Doo Doo, Uh, I Mean Haiku Friday

So I was over on the Playgroupie's blog and she was doing this Haiku Friday thing and - being that I'm such a follower here lately - I thought I'd play, too. Apparently this originated with the playgroupie and Christina at A Mommy Story, so go check them both out.

The Playgroupie's first - of many, go read them yourself - poem was:

Enjoy these Haiku

If you don't, I will find you

And fart in your face

To which I was inspired to retort:

You'll fart in my face?
You're not a nice playgroupie
I'll throw poop at you

And one for the road:

It's his third birthday
My gift from my little man
Poopie in his pants

Yes, my big three year old, potty trained, no accident having (at home, anyway) little man gifted me with a big poop in his pants and a refusal to nap for his birthday. Oh, the joy. Is it too late to take back all that sweet stuff I said in that last post?

Just kidding.

Kinda.

Happy Friday to you, too!

36 Months of Love and Laughter - A Letter to My Punkin'

Dearest Punkin',

You are three years old today! It's so hard to believe that that tiny, bawling infant that I brought home from the hospital is this big, talkative, inquisitive rambunctious boy that I see before me today.

I had never really wanted kids. But one day I woke up and knew it was the time. And that I wanted it. Wanted you. Desperately.

After nine months of frustration, testing, and disappointment I was pregnant. Then after nine months of anticipation and wonder, you were here.

I have to say, you weren't what I thought you'd be.

You were so much more. I didn't know I could feel love so deeply or so completely. Unlike what I had expected your cries didn't annoy me. Your diapers didn't make me gag - well, maybe a few times, but I was so glad to have the opportunity to gag over your diapers.
We spent your first six months of life at home, just you and me. We did venture out occasionally to show you off or to buy necessities, but mostly we cuddled and nursed and napped and loved. You wouldn't nap unless you napped on me. Other people seemed to think this was quite inconvenient, but not I. I. Loved it. We moved back to Alabama, which I had swore I never would, just before your first birthday. As much as I hated the idea of it, I hated the idea of you growing up without your family even more. And during that first six months at home with you I had realized that I would like to stay home with you on a more permanent basis. So off to Alabama and it's lower cost of living and it's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins we went. You have grown into such a little man in the time we've been here. You talk more than I ever imagined a three year old could! And you are so funny! You laugh and smile and joke and just generally melt my old cold heart like I never thought anyone would. You have always been such a happy baby, child, little man. Just a joy to parent.

And even when you are releasing your inner hellion, you are a sight to behold. You, like your Momma, have a temper and don't mind letting it loose. You are stubborn and like getting your way. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way, but you do learn.

There's nothing wishy-washy about you. You have definite opinions, likes and dislikes, and are more than willing to share them with whoever happens to be around. Does this lead to some "interesting" parenting sometimes? Yes. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

What else can I say? You are so smart. You are so funny. You are soooo loving and caring. I just couldn't/wouldn't ask for anyone else to be my child.

Not only do I love you, but I like you. I like you very much. You're my kid, I had to love you. But to like you, too? I consider myself doubly blessed. I would like you even if you weren't my own. I am so happy with the person you are growing into and I'm glad to have the chance to be your mother.

I love that you can't drink your morning warm milk unless you're sitting in my lap. And I love that you say it tastes better while you're there. I love that you think you have to be holding my hand in order for you to go to sleep at night. I love that you say I am your best friend, because you are mine, too. It's cool that, just like me, you like ketchup, but not mustard or mayo. But the whole "cheesy broccoli is yummy" thing still has me puzzled.

Punkin', you are three years old today and I love you very, very much! These have been the best three years of my life and I couldn't imagine things without you. So come over here, give your best friend a hug, and let's watch Little Bear.

It just doesn't get any better than this. I love you more than anything. Even comments.

Love,
Your Mommy

First Birthday

Second Birthday

Third Birthday

He Knows How To Work It

While I'm cooking breakfast.....

Momma!! Look!!! I got all soaking wet!

What were you doing? Washing your lizard? (this kid likes his animals clean - and to hell with voluntary water restrictions to get them that way!!!)

I was playing with my fish and he jumped in the floor.

Of course, I race to the bathroom, save the fish from certain death, try to explain the concept of fish death to a three year old (yea! He's three today! Attempt at mooshy post to follow later) without scarring him for life (still haven't told him about Butterbean), and then run back to keep the eggs from burning.

