Oh, Jones Soda - What is WRONG With You People?

The Husband and I have been Jones Soda fans for as long as we've been together. It's a tasty treat, the flavors are unique and even their "regular" soda pop flavors are really good. It's good stuff. It's unique, the bottles are really cool and each one has a different photo on the label. You can even send in your photos to get one on a bottle.
However, they have this tradition of making a holiday meal version of their sodas. That's right. Turkey and Gravy. Dinner Roll. Sweet Potato. PEA. You see? It's like a soda pop journey through your traditional holiday meal. We got brave this year and bought one of their sets - which includes the above flavors AND Antacid flavor. So far we've made it through what we anticipated would be the GROSS flavors, Turkey and Gravy, Dinner Roll and Pea. I am sure that the antacid has some chalky mint flavor. We're saving Sweet Potato and the Antacid for another day, maybe tomorrow. But seriously, those first three?

EWWW EWWW EWWW EWWW. They not only didn't taste like their names, they made me kind of queasy. They were disgusting. Just to make sure it was a family experience, we made the 4 year old try some as well. Here you see him having a sip of the PEA flavor (which he kept giggling maniacally and declaring that it was "PEE" flavor. However, after taking a drink he ran into the other room frantically searching for his water. So the family votes that we're not such big fans of the Holiday Meal flavors. But we still like their other, tasty flavors. Such as Sugar Plum! I'll be breaking one of those out later.

I will buy the Holiday Meal Flavor Gift packs now just as gifts, and laugh hysterically as I hand them out.

Oh, Jones Soda - What is WRONG With You People?

The Husband and I have been Jones Soda fans for as long as we've been together. It's a tasty treat, the flavors are unique and even their "regular" soda pop flavors are really good. It's good stuff. It's unique, the bottles are really cool and each one has a different photo on the label. You can even send in your photos to get one on a bottle.
However, they have this tradition of making a holiday meal version of their sodas. That's right. Turkey and Gravy. Dinner Roll. Sweet Potato. PEA. You see? It's like a soda pop journey through your traditional holiday meal. We got brave this year and bought one of their sets - which includes the above flavors AND Antacid flavor. So far we've made it through what we anticipated would be the GROSS flavors, Turkey and Gravy, Dinner Roll and Pea. I am sure that the antacid has some chalky mint flavor. We're saving Sweet Potato and the Antacid for another day, maybe tomorrow. But seriously, those first three?

EWWW EWWW EWWW EWWW. They not only didn't taste like their names, they made me kind of queasy. They were disgusting. Just to make sure it was a family experience, we made the 4 year old try some as well. Here you see him having a sip of the PEA flavor (which he kept giggling maniacally and declaring that it was "PEE" flavor. However, after taking a drink he ran into the other room frantically searching for his water. So the family votes that we're not such big fans of the Holiday Meal flavors. But we still like their other, tasty flavors. Such as Sugar Plum! I'll be breaking one of those out later.

I will buy the Holiday Meal Flavor Gift packs now just as gifts, and laugh hysterically as I hand them out.

The Fortress of Solitude

I have some friends who live out in the Florida version of "the country." This means it takes me about an hour to get to their house and it's a long winding drive through orange groves and cattle pastures to get to the hilly center of the state where they live. Besides being a place to relax with friends, drink beer and watch non-kid friendly movies, it's also a place to sleep like the dead. If you have kids.....let me taunt you with it's beauty.
Picture this......
A room for you to sleep in, alone. The sheets are soft, the mattress is firm. You close the door, and silence wraps around you like a cocoon. A place where the only sound is the wind through the trees. No one is going to wake you up in the morning. And, when you do wake up, they will make you coffee and breakfast. You can sit around in your jammies for as long as you like. No butts to wipe, no sippy cups to fill, no endless tales of trains/dinosaurs/Buzz Lightyear to listen to. It is, in a word, Mommy Heaven. Or at least a place that all parents should have to escape to, just once in a while to recharge and renew their brains.

So Friday night, I drove up to the magical land for a fine evening of hanging out, movie watching and beer drinking. I crawl into the magical haven of rest late and completely sack out. At 2:45 I am ROUSTED from my bed by a blaring noise. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM, THUNK THUNK BOOM BOOM.......and my first thought is that Scott has lost his mind and is playing the bass out in the band barn - at 2:45 am. I lay there for a minute considering this.....and became more and more annoyed. My peaceful spot is being interrupted. I decide to go outside and kick his ass. Or at least say something snarky. I consider that it's probably not my PLACE to tell him off as it's his house and all - but maybe I'll just ask him to turn it down.
I step out into the kitchen and all of the plates are rattling in the sink in the kitchen. GOOD GRIEF.
I check out the window to see no lights at the band barn.......and then I SEE it.
A car driving down their country lane slowly.......apparently rocking out.

I presume that it's kids out smoking a blunt and jamming, and that they imagine that they are being discreet. Annoyed, I crawl back into bed. My peace was shattered but I decide to reclaim it. Back into the realm of magical slumber I go.

And then, 45 minutes later.........apparently Evil Knievel drove up from Clearwater and is now doing some trick riding up and down the street. The noise is incredible. The screeching whine of a crappy motorbike going on.....and on........

I am not sure what evil led these Crackers to try to disrupt my FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE but it was annoying as hell. I am going to kick some Cracker ass next time.

And then I woke up and got my period.

Like I said, annoying as hell.

But the coffee was good.

