flair to a "normal" person's insurance story. Or Amy could recount in her funny mommy comic way the story of how Boo Bear (formally known as The Girl) is learning to crawl and insists on moving to her stomach every time I sit her down, only to scream in protest at the fact that her stomach. is. touching. the. ground. my. gosh. get. me. up. now. woman. Or the other Heather could regale a story of my childhood with insight and profound discovery such that others will not merely laugh, but ponder memories of their own.

Or perhaps I should just continue to write and be very content in the fact that members of my family learn things about me that I cannot convey in real life to them and that I have some real life (as opposed to my very real life e-friends) friends that know me for who I really am. And love me anyways -- Despite my inability to fully convey my thoughts on this keyboard, partially due to the fact that I think way faster than fingers' capacity to hit the buttons needed to convey such messages. And perhaps I should quit with the wanting to be liked and fit in with everybody and let go of the childhood fantasy that everyone likes everyone. I don't like everyone and everyone doesn't have to like me. But would you, please.

This post obviously lets out of the bag some of my inner issues. Oh, well. Maybe some blogger will write a book about me... or perhaps you should just skip this post and go look at the blue pictures below.

The Great Blue

First of all, you want me to pick just one. I can't. I simply can't. I tried and I can't. So here. You pick.

Taken at a BBQ cook off earlier this summer.

Cool clouds.

I love taking night shots like this and have started a collection.
Not sure what I'm doing with them, but I like them.

Storm brewing over our back fence. Those are the neighbors beautiful flowers. I kill mine.

Joyce's Seafood. The White Chocolate Bread Pudding. To. Die. For. Want. Now.

Tangent

This week's subject made me think of a day in college that I came home to find the upstairs neighbor playing Blue by Leann Rimes over and over and over and over... It about drove me to drink, which at that time didn't take much. It was the only time in my entire life that I have ever called the apartment management to complain. It was that bad. The apartment security guard (cop off duty) happened to be called and sent up there. They turned that stupid song off and then Mr. Security came to see me, because it seems, the upstairs neighbors had a complaint of their own. Too bad Mr. Security happened to be an old high school friend. Funny how things work out.

Assertiveness Training

Assertiveness Training

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?
Do you suffer from shyness?
Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about Tequila®.

Tequila® is the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. Tequila® can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything.

You will notice the benefits of Tequila® almost immediately, and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live.

Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past, and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with Tequila®.

Tequila® may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use Tequila®. However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration, erotic lustfulness, loss of motor control, loss of clothing, loss of money, loss of virginity, delusions of grandeur, table dancing, headache, dehydration, dry mouth, and a desire to sing Karaoke and play all-night rounds of Strip Poker, Truth Or Dare, and Naked Twister.

(Sent from my MIL.)

You want random, I'll give you random

In fine bullet form...

• I went grocery shopping today and wanted ice cream. But I couldn't decide what kind, so I didn't buy any. Now I want some.
• I'm watching Old Adventures of New Christine (or is it the other way around) and the first commercial comes on and it's for Centrum Silver. What exactly is the demographic here?
• I think The Girl is trying to tell me something. I went to check on her tonight and she was on her stomach (which during the day she claims to hate) and had her head jammed into the corner, sleeping. One of my major Mommy Fears is that she will suffocate in her crib. I know it's semi-irrational, but it's one of those fears that gets the better of me and I check on her repeatedly. I have calmed this fear down a little bit, but now she goes jamming her face into corners of the crib. Perhaps it's time to take out the bumper? Speaking of semi-irrational fears, I am scared to give her small pieces of food because I'm scared that she will choke on them. I gave her a Cherrio a couple of weeks ago and she chewed the first one and swallowed it so I gave her another which she proceeded to try to swallow whole and began coughing while I began the silent freak out. You know the one where you are telling your child, "you're okay, you're okay" while on the inside you are screaming to yourself, "OMG please don't die, don't choke, don't turn that color, what do I do.... waaaaaa". Or is that just me?
• I have a cold, which by the way, sucks. Summer colds are the worst. I can handle being sick in the winter. Oh, who am I kinding, I can never handle being sick. But sick with a 7.5 month old and work and stuff... oh, shut up already me.
• and thathatha that's all folks!

