I found a good page explaining the CVS thing.
Enjoy.
For those who don't care, move along. There's nothing to see here. :)

Rock On, Toy Soldiers, Rock On. And pass the pipe.

The other day Chris and I managed to escape to Applebees (whoo hoo)and we heard Michael Damien's "Rock On" playing in the background. We decided that not only was the song kind of creepy, but it was equally stupid. "Rock on...Jimmy Dean...JAMES Dean."
"Rock on...Jimmy Dean...Breakfast sausage..."
Watch the video. It will bring back lots of memories for ya, I bet. A few things Chris and I noticed about the video:
1. It reminds me of the fake video of Hugh Grant in that Music and Lyrics movie. Was that the name of the movie? I can't remember. Anyway, it's that cheesy.
2. His hair. Good lord.
3. The TWO COREYS make a cameo! Bless their hearts.
4. SO reminds me of 10th grade.



Another song from this time period that Chris thinks is creepy (I personally love it) is Martika's "Toy Soldiers". He thinks the kids singing is like "something out of a nightmare."
I told Chris that Martika had a huge impact on me. He laughed and I pointed out that I began wearing big gold loops, those vests and poet shirts and secretly wanted a drug habit because she made it look so glamorous!
He said, "This looks like something out of a Freddy Krueger movie."
We just watched the video together and I'm all English teacher about it---"See, that's TEMPTATION/Addiction leading her away from her friends!" "See the symbolism of her set ASIDE from her pals now that she's glamorously addicted to drugs!"
Another video that takes me back to summer of 10th grade, red lipstick, hoops, and wanting to be a BAD GIRL! :)

In other news, someone on Freecycle is pissed!
To Judy F(whole name!), who came to pick up a bed. Regardless of whether it was
what you expected it to be or not, you could have at least called me or
told me at that moment it was not something you could use or wanted.
It was incredibly inconsiderate of you not to let me know at the time.
You didn't have any problem calling me the day you were suppose to pick
it up to schedule a different time, or calling me the day you picked it
up to let me know you were there early, and THEN calling me again and
asking me to come and jump your truck off when it wouldn't crank, which
I did without hesitation. I am sorry you were so ashamed of yourself
that after I went out of my way to accomodate you in every way possible
you wouldn't and still won't answer your phone and tell me like it was.
Sincerely, Sheila S(whole name!)

Harold on Corey Feldman

"Why do they think anyone is interested in this self-absorbed kid?"
(He walked past me while I was watching A&E's documentary on "The Two Coreys". )
He added, "If any regular person was caught with 25 balloons of heroin, they'd still be in prison."


My dad really detests The Feldman. Who knew?

Your thoughts on the two Coreys? I'm still pulling for The Haim.

Cuz I Needed This Today. Not being sarcastic! :)

Thursday

First: Look at that pic. WHAT is that?
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I thoroughly enjoyed The Baby Borrowers last night. I couldn't believe all the AU stuff that guy has. :) I bet you Bammers are ready to make some comments about that! The girl who wouldn't even don the pregnancy suit needs a kick in the mouth. What a baby.


*****


Luke, at this moment, is riding around the carport naked. He's on his "Hulk" bike (we told him it was Hulk; it's just green) riding free as a bird. Chris is supervising. Luke had been enjoying a nice dip in the pool that Paw Paw set up for him, thus the nakedness.


****


The house seller is playing hardball. I don't get these guys. It's, uh, a buyer's market, right? Why are they playing so hard??? Keep us in your prayers, though I know it's just housing, not health stuff. I know in the grand scheme of things it's piffle.


****


I'm looking forward to my Aunt Snookie coming to visit tomorrow. She was that aunt who always had bubble gum in her purse when you were growing up. She's fab. I was talking to her on the phone about mom and the ceiling fan stuff and she said that Mom is weird about the ceiling fan when she visits too---says that Aunt Snook is running it too fast. Mom says, "It's like it's about to take off!" Mom is the Ceiling Fan Nazi. I mean that with love, Mom. :)


****


I've watched bits and pieces of Celebrity Circus, but I'm kind of bored with it. Christopher Knight? I just look at him and think, "Drunk Ass."