The Fortress of Solitude

I have some friends who live out in the Florida version of "the country." This means it takes me about an hour to get to their house and it's a long winding drive through orange groves and cattle pastures to get to the hilly center of the state where they live. Besides being a place to relax with friends, drink beer and watch non-kid friendly movies, it's also a place to sleep like the dead. If you have kids.....let me taunt you with it's beauty.
Picture this......
A room for you to sleep in, alone. The sheets are soft, the mattress is firm. You close the door, and silence wraps around you like a cocoon. A place where the only sound is the wind through the trees. No one is going to wake you up in the morning. And, when you do wake up, they will make you coffee and breakfast. You can sit around in your jammies for as long as you like. No butts to wipe, no sippy cups to fill, no endless tales of trains/dinosaurs/Buzz Lightyear to listen to. It is, in a word, Mommy Heaven. Or at least a place that all parents should have to escape to, just once in a while to recharge and renew their brains.

So Friday night, I drove up to the magical land for a fine evening of hanging out, movie watching and beer drinking. I crawl into the magical haven of rest late and completely sack out. At 2:45 I am ROUSTED from my bed by a blaring noise. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM, THUNK THUNK BOOM BOOM.......and my first thought is that Scott has lost his mind and is playing the bass out in the band barn - at 2:45 am. I lay there for a minute considering this.....and became more and more annoyed. My peaceful spot is being interrupted. I decide to go outside and kick his ass. Or at least say something snarky. I consider that it's probably not my PLACE to tell him off as it's his house and all - but maybe I'll just ask him to turn it down.
I step out into the kitchen and all of the plates are rattling in the sink in the kitchen. GOOD GRIEF.
I check out the window to see no lights at the band barn.......and then I SEE it.
A car driving down their country lane slowly.......apparently rocking out.

I presume that it's kids out smoking a blunt and jamming, and that they imagine that they are being discreet. Annoyed, I crawl back into bed. My peace was shattered but I decide to reclaim it. Back into the realm of magical slumber I go.

And then, 45 minutes later.........apparently Evil Knievel drove up from Clearwater and is now doing some trick riding up and down the street. The noise is incredible. The screeching whine of a crappy motorbike going on.....and on........

I am not sure what evil led these Crackers to try to disrupt my FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE but it was annoying as hell. I am going to kick some Cracker ass next time.

And then I woke up and got my period.

Like I said, annoying as hell.

But the coffee was good.

Large Penis is Always Welcome

Or at least, this is what I learned while watching ROME on HBO. I've been on vacation all week and one of my guilty pleasures has been sitting up VERY late, drinking alcohol in various forms and watching this overblown - period - piece - soap - opera. It has almost the same opening music as DEADWOOD. Anyone notice that? It has less swearing but more sex, ostensibly because the Romans didn't swear in a format that translates well (I'm guessing?) but hey, sex we all understand. It's a bit daffy and overstated. I mean, I REALLY don't think that Mark Antony held up the entire 13th legion on their way to Rome to shag a shepherdess. Here's a guy hitting it with the best Patrician families in Rome, am I supposed to believe he just HAS TO HAVE this dirty shepherdess? Possibly it's an example of "just because he can" sort of mentality.
But I'd sort of mindlessly been watching episode 6 when all of a sudden this woman, Atia of the Julii (Caesar's niece) is ornamenting this slave, who happens to be naked and, ahem, well endowed. She's decorating him. We learn she's giving him as a a gift to someone she's wronged - trying to make amends. When questioned as to the nature of the gift, she turns and utters that line, "Large Penis is Always Welcome."
I nearly shot rum and coke out my nose.
I can see angry young neo-feminists everywhere who like to say the C word and talk about their periods all the time embracing this slogan. There will probably be an article out on the web somewhere on how to crochet this slogan onto pot holders.
Perhaps I'll make them myself.
If only I could crochet.

(As an aside, I think Atia has the best eyebrows in the world. I totally covet them.)

Large Penis is Always Welcome

Or at least, this is what I learned while watching ROME on HBO. I've been on vacation all week and one of my guilty pleasures has been sitting up VERY late, drinking alcohol in various forms and watching this overblown - period - piece - soap - opera. It has almost the same opening music as DEADWOOD. Anyone notice that? It has less swearing but more sex, ostensibly because the Romans didn't swear in a format that translates well (I'm guessing?) but hey, sex we all understand. It's a bit daffy and overstated. I mean, I REALLY don't think that Mark Antony held up the entire 13th legion on their way to Rome to shag a shepherdess. Here's a guy hitting it with the best Patrician families in Rome, am I supposed to believe he just HAS TO HAVE this dirty shepherdess? Possibly it's an example of "just because he can" sort of mentality.
But I'd sort of mindlessly been watching episode 6 when all of a sudden this woman, Atia of the Julii (Caesar's niece) is ornamenting this slave, who happens to be naked and, ahem, well endowed. She's decorating him. We learn she's giving him as a a gift to someone she's wronged - trying to make amends. When questioned as to the nature of the gift, she turns and utters that line, "Large Penis is Always Welcome."
I nearly shot rum and coke out my nose.
I can see angry young neo-feminists everywhere who like to say the C word and talk about their periods all the time embracing this slogan. There will probably be an article out on the web somewhere on how to crochet this slogan onto pot holders.
Perhaps I'll make them myself.
If only I could crochet.

(As an aside, I think Atia has the best eyebrows in the world. I totally covet them.)