Youth... ahhh the fun time

The Girl at 6.5 months.

do dah do dah

I have been meaning to post about the playgroup I finally found. I had been searching for something to get me out of the house and to get me in touch with some other Mom's in the area. I found Meet Up and have been very pleased so far. They have all kinds of groups you can find and join, but lucky for me they have playgroups and they had one in my area. I live on the outskirts of Houston and so lots of activities for this area are really based in Houston. This makes it hard for me to get to things due to being an hour away, having to try and keep the girl on a good nap schedule and working 5 hours a day from home.

I have been to a couple of events and they have been good. So far the group I joined is fairly new so I have only met a few of the mom's and their kids, but it is so nice to get out of the house and to commiserate with other moms that are going through or have gone through what I am. I have friends around the city that do have kids, but again it's just too far for me to regularly see them to hang out.

If you are looking for playgroups in your area, check it out and if there isn't a playgroup in your area, start one! There are always other mothers looking for play groups.

Are you ready for some football?

We are. She is helmeted and ready for action. Put me in coach! She is adjusting fairly well so far and I think it brings out the blue in her eyes, not that you can see in this picture though.
I will probably decorate it soon, but haven't decided for sure if I want to or not. We shall see. I am recovering from my latest bout of IMS and have a much sunny disposition which makes everyone happier. Happy Hump Day peoples!

IMS

I've been diagnosed with something awful. Something that causes me to act badly and say things I do not mean. Dr. Hubby (Not a real doctor, he just plays one on TV), has diagnosed me with IMS or Irritable Mom Syndrome. Irritable Mom Syndrome symptoms include yelling for no reason, flying off the handle, saying things you don't mean, biting off of heads and chewing them up and spitting them back out and then making your husband clean up the mess. Also, include losing temper and losing mind simultaneously while trying to maintain some semblance of normality. Side effects include slamming doors, tears, blowing of the nose and feelings of regret for mean things said.

Only known cures are long hours away fromanyone and everyone, girl's nights out, copious amounts of alcohol or massage.

Anyone else been diagnosed with IMS?

My Wish

Sometimes it's easier to say how we feel with a song.

My Wish

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.
This is my wish.
I hope you know somebody loves you.
May all your dreams stay big.

My Wish - Rascal Flatts (Me and My Gang)
From Here.

The Blog Story: Mommy Missions

I present the blog story of Mommy Missions. As you can see I have taken some artistic liberties with your blog names. I have also lacked the creativity I had hoped for when I came up with this little game.

Mommy Missions

One day while at the park Ms. Miss sat pondering the Giggling Universe and Rambling Romantically, wondering what the day might have in store for her. While she sat day dreaming, she watched the leaves fall slowly from the trees. One leaf in particular caught her eye. You see, this leaf was the size of a beach ball and was floating in an odd way. It seemed to have it's own path and it seemed to be leading Ms. Miss, beckoning to her to follow it. Ms. Miss thought about the strangeness of this, but only for a second before getting up and following the leaf.

The leaf led her down the street and around the square. Ms. Miss' surroundings slowly changed as she followed the magical leaf. The houses and store fronts were no longer vivid colors, but a blur of color such as in a dream. As Ms. Miss was trying to look closer to pinpoint exactly what was different about her surroundings, she bumped into something. As she refocused her attention, she looked around for what she had bumped into. It seemed the leaf had led her to the front of a small house and she had run into the door which bumped slightly open. Ms. Miss looked around her to see if anyone was watching and then pushed open the door and entered the house. The leaf hovered just above her sight line and seemed to wait to see what she was going to do next.

