10 Reasons Why Today Can Bite Me

10. Celia ....for having a real, honest to goodness "Put me on stage and call me Paris" diva day.

9. Hubby's work, for calling every single second of every single day, not allowing him to sleep, eat, go to the bathroom, or otherwise participate in any family event because of their extreme incompetence.

8. My house...for being such a disaster

7. My family, for not noticing that I'm having a really hard time picking up after them while chauffeuring them around, cooking their meals, working, and scratching my legs off and not offer to help by picking up some of the crap around here.

6. Light Bulbs. Why must you burn out just after I've finished shopping for the week...and we are inexplicably out again?

5. Brownies....for not baking completely but looking to be fully done. So I didn't even know they were not cooked all the way until I tried to slice them to take to the swim meet (since I signed up to contribute those)...forcing me to call Hubby and beg him to buy some Little Debbie brownies to take. Humiliation of handing two boxes of Little Debbie brownies over to the concession stand lady.

4. Lightening. For making the powers that be cancel Jordan's first swim team practice after we stood around the crowded pool for 40 minutes waiting the storm out.

3. Hives. Geez I really itch. It's bad.

2. Steroids. Particularly after all the recent media concerning "roid rage". After getting a shot of steroids and being prescribed both a topical cream and oral steroids I'm a little afraid of turning into some Hulk-like character and harming my loved ones.

1. The State of WV. For finally putting that check I sent them months ago into the bank...you know, long after I forgot that they ought to be doing it.

If you thought I was schexy before...

....well, let me just say that my little retainer is NOTHING compared to the sight I currently am!

Standing in the kitchen in a hot pink t shirt that reads "Mrs. M's Pink Panthers" (ah, middle school intermurals) with most of my legs covering in a very goopy baking soda paste. You can't sit down with this stuff, because it crackles and falls off, making a big mess. Which is why I'm standing in the kitchen in the first place.

And it's not even working. My legs STILL itch like you wouldn't believe. Benedryl cream doesn't help. Fingernail polish and scotch tape don't help. The RX hydro cortisone cream I found in the medicine cabinet doesn't help.

It appears I've been attacked by a very hungry spider. At least that what one of my nurse friends thinks....I had to drag her into the ladies room and church and make her check out my increasingly nasty legs. She was happy to inform me that it was spider bites. I was just happy I didn't have to stick around Vacation Bible School and scratch my legs while wearing a foam cowboy hat (like she was...only she wasn't scratching).

I finally gave up, threw on some pajama pants and vigorously rubbed my legs while begging my husband to bring me more ice for them (the only things that provides just a little relief).

Isn't he a lucky guy? Gets to go to bed with an itchy, retainer wearing wife who reeks of many different experimental itch relievers that don't work.....

Oh yeah....and while proofreading this post he found a typo that made me laugh so hard that my tea came out my nose and all over half the living room. It was bad.

Plus I made him help me free the furry captive from the garbage can this afternoon.


Here he is again...not happy that I woke him up from his comfy nap on the PullUp. He's getting ready to run.... (~gag~ do you see that tail? blech!)


Here I am....armed with the broom. Also ready to run.



So I knocked the can over and that nasty bugger wouldn't come out. Look at him in there cowering beside that toothpaste box.......



So I made Chris get in there and coax him out of there with the broom. He eventually got him out....and he ran right toward me (cowering on the porch). The he ran on my elderly neighbor's porch. We chased him off there and haven't seen him since. (The possum, not my husband. He then went golfing and came home watch Big Love.)




Don't you remember that part of the wedding vows, honey? Through possums, spider bites, tea out the nose, and nightly mouth guards.........

Alright Nature, Enough Already!!!

I live in town because I don't want to deal with these things...so can you lay off?

Seriously. I woke up Saturday with a very itchy leg. I thought it was pretty gross that something had been crawling around my pajamas and bit me...but that kind of thing sometimes happens. After the itchyness persisted on Sunday I discovered....well...it's gross. Really. And I promised not to gross you out for at least a month, but I'm going to have to break that promise.

My whole leg is covered in some sort of bites. It is the nastiest thing EVER. I kind of hoped it was a rash of some kind....but we're pretty sure it's bug bites. I don't want to even think about the type of insect, so you don't need to suggest what it was.

So now it's Tuesday. I've used all the Benedryl cream (which didn't do crap!) and have tried painting them with fingernail polish (also nothing). Next I'm trying putting deoderant on them, and if that doesn't work I'm trying vinegar. (These are all tried and true things I've read on the internet. If you can read it on the internet, it must be true).


Then this morning I go out to drag the trash cans to the curb (what's that you say? taking out the trash is a man job? why yes, yes it is.....) and found this:


I started to drag the can before I saw him in there...so needless to say, he's not so happy. I'm waiting until the Hubby gets home before tipping the can and running. I have a large fear of him eating my face off and my kids left to fend for themselves all day.

