Have a nice day.

Tim just cracks me up sometimes.

Are you beach-ready?

We didn't think we were until we woke up this morning. Dan and Ian are camping this weekend, so it's just me, Mike, Tim and Andy. Life is WAY easy when you cut your kids in half! We're supposed to get a big storm system tonight and tomorrow. When we woke up today it was sunny and hot and really windy. Big waves here we come!

The beach was actually much chillier than home, but it was glorious! No pollen, no laundry, no nothing. I jumped into the water with Mike and the boys when we first arrived. Ummm ... never mind. It was fuh-reezing. Mike, Tim and Andy spent the next several hours boogie-boarding while I guarded the bag of Kettle Chips and read my book. Did I mention the cold part? I ended up watching Mike and the boys from beneath my giant hooded sweatshirt (and dreaming of hot tea) ...

But, it was a wonderful day. Really wonderful. I spent a good part of our time there watching a family with four small kids (maybe 6-7 and under) and just cracking up. It's exhausting to "be there" but it's WAY funny to look back. The poor mom was close to tears when they went to leave. The little boys were all about dropping the two items they'd been asked to carry and then getting distracted by shells and just random stuff. I was actually getting antsy watching it. I considered jumping up from my chips and Diet coke to tell the mom that it would get easier, but by the time it occurred to me she was at the point where it was highly likely she'd just punch out my front teeth. She'll get it in 8-10 years.

I forget how much I miss the beach when we don't go for months on end. I don't know that I could ever live far from the beach again. Knowing that I'm within an hour's drive is calming to me. There's just nothing like it for me.


alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318445007302799202" />Here's Tim - he towers over me now.

With a capital "B"

That's me - a witch with a capital B.

It's been a long week. Mike, as always, was up early and worked a long day. He came home to my charming self (*snort*) and offered to make dinner. The man is not only saintly, but talented. I'm not sure what he made, but it was delicious. Spaghetti noodles with an amazing, barely-spicy sauce and perfectly cooked chicken. I could spend ALL day trying to replicate what he did in thirty minutes and I would never succeed.

BUT (you know there's always a BUT) . . . this is my kitchen. Well, it's part of my kitchen. Creative cooking seems to involve using every dish in the house, all the pots and pans and gooing up the handles on all the cabinets. I've been wasting time on the computer since dinner time. Thinking about cleaning up the chaos is worse than actually doing it, but I'm still trying to psych myself up. I know, Capital B. I'm a bad person. I can't be happy with a man who can cook - I want a man who can cook and be semi-clean. As soon as I finish typing this I will go hang my head in shame.

I'm getting ready to suck it up and go clean. But, I wanted to update you all. My ranting and raving last night seemed to have an effect on the older boys. (They're homeschooled, but not stoopid. They know when "I" go nutso, it's pretty bad.) Today was civil, interesting and the boys seem to be a more focused. It won't last, but I'll take what I can get right now!

We've been talking a lot about big numbers lately. THISis a good illustration of what a trillion looks like. We also have been referring to this book for more information and visual pictures of very large numbers. It's a great book. The illustrations use peas to illustrate the numbers. Very interesting.

It's NOT fatal, right?

Having multiple teens in the house is not an actual threat to my life, is it? I know some of you who read here have lived through it. Tell me you're not dead and not living in a rubber room?

I don't have bad kids. They are just their age. They're stupid and self-centered and I"m exhausted from dealing with them. (Mom, have I apologized for being a teenager yet? If not,I'm soooooo very sorry and I"ll come do your laundry or something to make up for my evilness)

Wahhhh .... can someone come over and hold the reigns while I sleep for a week or so?

Let them eat cake!

Poor Andy. His school work has been pretty dull lately. Normally, I try to have experiments or hands-on history projects to tie into our lessons. I like doing them and they go a long way in making a lesson stick.

Unfortunately, a lot of what we've been reading lately has not lent itself to interesting (interesting to a 9-year-old boy, anyway) projects. Last week we studied the French Revolution and Andy was gung-ho to make a mini-guillotine. For some reason, I'm good with burning things but I draw the line at chopping heads off of innocent toys. Bummer.

