Politically Incorrect And Maybe Even Unpatriotic To Some

I'm tired of this war. I was never for it from the beginning and it should have been over and done with a long time ago. Someone remind me why we're in Iraq in the first place? Was it because of the weapons of mass destruction that we never found? Or Saddam Hussein, who's now captured and being tried, and his maybe ties w/the Al Quaida? Seriously, all sarcasm aside, I don't remember the details and it's not because I wasn't paying attention. I need to dig up some facts on the internet to refresh my memory.

A couple days ago I found out that an old teacher of mine, Mr. I, was deployed to Iraq. He's a SFC in the HHC 29th Brigade. I was surprised that he was sent over there because, while he's not an ancient old man, he was out of the service for awhile before he became a teacher and I figured that the military had age limits on deployment. Although many are deployed there and return safely, all I can think about is the ones that don't...what if he doesn't make it back? I'm sad for how his family must feel and what they're going through daily. My thoughts and prayers are with all of them and I hope that he is home with them soon.

People like Mr. I and others that choose to be fighting for our country are truly heroes. They're my heroes. I may not agree with this particular war, but I'm not against ALL war. War is inevitable and our country wouldn't be standing here today without it. These brave men and women enlist to protect our country and are there doing their job whether or not they agree with the war at hand or the issues that surround it. I'm so proud of all of them and in awe of the selfless sacrifices they have made for our country's freedom. I just want to say "thank you" to all of them!

Random Tidbits

So I had that 2nd epidural last Monday. I think it's helped a bit, although not as much as I had hoped. I've noticed that I can do a wee more than before, but still can't sit for too long and still don't feel comfortable sitting in the car. So much for a drive up to Apple Hill and Reno/Lake Tahoe! Bleh!

Have you seen this guy? I'm SURE he's the next American Idol! Ok maybe not, but he's definitely good for a hearty laugh! Does he know that he's tone deaf? I love that he's so into it, though. Sing it Fred! LOL

A couple of months ago I reluctantly signed up for fantasy football, and I did it only because we were doing it as a family and each of us would have our own team. I do have a favorite team--the Steelers and enjoy watching hubby's favorite team with him, but I'm not a die-hard fan of the actual sport. I'll watch it once in awhile--that is if it doesn't put me to sleep first, but baseball is more of my passion. I love doing the Super Bowl thing though, because of the fact that we always have a buffet set up for the four of us and I enjoy watching the halftime show...if it's good. Anyway, I started getting into the fantasy thing, and it turns out that I'm surprisingly not only first in my division, but first overall with a record of 8-1-1, even with T.O. out and on my bench! I'm soooo into it! The kids have their teams, but don't really know how to play. I'm usually the one taking care of their teams, so in actuality I really have 3 teams. It's kind of funny...who knew?

Hmm...I thought I had more to talk about but seem to be drawing a blank. Exactly 31 more shopping days until Christmas! Already?!

A Quick Update

Happy Halloween! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. To bring you up to date, the spinal epidural procedure that I had gotten didn't work at all, which explains the lack of posting. In fact, my back seems to feel a bit worse and it's hard for me to sit for more than a few minutes. My days have consisted of lying on the couch and bonding with the TV with two comfy pillows and a favorite blanket. Just wonderful, isn't it?

I've heard that for a lot of people, the first epidural doesn't always work, but the second and subsequent ones work very well. Unfortunately, they can't be spaced any closer than a month apart, so I'm scheduled for another one on November 8th. Lucky for me, I now know what to expect and won't even have to worry about anything, including the insertion of the IV (I hate needles!) and whether or not I'll be able to feel the epidural procedure.

Tonight the kids are dressing up as Darth Vader and a Barbie princess. Originally, one wanted to be a pirate and the other a scary vampire, but when it came time to shop for costumes they changed their mind (I had a feeling that was going to happen! LOL). Cute! I may have to sit this year out and stay home to pass out treats. We bought some play doh to pass out to the younger kids, and some candy for the older ones. We'll see how long I can resist before dipping into the candy stash. ;)

Hope you're all happy and well! More to come soon...

Poked, Pricked and Prodded

The lidocaine shots that I had on Monday didn't work. Four needle pokes all for nothing. :( Good news is that my insurance approval came in yesterday and I'm now scheduled for the spinal epidural on the 30th of this month. It's so soon and I find myself relieved and petrified at the same time. I can't imagine what it will be like to be pain free, or at least have most of it alleviated. It's been so long...since 1996 I think? Getting there is what frightens me. Well, at least I've had an epidural before (twice!) so I know what to expect, and I'll be lying faced down so I won't have to see the needle coming at me! Think happy thoughts! Think happy thoughts!

Ouch!

I got 4 lidocaine shots in my lower back yesterday. :( Not fun, but also not as bad as I thought it would be. So far it hasn't worked either. I'm back to square one and waiting around for my insurance approval so that we can move forward with that spinal epidural. Bleh!

Uh, You're Kidding Me, Right?

Schwarzeneggar announced today that he will seek re-election next year. Can someone please tell me why "we" the people of California have voted Arnold into office? He is a man that has big promises, but fails to follow through because he is so easily bought off. Now we may be stuck with him for another term. Please voters...please! Stop the insanity now and do not re-elect this man.

This and That

I went back in for a followup with my back specialist on Friday. It turns out that basically there's no jelly in one of my donuts! DUH! Isn't it funny how we often simplify the complicated in terms of food? LOL So my "treat"ment is that I get to go back in for trigger point shots into my back and then follow up with a spinal epidural. Whee...HAH! And I thought epidurals were only for labor and delivery! I hate needles but I guess I'll get used to it now since I plan on getting some plastic surgery done in a few years! ;)

Saturday was my son's birthday. I can't believe that I have an 8 year old! We're throwing him a rollerskating party in a couple of weeks with 15 to 20 of his friends, in addition to the family lunch gathering that his Nana and Papa had at their house AND the ice cream cone cupcakes he had brought to school for his class yesterday. Isn't it nice to have 3 birthday celebrations? He's worth it though and has never had a birthday party with his friends! Wish us luck...and patience!

Here's a tip for you all--if someone is playing hackysack in front of you, make sure you let them know that you would like to play before joining in. I was barefoot yesterday and thought that my husband was passing me the hackysack. I tried to kick it and ended up getting kicked in the toes by my husband, who was still wearing shoes! OUCH! I now have a lovely bruise in shades of green, blue and purple. My daughter said, "Mommy at least it's in pretty colors!" Aah, gotta love kids at this age when they often turn lemons into lemonade. :)

This morning I got a call from my husband on his way to work. As he was dropping the kids off at school, 3 police cars drove by them in the parking lot with 2 already on the scene. It turns out that a bull had gotten through the fence and was loose on the playground. Rural excitement at its finest folks, but I'm certainly not complaining! Thank goodness it was just a bull and not some psycho-crazed person!

By the way, have I told you about the new tv?

We got it as an anniversary gift to ourselves last month and I'm still in love with it. The only downside is that now our entertainment center has turned into a shelf/buffet and all of our components are now stacked on the floor until we find some kind of shelving solution. Aah well...at least I don't have to wear my glasses or squint when I'm trying to watch tv. (And yes, I was watching Viva La Bam when I took the picture!)

Anyway, I'm glad that autumn will be here soon. The weather has cooled off a lot and it's already starting to feel like it here in the valley. Love it!