----------------

Now we are eating the eggs mentioned above.....

Sit back down in you chair or you're going to fall!

(Continues climbing up onto the kitchen table. )

I said sit down or you're gonna fall!

(Starts sitting back down.

Falls, well half way falls, because I catch him)

Oooooh. I gotta boo boo.

Why do you have a boo boo?

Because it hurts!

Why does it hurt? What were you doing?

Because I fell!

Oh, because you fell! Didn't I tell you that you'd fall if you kept climbing? Why didn't you do what Momma said? Why did you keep climbing?

Because I just wannna love you, Momma.

And I wanna love the squishy alligator and the squishy lizard and the.....

Well, you get the drift of it right? He named about 10 other animals he wanted to love.

He may be only three, but he has already learned to drop the L word to get himself out of trouble.

I'm here to tell you it doesn't work on me.

Well, maybe it does work some of the time part of the time every once in a while occasionally.

The smile is hard to resist, even with breakfast on his face!!!!

Pecked by a Chicken

I always wanted my Punkin' to be special, to stand out from the crowd.

But not this way.

He was so proud to tell Daddy that the chicken had pecked him and that he had the "chicken poffs". However, it seems the chicken left him alone last night as I don't see any "pecks" this morning or any signs of scratching.

Ok, before I could post this - or even finish it- our pediatrician called us back. It seems they have seen cases of CP after vaccination. Just like the CDC said, they tend to be very light cases. After describing Punkin's symptoms she said it did seem like he had indeed been pecked, but that he had the best possible type of infection (he's special, remember?).

Since he has no fever - nor has he had one -, his pecks aren't "pustules", and they aren't increasing in number, she said he was fine to go back to school tomorrow. I think, however, they we'll stay pretty close to home until Monday, just to be safe.

I don't want to be that Mom!

So This Is What I Am.....

I'm an ISTJ - Introverted (???), thinking, sensing, judging.

ISTJs are responsible, loyal and hard working. They have an acute sense of right and wrong and work hard at preserving established norms and traditions. Because of their deep sense of duty they are dedicated to everything they do and are very dependable. ISTJs care deeply for those closest to them.

Us ISTJs only make up 12% of the population, with a breakdown of 15.5% male, 8.5% female. Out of the 29 real and fictional ISTJs listed, only 6 were female. We also count Eeyore, Batman and Darth Vader among us. I'm beginning to be either really sad or really scared to be me. Maybe both.

Six presidents and Queen Elisabeth II were ISTJs. Good.

One of the presidents is GWB. Not so good.

Cliff Clavin is also a ISTJ. Somebody get me a drink, ok???

However, one of the characteristics of my Multiple Intelligence Profile is "enjoys journaling".

Can you say BLOG??? Blog, blog, blog, blog. Now that one was dead on!!!

A lot of this was really accurate, some of it not so much so. Go take a look and see where you fall. Come back and let me know, ok?

Tell me I'm not alone with George Bush and Eeyore. If so, I might have to start channeling my inner Darth.....

My New Project

I have to admit to having a big case of writer's block these last few days. I usually don't have a shortage of words, but today they just aren't coming.

I could tell you that I sub'd at the mother's day out the past two days and that child care providers are waaaaaay underpaid. Or that Punkin' has been exposed to chicken pox and that it looks like he may have them. (edit. He does have them.)

But no one wants to hear that, right? Punkin' has been a little terror the past few days so there are no cute stories, only ones which would best serve as verbal prophylactics for the child free.

I do have a new project ready to start, though. Not that it is any less boring than the things I just mentioned, but at least I can take pictures of it! I've said before that I like to cross stitch, but I haven't started finished a project since shortly after Punkin' was born.

I had Punkin' pick out something for his room for my new project. Being that he has always been animal crazy, I shouldn't have been surprised at his choice. I really need to get going on this because his walls have nothing on them other than this

which is the project which was finished shortly after his birth. He picked out - big surprise here- a jaguarI've had everything ready to get started for a while now,

but this damn blog -and your damn blogs- keeps getting in the way! I've really got to learn how to allocate my time. And a little moderation wouldn't hurt me, either. I find sitting down and making little xxx for an hour or two really relaxes me.

I've given away most of my work, but a took/found photos of what I have here -

This is the first big project that I completed. My husband loves it, but it doesn't match anything so it's sitting in a closet in the basement.