At that moment, a sound came from upstairs. Ms. Miss cocked her head to listen. It sounded like music, strange music and lots of cheer. Ms. Miss put her foot on the first step and timidly began climbing the stairs. As she rounded the top of the banister, she caught her first glimpse of the source of the noise. She could see the swish of a grass skirt and could see that someone was dancing. The music was Hawaiian and was accompanied by deep breathing. Ms. Miss continued and stopped quietly outside the room. At that moment she realized what she was seeing. The Hula Duala was doing her infamous baby dance. Ms. Miss had only read about this ritual, but had never seen it in person and was so excited to be seeing it in person that she boldly walked into the room without thinking. As she did so, she noticed a woman in a large poster bed that was watching the dance while she breathed deeply. She was surrounded by many small children and as they all noticed Ms. Miss they surrounded her, grabbing her skirt with their small hands. As the two other women realized Ms. Miss was there, they stopped what they were doing and looked at Ms. Miss.

"Well, hello there little Miss," greeted the small woman in the bed. She smiled warmly and motioned toward a chair next to the bed. "Won't you join us?"

Ms. Miss sat down, the leaf maintaining it's position over her head.

"Welcome to my humble home, I'm Ms. Mommy. How do you like This Full House? "

"Well, Golly Blog Howdy, it's the neatest place I've ever been! Are all these children yours?" asked Ms. Miss.

"Yes, they are all my little ones," she replied. "We love having children, although it does cause some Poopy Digs, don't it?"

"Is that what that smell is?" asked Ms. Miss. Normally, poopy was a fragrance that Ms. Miss could do without, but this smell was pleasant, like sniffing a box of JuJuBees.

"Don't you like it?" asked Hula Doula.

"Why.... yes, I do," responded Ms. Miss. "Do you like having all these children?"

Ms. Mommy paused and then said, "Yes, I really do enjoy my Suburban Life. Now won't you join us as we check The Mommy Files to see what our assignment for today is?"

"Assignment?" asked Ms. Miss. "What kind of assignment?"

"Well, you see, Hula Duola and myself do secret missions in the blog world, very important Mommy Matters really."

"What kind of secret missions?"

"Well, if I told you, they wouldn't be secretmissions now would they? Let's look through the files and see what we have in store for you today," said Ms. Mommy.

Then Ms. Mommy searched The Mommy Files and pulled out a leaf that had special writing on it. Ms. Miss couldn't really make out the writing, so she asked, "What does it say?"

Ms. Mommy replied, "It says our assignment for this week is to take Wednesdays Off."

"Wednesdays Off" said Ms. Miss, "That doesn't seem so hard, really, or secret for all that matter."

"Agh," said Ms. Mommy, "but you see, it means that there can be no blah blah blahging, and that my dear friends, is quite hard to do."

"Well, isn't that a Piece of Work?" said Ms. Miss. "But, really, What The Bleep Do I know?"

So Hula Doula, Ms. Mommy and Ms. Miss began their mission to take Wednesdays Off.

To Be Continued...

The Week

Be assured, I am working on the blog story. It should be very exciting. I haven't had that many comments since... Oh, I don't know, ever.

Anyway, this week has been a bugger and definitely feels like it should be over already with as much as we have crammed into it. I present in random order, the bullets of my life right now.

• Taking care of baby
• Work
• Doctor's appointments, casting for helmet, spend lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$
• Playgroups
• Meetings
• heart stints
• cancer
• floods
• babies (not mine)
• Bah!!!!
• Meals
• friends
• fights with insurance

Such is the nature of my everyday life right now. Some of those things I can't go into detail on and not all of them pertain to me specifically, but people in my family or friends. Hope your life is filled with many good things this week.

A little fun and games goes a long way

Let's play a little game. Come now oh few readers of mine, play along. I am going to write a story. A story about you. Leave me a comment on this post and I will incorporate your blog name into a story that will be sure to be wild, crazy, and down right compelling. Now go, comment and become a part of the story.

School is wasted on the young: Life lessons

I always say that school is wasted on the young. I breezed my way through high school merely due to the fact that I had to go. I know there are plenty of you that did not feel you "had" to go and skipped regularly, but alas, my step mother could smell a lie a mile away and the punishment was not worth the reward of skipping one measley class. So, I went, I listened and I passed, quite well actually. Unfortunately, school was not set up to actually teach me things like how to study for college, merely it taught me how to take tests, so that the state would continue giving money to my school, so that it could look like it was preparing me for college.

