A post for Joy's love of striped hose :)

Some time ago I told the Monkey Boy to get dressed. "It's cold, you need to put something warm on." Instead, he put on his favorite clothes over his PJ's. And he truly thought he was stylin' and ready to go out into the world. So, this is what happens when you let a man-child dress himself. Men are complicated enough... but their offspring? Puhlease. My husband dresses the same way!! :) Taken in 2003.

You loooook like a monkeyyyy....

The Monkey Boy turned 7 today.. February 27th. Hey, it was also Elizabeth Taylor's birthday today! She turned 74 or something like that. Sort of neat. But, being the horrible mother I am, I let him stay home from school. We went to breakfast with Opa D and Uncle A, then went shopping for snacks for his friends that came by tonight. We're having the party in a week, but at least we had some fun tonight!! I can't believe how quickly he's growing. ....sigh....

Storm Pic du Jour

I'm really going to have to dig into my CD's since I have taken everything off of my hard drive. But, this is from a chase last year. To have seen it in person, as it developed, we thought for sure it was a rain wrapped tornado. However, it turned into a good ol' heavy downpour. Very intense!! It was really very cool to watch!!

America's Next Top Model... Bob :)

This is my cute little neighbor friend Bob. Well, at least I call her Bob. She had one of those complicated names when we met, so I decided to re-name her. But wouldn't you know her Mother is insisting her original name is just fine. However, I just might be able to convince her Frank would work. She's weakening. But isn't Bob adorable? We were goofing off at Christmas making photos for her Mom and Dad. I think she has a definite Diva future.. don't you guys??? C'mon, you know she wants complements :)

Boys will be boys :)

My son had his friends over tonight, and they feel the need to become Blog celebs! And while preparing the post above (the one I'm posting next) I discovered these photos taken at Christmas. This is my son and his friend having fun and being silly. They're just so cute :)

What every parent should know.

You definitely need to take photos like THESE so that in the future, when your child refuses to do their chores, you can whip it out. "I would SURE hate for this to show up at your school taped to all of the lockers for all of your friends to see." BWAHAHA!! I just can't wait!!

The force is strong with this one...

For Christmas the year before last we purchased our son a light sabre. So, I bought my husband a matching light sabre. And so, here is the battle of the light sabres!! As you can tell.. my husband in red is kickin' his little bootie.

No, cows don't float by your truck like in the movies :)

Twistahhs. Yes, we chase them. Yes, we are mentally unstable. What can you do? Not much really, just don't hang out with us :) I have tons of photos, but just don't know where to start. Perhaps I'll do a Storm Photo Du Jour on my post. Sounds sort of fun. I should have enough to make it through... a week :) Anyway... c'mon tornado season!!!! WOOO-HAHHHHH!!!

Ready for Halloween

Chalice had asked in the past for some photos of my house from Halloween. Sorry they're so late :) I guess they don't do you any good now. But I am ready for Halloween!! The mister already has new plans for new spooky monsters. I think he has lost his mind. Pretty sure. I liked the photo of the little Fairy from up the street standing at the gates of our cemetery.

A post for my buddy Bird..

Bird, this post is for your lost buddy 'Cookie'. This is the dog I mentioned seeing the other day. I know, I took a photo :) Yes, his tongue was hanging out due to having teeth removed. I am quite certain that if they entered him in an 'Ugly Dog' contest.. he would win hands down!! Well, or paws down. Yowza!!

Na-po-Leon

OK, so I can't hear the name Napoleon anymore without thinking of the uncle in 'Napoleon Dynamite'. AHHAH! We took the monkey and one of his monkey friends to see 'The Pink Panther' tonight. My husband and I are fans of Peter Sellers, so we weren't too hopeful. But, it was pretty funny. And my son laughed his ass off, so that's always a plus in our book.

The problem I had with the movie is stupid. On the wall of the police chief's office there is a painting. The painting is titled 'Bonaparte Crossing the St.Bernard Pass' painted by Jacques-Louis David. I knew in my demented mind that Napoleon was supposed to be facing the left, but in the painting on the wall he was facing the right. And it was really bugging the crap out of me. And I knew that there was text on the bottom left, so if they had flipped it then the text would be backwards. So I kept peering at the artwork and I totally missed every conversation which took place in that office. And I'm so stupid! Don't you hate it when you get hung up on silly details and miss out on the rest of the movie?! Well, not that it was that hard to keep up with Clouseau :)

Ahhh.. another reason I love the Internet

I am always glued to the TV watching anything ice skating related.. just adore it. Especially pairs and ladies. And every time a pair dances to 'Romeo and Juliet' by Sergei Prokofiev I go insane because I wish I had the soundtrack! Then I slowly forget that I love the piece. Until today, another pair skated to it and I remembered, "AH HA!!". Now that I have Napster I never have to go without again. And so as I sit here typing away, my office is vibrating to 'Romeo and Juliet'. I just LOVE the drama of it!!! I doubt my orchid is too happy about it, though :)

I think that my favorite skaters ever were the Russians Sergey Ponomarenko and Marina Klimova. They won the gold in Albertville (1992). She was just so beautiful and graceful... and had the most amazing red hair. I've been hooked ever since!