Since Hubby took the camera to work today, capturing this shot was achieved by tiptoeing out there with my MacBook, gently extending the thing over the can, and clicking the mouse.

No wonder me neighbors don't speak to me.

One Schexy Mama

So, a few months ago I'm at the dentist. The sweet little hygienist is fawning over my teeth, how she can tell I floss a lot, blah, blah, blah, she's praising me and I love it. Then my very nice dentist comes in and echos the praises over my dental health.....then he says "hmmm".

You know it's not good when they say that.

"Rebecca, do you grind your teeth when you sleep?"

Erm, how should I know? I'm asleep.

Then he starts to ask about jaw pain and headaches.....yeah. Now that you mention it.....and when I wake up in the morning, my mouth does tend to ache a little.

He recommended I get a night guard. A mouth piece.

No way. Absolutely no way man! You can just forget it. I mean, retainers are for high school kids.....married women do not put appliances in their mouths at night (shut up). They just don't.

So I tried to forget it. I figure I didn't used to do that...it just started one day. And one day it will stop again.

Then I start noticing that I really clench my jaw when I'm awake too! Without realizing I'm doing it! Until it starts to hurt......then I mentally smack myself and tell myself to knock it off. The weird thing is, when I notice it most....when I'm chopping things in the kitchen. Weird.

Well, I finally got tired of waking up with a headache and having my jaw feel all tense and tired in the morning. Plus, we ran out of Motrin.

So on my weekly trip to Target LOOK WHAT I GOT.

So now I'm one schexy mama. In a very Sid the Sloth kind of way.

I tried it out last night...but I only wore it half the night. I don't sleep well with a big piece of plastic in my mouth. Plus, sometimes my husband snores. He'll stop if I tell him to....but poking and kicking do nothing. So last night after a fitful few hours of sleep he woke me with his snoring. I kicked and poked to no avail, then finally took the thing out, told him to stop snoring, and I went to sleep.

I'll try it again tonight.

Hubby is okay with the whole thing. I think he actually likes it. See, now he has if figured out that if I put the thing in my mouth, he might as well roll over and go to sleep. If I turn out the lights first, he can try and put the moves on me.

It's his little get lucky indicator.

I promise to wait at least another month before grossing you out with info like that again!

What I've been doing today....

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I have a new blog! No, it's not going to take the place of this one....so if you want all the mundane details of my life you're still going to have stop in here. It's also not solely "mine"....I have a few ladies who will probably be helping me with some of the content...and the name is temporary because I was highly un-creative last night. So as you can see, it's still very much a work in progress.

But if you'd like to hear all about saving some money (or the crazy thing I do to occupy my time out in the real world) then stop on by!

Baby Bliss

Well, my friend had her baby and I went to visit today. Oh she's cute!

Yes, I have a serious case of baby fever. I would SO love to have more babies......but there's this one little catch....I don't ever want to be pregnant again. That last time was awful! It's not the labor, I can do that (I have labors that are quick and easy....please don't hate me for it!) it's the 9 months of misery leading up to it that I want no part of.

Oh, and there the little fact that Hubby says, in no uncertain terms, that he's done. So we've agreed, each for our own reasons, that the two kids we have are plenty for us. Or course, we've taken to permanent steps to make sure that doesn't happen....but we aren't planning on it.

Most of the time I'm fine with it...until I see someone and their brand new baby. I need a pair of baby blinders to wear out in public or something. Something that guards me from their cuteness! Celia is no help either, with all this talk of her "baby sister".

Of course, there's also the fact that I won't ever have to do the sleepless nights, the diaper blow-outs, the colicky evenings again...that's helpful. And it won't be too much longer until I gain from freedom from my kids and get something of a life back.

See, I'm happy with the age difference in my kids. They don't fight a whole lot, there's no sibling rivalry.....but the negative of this is that I remember what it's like to have an older kid. How much easier it gets.

Because when you have a baby, your life changes so much that you really can't remember what life was like before kids. I can't....none of the moms I know really can. I mean, you can remember some of the things you DID, but exactly what in the world did you DO with all that TIME? No one knows.

Here's the thing though....when you kid turns about 4 or 5....you get some of that time back. First, they really get pretty good at cleaning up after themselves at that ages (and at not just being an eternal mess all of the time). They start getting into toys that amuse them for longer periods of time. Then they go to school. I remember that. The change from going to one kid to two kids is not as big as from none to one. We had 3 years where Jordan was in that "easy to care for big kid" stage before we had another baby again.