2005 VMAs

I'm a few days late, but I've finally gotten around to watching the Video Music Awards on MTV. Usually I live for music award shows, but the last few VMAs have been kinda sucky. With this one I've been fast forwarding through most of it, and the only thing I've found worthy so far was Green Day's performance and a few seconds of appearances from people here and there. Here's my diss list so far:

-Puff Daddy, P Diddy, Diddy, Do Wa Diddy Diddy Dum De Do Da Day whatever you're calling yourself this year. I cannot believe that you need the words to your own song on a teleprompter for a performance! Don't you know the words by now? I never thought he had any talent and I have never been a fan of his. I don't see myself starting anytime soon!

-Message to Jessica Simpson: The whore look has never been in. How can you go from being Ms. Purity to trampsing and trashing yourself all over the place? (For a perfect example of trashiness, please watch the "These Boots Are Made For Walking" video if you haven't already) You can look sexy without looking like a prostitute whore from Hotel Street. I've got one word for you: TUNA! Take it however you want. LOL

-Where's CKY? I think they should have been nominated for the MTV2 award!

-What's with people that have to wear sunglasses at night? Wasn't that the cool thing to do way back in the 80's? "I wear my sunglasses at night, so I can so I can..." OK Corey Hart!

-Beavis and Butthead?! Are you kidding me? Why are you bringing them back? Do the kids watching MTV now even know who they are? (Did I just indirectly say that I was too old to watch MTV?)

-Johnny Knoxville: I love that you can pull off the white pants, because I don't think many men can, BUT please retire that tired pair of Converse shoes and get some new ones. And see the above point regarding sunglasses at night. Take off your glasses so everyone can see how wasted you really are.

-John Norris: Dude, dress your age! You are too old to be doing the party circuit look. You can still be cool and on MTV. See Kurt Loder for details.

-Ricky Martin?! I haven't seen him since his Puerto Rico commercials!

-MTV: You picked Shakira and Kelly Clarkson to perform, but not Gwen? What's up with that?!

Anyway, now that I think about it, I do have a few things on my Hit List:

-Black Eyed Peas!!!

-Green Day still rocks!

-Rocker guys that wear eye liner! LOVE IT! And to quote my daughter, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, "That's hot!" (And no, those are not the people that my daughter picked up the phrase from)

-Missy Elliot, you go girl!

Yup, that's pretty much it so far. I think I'm going to FF through the rest of this so I can delete it and watch some more important things that are going on in the world.

Conversations With A 5 1/2 Yr Old

A lot of the things that come out of children's mouths are incredibly cute! Sometime over the summer, while the kids and I were sitting around watching a skateboarding dvd, I had the pleasure of discussing Tony Hawk with my daughter.

"Mommy, Tony Hawk is so hot!"

(I was a little surprised at her use of the word "hot". She's 5 1/2 for goodness sakes and I have no idea where she picked it up from. It wasn't from myself, her dad or her brother and remember, this child is home with me all day! :) )

"He is? Now what do you mean by hot? Is he cute hot? Or like cool hot?

"Both Mom! He's the cutest and the coolest! He's totally hot!"

"Is he hotter than Jesse McCartney, your favorite guy?"

(Thinking)"I think they're the same. He's so totally hot!"

"Do you know that he has a son named Riley that's older than your brother?"

(Wide-eyed)"He does? Wow! I didn't know that"

"Yes he does, honey. Riley is 13, I think"

"Wow, that's old!"

I didn't want to tell her that this new "hot" guy of hers was 38 and older than her mom and dad, that he had two more sons, Spencer and Keegan, or that he was engaged to be married again. I think it's cute that she had a crush on an older guy so why burst her bubble? She's so taking after her mom with diggin' skaters and skating, watching skating videos, and having crushes on older men (although I can't say that I have crushes on older men anymore), not to mention the many other ways that we find every day. It's so cute, but also scary that it's almost as if I'm looking into a mirror with her! I told my husband that he should be careful because I got into trouble for kissing boys in kindergarten! Ha ha! It's going to be an interesting school year!

Pics: Aah, The First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school. I can't believe that my son's in 3rd grade and my baby girl is in kindergarten! Where does the time go?

It's A Vole, You Say?

I found out what's been digging up our yard.
It turns out that we're not the only ones. I found an article about it in this morning's edition of the Sacramento Bee. Moles, voles, whatever...it's all the same to me. They're all rodents and it's digging up my front yard and leaving dirt mounds behind. Initially, it was only one or two dirt mounds. Now the dirt mounds are multiplying and they have begun working their way across the yard, tearing up what little front yard we have. We bought a stake that you put into the ground that's supposed to be a deterrent. It runs on batteries and makes a high pitched annoying "eeeeeee" sound, but so far it hasn't worked. The last time we went to Osh, Hubby bought one of those gas bombs, where you light the fuse, drop it in a tunnel, and bury it with dirt and the noxious fumes are either supposed to kill them or drive them away (if the process doesn't kill you first!). Unfortunately, with work and just the usual business, he hasn't found the time to give it a try.

[Sidenote: I e-mailed him at work with a link to the article before I started my post. Just got a response from him that said, "Gassing starts tonight! I hope it turns out better than Bill Murray in Caddyshack" HAHA What timing!]

You know, at first I was opposed to killing them, especially since we thought it was a little innocent mole (My daughter watches Franklin so I couldn't kill Mr. Mole!), but after reading the article and then doing some additional research I found out that they are just like mice and all they do is eat, breed and multiply so good riddance! Bleh! I hate rodents!

When Does It Stop Becoming Stress and Start Becoming Age?

Not too long ago, I freaked out because I had a white hair on my head. Not an entire lock of them, not even a tiny patch but just one. It's only the 4th one I've had ever, with the last one being a few years ago which I chalked up to stress because we were dealing with moving and stressful house decisions. In fact, I think I've chalked them all up to stress so far because I only get them less than once in a blue moon. So when does it stop becoming about stress and start becoming because of the fact that I'm getting old? The first one that I had ever gotten was when I was in elementary school...maybe because of stress or some freak hormonal growing up thing. I think I was about 9 or 10 and I showed my mom where we had a "Hmm, that's strange" kind of moment and laughed at the thought of a 9 year old having stress before she plucked it out. The second one I got when I had first moved in with my then boyfriend/now husband to Baltimore, which is understandable because it was my first move away from home, not to mention the fact that it was far away, and the fact that it was also my first long term & serious relationship. The 3rd was during the aforementioned stressful house situation, and I kind of freaked out but not too much because of again, stress! With this last one, I don't know if it's because I'm not in my 20's anymore, or because I noticed a couple of new wrinkles in my face, but I freaked out. I mean FREAKED like I was ready to cry! I plucked it out and immediately called my husband at work.

(almost in tears) "Honey, I had a white hair! I'm oldddddd!"

(I could hear him trying to suppress the laughter, but the huge smile was coming through the phone)

"What? You did? What did you do?"

"I pulled it out! What do you think I did?! When did I become olddddd? Do I look old?"

"What?! Whatever!"

"Thanks alot babe! I'm old and you don't care!"

"Stace, you're not old. You look fine! You're beautiful and I love you"

(aah, how sweet of him, but I wasn't buying it because darnit I had just pulled out a WHITE hair!)

So after a bit more whining, I let him go back to work and lamented the fact that a two inch strand of my hair had turned white and was trying to ruin my life. It turned out that I had to think about it for two whole weeks before realizing I had been under a lot of stress this time too, especially with Dad being in the hospital recently. That brought a little relief, but sooner or later I will have white hair upon white hair, and I don't know how I'm going to handle it. Call me vain, say it's just hair, or what have you but it's a big fear of mine. A box of hair dye will only go so far until you start looking like the old wrinkly lady that's obviously dying her hair. (sigh) I don't want to get old! What to do, what to do...