****


I took Luke to the new McDonalds on the "good side" of town yesterday and he couldn't even really play on the play equipment because some daycare from the "rough" side of town had brought like, 20 kids (they were all wearing their t-shirts with the name of the daycare on it) there for lunch and to take over the equipment. They sat in the tunnel slides and wouldn't let other kids play. I told Luke to come eat his Kung Fu Panda apple slices and to wait until they left. Eventually they did. Thank goodness. Then some little girl started trying to kiss on Jake in his stroller. I told the daddy "She's so pretty." That's when I noticed that she was wearing Spiderman shoes. And she had on boy clothes. But she had a big poufy ponytail on the top of her head! "What's her name?" "His name is Devan."


Dang....Clearly, this kid will have some issues unless they start styling his hair like a BOY!!!!!!! And I'm sorry, but isn't Devan a girl's name????

House Purgatory

is where you go when you are between homes.

Otherwise known as Barb and Harold's (my parents')house.
Here are a few pictures from around here this past week.

Pics: Me with BAM bag, nicely buzzed from a night of wine with dinner at Bonefish..., me and Luke at Red Robin, Luke's secret drawing of me (he told me it was me) in the old house's closet (and yes we left it alone), and Paw Paw watching American Gladiators with his buddy. And there's the water table.

******

We found another house, a better house, and we made an offer yesterday. They made a counter offer today and we'll counter their offer tomorrow. I'm not gonna share pics of it until it's a done deal cuz I'm superstitious about it suddenly. And I don't want to be sad again. I can see us in this house though. The house has a comfortable vibe to it, and that's more than I can say about some of the other ones. One smelled like it had a dead body somewhere in it. I was scared to open some of the bedroom doors.

*****

On the way up to Da Ham, my air conditioner went out. (Found out later that the belt had broken.) I had the two boys in the back and it pretty much sucked to see my boys sweating. Of course, it wasn't a picnic for me either, but I'm a tough gal (I am too!) and I can deal. It was so loud with some of the windows down for a breeze (hot as it was) that I couldn't hear my portable jambox in my car. (I still haven't gotten that damn radio fixed because the dealership doesn't exist in Munthuggery anymore.) So I got out my iPod and stuck one of the pods in my ears and shoved the iPod in my sweaty cleavage. I bet I looked a sight. :) I was jamming out to Elvis's "Suspicious Minds" when I noticed that Luke was yelling at me from the backseat. He had to pee. That's one thing about him being potty trained that is a bother. :) "Why don't you just go on yourself?" is what a tiny fraction of me is thinking. But I guess that would be wrong. Sometimes I wish I had a diaper for long road trips. Just kidding. (?)

I totally want to send out a huge THANKS to Vickie and Crystal, who kept the boys for us while we spend hours house hunting. Also a huge THANK YOU to Keith and Lindy who will be housing The Frankster soon.

*****

Then, the baby got sick. Went to the doctor today. Nothing to worry about. Just a baby cold. Mom told me before I went that it was because I let him sleep under the ceiling fan in the guestroom. I told her that you don't get cold from cool air. You get cold from germs. I've told her this a million times. After I got out of the appointment, I called her and she asked me, "So what did the doctor say?"

"They did bloodwork and an x-ray and it's a pretty clear cut case of too much ceiling fan."

She didn't appreciate my humor.

Two things

One:
Best quote I've heard in a while:
Chris went over to S. Avenue today to pick up his lawnmower and other random things from the carport shed thingy. He stopped at a gas station and when he came out from paying, he noticed a guy staring at the stuff in the back of his truck.
The guy asks, "Is you a junk dealer?"
Chris answered, "No, I is moving."
******
Speaking of moving, we had an unfortunate call this afternoon. We, uh, got outbid on our freakin' house. The bastards are gonna pay full price. They totally ran over us. There was some time limit thing going on that we signed that we (the realtor included) didn't think would affect us since the house sat on the market sooo long. We aren't getting in a bidding war so we are bowing out and tomorrow, yes, we are going back up there to LOOK FOR ANOTHER HOUSE. Holy crap. Here we go again. Hopefully it will go easier this time. I already have a bunch printed out and sent to our realtor dude to check out. Wish us luck. (Heavy sigh.)

Really? WHEELY! HAHAHAHA

I've always wanted to share this tidbit, but couldn't, out of fear that it revealed where we lived to every weirdo in this town who also happened upon this site. Since we are no longer living there, I can reveal this.

At the house before this last one, most of you know that we had a horrible neighbor who parked in front of our home (and it was a POS truck) and left it there all the time. When we asked about getting him to stop doing it, it set off a wholeeeeeeee new set of problems (them driving through our yard, throwing sharp objects over the back of the fence to hurt Frank and/or Chris when he cut the grass, the lady calling me a fat ass when I was 9 months pregnant with Luke, etc.). SOoooo, of course the whole "unknown car in front of our house" gave me and Chris the shakes for a while. When we moved into our home on S Avenue, we started noticing cars randomly stopping in front of our home and parking for a minute and then leaving. It freaked us the hell out. "What's going on????"