I remember that stage of life....when you only have to vacuum once a week. Or things stay clean for longer than 5 minutes. Or you aren't so frazzled that you can't remember what you had for breakfast, but you do know you haven't had time to pee for at least 8 hours. That's a nice place to be. And I'm almost there again.

So while I'm a little sad that I'll never have another bundle of love to call my own...I can be comforted in the joy of my own two (really awesome) kids and be a little secretly happy that with each passing moment, I get a little bit of myself back.

"Nobody touches King Bobo!"

This is what Celia says as she glowers out from underneath some fake foam bugs she stuck on her face....and has pretty much the theme of the day.

I hate to say this, but I hope she's still sick and that's why she's acting this way....because if she thinks this is just how it's going to be from now on, she's got another thing coming to her. Am I a horrible mother to hope my kid is sick?

Anyway, in between squabbles and quarrels and shrieks of indignation, I'm try to get some work done. This is how everything gets so messy. I get time only to complete tasks in bits and pieces until everything is a jumble of half finished work.

Plus the Hubby and I had an almost comical discussion because I prefer that he not refer to me as "the boss" to his friends and almost in the same breath tell me that "If I want to go golf saturday then I'm just going to go" like some kind of petulant child. I really don't need anymore petulant children to deal with. Two is plenty, thank you.

Bottom line is, if you are going to say things that hurt me more, just leave me be. Seriously. Now the pain of being the big meanie to both our kids AND everyone else we know is entirely diminished by the fact that I'm also viewed as the big meanie by my husband who has an open dread of spending the rest of his life with me.

And you know, if you'd just left me alone like I asked you to I would have probably forgotten all about the original insult in the first place by now.

Am I allowed to stick foam bugs on my face and mutter "Nobody touches Kind Bobo" at anyone who comes near? I really think that would make me feel better.

Poopin' Machine

Man, I'm beat. And I did nothing today.

But I didn't go to sleep until almost 2 last night (why oh why must HBO put Big Love on at 9? 10 would work so much better for me. we had to stay up until 12 to watch it replay!) and then had to get up every so often with my sweaty, fevered toddler.

So today we went to the pediatrician....she does not have strep (thank goodness) just some little viral thing like a cold. Except instead of runny nose and cough, she has a headache. And I think her throat hurt today.

Since all she wanted to eat today was fruit, all she did this evening was crap.

She was feeling much better though and was her normal goofy self. Which means my entire evening was punctuated by "Mom, I gotta poop, RUN!" And run I would. Even though we had put a PullUp on (just in case) and even though I have a pinch in my back from sleeping with here. I would scoop her up and run and she would giggle "Run mom, run! I'm a poopin' machine!" That she was. Thankfully, I was fast enough (and she was...well, in control enough) and we made it. Every time.

Soo, now that you've read all about my kid's crap, do you want to see some vegetables? Good, I though you might....... 'cause here they are!

First off, a pumpkin. I actually have many of these. Now sure, I could kill off all but one or two and try for a monster pumpkin...but I actually prefer to have lots of little ones. Plus, well, I'm not really one to put all my eggs in one basket like that.



And a tomato. I went with plum tomatoes this year. No particular reason.



Lastly, the teeniest tiniest watermelon ever! Isn't it cute! it's got a lot of expectations piled on it's little round head though....because out of my 4 watermelon plants, this is the only melon we've got. Grow baby grow!

A Case of the Mondays

Looks like Celia has a case of the Mondays....poor girl. She has a good excuse though. She's sick. She's contracted some mystery illness that has yet to be determined. She got up this morning with a mid-grade fever and a headache. She doesn't feel good and her whole agenda for the day consisted of laying around and picking on mommy.

First she pulled all the clips from my hair (she hates hair clips. Last week she pulled one out and it ripped my hair out. Now I have a patch of exceedingly short hair...right up front. Nice). Then we had to have a 20 minute conversation about boobies. Then about my squishy belly. Then she ripped off my shoes and picked the polish off my toenails.

In between bouts of picking at mommy she chugged Motrin and played with stickers. The saving grace of the whole day is that our good friend got a puppy (which are, in my opinion, the best kind of puppies...the kind that go home with someone else) and promised to bring it by. it is indeed just the cutest little puppy ever ad Celia is very excited because it lives at her best friend's house. So she knows she'll be seeing quite a bit of it.

Tomorrow morning we'll have to re-evaluate. If she still has a fever we pay a visit to our favorite pediatrician, Dr. Steele. He is an excellent doctor...plus he makes the most realistic bird sounds I've ever heard. Both my kids like him a lot. Except while there we'll have the gaggingly pleasant strep test....because apparently there is a version of Strep that the only symptoms are fever and headache.

