Potty Mouth

When Maria was younger (maybe 5 years old or so), and Sam was a toddler of few words, I used to look at other moms with potty mouth little boys and think they were doing terrible jobs at controlling their children. I mean, here I had this little girl of the same age, and all it took was one time of her using a potty word and a "We don't use that word" from me and that was the end of it. I'll always remember when we were in the car and Maria said "Holy crap, it's 75 degrees." And I said "Holy crap is not really a nice thing to say." And that was it. Really - it was that easy.

But raising a little boy is a whole new world, and I am so glad I never actually said anything to those other moms because I am so eating my words now. I do have a couple of things to be thankful for even though Sam has found his potty mouth. First, he only uses one word: Poop. (And I think we can agree there are much more offensive words out there.) And second, one has to appreciate (secretly, of course) the creativity with which he uses this word. He has hit several parts of speech using this one 4 letter word as a springboard. And while we still tell him he is not allowed to use the word each time, sometimes I do wonder how he comes up with this stuff. Do little boys stand around at school and try to top one another with how many ways they can use that word? Don't answer that - I really don't want to know.

Here's a few samples:

"Where are my poopy shoes?"

"That's poopy."

"I'm going to poop-ify you." (I do NOT want to know what that means)

And then there are the times where he just says "Poop poop poop poop poop poop..." You get the idea.

So when we finally get him to stop saying it, I'll do something stupid to start the whole thing over again. Like today when I noticed he had been in the bathroom a while, so I stopped to check on him to make sure he was okay. And of course without thinking I had to ask "Are you pooping?" and I got "Mommy! That is not a nice word!" as an answer. I thought it was progress until I was taking him in to brush his teeth tonight and he said "Poop poop poop poop poop..."

When it rains, it pours

It all started about a month ago, when our entire water softener went bad right before Christmas. It had been going bad before that, but we didn't know it until the drinking water filtration system broke, and then we found out we had to replace the whole thing.  Since then, it seems like most appliances around here have been on strike.  Okay, maybe just today, but three in one day is a lot.

It all started this morning.  We were so thrilled to have a 2 hour delay due to wind chill, the first weather related delay we've had since we've been back to school, which is odd for January.  The thrill wore off when Ben opened the garage door to find that it was frozen solid to the driveway, and broke several bolts when it opened.  We didn't realize that there was any frozen water underneath there to begin with.  So we called the garage door guy and he's coming tomorrow. But after he fixed it the last time, a couple of years ago, he told us the next time something happened it would most likely need replaced.  

Yesterday our desktop computer started shutting down on its own, and its much worse today. Its been into the Apple store for repairs for this same thing twice in the fall, and twice they said they fixed it and the problem gradually comes back.  But now the warranty has run out, and we don't think they really fixed it in the first place.  So if it coast several hundred dollars to fix, we're going to have to consider replacing it.

Then when Ben went into our bathroom tonight and turned on the fan, it made a growling noise and refused to turn on.  I don't think its been replaced since we've lived here (12 years), so it probably does need replaced, but the timing isn't great.

I'm scared to see what else happens - its like everything we touch breaks.

0 for 2

Maria and I have been spending quite a bit of time watching the food network. For some reason, its soothing to watch someone else make dishes that are way too much work for me. And sometimes I do pick up hints that I can actually use - like the seeds are where most of the heat is in a hot pepper. Anyway, while I am happy to watch someone else cook, these shows make Maria WANT to cook. So trying to be a good mother yet still stay sane (and relaxed), I thought buying a kids cookbook would be a good compromise. She picked out The Magic Kingdom Cookbook at book fair last week and I bought it for her.

Yes, Disney was not going to pass up the chance to sell cookbooks featuring their characters to innocent children for $16.99. But it is a cute book, and most of the recipes are healthy.

Except, kids in this house (and Dad too) are not very receptive to trying new recipes. Or anything where the foods touch each other. And the boys in this house don't eat any fruit and very few veggies. But Maria promised that she would try these recipes, and so we got started this week.

