I just don't understand

I'm so tired of getting up every morning to find out the government is tossing billions more at some new company. It's sickening. This just can't go on. I'm no genius, but this is just not a good business plan at all for our economy.

tee-hee-hee

Gas went down to $1.49 per gallon here. Wheeeeee :) Well, not that I drive a lot. If I go down the street it's actually $1.44 :)

Monkey has Puppy Love

Alex has decided this is the best thing since Swiss cheese. It is a LIVE puppy web cam!

Leftover Halloween Thingies

The first photo was of the hooligans trading candy on the kitchen floor. Yes, I hate my kitchen floor. But it will do :)

The other is of Monkey going to his friend's house to compost our pumpkins. They hurled them from their balcony so they would moosh into the compost easier. I guess :) The bat is a bit scary.

Blah

I was going to ramble about political things I don't understand, but am burned out :) So, Monkey has friends over tonight. They just left to go and ding-dong-ditch some girl 2 houses down.. she was mean or something. They left a croissanwich at her door (nerds). So I caught a photo before they left. Burger King needed a t-shirt in black, and that's the only one I could find. Bwahahahah! And, the death of the pumpkins after Halloween :) A friend up the street took them for her compost.. so they are still living a good life. Well, a rotting good life.

Post #2 Du Jour :)

I couldn't get the Serval pics to work in the earlier post without botching the entire post. So, here they are. And I didn't realize I never posted photos from our vacation. They are HERE if anyone is bored :)

I see blogger has not fixed its issues with loading pictures. Arses. I'll have to add them at the end, if I can.

Halloween was GREAT. Kids had a lot of fun, and the yard looked great. Considering it was on a Friday night and the weather was amazing, we didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as I had hoped. But we had at least 100.

Monkey is doing great, and growing like a weed. A smelly weed with an attitude, but growing. I'm homeschooling him this year. Yup, it's true. We basically decided the Sunday night before school started. We went to 'meet the teacher' night and dropped off all his supplies. Sat through the speech.. and went home feeling nervous. Monkey is an animal at home, but incredibly shy at school. If he doesn't understand something he's afraid to ask and so lessons move along.. as they would anyway.. and I would basically spend the evenings re-teaching him what he learned at school that day. We talked to him about it, and he loved the idea. But after the meet the teacher night, we felt it was the best idea anyway. She explained there would be no grades but only 'P' for progressing. Monkey loves grades, he enjoyed trying to improve on anything which came home with a low grade on it. I just thought that was odd. And they were going to continue the boxes/lines/bars math thingy.. which I still don't understand. So he's already multiplying double digits by double digits... and I love the vocabulary books out there! He really enjoys trying to use his new words, and now that I know what he's learning I can incorporate it in things we do or quiz him on it when we're driving around. It's fun for all of us. He has more time now in the evenings for other classes. We put him in piano, and MrNV works with him daily on that. I'm excited. Once he has a solid hold on all the basics, perhaps we'll integrate him back in for High School. But I have a lot of amazing help from a friend that home schools. And Missouri is one of the easiest states for home schooling, as far as laws go. I have to chuckle, though. In going to the library there are many types of homeschoolers.. which is fine. But there are people that believe in just living life as a type of education. No structure at all. It makes me giggle, but maybe that works. I do love the idea that we can work the day around Monkey's mood. Once in a while if he's tired and sitting is not working out, we'll run errands and just do school later. If we're getting frustrated with new math things, we move on to English and do math later. Being able to customize is really paying off. But because he really does love it, it's really not an issue. He understands if he doesn't take learning seriously he'll be a train hopping bum when he grows up, and he's not too excited about that :) So... I'm a homeschooling mom now. Egads.

Dad is doing great. Still living with us. He hurt his left arm a while back so he hasn't been cooking as much. I'm about to shut his cable off if he doesn't get on the ball! :) I'm going to shut it off anyway if he doesn't get out and vote today, it's already 3:46pm. Slacker.

We voted today. Monkey filled in the circles for me. Being the big smelly REPUBLICAN that I am, I have to be sure to brainwash him at an early age. We may not win this election, but I can't complain about it if I don't vote. We were having Sunday dinners for a while and my father-in-law's democrat girlfriend would come. She's a great lady. And I respect everyone's right to decide what party works best for them. I think the checks and balances keep us honest. But man, she was definitely one tough cookie! My mom, dad, step-dad, husband and others tried very hard to bring her to the dark side.. never worked. So I will be happy for her if Obama wins today. And if nothing else, it will keep the news interesting. I was sort of suffering from a lack of candidate enthusiasm anyway. I just hate taxes. We're self employed and I write a check to the IRS literally every month. It's painful. And it's going to get more painful. I don't like pain. But, good luck to the winner.. and I hope you do a good job. I will admit, I'm ready for Bush to shuffle along now.