The missing mom ..

Yesterday the monkey boy was in my office playing with his Lego's on the floor. I guess on the news they were talking about a mother that disappeared 7 years ago .. I didn't catch the whole story. He asked me, "Where did she go?"
... huh? "Who?", I asked.
"The mother, did she leave?"
"I don't know sweetie, I wasn't listening to the story. What did they say?"
"She's been gone for 7 years."
"Well, perhaps she did leave. Some mother's are crazy like that."
"I think she went to the store to buy them toys. While she was driving home, they fell out onto the road. It has taken her this long to pick up all of the pieces off the road."
I immediately called the TIPS hotline to let them know to check all nearby highways. MAN, if we all just had the sense of my 6 year old monkey boy!!

Manchester Hooligan ..

This is Mr. Suave in my office, obviously practicing his 'Hey babe' look. I'm considering sending him to an all boys school on an all boys island. Do they exist?? :) You know it doesn't matter who he brings home, I won't like her! I'm really going to have to find a hobby when he starts dating. Drinking. Drugs. Something!!

Creation of the monkey boy ...

Do you think Michelangelo had this in mind??

This little piggy went to market ...

The little monkey was 1 in this photo. We were visiting my sister in Phoenix, and he really loved her outdoor swing. I just loved his cute little feet. It's hard to believe he's going to be 7 in a week. That's it, he's grounded!!

Where is my biker babe?

I remember the day I managed to get this cute little picture. It was a gorgeous Fall day, and we were out playing in the wooded area near our home. You can keep your professional photo services, I prefer candid shots. His little jeans were even cuffed and he had great little boots on. He was 1 year 8 months in this photo. ...sigh...

Splish splash I was takin' a bath...

And now, in looking at these photos, I think I miss having a cute little baby around. They're like a disease, these little cuties. Then, of course, they grow up and talk back and get cranky.. and you have to beat them with a stick :)

But they're still wonderful. Friday night after making dinner, I walked into the kitchen to find he had cleaned all of the counters and put all of the dishes in the sink to be cleaned. He cleaned the dining room table, stove top and put the clean dishes away. ALL without me even asking :) Of course, he then demanded $1,ooo.oo for the chores he had completed. ..sigh.. We negotiated for an all expense paid trip to the $1 store :) They're SO easy!

Don't hate the player...

I always giggle when I run across this photo of my son. After a busy night of trick-or-treating, we decided to go out for dinner. There were girls in the bar and they came out oooohhhing and ahhhhing over our little scarecrow. He sure does like the ladies, and it definitely started at a young age :)
He was 3 when this photo was taken.

Such a cute book cover..

So my son brings home a little Scholastic flyer every month, with books available for us to buy. I love it, because it reminds me of when I was a kid. Certain smells, and this is definitely one of them. While browsing through the titles, I caught one I thought would be really cute.. 'A Dog Called Kitty'. Awwwe. So I started to read the little paragraph below it, which explains the book:

"Ever since he was savagely mauled by a rabid dog, Ricky is terrified of them."

Seriously? I didn't even need to go any further. This sounds like some sort of book my crazy gore-loving friend would read! Not my 6 year old son. Couldn't he just be mauled? Not SAVAGELY mauled? And did the dog HAVE to be rabid also? Why not a pack of dogs?? Why didn't they tear up his baby pet bunny while they were at it?? It reminds me of when I went to see 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' as a child. I can still remember that sick nauseous feeling I had when I left the theater. I wonder if Oprah will add this one to her Book of the Month club?? :)

Pavarotti rocks..

Unfortunately I couldn't be home lastnight to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. Primarily because I am stupid and forgot it was starting, but I had plans anyway. And of course, I don't Tivo or any of that other fancy stuff. I used to record things on my VCR but still never watched them.. so I just gave up. But, as luck would have it, I made it home in time for the BEST part of the show anyway! I love listening to Luciano Pavarotti sing 'Nessun Dorma'. It's my calming song... and he pumped it out! What more can I say. I just love him, and I love his voice. My father used to sing opera to me. We would cruise around in his car, taking road trips here and there, and he would belt out the songs. And I would ask him what they were singing.... OH the stories he would come up with. BWAAAHHHAAHAHHA! And he's a big guy like Pavarotti, and he's from Switzerland and has a super thick accent. Perhaps I just like Pav because he reminds me of the good times and in doing so he makes my father eternal.

Another freakin' birthday...