This one is hanging in my bedroom. This cart looks almost identical to one of mine, Tabby. The flash lightened the cloth up a bit, but its really on a deep red, similar to the wall.

The mat is navy suede and I was really pleased with how the framing turned out. Kudos to The Rocking Horse. Wish your were still local for me!

I couldn't get a very good photo of this one due to glare from the windows, the lights, the camera. This is my favorite of the ones I have here. It hangs over our mantle in the living room.

If anyone wants to volunteer to fix that nail pop to the right of the frame, just send me an email!!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Love, Seal Style

That's Really Nice!

Yesterday I took a blogging vacation. No, not a break from blogging or reading blogs, but a break from life to wallow in blogs all. day. long.

It was great. I caught up on every last one of my feeds. I commented and laughed and thoroughly enjoyed my day off.

During my glorious day free of responsibility - well, except for cooking breakfast and putting Punkin' to bed - I found that I was the recipient of an award. Yes, me, Blue Momma. Nell, over at Meanwhile...., has found that I am deserving of the Nice Matters Award.

Now I really appreciate being called nice. I think I'm nice. But it's not necessarily something I hear that often. I'm pretty straightforward and honest about my feelings and this isn't always considered nice, especially down here in Sweet Home Alabama. Maybe in Massachusetts, where this fish out of water lived for 2 1/2 years, but not down here. But hey, Nell's from MA, so she must know what she's talking about!

Did I forget to say I ~fuzzy pink heart with little white kitties on it~ Massachusetts?? Well, I do. Best. state. evah! I was designated an honorary Yankee while I was there, thank you very much.

Ok. Now for the awarding of the awards. (cue drum roll)

And the Nice Matters Award goes to - in no particular order because I love you all the same-

Mommapeas - I have the pleasure of knowing Mommapeas in real life and she is indeed very nice. And purtty, too! She suffered through our three person book club meeting this month and loaned me the latest Harry Potter book so that I could feed my Harry addiction and remain cheap thrifty at the same time. Plus, she even thought I rocked and she's going all green and will probably single handedly save the planet.

Catwoman - Ok, have you read her blog? She's the best and I've stalked read her pretty much since about the day after I even knew what a blog was. She also leaves great comments (you knew I couldn't go a whole post and not mention comments!) and has the cutest little boy ever (well, besides Punkin'!). I've gotten to know her a little better lately via email and she really is nice. ~hugs~

Serina - I just found her blog not too long ago, but she is definitely seeming really nice. I mean she has the hots for Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer just like I do. I guess that's nice in a dirty kind of way, but still nice! And that whole post about the stripper and the poop? She handled that situation very nicely.

Buddha Girl - I think we may be somehow related because we have waaay too much in common. She's become one of my best bloggy buddies and hey, she wouldn't be if she wasn't nice! She's gonna have to move to Alabama so we can have play dates for our little guys. Ok, Buddha Girl? Please?

Kimberly - Because Kimberly is genuinely nice, and not in a she swears more than I do kind of way! Though she does like a cliffhanger in her posts, which I just don't have the patience for. But still, a very nice lady and definitely worth a read. It's fun to visit her blog just to check out her layouts, which change on a weekly daily hourly basis. And a while back she, totally out of the blue, offered to help me with mine. Too cool, huh? Very nice!

Ok, so that's my five. I could go on and on because I think you're all nice. And great. And beautiful. And smart. And kick ass moms. Your houses are all clean and your kids all mind. Your husbands rub your feet and take out the trash without being told.

And my one male reader, Dx, you kick ass, too. And you'll soon be doing it somewhere near the Mediterranean. With that super cool wife of yours, Senior Management. On second though, I take the compliment back. You suck.

Jealousy rears it's ugly head. Not very nice, huh? I guess the nice was good while it lasted.

Further proof that the nice is only a passing thing - I didn't mention my other male reader, the illustrious, the witty, the most manly man, the one and only Willowtree! His blog is always entertaining, he answers his comments, and A Dingo's Got My Barbie? Who the hell has a blog title like that? I bow to his awesome awesomeness and promise not to leave him out again! If when I read him I could just hear the Australian accent......... This isn't gonna get me one of those special awards is it?

Fun Monday

Ok, dear readers, it's Fun Monday once again. Our hostess with the mostess, Lisa, has issued the following challenge for this week's Fun Monday:

I’d like to know more about you, what makes you tick. I’d like to know how you started blogging. Did you keep a diary under lock and key safely hidden as a child? Do you still? Do you share the same things on your blog that you would have, or do, in your diary? Why did you start blogging and why do you continue? May as well throw in any roadblocks you have run into while blogging. If you still have your old diaries we’d love to see them.