Oh, and someone in our neighborhood.. a few blocks away... owns a serval. It's like a big kitty :) It was wandering around the hood one Saturday afternoon getting the neighbors riled. I'll post the photos, it was crazy. Turns out it is de-clawed and tame. But it was hissing at everyone, so who knows. But when people stalk me I tend to hiss too. I don't think it's legal to have one in the city limits, but nobody has been eaten yet so I'll let it slide :)

Go McCain! (sigh)

Hello Brashen! :)

Nope, not dead..

the update... just busy

Dad moved in, and it's going great. I now have a really great personal chef, although MrNV is wigging out with all the sauces. But it's good, and I'm glad we did it. For now :)
Currently we're on vacation, so it's great that my dad can take care of the house and dogs while we're gone. Saved me a big tab at the kennel since we're going on 2 weeks. It's sort of a work-cation. Lots of fun, and a tour of the pools of Vegas with Monkey. We have sadly discovered that nobody seems to have a pool over 4 feet, and not a diving board for miles. But the Golden Nugget in downtown Vegas has won, they have a water slide/tube which goes through a shark tank. Very cool. They won for fun factor. The Palazzo won for damn fine looking pools.. wow that place is beautiful. And they had at least 6 pools. Two large ones, and a bunch of smaller surrounding pools. Beautifully landscaped and on the 3rd (or 4th?) floor so it was private from walking traffic. The Rio is alright. They have a topless pool that I believe you pay $30 for entry, but from our room I think I saw only 1 topless girl. I'm assuming they hire wenches to jazz the place up, but it wasn't particularly jazzy the few days we were there. So it made me chuckle on days where it seemed there were lots of guys... and no women. For a great value pool, The Tuscany won hands down. We arrived early so I booked a room there online. Lasvegas.com to be specific. I got it for $39 a night, and it's incredibly close to the main strip.. in the MGM area. It's really clean, not one of those hourly rate places :) And it has a kitchenette, which is nice considering prices to eat around here have really gone up. The funny thing is that while MrNV was checking in, I kept noticing larger women entering and exiting the hotel. Groups of them, all dressed up and ready to party. Being a well fed individual myself, I grew curious as I don't often see so many portly girls in one area all at once. Turns out it was some sort of BBW convention. At first I thought this was neat-o, until I discovered it was more of a BBW meeting admirers sorta debauchery. This was fine, until we went to the pool. I don't mind people being proud of their bodies, but show some discretion.. holy cow! A bikini and thong is not ... just not. But the pool wasn't bad at all.

Oh, and we ate at The Social House. Monkey begged to eat at a restaurant that overlooked the pirate battle at Treasure Island. Little did we know that it was.. sushi. Egads. But I had this really good appetizer that was raw yellow fin or something? It was really good, and seared tuna. But for dinner we had fried fish :) We can only do so much raw food. And we at at a nice little place along the water in The Venetian.

Well, off to cause chaos. I'll post photos later and get back to blogging. Because I'm a craptastical blogger.

And Softballslut! Congratulations on your wedding! I haven't pulled the photos up yet, but thank you for forwarding them. I'll do it now! xoxox

Moment of Zen :)

So my dad moved in today. It went well, he hired movers and helpers and such so he didn't have to lift things.. and that was great. So he's in his room now .. which is next to my office .. and I can hear him over there sorting through his things. Monkey wandered in there with his homework and is laying on the floor while my dad does his thing.. and it's just sorta calming now. I know MrNV is not super thrilled about my dad moving in, but I think it's going to work out. And I just have a calm knowing that he needed to be in a happy place.. and that we are able to be it. And I like knowing that if something happens, we're here to help him. He's getting old and simple tasks can sometimes be a challenge. So, it's a good day. I certainly hope it doesn't turn out to be a mistake.

Confessions of a bad daughter

..giggle..

So I have been working towards my dad moving in, he wants to be here by May 1st. Today he had some auction company come by and pick up all his art and antiques and such. Yesterday he called upset because everyone we have asked to help him has blown him off.. as usual. So I took the little kiddo-s by lastnight and they worked hard moving things around. While in his spare room, I noticed that he still had my Aunt's hand painted china in the closet. This would be the china I ranted about last year that he told me he had sold. It was the last set she worked on, and she had it finished by art students when she became too ill to finish it. He did give me a dinner plate set with vegetables on it, which I greatly appreciated. I got it last month. But this was the original set I had asked for, and he decided to fuck with me. So lastnight MissA was in the room with me, and my dad was elsewhere. She helped me snag the tea pot, creamer and sugar jar. Bwahahahah! I remembered the tea pot, which was the part I really wanted. It had her initials on the bottom, the rest were done by the students. So today when I went over there to help pack up the rest of the things, he said he was not selling it... because.. mumble mumble.. wants it. He said 'what's her name'.. which would be one of my bitch sisters. So I am THRILLED that I took the 3 pieces lastnight. Neither of my sisters ever liked my Aunt, and I would feel ill knowing they had it. Bwahahah! I know. So petty. They can have the rest of the set because all they care about is how it 'looks' not that it has any sentimental value. I'll post a photo later, but I needed to get my sin off my chest :)

I'll say 3 hail Mary's and be on my way :)

True Love :)

I just love Cartman. I do. Lastnight I watched an episode I've not seen before, 'Tsst!'. Holy cow, I laughed until I cried. Cartman's mother tries to get him under control by calling Nanny 911, then Supernanny.. and when all else fails... The Dog Whisperer! Holy cow! I recorded it, and will covet it until I die :) He teaches Cartman's mother to use the fingers on the neck and 'Tsst!' sound to DOMINATE little Cartman :) Bwaaaaaaaaaaahahah! Now I shall try this on Monkey Boy :)

Come ON!