If she doesn't have a fever then we have two options to consider. It could be another popular virus that's been going around (again, only symptoms are fever and headache) and we're done. Or it could be stage one of some very fun disease that ends with a rash. You know, chicken pox, 5th disease, or any other number of fun scratchy things. In any case, I'm keeping her away from other kid for the rest of the week until I see if anything else is going to pop up.

In other news, I had a breakthrough in time management today. Not only did I get my 2.5 hours of BzzAgent work done, I also did a bunch of laundry and some other really important housecleaning things. And some random sit ups. And ate a bunch of ice cream. And got bit by a bunch of mosquitoes. I think that's all.

Click on by, Boys!

That's right. There's nothing to see here, and I'm getting ready to talk about all things womanly, so here's your warning to find something else to read.


Go ahead, shoo....

Are they gone yet?

Good. So here's my big joyful news......my period came early this month!

Now let me tell you why this is such great news for me and every single person that I come into contact with on a daily basis.....

For the past (at least) four months I've been terribly hormonal. It's been bad. Real bad. And to top it off, usually when I get super stressed my period refuses to come like it's supposed to. And while I'm stressed out because of something really wacky going on with my hormones, it refuses to come and each and every day that passes is worse and worse than the one before.....until I start to get worried that I might kill a person if it doesn't come. And finally it will. A week late ....or like last month a very torturous nine days!

So lately that's how my cycle has been. I'll finally get it and have two days of residual hormones and anger. Then it's like the tide changing, like that fast. I wake up on the 3rd day and everything is okay again. I feel good about the world. That lasts for about a week. Then the nosedive starts. And let me just tell you that three to four weeks of nosediving is a long way down.

Mostly it's the hormones.....I'm a mess. Crying over EVERYTHING, just seething with anger about absolutely nothing for weeks at a time. But the headaches suck as well. Just waking up with a headache every day is enough to make you want to crawl back in bed (especially when you know no amount of Motrin is going to make it go away)!


But this month....no nosedive! It's been almost like waiting for the other shoe to drop. I had my good week, then I started last week. Which could have been bad because I was REAL busy. But it was okay. I don't think I even really cried once! Then this morning, surprise.

Well I'll take it. I will gladly trade my monthly hormonal rage for a few more periods a year. Someone print out the contract, because I'm ready to sign on the dotted line for this one!




Chris, I know you're probably reading this thinking "Hey, what about that 'I don't feel you're being very supportive' discussion there other night"? Sorry buddy, no hormones there. I didn't even cry much, did I? That was all real and can't be blamed on anything like cycles or hormones....just life circumstance. But I do feel much more supported now after you took care of some of the huge pile of crap I didn't know how to do around the house. Thank you. And yes, I did eat all that ice cream. Eat some more soy food, will ya?

Trying New Things.

We've tried a few new foods in the past week, all have been pretty tasty.

Last weekend we had turkey burgers for the first time. This came about (like all other new foods we usually try) because I found a really good deal on ground turkey. Anyway, I did extensive internet research and came up with a good recipe:

1 lb ground turkey
Some shredded cheddar cheese (sorry, I'm bad with measurements, I just dumped some in)
Steak Sauce (again, umm, just dump some in there)

Since turkey is very lean, it tends to stick to the grill (and fall apart everywhere else). To guard against that, I coated the grill in nonstick spray (before you light it please!) and brushed the burgers themselves with olive oil. To make sure that they don't fall apart, put them on the grill and leave them there. Don't move them all around. You set them down, cook on one side for 4-5 minutes, then carefully flip and leave them another 4 minutes or so. None of this constant flip flopping stuff.


We also tried turkey sausage, which was also good (but hey, it's sausage....with all those seasonings, it's kind of hard for it to go wrong!)


Then this morning I was dying to try some elephant ears (or fried dough, or beaver tails, if you're from Canada). Now you can get all fancy and make your own dough, but I don't have time for those kind of shenanigans on a sunday morning. A can or premade biscuits would work just fine. We didn't have that, so I used Bisquick.

It's real easy, roll (or stretch) whatever dough you have out until it's more thin than you would think it should be. Then fry in oil until golden brown (it doesn't take long). Let cool (I like to do this on a paper bag, it gets some of the oil out) slightly and then dredge in powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar. I found it easer to put the sugar in a paper lunch bag, drop the dough in and shake.

Big surprise, something fried in oil and covered in sugar is REALLY good. I know that's a shocker. Just don't eat them more than once a month or your arteries will completely clog one day while you're walking around.


Lastly, and this one is s surprise, BocaBurgers. That's right. Meatless hamburgers. Soy Burgers. I will try anything if it's free (and they almost were) so we tried them. Shockingly edible. I thought they'd be really gross, but they taste just about like any fast food burger. I wouldn't fix them for company or anything, but my family liked them okay.

There you go, all my culinary adventures for the week!