Regardless, my college days were spent with many a 24 hour study session hours before a test, only to end prematurely as I decided I couldn't possibly study anymore, so I would go to the bar instead. Amazing I made it through without scholastic probabation. Needless to say, my gpa fell 2 whole points from high school to college graduation. Bygones really.

My point of this whole post? Looking back on high school, I remember thinking frequently and occassionally verbalizing, that I would never use "half this stupid stuff." Now that I have a child, I realize the purpose for school if for no other reason than to prepare me to answer the questions she will no doubt start asking at the age of two and continue asking for, oh say, the next 18 years, God willing. I have no recollection of fractions or pronouns, or the actual part of a sentence. I cannot tell you what the war of 1812 was about among many other things my brain did not care to file in the storage of the past portion of my head. I dread having my child ask me a question as simple as what is 8 x 8 and then watch myself in horror as I have to pause, for a long time, think about this once easy math, and then spit out an answer hoping it is correct. 64, right, that's correct right? No, how about going to watch TV?

Four Words

Wireless.
Laptop.
Couch.
Happy.

The Diagnosis

The visit with the specialist yesterday went better than we expected. Savannah has a mild case of plagiocephaly. We are lucky that it is only minor and that she does not have any facial assymetry (in layman's terms, her eyes and ears are not uneven.) We have chosen to treat her with one of these to help round out her head. It's like braces for her head. She will have to wear it for about 2.5 months and 23 hours a day. Everything I have read about children and these helmets says that the kids adjust very easily to the helmet and quickly forget that it is there. It generally is harder for the parents.

We are very lucky also that she does not have other problems associated with this condition, such as torticollis or craniosyntosis. Plagio is caused mainly by babies sleeping on their backs, as well as by cramped conditions in the uterus. Since the Back to Sleep campaign began the number of cases of plagio has increased significantly. It is still a good program, but there are things that can be done to help prevent such problems. Some of these include rotating your child in the crib so that he/she faces a different direction each night so that they are not always looking to the same side. Making sure that you spend lots of time (supervised of course) with your baby on his/her tummy is another good way to help prevent this as well. There does seem to be a learning curve for the medical community on this condition and how to treat it early. Many people think that the baby's head will round out on it's own when they start spending more time off their back (i.e. when they learn to sit, etc.), but that doesn't necessarily seem to be the case. Early detection and treatment is the best course of action I think.

We look forward to getting The Girl treated and getting it all over with so she can continue being her perfect little self. We go tomorrow to get pictures taken and will have to wait to get her fitted for her helmet until Insurance approves (God willing).

gold goatees and other nightmares

I woke up this morning to a nightmare. A nightmare that included the doctor we are going to see today, guns, a guy with a gold goatee and the thought, "please, just 5 more minutes." That last part is pretty normal, the rest, not so much.

I dreamed we went to the doctor's office and she walked in, touched my daughter and then just started talking mumbo jumbo. She never really told us what was wrong with The Girl and I kept asking questions that she wouldn't answer. (The doctor we are going to see is actually a man, go figure) Anyways, for some reason, we are still in the room with the doctor, but now we are having a party. Not some wild kegger, but the type of party that you would have for a 7 month old, all adults and low key. I still have lots of questions about The Girl's condition so I get up to go ask the doctor my questions, but she slips out of the room. As I am headed towards the door to follow her, a guy starts to walk out of the room and as he goes, he starts shooting people. I duck down under a table, but he says something like, "You think you can duck down and do shots on the floor?" and then he shoots me, except, he hasn't really shot anyone in the sense that no one is dead. So he leaves the room and then this guy walks in and at first glance it looks like he just has a serious gold grill but at closer inspection (not too close) he actually has a gold plated goatee. It's doesn't look like hair but more like a gold tongue affixed to his bottom lip that has diamonds in it. I'll let you absorb that....

