snow pants

for some reason blogger isn't letting me post my pictures 8(

yesterday i officially became the coolest mom on the block. I went out to shovel snow from the driveway and took both my kids with me. Bundled up in their snow pants and layers of socks and gloves I let them go crazy in the snow.
The neighbor kids were also out (twin 7 year old boys and a little girl the same age as my son). So, as I shoveled they all played around me. I was piling all the snow into one big pile up by the garage and it soon turned into a "fort." Well, I kinda got sidetracked (from shoveling) building this fort and it was looking pretty good when the kids made teams and the other team wanted their own fort. So, I made a fort in the neighbors yard (just off the side of my driveway), next to a big tree. Now we had two awesome snow forts and we had a snowball fight. It was fun, I took pictures and realized afterward that I had not put my memory card into the camera (duh!!). I got the card and just took some shots of the kids.

I built a third fort. A small completely enclosed one that we called the lookout. My daughter was busy decorating them with plastic pumpkins she had found in the garage. Why? I have no idea. She started making seats in the sides of the snow and putting sticks in like flags, etc.

I was really trying to get the drive shoveled and started piling more snow on the second fort (the one by the tree). Eventually, we realized that it was the biggest and best fort and decided to really make it awesome. So, of course we made a tunnel leading into the fort. The boys were completely amazed that I knew how to make forts and really blown away that I could show them how to make a tunnel.

Before we got to play in it, the boys had to go in and warm up and I had to take Mazzy to the eye doctor (she had to get glasses ~ another post on that later). I left and the forts were looking good.

and then I came home two hours later to mutilation. The boys had been let loose and destroyed the first fort and the lookout fort. They had caved in the tunnel on the biggest and most awesome fort and informed me that they "put in a chimney." (The chimney must have been the small chair inserted upside down in the top of the fort.)

today i am sore. but still cool.

(i'll try and post the picts tomorrow if blogger will let me)

first time for everything

i heard a thud and then crying. it was my three year old boy and his cry was unusual. it wasn't the fake cry he does when his sister has taken something from him. it wasn't his loud "i just hurt myself really bad" cry, and it wasn't his whining "i'm tired and everything is pissing me off cry".

instead it was a whimpering sort of catching his breath type of cry. i went into his room to see him holding his crotch and rocking back and forth while crying and saying "i hurt myself. i hurt myself".

i asked my daughter (who was standing next to the bed) what happened since it was obvious he could not articulate at that moment. she informed me that he was trying to climb over the end of the bed and one foot slipped and he fell onto the bed post. Hmmmm. so he racked himself.

my poor little baby boy, his first time injuring the "family jewels." I'm sure it won't be the last.

do this dance

so at the family birthday party for mazzy we had the usual crew. we did the singing of bday song, blowing out of candles and eating of cake. monkey's parents always make HOME MADE ice cream and it's always delish.

chimp was in the kitchen with "fem-monkey" and a few other people and they were playing with jude boy who was going a little crazy. He gets pretty worked up when he has an audience and LOVES his uncle chimp.
so jude starts doing some crab walk like dance and chimp says to him
chimp: that's pretty cool. what do you call that?
jude: oh, that's just the "itchy cock" dance.



i asked him the next day what that crazy dance was called again and he told me the "itchy poooodle". that's better.

she's seven

my girl turned seven yesterday.

seven!

time.....

i made heart shaped cupcakes and piped on the frosting (lots of it). i took them to school for her and when i picked her up she said that the kids thought the cupcakes were "wickedly awesome."

we are having a party for her on saturday but let her open a few small items we got for her at Claire's.

one of her dolls has a sleep outfit and it came with a sleep mask. i have found her asleep in bed with this sleep mask on and it's cutting off circulation in her cheeks. So, we picked out a new sleep mask for her. Last night i went up to bed and checked on her as usual. she had fallen asleep in my bed so i went to move her to her room. when i pulled the covers back and she rolled over, i starting cracking up laughing because she had the new sleep mask on and it's got a realistic looking photo of a cat's eyes on it.
i tried to find a photo online of the exact one and can't find it. i'll take a picture of her tonight while she's sleeping. it's hilarious.