Message to Consuella

Hi Consuella,
Not sure if you have been getting the e-mails that I've sent you, but I've misplaced my address book and need your address and phone number and Sam's as well. :) You can e-mail it to the family frontiernet account. Thanks a bunch in advance!

Damn You, West Nile!

I have truly lost my mind! We have a west nile problem here in Northern Cal and all the hype and media attention surrounding it has made me totally paranoid and crazy. Not that all of this hype is unwarranted. There's a lot of dead birds that have been found around the area that were infected with the virus. They have also found horses infected with west nile, and now farmers have to inoculate the horses as preventative measures. Horses! Why do horses have a vaccine and not humans? The problem has gotten so bad, that they are now doing aerial and ground spraying in the area to kill the adult mosquitoes. Anyway, with all of this going on I am convinced that I constantly have the west nile virus. Every mosquito bite or any insect bite that itches, it's west nile. Recently my neck hurt, so it must mean that I have meningitis from the west nile virus. I had a headache...west nile! My allergies were acting up which gave me a case of the itchies, but it has to be west nile, since a rash is one of the symptoms. Not that I had a rash, mind you, but I itched and therefore had the virus! It was hot out and I was having trouble breathing, but it wasn't my asthma...it's west nile! Yes, this is my sick and twisted train of thought lately. You know, I could stub my toe and still blame the west nile virus, because it caused me to walk funny in the first place in order for me to stub my toe! Every paranoid delusional thought that I have about the virus, I share with my husband and of course he laughs at me because I am being ridiculous. Last night I told him, "you know, one of these days I will REALLY have the west nile virus, and you'll be sorry!" I was only half joking, but what's that all about?! Am I really that paranoid and retarded that I have to actually dare the virus to infect me? And if I did ever get infected, would I think it was funny to say, "see I told you so"? So in an effort to solve my mosquito problem/paranoia, I picked up a keychain that emits a sound to drive away mosquitoes. The problem is that the sound that it emits is not only irritating to mosquitoes, but to EVERYONE! It makes an annoying "eeeeeeee" sound that is high pitched, but not exactly inaudible. I've only used it once because it's so irritating and has sat in my purse since. We have OFF bug sprays, but I'm not exactly thrilled with having chemicals on my skin almost 24/7. I bought some organic bug balm from the Co-op one of the last few times that we were there. It's easy to use where you just rub it on and smooth it in (says it's good for the skin), but it leaves you smelling like a citronella candle. Bleh! Not exactly an attractive scent! So now I'm back to square one, scratching, paranoid and wondering if it's because of the west nile virus. Hmm...is paranoia a symptom of the virus?

Matcha Green Tea Blast!

I am so addicted to this! I swear I have atleast 3 of these a week! Mmm mmm good!

To Have and to Hold

"Do you know what today is....it's our anniversary. It's our anniversary...."

Yes, today is our 9th year wedding anniversary. Nine years ago we were married by Bode Uale in a beautiful botanical garden in Hawaii and had a luau style reception complete with hula dancers courtesy of...oh my god I can't remember his name! How can I forget him? He was like the Hawaiian godfather of caterers that even invited us to one of his luaus in Waikiki so that we could sample the food, watch the entertainment and see what everything was like before having us commit to anything. I'll have to dig out our wedding pictures and see if looking at him jogs my memory. Anyway, that entire day went by so fast. Was it because of the day itself, sharing it with our family and friends or because of the white zinfandel I consumed the previous night and at the reception? Hmm... Regardless, it was beautiful and fun, and forever ours to cherish. We're celebrating as a family tonight and going out for dinner. I haven't decided between the Cheesecake Factory or the Elephant Bar yet. We also bought a 52" widescreen tv as our anniversary gift. WOO HOO! Can't wait to watch the world series on it! Ooh, or have movie nights! :)

Where does the time go? I was looking through some old pictures of the kids and amazed at how fast they've grown. My baby girl is now 5 and starting kindergarten at the end of next month! My son starts the 3rd grade and will be 8 in September! (sigh) It's so easy to take time for granted and get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. Sometimes you forget to breathe in each moment and savor every detail, and before you know it a lot of time has passed. I think I'm going to try to savor more and live in each moment as it comes.

Anyway, enjoy your day all! Enjoy life!

OH Hell to the NO!

My neighbor is a fucking nut! I'm in my bedroom when I hear these strange noises followed by "FUCK!" and some shouting coming from somewhere outside. At first I thought my back neighbor was working on his yard again or doing something with the fence and got hurt, so I rushed over to the window and didn't see anything. The noises continued so I went over to the side window where I saw my neighbor wielding an axe through the fence swinging it around at the bees and yelling at them because they're stinging him! I don't know whether he was just drunk, smoking crack, or what the hell was going on with him, but I stood there watching like it was a train wreck! At first it looked like he and his bar-fuck-now-live-in lady friend were having domestics because it looked like he was looking in the windows, holding the axe and trying to get her to let him in the house. Then he starts chasing bees around with it and yelling at them because they're stinging him in self defense! WTF! I wanted to go and get the camera so I could film him being an idiot (and have something to show the authorities should he become a threat to us), but somehow I couldn't step away from the window! HAHA Yes folks, that is trash at its finest!

The Sh*t Is Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

I never leave home without my camera. After all, you never know what you may come across. Like this:


What I didn't get a picture of was his two friends on the opposite corner with a microphone, headset and video camera on a tripod. After I snapped the pic, he mimed to me that they were filming but I didn't care. I wasn't the foolio in the 97+ degree heat with the banana suit on just to see people's reactions. Does he realize that he is dressed more of like a penis that broke through a condom? I wonder if he managed to beg for enough money to pay for his dignity. HAHA

YAY!

Dad came home from the hospital today! :) Get well soon, Dad!

No Blogs For Awhile

Dad is in the hospital so I'll be away from the computer for a bit.

Be well. Be happy. Make every minute count.

Aah...Kodak Moments

I found this picture of us at my parent's house. This was taken in August of 1993, 2 months after the historical "Love Is In The Air" post occured. So young... :)

Was That What I Thought It Was?

We saw this while driving home on Saturday night and thought it was funny, especially because it was parked in a residential area. We even drove around the block so that I could capture the moment. Unfortunately, I failed to capture the Scott tissue van that it was hitched to. Scott--extra soft and septic safe! Who knew? HAHAHAH I e-mailed this to my friend Scott so he could enjoy the laugh. :)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Alex and I went to see this movie on Saturday as part of celebrating our 12 years of being together, and we both loved it! It was both funny and hot! The chemistry between Brad & Angelina was WOW and Vince Vaughn is fantastic in comedic roles! I must have this movie when it's out on DVD.

What A Wonderful Day

I'm still living in the moment of our anniversary, both of past and present memories, and of our celebration of it this past weekend. We all had great weekends here. The kids enjoyed their weekend campout with Nana and Papa. They only called once, on Sunday morning and we were already on our way to pick them up. Alex and I had a great weekend as well. It's nice to still have our date nights, where we can be together as Alex and Staci, to talk and enjoy each other and only focus on each other. We love our kids and always enjoy being with them, but alone time is nice too. I hope you all had a great weekend also!