(photo of my Mumsie and I when I was a bebe) So, the 9th was my birthday. You know, a few months before your birthday you start working out these grand ideas in your head of how.. at LEAST.. you're going to take the day off and do WHATEVER you want. And you're determined. And it's going to be AWESOME FUN! But, as the date gets closer.. things happen. And it's fine that things happen, but what a shitty day it was. Seriously. And, boo-hoo to me, who cares really :) I had to work on artwork all day, both my husband and I are being tormented by some sort of cold virus, and my husband is still going through issues from his mother recently passing away. So he's cranky AND sick. So I was mad.. because he was mad.. and he was mad... because I was mad... and it was just a generally crappy day. And to sum it up... as he sat at his desk (back to me) I tossed my Wendy's chicken nuggets at his head. BWAAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHH!! OK, it's fuckin' hilarious now that I look back on it.. but at the time I wanted to shove my keyboard through his skull. But that vision of nuggets bouncing off his head is SO funny!!! And my dogs running all over the place trying to gobble them up as quickly as possible.

Anyway, I'm 38 now. My sister did bring me a beautiful new Orchid.. and I love it. And my Step-Father brought me a beautiful pot of blooming tulips.. so it looks like a flower garden on my desk. It all turned out just fine in the end, and my husband and I made up. We always do. I would never describe my marriage to him as being dull :) But I would say my birthday sort of sucked. Except for my beautiful boy singing Happy Birthday and giving me big kisses. That pretty much eliminates all of the negative :)

.. sniffle ... Memories :)

As a child, I was fortunate enough to travel to Europe on a few occasions. My father is from Switzerland. While living in London working an apprentice program at Nestle, he met my mother. Even though they could hardly communicate... it was true love. Well, for 27 years. I guess then it was just old :) But I love this photo of my family at Trafalgar Square. I am the dork in the middle, my two sisters are on the left, my Mother next to me and my Grandparents on the far right. Ahh.. those were the good old days. I loved them all equally, and none of us had issues or argued :) I no longer speak to the sister in the leopard coat, she thinks I'm cold and unfeeling. I think she's a bitch. So, we have a mutual understanding :) And my Grandparents, my Grandfather is in the hospital with a fractured spine from falling down the stairs (drunk.. tsk tsk) and my Nana fell and busted her hand... all last week. It's been a really dark year so far, and I'm ready for that shit to stop immediately. Oh well... again... those were the days :) And we had such fashion sense! ...snicker.. And the two people behind us? I'm certain there is a drug transaction going on there!!

A Ladybug Day...

I drew this a couple years ago. I was just doodling a flower, then started to write the poem around it. It made me laugh after I finished it, and I have kept it ever since. So now, when I am having a bad day... I call it a Ladybug day :) Start reading from the bottom left side..

The Axe of evil!

My father-in-law is staying with us temporarily. Which is great, I like the company. He reads to my son, teaches him French and is an incredible piano player. When he practices, it's wonderful! HOWEVER! The bathroom he is using is near my office, and every time he gets all ready for his day.. he sprays his Axe cologne spray stuff! I think I'm dying! It smells like a really cheap brothel in here!!! Is it bad if I sneak into his bathroom today while he's gone and steal the Axe stuff? Can I just blame it on my son??? I can't breathe!!! :)

Happy Birthday Sassy Cheeto!

Such a bad mother ...

OK, I will accept it. I am a bad mother. Back in 2001, would you believe I actually gave my own son chicken pox? It's true! I have no idea where I even managed to scrape it up at.. what can you do. But I love these photos of him. It was such a grotesque and itchy time for both of us.

In memory of Old Blue

Last year, after my son graduated. (Ok, from Kindergarten! FINE!) We drove to BFE to pick up the pound puppy he picked out online. It was going to be a way groovy fun day trip for us. No, don't tell Daddy, he'll try to talk us out of it. Shhhhhh. It turned into a day trip with my friend and her daughter.. a year older than my son.. working on an arranged marriage there :) So, anyway, after picking up said Devil Dog (we now know he's a Devil Dog).. we were cruising along the highway doing 70ish and I spotted a baby bird on the center line. I knew he wasn't dead, he was sitting up. My momma raised me to save little beasties on the road.. so we did a U-Turn and hauled back to the spot before one of those 18-whuulers flattened him.

To make the yarn short, after dodging LOTS of traffic. Well, OK, 2 semi's coming WAY far away and my friend yelling, "Get back into the car you f'ing idiot!!" or something like that... we rescued 'Old Blue'. He was so darn cute! We sat for a bit, waiting to see if momma Blue was about.. but there weren't any trees or anything. I'm thinking he fell into the bed of a farm truck, and unfortunately blew out on the highway. Man, that sucks.

So, we tried to turn him in to a sanctuary, but they were all closed. And as it was a holiday weekend, nobody would be in until Tuesday. Unfortunately, even though he ate and drank and made little chirpy noises.. he didn't make it. I've only ever managed to save 1 baby bird in my life, and it's so heartbreaking. ..sigh..

This is my little 'Old Blue' memorial. I hope you're flying around up there in the Heavens little buddy.