in other news:
it's FREEZING here. i think it was 8 below this morning. ugh. january sucks.

disaster area

So, our town has been declared a disaster area. The photo shows our junior high school. Our house is about one block away from where the flood waters reached so we are pretty lucky (so far). We have some seepage in our basement but no standing water. Our sump pump is definitely getting a work out though.
My Aunt and cousin are staying with us because their basement is full (like clear to the ceiling full). They had a wall in the basement collapse and had to have their gas and electric turned off. My cousin just waded home to check things out and said she can now see in the basement because water has receded about six inches. Her freezer and washer and dryer are just floating around.
Monkey Brigade worked with the EMS yesterday helping evacuate people and hospice patients into the armory. That would suck. Then of course he had to go into work at 11pm, back to his class this morning. He's running on fumes.
A woman jumped off the Mill st. bridge into the river and was rescued about two miles up river. She was trying to commit suicide.
A classmate of mine was electrocuted (to death). Seems he was holding a drop cord and slipped into his flooded basement.

..and a new one has begun

a rocking new years eve at our house this year. for the first time in awhile, i was actually still awake at midnight.
everyone else was snoring away and i watching a netflix movie that i have had for about two months. the Queen. i originally was disappointed because i thought i had rented the cate blanchette movie about the Queen and so i put if off and put it off.
i had seen enough of episodes of Americas Next Top Model marathon to last me for a few years so i popped in the movie.
it was interesting. i wonder if that is really how the royal family acts.....

i heard loud booms and saw the sky light up outside the living room window. yippee, it's a new year.

i have notoriously had very sucky new year's eves. i actually cannot remember one single new years that was as fun as they make it look on tv or in the movies. hmmmmm.

queue the wavy lines that signify memory flashback....
going back to the year i had just turned 14...i was at a party and when the clock struck midnight, this guy kissed me. it was my first "real" kiss and i was freaked out because he was really cute and about two years older than i was. i pulled away and he yelled at me "you ruined it!". oh the humiliation.


or how about the time i drove to chicago to hang out with my friends scott and karen. hell yeah, we were going out for new years eve in chicago. i was 22 i think. i was ready to meet some new people, make out (i wasn't afraid anymore) with some cute city boy, and party 'til dawn. SO, scott took us to some hotel with a bar. It was in Winnetka. Uhhhhh, not exactly what I had in mind. There were TWO people there sitting at the bar watching sports. We left and just decided to drive around until we found a club or something. For some reason, he didn't take us INTO the city, we went to some god awful dance club. It was the meat market Frat boy type of club and Scott was gay and I was very deep into my arty/hippie/weird girl phase. Karen didn't want to leave because she had picked up some dude so we were good sports and stayed. Finally, we talked her into leaving and we drove....and we drove.....and they smoked....and the smoked....and my contacts were drying out and they were singing that snoop dogg song "it's like this and like that and blah blah blah..." they played that fucking song over and over as we just kept driving until the sun came up and he realized that we were in Wisconsin.

there are more but i'm feeling nauseous from memories....

hope you all had fun times and rocking hang overs.

charity

when i'm daydreaming about being extremely wealthy, one of the things i always think would be cool to do is to just randomly give people money. i would over tip, i would say "keep the change", and i would pay for other people's checks at restaurants.
i think about when i was in college and how if i found $5.00 in a pair of jeans then i got all excited. i just read stinkypaw's post on what she is doing for the homeless in her city and it got me to thinking...
how much do i need to have before i can do this? really? i am NOT extremely wealthy but we do okay. i own designer bags and drive a nice vehicle (when it gets repaired from the deer hit). i have spent money on stupid things. i have "wasted" money. how much do i have to have before i can feel charitable?
i donate Body Shop and tie dyes to local benefits and i buy girl scout cookies. i purchase raffle tickets to help out the latest cancer victim's medical bills and i give my clothes (the ones that don't sell on my garage sale) to the Salvation Army.
all of those things offer me something in return...so is it really charity?