Where MY Wild Things Are

Where MY Wild Things Are

Help Me Help You

Or, just help me.
Here is the problem.
SWEETS.
I am a sweets junkie. I can eat sweets like there is no tomorrow.
And I want to go back WW after the first of the year. I want to re-establish myself as a disciple of my lord and master BILLY BLANKS. Cuz I lost weight, and I'm down to an 18 which might not sound so skinny unless you knew that I was sporting a 26-28 quite comfortably this time last year. So yeah, I know that Billy and WW work.
But you see, there is candy, and treats of various ilk just lying about.
SO I have a plan.
The Queen already confessed that despite her ass toning gym workout today she splurged on fudge, and then told me she ate the rest of the christmas cookies. I don't chide. I say WELL DONE!
Eat them up! Get thee behind me Satan! Or as Fat Bastard would say, "GET IN MY BELLY!"
Personally, I'm on a mission to consume every sweet possible prior to the new year.
If I get as many of them consumed between now and then as possible, then they won't be here to torture me when I'm counting points again, right? I'm consuming. I'm eating Chocolate Raspberry covered almonds, sugared fruit slices, maple nut goodies, christmas cookies, chocolate covered bing cherries and blueberries from Harry and David, candy candy candy candy etc.
You get the picture.
I must consume.

So, while I eat myself into a food coma, just remember this.

January I'm going to be bitter as hell. But hopefully, getting thinner.
My husbands request is that I not lose my back fat. I think that if I can lose the rest, the back fat can remain. I can't see my back anyway.

In other, unrelated news.......pirates have invaded my home.

Help Me Help You

Or, just help me.
Here is the problem.
SWEETS.
I am a sweets junkie. I can eat sweets like there is no tomorrow.
And I want to go back WW after the first of the year. I want to re-establish myself as a disciple of my lord and master BILLY BLANKS. Cuz I lost weight, and I'm down to an 18 which might not sound so skinny unless you knew that I was sporting a 26-28 quite comfortably this time last year. So yeah, I know that Billy and WW work.
But you see, there is candy, and treats of various ilk just lying about.
SO I have a plan.
The Queen already confessed that despite her ass toning gym workout today she splurged on fudge, and then told me she ate the rest of the christmas cookies. I don't chide. I say WELL DONE!
Eat them up! Get thee behind me Satan! Or as Fat Bastard would say, "GET IN MY BELLY!"
Personally, I'm on a mission to consume every sweet possible prior to the new year.
If I get as many of them consumed between now and then as possible, then they won't be here to torture me when I'm counting points again, right? I'm consuming. I'm eating Chocolate Raspberry covered almonds, sugared fruit slices, maple nut goodies, christmas cookies, chocolate covered bing cherries and blueberries from Harry and David, candy candy candy candy etc.
You get the picture.
I must consume.

So, while I eat myself into a food coma, just remember this.

January I'm going to be bitter as hell. But hopefully, getting thinner.
My husbands request is that I not lose my back fat. I think that if I can lose the rest, the back fat can remain. I can't see my back anyway.

In other, unrelated news.......pirates have invaded my home.

This Duck Wronged Me

So we at him.

Kidding kidding. He didn't wrong me. But we ate him anyway.

I was comparing this year to last year while looking at the Christmas Photos. Remarkably the same, eh?

At least as far as wrapping paper covering the floor goes.

This Duck Wronged Me

So we at him.

Kidding kidding. He didn't wrong me. But we ate him anyway.

I was comparing this year to last year while looking at the Christmas Photos. Remarkably the same, eh?

At least as far as wrapping paper covering the floor goes.

Boxing Day Gifts

I know you're supposed to toss your carrier a little money today, or a gift of some sort. But this is the sort of gift that might REALLY surprise them.

Evidence of my immaturity......I know.

But I just can't stop laughing at it.

I actually think it would hit the charts if it got airplay, based on the garbage on the pop radio stations.

Oh, and PROPS to Kristine for emailing me to start with. You rock!

Boxing Day Gifts

I know you're supposed to toss your carrier a little money today, or a gift of some sort. But this is the sort of gift that might REALLY surprise them.

Evidence of my immaturity......I know.

But I just can't stop laughing at it.

I actually think it would hit the charts if it got airplay, based on the garbage on the pop radio stations.

Oh, and PROPS to Kristine for emailing me to start with. You rock!

Happy Boxing Day

I know everyone is celebrating Boxing Day in style, and probably won't have time to post today. But I thought I'd take a moment to say hello and to share one of the funniest pictures I've taken yet with my lovely new digital camera.

I like to call it, Cindy Lou Who's Cousin.

And this is how people without kids make Christmas dinner. Can you believe I know these people? And why does he appear to be cooking in his swimming trunks? And why is he so afraid of the stove? I know why she drinks....I mean, see the picture on the right?

Happy Boxing Day Everyone!

Happy Boxing Day

I know everyone is celebrating Boxing Day in style, and probably won't have time to post today. But I thought I'd take a moment to say hello and to share one of the funniest pictures I've taken yet with my lovely new digital camera.

I like to call it, Cindy Lou Who's Cousin.

And this is how people without kids make Christmas dinner. Can you believe I know these people? And why does he appear to be cooking in his swimming trunks? And why is he so afraid of the stove? I know why she drinks....I mean, see the picture on the right?

Happy Boxing Day Everyone!

I Cried Twice Yesterday

When we got into the car to head out for the final leg of Christmas shopping we were a bit hurried. We were running later than we wanted to and so in a rush we swooshed out the door, fastened car seats X3 and then my husband sits down in the drivers side seat and says "I have a surprise." And fires up THIS on the CD deck.
It might seem silly to you. But I completely burst into tears. Gene Autry singing Christmas songs = my mom making apple cake, my Grandma Brandon and her fake homemade noodles (they were actually REAMES noodles), the Christmas I got Barry Manilow LIVE in my stocking from Santa, getting out the green glass goblets for my parents to drink wine out of if we are at home, the winter my Mom taught me how to make REAL homemade noodles and how disappointed I was that they weren't like Grandma's (thus, I learned the secret of the REAMES noodles). It means making desserts in our kitching on King Street that was freezing cold because that stupid old victorian wasn't properly insulated, but the stove would heat it right up. It meant my childhood Christmases, every good memory rolled into one album - and I know I had that album because my mom is a not so secret devotee of the singing cowboy.
He says he had been looking for it all Christmas season and was at the WalMart looking at those albums, and couldn't find it, was about to walk away when he asked the guy next to him if he had seen that album. The guy said he had, but couldn't remember where. Right then, he touched a CD which fell down to the floor - and the Gene Autry CDs were right behind it.
Mean to be, eh?