Following Gold Goatee Man in are a group of thugs with guns. I manage to slip out of the room to go find the doctor. At this point the only thing still on my mind is asking the doctor my questions. Nevermind the fact that I just left my daughter with my MIL and my step mom in a room with a bunch of thugs with guns and this time I know they are real guns with real bullets, yet my only thought is to get my questions answered. I drop my list of questions in a board room that is right next door to the room I was just in. I can't find the doctor so I go to the desk where I ask where the doctor has gone. At first no one seems to know who I am talking about. I explain who the doctor is and then also tell them they might want to call the police about the thugs in our clinic-party room. People start rushing out of that area of the building where the thugs are. At this point I swing behind the reception desk and hide. My thoughts while hiding? All I can think about is getting my list of questions. When my family, including my daughter finally escapes from the thug room, at that point, the severity of the situation overwhelmes me and I cannot wait to hold my daughter.

Anyone care to diagnose or interpret that dream? (Maybe I am crazy and maybe I am eating those tortillas in my sleep.)

We go to the cranial facial specialist at 1:00 today. I am probably more nervous now than I have been. I just want an answer so that we can move forward with whatever treatment we decide and I can get past this fear of the unknown. I'll let you know how it goes. Wish us luck.

Tortilla Thief

I'm either losing my mind or someone is coming into my house and stealing flour tortillas. A couple of weeks ago, I was sure we had flour tortillas, but when I went to get some, I couldn't find them. I thought maybe we had just used them up and I didn't realize it to put more on the grocery list. So I added them to my grocery list and bought some. Last week I spent 10 minutes separating said tortillas because they were all stuck together. I think this was on Thursday of last week. At that time, we had about 15 tortillas left. I went to get some to make something for lunch today, and... they are gone. I cannot find them anywhere and I have cleaned off every shelf and pulled out both drawers. No tortillas. The first time I could have forgetten that we used them, but not this time. I even checked the freezer and the pantry as well as all the cupboards. No tortillas.

The only thing I can think of that could possibly be happening is that in my lack of sleep induced mommy brain that I accidently threw them away. Twice. Yeah, right!

So whoever is stealing my tortillas, I want my money back.

Photography Request

The life in pictures photo post is done except for the food shots, which I can't seem to remember to get. I guess I am too busy eating. ;-)

You can see all the shots here.

The State of it all...

I think a lot about the world we live in now, especially with a small child to worry about now. There is a lot of debate about how we ended up where we are and where we are headed. Many people claim that because we are taking God out of our schools, government, etc, that is the reason for the decay of our society. I have been thinking a lot about this problem lately, for what reason I do not know.

Another argument is that the violence we are seeing these days is caused by television and video games. This is an interesting argument that poses the circular question, does TV show reality or does reality mimic TV? (And I'm not talking about so called Reality TV here) We wonder why divorce is so prevalent when our favorite shows glorify bad relationships, glamorous cheating on your spouse and other things. Shows that are top rated such as Desperate Housewives (which I admittedly have never watched, so cannot really judge) or Grey's Anatomy where cheating is an underlying current of the entire show. We wonder why the violence doesn't bother us so much anymore, while we watch shows like CSI and Without a Trace, Crossing Jordan and more, that get more gruesome all the time. We wonder how all this happens while watching CNN show us pictures of dead children on the side of the road.

Recently a teenage girl, 16, was shot here in the Houston area. Two teenage boys are accused of the killing. When asked why they did it, one of the boys responded, "morbid curiosity". Is this type of behavior more prevalent now than it used to be or is the media that much, more, so to speak, more easily accessible, more out there, that we just hear about these things more often? What happened to consequences? We watch shows such as those about and although they may show justice being dealt out, it is still glamorized, so perhaps kids think it won't be that bad to go to jail. Or perhaps we have failed them in not teaching them respect, respect for self and respect for others. Perhaps we have not taught them the true meaning of consequences. We have taught them immediate gratification and that maybe you don't really have to work for what you want, just steal it. You deserve it, just for being you. Not.