i'm going to start truly GIVING. last night i gave my pizza delivery guy a $16.00 tip. he is a young guy who is always friendly. it felt good to say "keep the change" and to see the smile on his face. i realize that $16 isn't going to pay off any of his bills but hopefully it made him feel appreciated.
i'm also going to take a page from stinkypaws book and stop by our local food pantry to find out what items they need and i'm going to GIVE it to them.

finally, last night i was at my in-laws house with my six year old. monkey's parents are in St. Lucia visiting his sister and brother in law (the one who just finished the sailing race). they had purchased all new bedding and curtains, painted the walls, and cleaned the drapes and carpets while they were gone. so she asked me and gab's other two sisters to stop by and kind of put things back together for them as a Christmas present. i got there early with Mazzy and she was helping me make the bed and she said to me:
"mom, you know what i love about this time of year?" and I said "presents?" and she said "nope, it's people helping each other."

WTF!!

seriously, i got over 25 spam emails today. did anyone else experience an increase in spam today? m*f*ers.

a boat race

Monkey has a sister who is married to a British doctor, Andrew. They live in Scotland and do things like sail on the open sea.
Andrew and his father and a couple of other guys recently set sail from the Canary Islands headed to St. Lucia with about 250 other boats as part of the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) race.

Each boat has daily logs and some submit photos. It is very interesting to me and I check the log frequently to see what's going on with them. The little blurbs often are of funny things that have happened on board or of particularly rough seas and the aftermath. A couple of boats helped aid in rescues at sea of other boats (not part of the race) who needed help.

Today I read about a crew who were fishing and had a giant tuna on the line. It dived suddenly and they couldn't figure out what was going on until they reeled it in and found that while it was on the line it was being attacked by a shark. Wow, here is a photo of the missing tail fin and the giant bite taken out of it.

If you're interested in reading more, please check it out.

the aftermath

my insurance adjuster called yesterday for the details. she said almost every call she's getting this past week is for deer hits. A guy up in Michigan was driving a van and hit a deer, it flew through the windshield and killed him.

i am thankful that my hit was pretty minor. I also found out that I have zero deductible so it won't cost me anything (maybe higher premiums ultimately i guess) but nothing out of pocket to fix it.

Talking with some of the guys in the pressroom last night (all "country" boys who have their own deer experiences) and one asked me if my air bag deployed. It hit me that it had not and I wondered at what impact it would deploy. I hit this deer going about 40mph straight on. My insurance adjuster also asked which headlight was out and I said "neither" then realized I never checked. Of course I was on back roads with no other light source so I think it's safe to assume they are fine otherwise I would have noticed (I would hope).

The guys also asked me if i called the police to file a report. "uhhhh, no. Was I supposed to?" Honestly it never occurred to me to call the police. I was fine, no other people were involved, the deer was not in the middle of the road. I didn't even consider that my insurance company would not believe me. If they fight it, they can do DNA testing of the embedded fur and deer hide left in my grill, i'm pretty sure it's proof enough.

Oh Deer!

I perpetrated a hit and run last night.

I was driving home from a Body Shop party. I was about two hours away from home on a back two lane road, it was about 10pm. It's not uncommon to hear stories this time of year about people hitting deer but it had never happened to me, until last night.
I had been really keeping my eyes open for deer because it's hunting season and it drives them out of the woods. It sucks to drive anywhere at night this time of year.
The road had been pretty deserted with only a few cars here and there and as I was entering the little town of Havana I took my car off cruise to slow down for the speed limit through town. A car was coming toward me and then I saw the deer right at the side of the road. I estimated (correctly) that I would meet the deer and the car at the same time so I did the odds in my head on what would be the best course of action. It truly is amazing how many thoughts go through your head in a second or two.
I knew I could not swerve. I knew I couldn't brake in time, so I was wondering if it would better to let the deer hit my side or hit it straight on. I braked hard and it jumped right in front of my SUV. I am very thankful I was driving the Durango because if I'd been in the car, it would have came through the windshield for sure.
I slammed head on into the huge deer and it was a very jarring and emotional moment. The poor deer slid on it's side across the road away from the truck. I drove on and called Monkey who was just getting ready for work (3rd shifter). I was shaken and mostly worried that I had really damaged the truck and wouldn't be able to get home. I kept hearing a scraping sound from the tire and I knew something was wrong.
The car in the other lane passed me and I saw in my rear view mirror that it braked and slowed, I presume to make sure I didn't need help (thanks buddy).
I kept driving because I was only about two miles from a gas station in Havana and the road was dark and creepy. I pulled into the station and got out to look at the damage. The entire right side of the grill was forced in and the bumper was cracked and hanging down. I discovered the broken bumper was scraping against the tire so I pried it up so I could keep driving. Deer guts and fur clung to the smashed in grill. Sadness.
Monkey called into work and said he'd be late and set out to meet me half way just in case the car overheated or the tire blew or something crazy. When we met up at a gas station in Bloomington, he was able to take the grill completely out since it was just barely in place. He followed me home and everything was fine.