The other reason I cried was that I received an envelope from my friend Michele in Lexington containing these.

One is a car decal and one is obviously an awareness bracelet, although more fittingly a comemorative bracelet. They made me sad, and they made me happy to be remembered - that this had been shared with me. The bracelet says "In loving Memory - Flight 5191." The car decal has everyone's name on it and the same sentiment.
So I take a moment to think about their families, and to think about mine.
And to remember, that this is not a dress rehearsal.
So if I haven't told you lately. I love you.

Merry Christmas

I Cried Twice Yesterday

When we got into the car to head out for the final leg of Christmas shopping we were a bit hurried. We were running later than we wanted to and so in a rush we swooshed out the door, fastened car seats X3 and then my husband sits down in the drivers side seat and says "I have a surprise." And fires up THIS on the CD deck.
It might seem silly to you. But I completely burst into tears. Gene Autry singing Christmas songs = my mom making apple cake, my Grandma Brandon and her fake homemade noodles (they were actually REAMES noodles), the Christmas I got Barry Manilow LIVE in my stocking from Santa, getting out the green glass goblets for my parents to drink wine out of if we are at home, the winter my Mom taught me how to make REAL homemade noodles and how disappointed I was that they weren't like Grandma's (thus, I learned the secret of the REAMES noodles). It means making desserts in our kitching on King Street that was freezing cold because that stupid old victorian wasn't properly insulated, but the stove would heat it right up. It meant my childhood Christmases, every good memory rolled into one album - and I know I had that album because my mom is a not so secret devotee of the singing cowboy.
He says he had been looking for it all Christmas season and was at the WalMart looking at those albums, and couldn't find it, was about to walk away when he asked the guy next to him if he had seen that album. The guy said he had, but couldn't remember where. Right then, he touched a CD which fell down to the floor - and the Gene Autry CDs were right behind it.
Mean to be, eh?

The other reason I cried was that I received an envelope from my friend Michele in Lexington containing these.

One is a car decal and one is obviously an awareness bracelet, although more fittingly a comemorative bracelet. They made me sad, and they made me happy to be remembered - that this had been shared with me. The bracelet says "In loving Memory - Flight 5191." The car decal has everyone's name on it and the same sentiment.
So I take a moment to think about their families, and to think about mine.
And to remember, that this is not a dress rehearsal.
So if I haven't told you lately. I love you.

Merry Christmas

Some Christmas Eve Mumbling

So Baby Birdman and I climbed out of bed this morning to spend some one on one time together. All the other offspring and my baby daddy are still snoozing. Which is okay because Daddy and I stayed up LATE last night, drinking a bottle of wine, watching this TV show called BIG DAY we had recorded (oh man was that funny) and then we broke out the eggnog and the cheeseball at 1 something.
I told him, I think this is what parents to, they sit up late drinking eggnog. He reminded me that they probably do it tomorrow (today) but that's okay.
Wanna know what sappy thing we did after we watched BIG DAY?
We watched 9 Months, the one with Hugh Grant, and got teary eyed and/or cried repeatedly through the movie. And at almost 4 I finally stumbled off to bed. It was one of the best nights we've had together in a long time.
Why?
Well, because the stress of having three kids is multiplied in geometric proportion when two of them are the same age. You've got one in the backseat crying? I've got two. What one does the other does. You don't want to know about what we spend on diapers and wipes. So there's financial stress, not just of having three kids but having two that are little more than tall babies.
And then, there is time. Or, lack of time. There is no time. For anything. Much less time to do stuff together.
So last night we MADE time, even though it meant we were up till 4am.
It was great.

***********

In shopping news I searched every store at the mall yesterday desperately seeking one item for my husband. I hit every dept store, and even asked at a couple of them, and they acted like I was stupid. Finally - in my SECOND trip to JC Penny - THERE, in the CORNER!

And there was great rejoicing.

I will probably take a family break for the next day or two, but while I'm gone. Here is something to ponder.

I dropped this ice cream sandwich on the floor and tossed it in the sink the other night. To melt. I woke up the next morning to this.
The damn thing didn't melt.
OR LOSE IT'S SHAPE.

I mean, it didn't melt at all. It just became soft.

Seriously, we gotta quit eating these, they are unnatural. Ewwww.

Some Christmas Eve Mumbling

So Baby Birdman and I climbed out of bed this morning to spend some one on one time together. All the other offspring and my baby daddy are still snoozing. Which is okay because Daddy and I stayed up LATE last night, drinking a bottle of wine, watching this TV show called BIG DAY we had recorded (oh man was that funny) and then we broke out the eggnog and the cheeseball at 1 something.
I told him, I think this is what parents to, they sit up late drinking eggnog. He reminded me that they probably do it tomorrow (today) but that's okay.
Wanna know what sappy thing we did after we watched BIG DAY?
We watched 9 Months, the one with Hugh Grant, and got teary eyed and/or cried repeatedly through the movie. And at almost 4 I finally stumbled off to bed. It was one of the best nights we've had together in a long time.
Why?
Well, because the stress of having three kids is multiplied in geometric proportion when two of them are the same age. You've got one in the backseat crying? I've got two. What one does the other does. You don't want to know about what we spend on diapers and wipes. So there's financial stress, not just of having three kids but having two that are little more than tall babies.
And then, there is time. Or, lack of time. There is no time. For anything. Much less time to do stuff together.
So last night we MADE time, even though it meant we were up till 4am.
It was great.