It took a few days to realize that my house (or rather, my former house) was the house where all the driving instructors/testers take their people to test how they park on a hill. What's weirder about this is that, I should have known this, as I took my driving test at the same place and I am almost 100 percent positive that I had to park right there in front of my future home back in 1988. How weird is that? Life...

Clean House, Wet Jogger, and Speed Racer

Frank is at the vet/spa getting all pretty for a 2 week stay at cousin Keith's house.

Chris and I cleaned the house together today and packed up the remaining crap left behind.

The following was heard often from Chris:

"We have too much crap!" "What? Another load?" "Jen, can't you just put that on the side of the road?"

The following was heard once from Jen:

"Men! They do the dumbest things!" (This, after finding a plastic bag full of MEAT from the freezer out on the patio. When I picked it up, or tried to pick it up to take to the dumpster, a turkey, chicken, and poultry JUICE splattered on my legs. GROSS.)

I cried when we were finished and we were looking at the empty house. I found a secret drawing in Luke's bedroom closet. He drew it God knows when. I took a pic but can't upload it right now. That made me cry a little bit too. This was the house of my BABIES.

Luke is kind of confused and teary these days. He is crying at the drop of a hat and wondering where his toys are--the ones that we specifically set aside for him to keep with him during this two week stint. Of course, the movers put them in the truck. Along with the cat carrier (I guess Reggie can ride shotgun up to B'ham) and vacuum (had to borrow mom's to clean today).

******

Meanwhile, back at Mom and Dad's, Dad set up a pool for Luke (Luke immediately disrobed and didn't wait for his swimming trunks) and afterwards, Luke ran around in the front yard in his Spiderman underwear. Back and forth, back and forth. The neighbors must be wondering why there's a kid in wet undies jogging in front of their homes.

*****
I got pulled over for speeding and an expired tag yesterday. I talked the cop out of a ticket...somehow. Maybe the two kids and Reggie roaming the backseat made him feel sorry for me? I don't know. That's an awful feeling---those lights flashing behind you. There's that, "Huh? Is that for me?" moment.

Movers, Theo, The Happening (spoiler free), Other Random Things

So it's Wednesday and the movers are at the house with Chris.

I'm here at my parents' house with the boys and trying to keep them from destroying their house.

****

Theo found a new home with my across the street neighbor's daughter. I feel good about her getting him. I was a little sad when I packed him up in the cat carrier (code for "stuffed his howling, protesting, furry body into the plastic prison") but I know this is best. Two cats ARE more trouble than just one--Reggie. Especially when Theo is bad about pissing off neighbors by sleeping on their cars. And you know, killing birds. And squirrels. And bringing them to the door. Reggie just lounges and lets Luke cart him around.

PS: Max, I hope it's okay that I sent Theo off---thanks for the possible adoption via your mom. And thanks go out to Debi, who also expressed interest.

So no one wants to board Frank? :)

****

For Father's Day, I took Chris and my dad to see The Happening, even though it had gotten bad reviews. If you want to talk about it, let's do it in the comments. I hate unexpected spoilers.

****

Just cuz: Luke's favorite non-cartoon shows:

Jon and Kate Plus Eight (I'm happy when this comes on, because I can sit with him and watch and not be totally bored. That husband on there is kind of cute in a weird way.)

America's Funniest Home Videos (he could watch this for hours)

****

Any ideas for what I can do to pass the time with the children until it's time to move into the new house?????

Annual Birthday Picture of Luke

Picture Time

Monday

It's bad when you don't like the people you are buying your house from. I'm just sayin'---they are being turds.
****
Sigh. Of course. NCLB sucks. PLEASE GET RID OF IT, Mr. President '08.
****
Just another example of fine customer service:
Macdonald's Drive Thru:

Me: I'd like a hamburger and a Happy Meal. Chicken McNuggets....
Luke: Momma, ask her about the lion.
Me: And two sweet teas...
Luke: Momma, ask her about the lion.
Me: (to him) It's actually a tiger. (to her) Excuse me, my little boy wants the tiger toy. Do you have that?
Girl: No, but we have the praying mantis thing.
Me: Okay, that will be fine.
Luke: Thanks Momma.

Pull around, handed our meals, open it up to find...

the snake he already has. Damn. It's the little things, you know?