I have to call the mechanic and insurance agent today if I can. Can wait to hear the damage (to my bank account). Yeesh. I am very glad that my kids weren't in the car. Although I wasn't hurt, seeing that would have broken my daughter's heart. She is very emotional and empathetic (which is awesome). She refused to play with the star fish I brought her from Hawaii when she learned it was once alive. She tried to bring it back to life by putting it in the bathtub. I can't even imagine how traumatized she would be by seeing her mother slam into a beautiful deer and sending it's limp carcass flying across the road. Small favors.


So to all who live in deer infested areas, please drive carefully.

not afraid to admit i poop

i recently spent a few days visiting galoot and preppygirl (and the other jamestonian bloggers).

i had a body shop booth at the local fair (which is awesome, wish we had one around here that big). well, I had to poo while I was manning my booth.

I sought the "out of the way" potty. I flushed but it remained. I won't go into great detail of the item itself but it would not flush. TEN times I flushed and it refused to go down. I was forced to leave it. Seriously, how long could I stand there before someone came in and realized it was mine.
(A funny episode of Extras had Andy's manager attempting to use a whisk.)

I went wandering and some local hair salon was there and they wanted me to sit down and they were going to "rock out" my hair. Whatev, there was mention of a faux hawk which I actually would have liked but the guy was just putting stuff in my hair and standing it straight up. I had to go back to the bathroom to see what he had done and could not resist checking the stall with the unflushable turd.

Of course it was still there. I gave it one more flush and down it went. I was relieved.

Later that night at the Wine Celler while recounting this story to my girlfriends, I had made the comment that I should have taken a photo with my new digital camera. This led to my coffee table book idea "Crapbooking" (mr. social later suggested Volume Number Two). I said the subtitle could be "people really do buy all kinds of shit." Or possibly, "you can never have too much shit"

at any rate...i am a girl. i do poop. occasionally i clog a toilet. i may need a support group.

things i read in the paper today

so, we all now have to fear the "superbug". great. flesh eating infections and drug resistant viruses.

also, i didn't read this in today's paper but a few weeks ago: some kid who was swimming in Lake Havasu got a brain infection and died. Evidently this bacteria lives in warm, lake water. A family was playing in the water and one of the sons (I think he was around 13 years), got water too far up his nose. A week later he had a headache and died at the hospital from this incurable infection. The paper made it seem like this was a fairly common bacteria and several people a year die from this. CRAZINESS. I certainly wouldn't be tubing in that water!

Also in today's paper: some black dude was having a "sexual chocolate" and "sexual caramel" party and only light skinned black women were allowed in. He couldn't understand why that was offensive to people.

Evidently, the large Transformer Bumblebee ($99) is one of the hot MUST HAVE toys for Christmas this year. Also on the list: Hannah Montana doll with stage, laughing Elmo (back for a second year), Aquadots, and Barbie MP3 player. Get em while they're hot.



We have watched Transformers at least 5 times since it came out Tuesday. I finally let my neighbors borrow it so we wouldn't have to put it in again today. I'm sure we'll be looking for that Bumblebee toy for Christmas.

Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello are playing a show locally this weekend. Tickets are available for $39 to $59 a pop. I'd consider going but I have a Body Shop party.

what's new in la la land

it's 60 degrees in my house and monkey said "no" to turning on the heat. my fingers are c c cc cold. i can practically see my breath.

anyway, two days ago it was in the 90's.

this weekend starts my hectic schedule with Body Shop parties (9 total) and press checks and i'm only one month away from my trip to new york to see preppygirl and co.

time flies.

my son is still obsessed with the local pizza place that burned down. he mentions it at least once every single day and the place burned more than a month ago.

jude (to a random adult friend of mine at a store): joe's pizza place burned down

friend: yes, i heard that

jude: i'm going to be a fire fighter when i grow up

friend: you are? that is so great

jude: and i'm going to burn down a pizza place

i think i better change all the batteries in our smoke alarms.

magic erasers

some time ago, i posted about how awesome the magic erasers are. i still think so even though i have gotten tons "warning" emails about how dangerous they are.

so, some woman let her CHILD use a magic eraser and this child rubbed it on his face. Seriously, what mother would let her child play with CLEANING PRODUCTS??? I don't think we need a million emails telling us "not to let our kids play with Magic Erasers." Most of the moms I know are smart enough to know that the "magic" ingredient in a cleaning product is going to be some kind of chemical.

I was taught at a very young age not to play with chemicals and as a mother I know to keep my cleaning products in a locked/secure place. I am teaching my kids to clean up, but they only get harmless soap and water.

Now this mom will probably sue and the prices will go up. Yeahhh, it's the American way. Hey, I think I might go digging around and find a product that does not have every conceivable warning on the side and then I'll misuse it and sue and make my fortune. Who cares if i'm mildly disfigured as long as I've got cash.

friday stuff

i just haven't been inspired lately. i don't know if it's allergies or what but my eyes are puffy and i feel tired and in slow motion.

i decided that it would be a great idea to remodel our upstairs bathroom last week. what should have been an easy pull the toilet out, put the new toilet on repair has turned into an ordeal.
of course if we are going to change the toilet, we might as well change the sink. And if we are pulling out the sink and toilet then we need to pull out the nasty carpet (yes, someone put carpet in a bathroom ~ gross). Well, since we pulled out the carpet, I might as well put a fresh coat of paint....and so it goes.
i live in a house that is over 100 years old so it should not have surprised me that none of my pipes fit standard fixtures. my step dad had to come over and cut and install new pipes and turn off valves (our upstairs sink did not even have turn off valves on them).
now all the fixtures are ready to be installed and the tile is ready to go down (thanks again to my step dad for laying the sub floor) BUT...I am so NOT in the mood to peel wall paper and paint.
the entire project now is at a standstill until I can find the energy and desire to paint.

our new toilet has find a home in mazzy's bedroom which she thinks is hilarious.

oh yes, on monday we put the old toilet to the curb. we have this thing in our town where people drive around and collect things they can use from other people's garbage. it got picked up monday. on wednesday i was cleaning the downstairs bathroom and dusting the shelf above the toilet. i picked up the glass shelf and it slipped down and shattered the tank lid to that toilet. uh...yea...go figure. kicking myself for not keeping the old tank lid. grrrrr.


okay blogging about toilets...aren't you all glad you stopped by to check this out

shell shocked

Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop passed away yesterday from a massive brain hemorrhage. Her obit is here if you want to read more about her.

I met Anita twice at our national conferences (for The Body Shop at Home). When I watched her speak, she inspired me. I had the opportunity to meet and chat with her and I treasure those memories (even more so now).

I also just recently finished reading her book, "Business As Unusual."
It was very interesting and I was just recommending it to a few of my friends over this past weekend. I'm still so surprised and numb and not sure what to think yet.

She made a difference.

Lockdown at our High School

Situation: Pontiac Township High School is currently under Code Red Lockdown due to a report of weapons in the school.

Background: Most recent reports are that the premises are being searched, weapons have been recovered, students involved are being held, no injuries have occurred to either students or staff.

Assessment: As far as we know, the facility search continues, however students are secure and safe at the school, and the search is continuing in an orderly fashion.

Recommendation: As more information is announced, we will share it, as we know many of you have children at PTHS.



UPDATE:

In an effort to keep our employees informed of the latest news reports and most accurate information made available, we share the following from the police and WJEZ from just a few moments ago …

PTHS is dismissing at the present time. Buses are running their routes.