So she picked two recipes (I said one a week and we ended up doing two - who's in charge here?) and made the grocery list for Ben. First mistake - I did not check the ingredients against the recipes, because she's very smart and can read and write well so I figured I didn't need to check. So for our fruit smoothies, she chose strawberries (good), cantaloupe (not great from Kroger in winter), apples (which don't blend well), and grapes (who was going to take the skin off those grapes?). And she didn't want bananas in it. So we ended up with just the strawberries and cantaloupe, and it was pretty gross. I drank mine, and she really tried, but gave up after the second sip. She was more bothered by the berry seeds, however, than the bad taste, which means she may not ever like smoothies. Next time, I told her we would pick some sweeter fruits.

Tonight, we tried the fresh veggie salad, and I thought this would go well since she does like salad, and we could make changes with ingredients she may not like. But with Maria, you have to follow the recipe word for word (I don't where she gets this perfectionist attitude!) So we went ahead and put in turkey and shredded mozzarella, even though she usually just sticks to tomato and cucumber. And guess what? She didn't like it. She did get down 4 or 5 bites before she admitted she didn't like this either.

It has been fun to cook together, especially since the recipes have not taken much work. Maybe next week we'll find something she enjoys making AND eating. Although I'm not hopeful. Both kids want to make Pirate Island Tuna Boats. And the picture looks really cool - tuna salad in red sweet peppers floating in water with triangular pita bread as a sail. But there is no way they will eat tuna salad. The taste is too strong for Maria, and it goes against all of Sam's food rules (ingredients can't be touching, contains veggies, etc.) But I'll probably give in and try it, then end up eating Pirate Island Tuna Boats all week for lunch by myself.

I should know by now that you can't fight Disney.

Ice-O-Rama

So Maria has been asking to go ice skating again for the past several weeks and since I wanted to give Lisa an afternoon off, I ventured to the chiller with the kids this afternoon. I got Sam a pair of figure skates this time instead of hockey skates in the hope that he might have a little more stability than he did last time when he about pulled my arms out of my sockets. For about the first ten minutes he hung on pretty tight but then gradually loosened his grip. He even let Maria hold on for awhile so I could skate unfettered. Near the end of the first session he finally got brave and took off on his own! Within minutes He'd went all the way around the rink without falling down once. We took a rest while the Zamboni did its thing and then went back out for about another 20 minutes. Sam maybe fell down five times in that session but jumped right back up and kept going. Both kids were really tired on the trip home, but I was fresh as can be since I didn't have to drag my son around the rink for an hour.

Brilliant?

We went to the Book Fair at school today and got Sam the new Olivia book - he's been reading Maria's old Olivia books and loves them. So we're reading it for the first time tonight and on the last page there's a picture of Olivia's dream in a bubble - Olivia the pig sitting with 8 supreme court justices. In the background there is some United States seal. Sam says "I've got a match," runs out into the family room and grabs a 50 cent piece from the Domino game. On the back of that 50 cent piece is the exact same seal as the picture in the book. I couldn't believe that he made that connection - I was so proud.

I sent him off to brush his teeth and went into the other room so I could share with Ben what a brilliant 5-year-old we have. As I'm talking, we hear Sam saying "It won't turn on," and pounding something repeatedly. I go into the bathroom and Sam is hitting the spigot in the sink trying to get it to come on (our sink has the spigot in the middle and hot and cold handles on either side, and has been like that for the last year and a half). I asked him what was wrong and and he said "It won't turn on," and continued to pound the spigot. So I turned the water on for him and said "This is how it turns on," and he said "Oh" and resumed putting toothpaste on his toothbrush.

Maybe not so brilliant after all.

We love her

I met with Maria's teacher today for the second round of parent/teacher conferences. As you can imagine, it was a very good experience. Academically, she is doing great. Way above where she is supposed to be in all tested areas, and has shown improvement from fall. Her teacher also said "I just love her. Everyone loves her. When her name comes up in the lounge we just all say we want to take her home with us."