Empty Nest

So the kids are spending the weekend with Nana and Papa. We're dropping them off tonight after Alex is home from work, and picking them up Sunday. Talk about perfect timing, since it is anniversary #1 of when we first got together. #2 is in August, when we got married in Hawaii on August 4, 1996. Oh what to do, what to do! Whatever we end up doing is fine, as long as I'm with my love. :) Ok wait, I take that back. I do not want to sit at home all weekend or go to Shakespeare in the Park either. HAHA I'm looking forward to spending some time together though, just the two of us. Aah, the feeling of perm-a-smile and warm fuzzies!

She's Crafty!

Check out these pillows that I made with my new sewing machine. I think this is my favorite out of the things that I've made so far.

Hit Me Baby 1 More Time

Ok, just stop it! What is up with Sophie B. Hawkins? She's singing "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" and flailing around trying to make the song more than it's not. I like the song, but it's not meant to be the be boppin' dance tune. She needs to give those tired ass ripped jeans back to Britney and put on some shoes! She looks good though. I wonder how much Botox she's had.

And what's up with Cameo and that funky ass red cod piece? I don't recall ever seeing the band back in the day, and apparently they were trying to make the cod piece "the thing" back in the day, but oooh! That shit is just not couture! You ain't a superhero! Give that shit back to Daredevil and getchu some nice slacks.

Howard Jones & Irene Cara both had good first performances. I haven't seen their cover performances yet.

Ok now, just stop the madness! Wang Chung is doing Nelly's "Hot In Herre"! They're actually not that bad, and are somehow managing to keep up with the lyrics. The visual though...not happening!

It's like--

OMG, It's just bad folks. I'm watching them and thinking that this just isn't right. I don't know...something about two white men from England trying to be all hip hop? I mean, they're covering Nelly! I know the point of the second half of the show is for the performers to do a current day cover, but Nelly? Couldn't they pick someone more in their genre? Anyway, I'm gonna go and watch the rest of this.

Searching For One Thing, Found Something Else

It's interesting how search engines work. All I did was type in the name of the person that I was doing a websearch on, and up pops a list of my maybes. The very first maybe was one that I was not expecting. It turned out to be a page of memories dedicated to various people that have committed suicide, varying from children to seniors. (By the way, the person that I was looking for was not on that page, just someone else with the same name) Out of curiosity I clicked to see the list of photos and then I got sucked in. I was taken back when the youngest face was only 11, just 3 1/2 years older than my son. What made these people do it? What pain did they have inside that was so bad that they just had to end everything? Why couldn't they find any other way?

What could have...

Well, why didn't...

Maybe if they...

So many questions left unanswered. I clicked on a few others, mostly kids from 11 to 15 because I can't understand what is so bad at that age that just makes so many like them give up. Some of them had stories, others just memories posted, some had just a picture. The 11 year old shot himself in the head. One mother found her 13 year old hanging in the bathroom. THIRTEEN! I couldn't imagine, and don't ever want to find out that feeling. After reading his story and crying my eyes out, I composed myself, washed my face and spent some time with my kids.

VLB

New season of Viva La Bam starts June 26th!

Here's a picture of the cast minus Phil, April, Don Vito & Novak.

You know you want a slushy! ;)

Love, Peas & Hair Grease!

So yesterday I downloaded the Black Eyed Peas' new album Monkey Business from iTunes. I love Love LOVE IT and I love iTunes as well! Now I just need to get me my pink iPod with the pink and white rhinestone studded carrying case and I'll be rich biotch! ;)

Does anyone watch Blow Out on Bravo? Well it's back for season 2 as of last night! I don't know what it is about Jonathan Antin, but Alex and I just HAVE to watch him. He is straight up magical when it comes to hair! Sigh...someday I'll afford his ~$500 haircuts or his $5000 house calls!

My son's last day of school is tomorrow and today I'm off to get some back x-rays so that I can meet with the orthopedist. My Yankees are under .500 and 7 games behind! WTF is up with that? Nothing much else going on...

Good Boy!

Here's my Buster! Isn't he cute?

Hell's Kitchen

This new show on Fox is insane! It's a culinary hell at its dramatic best for aspiring chefs that think that the only way to learn is by being demeaned and verbally abused, just like being in a boot camp. What the hell is up with Chef Gordon Ramsey? Is he for real, or just playing up to the cameras? He is a psycho (think Seinfeld's Soup Nazi + Joan Crawford) and a trip! I wonder how many chefs we would have today if all of the instructors were as hard-ass as he? Hmm...I'd better do a lot of research before I submit my culinary school applications! LOL

I'm Back

Ever feel like you're losing your mind? I may be one step away from the insane asylum! Geez, I hope they let me bring my tivo with me and forward my netflix movies there. Seriously though, I feel like I've been hit by a semi-truck lately because of all the stuff we have going on. Thankfully, things are starting to wind down and the 3 months of summer break will be my calm before the storm starts up again with a start of a new school year in September.

Today I went to my doctor and found out that I was taking a medication that I really didn't need. A $50 for 3 month supply medicine, mind you. I've been on this medication for 2 1/2 years now, so I think the doc that prescribed it had better start writing me a check. As for the back troubles, since physical therapy isn't really effective (it's been 5 weeks), I must now get some x-rays done and see the orthopedist. Hopefully we'll start getting somewhere with these back issues!

My Yankees are no longer the bottom of the barrel. Ok, so they're in 4th right now so they're 2nd from the bottom of the barrel, but atleast it's not LAST place. They could be doing a lot better if they would just get their shit together.

Speaking of baseball, my son finally got a hit yesterday on the 2nd to the last game of the season. He won the bet with his coach and was given $10 and the game ball. Woo hoo! :)

Anyhoo--nothing much else going on here. I'm off to prepare a South Beach dinner.

I'm On A Short Hiatus

Just like some of my favorite shows, I've decided to take a short hiatus. Life has taken a turn for the hectic and in addition, some skeletons from my past are dancing around in my head so I need to work out and work on some things for a bit. I just need some time to breathe and have a few drinky drinks and I'll be back in a few! :)

Los abrazos y besas!

TV Rants and Raves For The Week So Far

Ok, first off I have to talk about The Amazing Race. I am glad, SO GLAD that Uchenna and Joyce won and not Rob and Amber! I was originally rooting for Lynn and Alex, but since they were eliminated, Uchenna and Joyce was the team for me. I didn't mind Ron and Kelly either, until their fighting got worse and then Ron turned into an ass. I cannot stand Rob and Amber! He is such an asshole, which makes her one by association and also because of the fact that she went along with his shadiness, and by them not winning is karma just coming back to stick it to them in the ass! I love how Uchenna and Joyce would not cross the finish line until they paid the cab driver. I'm sure production was loving this because it made for good ratings. I wonder if there was talk amongst the other race participants and Phil at the finish about how they were there, but begging for the last $25 for the cab. If I were one of the teams waiting, I would be digging into my pockets and see if I had the money to give them so that they could pay the driver and win the thing already! HAHA I wonder how long they were actually out there. And editing made it seem like Rob and Amber were right around the corner just seconds into pulling into the parking lot. I hate how editing manipulates you! YAY Uchenna and Joyce!

Damn 24! I hate how they intertwine this sappy romance BS into the show. I love the storyline and action, but it's such a turn off when they throw in a dash of drippy sappy lines here, with a handful of romance crap there. The scenes with Audrey and Jack are fine, but the ones with Tony and Michelle just make me want to throw up! What's with the "I never wanted things to end up this way...I can't live without you" crap? This isn't the show for that! It's not daytime television!