I actually haven't been blogging for very long. In passing I would hear blogs mentioned on tv or on websites I visited, but I honestly didn't have a clue what a blog was. And just look what I was missing! Anyway, I joined a local Moms group - the best damn Moms group evah! - and while reading the member profiles discovered that our fearless leader had a blog. Well, as would happen with any addict, one drug blog led to another led to another led to another and I was hooked.

I started my first blog on MySpace, but pretty quickly moved up to blogger. If you were to peruse my archives and see some posts with pretty ugly formatting, those are the ones I copied over from MySpace. I don't think the three readers I had really minded me moving and I think two of them followed me here. But, as I said earlier, the blogging bug had bitten me and I had it bad.

I guess I started my blog as a way to express my feeling and experiences. How original, huh? But with hubby working all of the time and most of my friends still working full time, I found myself with a lack of adult conversation. The blog was a way of at least having a one sided relationship with someone over the age of two.

And it has turned into such a great conversation. Through this blog I've been able to communicate with people from all over the world. And though I may be being a bit presumptuous, I'd like to think I could even call a lot of you my friends. This world of bloggers really is a community and I'm so glad to be privileged to be a part of it.

I love being able to share the cute things my Punkin' says and does with people who will appreciate them - or at the very least silently tolerate hearing them! I love that you all put yourselves out there in your blogs and share your lives with me.

I think a lot of us feel a freedom on our blogs that we don't necessarily have in our everyday lives. My readers can't hang up on me or boycott Thanksgiving dinner because I piss them off. I can say what I think without looks or words of disapproval, disappointment or judgement. And if I get any of the above from you, why I can just delete your comments! (Though I've never had to delete a comment and it would have to be pretty damn bad before I did so).

I also certainly don't belittle the fact that I can also say shit or fuck or damn any time I want and no one gasps or covers their ears or suggests I come to Sunday school with them.

Family, coworkers, neighbors, friends - to some extent they have to listen. You guys are here, taking time out of your day, to spend a moment with me without any motivation other than you want to. I think that is so great and I truly appreciate it. I've discovered that that affirmation is something I want. I also want you all to move next door and ask me to borrow a cup of sugar or let your dog poop in my yard or turn your music up too loud - all of the things real neighbors do.

Because that's what you are. My bloggy neighbors, near and far. Thanks for letting me share a bit of your lives and for sharing a part of mine. My husband also thanks you for allowing me to vent a little steam somewhere other than towards him. I love all my bloggy friends - keep writing and I'll keep reading. And I'll be here, too, posting the exciting, the mundane, the funny, the silly, the boring - posting my life. ~smack~

Oh, damn. I always forget this part. I couldn't make it without the edit feature on this blog! Anyway, Nikki at "My Husband Calls Me Weird" is the next Fun Monday host - but we're skipping a week due to the Labor Day holiday. Visit her blog to accept the lastest Fun Monday challenge. Come on. I dare you.

The Party's Over

The calm before the storm.

Punkin's birthday party is now behind us.

I was falling asleep on the couch at 6pm last night. It kicked my ass. Really, it did. I took photos of the footprints it left, but they were too disturbing to show you. Take my word for it.

She saw the photos and look at her face! You'll just have to make due with a photo of the cake - from this side

and from the other side

It didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. I guess that's what happens when you wait until the very last minute because you're blogging soooo busy and don't practice at all. The grass, which was supposed to go around the outside of the cake and cover up the icing which I didn't even attempt to smooth out (because that shit was supposed to be covered with grass, duh), didn't cooperate. It didn't stand up, it just kind of fell over.

To be completely honest, the grassed looked like little limp penis or penises or peni - what the hell is the plural of penis? - and I so I gave up on them and went with the balls. What a theme I had! From little limp penises to balls!!

I guess the kids didn't mind. The cake was the hit of the party. And it wasn't because of its yummy Duncan Hines goodness. Or it's wonderful Wilton class icing. Or its flowing river of blue piping gel. You know what it was? It was the damn animals!

(Disclaimer: The camera adds 100 pounds. No, really. It really does.)

The animals I took from Punkin's stash to decorate the cake. And of course, I did sanitize them before putting them on the cake. I may be from Alabama, but I wasn't raised in a barn. Anyway, every kid there was screaming to take an animal off of the cake. No shit. They didn't want to eat the cake, just to pull the animals off of it.