Accident Prone

Hi there....sorry to have been MIA. I hope not to have a week as busy as last week EVER again. I know I will, but geez. It was fun though, we spent and evening with friends, had a party on the deck, swim team every day, and lots of backyard time!

Finding time in the day to work a few hours is really kicking my butt. Between taking Jordan to swim team each day, the usual keeping the house clean, the extra projects that always pop up, I can't fit two hours of work in each day. So either I don't work, or I don't clean, and neither are good options really.

Wednesday Jordan has his accident prone day. He lost of one his braces! We have no clue where it might be! We called out friends since he was swimming in their pool and mentioned that they might want to check next time they are out there...but we're really thinking he swallowed it (he has no wires yet, just 4 braces on his 4 top permanent teeth).

Then Jordan and I decided to move the big tent in the backyard. It went pretty well, we got the legs off, moved the thing, put the legs back on.....then the clouds moved in and the wind kicked up! Poor Jordan had to hang on to a tent leg for dear life while I pounded in stakes like a madwoman. Then it started thundering so I sent him to the porch with Celia....they made a "hideout" in the porch furniture....and amazingly the tent did not blow away while I finished attaching it to the ground!

Thurday was poor Celia's day to be accident prone. We spent the evening with friends and had a great time! They have a little girl who just turned two and is the sweetest little thing (though she's already potty trained better than Celia...be gone bad mommy envy). The dads went golfing and the kids and I stayed at their house for the evening. I had such a great time....our friend is about ready to pop any day and I'm just giddy with baby excitement! It's easy for me to be giddy, I don't have to be uncomfortable and pregnant or have labor looming over me.

Anyway, it was lots of fun except for Celia first popping a huge wheelie on their push and ride toy and turning the whole thing over on top of her! Then not 20 minutes later she was trying to do a sit up on a big exercise ball, lost her balance, and did a header into the wall! Then friday after the soccer party she got a big splinter in her foot (but was very brave for the extraction!).

My big news for the day is that Target finally put their Celebrate Summer stuff on 50% off so I got some great outside toys that I've been stalking for a month! Hope to take some pictures of us using them in the yard tonight!

Lady Madonna

We were listening to a Beatles cd on Monday and I laughed when Lady Madonna came on. I'd spent the whole day running around with the kids (and dreading the crazy week ahead) and trying to figure out how we were going to pay for Jordan's braces...so the song cracked me up. I guess you could say I had a real "Lady Madonna Moment."

"Lady Madonna, children at your feet, wonder how you manage to make ends meet"

Not that we're making a lot of real sacrifices or anything so that I can be a stay at home mom....I mean, we each have our own car, Jordan gets lessons in guitar and whatever his sport of the season is, we eat good food, have premium cable. But every once in awhile things do get tight and I have to do the dance of figuring out how to get it all paid....oh, say, like when the kid needs braces and Chris's recording project is running a little longer than he expected. But things got worked out and Jordan got his braces, right on schedule.

He did awesome, by the way. I'll have some pics up of his shortly. I was amazed how fast they put them on!

I was also feeling a little overwhelmed by my WAY over-scheduled week so I cancelled some small things....and I keep telling myself that these little things that keep piling up around the house are no big deal, they will be here tomorrow, and next week, and next year....to not stress about them. (But there's a little demon in my head hissing about the messing dining room, the scrapbook pages that need doing, fixing the playhouse, fixing Chris's bike, and the laundry, oh the never-ending always detestable laundry!) We are hosting a party this weekend for Jordan's soccer team.....so I feel this pressure to have the house looking perfect. Which is so silly. The party is going to be outside. And it's short. So most people won't even see the inside of my house, my less the laundry pile in the basement or the clutter in the dining room. I figure as long as the trail to the bathroom is clean, I should be good...right?

Some other exciting things in addition to Jordan's braces.....one of my new friends is about to have her baby. Which is just so exciting for me! I love getting together with her and some other mommies with toddlers each week because not only does Celia have friends to play with....I get my baby fix. Two of the mommies just had babies (one is about 4 months, another maybe one month!) and two of them are expecting. Since we aren't going to have anymore, I have to get my baby fix through them. They probably think I'm crazy because I love finding diapers at a great price and giving them to them (we hardly even use them here anymore) and really, it just makes me feel so good to be around all the new (or about to be new) mommies and their babies!

Oh yeah...I also found a new Smiley Add-On for Firefox. Boy, I'm obsessed with smileys. And now, I possess a smiley for every occasion! And some that well, I'm not sure when I will ever use.

Like here's one of my favorites, I use it all the time!

And another..really amusing to me.

That's right. It's a Jesus smiley. And what's that on his head? Oh, it's a halo (?!?!). Either that or the smoothest crown of thorns I've ever seen.