Family Plots--I love them! Not so fond of Rick, and Chuck is just something else, but overall they seem like such nice caring people! I want them to handle my arrangements when it's my time to go.

Trading Spaces--I hate the new format without Paige. I love how there is a carpenter for each house now, and the ending where the designer and carpenter gets to actually watch and speak with the homeowners afterwards. I still feel that there is a big part of the show missing and that is Paige Davis. Her personality and charisma brought something extra to the show and that presence is missed!

While You Were Out--Love the show, love Evan, but please...he needs to cut his hair! I want to apply for the show, but it would be such a big production to get Alex, the kids, and the dog out for a few days. Besides, I don't know how I would pull it off because Alex often watches the show with me. Hmm...maybe I should apply anyway. I mean, what are the chances of getting picked? But if I am, can I have John Bruce?

I haven't finished catching up on Tivo for the week because we've been so busy and also because of the new sewing machine. Oh, and add Netflix to that list. Tonight's Apprentice night though. I don't care for either of the two. Tana reminds me of a bad drag queen and Kendra is just damn annoying, but I think Tana is the more qualified to win. We'll see what happens!

And How Was Your Weekend?

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I am one of them and had a nice mother's day. I woke up to breakfast in bed on Sunday morning, followed by cards and gifts. We hung out at home for the rest of the day and got take-out for dinner. It was a nice family, low key day.

Monday was my 31st birthday. No biggie. I think nowadays I get more excited about my kid's or even my husband's birthday, but not so much mine. I did wake up and walk down the hall to some really cool and cute birthday decorations. I also got a basket full of white and milk chocolate dipped strawberries delivered around lunchtime. My parents made a birthday dinner for me at their house that night, so those were all nice and thoughtful gestures. Alex ordered my cake from Freeport Bakery, which was a 1/4 sheet Fruit Tart that I wanted. OMG, that was the best! It is so good, with a shortbread crust and custard filling topped with an assortment of fresh fruit. We finished off the rest of it last night and it was still soooo good! Ooh, I have to tell you...what I did get excited about this year, besides my Fruit Tart, was my combined Mother's Day/Birthday gift...a sewing machine complete with a bag to carry the thing around in! TA DA! It's the shit! It's not exactly the one that I wanted (the one that I wanted ended up being over a $1000! WTF?!), but it's still a fancy one with embroidery stitches, an automatic buttonhole feature, pedal control, fancy stitches, etc. and it's the brand that I wanted. I can't believe that my husband remembered that! I just couldn't wait to use it. I had some fabric lying around so I made 2 pillows for the kids and 4 bean bags for them to toss around and make up a game with. I've also mended some clothes, but I'm ready for a project...a beginner's project. I'm teaching myself how to use this thing because I'm too shy to take my free class, but I think I'm doing pretty well so far. I bought a book titled Sewing 101 with some great info and beginner's projects so I can't wait to pick one out and get started on that.

Anyway, we've been really busy around here. Between my son's baseball events and my physical therapy and other day to day things, we only have 1 day out of the week that we're home, so we've (well, Alex really) been having to squeeze a lot of things into that one day, grocery shopping, errands, laundry, etc. Stress!

So what's new with you?

Child, Do You Need an Intervention?

You know, it's amazing what people do in the name of love. You would think that if someone was treating you like the lowest, stinkest shit on the earth and continued to do so, you would leave. Get out. Go away, far away from the situation as possible. Just leave the relationship and say fuck it because, come on now, who wants to deal with that kind of bullshit? You should never be with someone that continually breaks you down so that they can feel superior. But alas, some people like that kind of drama and just keep running back to a bad situation almost like it's an addiction.

My batphone rang again today, and it's my Phone-a-Friend on the other end. Yes, the one that always keeps me in the know. (Love you! ;)) Apparently someone did not participate in yesterday's affirmation because after all the drama that went down, after all the hurtful words that were spoken, after that person took their shit, left and said that they were done...THEY WENT BACK! WHAT THE FUCK!?! Why? WHY!?! Please help me understand! No seriously, help me understand not only why you went back to this bullshit situation, but also what things you love about The Asshole because frankly I don't see any remote redeeming qualities there. Look friend, you can do SOOOOOO much better than that! You don't need all that crap that is continuously flung at you. Please stop putting up with all the bullshit because you don't deserve to be treated that way. Can you tell me why you want to be with said Asshole? What things do you love about them? Because if you can name one good reason why you love The Asshole and continue to be treated like this, then tell me and I'll never say any stink thing about the Degrader-that-says-awful-things-to-you-and-you-keep-staying-
with-that-person ever again. Pinky swear. I love you Friend and only want what's best for you!

The WTF of the day

So last night, Tivo and I sat down to watch Penn & Teller's BULLSHIT episode on Family Values. I could not believe that they had someone on there named Richard Cohen that claims to have the ability to turn gay people straight! He also says that he used to be gay himself, but through sexual reorientation, has been healed. (For further bullshit info on his bullshit and also info on the International Healing Foundation and their bullshit, you can click here and it will take you to the aformentioned, or rather Dick's website) Or to save you the trouble, here are some of the bullshit facts on their home page:

-No one is born with same-sex attractions.
-People can choose to change from a homosexual to a heterosexual orientation.
-Change is possible.

He appparently also has 2 books out:

-Coming Out Straight--Understanding and Healing Homosexuality
-Gay Children, Straight Parents--A Plan for Family Healing

What the fuck is that all about? Do you, Mr. Cohen, think that everyone that is gay chooses to be gay, in a world full of hate and intolerance? Do you think that they made their choice to be gay because they just thought it was cool and didn't feel like having the same rights as straight people have? No one, well that I know of, just wakes up one morning and says "Hmm...today feels like a homo day for me. I'll be gay today!" What, do you think they caught the Homo virus and need to be healed? Dick, what cheap ass crack are you smoking?! What is your problem with homosexuality? And why do you feel the need to be the savior of all that is homosexual? They're not sick, they're human!

I was sitting there infront of the TV last night and just couldn't believe all this shit that he was saying. AND--I couldn't believe that there were people actually coming to see him for his healing services, because someone didn't like who they were and said they're supposed to be something else. Someone out there convinced them that homosexuality is wrong. Someone convinced them that they were sick for being gay. Someone told them that God hated them and they were going to burn in hell for all eternity. Why can't we as a society just let people be? Don't we have bigger things to worry about?

If anyone out there thinks that I'm the crazy one and that I'm missing the mark, by all means please enlighten me. I'd like to hear what you have to say.

By the way, this Dick was just a tiny tidbit in a half hour show. There was a lot of other bullshit on there, but this whole thing with Mr. Dick and the sexual reorientation and healing took the "Don't Make Me Blog About You" award for the day!

Say what Phone-a-Friend?!

I love it when my batphone rings with juicy tidbits! Not that I'm revelling in other people's drama, because I love and truly care for the unnamed people that have been affected by this drama. I also love being kept in the know! I don't get out much (lately it's only been to drs appointments), and although my daily life is busy, nothing new rarely goes on so I'll take what I can get.

Let's all pause and do an affirmation. Everyone grab your mirrors and say:

"I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and god dammit people like me!"

Say it. Again. Again. AGAIN! One more verse, same as the first! Shampoo, rinse, repeat! Listen to yourself as you say these words! Shout it! One more final time, but with conviction! Ok, enough of that.