After the conference I met Maria in the library so we could pick out some Book Fair books to buy. Sure enough, when the librarian was checking us out she said "If Maria's ever missing, just drive to my house to find her - I took her home with me."

We love her, but its always nice to hear that she is making a good impression on others as well.

Sick

Ben has a sinus infection. He's been trying to fight off a cold for almost a week and today he started showing signs of an infection. He made it through the school day, and went to the Dr. and got his antibiotic this afternoon, so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon. Not sure if he's going to try to go to work tomorrow or not.

The rest of us feel fine so far. Although Sam got up at 6:00 this morning - not sure why - and so he's been tired and grumpy for a while now.

Report Cards

The kids got their report cards recently - Maria on Friday and Sam got his today. Maria's was great - A+ in spelling, social studies, language and science, A in math and reading, and S and O in her specials. The special teachers wrote comments like "is a pleasure to have in class" and "Exceptional Overall Effort." So we made a big deal out of her hard work paying off and to keep up the good work, and a little bit of money ($2 per A) for some extra incentive. (Of course, if we were paying $2 per A she wanted to know how much the "S" was worth, but I'm not sure Satisfactory" indicates the same amount of effort the "A" in math required. So she gets a pat on the back for the S). She wasn't thrilled, but knows when to cut her losses.

Sam's preschool report card in more complex and takes a while to interpret all 6 pages of it. All skills have to be assessed - fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, social-communication, etc. And there are additional strands that go with each of these skill areas. So let me summarize and say that he is doing well. All areas are above or right at where they should be. The comments are more interesting though. Here are the most telling:

"Does not like singing and dancing activities." Now he enjoys singing and dancing to Guitar Hero just fine, so maybe he just doesn't enjoy the Days of the Week and Clean Up songs. I don't think this will really keep him out of college, though, so I'm not loosing sleep over this one.

"May need verbal cues to bring attention back to group." This one was written during first quarter and underlined again for this quarter. Hopefully, it will get better as he gets older.

"Sam gets upset if others disrupt his space." Again, not surprising in the least. He's been like that since I can remember - just likes his space. I'm just glad he's not getting violent when other kids get in his way.

But at the end, her comments were as follows: Sam has really great pre-K skills. His skills have really grown and matured since September.. Keep up the good work!"

So all in all, two very successful report cards, from two very different kids!

So I have this cold...

So I am in the midst of my third cold of the winter which is kinda good and kinda bad. On the good side, I don't think I've had two colds in a row in the last decade without one of them turning into a sinus infection. This one might be headed that way... I'm not really sure yet. The bad part is that my voice is shredded by the afternoon of my work day. On Thursday and Friday I could barely talk to my choir let alone sing. Its looking like I'm headed that direction again today. I'm trying to take it as easy as I can so I can actually rehearse my 65 singers. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Also on a good note, it appears that Lisa and the kids have been immune to whatever I've caught... may it continue to be so.

Beating Those Winter Blues

Today's the second day of a three day weekend for us, and the high today was 17 degrees, with wind chills a lot lower. So we tried to stay in and come up with stuff to do here, in spite of the fact that Maria is so bored. We baked chocolate cookies from scratch, played some board games and Guitar Hero, and even did some work in the kids bedrooms. Ben re-arranged furniture in Sam's room, per his request (except the bed, since we just moved the whole room around in December), and Maria and I cleaned out the floor of her closet which was insanely crowded with all kinds of stuff she never plays with anymore. I still would love to get rid of a lot more in there, but am trying to respect her space and her need to be a bit of a pack rat. When we paint and re-do her room in the spring I'll have the opportunity to do a lot more.

But tonight the kids found a very unique way to entertain themselves. Out of the blue, Sam asked me if I still had had the pinata from his birthday in September that never got used. (Due to his concussion 2 days before his party, we decided that a bunch of 5 year old boys swinging large sticks around was just asking for trouble, and he never asked about it, so we thought he forgot all about it. I was hiding it in the back of my closet with the intention of throwing it out. Where is this memory of Sam's when he can't find his shoes, socks, or must-have toy that he can't sleep without?) So we got out the pinata and hung it in the basement. We had to fill it with leftover Christmas candy, but the kids were fine with that. They beat it long enough for the candy to trickle out and the floor to be covered with yellow confetti, but never broke it clear through. We were able to convince them that it would never break in half and they finally quit and helped pick up the floor.