Birthday, Father's Day, Anniversary, Dog, Cat...

Today is not only Father's Day, not only Meg and Casey's wedding anniversary, but it's also the day my first boy was born! Four years ago I was very ready for this baby to get out of my body! :)

Happy birthday Luke! Some pics from the party we held yesterday. During a monsoon. At Burger King cuz our house is BOXY.

I have only a few more days left in this house and I have a lot of work to do so I don't know if I can update a lot. We'll be staying with mom and dad for a week or so after we are out of this house and then we can move on up to the new place. I will try to update from my parents' house.

Much lurve to all who came to Luke's party yesterday. I have the best family and friends any one could ask for.

AND HAPPY FATHER's DAY! Here are some pics of my favorite dads!

Also...I have a question. As most of you know, we have 1 dog, Frank, and 2 cats--Reggie and Theo. We'd like to downsize our animals. We would like to find a forever home for Theo. Theo is an outdoor cat and is no trouble at all. Just put a bowl of food out and some water and that's all Theo requests. He is loving and purrrty. I will put a pic of Theo up next post.

ALSO: Frank the dog is homeless for two weeks. If we get him cleaned up, etc. Could anyone host Frank in their fenced backyard for 2 weeks? We'd pay ya. :) Let me know!!!! :)

Random

Two completely random things to tide you over until I get Luke's birthday party pics posted---first, Luke's recent drawing of our family and second, a pic I found while packing. It's from Fall 1989 for the yearbook. Check out my style, man. Slick!

Incredible

Luke is suddenly an Incredible Hulk fan (he's watching a seventies episode I tivoed and has "torn" off his shirt.

I was looking up some Incredible Hulk toys online and found this. What a trip back to 1970s toys! Check it out.

Shake What Your Mama Gave Ya or...do the Humpty Hump

Jake Dances! Sorta Kinda!

Rain

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. - Bible, Psalms (ch. LXXII, v. 6)

If there be one righteous person, the rain falls for his sake. - Buddha (Gautama Buddha)

For after all the best thing one can do when it is raining, is to let it rain. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Please pray for my friend and her family.

Popsicles on the Front Porch

What do I want to take home from my summer vacation? Time. The wonderful luxury of being at rest. The days when you shut down the mental machinery that keeps life on track and let life simply wander. The days when you stop planning, analyzing, thinking and just are. Summer is my period of grace. -- Ellen Goodman

Toothsday (hee hee)

Today was a very full day. Had to wake up earlier than normal and get the boys dressed for Luke's first dentist appointment at 8:00. (Yes, he's almost four and it's his first time at the dentist. Sue me.) No cavities! He did so well at the dentist. I was so proud of him. He got four fake witch fingers, a t-shirt, a Fast Cars toothbrush and Sponge Bob toothpaste. Oh, and a spool of floss which he unravelled in the back seat on our way home. I was driving and smelled something minty fresh. Nice.
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During lunchtime, I had to go to MY dentist and get my permanent crown cemented on. Fun! It was a real blast. (Insert teacher face here.)
****
More packing was done. A nap time was successful for all three of us. :) Can you believe it? Nap time is working this summer! I must be getting better at this mother thing. I'd like for the moms out there to (in the comments) tell me what your daily routine is like and how long your nap times are. Thanks.
****
We went to see Kung Fu Panda this evening and of course, Luke insisted that we leave about midway through. One day I'll get to see the resolution of Bee Movie and now this one. One day...I can dream, right?
****
We went to Publix ("where cakes live") to order Luke's birthday cake yesterday. It's the big Spiderman one that looks like a building.
"That's the biggest cake in the world!"---Luke
and every hour, "Is it my birthday yet? Can we go watch the ladies make my cake?"
****
Oh, and my mind is a funny thing. Instead of dreaming about Bret Michaels last night, I dreamed I was married to P. Diddy. I was very confused about how this happened and how we met, I remember. I was also very popular at the high school because I was Mrs. Diddy.

Monday Musings

I just had a fight with the cupboard. It wouldn't shut. What object(s) in your house do you have daily fights with? I definitely won't miss that stupid pair of doors.
***

Playdate mom called me. She wants to give us another try. I'm seriously getting weirded out.

***

Anybody wanna come help me pack? :)

***

I had such a good time Saturday night. Me, Yvette, and Jas went to Bonefish, then to a certain "love" store, and then to a very laid back bar where we ran into others who graduated from high school with us. That was really quite a coincidence, we thought. One of these people---we hadn't seen since 1991. We didn't recognize him at all.