I just wanna say, that if someone is treating you like shit, and/or it's the same undeserving bullshit over and over, dump her or him (I'm equal opportunist) and move on! I know, easier said than done, right? Well, take it one day at a time and things will be better before you know it. It could be a day, week, or even a year, but it'll happen. All it takes is one foot in front of the other. A great group of friends (or any support system you have) and a favorite comfort food also helps, so you may want to stock up on both for the healing process. No turning around, no running back.

Anyway, thank you Phone-a-Friend for always keeping me in the know! Love you! :)

Free Ipods maybe?

Hey! www.freeipods.com are supposedly giving away free ipods. All you have to do is sign up, complete an offer, and refer 5 friends. If your 5 referrals complete an offer than they'll send you an ipod. If you're interested in helping me maybe get an ipod, please click on the link below:

http://www.freeiPods.com/?r=17760371

I heard that they were legit...or atleast they were for some people. I signed up for bmg music, but there are other choices listed as well. Now I just need 5 referrals to sign up. Anyone? Please?

If You Were A South Park Character, What Would You Look Like?

According to the South Park Studio, this would be me. Ta da...Super Cissy!

ho hum...

I'm home alone right now with nothing much to do. The Food Network's on as background noise, because my Netflix movies won't come in until tomorrow and I can't find anything else to watch on tv.

I'm still hurting. Still lying on the floor. Still frustrated. We're supposed to be at a friend's baby's baptismal today which is only a couple minutes away from us , but unfortunately I'm still a caged animal and growing more restless by the minute. Shit happens...

I do want to take a minute to thank everyone out there that have stumbled across my blog, and let you know that I appreciate and thank you for all of the positive comments and well wishes that I've received. It's reassuring to know that there's still a lot of good and kindness in the world. Thanks people! It helps!

I don't want to turn this post into a whining party, but unfortunately it's all I can think about right now. I guess I'll go and Ebay. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

XOXOXO

This Just Sucks!

I'm at an all time low. It's a shitty back week, and my doctor has referred me to physical therapy, but my appointment isn't until next Thursday. I pushed it too much because I wanted to give my daughter a nice birthday (you're only 5 yrs old once), and what was once holding up is now failing me. I feel like a caged animal with the walls starting to cave in on me. I'm only able to take small steps around the house, and even walking from the bedroom to the kitchen is a chore. I'm running out of things to keep me sane and yes, even this TV whore can only watch so much! My husband, who has been working from home all week, thankfully moved the computer to the floor today upon request so I can atleast have another way to escape to the outside world. I hate feeling like a burden. I hate the way that the kids look at me with pity when I tell them that my back hurts me too much to go to baseball games, play at the park, go ANYWHERE or do ANYTHING with them. I'll be 31 next month and I'm supposed to be enjoying life with my beautiful family. Instead, I'm a borderline invalid. I'm choking and drowning on bitterness and helplessness and see no light at the end of the tunnel. This just sucks!

Technical Difficulties

I've been having a few problems regarding posting and other blogger issues lately. Blogger also decided to delete other team members all on its own. Any of you other bloggers having trouble or is mine the only one possessed?

WTF is this all about?!

OMG does Bobby Trendy own a mirror? Is this supposed to be must have couture and I'm just missing the mark? What's this craziness all about? Honey, your makeup application is flawless, but I'm not feeling your ensemble. Some people will do anything for the spotlight I guess.

Here He Is Again!

Here's his second grade school picture. Sorry honey! Mommy loves you too! :)

I have a son too!

Ok, so I have a little mommy guilt. I was reading over some of my past blogs and realized that I had not written one little thing about my son, so here he is at his first little league game:

She did it!

Last night we all ventured out to the mall so that the birthday girl could have her birthday present early, and be ready for her 5th birthday today. She did it! She got her ears pierced and was very brave about the whole thing. She did one ear at a time without a tear, whimper or the slightest ouch! She said that it didn't hurt, and afterwards was very quick to tell EVERYONE in the mall she passed that she " just got her ears pierced at Claire's!" Aah...to be 5 again!

It's The Birthday Girl!

Happy 5th Birthday sweetie!

I Heart My Husband

I've been going through a lot w/my back problems lately, and my husband is such a sweetie! Not only did he work from home so that he could take care of me and the youngest one, but also bought me some Starbucks peppermint syrup so that I can feed my own peppermint mocha addictions at home, AND got me Japanese takeout for dinner. I feel like the domestic princess! :) Love you babe!

Disappearing Posts 'N Shtuff

Hmm...blogger's being testy lately. First my internet window crashed early last week while blogging, and now 2 entries that I e-mailed in haven't posted.

The Pope passed away on Saturday. Cardinals are now holding meetings to find a successor. I mean no disrespect, but can someone tell me why Pontiffs have to be OLD old?

The Yankees kicked serious Red Sux ass on Sunday and won their season opener 9-2. YAY!

"I Heard A Rumor" that Bananarama's back, but minus Siobhan Fahey and Jacquie O'Sullivan. You can check out their stuff at http://bananarama.co.uk Ok NKOTB, it's your turn! ;)

Speaking of NKOTB, did anyone catch Jordan Knight on last season's Surreal Life? I would have seriously thrown myself at him back in the day (I've even snuck into their hotel and climbed 36 flights of stairs to see them), but now he is sooooo not hot! His 15 minutes of fame, along with everything else has fizzled! Anyway, I'm onto way hotter things to, (ahem), be a fan of such as:

www.bamargera.com There's just something about skating and skaters in general. Is 30 too old to learn how to skate and be a sk8er chick? Viva La Bam! Seasons 2 and 3 are out on dvd April 12th.

and

www.evanfarmer.net I never knew of him back from his 2ge+her days on MTV, and I seriously didn't like him when he first became the host of While You Were Out. He's funny and silly though, not to mention easy on the eyes and has grown on me, and now I TIVO him every week.

Anyhoochie, laundry calls. My new high efficiency front load washer (insert angelic glow and sounds here) arrives on Sunday, so I'm off to finish up the old detergent with the piles of clothes that are accumulating. XOXO

The Pope is Still Alive

Goodness, this is like the presidential elections & Dan Rather's false memo scandal all over again. Earlier today I saw and heard with my own eyes and ears on Headline News that the Pope had passed away, after hearing from a friend that he had died. The media has since taken back that statement, saying that he is indeed still alive, but gravely ill. Look media, you can just take stuff back and say oopsie because you already sent it out there. Hire more fact checkers. Something! Don't make a liar out of me! I can't be lying about a religious figure...that's just bad karma! LOL

So I guess the appropriate line here would be, "April Fools!"

Time for a Makeover!

Check out this picture that I took of the apple blossoms on my parent's tree. I took it w/our digicam and I'm quite proud of it. I'm thinking of blowing it up and framing it for some much needed artwork throughout our house.

Yes, I feel that I should post something nice and pleasant, as a sort of makeover since that last post got all UGLY!

[A little sidenote, my daughter is yelling to me from the bathroom, proudly describing how her fecal waste lookes like chicken on a bone and a peanut. This makeover isn't off to a good start. LOL!]

I was chatting with a dear close friend of mine today on AIM, and he informed me that the Pope has passed on. A few minutes later, I noticed the date and had to make sure that he wasn't April Fooling me. I really did have to check...my tv's been on the disney channel all morning, so I don't really get a taste of the real world until later when Hubby & I can watch some grown-up tv. It was the Pope's time, I suppose.

Hmm...strike 2 as far as my pleasant post goes.