This week we're off to a better start. See the cotton gin we made this morning? The older boys got involved and managed to hook a Lego Mindstorms motor to the paper towel tube. It worked really well until the cotton (which was full of glue and popcorn seeds) gunked everything up to the point of no return. But, it was a project and I'm pretty sure Andy will remember Eli Whitney.

We have some fun stuff coming up for the rest of the year. Stay tuned.

Whew!

Like many of you, we've been getting creative with our budget lately. I've bumped up my extra-careful shopping habits in an effort to keep the boys fed and my secret-underwear-drawer stash of chocolate supplied. It's a pain to have to think about every little expense, but we still have it a lot better than most. Sometimes, though, I miss those extra little splurges. Today the gracious state of Florida has stepped in to help. Do you see that picture? Yes. It's real. Our wise state government has printed and mailed freakin' coupons for the lottery to every person in Florida. Now I can have bread and milk for my children AND fund my retirement with 2-for-1 lottery coupons. Sometimes I wonder if I'm in some sort of surreal dream. Coupons for the lottery????

Third time is the charm, right?

Honestly, I'm ashamed to be here typing once again (between bouts of stomach- something-ugly-stay-away-from-me!) about how truly stoopid I can be. Sure, I can master trigonometry (they call it pre-calculus these days which sounds much smarter so I'm all for it) in the afternoon. (I will admit that all that math and thinking and stuff makes me a little sleepy.) I am learning to reign in my panic impulse and send Danny off with the other three boys in the car later in the day for tae kwon do. So far no tickets and they keep coming home. That's good right? Honestly, I try not to think about it too much.

I did this today. Go ahead, give me a trigonomic (sp?) identity to prove. I can do it. (But do it quickly, I'll probably forget by lunch tomorrow. Shhhh don't tell the kids this is not something I use in my everyday life.) Anyway, I shipped the boys out. I had all kinds of grand plans. I de-fluffed my hair, put on a clean t-shirt (trigonometry is messy work), grabbed my purse and headed out to run my errands.

Well. Didn't I feel stoopid standing in my empty driveway? Dan and the boys had my car. Mike was at work with HIS car. I was not going anywhere. Sadly, I've done this at least four times since Dan has had his license. Lord knows what my neighbors think. I hoisted my purse onto my shoulder and marched proudly back into the house. It's not like I don't have laundry and stuff to do here. Sure, it's not as fun as scoping out the local knitting store, but it's quiet and that's always good.

Mike came home and I tried to explain how funny this was. He didn't get it. :::sigh::: It's funny, right? (Please say yes, otherwise, I"m just a sad, weird person.)

So, if you see a middle-aged lady standing in her empty driveway with a purse and wearing lip gloss, wave and go home and light a candle for her. Her mother continually tells her that her life will once again become her own and in the meantime, she should just hang in there. Her mom had better be right!

"Old" Friends ...

Today my friend Blaine came for lunch. Blaine and I used to work together 17-18 (a million) years ago. I was just married. He was single. I had twins, he got moved and got married, life moves on, you know? But we've always stayed in touch. The last time we met up was shortly after Andy was born, 10 years ago! We had such a great afternoon. There is nothing like spending time with someone who knew you "way back when" and still has a good measure of who you are. The boys were thrilled to know that my "friend" Blaine was actually a real person. Mike was happy to see him too. Thanks, Blaine, for making time to visit.

No tye-dye plants were hurt . . .

I guess it was time, Mike and I aren't getting any younger. We attended, for the both of us, our very first demonstration. Andy was not given a choice, but the older boys were. We attended our first Tea Party this afternoon. The older boys all joined us. Will our attending or, even, will the event, accomplish anything? Who knows?

But, I have to say it was nice to meet ALL kinds of people who are fed up. There were families with young kids, families with older kids, college folks, young adults, veterans, old people and everything in between. The reports are from the police and the ONE news station that covered the event say that there were 3000 people there. For me, it was nice to feel like I wasn't a crazy person worrying about all that has been happening over the past months. For the kids, I'm not sure.