Chicken on the Grill, Pumpkins, and Ducks

Whew, how's that for an all in one title? Sorry folks, I have a lot to say!

First, how to cook a whole chicken on the grill.

This is one of our favorite summer meals. Take a whole chicken. Prepare and rinse well. Get a can of something. Beer is recommended, but I think Coke or any Cola works as well (you know, in case you live in a house where you don't keep can's of beer around and you don't remember to get one until Sunday, when you can't buy beer).

Drink about 1/2 - 2/3 of your canned beverage.

Jam the can (with the rest of the liquid) up the chicken's bottom.

Stand the chicken up, using the can and it's two legs to make a kind of tripod.

Smear it with something. We went with a Caribbean Jerk Marinade this time (tasty) but plan oil, salt, and pepper works fine too.

You want to use indirect heat to cook this sucker. Go if you have a gas grill, only light the outer burners and leave the ones under the chicken off. If you use charcoal, the when they are ready, use a shovel or stick or something to scrape them off to the sides.


Cook for about 1 - 1 1.5 hours over medium heat. (Use your meat thermometer to check for doneness).


Okay, so now that you have a recipe for chickeny goodness, check out our baby pumpkin! He's the first one! How exciting.

We also have some peas. The kids had to try one.

After dinner we went to feed the ducks and geese at Prickett's Fort. We do this pretty often (you know, every time someone leaves the bread open and it gets all stale!) and the kids love it. These are probably the fattest, best fed fowl in all of creation. Everyone in Fairmont brings them bread to eat!






While we were driving to the Fort, I asked Chris, "Do you want to feed the ducks or do you want to take pictures?" He decided he would be taking pictures because he's good at it (he is).


But the lure of feeding the animals was too great for him and I had to take the camera away. What is this thing he's feeding anyway? A duck or a goose? We couldn't decide, but they were very docile and nice.


Unlike this guy. He was not nice. Honking and hissing, nipping the other geese, and generally just flapping his wings at everyone.



After we've fed them all our bread, we want to make sure they get enough physical activity, so Jordan gently encourages them to fly.


I mean, hey, they've got to work off all that bread somehow. Right?

What kind of death wish do you have?

Dear neighbors across the street,

I have put up with a lot. I really have. The late night arguments in the yard (I only called the cops that one time because I thought you'd hurt yourselves driving off all angry and crying like that), the beer cans and cigarettes you leave littering my yard, the standing on the street and cursing during the day (when my innocent little kids can hear your dirty mouths). I try and pay it no mind, because I know that you are teenagers. You are living in a world that you think no one else sees and you can't fathom anyone else having a life. One day you'll realize how silly you've acted and regret it. So I just let it slide.

Especially for the boys over there...I know you can be polite and thoughtful, because sometimes you are.

Granted, I have no love for the foul-mouthed little girlfriend. End it already buddy, she's not worth it.

I often wonder about the mom, and why she lets her kids act that way...but I don't judge because I just don't know what's going on over there.

But today, as we pulled up to the house at nap time with our sleeping toddler in the car, and you decided to set off a string of fireworks, you almost died.

Seriously. You just don't mess with nap time. No matter how young and carefree you are. You don't wake a sleeping baby. It's like the 14th commandment or something.

Chris immediately reminded me how no matter how hard it is, you are supposed to love THE OTHERS (a take of from Chestnut Ridge's current sermon series about how other people ...ie, not yourself, can be so darned hard to love sometimes).

I really think the whole "love thy neighbor as thyself" scripture should exempt noisy, inconsiderate teenagers...but since it's in the Bible and all....

So alright. I will not kill you. But the next time you set off fireworks in the street while I'm trying to get my sleeping baby out of the car and into the house, I will (in Christian love) give you a very stern (in your face) talking to.

Be warned.

Glorious Day!

Well, we finally had a day worth of the title "Vacation"!

First off, the weather is beautiful. 78 degrees, nice breeze, sunny. You couldn't ask for a better day!

We started off the day at Cooper's Rock. It's a pretty cool place really, but I wasn't sure what the kids would think. Turns out they loved it. Jordan found a big hole right away. He thinks a giant mole rat lives there. I don't even know what a mole rat is, but that's one big hole.

(Umm, what's up the the socks? He is so going to hate the picture when he is 20! I refuse to fight with my kids over reasonable clothes choices though....so this is what you get!)



My nature loving husband was very unsure about this whole thing. But he humored me...holding tightly to Celia's hand and telling Jordan "get off that rock, you're going to fall" a million times. But by the time we got to scenic overlook, he loosened up a little.



Here's the north-east view of the mountains. My personal favorite.



The south-west view.



A little zoom on the south-west view and you can see Morgantown. The big white spike is the tower at the airport.