It was a great party. The kids - and some of the parents - had fun swimming and busting all of the balloons we I had blown up the night before which were floating all over the pool. Forgot to take any outside photos. It was just too damn hot to be out there long if you weren't in swimming attire. Punkin' was so excited and so thrilled with all of the kids. He got a ton of animals toys which all of the kids had fun opening!

He also got a black eye fighting playing with his cousin and the giant monkey.

The giant monkey was also a big hit.

I recommend a giant monkey for all birthday parties.

My little man standing next to his great Grandmother. Doesn't he look all grown up?

Punkin' is now really the king of his castle. I'm not sure where this thing is gonna end up!

He played hard last night. As evidenced by the monkey carcasses in the jump-o-lene.

This is what I awoke to this morning in the basement playroom

This is me thinking about cleaning this mess up - or maybe you after waiting for this page to load. Sorry to any readers with dial up!!!!

100 Things About Me

In honor of my 100th post, I'm going to entertain enlighten thrill amuse bore you with 100 things about me. So get a big glass of your favorite beverage, take something to keep you awake, and then get as far down the list as you can! Just remember, this is about me, not Punkin', so it won't necessarily be entertaining, but humor me just this once.

1. I was born in Alabama

2. But I was meant to be a New Englander

3. I met my husband while selling shoes (both of us) at JC Penney

4. We were both still in college

5. He is just shy of four years younger than I am (Yes, I am a cradle robber!)

6. I started college when I was 16

7. And finished my last degree when I was 29

8. I got my first "real" job when I was 29

9. I never really wanted kids

10. But found out that I really love having a kid

11. I would like to have ten more

12. But I am too old and too poor to afford them

13. Plus I can't seem to get/stay pregnant

14. I don't like mustard or mayonnaise

15. I love ketchup

16. I love ketchup on steak even if you think I am weird and that ketchup on steak is gross

17. I cuss way too much to suit most people, but

18. I am pretty good at controlling it, unless I am angry

19. I sometimes get angry - a lot

20. Housekeeping isn't my forte

21. I do a mean cross stitch

22. But I can't design anything, only follow directions

23. I could care less if two men get married

24. I voted for Al Gore, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy

25. I can't talk politics with my mother

26. Or the rest of my family

27. Except for my 90 year old Granny. Who knew she was a closet liberal?

28. I have three cats which are my other children

29. They all sleep with me

30. I like to paint - walls, not art

31. I haven't stayed in touch with very many people from high school

32. But I wish I had

33. I have rekindled friendships with several classmates who I found on Classmates.com

34. I missed them dearly over the years

35. My son is my pride and joy

36. He is my greatest accomplishment

37. My son just ran into his room with a whole box of Scooby-Do gummy treats

38. I am good at being sneaky, but my son isn't

39. I don't really believe in spanking, but I have done it from time to time

40. Spanking never worked on me when I was a child

41. I can be very stubborn

42. I often think I am right

43. I often am right

44. I hate to be wrong so I will be silent in order to avoid being wrong

45. I will admit when I am wrong - if you can prove I was!

46. I have lived in three states - Alabama, Massachusetts, and Michigan

47. I loved Massachusetts

48. I will probably not live there again until I/we retire

49. I really like purple

50. I could live off of chips and salsa and spicy ramen noodles

51. I hate, hate, hate being on a budget, but

52. I love, love, love being at home with my Punkin'

53. I am really having a hard time thinking of 100 things to say about myself

54. I was a cost accountant before I became a SAHM

55. I love working with Excel and I have the new Microsoft Office- anyone need any spreadsheets done?

56. I took a Visual Basic class and had my employer buy me the software, but never coded a thing

57. If I was younger I would soooo go back to school and study computer programming

58. I may get my teaching certificate in a year or two and eventually teach math

59. I will probably never work in accounting again

60. I now value having a family friendly job over being well paid

61. It really sucks that family friendly jobs tend to not be well paying jobs

62. I love animals, all kinds

63. I love cats in particular

64. I was forced to go to church for the first 16 years of my life

65. I do not go now

66. I don't drink much, but

67. I often want to

68. I am a reality tv junkie

69. I am a tv junkie

70. If I wasn't married, and if I were electronic, I would marry my DVR

71. I think Moe Doodle is hot and do not tell me I am creepy

72. I wish I could sing well

73. I sing really badly

74. I would like to be bitten by Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

75. I would like it to happen multiple times

76. I have a distant ancestor who went to Oxford and who worked on the King James Translation of the Bible (what the hell happened between then and now?)