***********

In shopping news I searched every store at the mall yesterday desperately seeking one item for my husband. I hit every dept store, and even asked at a couple of them, and they acted like I was stupid. Finally - in my SECOND trip to JC Penny - THERE, in the CORNER!

And there was great rejoicing.

I will probably take a family break for the next day or two, but while I'm gone. Here is something to ponder.

I dropped this ice cream sandwich on the floor and tossed it in the sink the other night. To melt. I woke up the next morning to this.
The damn thing didn't melt.
OR LOSE IT'S SHAPE.

I mean, it didn't melt at all. It just became soft.

Seriously, we gotta quit eating these, they are unnatural. Ewwww.

A Little Fluff

I haven't done a "How You Got Here" post in a while, and they always crack me up a bit - I love seeing what you googled to end up here. Then I post what you googled to get here and I just get more hits for that. It's a vicious cycle.
Regardless, the latest list:
Bordom - Apparently neither of us can spell.
Picture of the living nativity at the wang - please tell me there is a place called the Wang and that it isn't anything like I imagine.
Snowman cheeseball pumpernickel hat - WHAT? You couldn't remember what website I told you we got it from?
Marthat Stewart Snowman Cheeseball - See this person remembered where he found the recipe.
Camoflaged baby clothes - That would be available at Cabelas.
Mirena - Yes I'm still implanted. I'm not 100% that it doesn't make me a little crazy from time to time.
Wynton Marsalis Anti Semite - I seriously never posted about this. Is he an anti-semite? I have no information here as he and I are not close.
Puss Sack hard like skin - I gotta quit blogging about my gross body stuff.
Mirena IUD Twins - Yes to both. But no I wasn't on Mirena pre-twins - I am using the Mirena to block further twins.
What a long strange ride it has been - Google is so weird.
Snowman Cheeseball - Yes it was cool, I understand why you keep searching for it.
Martha Stewart Snowman Cheeseball - Oh good GRIEF HERE IT IS!

A Little Fluff

I haven't done a "How You Got Here" post in a while, and they always crack me up a bit - I love seeing what you googled to end up here. Then I post what you googled to get here and I just get more hits for that. It's a vicious cycle.
Regardless, the latest list:
Bordom - Apparently neither of us can spell.
Picture of the living nativity at the wang - please tell me there is a place called the Wang and that it isn't anything like I imagine.
Snowman cheeseball pumpernickel hat - WHAT? You couldn't remember what website I told you we got it from?
Marthat Stewart Snowman Cheeseball - See this person remembered where he found the recipe.
Camoflaged baby clothes - That would be available at Cabelas.
Mirena - Yes I'm still implanted. I'm not 100% that it doesn't make me a little crazy from time to time.
Wynton Marsalis Anti Semite - I seriously never posted about this. Is he an anti-semite? I have no information here as he and I are not close.
Puss Sack hard like skin - I gotta quit blogging about my gross body stuff.
Mirena IUD Twins - Yes to both. But no I wasn't on Mirena pre-twins - I am using the Mirena to block further twins.
What a long strange ride it has been - Google is so weird.
Snowman Cheeseball - Yes it was cool, I understand why you keep searching for it.
Martha Stewart Snowman Cheeseball - Oh good GRIEF HERE IT IS!

There were TWO Versions of This.......

One of them was hilarious.....all three kids going in different directions with Poor Santa trying desperately to hang on to them.

We opted for the one where the Grandma's could actually see their faces. Even though 20 years from now it won't be as funny. (Okay the one trying to escape Santa is kind of funny).

Happy Holidays Everyone!

There were TWO Versions of This.......

One of them was hilarious.....all three kids going in different directions with Poor Santa trying desperately to hang on to them.

We opted for the one where the Grandma's could actually see their faces. Even though 20 years from now it won't be as funny. (Okay the one trying to escape Santa is kind of funny).

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Something Terrible Has Happened

I don't know what it is.
But if I don't privately email you for a while, here is the deal.
My entire AOL email address book is GONE.

When I work up this morning, all of my saved web favorites were wiped out. I know we got hit with a TROJAN so the PC had to be worked on. Then I noticed I no longer had a set email signature. No big deal, all of my old SENT mail was sill there so I dug it out and set it back up.

But then, I was just getting ready to send and email, and I typed in the first few letters of my sister in laws name in the email field........and NOTHING CAME UP.
I was like,hmmmm, that's weird. Click on address book.
IT'S BLANK.

So, there are a lot of email addresses in there that I don't have memorized. MANY OF THEM ARE YOURS. I suppose this is the equivalent of my SIM card dying in my phone (oh LORD Knock on wood).

I ask you now, please email me at home so that I can recompile some semblance of an email address list. I suppose this solves my query of when and how to delete my recently deceased from the email address book. I had sort of planned to come to grips with it and do it on the first. I guess it's just easier to have someone else rip that bandaid off.

Now, just for fun, here is a shot of me, a couple of guys I work with and a Playboy Bunny, Sarah Elizabeth. Where I work, a Playboy Bunny comes once a year for a big event they host. Is it me, or does she look photoshopped in? I swear she was really there!

Now email me, PLEASE!

Something Terrible Has Happened

I don't know what it is.
But if I don't privately email you for a while, here is the deal.
My entire AOL email address book is GONE.

When I work up this morning, all of my saved web favorites were wiped out. I know we got hit with a TROJAN so the PC had to be worked on. Then I noticed I no longer had a set email signature. No big deal, all of my old SENT mail was sill there so I dug it out and set it back up.