Much to my husband's dismay, I insisted on continuing down the trail. He has bad memories form being lost there once. Both of the kids loved "rock climbing".


Jordan takes on the bigger rocks.



We steer Celia toward some her size. Mom helps her with the big ones....the trail down to the bottom isn't exactly a stroll....but you don't need a rope for it either!


Here's Celia and me under the big rock. Chris wouldn't go anywhere near it. You know, it's been there for hundreds of years and all the sudden he things it's going to break away while he's there (please don't mention Seneca Rock, he doesn't need anything else to worry about!)

The green blur is Jordan.



Looking up at the overlook from the first turn below. I was hoping to take the kids down a little more, but as we stood there looking up, Celia says "Mom, I have to pee!" and before I can find her a tree, she said "Ooop, I peed"



So we started back to the car for a clean change of clothes and lunch!



Lunch could not have worked out better. I wasn't extremely motivated and had packed nothing. I figured we'd just drive back to Burger King if we needed to (yeah , I'm a real outdoorsy girl!). But on the way down the trail we noticed that the concession stand served food (not just snacks) AND they accepted Visa check card (because us city dwellers don't carry cash!).

Chris was very excited because the listed sloppy joes on the menu. There's not much I refuse to cook, but that's one of them. Anyway, the four of us all got lunch for under $10! And we were stuffed, couldn't even finish out nachos. Chris was hoping to go back for a hot dog, but he just couldn't do it.

We also wanted to check out Chestnut Ridge Park. It's right by Cooper's Rock, and I heard they had swimming and a play area.

We were pleasantly surprised, it was very nice. Now, I wouldn't call it a lake (they do) it's more of a pond, but there's a sandy swimming area, fishing (you don't need a license...it's catch and release, stocked every spring) and paddle boats.


I had no plans of getting in...because I thought it was a little chilly. But the kids got changed (and Chris, because he thought I was nuts to allow our toddler to play within arm's reach of us...in the WATER. Dude, I would totally jump in with my clothes on if needed!) and Celia walked right up to the lake and peed.

I would never let me kid pee in a pool. She totally knows better. But this girl is just one with nature and really enjoys peeing on natural things outside. Trees, rocks, lakes....they all get a surprise from my girl. I don't think anyone saw it.

After the unfortunate peeing, the kids got in. Chris balked for a minute ("but look at it! There's no chemicals in there honey".......) but then he discovered there were minnows and salamanders and a fabled 2 ft carp that occasionally will swim right up to the swim area.


After a few hours of swimming, (not really, since Jordan can walk all the way out to the rope, and the "baby" rope only puts the water at Celia's knees....perfect for kids!) They decided to get a paddle boat.



That was about it. We spent another half an hour playing on the playground (very nice) and then loaded up the car. It was nap time. The best part about this part is that it's only 35 minutes from Fairmont, so it's not like I have to sleep in a tent (gasp!) or anything to enjoy it. I like my nature in bits and pieces, during the day. But they do have camping at both Cooper's Rock and Chestnut Ridge Park.

We will be frequenting the park this summer. Erm....free swimming, nice playground, not very many people. I love it. The also have an awesome hill that they do sledding on in the winter, so I'm already excited to check that out come December!

Pimpin' da blog...

Yup, it's that time again. Time for me to spent countless hours finding cool stuff to do with this thing. (Mostly, just figuring out how to work the cool stuff!)

So now..I'm broadcasting a feed. You can subscribe to me. You know...you and my 37 other daily readers. I don't know exactly what you're supposed to do with it, but you can do it.

I basically had to do this so I can get a cool scrolling thing in my signature (ha, you think I blog a lot...you don't know the half of it!) for Babycenter. Some other cool mommy had one...and I just felt compelled to follow suit. I would never copycat anything in the real world, but in the blog world, watch out! I'm totally ripping off all your cool stuff. I totally give you credit for it though.

Some other minutia from our week of vacation...

- Dove Ice Cream bars are the nectar of satan. Seriously, those things are evil. I can eat a box a day. I you shop like I do (using coupons to stock up when things are on sale for free or very cheap) do not fool yourself into thinking you can make 20 boxes last the summer. I don't care if they do only cost .45 a box. YOU JUST CAN"T DO IT. They are too good.

- I got a job. Just a little one. It's pretty cool though. I've been doing this thing called BzzAgent for about a year. Basically, they send you cool new products to use and tell your friends about. It's work of mouth advertising. They want you to be totally honest....if you don't like a product, say so. If you do, say so. That's all. They usually give you little samples or coupons to pass out if friends are interested. Anyway, if that's not cool enough, when you tell them who you've talked to (or Bzzed) then you get points. Which you can trade in for some neat things...DVDs and stuff. Well, someone has to read and respond to every report that is submitted....and that's what my new job is. Well, not every report. There are lots of other people with my job, I'm one of many who review reports. I love it. Except now I get to read about all these other cool products that aren't offered to me (some are regional test markets) and I WANT them. In a bad way.

