Keepsakes & a twisted family tree

Before I begin this post, let me remind you. I have what I consider to be adult attention deficiency disorder. I get bored very easily, and in order to make life interesting, I change things up a lot. I rearrange my house often, I constantly want a new hairstyle, and I am constantly revamping my blog header. This is my nature, and the way I am. I hope you can bear with me! So, I changed my blog again. Surprise?

Onto the post:

This is me:

and my husband:

all of our friends:

and our first born:

Well, really…they’re just things I found in boxes when we were moving. Things I hope my kids and grandkids will not destroy enjoy when they’re old enough to do so.

The porcelain doll has a weird story to it. Sorta strange, but it’s my story so you just read it and nod, ok?

My grandmother Eva made this doll. She made it for her sister-in-law, Mary. They were sisters-in-law because they married a pair of brothers. However, these marriages were NOT their first marriages. They had both been previously married and had lots of children.

Eva had 8 kids, one of those being Melissa.

Mary had 5 kids, one of those being Kevin.

So these ladies got remarried after Kevin and Melissa were already grown up and Melissa had been married, widowed, and had two kids of her own.

Eva got married to her new man and introduced Mary to his brother.

So, why is this an interesting story? Why should you give a poop about who married who, etc?

Well, Kevin is my Dad (even though he adopted me at age 2, he’s my dad) and Melissa is my mother.

Ok, read that again.

Now, after Eva and Mary had met their husbands they introduced all of the step cousins and siblings and what not, and my parents hit it off and got married, and they had my little brother Joey. So, they’re sorta step cousins by marraige. But now they’re divorced (another story), but still step cousins.

It was weird growing up knowing that my two grandfathers were brothers. And my two grandmothers were sisters-in-law, and my parents were step cousins, and my uncles were also my 2nd cousins and uncles. Wow. Weird. And when I said I was going to see Grandma Jones, I had to be very specific and include name, address, and social security numbers for which “Mrs. Jones” I was going to see-since I had 45,000 of them.

Anyway, the reason I am telling you this is because that doll was a gift from my Grandma Eva, to my Grandmother Mary. And I inherited it

Ok, enough of that. Have a good day!

(ps…still waiting for my puppy)

We caved in and decided to get a…

We just miss our Jersey so much and the kids have been chomping at the bit for new puppy. So…we put half of the money down for a deposit on this little “no-name”. He is a Miniature Australian Shepherd. He will grow to be about 20 pounds and you can read about his breed here.

Now I need help choosing names. I want some input from you guys, and some suggestions as well. I like to have unique, masculine 2 syllable names-not to put any pressure on you.

Here are my choices:

1. Utah-in keeping with the geography theme since our last dog was Jersey
2. Pepper-the breeder calls him “pupper” so I thought it was a nice compromise
3. Rocket-I dunno why. Maybe ‘cuz I wear Rocket Dog shoes? Who knows?

So, give me some names you think are cool dog names!

How do you say it?

Copy and paste this onto your blog and highlight the way you pronounce these words. My choices are in orange (pronounced: “ornj” ) Let me know if you did so via a comment, so I can read.

POINSETTIA: poin-set-ee-uh or poin-set-uh
EITHER: ee-ther or aye-ther
PAPRIKA: pap-ri-kuh or puh-pree-kuh
ROUTE: root or rout
GALA: gey-luh or gal-uh
CONSORTIUM: consor-shee-um or consor-tee-um
VASE: vayse or vahz
MISCHIEVOUS: mis-che-vus or mis-chee-vee-ous
KILOMETER: kil-uh-meter or ki-lom-i-ter
PATRONIZE: pay-tronize or pah-tronize
COMFORTABLE: comf-terble or com-fer-ta-ble
ASSOCIATE: ass-o-see-ate or ass-o-shee-ate
ORANGE: awr-nj or ornj
CARAMEL: care-a-mel or car-mel or kahr-uh-mel or kahr-mul–I think? “car-mull” is what I say.
BONUS SPELLING QUESTION: CATSUP OR KETCHUP?

ducks and monks

In The Power of Now, I mentioned my observation that after two ducks get into a fight, which never last long, they will separate and float off in opposite directions. Then each duck will flap its wings vigorously a few times, thus releasing the surplus energy that built up during the fight. After they flap their wings, they float on peacefully, as if nothing had ever happened.