I know my readers and I don't always agree on politics. And, that's fine. I keep this blog to record what we, as a family, are doing more than anything. I don't want to censor things that I want to remember. We had a great day and we had a lot of interesting discussions later in the evening.

In case Ewe've been under a rock!

Our poor old Scout (our 11-year-old border collie) is hiding under my desk in shame after watching this with me) . . .

Go ahead watch! Watch the whole thing. The end of this video is amazing.

You should be nice to me . . .

Why? Because my mom is famous. Kind of. She put her first painting in a juried show last night. How cool is that? (Her painting is the Tulips on the bottom of the wall.) How brave is that? We all attended the gala event. Who knew downtown Orlando could be so cool and funky? Not me, that's for sure!

My mom is a rock star! Imagine! It was so fun. Her painting did not win anything, but the kids and I stalked around and took notes and we're pretty sure she'll win the whole shebang next time. ;) No intimidation tactics, we prefer to wear people out by sheer number and volume. We're thinking camping on people's lawns might be the way to go for the next show.

The older boys arrived first in my car (they had been teaching at Tae Kwon Do). I ran into my my mom's good friend as we squeezed into the gallery (Hi Regina - see me waving?). She showed us where my mom's picture was located and mentioned she'd seen the older boys with my parents earlier. Whew!

When the crowd thinned a bit, we found the older boys in a small gallery to the side. They seemed entranced. Ummm ... teen boys ... art ... entranced? I'm not buying it. Something was up. I could not see a food table in the small space - and food is pretty much the only thing that attracts the boys. I wandered in. Doh! The owners of the gallery were EIGHT FOOT tall Swedish women with ginormous, perky boobs. Upon further reflection I noticed the space was filled entirely with men. Go figure. (And, you go! Swedish ladies! Use what you have while you have it.) Thirty minutes of coaxing later, the boys emerged. Gah. Danny is still talking about what a great place that was. Oh, sure, son. It's all about the art.

After finding the older boys, we recovered Andy from the chocolate fountain, hosed him off and tried to get to my mom. Ummm ... we had to wait in line to talk to her. And, while we waited in line, Andy fed me chocolate covered shrimp. Yes, it was nasty. However, Andy is the only son of mine who is still actually interested in my reactions. I ate it up. I love shrimp. I love chocolate. The two should never be combined. FINALLY, we got through the line to Bing and it was fun.

We are all sooooo proud of her. We'll be adding "Bing" t-shirts and merchandise shortly!

YAY Mom!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

NINETEEN YEARS! We've been married 19 years. It's 23 years since our first date. How did we turn into old people so quickly? This is the cover of our wedding invitation. After all of these years, I still love it and it totally suited our wedding.

That's us back in 1990. I KNOW neither of us had a clue what we were in for on that beautiful Saturday! But, we looked purty, didn't we?

Mike brought home these gorgeous flowers tonight. In turn, I made an awesome dinner of corned beef, mashed potatoes, cabbage and soda bread. I also suprised him with a hot air popcorn popper (I know, the romance of it all makes me weepy too!) stuffed into a Victoria's Secret bag. Talk about a guy being nervous about opening a present? (I'll stick recipes below - they were that good)

Mike picked this up on a whim for me. Normally we don't do anniversary gifts at all. He's not sure what it is. I'm not sure what it is. But, I love it. It's cool looking and fills the "sad-empty" spot on my computer desk. Yay Mike.

So, here's to 19 years!

RECIPES:

Corned Beef:
This was the best corned beef I ever made. I simmered it like usual in the spices from the packet and two bottles of good stout (I made 7 lbs of brisket lol). After about 4 hours, I moved the meat to a baking pan and topped it with this sauce (you might want to cut it in half depending on how much you're cooking):

2/3 c. brown sugar; 4 T. butter; 2 T prepared mustard (I used Grey Poupon); 2/3 c. ketchup; 6 T. rice vinegar (apple cider vinegar would work well too) - melt all of this in a sauce pan and dump over the corned beef. Stick it all in the oven (350) for 60-90 minutes. It was beyond delicious.