- Pool trip yesterday bit the big one. First, the line was too the parking lot when we got there. Not a good sign. For some reason neither one of the kids were all that into it (they usually love the pool). Then a very bad thing happened with someone else's baby and they had to clear the pool and call 911. We don't know what happened, but it creeped us out and we left. I could rant all day on the reaction from the other swimmers.

We took some pictures....but every picture of my family has someone else's butt crack hanging out of their suit in it somewhere. Like a public pool version of "Where's Waldo". There's just too much butt crack hanging out at the public pool....well, most places anymore really.

I did take some photos of the kids playing in our tiny backyard pool....which they enjoyed much more than the real thing. Before we get to the picture....have I mentioned yet this week how awesome my son is? I realize that most 10 year olds would be bored out of their minds stuck in the backyard with their mom a baby sister. But this kid is always just so happy with the world that he has a ball, anywhere he happens to be!

So here they are, swimming laps in the pool.


You've got to be careful swimming laps in such close quarters. Kicks in the face are not fun.



Okay, so we're all warmed up. On to activity 2....Jordan's lesson on "How to place your face in the water and blow bubbles". Celia is skeptical, but gives it a try.



Oooo, she doesn't like it. Moving on.



Activity 3 is dumping water over Jordan's head. I would say this is awful and mean, but he asked her to do it. She's just following orders.


Lastly, an order from mom. Bail, kids, bail. Empty that pool! They try and hit me with water...but I'm safely far enough away from them.


See, here's where I stay. Safe in my chair in the corner of the yard....in the shade of our tent. Notice the little wet butt prints my girl left on the chair. She's still freaked out and comes running if a motorcycle goes down the road.

- Last big from my week....a vacation at home is only a moderately good idea. It's been nice and all, but we haven't really gotten that much done, and the house is trashed because "I'm not cleaning that up, I'm on vacation!"

Bathtime, Splinters, and Bees.

Okay, we had quite a day. But instead of regaling you with tales of my frustration, I'm going to share a few cool little gems I've been saving up.

First, my new bathtime favorite...Johnson's Buddy Bar. I got it because, well, it was free. And I fell in love. First off, Celia can't dig her fingers into the soap and pull it all apart. Also, I discovered that when you take it outside (because I'm one of those moms that hoses her kids off in the yard in the summer) dirt can't stick to it. So if you're a camper, you might try it as well. If you want to get it for free, then find any $1 off Johnson's Buddies coupon and it's all yours. You can find printable ones on the internet even.

Second, we have a wood deck. With lots of splinters. Now, I haven't tried this yet, but I've heard that if you get a splinter (with a little piece still sticking out) spread some plain white glue over it. Let the glue dry, peel off. The splinter should come with it.

Lastly, if your kid (or you, if you're a baby about pain) gets stung by a bee, to kill the pain (after you have held your hysterical kid down and removed the stinger) run some deoderent over the sting. The white kind, not the gel kind. I don't know why, but it works. Then you are free to give your kid a talk about needless hysterics and way too much drama.

School's Out for Summer!

Today was Jordan's last day of school. He was half excited, half sad. He enjoys school, but we have some fun summer stuff planned.

Plus today was the final day of his being grounded from the Wii (this kid neglected to turn in 3! spelling papers last week and brought home a D!). He's been missing it for a week. He had big plans today. Since it was an early release, he planned to sprint home from the bus and play Wii.

Mission accomplished.

Today was also his first day of swim team practice. He's been swimming for a few summers, but I'm hoping the swim team might give him some more confidence with his skills. So far I really like it. The instructors seem great.

After dinner we went for a walk on the Rail Trail again...and guess what? I finally remembered the camera!

We decided to go on MCTrail. I really prefer the Mon River Trail...but the kids love that tunnel.


So here we are. First glimpse of the tunnel (south side) and we have to let Celia out of the stroller. I'm amazed how much walking those little legs do!



Off they go! Have I mentioned how Celia adores her big brother. Where ever he goes, she's gotta go too. He sits down to rest, so does she. He tosses a rock, so does she. He pees in the woods....well, she does that too.



Ready and waiting, at the entrance to the tunnel.



Break on through to the other side.....


It's actually a lot longer than it looks as you stand at the entrance. I think it's 1500 ft....



So here is the north entrance. Step out, turn around, and look up. There you go.



And to your right we have a waterfall....



Then we walked. And walked and walked. We walked a whole mile. Even Celia.



So turn around and head back to the car. There they go.....