Can I Hear a Cheer for the Snooze Button?

So today was the day back to school after spring break. I don't think I need to even explain how rude of an awakening my loudly buzzing alarm at 5:20 was. Can you also understand how quick I was to snooze it and go back to sleep land? I'm sure you can. So when it began to roar again at 5:29 I was annoyed. With my lightning quick reflexes numb, I'm not sure I can feel good enough...I think I must have a touch of carpel syndrome index finger, I shut it off, not wanting it to rouse the short person. At this point I'm laying in bed thinking, "self, get your lazy arse outta bed and in the shower, you really have no choice". A couple minutes later I hauled my arse outta bed and stumbled into the shower.

I could go on, but suffice to say the day never really got much better. I got in my car and realized the gas tank was on empty (I have a 21 mile commute to work) and that I was tired enough to justify a visit to Starbucks. I was 25 minutes later to work than normal (still on time for me). Needless to say, I've felt tired and hung over all day. The consolation prize in this is that my third graders were just as much of a mess as I was. I swear, had I announced that we'd have nap time, they'd have JUMPED on it! They'd be asking, "where are the mats and pillows?"

I'm hoping tomorrow is better, but given that it's 10pm and I'm STILL up doesn't bode well for me. Oh and did I mention that it's a FIELD TRIP tomorrow? Yup, we're headed to the Portland Art Museum. I'm so excited looking forward to this I think I'll set my alarm extra early so I can snooze AND still get to school early enough to finish up the one or two things plethora of things I didn't do today that I really need to have done for the field trip tomorrow.

So I must sign off. Happy April Fools tomorrow. Try not to be fooled and to not be a fool.

Cave Man or Normal?

So tonight at dinner we were having a nice teriyaki pork loin dinner when I look across the table to discover a caveman my husband cutting his meat with his knife wrapped inside his fist. I looked at him and gave him a sweet look and then glanced at his fist and smiled. He kind of groaned and stopped fisting his fork (he knew exactly why I was looking at him the way I was).


This is what it looks like when he cuts anything.

So maybe i should give you some background. The whole fisting the fork while cutting anything is taboo with me. I think maybe my mom drilled it into me that this is just not using good manners. So we've talked about it at dinner (in a really nice way) in the past and how I just am trying to help him improve his manners and that it's because I love him. I'm thinking it could also be due to some of my OCD or control issues in general.

Anyhow, as we were eating he kept doing this and I mentioned how maybe I should just make it a blog entry and ask all of you for your opinions. Thus, today's entry. I also thought I'd do some of my own "research". Yes, I Googled it. (is there any other way to do research these days?)



The "correct" way to hold the fork and knife, according to Eating Etiquette.


Chef Albrich says this about the Proper Use of Knife, Fork, and Spoon: The rules that specify how knife, fork, and spoon must be used have evolved along with the forms of the utensils themselves. In general, these rules are explicitly intended to prevent the utensils from appearing threatening. Consequently, flatware is held delicately, carefully balanced on the prescribed fingers and guided by the fingertips. To hold any utensil in a fist, or to manipulate it in such a way that is pointed at anyone would hint at potential danger, as would even setting it down in an inappropriate way.

So what I want to know is....Is my husband the only fister out there? Can he be broken of this? Is there hope?

Thanks and Happy Monday to you all!

Weekly Winners

Ok, I got this idea for Weekly Winners over at Sarcastic Mom. It's a chance to post pictures from your week. She does it every Sunday. I think I LOVE this idea because it's EASY!!! (well, at least this week I have pictures to share...we'll see about next week)

dinner at The Melting Pot in Portland, just before our show

Me (gotta love that visible bra strap)

Liane enjoying dinner too, if you look at Liane's shoulder on the left, you'll see Danielle's shoulder

Dessert was sooooooooooooooooooo yummy!!!

the short person just LOVED that it snowed last week...out playing in her jammies and pink cowgirl boots.....

maybe it was colder than she thought

the short person's attempt to take a picture of me with her lovely costume jewelry in my ears

getting closer

and now she finally got it (did I mention that I positioned her hand for the shot?!) and don't you just LOVE my earrings?

short person feeding her new koala from her friends Alec & Casey...man she LOVES the new koala...he came with different outfits and his own sleeping bag (which he DOES sleep in nightly)

short person insisted that I feed koala (she took the picture) while trying to write this blog entry...there goes Princess Kitty, she didn't want her picture taken

So, happy Sunday to you all and I'll go mourn the end of my Spring Break......

A New Soul Making Mistakes

So my darling hubby nailed it!!! He got the Mac Air Book commercial song to my blog. I don't know what it is about the song that I love so much. I guess it's the catchy little tune that caught me originally (and not to mention I'd LOVE a Mac Air Book). I'm so not a lyrics person with music, I usually can't figure out most of the words. Maybe I have a hearing problem, but I choose to believe that I'm just "tunical" instead of lyrical.

Anyhow....not being smart enough a good enough listener to catch the lyrics I find myself googling lyrics quite often. I googled the lyrics to the Mac Air Book song. It's called New Soul. I read the words, I went to my blog to hear the song play and read along, and then, yes...oh yes, I actually sang along. (I couldn't help myself....do it...you KNOW you want to!!) Then I actually started to be metacognitive and was thinking about what I thought the song meant. I'd like to say I came up with something really deep and thought provoking, but not so much. Nothing deep.

I was left with the impression that everyone makes mistakes and screws up and that we're all learning about life. At least that I what the song means to me. I'm still working on the whole "I'm a new soul" part. What is a new soul? Hmmm......I'd love to hear your thoughts.