I also had mashed potatoes - skins on - mashed with butter, sour cream and (heart attack) a bit of buttermilk, cabbage boiled in the corned beef water (God, I love this stuff), and a yummy plain soda bread made with butter milk.

Soda Bread:
Don't worry if the dough seems dry after kneading, it comes out yummy!

FOR:"1 loaf
OVEN: 400 F

2 c. all-purpose flour - + a little extra to dust
2 C. whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 T. unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. buttermilk

1) Sift the flours, baking soda & salt together. Rub the butter (melted) into the flour with your fingertips until evenly dispersed.
2) Make a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the buttermilk. Stir in the flour to form a soft, crumbly dough.
3) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Kned very lightly until smooth, up to 3 minutes.
4) Shape into a flattened round (6" across by 2" high) Dust with flour, cut a 1" deep "x" into the dough.
5) Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, until hollow sounding when tappend underneath. Cover with a dish towel, then cool on a wire rack.

Thank you, nice lady!

Danny was up early Saturday morning ready to face his first SAT test. The sole reason he was taking the SAT as a sophomore was that we haven't done a lot of standardized testing and thought this would be a good way to see where (if) we needed to work on things. Dan was nervous when he left.

Well, when Dan called I got a little nervous. Mike answered and I listened to a bunch of "Uh-huh's" and "OK's." Painful. When he hung up the phone, Mike explained that Danny, upon trying to park the giant Suburban bumped another car. He saw the woman driving the other car get out just minutes before he tried to park. He chased her down and had her come look at her car. They agreed there was no damage to her car. The woman did, however, insist that Dan call his parents and let us know what had happened. And that was the purpose of his phone call.

We didn't see him for several hours. He said the woman stayed and listened to him talk to Mike. Then she gave him a great big hug, told him these things happen and that he should keep doing the right thing and went on her way.

I so wish Danny had gotten her name or something. I would love to thank her in person. I so appreciate that Dan had his first "accident" with someone who didn't come out cursing and screaming. I love this lady. I hope to be this lady should the circumstance ever arise.

That's all, just a nice story. Nothing eventful.

A sad, 1001 . . .

You see the picture. What can I say? As I type my 1001st post, I'm drowning in a pit of dog hair and boy-ness. This was taken this evening as I was sweeping the floors. :::sigh::: So much for sock miracles. (Gail, see? I'm here for you ... you have a new reason to get up every morning!)

Wah!

All in my head?

I offer you proof that my testimonies about testosterone overload ARE NOT over-exaggerated. Here I talk about Mike and Andy's passive-aggressive gardening techniques. Silly me, I thought the carrot was either sent to the compost pile or :::::shudder:::: eaten. While I was cleaning out the fridge last night, I discovered "The Carrot."

The Carrot, however, had changed in it's month in the veggie drawer. Go ahead, just look at it! Don't turn your face away! Look at the toxic environment I'm living in, people. Look at The Carrot.












Someone, please send me a life.

It's not a Sock Monkey . . .

It's better! It's a Sock Miracle. For months you all have stood behind me watching the drama unfold as the sock under the computer desk just sat there and sat there and sat there. Today, as I was sweeping and getting ready to mop, I nearly cried to discover THE SOCK IS GONE. I didn't pick it up. Mike swears he didn't do it either. And, I think we all know the boys didn't do it. It's a miracle!

Bread is a good thing!

Andy and I decided to make soft pretzels this afternoon. The boy is a trooper. I don't think he was aware of how long it was going to take and all the waiting we would have to do. When all was said and out of the oven, Andy simply said "They taste like pretzels, but they look NOTHING like the pictures." ::::sigh:::: But, they ARE tasty. Amazing the things that can be done with yeast, flour, salt and water.

The pollen has been crazy here lately. By 4 or 5 pm, I'm ready for a nap. And, usually I take one. And, then, I find myself wired at 11 pm and starting crazy stuff. I know. By now, you'd think I'd stop being surprised at myself, but it's brand new everyday.