Nothing much else going on. Our neighbor got a new puppy, and I can hear it's whimpers and cries over the tv that's on. Crap! I'm not holding my breath on getting a good night's sleep tonight.

Ok, strike 3. I give up! I'm out! Have a great weekend, all! :)

Sucks doesn't it. :(

Mmmhmm! Bobby Trendy says, "Don't hate me because I'm a sexy biotch! You wish you looked all sassy sexy like me! Luxurious!"

Now, I'm not a Bobby Trendy fan, but I just had to post this picture because I want these pants! Can I have mine say Bitch? HAHA I wonder if I can find a bedazzler on Ebay and make them myself!

Memories revisited!

Isn't it funny how random little things trigger memories? While I was blogging away at the post that disappeared, "...demerits!" intruded its way into my thoughts. The kids were here in my room watching The Sword in the Stone and when I heard that word, my thoughts were instantly paused and my mind was rewinded back to my senior year of high school, where we had a demerit system and was also forced to watch this Disney movie for Linnea's English class. "GREEN TICKET PLEASE!" was the next thing that rang into my head. Linnea, our English teacher, had a weird green ticket system where we were all given 3 green tickets at the beginning of the week. These tickets could be used as a sort of "get out of our jail cells free" card, and we could go to the bathroom, get a drink, etc. during class if we wanted to, provided that we had a ticket to give her. Any infraction of her classroom penal codes and we would have to forfeit a green ticket. I always thought it was a weird system with flaws. She often forgot to collect the remaining green tickets at the end of the week, so it was easy to build up a nice collection of them. Even if you didn't have a secret stash, you could always secretly borrow one from someone else. I've also seen a couple of people cutting their tickets in half...two for the price of one! I found it kind of insulting to treat seniors that way! I mean hello?!...we were on the steps of adulthood! What if I didn't have a green ticket and I really had to pee? Would she have me pee on the floor? LOL Wouldn't be my fault and I could at least get out of those uniforms for a bit! I might have even tried it back in the day if it wasn't so embarrassing! ;)

Earlier this week, I remembered how I had my secret little crush on Lee Davis, our school's Jostens representative. I was going to marry him and make him one of my husbands (I had quite a running tally LOL)! I wonder if he's still a Jostens man? I'll have to Google him later and find out. Ok, so I couldn't wait and searched at Jostens.com for my alma mater's rep. Wasn't him anymore. I didn't think so, but then again you never know.

I've been having a lot of high school memories lately, mainly because I'm still reading through the box of letters that I brought back from my parent's house. It seems like so long ago, and yet just yesterday all at the same time, from the "Well, well, wells" of a sweet friend of mine that I'm still occasionally in touch with, to the nose hair jokes of that certain tall Texan classmate I'll call Delaney (Geez, I hope he's learned the art of manscaping by now! tee hee). It would be nice to have a class reunion in Hawaii soon. Since our private school doesn't have organized reunions, I've been thinking a lot of trying to set one up. Unfortunately, I wouldn't know how to get a hold of everyone, even though we were the senior class of a whopping 12 and mostly everyone still lives in HI. Besides, I have no idea if people would be interested anyway. Ah well, moving on. Back to life...back to reality. :)

Oh no it didn't!

I am so pissed right now. Here I sit, blogging away to my little heart's delight, and Firefox decides that it's not going to respond to me. I don't know what happened. I only had 4 windows open and besides, this is a new computer! Ugh! Whatever...pissy thing!

Here I am with my beloved. Aren't we cute? This was the taken the night that the kidlets were sleeping over at my parents house, and we went out to dinner for Hubby's birthday. I'm getting pretty good at those self-portrait shots, don't you think? Can't even tell that my left arm is holding the camera out infront of us.

Intervention on A&E--Have you seen this?

Tivo, Alex & I had a threesome and tuned into Intervention last night. It's a new program on A&E airing Sunday nights about people with various addictions (thinking that they're only filming a show on addictions), and midway through the show their family surprises them with a group intervention resulting in them being whisked away to rehab. We've watched 3 of these episodes so far, and my heart just bleeds for these people. It's so sad to see someone suffering so much, just tormented to the point where they have to turn to various things to feel in control when their life is taking an opposite turn. Last night's episode was the worst I've seen. One of the profiles shown was Tamela, a 24 yr old that was molested three times as a child and turn to cutting to deal with her pain. It was so heart wrenching to hear her story unfold, see scars from previous times, and then see her actually cutting herself with a razor blade to the point where she's soaked her clothing and sheets in blood. I just wanted to cry. There was so much pain in her eyes, and yet you could tell that she was trying almost too hard to be happy in front of others to cover it up. They all knew though, because she's told them before that she does it. I don't know...I just couldn't imagine seeing anyone in my life going through the same torment. If I knew that someone was a cutter, even if I didn't exactly know the right thing to do, I don't think I could just sit there and allow it to keep happening. Maybe it was because of editing, but we thought it was obvious that she was crying out for help. I guess that when someone is that close to you, you just don't want to see how serious the situation really is, or you're just paralyzed by the thought of the unknown. Whatever the reason, I'm glad that in the end she got the help that she needed and since taping the episode, she hasn't cut herself in over 200 days. Unfortunately though, there are 2 million others out there that need saving as well.

Anyway, sorry for the downer post today. Maybe it's the rain outside...or maybe I just need some comfort carbs. ;) Cold stone anyone?

I Have A Confession That I've Cheated...TWICE!

Husband and I are on South Beach again and so far it's been a month come tomorrow. We took a break this past Saturday and celebrated his birthday at Scott's. We didn't go carb crazy--I still ordered my filet and scallops w/no mashed potatoes and extra veggies, but did have some crab cakes, melon salsa and bbq sauce on the oysters, and shared a tiramisu for dessert. See? Not so bad. I figured that it wouln't hurt to indulge a little because we're still on phase 1. We've both lost around 6 lbs this time around (with just the food part...I haven't been able to work out and Hubby's been too busy to start up), and I just want to lose another 4 before switching to phase 2. Anyway, last night we had so much to do, with helping to finish our son's science fair project in addition to his homework that he still had to do, on top of the both of them coming home late. Since we had all of this and my back is still bothering me, Husband decides that we should order out so that I wouldn't have to cook. I sooo had been wanting Japanese for a long time and decided to say a big "up yours" to SB and get take-out from Aloha Sushi (www.alohasushiusa.com). Yeah, let's just say I had a bad carb attack last night. Not only did I order the sesame chicken that's deep fried in the breading, but ordered 2 rolls of sushi and enjoyed every white rice morsel that was stuck in those rolls. Shit, I'm a good person that's been crippled lately, and I deserve a treat! ;) I should've opted for a bowl from Chipotle, which I was going to do before Japanese popped into my head and rolled off my tongue before I could bite it to stop talking. I'll be back on SB today, that is after my leftovers are eaten for lunch! tee hee It's so hard because we want to eat healthy, but difficult to do so when ordering out because choices are still very limited. Can't they make sushi or serve meals w/brown and wild rice? Not have so many deep fried choices? Make teriyaki or other sauces with splenda instead of sugar? I've made my own teri sauce using splenda at home and it's good! Is there such thing as a whole grain tortilla? If not, can I get my fish taco grilled instead of fried and wrapped in lettuce instead of a tortilla? I love SB because it's not so much of a diet, and it's not even a low carb diet...just eating the right carbs. I'm not kicking down other diets, but my husband and I have found that SB is the right one for us. So forgive me Dr. Agatston for I have strayed! I'll be back on the wagon today after lunch!