77. I have extremely curly/frizzy hair

78. I have blue eyes

79. I like making the decisions

80. I dislike making all of the decisions

81. I feel like I know the people whose blogs I read

82. I think this makes me kind of weird

83. I don't care that it makes me weird

84. I am a total comment whore - please leave comments, please

85. I should have put #84 higher up the list because no one will make it this far, making it irrelevant, along with this one

86. I like being around people, but

87. I also like time alone

88. I stay up to 2am most mornings to get that alone time

89. I don't get enough sleep and appear to be a zombie some days

90. I really like to talk and very seldom run out of things to say

91. Except for on this list - this is hard

92. I stay online waaaaaaaaaay too much

93. I tend to plan things really far in advance

94. Then I wait until the very last minute to implement the plan, causing much stress

95. I would do anything for those I care about

96. I would do anything to those I don't

97. I can be a bitch

98. I'm proud to be a bitch

99. I'm one from the end and can think of nothing else to say.

100. If you made it to 100 I just want to say I love you! In a nonstalkerish way, of course.

Kids Are So Funny

I wear contacts and they have really been bothering me today. This evening I was sitting at the table with a mirror, trying to see if there was something in my right eye which was causing my discomfort.

Punkin' crawled up on the table to see what I was doing. I explained to him that Mommy's eye hurt and that I was looking to see if something was in it. He wanted to know what was in my eye. I told him it felt like I had a baby hippopotamus in my eye.

You should have seen the look on his face!

He jumped down, ran to find his Daddy, and from the other room I heard:

Daddy! Daddy! Come in here! Mommy has a baby hippopotamus in her eye! Come, quick, come!

He was soooo serious. It was soooo funny. Maybe you had to be there.

I guess it just proves you need to watch what you say around kids. And not just the f word!

Wordless Wednesday: Too Pooped to Poop

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet Talkin' Man

(Lying in bed, trying to get Punkin' to take his nap. For a long time. Unsuccessfully.)

Punkin' be quiet and still and go to sleep. I'm not going to tell you again.

I'm sorry, Mommy.

It's ok. Just go. to. sleep.

I'm sorry you hit me and pinched me. (I promise I wasn't beating the child, even if I thought about it!)

(Silence)

Go. to. sleep.

It's gonna be my birthday and you're gonna make me a big ole birthday cake a beautiful birthday cake a birthday cake with animals. (All in one breath, I'm not just punctuationally challenged!)

I love birthday cakes.......

and I love you.

I love you, too, sweetie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He never did take his nap. I guess I'll let him get by with it this time.

Today Tag

So Mommapeas tagged me and I'm playing along. Now you'll find out just how boring I really am!

What I'm reading: Europe by Norman Davies - I've started the damn thing probably fifteen times over the past few years and don't think I've ever gotten past the first chapter. Something always seems to come up. At bedtime last night we read Hug by Jez Alborough. Not that there are too many words to read, but Punkin' can read has memorized the few that it has and is quite entertaining adding his own thought to the pictures.

Who I'm listening to: Ok, so I'm officially old. I never listen to the radio anymore and don't even know who most of the "cool" new artists are. We do listen to Choo Choo Soul every time we are in the car. Yeah, it's kid music, but it's the coolest kid music I've run across. Ok, smart ass, I know that's not saying much, but just give it a try, OK? The last CD I actually bought was the Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way. It's an excellent Cd, even if country isn't your favorite.

I've most recently watched: Max and Ruby. For the 10 millionth time. Do I get a prize or something? Before Punkin' woke up I was watching Civil War Terror on A&E. Can you tell I'm a bit of a history nerd? Hey, at least I'm not watching the Soap Opera Channel. Or the Reality Channel (only because I forgot about it, but don't tell, ok?).

What I'm cooking: Nothing exciting, I'm busy with birthday preparations (please see Agenda below). Probably Chicken Helper. Now you all may turn your nose up at anything with Helper attached to it, but I love me some Helper, especially Four Cheese Chicken Helper. Of course none of the stores around her carry it anymore so I must have been the only one who bought it. Dumb asses. That stuff rocks. Anyway, I guess it'll be whatever kind of Chicken Helper I have in the cabinet. We'll do some real cooking when there is no party and it isn't over 100 degrees.