If the duck had a human mind, it would keep the fight alive by thinking, by story-making. This would probably be the duck’s story:

” I don’t believe what he just did. He came to within five inches of me. He thinks he owns this pond. He has no consideration for my private space. I’ll never trust him again. Next time he’ll try something else just to annoy me. I’m sure he’s plotting something already. But I’m not going to stand for this. I’;ll teach him a lesson he won’t forget.”

And on and on the mind spins it tales, still thinking and talking about it days, months, or years later. As far as the body is concerned, the fight is still continuing, and the energy it generates in response to all those thoughts is emotion, which in turn generates more thinking. This becomes the emotional thinking of the ego. You can see how problematic the duck’s life would become if it had a human mind. But this is how most humans live all the time. No situation or event is ever really finished. The mind and the mind-made “me and my story” keep it going.

We are a species that has lost its way. Everything natural, every flower or tree, and ever animal have important lessons to teach us if we only stop, look, and listen. Our duck’s lesson is this: Flap your wings-which translates as “let go of the story”-and return to the only place of power: the present moment”

Holy buckets. Did this ever hit home for me today as I was reading A New Earth , by Eckhart Tolle this morning on the elliptical machine. The whole book has me constantly nodding my head, saying, “yep, that’s me”, “Mmm-hmm, I do that too.” But this part of the book just caught me red handed. It is time again to flap my wings!!! I have a situation in my life that I am feel like I am always taking a few steps forward and another few steps back. I make profound progress and then I start believing the “story” I tell myself, about things that have happened in the past and I get bitter and hateful. And I know it’s just my mind talking. Not me.

Another part of the same chapter (which will soon be glowing with highlighter streaks) that really resonated:

The inability or rather unwillingness of the human mind to let go of the past is beautifully illustrated in the story of two Zen monks, Tanzan and Ekido, who were walking along a country road that had become extremely muddy after heavy rains. Near a village, they came upon a young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. Tanzan at once picked her up and carried her to the other side.

The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were approaching the lodging Temple, Ekido couldn’t restrain himself any longer. “Why did you carry that girl across the road?” he asked. “We monks are not supposed to do things like that.”

“I put the girl down hours ago, ” said Tanzan. “Are you still carrying her?”

Wow. Need I say more?

Anyway, today has been a very pensive day for me. And it’s zapping my energy, too. I could fall asleep right now and I am trying my hardest to keep busy, but had to come here and get this all out on paper.

Well, hello, again!

I have been itching to get on here and write some stuff but it’s gotten a tad bit hectic and I can’t ever seem to get a minute to sit here. So, I see that a lot of people looked at my post about the nekkid girls…some came back the next day, only to find a cartoon with fully clothed Fred and Barney-on my anniversary. Ahhhh, I know, Bo-oooo-ring. I’d like to have something more interesting to write about but my life is so UN-controversial for the moment. I could write about times when it was a little more turbulent but that would become a novel and make me really crabby.

Today I am going to get a haircut! All gone, too. I am so tired of this “whatever” hairstyle I have going on at the moment. It isn’t even a “style”. It’s just hair. Hanging down. Or up in a ponytail. If you know me well then you’re aware that I am usually a little more high maintenance in the hair department than the average Jane. I used to spend 150-200 bucks every 2 months on HAIR. But, I got a major reality check and started going to a hair college for dirt cheap. And you can tell. So…today I am going to find a happy medium- hopefully. I read some reviews and found a #4 rated salon in our area that I am going to give a whirl. And here is what I want to do to my hair:

But that would be too scary for my husband, I think. Even though I wore it like this from age 21-24. I liked it,and he never complained. He’d probably like it as well, but I am sure I’ll end up with something along these lines:

whoa, that was a big photo. And I love her hair, and her eyes are just phenomenal. I think I had this hairstyle, or one a lot like this, too, about 2 years ago. As an “in between” haircut while I grew it back out from a distaster cut.