But then, I was just getting ready to send and email, and I typed in the first few letters of my sister in laws name in the email field........and NOTHING CAME UP.
I was like,hmmmm, that's weird. Click on address book.
IT'S BLANK.

So, there are a lot of email addresses in there that I don't have memorized. MANY OF THEM ARE YOURS. I suppose this is the equivalent of my SIM card dying in my phone (oh LORD Knock on wood).

I ask you now, please email me at home so that I can recompile some semblance of an email address list. I suppose this solves my query of when and how to delete my recently deceased from the email address book. I had sort of planned to come to grips with it and do it on the first. I guess it's just easier to have someone else rip that bandaid off.

Now, just for fun, here is a shot of me, a couple of guys I work with and a Playboy Bunny, Sarah Elizabeth. Where I work, a Playboy Bunny comes once a year for a big event they host. Is it me, or does she look photoshopped in? I swear she was really there!

Now email me, PLEASE!

The Nightmares of a Mother

I've been having nightmares for the past few days. I don't have many nightmares, generally, so these are really standing out to me in a scary, disturbing way. I have a lot of silly, wacky, surreal dreams usually, or dreams that don't make sense, or an very rare sex dream (very very rare) about having sex with someone I am not even remotely attracted to. In the sex dreams I'm always extremely skinny, and extremely HOT. That's how I know they aren't real.
But I digress.
For the past week, with regularity, I'm dreaming about dead babies.
Not my babies - no fears, I'm not about to snap and do something rash.
I'm having two distinct dreams, the second of which has lots of themes and variations but I always know it's the same dream.
In the first dream, I'm standing on a dock. A few hundred yards away from me is a big flat pontoon with several helicopters parked on it. I know, somehow, that this is a helicopter landing pad - a floating one. I'm waiting on a helicopter to come and get me. While I'm waiting I'm trying to figure out how you get to the pontoon over there? Do we have to swim? Then my helicopter comes flying in. It's full of toddlers. And as it lands it just misses the pontoon and plunges into the ocean. I'm leaping into the water - the blades have slowed remarkably because of the water -in my dream I knew this would happen, and I swim inside and get two toddlers and bring them up to the surface, where I hand them to someone on the pontoon. I'm screaming that I need more help. There are more of them, there's still air inside, someone please help me. It's sinking. And no one will move. I go back and bring up two more. And two more. And then I can't find any more alive so I start bringing them up dead and screaming for CPR. I bring the last of them up and I'm screaming in this dream but it isn't loud. I'm just pleading for someone else to help me with CPR, I can't do all of these toddlers myself. I need someone to do chest compressions. I keep crying that I can't keep this up, I can't do this. There are too many of them and they're doing to stay dead if someone doesn't help me.
And then I wake up.

The other dream I am having involves the baby that died between me and my brother Matt. In this dream I've gone to the cemetary just to look at the burial places of my loved ones and they've messed up the baby row. If you haven't ever seen it - most cemetaries have a special area for babies and children to be buried. It's possibly the saddest place you'll ever see, so be happy you haven't been there, or ever had to be there. I used to drive through the cemetary once in a while, just to say hello, pay respects to my dead, make sure all was as it should be, and to check that the baby's marker was where it was supposed to be. Her marker is metal, and unfortunately moveable. I've been known to put it back where it goes, although I haven't been back for years now, so who knows where it is.
But in my dream, they've put a snack bar right in the middle of the row where the babies are buried. And although her marker is there, I can't tell where it goes anymore because they destroyed the concrete wall that was all along the baby wall. My dad notched it with his keys the day we buried her, and showed me, so that we would always be able to tell if her marker was in the right place. In this dream, after discovering the snack bar (and purchasing a coke, because who am I NOT to support the baby cemetary snack bar) I spend the rest of my time trying to determine where my sister is buried now. The entire dream is like that, me talking to people who don't understand why I care and what does it matter - it's been 30+ years so they don't understand why it would matter to me.
In my dream I don't know why, I just always felt like (and this is true in real life) that my dad showed me the notch in the concrete for a reason. So that someone would know. And now no one knew. In my dream it's more about her being lost than dead. Which, at least in my dream, is worse.

The Nightmares of a Mother

I've been having nightmares for the past few days. I don't have many nightmares, generally, so these are really standing out to me in a scary, disturbing way. I have a lot of silly, wacky, surreal dreams usually, or dreams that don't make sense, or an very rare sex dream (very very rare) about having sex with someone I am not even remotely attracted to. In the sex dreams I'm always extremely skinny, and extremely HOT. That's how I know they aren't real.
But I digress.
For the past week, with regularity, I'm dreaming about dead babies.
Not my babies - no fears, I'm not about to snap and do something rash.
I'm having two distinct dreams, the second of which has lots of themes and variations but I always know it's the same dream.
In the first dream, I'm standing on a dock. A few hundred yards away from me is a big flat pontoon with several helicopters parked on it. I know, somehow, that this is a helicopter landing pad - a floating one. I'm waiting on a helicopter to come and get me. While I'm waiting I'm trying to figure out how you get to the pontoon over there? Do we have to swim? Then my helicopter comes flying in. It's full of toddlers. And as it lands it just misses the pontoon and plunges into the ocean. I'm leaping into the water - the blades have slowed remarkably because of the water -in my dream I knew this would happen, and I swim inside and get two toddlers and bring them up to the surface, where I hand them to someone on the pontoon. I'm screaming that I need more help. There are more of them, there's still air inside, someone please help me. It's sinking. And no one will move. I go back and bring up two more. And two more. And then I can't find any more alive so I start bringing them up dead and screaming for CPR. I bring the last of them up and I'm screaming in this dream but it isn't loud. I'm just pleading for someone else to help me with CPR, I can't do all of these toddlers myself. I need someone to do chest compressions. I keep crying that I can't keep this up, I can't do this. There are too many of them and they're doing to stay dead if someone doesn't help me.
And then I wake up.