Hopefully tomorrow they will be better at entertaining themselves, because I am exhausted and need to get some house cleaning done, too.

"I'm bored."

Wow, how I hate those words. I used to think about how lucky I was when other moms complained about their kids not being able to entertain themselves, because up until this winter, my kids were pretty good about finding things to do. But lately, Maria has been complaining about being bored. Most recently, last night, the first night of a 3-day weekend. I was looking forward to staying inside and relaxing for two more days - with it being 6 degrees out, who wants to go anywhere?

Maria has a ton of things she COULD do, just nothing that sounds appealing to her. And so apparently my job, as Mom, is to find something "Fun" for her to do. It makes me feel like an unsuccessful cruise director. And as usual, whatever I suggest is a bad idea. Last winter, Maria had just learned to knit and that has taken up a lot of her time for the entire last year. But suddenly, she's tired of knitting. So I think she's just going to have to learn to deal with it and entertain herself with one of the many things she owns to play with. If she keeps it up, I'm going to start having her clean her room, which will put a stop to the complaining pretty quickly.

Letter Bag Answers

Yesterday I think I figured out the issue behind our Letter Bag problems.  Sam always makes choosing a toy so hard, and once I find something that starts with the right letter I think it should be a done deal.  Yesterday the letter was "J."  Not an easy letter.  My first idea, which always gets shot down, was an old favorite "Squeaky Pumpkin," a Halloween stuffed toy that he could use for "Jack-o-lantern."  He immediately said no and asked if I would help him look for something else.  He found a little Jawa that he got from Kinderpaws treasure chest (rewards for good behavior), but he shot that down as well.  As we're looking through his toy baskets for some toy that I'm pretty sure doesn't exist, it dawns on me why this is such a chore.  Sam wants to bring a toy he's proud of to show his friends.  He doesn't want to bring some stuffed toy from his babyhood, he wants to bring something the other kids may not have and therefore thinks is cool.  Unfortunately, we don't have something cool that starts with each letter of the alphabet.  I'm not sure if this knowledge will make the Letter Bag assignments any easier, but I always feel good when I think I figure out the reason behind what I think is odd behavior.

P.S.  He did end up taking Squeaky Pumpkin - after all that looking, it was between that and the Jawa.

Laundry Games

There have been many holidays that I have picked out clothes for the kids that I love, only to find that they don't like them and either won't wear them, or will wear them after a fight that sometimes involve tears. This year I really hoped that the curse was over and I was able to find something that both the kids and I agreed on.

Be careful what you wish for.

Let's talk about pajamas first. I used to get the kids Christmas themed pajamas to wear Christmas Eve and then have them for Christmas morning. As Maria got older, she didn't like to wear Christmas pajamas after the Christmas season, and by next Christmas season they were either too small or not cool anymore. So this year I searched high and low, and finally decided on fleece printed pajamas from Lands End. They were a hit. Both kids love them and wear them every night. And they wear them most of the day on weekends if we don't go anywhere. And Sam wears his after school until bedtime. So being able to wash the pajamas is almost impossible, since I am at work when the kids are at school. And asking them to actually take them off for a couple of hours while I wash them brings on lots of pouting and even tears if they are tired. So to avoid this, I find myself playing the same game I did when they were toddlers and wouldn't let go of their "Blankies" - I have to be sneaky and actually plot when I can wash them. Yesterday I thought I had it, putting them in the wash when Sam was at swim lessons, but from the moment he came home he started asking for them and actually walked around with no shirt for a half hour while he was waiting.