Judge Says CA Can't Ban Gay Marriage

So yesterday a judge ruled that a same sex marriage ban is unconstitutional, likening the ban to racial segregation and also said that there was "no rational purpose" to deny them their marriage rights. Finally! FINALLY there was someone out there among the PTB (powers that be) that had some sane rational sense in him! I cannot believe that we still live in a time where people have to fight tooth and nail, clawing their way through life to be who they want to be and love who they want to love. We are still living ass-backwards after all these years. Why does love have to be so wrong in their eyes? I mean what are haters out there afraid of? The whole "separate but equal rights" thing is just so fucked up! People are people. What, are we all cans at the grocery store with labels on them that determine if they can go on the top shelf or the bottom shelf? We shouldn't treat anyone like the dented cans that are thrown in the clearance basket. Oh goodness, look at me talking about folks like we're all living under one big Whole Foods market! LOL Seriously though, things HAVE got to change, and I would like to think that this ruling was a big step in the right direction for the good of humanity. This ruling is huge and I would like to stay positive about it, but the homo-haters probably have this set to go on to a court of appeals already. Unfortunately it could be months, or even years, before we'll know if same sex marriages will be sanctioned by the state. The fight continues...

Oh Memories!

It was long overdue, but I FINALLY brought back some of my childhood things from my parent's house this past weekend. Among the endless boxes of teeny bopper magazines (New Kids on the Block rule! Jordan was SOOO my flavor of the week!) and other nostalgia from my past, I found a box of letters that I've kept from as far back as 8th grade. It's so interesting to go back, read and remember pieces of my past, and to look back on things that seemed so important and pressing to a teenager's life, only to realize now that most of those things weren't all that big, and our reactions just somewhat dramatic. LOL Such fond memories and you know, it's all we knew back in the day! I had no bills, no health problems, and my only cares in the world were my friends & family, boys, boys, school, boys, what my celebrity faves were up to, what my wedding would be like to them, and what my friends and I were doing on the weekends. Who knew that years later I'd be married to my wonderful husband and have 2 beautiful kids. It's such a mindtrip though, because I hardly remember that girl that I used to be. Not that I've completely changed over the years, but a lot has happened since 8th grade and my 30th birthday that has all shaped me into the person that I am today. I haven't finished reading through all of the letters and notes, but some of them have already made me smile, laugh and have even shocked me. I've even found phone numbers and letters from guys that I met (some of those which I wound up dating for a whopping week!) I even have letters written in GREEK! You see, there was a big note/letter passing crackdown at my school and people had started getting careless...losing them only to have them found by teachers and turned into the principal. So we thought that we would write letters in greek so they wouldn't know what it said. The only stink of it though, was that you had to have the greek alphabet code with you when you read it or else you wouldn't know what the hell it said. I also found letters written in pig latin (which looking at it now, it's so obvious to see what it says) and shorthand! LOL Passing notes may not sound like a big deal because who didn't pass notes? I went to a very strict Christian school though and the things written in those letters weren't so Christian by Hanalani's rules, not to mention that note passing was 10 demerits. We used to call it the Institution, or HCF--Hanalani Correctional Facility. LOL I mean come on, they gave out demerits for girls and boys sitting less than 6 inches closer to each other. Before they switched over to uniforms, our skirts had to touch the floor when we kneeled and the slit was to be no more than 2 inches long and believe me, they checked! I used to think that their strict hard-ass rules were so untolerable and almost cruel, but looking back it wasn't so bad. We all found ways to work around it and make the best of our school days. ;) We were all like family because the school was so small--about 150 students from grades 7 through 12th on the same campus. It was the students--my friends who were like family, that made me want to be there, so much so that when I went to Hawaii on vacation the summer before my senior year, I wound up staying and going back there for my senior year of high school. I guess life at that school wasn't all that bad like we all thought when we felt trapped there and I'd like to think that I came out of the whole experience as a pretty good person. Oh the memories! Good times!

My love affair with Tivo!

Tivo's a wonderful thing, don't you think? Let me tell you, if you don't have one yet, you are soooo missing out, especially if you're a tv addict like myself! We have 2 of them in the house, and since my back's been giving me trouble again (compressed disc), Tivo's 1 and 2 and I have been having a hot love affair. We could go for hours without end, sometimes with my husband for a threesome, with a group of friends or sometimes without. We can even have the kids involved and don't even have to kick the dog out of the room! Oh, the feeling of having control over the tv...or do I really? See I thought I had all the power in the world! I could pause, rewind and fast forward. I could FF through commercials and not have to be tempted by ads for pizzas or subs, or grossed out by tampon commercials while I'm trying to eat. I can rewind for those "What did they say?" moments. I can pause when I have to go to the bathroom. I can record programs! Well, all of these conveniences and more come with a price...a big price! Because it has seduced me with those features, especially the "season pass", I have become a junkie. I am ashamed to say that I have around 50 season passes only on one of them and that even with 2 of them in the house with dual tv tuners, it's time to upgrade to a bigger one that holds more programs. I can hardly remember what life was like without them and I swear I'd die if I ever had to go back to life without them! Well, I guess regardless of who holds the power in this love affair...I love my Tivo and Tivo loves me!

Still alive & kicking!

Again I haven't blogged in awhile...

Back pain's a bitch, ain't it?

I can't remember the last time I've driven, so lately getting out of the house is a rare treat for me. But alas, I didn't write this here to invite you to a pity party. Just wanted to let you know where I've been...er, that is haven't been! Thankfully, I have TIVO! :)

Hope everyone else is healthier than I've been. I'll be back in a bit with a vengeance!

Um yeah...saw this on the trading spaces website:

"I just wanted to take a minute to say goodbye. As you may have heard, TLC is taking Trading Spaces in a new creative direction. They are moving into a host-less format and therefore I will no longer be in the cast of the show. My last episode will premiere in March and in the meantime I'll be looking toward my next adventure and what will hopefully be a bright future — and a lot more time with Patrick and Sophie. :-)

I cannot begin to explain what an incredible journey this show has been for me. I love Trading Spaces so much and I am very proud of what the cast and crew has brought to you. I have loved working with the amazingly talented cast. I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting all our homeowners. And it's been a thrill meeting awesome and dedicated fans like you all over the country. I will miss my friends very much, but I know they all wish me well and send me off with their love and support; and I am sure that Trading Spaces will still be a fabulous and fun show for all of you to watch. I will certainly be watching and cheering them on.

With much gratitude,
Paige"

--HOLY CRAP! I can't imagine what the show's going to be like without her. She's helped make the show what it is today. Hmm...I wonder if any network will give her a talk show?

It's Official: The Yanks land Randy Johnson

So we got him. Now I'm not a fan of the 'Big Unit' myself, and I swear he could be Jeff Foxworthy's brother (eww!), but who doesn't want their team to win? I LOVE my Yankees, and Randy Johnson is the shit when he's healthy, but that's the thing though...will he be healthy and pull through for us? He's 41, and last season he was taking gel injections to the knee, so I'm sure the knee can't hold up much longer. Will he be a big deal for us, or a big loss? In any case, I'm still pumped about baseball and can't wait until April 3rd when the Yankees will kick serious Red Sox ass!!!

Ten Days Later

Happy belated New Year. Yes, I'm late, but I've been constantly sick lately and still working with a sprained left wrist. What a way to start off the new year, huh?