Pierced!

Swiss Miss and I took our daughters to the mall the other day--to get their ears pierced!! A momentous day for the girls, and for their moms!

Cici holds Li'l Swiss Miss's hand for moral support.

Now it's Cici's turn. She's not so sure about this! (The store provides a teddy bear to cling to!)

We told her if she smiles, it wouldn't hurt so much. Didn't work!
And, the girls with their newly pierced ears. Too cute!

How old were you when you first had your ears pierced? (My answer: 13)

My Latest Addiction

These little jars are my own piece of heaven! They are called One Minute Manicures, but it's really for your skin. Every night before bedtime I rub the moisturizing scrub all over my hands, feet, elbows...and then rinse. The packaging claims the scrub moisturizes, exfoliates and conditions...is it true? Who cares! It feels great, and smells absolutely divine. A nice way to send myself off to dreamland!

What's your latest addiction?

Don't You Just Love Tags?

Well, I've been tagged. Thank goodness. Really!--I have a ton of things to blog about, but my brain is kind of on summer vacation, or so it would seem. I can't think of any new or cute or creative ways to present a thing! Anyhoo, here is so much more about me than you'd ever care to know about! I'm not even sure I want to know this much about me.

Oh, and Rebecca, M&M, Lydia, Steph S., Steph H., Holly, Nicole, ped, and Heidi--tag, you are it!!

1. What is your current obsession?
Facebook. I hate to say it. And those stupid quizzes. But hey, where else am I going to find out that I'm a New Soul, my heart is Purple, and that I should live in Hawaii?? This is vital info, people!!

I'm sure it's all a severe case of Housework Avoidance. It's an actual illness, and yes, I have it.

2. What do you hate the most that everyone else seems to love?
For years, watermelon. I just didn't get it. But lately, I've started to like the stuff. So that doesn't count. Hmmm...oh, I know. Black licorice. Not a fan.

3. What are you wearing today?
pj's. hey i had a major migraine. clothes just didn't happen.

4. What's for dinner?
Scratch made macaroni and cheese. He added sausage and tomatoes. It was tasty!

5. What is the last thing you bought?
Salt water taffy from the Coast!!

6. What are you listening to right now?
Scratch is reading Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH to the kids. Yeah, he's pretty much great!

7. What do you think of the person that tagged you?
She is very smart, creative, funny, elegant, a great mom, and just all-round cool. When I grow up, I want to be just like her. (Never mind that she's younger than me--oh hey, I want that too!)

8. If you could have a house--fully paid for and totally furnished--anywhere in the world, where would it be?
The French Riviera. While in fantasyland, I might as well dream big!

9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would it be?
Greek isle. Just try to drag me away when the hour is up.

10. What is one of your hobbies?
Looking up healthy recipes, planning healthy meals, buying healthy ingredients, and then eating crap.

11. What is ONE of your favorite quotes?
"Deep doubts, deep wisdom. Little doubts, little wisdom." Chinese Proverb

12. What is your favorite color?
Purple. Facebook says my heart is purple, you know. Whatever that means. ;)

13. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?
Humph. My muumuu?

14. What is your dream job?
Writing.

15. Describe your personal style.
Mom chic--jeans, inexpensive tops, and (a must) slip-on shoes.

16. What is your favorite tree?
Magnolia

17. What are you going to do after this?
Hang with the fam.

18. What is your favorite fruit?
Nectarines

19. What inspires you?
other moms

20. Who was the last person that you kissed?
Need I answer this? I didn't think so.

21. What are you currently reading?
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute.

22. Go to your bookshelf, take down the first book that you see with a red binding, turn to page 26 and type out the first line.
As the true method of knowledge is experiment the true faculty of knowing must be the faculty which experiences. (Get that? Me neither...)

23. What delighted you the most today?
Schmobie this morning. He always greets me, "Hellllloooooe, Momma!" with a huge smile and an even huger hug. (Huger? Is that a word?)

24. By what criteria do you judge a person?
"The content of his/her character." And whether they think I'm cool or not. (This is Suzie Petunia's answer. Sounds good to me!)

25. If you bought a wiener dog today, what would you name it?
Weiner. That, or Kickball. (I ain't buying no weiner dog!)

26. What are you afraid of?
Middle-schoolers. They're like animals--they can smell fear, and then they pounce!

27. Do you really want to make up a question?
No.

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.

2. Tag eight other people.
see above.

The Busy Month of June

Here's to the busy, frenetic month of June--

June 2-5: Cici attends 6th grade Outdoor School, leaving me without a husband and my main mother's helper. Bugman, however, more than adequately steps up to the big brother plate.