Another issue is the ice skating outfit I got for Maria. Its a light blue long sleeved shirt with an embroidered ice skate on it, with fleece pants and a light fleece jacket to match. She loves it, and will wear it whenever it is clean. I end up doing laundry several times a week, and so she can potentially wear it to school 3 times in the same week. So now I try to make certain when I do a load of wash, I leave out that outfit if she's already worn it to school that week. If I try to talk to her about wearing other stuff, she just says that it shouldn't matter since the outfit is clean and comfortable. So its easier for me to just manipulate the laundry. And the other thing that bothers me - she always wears the jacket zipped all the way up, and you can't even see the embroidered ice skate, the best (and most expensive) part of the outfit!

Whenever I complain, Ben reminds me that if they didn't wear what I bought them that I would be upset too. Isn't there a happy medium?

So that's what that word means

Maria asked me to show her how to play solitaire tonight, so we sat down at the bar and worked through a couple of games, while I showed her how to play. About fifteen minutes into it she said, "So this is mainly a one player game?"

Huh?

Dinner conversation:

Sam: "A toast!" We all hold up our cups. "To the Happy New Year 2008!" Yes, he does this at almost every meal since the new year.

Ben: "Its been 2008 for almost two weeks already."

Sam: "Let me go check." He gets out of his chair and runs to consult the Star Wars calendar that G. & G. L. got him for Christmas.

Sam returns to table, continues eating, saying nothing.

Lisa: "Well, what did your calendar say?"

Sam: "It's August."

We Love Build-A-Bear!

Or at least the kids do. Maria got a gift card to Build a Bear from G. & G. Keller for Christmas, and after we got a flier this week advertising Valentine's Day dogs, she's been wanting to go spend it. I also have been accumulating coupons to help with something for Sam too so he's not left out. I know the last thing in the world these kids need is another stuffed animal, but going there makes them so happy.

Since it was a nice day and Ben was feeling better we decided to go to Easton, where there is a much bigger Build a Bear. We ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, which both kids love as well. At Build a Bear they both chose the white dog covered in hearts - Sam named his Charlie, and Maria named hers Valentine (at least it wasn't Hearty). They also picked out dog beds - this was a purchase I would have said "No" to except that they were using gift cards and I thought they should be able to spend them any way they want. Sam dressed Charlie as a Bengals football player, complete with helmet, and Maria chose a simple pink cover-coat thing for Valentine. We rounded out our trip with a visit to the Apple store and ice cream at Graeters (I'll go back on the diet tomorrow!)

What A Weird Day

So all seems normal this morning until we're on our drive to school and I get an upset stomach, which is immediately followed by feeling flushed and tired. By the time we got to FHS, it was obvious that I wasn't going to make it through school, so I had to arrange all my sub stuff first period, then Lisa drove me home at 8:45. I dropped my stuff off in the kitchen, went into the bedroom and crashed until 1:15 this afternoon, waking only once when Lisa called me at noon to check on me. I vaguely remember that conversation, and apparently I didn't even do a very good job hanging up the phone in the bedroom because it was half-off the hook and beeping when I woke up a little bit ago. I feel a little better now...more rested anyways...but still don't feel myself. I never did throw up or anything, and just got some toast in me. I hope that whatever this is that it passes by our house quickly.

Letter Bag Woes

Every Friday at Sam's Kinderpaws (after preschool program), students bring a small toy in a "Letter Bag" to share with the class. The toy must start with a specific letter, and the child comes up with clues about their toy so that their classmates can guess what's in their bag. We've been thrilled that Sam has gotten more involved with his letter bag and much better at coming up with his clues on his own.

In the past we have struggled through some tough letters that took quite a bit of looking through the toy box. Tomorrow, the letter is S. With two of Sam's favorite things being Spider man and Sponge bob, I thought this would be the easiest Letter Bag assignment yet. Boy, was I wrong.

Here's how our initial conversation began.

Me: "Wow - "S" is a great letter. Can you think of "S" toys?"

Sam: "I know. How about Seahorse?"

Me: "OK. Do you have any seahorse toys?"

Sam: "I don't think so."