The other dream I am having involves the baby that died between me and my brother Matt. In this dream I've gone to the cemetary just to look at the burial places of my loved ones and they've messed up the baby row. If you haven't ever seen it - most cemetaries have a special area for babies and children to be buried. It's possibly the saddest place you'll ever see, so be happy you haven't been there, or ever had to be there. I used to drive through the cemetary once in a while, just to say hello, pay respects to my dead, make sure all was as it should be, and to check that the baby's marker was where it was supposed to be. Her marker is metal, and unfortunately moveable. I've been known to put it back where it goes, although I haven't been back for years now, so who knows where it is.
But in my dream, they've put a snack bar right in the middle of the row where the babies are buried. And although her marker is there, I can't tell where it goes anymore because they destroyed the concrete wall that was all along the baby wall. My dad notched it with his keys the day we buried her, and showed me, so that we would always be able to tell if her marker was in the right place. In this dream, after discovering the snack bar (and purchasing a coke, because who am I NOT to support the baby cemetary snack bar) I spend the rest of my time trying to determine where my sister is buried now. The entire dream is like that, me talking to people who don't understand why I care and what does it matter - it's been 30+ years so they don't understand why it would matter to me.
In my dream I don't know why, I just always felt like (and this is true in real life) that my dad showed me the notch in the concrete for a reason. So that someone would know. And now no one knew. In my dream it's more about her being lost than dead. Which, at least in my dream, is worse.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Okay there hasn't been any blood yet.
But MOM is at her wits end.

This is the one where I admit that I am not good at the stress of having one four year old + two 2.5 year olds. When things are good, I rock. When things are bad.....I just suck.

My husband is quite ill today, maybe going to the hospital later (he has bleeding ulcers and hernias that are giving him problems if it isn't something else) and I'm completely stressed out.
My four year old has not quit talking. SINCE 10 AM. Nonstop. Jabber. Jabber. Jabber. Talk talk talk talk talk. He has 6 of those information pamphlets you can pick up at tourist areas (this is FLA everything is a tourist area) and has gone through EVERY SINGLE DETAIL OF EVERY SINGLE ONE IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL with me. I may poke my ears out (not my eyes, gotta be able to see what they are up to).

I tried to talk on the phone earlier to my mom and the 4 year old dumped an entire bucket of blocks (which, incidentally I had JUST PICKED UP) over his head, despite the fact that as he picked it up I DIVINED his purpose and said "NO! NO! Don't DO THAT! NO Don't YOU DARE DUMP THOSE OUT FOR NO REASON!" which he then did anyway.

The littlest boy keeps SHRIEKING everytime the TV show changes. Even though shows he LIKES are coming on. Oh, did I mention we don't allow screaming? Did I mention I have disciplined him EVERY SINGLE TIME AND IT DOESN'T EFFING MATTER BECAUSE HE KEEPS DOING IT?

Deep breath Mom.

Here is a shot of them being sweet, not demons.
As you can see, Target suggests I limit my repoduction to the current brood. Not such a bad idea based on today's track record.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Okay there hasn't been any blood yet.
But MOM is at her wits end.

This is the one where I admit that I am not good at the stress of having one four year old + two 2.5 year olds. When things are good, I rock. When things are bad.....I just suck.

My husband is quite ill today, maybe going to the hospital later (he has bleeding ulcers and hernias that are giving him problems if it isn't something else) and I'm completely stressed out.
My four year old has not quit talking. SINCE 10 AM. Nonstop. Jabber. Jabber. Jabber. Talk talk talk talk talk. He has 6 of those information pamphlets you can pick up at tourist areas (this is FLA everything is a tourist area) and has gone through EVERY SINGLE DETAIL OF EVERY SINGLE ONE IN EXCRUCIATING DETAIL with me. I may poke my ears out (not my eyes, gotta be able to see what they are up to).

I tried to talk on the phone earlier to my mom and the 4 year old dumped an entire bucket of blocks (which, incidentally I had JUST PICKED UP) over his head, despite the fact that as he picked it up I DIVINED his purpose and said "NO! NO! Don't DO THAT! NO Don't YOU DARE DUMP THOSE OUT FOR NO REASON!" which he then did anyway.

The littlest boy keeps SHRIEKING everytime the TV show changes. Even though shows he LIKES are coming on. Oh, did I mention we don't allow screaming? Did I mention I have disciplined him EVERY SINGLE TIME AND IT DOESN'T EFFING MATTER BECAUSE HE KEEPS DOING IT?

Deep breath Mom.

Here is a shot of them being sweet, not demons.
As you can see, Target suggests I limit my repoduction to the current brood. Not such a bad idea based on today's track record.

Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I'm 64?

4 Years Ago today, at Chapel in the Park, we decided not to casually dispose of our relationship.

And yes, that was the biggest trane (sp?) I could find. They didn't have one QUITE as long as Princess Diana's was, this is a close as I could come.

Happy Anniversary Sweetie. At least we've now been married more years than the number of kids we have!

Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I'm 64?

4 Years Ago today, at Chapel in the Park, we decided not to casually dispose of our relationship.

And yes, that was the biggest trane (sp?) I could find. They didn't have one QUITE as long as Princess Diana's was, this is a close as I could come.

Happy Anniversary Sweetie. At least we've now been married more years than the number of kids we have!