Last night, I cleaned out the fridge and freezer. We had a ton of frozen pancakes that were on the verge of extinction. While I was making yogurt and granola, I decided to try making bread pudding with the pancakes. And, then, because I was really hungry while I was doing all of this, I decided to make the bread pudding chocolate. Ummmm...this is the best thing I have done for the planet in a long time. Seriously. Delicious. I don't really have a recipe for you. Just any old bread pudding recipe will work, substitute the pancakes for the bread and toss in some cocoa powder and extra vanilla.

Hooky!

Well, hooky as much as a nerd-mom can manage...

I spent the morning speed-schooling Andy, making lists for the older boys, doing laundry and getting dinner into the crock pot. At 12:30, I disappeared! I met my mom fifteen minutes later. We went to the "opera." Not a live opera, the movie version of a live performance at the Met in NY. I've never attended one of these performances before and it was a whole new experience.

Nothing will replace a live performance for me. There's just something about being there and really seeing and believing that these amazing sounds are actually coming out of a live person's mouth. But, the AMC version of the Met was affordable and incredibly interesting. The great sound speakers and the close up shots of the orchestra and the singers were amazing. During the intermissions, it was fun to watch the behind the scenes goings-on not to mention the interviews with the cast, the conductor and some of the behind-the-scenes guys. Who knew? It was fascinating.

The opera itself was fun. I wasn't familiar with it going into the show. The story is set in Scotland. What was funny is that it was sung in Italian and the leads in the show were either Russian or Polish. How's that for global? And, opera is just fun. It's so over-the-top on every level. In a good way, if you ask me. I love how a very angry man strides in to accuse another very angry man about offending him and seeking revenge. This is no "24." Rather than just kill the guy (or shoot him in the thigh) like Jack Bauer, they sing together beautifully for another 15 minutes. Good stuff.

And, we saw it all in jeans, eating popcorn and drinking soda in the middle of a school day!!! Before I left, I asked the boys if they wanted to join us and was met with an emphatic "No!" Whew! It was way more fun with just my mom.

If you like opera or think you might like opera, this is a great introduction and the behind-the-scenes stuff makes it extra fun.

Guess what? Or what time is it Bambi?

It's 2:30 - NOT 1:30 like the big clock I rely on for my time checks says it is. Waaahhh. For night owls, the spring forward thing is just evil.

Mike, the morning owl that he is, was up bright and early despite our last-minute, late-night venture Saturday night. Friends called to invite us to see some local bands for a fundraiser here in town. The beauty of having older kids is that we could just go. It was fun, but we were out WAY too late.

Mike is a nice guy. He let me sleep in while he did his Sunday morning thing. I woke to the strangest smell. Turns out, Mike picked today to cook the venison one of our neighbors generously gave us a couple of weeks ago. In theory, I'm a carnivore. I love meat. But, I'm a wimpy carnivore. I like my meat in unrecognizable shapes in a styrofoam tray from the grocery store. I do not think I'm cut out for anything remotely resembling self-sufficiency.

Once I knew it was Bambi in my crockpot, I kind of flipped out (in a sane adult way). I shut myself in our bedroom, surrounded myself with yummy-smelling soaps and read all day. Mike and the boys? They all but donned loin cloths and face-paint. When dinner time rolled around the five of them plus one of the boys' friends devoured Bambi in record time. The kids are hooked. They all want to go with the neighbor on the next hunting trip. Even Ian, my vegetarian kid, enjoyed helping Mike make dinner.

I know plenty of people who LOVE venison. I guess I'm just not one of them. I'm so freaked out from dinner that I'm sitting here typing about it at 2:30 in the morning rather than facing the dinner dishes. I guess I need to register as a selective carnivore?

It's a LONG way down from 43

Andy attended a birthday party yesterday. It was a roller skating party. Andy thought it would be great if I would skate too. After all, the birthday girl's mom was going to skate. Well, let's just stop here and say that the birthday girl's mom is infinitely MORE coordinated than I. She spent the morning cruising around the rink looking like cool, normal mom. She could even cross her legs over themselves on the turns! Me? Not so much.