And so it started. I kept suggesting Spider man stuff (he has about 50 things to choose from) and he kept saying no and looking through his toy baskets. Maria got involved by coming up with more creative ideas, like a Sponge bob sponge or putting a picture of himself in the bag. And Sam kept refusing our suggestions and bringing me toys that I couldn't come up with any S titles for, like his T-Rex and his Little Creepy guys. And his room is really showing signs of all of this unnecessary looking. So I finally took a break and will leave it for Ben to sort out while I take Maria to gymnastics tonight. Who knows what will finally make it to school tomorrow.

Ballet Costume is Here!

It's always a good day when Maria finally gets her ballet costume for her recital (which is in May).  Usually we get them in March, but they came in early this year.  She's excited because this is the first year she's old enough to have a long skirt - in previous years its always been a short tu-tu.  And she loves the color, too.  Seeing this picture makes me realize how fast she's growing up.  I still can picture her in her first ballet costume - pink with white polka dots - at her first recital when she was five.

Slash

I forgot to mention in my earlier post - not only do the kids have an appreciation for guitar music, but they are also becoming familiar with a few famous guitar players. Most notably, Slash, guitar player from Guns and Roses. At first, it was just laughing about how funny he looks - when Sam saw the cartoon version on the game, he came to get me and said "Mommy, you have GOT to see this." Today he was also amused to see a picture of the real Slash with Bill Gates in the newspaper. As long as he continues to laugh at how weird he looks and doesn't start saying things like "Isn't that cool," or "I think I want to grow my hair like that" I think we're OK.

I Love the 80's

We have been playing Guitar Hero here faithfully at least some every day. Everyone continues to improve - Maria just needs to win a challenge to pass from Level 2 to level 3, Sam is able to do songs on full speed, and Ben is finally challenged with the "Hard" setting. I am happy to report that after four attempts I passed my challenge and will start Level 3 tonight. (Thanks to Ben for the coaching). Its nice that there so many different skill levels that we can all play and experience some success (Maria and I are at almost the same level).

A surprise result of this experience is that the kids are really into the songs on the Easy level - understandable, since we attempt to play them numerous times each day. They were thrilled when Ben added a "Guitar Hero" playlist to their ipods, including songs like Slow Ride, Barracuda, Rock and Roll All Night, and Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Sam has been walking around all afternoon with his ipod and Spidog, making us all listen to - it even sat at the dinner table with us. This makes me laugh because Ben is always rolling his eyes about the fact that I don't really try new music - just listen to my 80's favorites, and now the kids are into the same music. I wonder how long until he goes crazy?

My Winnings...

Isn't it purdy?

Sam's Nose

I took Sam to the Dr. this afternoon to find out about the bump on his nose. She said that she thinks it's most likely a scar from something that happened on the inside, like an ingrown hair for example. She doesn't think its a cyst since it hasn't changed much in the last few months. It should continue to fade and flatten. If we want, she can refer us to a dermatologist and see if they will remove it, but she didn't recommend it at this age. If it darkens or grows, we need to go back and have it looked at again.

Scar tissue makes sense to me since its never bothered him and has gotten a little lighter as time goes on. We're just going to have to wait and see if it bothers us (or him) enough to go through getting it removed.

Priorities

I was explaining to Sam that I am going to take him to the Dr. tomorrow even though he's not sick. I told him that we need the Dr. to look at a pimple-like bump that has been on his nose for months, and that he wouldn't be getting shots which is what happened the last time he went to the Dr. without being sick. I was trying to prevent an argument when its time to go tomorrow - he doesn't always deal well with surprises. He listened to all of this very quietly and then said, "Do they have candy at the Dr.?"

I'm A Winner!

So I got a call from the Union County Sheriff's office today. Seems that I won the "City of Marysville" throw in the raffle from yesterday's blood drive. Wow. I feel so special. And warm....well not yet. I have to pick it up tomorrow.