The Stroller Situation

I have a lot of strollers. I'm not sure if it's because we have multiples or if it's just because of our sheer number of kids in general. But I have a lot.
Let me elaborate.
When I was pregnant with #1 I spent an agonizing amount of time at TRAVEL SYSTEM. It was so wonderful. Cushy comfy car seat. Awesome stroller with nice comfy seat, big so it would be useful for a long time, and TALL so that the husband and I didn't have to bend over to push it. One hand release to collapse it. Very fancy, in our world, being new parents, we (at least I) was pretty happy with our choice. Which was THIS stroller.
The problem with it was, it didn't fit into our car.
Who'da thunk, eh? It is/was SO big, it wouldn't fit into the trunk of our compact car and with the car seat placed in the middle where it was supposed to go, it wouldn't go into our backseat. So we effectively had a very expensive but unuseable stroller - good only for walks downtown for parades and the like (4th of July Parade in this picture).
So, back to Babies R Us we went, and we purchased THIS one. This was very much like our original stroller but smaller, and more compact. But it really really hurt my back to push, because I had to stoop slightly, so I never really liked it. And then of course......only 19 months after producing our first tiny human, we produced two more. We needed another stroller.
Thanks to my twins club, I was able to pick up TWO of them for less than the price of one. So I picked up this triple stroller (I actually have a picture of us using this one but after an hour of searching I've given up) and this double stroller. Henceforth these shall be known as the strollers that set us free. After several weeks of essentially being homebound, with these two strollers we were able to take all three of our children, who were all babies, OUT IN PUBLIC. We could GO PLACES Again. It was like a miracle. We could go to museums and amusement parks and festivals, just like we used to do when we were two - or when were 3 instead of 5. It was LIBERATION.

But then our beloved double stroller began to break down. It had already survived a set of triplets before it got to us. So we hunted and hunted for the NEW version of our stroller......it was so nice, surely they made a new one? The husband found one online......and VOILA.......back in business. The one feature we loved so much about the first one, that you could switch the front seat around, wasn't practical after about the second time we used it, though, because the boys had gotten big enough to pinch and kick each other and generally fuss at each other and drive us crazy. So we turned the front seat around. It doesn't completely separate them, but it does provide a modest break between them and other than some hair pulling we seem to be okay with this the way it is now. But the heavier they get, the harder it's getting to push. Which has me eyeing things like this. Allegedly these are easier to push and worth the money because they'll last as the kids get bigger. It also makes my husbands head almost spin off, based on the sheer volume of strollers we have now we could seat 10 kids.
Oh, you were counting? You only count 9 seats?
Well that's because I didn't show you THIS one that they gave us for free at Babies R Us when we bought Baby Bird Man and Baby Birth of Cool their toddler beds.
Because we REALLY needed one more.


And just so mention something crazy......have you seen THIS nonsense? I swear I almost want to have a baby just to get one. This is the coolest stroller I've ever seen!

The Stroller Situation

I have a lot of strollers. I'm not sure if it's because we have multiples or if it's just because of our sheer number of kids in general. But I have a lot.
Let me elaborate.
When I was pregnant with #1 I spent an agonizing amount of time at TRAVEL SYSTEM. It was so wonderful. Cushy comfy car seat. Awesome stroller with nice comfy seat, big so it would be useful for a long time, and TALL so that the husband and I didn't have to bend over to push it. One hand release to collapse it. Very fancy, in our world, being new parents, we (at least I) was pretty happy with our choice. Which was THIS stroller.
The problem with it was, it didn't fit into our car.
Who'da thunk, eh? It is/was SO big, it wouldn't fit into the trunk of our compact car and with the car seat placed in the middle where it was supposed to go, it wouldn't go into our backseat. So we effectively had a very expensive but unuseable stroller - good only for walks downtown for parades and the like (4th of July Parade in this picture).
So, back to Babies R Us we went, and we purchased THIS one. This was very much like our original stroller but smaller, and more compact. But it really really hurt my back to push, because I had to stoop slightly, so I never really liked it. And then of course......only 19 months after producing our first tiny human, we produced two more. We needed another stroller.
Thanks to my twins club, I was able to pick up TWO of them for less than the price of one. So I picked up this triple stroller (I actually have a picture of us using this one but after an hour of searching I've given up) and this double stroller. Henceforth these shall be known as the strollers that set us free. After several weeks of essentially being homebound, with these two strollers we were able to take all three of our children, who were all babies, OUT IN PUBLIC. We could GO PLACES Again. It was like a miracle. We could go to museums and amusement parks and festivals, just like we used to do when we were two - or when were 3 instead of 5. It was LIBERATION.

But then our beloved double stroller began to break down. It had already survived a set of triplets before it got to us. So we hunted and hunted for the NEW version of our stroller......it was so nice, surely they made a new one? The husband found one online......and VOILA.......back in business. The one feature we loved so much about the first one, that you could switch the front seat around, wasn't practical after about the second time we used it, though, because the boys had gotten big enough to pinch and kick each other and generally fuss at each other and drive us crazy. So we turned the front seat around. It doesn't completely separate them, but it does provide a modest break between them and other than some hair pulling we seem to be okay with this the way it is now. But the heavier they get, the harder it's getting to push. Which has me eyeing things like this. Allegedly these are easier to push and worth the money because they'll last as the kids get bigger. It also makes my husbands head almost spin off, based on the sheer volume of strollers we have now we could seat 10 kids.
Oh, you were counting? You only count 9 seats?
Well that's because I didn't show you THIS one that they gave us for free at Babies R Us when we bought Baby Bird Man and Baby Birth of Cool their toddler beds.
Because we REALLY needed one more.


And just so mention something crazy......have you seen THIS nonsense? I swear I almost want to have a baby just to get one. This is the coolest stroller I've ever seen!