I walked through the office to hear on the TV people are upset because at some grade school kids were encouraged to 'cross dress' for wacky week. They're not saying, "Hey, try looking like the opposite gender.. you might find you like it more and you'll totally reject heterosexuality!"... they're just being silly. People have done that for as long as I can remember, and surely before that even. Guys were always dressing up as girls for Halloween when I went to school.. mainly in High School.. but I don't remember much of grade school :) And I remember going to a musical, can't think of the name of it right now, where Navy guys were dressed as women for a skit they were doing. I'm quite certain that musical was around before I was. Why does everything have to be so serious anymore? I'm about 2 news reports away from moving to ... somewhere they still have a sense of humor.

Musical is 'South Pacific'. There was a part where they dressed as women, right? At any rate. People need to LIGHTEN UP! Man!

Maybe he should not be a doctor when he grows up..

Monkey perked up with this in the car the other night, took MrNV and I a moment to translate :)

Monkey: "I really don't want my testicles removed."
Me and MrNV: basic look of, 'uh?'
Me: "What? What are you talking about?"
Monkey: "I don't want my testicles removed."
Me: "Yah, got that. Why would you even say that?" (.. thinking maybe he's referring to the fact we just had the dog Bandit fixed)
Monkey: doesn't answer, as he's trying to figure out WHERE the confusion is
Me: "It's not something you would ever have done. You really shouldn't go around saying things like that."
Monkey: realizes maybe it was all lost in translation.. and tries to explain. "You know, when you have surgery and you get a lot of ice cream after?"
MrNV and I: Ohhhhhhhhh
Me: "Um, those are called tonsils. Totally different."

..sigh..

I am officially a photo takin' soccer mom. You can see more here, if you're insane :)

A huge lie

Anyone that knows me, knows that this award is so incredibly wrong :) I must really keep it clean for my blog. Sheesh.


Created by OnePlusYou

My learnin' for today

I have always spelled the word visible.. with an a. Visable. It just sounds right, as far as how I pronounce it. I guess it makes sense, it goes with vision I suppose. I'm certain I've also spelled it visability. I don't say vis-IH-bility... I say vis-UH-bility... right? Anyway. I've always thought I had a grasp on spelling, it was always my favorite subject. Lucky me I wasn't in a Spelling Bee.. that would have been embarrassing!

Now Hiring... Bun Buffer

So I asked MrNV if he wanted a new job.. and showed him graphic representation of what would be required. He started glowing like the sun. Well, brighter really. Like that commercial with the glimmery teeth? So then I was thinking that 'Bun Buffer' for Gisele Bundchen might also be the perfect job for the Rockdog and possibly even Sirdar.. if he can get a written permission slip from MrsSirdar :) So I thought I'd give you all an equal opportunity to apply...

Click HERE to apply for this job :)

Poety Monkey

Monkey gave me his journal today and wanted me to read his poem thingy about dancing :)

"Dance"
dancing
80's
dancing
break dancing
curly hair
fancy cars
fancy glasses
fancy pants
fancy shirts
tapping shoes
tap... tap... tap

It made me laugh, so I had to share it :)

Dream log for Sirdar :)

OK, I hafta make a quick note so I don't forget, and will fill it all in tomorrow :)

broken sad toys that went into machine
presents
King Midas
round concrete thingy that went into the ground
battle
evil kid

Christmas came early :)

MrNV plays the piano. We have an upright, his father gave it to us some years ago when we lived in our apartment. He doesn't play as often as he should, but the other tenants always commented that they enjoyed hearing him. His father is a pianist, and he can play anything. Since he's in the biz, he knew a guy that knew a guy.. and he called us Wednesday night. He wanted to show MrNV a piano that he wanted to buy for us. These things usually turn out to be something he has to refurbish.. which is fine but it takes him forever. So MrNV crawled out of bed at 8am and went with his pa.. and returned with this amazing beast! It has a sad story, but will have an amazing future! A sweet little old 80 year old lady had purchased it for her husband, he was very sick. The doctor told her that it would help him during rehab to hear music. If you're gonna do something.. do it big I guess. She purchased this monster player grand piano for him in 98. Sadly he passed away recently and she is downsizing. This piano made her sad and she only wanted $500 for it to just go away. After seeing it, my jaw had to be removed from the floor. My husband is so happy, and it sounds so amazing! You put in a little disk of music, she included them, and the little keys go to town. And we didn't take advantage of the little lady, I promise. I guess she was very wealthy, and didn't want more for it at all. Maybe she was happy knowing it would have a new future.

I think I might take a photo of Monkey sitting at the piano and send it to her with a thank you note. Maybe it will make her smile.

Anyway. We'll have to reorganize our living room, but we'll make it all work out. Who knows, I might even learn to play now :)