Back to School Blues

I know its Friday night and the last thing I should be complaining about is returning to work. But I'm not that unhappy to be returning to work. By Tuesday and Wednesday of this week the four of us were going crazy together in this house and it was time to go back to having some sort of routine and spend some time apart. The kids, however, are having trouble adjusting to going back, and it was only a 2-day week! Maria expresses her unhappiness by just being quiet and a little weepy. Sam makes all of us miserable, by throwing tantrums, picking fights, and not doing what we ask him to do. And don't even get me started on how hard its been to get him out of bed in the morning! Tonight he threw a tantrum when we wouldn't give him Sprite after dinner - back to the old days where he kept crying and saying "But I want Sprite!" When we ignored him for several minutes and let him lay there on the floor, he finally quit. I've been trying to play games with him to keep him happy, but as soon as the game is over he goes back to being a trouble-maker. Hopefully next week will be better - its a full week and he starts swim lessons again on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I know the end of the holiday season is a big let-down - if I feel it I know its much worse for the kids - next Christmas seems like a lifetime away. I just hope things get back to normal around here soon!

The Blood Bus

So i got my bi-monthy call from the Red Cross to give blood. I'm kind of in high demand as I'm a universal donor and I have some kind of funky properties to my blood that also fit some rare transfusion needs, so I get a call like the hour my waiting period is over. It's really a good thing to do, and to be honest, I'm a good bleeder. It doesn't really phase me at all aside from being a little tired the day after. It makes me feel good to do something so small that helps lots of people.

So...I went in to the Union County Sheriff's office to give today and was surprised by the "bloodmobile", which sounds really high tech and portable, but it was really a converted charter bus that smelled like the exhaust pipe was actually re-routed back into the cabin of the hollowed-out clunker. The interview room where they ask you all the questions and check your blood pressure and temperature was smaller that the bathroom on a charter bus, and there were TWO of us in there. The bed/chair thingers that you sit on to donate were not quite long enough for my six-foot frame, so it was kinda cramped, and then you were forced to sit face to face with another donor, so I had to converse when all I really wanted to do was lay there and bleed. The good news is that I got in and out quick. Less than 45 minutes form registration to hopping off the carbonmonoxidemobile. I took my cookies and itty bitty bottle of water and got the hell out of there. I got to register to win a $2000 travel voucher and a "city of Marysville" throw. I'll let you know if I win either. It would be a big bonus and the throw would keep me cozy while I hang out in the hyperbaric chamber.

It's Here!

Going back to work today was balanced by the fact that when we got home, our Guitar Hero III game was waiting for us on the front porch. And its been in almost constant use since then. The kids and I are still "Training," and getting better each time. Its much better when you can slow down the song to learn it. They are working on "Slow Ride" but I like Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me."

Ben, however, is so good its nauseating. He does so well he gets Encore songs and challenges with the computer player. I still get kicked off the stage if I go off of training mode. But whatever. I always knew I didn't have much natural music ability. And the best part, all four of us play together and take turns watching each other. So we finally have a game we all enjoy on the Wii.

Mmmmmm...Coffee

So if you know me, I have become quite the coffee drinker in the last few years. Yeah...I'm the poster boy for Starbucks advertising, but I really don't see them as the evil overlord of coffee beans. It's more of a convenience of consistency. Our blend of choice in the house is Sumatra, which is always bold and flavorful. Kit and Sally got me a French press for Christmas this year (Thanks!), and Lisa and I have been using it daily. It makes a very frothy, aromatic, and tasty cup o' joe. It only makes two cups in batch, but that's just perfect for us any time other than when we drag our butts out of bed and an entire pot is in order. I'm also quite thankful for the Starbucks cards from Lisa and my parents so that I can feed my bean mania gratis for a few weeks. Wanna know more about my French press and the brew it makes? Click here or on the pic for more info.

Happy New Year!

We spent another New Year Eve's next door with the Smith's last night.  As always, it was a great time.  We played Pit (which I hate, as you can tell by looking at my below zero score), drank champagne, and broke in Lisa's new margarita machine (apparently its our fault she had to get one).  Everyone made it until midnight, even Lindsey, who at almost 3 was very tired and grumpy when we left at 12:20.  The kids went straight to bed when we got home and everyone slept late today.  We have gotten all the Christmas decorations down and put away - a chore I'm glad is done even if it is a little dark and depressing in the house now.