How as a society can we sit back and say we have nothing to do with the state of things, when we don't stand up and say "no" to shows that curse on prime time. When did the words, a** and Bi$%@ become acceptable to say on regular prime time TV. What's next? Why is it acceptable to say GD, but not A-hole? Why does Janet Jackson get reamed for a boobie show, but our children can't watch TV after 5 PM because they might hear a bad word on "family" programming. Why does a channel that calls itself ABC Family show a TV show that shows two teenagers going skinny dipping. By accepting these shows and not doing anything about them, we are saying, "Go ahead, promote violence and promiscuity to our children." There is currently a commercial running that is part of the "Truth" Campaign against tobacco companies that flashes "WHUDAFXUP" across the screen. What is up with that?

And the sexual innuendo that exists in almost every show on these days tells me that we as society have lost our sense of values. Many people say, oh chill out, it's just TV. Well, I would argue, we are what we watch, read, etc. Can we say that we hold "good" values, but we choose to fill our lives with "bad" things. We are teaching our children it's okay to be promiscuous. It's evident in the clothing ads in magazines and on billboards and it's evident in the dropping age that children become sexually active. I would venture to guess that most of what we say is okay for ourselves, we would say no to our children for doing the same things.

I am not saying that I do not watch these shows, CSI and shows like that are some of my favorites, but I do find myself changing the channel when a particularly gross part is shown. Shows now have to push the envelope, be as gruesome as possible to catch our attention. I don't need to see the inside of a knife wound filled with maggots to get the idea that someone was stabbed. Just tell me, don't show me. Don't push it.

I am really just posing questions here and getting thoughts out. Like I said, I am not standing up and saying no either.

Weekend Update

Technically the weekend isn't really over, but today is a chill out and relax day as well as a chore day. We'll see which one of those I do more of.

Yesterday was full of fun! Part of that is sarcastic and part of that is true.

Me and the girl went on a search for the perfect pair of pants and a pair of shorts. By the end of the day I just settled for pants and forgot the perfect part. The first store we went to, I probably tried on 20-30 pairs of pants and shorts. No dice. I always have this problem buying pants. I have a fairly large bottom half (so nicely called a pear shape in the fashion world, pear, my ass.)and a fairly small waist so pants always gape in the back, that is if I can get them over my thighs and rear.

I always end up buying a shirt or two instead of pants when I go out searching for clothing to cover the bottom half, but I made myself a rule, I was not allowed to buy anything for up top until I found something to wear on the bottom. So we left the first store empty handed. I have a bad habit of settling for an item and then once I get it home I don't like it, but I never take it back. So I waste time and money and never wear the item. I am trying to be better at this, so if I don't really like what I am buying and feel I am just settling, I put it back on the rack.

My MIL came up yesterday to go to a concert, more on that later, so she watched The Girl in the afternoon and I got to go shopping ALONE! Yep, all by my lonesome. Two whole hours of freedom! Too bad I was trying on pants. I went to Academy first. When I got in my car, the temperature gage read 111 degrees F. Holy Cannoli! By the time I reached Academy it had started to rain, perhaps a premonition of what was in my pant trying on future. The temp. gage now read 90 degrees. It is barely raining as I walk into Academy. I browse and pick some stuff out. I always have to get 2-3 of the same thing in different sizes to figure out what size I am. This is because I shop so rarely for pants because it is such a traumatic experience. I tried on no less than 50 pairs of pants and shorts. All the while the rain is coming down hard and it sounds like a tornado outside. I am in the dressing room right under the skylights, praying that they don't break. Nothing. I walked out of the store into the pouring rain with nothing. There was one pair of shorts that was okay, and probably would have worked, but I didn't think I would really wear them. I decided once again, (I decide this every time I shop for shorts) that I just don't wear shorts anymore, I'm too big. But I am the kind of person that hates being hot and uncomfortable. The dilemna here!