So, maybe I’ll come back with a photo of me with my haircut!

First, I better dig up a photo of what it looks like now. I am totally not taking one at the moment cuz it’s in a ponytail and I have on no makeup. So Na-nanna-boo-boo!

So, here I am. Minus the hair color. Mine is more of a Julia Roberts red/brown. Redken 7n, to be precise!

HAHAHA.

Ok, bye!

My hubby played this for me when I was making my first cup of joe for the day. 9 years today, baby!!

He’s so sweet and corny.

I’ll be back with another post, later on.

Conclusion: Men who look at nekkid woman are nasty

Ahhhhh….Sunday morning!

I actually feel pretty good today despite the lack of sleep I got last night.

We went out last night with 2 other couples and had a pretty good time. I say “pretty” good time because I think it could have been better if we would have left the strip bar out of the equation. Yes, I can see your jaw has dropped and you’re looking back to read the word “strip bar”, again. I did say that. And I did go. It was quite an experience, lemme tellya. Some of the thoughts going through my mind while I sat there:

• I wonder if her parents know she is up there
• Um, she must have never had a child
• wow, I’d like to know what she does in her workout routine to get that booty
• Um, I don’t want to see that
• or that
• or that
• Look at those men sitting in the strip club looking pathetic
• look at me sitting in a strip club and looking pathetic

Yeah, it was very interesting. And of course you can’t go there and see nekkid people without gauging your own body to theirs. I don’t feel too fat and ugly considering they let a pregnant-or-just-had-a-baby-yesterday woman work there. Eeew.

So, why was I there? Well, I was just trying to be open minded and I really did want to see what all the fuss was about. My husband has gone to clubs at bachelor parties and with some work guys. It bothers me. Maybe I am insecure? But I don’t think that is the all inclusive answer. I think it makes me look at my husband in a discusted way. Like a major turn off. And going to see it first hand only reiterates my feeling: strip clubs are nasty. The whole concept is what bothers me. I don’t think the girls are nasty-they’re pretty and have great bodies and maybe need a few bucks, or an ego boost (albeit a degrading means to an end) . I think the men that go there are MORE nasty. And the girls? I just worry about what is going on in their minds: are they embarrassed? Do they have any regrets? I suppose it isn’t any different than a teenage girl giving it up for attention to fill a gaping hole in their life (no pun intended, btw) I went through that stage before I met my hubby. Who knows. What are your thoughts? Have you ever gone to one?

Before the strip club, which was a major buzz-kill for me, we went to a hypnotist. I tried to be hypnotised but I was unhypnotisable. I couldn’t do it. All I could think of was how my eyelids were twitching and I wonder if he was going to tap my shoulder and tell me to go back to my seat cuz I suck at being hypnotized! LOL My friend was OUT though. This is her second time and it was hilarious. And it was R rated, but nothing like the strip club I was about to enter. It was more like a dirty joke kinda thing. Not a gross naked sexual thing.

AFTER the strip club, we went to a karaoke bar and tried to stay awake, ate pizza. And I arrived home around 2 am.

This morning I woke up excited to take shower (to cleanse my wicked-ness) and guess what I didn’t have? Hot water.

So I am going fishing with the family while I wait for the water heater to catch up again after the windy weather blew the pilot light out. Or maybe my husband did it on accident when he was pretending to be a plumber yesterday and installed a whole house filter on our line. Hmmm, who knows?

Have a good day, everyone. I hope you enjoyed reading about my nasty eveing and that you’ll come back again. I promise it will be less controversial. Maybe…

M

Ho hum day and Hypnotism

What a lazy day it is today…but I am taking advantage of this stupid cold weather and getting some housework done. But I’d really rather be outside in the dirt planting something. Anything. Grass seed. weeds. Anything.