****

I'm having weird (cough) dreams about Bret Michaels, which is odd, since I don't find him attractive!!!!!! This is my THIRD dream. In it, I was trying to brush his daughter's snaggly hair.

****

Is it too early for Crown and Coke? This is why I'm not a stay at home mom. :)

Lick

Me: Awww, Luke! Jake just gave you a kiss!
Luke: That wasn't a kiss; he licked me.

******

Anyone watching that Denise Richards show? Thoughts? I like her dad a lot.

******

I'm tired of packing tape and boxes. And I still have a lot to go...

*******

Pic is of Luke at the pet store at "BeastPlace" :) a couple of days ago.

Link

This is the right link to a great site about CVS, Steph (and anyone else who is interested).

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

CVS, Playdate, and Safari Drive

First off, big thanks go out to Vickie and Crystal, who have turned me on to CVS savings. It's so much fun---it feels so wrong, like it's stealing, that it's kind of a rush! How funny, me saving money! :) Chris said, "If you gotta have a new habit, this is a good one!" Here's what I got today:

I only spent 7.99 out of pocket. Earned 10 Extra Care Bucks. So basically I made money. :) It definitely takes more time shopping and a lot of thought beforehand. And you know me, with math...sigh...it takes me some sitting down and calculatin'...

*****

Yesterday the boys and I walked (or rather, Luke and I walked, Jake got pushed in his hand-me-down car that his brother has almost ruined) to the play date with Thing 1, Thing 2, and Mucous Plug Baby. It was okay. Conversation is kind of painful when you don't know the mommy very well. It was almost like a blind date. :) Luke didn't like how much the little boy (his age) got in his space. "Cut it out. I don't like that." Jake played with their dog and smiled away. The mom gave me a whole bunch of clothes for Jake (very sweet of her) and I am gonna give her our sandbox since there is one up at the new house. Something weird happened though. As soon as I got home, she called me and said we shouldn't have any more play dates because her boy was already crying and missing Luke and she didn't want him to get more attached to him. Ohhh kay...I understood where she was coming from, but it still felt weird. Kinda like I just got broken up with. :) "Was it something I said?" Ha.

If you have a weird play date story, please share it.

****

Totally off subject, Dana Carvey needs to stop styling his hair like a woman and he clearly has had some work done. He looks like a lesbian.

****

While Chris and I were in NM, Mimi and Papa took the boys to a drive through safari thing. Check it out!

Let's talk about

the Sex and the City movie. No spoilers here. Spoil away in the comments though. I was disappointed by it. Let's talk.

New Life

Some pics of the new house.

Grrrrr!!!!

Luke is potty trained now. Fully and completely potty trained. Of course, he expects us all to examine his crap when he produces it. He did it in front of our realtor in the new house the other day, while Chris and I were signing our initial offer.

Last night:

"Mama, come here. I want to show you something."
I enter the bathroom.
"Look. It looks like a tiger's poop!"
"So it does."

When do kids stop showing you their poop?

Speaking of...

Others on Planes, Houses, and Books

My thoughts are scattered right now, but I'll try my best to catch y'all up. The best way to do this is list-fashion. This is just the first part of my list, cuz I'm tired and wanna go to sleep. I've been packing the house up most of today and playing with my precious boys, and got a surprise visit from Stacy, who brought me dinner! What a gal!
First of all, enjoy the 91 photos I took in Taos.
1. No celebrity sightings in Taos. The gas station clerk had never seen Julia Roberts. I asked her, like a goober.

2. I missed the kids terribly, especially the night before we were to leave. I got up early on Sunday, packed my things and waited for Chris to wake up so we could leave. I was a lot more anxious on the way home, plane wise. Realized it was the first time I ever flew as a mom and it probably wasn't a good idea for both me and Chris to be on a plane together, for their sake. Really creeped me out.

***DELETED! ;)

4. We have a contract on a house in our new city. I'll have a few pics up of that in the next few days. Can't wait to move on in.

5. I'm reading Lionel Shriver's The Post Birthday World and it's pretty good. Great airplane reading for sure. It's kinda (so far) Bridget Jones meets Sliding Doors meets Choose Your Own Adventure.

6. I am pretty sure I got swollen looking (check out a few of the pics) because of the altitude change. It's the only thing that can explain it---the margaritas the night before couldn't have been the sole reason, right? I mean, I think I look normal again now...

More later. Tomorrow.

On the Road with Chris and Jen