June 3-ish: Don't ask me for the exact date. The event was traumatic enough without having to supply correct details. I get pulled over for coming to a rolling stop...in front of the police station. This takes brains, people. I get slapped with a $242 citation. I go a little berzerk and yell at the officer: "Of course I got a citation, and right here on the road to my neighborhood, where all my friends can see me, and my *sob* husband was laid off and we have no *sob* MONEY..."

Yeah, I'm sure it was a great day for the officer too, poor soul.

June 7: Scratch returns from Seattle Trip #2. The deal with the Seattle trips--Scratch has temporary work selling Eric Dowdle Folk Art at kiosks at different NW Costcos. Mainly Seattle Costcos, as it so happens. He's gone for ten days at a time and then home for four short days before heading out again. I get a small taste of what my friend Lydia (whose hubby travels for 2-3 month periods) goes through all the time... It's a hassle to have him gone, but we are grateful for the work.

Washington D.C. by Eric Dowdle

June 9: The Oregon Trail. A tradition here--all 4th graders take a 4 hour walk around town dressed as pioneers. Bugman's wearing a blue shirt and tan hat. His friend J is pulling a covered wagon. (They take their Oregon Trail day very seriously here.) I only have time to accompany Bug for 25 minutes, then it's back to the elementary school to pass out yearbooks. (I was the yearbook advisor this year--people think I'm crazy, but I love doing this!)


June 10: The Coast! We meet up with good friends from Utah as they vacation along our beautiful coastline.

S&K

Cici and Mickey catch some waves (or do the waves catch them? Hmm...)

No, I did NOT pee my pants; I was simply "surprised"
by an oncoming wave.

Schmobie gets hosed down--he'll love this picture later...

Still June 10: We make a mad dash from the beach to the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the kids' new elementary/middle school campus. We do miss the ceremony, but took ourselves on a tour anyway--it's beautiful. The kids are super excited.

June 11: And Scratch is off to Seattle again, for his third and final Costco stint. One more 10-day period to survive. Hallelujah! And also, Dang. We'll be unemployed again.

"Where Daddy Go?"
"To Work"
"Work in Big White Twuck?"
"Yes, Schmobie, Daddy went to work in the big, white truck"

left to right: Bugman, his friend J., and Schmobie sit in the cab of the "Big, White Truck" (its official name--and the transport of all the artwork). Our neighbors will really miss THIS behemoth parked on our street. Not.

June 13: Scratch misses Cici's dance recital. She performs twice; once for her hip hop class and once for her ballet class. She does a fantastic job!! Brava! (Cici is center...)

June 15: Strawberry Pickin'! Nothing better than strawberry freezer jam...nothing!

A very fishy strawberry...

June 16: Country Girl helps restore my sanity (it's beginning to slip) by taking my children. Here's to fun on the farm! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Country Girl!!

Mid-June sometime: I find this hypnotically creepy spider in my roses one day. Just look at him! Or her. *shiver*

Second half of June: We dog-sit Maggie for Aloe's family while they're on vacation.


June 21: It's Father's Day, and Scratch is in Seattle. To rectify this situation, we load up the car and go visit! We stay with Xander and Carrie, Scratch's awesome cousins, and their two adorable twins, who are three weeks older than Schmobie.

Love ya, Seattle!

Xander's family is in the film industry. We visit his studio, and Schmobie
and the twins take their natural places in the directors' chairs.

June 24: No sooner do we get home from Seattle, but we turn around and help Bugman pack for his 10-year-old Grandparent trip. What in the world? you're asking. Well, Scratch's parents take each of their grandkids on a trip to anywhere in the world--except anywhere with the word "Disney" in it--the summer after their 10th birthday. Bugman chose to go to the rainforest, and from that, my in-laws chose Belize. So, at an hour you would not choose to see--unless you are catching a plane to Belize--my in-laws and Bugman arise and...catch a plane to Belize. Bon voyage! Keep my boy safe! And please don't tell me you're taking him on a 150 ft. zip-line or a river with crocodiles until after the fact!

June 26-ish: Schmobie masters this small incline (decline?), which must look pretty big to him. He's elated and so proud.

Throughout June: Earned money for my ticket through face painting jobs and a garage sale.

June 30: Bugman is back! The three intrepid travelers had quite an adventure. Much, much more on this later...

We welcomed him home with hugs, cookies and a huge sign. Bugman valiantly tries to hide his tears--he missed us! Especially touching--Schmobie's 15-foot fullout run to embrace Bugman.