Last night, Molly had a friend over for a sleep-over. Chad took Shaw out to his parents’ house and left me with the girls. I was a little crabby about it because I wanted to go, too. *pout* I missed seeing my new baby nephew, and I missed pizza. And I missed playing cards. But, on a happy note-I got some leftover pie. Mmmm. Apple pie to be precise. And it was Deeee-licious at 10 pm last night. And they all missed us girls, too. So, I stayed home with the girls and we played some Cranium games. I did a scrapbooking page, too, for the first time in forever:

I also got some laundry done, and chatted with a super girl from the Scandinavian scrapbook team I designed for, back in the day. And she gave me some free stuff to use. Ssshhh, don’t tell Chad that I scrapbooked or he’ll call for emergency Intervention. But I miss it. I LOVE it. And I don’t suck at it! LOL

One funny part of the evening: Molly ’s friend has had bladder trouble for as long as I can remember (remind me to tell you the story of their friendship in a minute) and she will sleep right through anything. So, she takes a pill before bedtime and this usually helps her in some form. She is so darn cute and comes over with extras of everything: blankets, pj’s, undies etc… and she will only sleep on the floor, bless her heart. So we go through the ritual of getting everyone tucked in and I am crossing my fingers that I don’t have any late night interruptions and that she’ll sleep well etc. But, alas…at 1:00am I hear some bustling in the hallway. I got up, for sure that it was M’s friend and she needed help. But nope, it was Molly. She had an accident on my NEW couch. Ugh. I was nice and calm though and dealt with it in a mature manner although I was screaming in my head “MY COUCH!” Thank God that it was only a teeny dribble (gross visual, sorry) and it came right up with no stains. But poor Molly is embarrassed (so I am telling the whole net *smacks forehead* anyways) and just as surprised as me since she hasn’t done that in a LONG time.

But we’re all better now. Couch is clean, and she is over it. Watching Pippy Longstocking (I love that movie) on the couch. We’re waiting for my Dad to come over so Chad and I can have a DATE! We’ve really been doing a good job of dating each other more than we used to. It’s good. So, tonight we’re going to Penguins Comedy Club to watch a Hypnotist. A rated R hypnotist, *raises eyebrow*. I am wondering what this is going to entail. We’re meeting 3 other couples who are a BLAST to hang out with. Coincidentally, we went out a while ago with these friends and saw a different hypnotist, but it was for a work party (all of the husbands work with Chad) and totally G rated. One of the couples we’re going out with tonight was on stage last time. He thought he was Elvis and She thought that his bald head was just irresistible and would rub it every time she heard a certain word. Funny times people. Usually we do normal things when we go out though, like karaoke bars, restaurants, and comedy clubs. But who knows, maybe this hypnotist thing is a trend. Just so long as I am not part of the show, it’s all good.

I am sure you’re staring at this post like, “okay…freakshow, you’re scaring me.”

Trust me, it’s all in good fun. Well, the “good” part is up for debate, but fun is had.

I’ll be back tomorrow to tell you how it goes! Have a good day everyone!

Photos, toothless giggles…

Trust me, there is a perfectly logical reason for my wierd title.

I smiled this morning when my blog dashboard greeted me so nicely:

“You have no spam in your queue. Must be your lucky day“

What a nice way to wake up, right? Much better than the unrest we’ve been having around here. I have one kid who has all of the sudden become “Butt-head-argue-pants” , and another who is becoming aware that boys can be cute sometimes. Sometimes. Like in about 10 years-that would be a more perfect time, kid.

Instead of hearing “It’s your lucky day”, I hear things like:

“I WANT Beeferoni for breakfast”

or

“Why CAN’T I bring my toy box to school? “

or

“I love “so-and-so”, He’s nice.” *gasp*

Ahhhhhh. The only conclusion I have is that they’re growing up. I knew that would happen but it is so weird to all of the sudden realize that they’re almost as tall as you, AND they can win a good debate.