So...speaking of mistakes....my project for the day was to rearrange my scrapbook room. (dear God, what was I thinking and why oh why do I have such a sweet hubby who is always willing to help me when I have these stupid ideas) I was working at my desk this week and thinking how it would be so nice to have the "stuff" I use all the time to be crafty closer to my desk. Yeah, I thought, that would be nice. I said to self, "self, you'll spend so much more time being scrappy and stampy if only you had everything organized just perfectly."

I should have just slapped or pinched my self at this point and realized that EVERYTIME the whole "if only......then I would......" statement is the beginning of a big mess that leaves me slapping my forehead saying, self, "this was really dumb." Thank heaven for my ultra loving hubby who only lost his cool once, after I was feeling overwhelmed because there was NO perfect way to make the room and we'd made a big mess moving stuff around.

In the end only a couple of minor changes were made. My ink pad holder is in the process of being attached to the wall and the floor got a good vaccuming. Maybe I'll post a pic of my room after it's cleaned up got the messy parts picked up and shoved in the closet.


Yael Naim - New Soul lyrics

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake
La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)

See I'm a young soul in this very strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout what is true and fake
But why all this hate? try to communicate
Finding trust and love is not always easy to make
La, la, la, la (21x)
La, la, la, la (21x)

This is a happy end
Cause you don't understand
Everything you have done
Why's everything so wrong

This is a happy end
Come and give me your hand
I'll take you far away

I'm a new soul
I came to this strange world
Hoping I could learn a bit bout how to give and take
But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear
Finding myself making every possible mistake

New soul... (la, la, la, la,...)
In this very strange world...
Every possible mistake
Possible mistake
Every possible mistake
Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes...

Woooo Hoooo!!!

Ok, so I must give a shout out to my darling hubby for the my brand spanking new banner!!!! Isn't he great?! He's also working on adding some tunes to my page so stay tuned!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddddddd on another note........

On Saturday, March 29, 2008, Earth Hour invites people around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Chicago, Melbourne, Dubai, and Tel Aviv, will hold events to acknowledge their commitment to energy conservation.

The End of Spring "Break"

Ok, so it's Haiku Friday (shamelessly stolen from Play Groups are No Place For Children and other blogs as well)

Since I'm new to this whole blog thing, I thought to myself....why NOT try out Haiku Friday? So here we go....



Friday of spring "break"
Not a vacation, but much
time spent with my girl.


There you have it, the haiku to sum up my spring vacation. I complained yesterday about not really getting a spring break because my short person had her tonsils and adenoids removed a week ago. But, after reading Red Neck Mommy I will now appreciate what I have and all the time I had this week with my short person. Because, as Redneck Mommy so well stated, "life really is amazing. No matter what it throws at you." (and for the record, I LOVE reading The Redneck Mommy's Blog!!!

Ok, so I told you I was going to Cirqe du Soleil last night and wow! What an amazing show it was!!!! I really don't even know how to put it into words. The music, the trapeze, the acrobatics, the tight rope, the juggling, the flying angels....I could go on forever, but won't bore you. Just amazing. Here is an excerp from their website:

Corteo, which means "cortege" in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The show brings together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth.
The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us. The music, by turns lyrical and playful, carries Corteo through a timeless celebration in which illusion teases reality.

The chandelier act was my FAVORITE!!


And now I'm off to get the album for Corteo on I Tunes. Have a great day!!!
Oh and did I mention it's snowing here AGAIN? What the heck? It's the pacific northwest I live in....we don't get snow here......

To Do's Accomplished!!

OK, pics e-mailed and organizational system set up. AND.....I shredded so much that you could call it a "shredapalooza" here at our household.

So.....here is the messy (not as bad as usual) counter top:

Here is the "to do basket", shredder (so I don't have to face another shredapalooza) and catch all basket, we'll see if I can keep on top of it!!!

We'll see how long it takes for my basket to vibrate off the washing machine.....

And here is the shredapalooza:

Dear God, I hope my hubby doesn't freak out!!!

Ok, so now I'm off to have lunch and get myself cleaned up for my big night out. YIPPEE!!!!

Tampon Easter Bunny?!

Ok, so I know I said I was going to go get started on projects, and I did, but.....I just HAVE to share this crazy website I found this morning with you. Who ever heard of tampon arts and crafts?! I'm almost feeling like I wanna go stock up on one of each brand right now.....

http://www.tamponcrafts.com/bunny.html

Spring Break Day 4 or is it Day 6?

So, here it is.....a blog that I've been wanting to get started but just not starting. Let's see....to begin my brand new blog I'd like to talk about my spring break. The short person had surgery on Friday (aka my birthday). She had her tonsils and adenoids removed. She did fine but it's been a rollercoaster ride since she got home. Our ride has included the following:

*vomit (thankfully she saved this for the house, not the car)
*sleep interrupted nights (I spent the first night in her room sleeping with her, or should I say not sleeping much)
*whining, "my throat hurts"
*refusal to take prescribed pain medicine
*refusal to take preferred pain medicine out of stubborness
*spilled juice messes
*hours and hours of Disney movies and PBS shows
*janelle getting very little of her "Things I Want to do Over Spring Break" list accomplished
*heart palpitations when the short person coughed up blood (I thought she was bleeding out)

So, I'm feeling a bit pessimistic and annoyed at this point. I mean, it IS Thursday of said "spring break", or as I would like to rename it, "Spring Into the Life of a Nurse". I really shouldn't complain so much. I AM going to Cirque du Soleil

tonight with my good friends Liane and Danielle. We'll be starting with dinner at The Melting Pot.

I've never been, but have wanted to try it out!!

So, I shall now pull up my big girl pants and stop complaining. On my to do list today is to FINALLY get some photos sent to a friend and organize a space for mail, my purse and all the other CRAP I dump on the kitchen counters that makes my darling husband so mad. Off for now. Have a wonderful day!