For the record, I CAN ice skate. Not well, but I manage just fine - even now in my advanced old age. I never got the hang of roller skating - I tried many times as a young teen but it never took. The skates are so heavy and they only truly stop when you crash into something. But, Andy asks very little of me. Putting on a pair of skates for two hours seemed like a reasonable request. I found some matching socks (I rarely wear socks) before we left. I made sure I had a belt on - nothing worse than your pants dropping around your ankles mid-skate. I made sure I had a t-shirt on that would cover my oogy stomach in the event I had to raise my arms over my head. I cleaned my glasses. I was ready.

We arrived on time. Andy dropped his present off in the appropriate place and we put on our skates. Andy took off with his friends. I tried to stand up. While I basked in my new-found, albeit wobbly, height, I tried to scan routes to the first bench in the rink. I didn't want to be too ambitious, you know? Roller rinks do not have nearly enough walls. I adopted a marching gait and made it out to where the other parents were assembled. I ended up standing in the back, near a wall, talking to the birthday girl's father.

We talked about kids getting older, pondered why there were scary men skating around wearing velvet spandex pants and generally talked about life. It was a lovely conversation. Mid-conversation, though, I found myself abruptly finishing my sentence staring up at the ceiling through crooked glasses. Somehow my skates slipped out from under me and I landed FLAT on my back. What's funnier is birthday girl's father was actually answering my question directly at the empty space my head had once occupied. It took us both a good 30 seconds to realize what had happened.

It was horrifying. My hair clip was smashed into a buh-zillion pieces. This poor dad was trying to help me up from the floor and the skates were making it impossible. Well,the skates weren't the only thing stopping me -- my laughing and trying to casually check if the back of my head was oozing blood - it wasn't -- were not very helpful. Finally, I got back on my feet and birthday dad was able to escape. The poor man. I managed to skate reasonably well (read: no small children were crushed or hurt while I was skating) after that first spectacular crash. Andy even stuck with me for a while.

Later in the day, Mike and I were hanging out in the kitchen when birthday girl's dad wandered down for a visit. Once he reassured himself that I was, in fact, not seriously hurt, he proceeded to tell Mike "That was the funniest damn thing I've seen in years." And, he was right. Thank heavens he wasn't wearing a helmet cam is all I can say.

This morning, I woke up. While waking up is always a good thing, can I just say that every single part of my body hurts? There are not enough Bay City Roller songs in the world to make it go away. I'm old. I still can't roller skate. My favorite hair clip is dead. And it's an hour later than my body thinks it is.

Speaking of dangling participles

After posting my last post, I was waiting for Mike to wake up so I could tell him Good Morning/Good Night and catching up on my blog reading. Check out Sabrina's post about her recent trek to a Japanese fertility festival. Send kids to watch tv or set things on fire before opening. Too funny!

Add tonight to the list . . .

Of things I might rethink if I had to do them over. Months ago, I promised the boys I would take them to see the premiere of Watchmen. They'd read the book and really enjoyed it. This past week, I read the book for myself. Not really my thing, but overall, it was an interesting read and I can see the appeal for the boys.

Tonight, we left the house at 11:30 and headed to the theater. Good thing we bought our tickets early online. The theater was a packed house-full of nerds. There were a lot of college kids, 20-somethings and old-folks like me, many with older teens. Nice mix of people. Now, I did consider checking the reviews online before we went to the theater, but I opted to nap instead. Oops.

Overall, I have to say I enjoyed the movie. It was as true to the book as a movie could be. There were some intense scenes and some good comic relief (Nixon's nose was probably my favorite - see dangling participle below). But ... and there's always a but ... the music bordered on bizarre in some spots, trite in other spots. Sound of Silence for a funeral scene? Seriously? And, after tonight, I will die happy if I never, ever hear the song Hallelujah again. I fully expected the movie to be violent. I was surprised at how graphic and shocking the violence was in a couple of scenes. (This from a woman who lives for 24 each week!)

What totally sent me over the edge, though, was the gratuitous sex in the spaceship. Why? It was so unnecessary and ridiculous. Did I mention uncomfortable to watch as I sat there squashed between my sons? Gah! (And, the girl in that scene? How in the world will she ever face her parents again? Or her own teenage sons in 20-25 years?) But, as I sat there in the dark theater, it occurred to me that in a few months, Dan will be able to go to R movies without my permission. Ian and Tim aren't far behind. Not that anyone wants to watch scenes like that with their mom, but it's not like we have never talked sex and movies and all of that good stuff at home. I was interested to hear their thoughts when the movie had ended.