Other interesting things going on today:

I have a pile MOUNTAIN of totes to go through today. At least 2 of them are full of scrapbooks and family photos. Photos that are only going to take my face and rub it into the fact that I mentioned above. Kids grow up. It seems like just yesterday when they looked like this:

and this

I am going to need a box of Kleenex when I am sitting there.

On the funny side of things:

I just had the funniest conversation over the phone. Disclaimer: It may be one of those “had to be there” moments. And it may offend someone.

I just got off the phone with a friend who just cracked me up. I was telling her a story and she interjected with the most timely question

“Did they have any teeth?”

So, I’ll tell you the story I was telling her on the phone:

There are lots of kids here in this trailer village. More kids than my own kids are acclimated to having around. In order for me to relax and not be overbearing, I like to meet the parents or at least have an idea of who each child belongs to.

So, yesterday a few boys came around to play with Shaw. They are very nice kids from what I’ve learned so far. They’re respectful and seem to have good heads on their shoulders. They came over and played PS3 with Shaw for a while. I asked them if their parents’ knew where they were and if it was okay that they were inside our house. They said it was okay and their parents’ trusted them. But, to make sure, as they were leaving, I told them a that I’d like to meet their parents sometime. So I could scope them out and let them know that I am a normal responsible adult and they’re kids are welcome here.

About an hour later the door knocks. It’s the little boy . I said “Hi?”, wondering if he was lost or something. He said, “Hi, you said you wanted to meet my parents, right?”

I said “Yeah…”

“Well, here they are!”, he hollered and pointed down the sidewalk to his mom and dad who were standing in the driveway.

Um, ok. So I felt like I was going to an interview and it was WAY too formal for me. Chad and I went out and greeted them and we all chatted for a little while. My thoughts so far are that they’re pretty nice, down to earth, and rational human beings. I could see us having bbqs and looking after eachother’s kids, maybe. But that is just a first impression.

And this is the part where my friend asks me-on the phone a few minutes ago,

” Well, did they have teeth?”

And I lost it. I am trying so hard to not label people, but I joke around about living in a trailer court -just for fun, sometimes. I am aware of the stereotypes about people who live in trailer courts. I know they are just that, stereotypes. But what made me double over was her timing with that “meant to be a joke” question, because I was about to tell her what happenned next in the story.

While I was standing there with these parents and their 2 kids, the bolder – youngest kid asked me, “Are your teeth real?”

WHAT in the HECK?

“Yep, they’re real” I said with a giggle.

“Well my mom’s are fake. She doesn’t have any teeth.” He said with a grin on his face.

OH MY HEAVENS. I could have just hid behind a tree. Seriously? It was awkward and hard to not laugh at the time.

I had no idea what to say! What DO you say? LOL

I just said “Well, I am sure I’ll be in the same position at some point, too.”

Oh my gosh, it was funny.

So, when my friend on the phone asked me that I about had to hang up and go pee my pants.

Ok, so I suppose you had to be there. And I hope everyone understands that I am not trying to be rude. I am just sharing a giggle. And I truly enjoyed chatting with them and getting to know them.

Paula messed up

What in the heckie-doodle was she smoking?

Read about what she says about last night’s “oops” on Idol. She says she saw Castro’s dress rehearsal and jotted down notes about it. Ok? But I thought you were only there to drop a friend off, why did you have notes about it?

It smells a little bit like fishes to me.

My theory, if you permit me to be presumptuous for a moment:

They were coached about what to say.

I really think that sometimes, how bout y’all?

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

AND, if you’re watching The Bachelor, London Calling- who’s it going to be? Shayne or Chelsea? I think I am going for Chelsea. I do like Shayne more than I did at the start of the show, but sometimes she’s a little too much of a diva for me. But what do I know? I’m not an English dude looking for a lover. I just watch it on TV, with my Hunka burning love, Chad. I got him sucked into it, too.