Next I go to Target where I had better luck. I will spare you the details, but I did leave there with 3 pairs of pants and 2 shirts, all for less than $70. Man, I love Target. I have also discovered a secret to finding pants that actually fit me without gaping. You are going to laugh, but I don't care because sometimes I just want a pair of pants that fit. They don't have to be perfect, the just have to fit. The secret? Maternity. I'll wait while you scoff... I tried on a pair of maternity shorts. Not only were they really comfy, they fit all the way around my waist. I didn't end up buying them because I liked the other pants that I had picked out better, but I may go back and get them. I also tried on a pair of maternity capris that had they been the next size up I might have bought, but they were just snug enough.

It also doesn't help my pants buying process that I seem to be in between sizes. I am not a 12or a 14, but something in between. I realize that I just told the internets what size I wear, kind of, but oh well. I am what I am and you can't see me anyways!

*****************************

The second half of the day, we took The Girl to her first concert. My MIL, hubby, me and The Girl went to see Paul Simon. It was a good show. It was at an outdoor venue and we had lawn seating so it was a little wet, but we brought blankets and it was nice to sit outside and enjoy some live music. I grew up listening to live music and I love going to concerts. I used to go to a lot of concerts when my company got tickets to each show, but since we stopped doing that trade, I haven't been to a show since 3 Doors Down a couple years ago. Or maybe it was Aerosmith. Hubby isn't wild about concerts so we rarely go to them, but my MIL bought the tickets for us and it was a nice night out with the family.

The Girl wore an outfit that my MIL and Grandmother-in-law bought her. It is a little onsie dress that is pink and green tye die. She was so cute. I will post some pics soon.

That's it for the update. I'm off to plan the meals for the week and do my grocery list. Exciting stuff I tell you! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Oh, and if you know the secret to the perfect pair of pants, spill it!

DIY Meme

I present to you the totally made up by moi, random, meme.

1. What kind of soap do you use? Vanilla Body Wash from Victoria's Secret
2. If you could have any job in the world, what would it by and why? Professional back up dancer for videos, award shows, etc.
3. If you could only take one thing with you to a deserted island, what would it be and why? Probably my daughter. She would provide entertainment and I would get to see her grow up. Of course, she wouldn't be much help for awhile. Could the whole family count as a 'thing'?
4. What book could you read over and over? Gone With The Wind
5. What one thing do you use on a daily basis that you couldn't live without? My coffee maker.
6. Would you rather not shower for a week or have to eat the same thing everyday for a week? Not shower for a week.
7. Cream or Sugar? Both please. I like my coffee as light and sweet as possible. But not too sweet, it's a very fine line.
8. Tell me one thing about you that most people don't know? I have taken all kinds of dance in my life. From ballet, tap and modern to hip hop, country western, ballroom, African and belly dancing. I like to think I can dance to anything. A friend of mine in college and I proved that you can two step to anything, including Metallica.
9. What age would you want to be if you could stay that age forever? Could I go to that age with the knowledge I have now? Probably 27ish. You know just enough about who you are and what you want, but you aren't too old to have fun. That or 16. Life was good. Except for boy problems, popularity, etc, but if I knew then what I know now...
10. Make up your own question. I made up the last nine. Your turn. Leave your answers in the comments, or do it on your own page and leave me a comment letting me know where to find your answers.

Gotta love him, right?

Hubby has two main "chores" at home, they include doing the yard and taking out the trash. That's it. Granted he helps on other things when he is home. See we own a seasonal business that my husband runs, so during the summer he is gone from around 8 in the morning until 9 at night generally. Sometimes later.

So last night after he gets done taking out the trash, he says to me, "I want a new trash can for the guest bathroom, the one in there weighs too much."

What?!

I told him, "Well you can buy a new one if you want, but is it really too heavy weavy for big old strong you?"

Him: "I knew you would say that!"

Me: "Well, I want the kind of laundry that folds itself, the kind we have now is too much."

Gotta love him, right?

Wondering...

... how many days is too many to go without a shower. *sniff sniff*

Stating the Obvious One Thought at a Time

Money levels the playing field. How would more money level your playing field?