Cheating Death

This from Newsweek:

CAN YOU CHEAT DEATH?
No, but you can negotiate...

Life expectancy for the average American man is 75.2 years; for a woman, it's 80.4. Factors beyond our control--family medical history, nationality, geography--can stretch or shrink one's probable life span. But what's in your hands? If you want to eke out a few more birthday candles, start by flossing.

+10 yrs. You have a blood relative who has lived to be 95 or older.

+5 You regularly play puzzles like Scrabble or Sudoku.

+5 You're a married man.

+5 You take 81mg of aspirin a day.

+3 You eat five servings of fruits/veggies daily.

+2 You floss daily.

+1.7 You regularly go to church.

+0 You're a married woman

-.5 You drink more than five cups of coffee a day.

-1 You get less than six to eight hours of sleep a night.

-1 You have a family history of diabetes.

-2.5 You don't wear sunscreen, and you're outdoors a lot.

-5 You are slowly putting on weight.

-5 You frequently feel stressed out.

-5 You eat red meat more than twice a week.

-5 You have less then 12 years of education.

-7 You engage in unprotected sex with multiple partners.

-15 You smoke.

-15 You use IV drugs.

~~~~~

According to this (and barring the unforeseen), if I keep up with current habits I'll live to be 78.1. Hmm....that's below average! Maybe it's time to change some current habits? So, most of the things on this list didn't come as a shock--but flossing?? Who knew? I did a little googling (bless Google--what would I do w/o it? Live in absolute ignorance, I'm sure!) and here's what I found: (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-163744/Why-broccoli-dental-floss-prolong-life.html)

Researchers in America have discovered that people with gum diseases such as gingivitis are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary heart disease as those without gum conditions.

Scientists now believe that this is because gum disease causes potentially harmful bacteria to be released into the bloodstream.

Although they are unsure exactly how or why this happens, it is thought that the bacteria can trigger or speed up the thickening of the arteries, or could even cause blood clots in very severe cases.

So, there you have it! Other surprises: dropping out of high school takes years off your life and married men live longer, but not married women (although in retrospect, maybe that's not such a surprise...). ;)

Confessions of a Tired Mommy

Out of reach?

Okay, so maybe it's because Scratch has been out of town for twenty days out of the last twenty-four, but I'm feeling a bit, how shall I put it, unmotivated to go for the Mommy of the Year Award these days. Here's the evidence:

1. I let Schmobie get away with so much more than his sister and brother ever did. For instance, if Schmobie wants to drink milk from a cup and eat a granola bar on the kitchen floor instead of at the table, then so be it. The whole "teach 'em while they're young, cause it'll be so much harder when they're older" is totally flying out the window. As is the "let's avoid this because it'll turn into a really big mess" thing.

2. Bugman became a Webelo in February. He still hasn't passed off his Bear. This is like, officially the mom's responsibility. Everyone knows this, which is why mothers get special pins for each advancement. Bugman's in danger of never reaching the rank of Scout, let alone Eagle Scout.

3. If Schmobie spills something ooey-gooey and absolutely stain-erific on his clothes during the day, I never, ever change him. Honestly, what's the point? If Schmobie spills something ooey-gooey and stain-erific on me, I only change if I'm going out for the evening, and sometimes not even then...

4. My least favorite phrase these days? "Mom, I need help!" The fact that it's called out by two tweens who are very capable of helping themselves only adds to the desire to hide under a rock. This leads to...

5. My very favorite phrase these days--"Do it yourself."

6. When Cici and Bugman come home from school, my first instinct is to pass Schmobie on to them and run. I refrain.

7. When Scratch gets home tomorrow (yea!), my first instinct will be to hug him ferociously. My second will be to pass all three kids on to him and run--far, far away. Preferably somewhere with a beach. I may refrain.

8. This evening, I asked Bugman to take Schmobie for a walk. Well, I thought it was evening, anyway...my neighbor ended up walking the boys home because apparently it was almost 10:00 pm. And a school night to boot. Oops. Hehe. (Insert abject humiliation here--hey, in my defense, it is really light out quite late these days!)


Well, I think you get the idea. You may even relate. Any ideas for snapping out of the mommy doldrums and getting back to rules and routines and uh, enjoying being a mommy? Let me know!!

Day at the Beach!

On Memorial Day, we loaded the kids in the car and headed to the coast. It was a beautiful, cloudless day--a little windy, perhaps, but that didn't stop the kids from getting in the cold, cold water. We went to the beach that Fly Girl and I had providently stumbled upon. Love this beach!! I think we'll go here always.