Grade schools, PJHS and St. Mary’s will remain in session until their normal dismissal time, but their buildings will remain on lockdown as a precautionary measure.

A total of six guns were recovered this morning at PTHS and three persons are in custody.

Reminder … police and other authorities will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. today at the police headquarters downtown.

All PTHS students will attend a special meeting in the auditorium at 8:20 a.m. tomorrow.



UPDATED UPDATE:

1.) At 8:30 a.m., a student approached the high school’s resource officer and informed him that he knew that guns were brought into the school.

2.) A Code Red was immediately called. Per the prescribed P & P, all teachers locked students into the classrooms and followed the remaining steps outlined in the policy. School officials and law enforcement were commended for their preparedness and the orderly fashion in which the Code Red procedure was followed and calmly conducted.

3.) Six handguns in a book bag were located within minutes.

4.) Three individuals are in custody. No names have been released because they are juveniles.

5.) Interviews with these and other individuals are still occurring at this hour.

6.) The makes and models of the handguns were not released, as well as whether they were loaded or their origin, pending the remainder of the investigation process.

7.) Remaining students were held in the school for approximately 3-1/2 hours before school was dismissed.

8.) Code Red procedures were practiced at the school at least twice last year, according to the superintendant.

9.) School security video will be reviewed in the coming hours and days as part of the investigation.

10.) There will be a police presence at all the city’s schools tomorrow.

11.) Tomorrow morning’s 8:20 a.m. assembly at the high school will include counselors, police officers and school officials, and will include information intended to comfort students, restore their feeling of safety and their confidence in attending school. Counseling services will be offered to all students.

12.) Charges against the three individuals are expected to be announced once all info is rec’d --- probably tomorrow.

13.) The teachers with students on the field trip in Decatur today were notified immediately of the Code Red, and returned home as originally planned.

conversations with a three year old boy

me: jude what do you want to be for halloween this year?

jude: a tow truck driver

me: what does a tow truck driver wear?

jude: a hooker


(he calls Mater's tow cable a "hooker" which cracks me up)

mythbusters

so this bridge collapse has me completely freaked out.

for some reason i have a lot of anxiety about my vehicle going into the water. my fear of this happening is fairly recent (the last couple of years or so) and it's bad enough that i have investigated those little hammer things that break the windows in a vehicle, and suggested to my husband that someone invent some inflatable thing in the roof of a car that makes it float were it ever to become submerged.

i believe that we move toward what we picture in our minds (LONG before Oprah and The big Secret told us to) so when i start to imagine what i would do if it happened, i get mad at myself when my mind suddenly puts my kids in the back seats. "NO, mind" I think to myself "stop visualizing that" and I always finish the thought with me figuring out how to release them and get us all out and safe (just in case my mind really is that powerful).

watching the bridge tragedy unfold and the aftermath was terrible but i could not change the channel. i wanted to hear that no one drowned and people really are able to get out of submerged vehicles (to ease my fears). i saw the cars on the bridge in the water and thought, "well that wouldn't be so bad, they just rode the bridge down and didn't really go in the water." then i heard about the 20 or so cars that they believed were under water and 20 to 30 missing people. stomach sinking feeling.

i was relieved to hear that estimate was high but still sad about those who did drown. i just prayed that they were unconscious or the impact killed them and they didn't struggle to get out and drown with all that fear (especially the mom and her toddler ~ i choose to believe that God took them quickly because the alternative is too much to process).

mythbusters did a show on getting out of a car submerged and it was interesting but of course my mind decided it was a "sign" that it's going to happen to me and i was supposed to watch that show so i would know what to do. i did pay attention. ultimately they said that the little hammers and the punch tools DO work to shatter glass under water but it is IMPOSSIBLE to roll down your window (manual or electric). they said you can hold your breath much longer if you calm yourself down and just sit and wait calmly for the water to completely fill the inside of your car (of course if you have children in the back seat, you should use that time to release them from car seats, etc.). hold your breath and when the car is completely filled with water the door just opens and you can swim up. the mythbuster guy freaked out the first few times and had to be "saved" but then he took a tantric breathing class and put those principles into action and was able to get out of the car with no problem.