I was surprised to learn that the boys were bothered more by the giant naked blue guy. They all agreed they didn't get the relevance of the sex scene. But as one anonymous boy pointed out, "We're not going to turn away from a boob, Mom." Fair enough. I don't think they were too thrilled when I mentioned the actress having to go back to real life and how this could affect her life. And, then I launched into my whole "real life isn't like this, you know" speech ... at which point the boys all got that dazed look and started hearing the Peanuts' teacher saying "Wah, wah, wah, wahhhhhhhh... Oh well, I like to think some of what I'm saying might be sinking in on some level. At least they know I'm never going to be timid with my opinions. (Poor things.)

So . . . back to the giant naked blue guy. HIM I was expecting. He's naked in the book and it suits the character. However, a comic naked blue guy translated into a giant living, walking, dangling blue guy is a whole 'nother thing according to the boys. I thought it was kind of funny - especially once I got the word dangling in my head. Dangling participle anyone? Actually, it's now about two hours post-movie and the blue guy is getting funnier and funnier for me. (That might have something to do with the giant glass of wine I'm drinking as I type.)

And, that was how we spent our night, for what it's worth to any of you. Mike will be up for work in less than an hour. I think I might find something happy (Mr. Rogers maybe) and knit for a while so I can at least say "Good morning" to him before I crash.

If anyone else sees this movie (Kaaren!) I would love to hear what you think about it.

19 years and more!

Mike and I are coming up on our 19th wedding anniversary - for a total of 23 years together! WAH! We've been together more than we've been apart. Crazy, man. Mark your calendars for St. Patrick's Day!

For some reason, it hit me tonight. In ten years, we'll be alone. (Unless my recurring dream comes true of Mike and our old priest "surprising" me with twin baby girls from another country - but I'm pretty sure that's just a dream.) No kids permanently in the house. Whew! Weird, weird, weird. It was just a few years ago we were looking forward to using chairs on a regular basis (we ended up storing our chairs in the attic for about three years to avoid waking up to one or more of our boys on top of the fridge every morning.) I figure we have a good five years on our own before starting the rotation of living with our adult children on a quarterly basis (this is our new retirment plan - good thing we had four, huh?).

In other news - Toddlers and Tiaras has to be the most disturbing show on tv - yes, I watched it tonight. WHAT are these people thinking? I don't know an adult woman who doesn't have body/weight/personality issues (not always combined). HOW does putting your 6 yo on the pageant track help your daughter avoid any of these things? I was (and I have no girls so maybe I'd feel differently if I did) horrified by this show. I'm not seeing anything good coming out of the pageant experiences for those little girls.

My personal war against smoking is kind of at a standstill right now - I haven't given up, I'm just regrouping the troops, so to speak. (If anyone owns an island let me know - I'll pay my way - I just need to be sure there is nothing smokable on your island - basically, I'm look for prison, but on a beach.)

My knitting remains mediocre at best. However, I like the knitting and it's not possible to knit and smoke. I'm building up quite the inventory of ugly dish towels. Keep your fingers crossed. I don't want this to be my I-quit-smoking-blog. When I have something to report, I promise to put it here. In the meantime, I REALLY appreciate all of the support and encouragement you guys have given me. Hope is not lost - just a little delayed.

For the homeschoolers reading - anyone else having a delayed February-malaise? February is usually a tough month for us. This year, February was great. We were motivated and ahead of schedule. March is not coming along so well. THIS is not in my plan. We're plugging along, but it just doesn't feel as easy and seamless as February did. Ahhh, homeschooling ... it's never quite what you plan.

24-1009

Anyone watching 24 this season? If so, am I alone in thinking that Bill Buchanan looks like the Gorton's Fisherman? It's so distracting.

I LOVE reading weekends!

Our weekends are usually so fragmented that I don't get a chance to sit and really read and read and read - which is what I love to do above just about everything else in the world. This weekend, however, is free and clear. I woke up around 5:30 this morning with a horrible stiff neck - the kind that just twisting your head won't get rid of. I gave up on sleep and got up, hoping moving around would help. I started some laundry, made some yogurt and then some more laundry and then about 10 gallons of (if I say so myself, awesome, slightly spicy, spaghetti sauce), more laundry and then tested a recipe for Italian whole wheat bread - delicious and easy. I'll put the recipe below this post. (If it were up to me, the bread, some good olive oil and some black pepper would be the perfect dinner ... unless you were in the mood for butter - butter works on this bread quite nicely too.)

ANYWAY ... Between all of this domestic activity, I was taking hot showers, and putting the lovely, lavender bud-filled rice sock on my neck hoping to gain some movement. While I was basking in lavender goodness and waiting for the dryer to buzz, I read a the first two books in a trilogy that my neighbor lent me. Like the Twilight series, these are young adult novels. The series is called The Uglies. The first book is The Uglies. Next up the Pretties. Those are what I read today. I may have to go find The Specials to see how it all ends. They were fast (really fast), fun reads, imo.

Great literature, no. Worthy of your time if you have teens that might be attracted to this book - yes. I think there are some excellent discussions that could come out of these books. It's worth a couple hours of your time to read it and decide for yourself.

Next, I moved onto Watchmen. I'm not into graphic novels, but all of the older boys read the book and are dying to see the movie. AND, here is where it becomes ALL about ME! It's an 'R' movie and they NEED me. So, I said (months and months ago) that I'd read the book. Well, crunch time is upon us - the movie opens March 4 (how the hell is it March already?) and the kids really want to go to the midnight opening. I'm about 1/2-way through the book. It's weird, but not terrible - OK, being totally honest the giant, naked blue man kind of freaks me out. But, it's interesting - in an alternate history, creepy kind of way. My plan is to finish the book tomorrow and talk to the kids about it BEFORE I commit to seeing the movie. (I'm not opposed to seeing a midnight movie - I'm usually up anyway - and buttered popcorn??? Count me in. I just like to know what I'm walking into and I like to know that the boys "get" what they're walking into.) I'll keep you posted.

Next up on my reading list? Summer by Edith Wharton. I think Edith Wharton is a hoot and I'd never heard of this book before. My mom sent it over and I can't wait to read it.

I have quite the stack of books to read on my nightstand right now. :::sigh::: I miss the days when "school" only took 2-3 hours and I just knew the stuff. For now, the nightstand is on hold and I'm trying to keep up with the teenagers and their reading and math and Latin. I will be so happy when they are all old enough to dual-enroll (high school/college) at the local community college. I can leave the "hard" stuff (Calculus, "real" Physics, a new, non-dead language) to those folks and concentrate on the fun stuff.

And, Italian bread - whole wheat? Check out http://www.recipezaar.com. This is the recipe I used today - nice dough. The ginger seems like a weird thing to add, but it definitely added something - the bread doesn't taste ginger-y at all. Crusty Whole Wheat Italian Bread. Go ahead try it - Mike and the boys ate four baguettes tonight (along with a HUGE dinner) and were asking for more. Heh, I'M the one who should be asking for more!!!! (I wish I had taken a picture - next time I will - it's pretty as well as delicious.)

I'm off to bed. Andy came out a while ago (I thought he'd been asleep for at least an hour) and gave me his "good" pillow to fix my neck. I hope he knows something I don't. Everyone cross your fingers for Andy's pillow!

Goodbye, Paul Harvey.

I'm sad to learn that Paul Harvey has died. I started listening to him in the first car I drove, AM stations only, nearly 25 years ago! There was always something so constant and reassuring about his voice at given times during the day. From the time the boys were very young, we often found ourselves in the car in time to listen to "The Rest of the Story." We always got a kick out of it and I enjoyed the five full minutes of silence as the boys listened. They're sad as well. I was surprised to learn that even with Dan driving them all to tae kwon do and various activities, they were still tuning in at 6 pm to listen to Paul Harvey. We're going to miss him.