What's on the agenda today: Punkin's birthday party is Saturday, so preparations are very much underway. I planned everything months ago, of course, but I've waited until the week before to do anything. We went to buy miscellaneous party supplies today, in the 104 degree heat, and it sucked ass.

Tonight I need to do a test run of the birthday cake, as I've never made this one or one this big before, so that I don't embarrass Punkin' myself at the party. Then make goody bags, roll the fondant for the trees on the cake, wrap presents, buy wrapping paper - obviously not all in the order listed.

Probably what I'll do is sit on my ass and read blogs while I let Hubby play with Punkin' and I put off everything until the verrrrry last minute. You'd think I'd learn.

Now I realize I was suppose to talk about movies I've most recently watched, not tv in general. That's really easy, because I've only seen one in I don't know when. It was Harry Potter - Order of the Phoenix. And it kicked ass. Though the book did kick even more ass, but isn't that usually true?

Ok, that about covers it. I tag M because she keeps hammering me with surveys on MySpace so she owes me one! Plus she is so damn entertaining I want to keep her off MySpace for ten minutes hear about her day.

Terrible Tuesday

If you are here looking for a funny, lighthearted post you'd best go ahead and hit next blog now. No humor here today.

This morning I had to put one of my cats to sleep. It was very sudden and totally unexpected. I picked him up yesterday - he doesn't like to be picked up, so I don't do it often - and noticed he weighed way less than normal. I mean it was really noticeable.

He has always been a big fluffy cat and even with the weight loss still weighed 12 pounds when we weighed him at the vet this morning. But you could feel his backbone and before now I really wasn't sure he even had any bones!

This cat was my buddy. He didn't care much for anyone but me, which suited me just fine. He was a rescue and I believe he was probably abused at his first home. It took two years before he would come and sit in my lap. But he did love to be brushed! He soooo loved it.

Lately all of the cats have spent most of Punkin's waking hours in our room. He is a little terror these days and loves to chase the cats. The last time he got after Butterbean the poor cat nearly did a back flip trying to get away from him. And back flips aren't easy for a 20 pound cat.

Anyway, as soon as Punkin' was in bed out the cats come, crawling all over me wanting some love. After noticing Butterbean's problem I realized that he hasn't been to see me in the last few nights. Poor baby.

So I take him to the vet this morning and they do some test and come back and tell me he needs a blood transfusion and more tests, which today amount to $500 with much more to come. I am torn as now that we are a one income family these kind of expenses are harder to recover from. We decided to go with the less aggressive - and less expensive - steroid treatments, but at the last moment decided to do a test for feline leukemia.

It came back positive.

Butterbean has been tested multiple times for leukemia and has always been negative. I had a similar experience with another cat, so I shouldn't be surprised, but I still am. I hate fucking feline leukemia.

So we were at the point - and he was in the condition - that the only options was to put him down. I cried and cried and cried. I'm still crying. He was my baby before I had my real baby. I loved him dearly and he felt the same about me. I'm overcome with sadness and just feel like shit.

He was a great cat and I will miss him much. Bye, Bye Butterbean.

Fun Monday (Well, Kind of ....)

The host of this week's Fun Monday is Uncaringbear and she asks this of us:

Share with us a little white lie that you may, or may not, have gotten away with. Perhaps it's something more sinister than a little white lie - maybe even a deep dark secret that you've kept buried for years! All the better! Now's your chance to get it off your chest and confess: "Yes, I did eat that last slice of cheese cake", "No, I wasn't washing my hair that Saturday", "Those pants do make you look fat"!

When I was growing up, our family had one of those standard, freezer on top refrigerators. Kind of like this

Notice the egg thingie in the door. Ours was never more than about half full. That damn thing must have held two cartons of eggs. Our fridge was also never quite that full. Anyway, Mother always kept a jug of water in there, as we didn't buy cokes at the time (they still came in those little glass bottles!), Kool-Aide would just wind up on the carpet and bottled water was only a distant dream.

I was a kid, we lived in the country and I was always bored. Always looking for any way to entertain myself. No matter how much of a little shit it made me. So I took to pouring water from the water jug into the egg thingies which were empty. Sometimes this was only a few and sometimes I got to fill them all. If you opened the door too fast you and/or the floor might end up soaked.

My Mother never could figure out what was going on. And I did this for years. Up until the time the old fridge died and was replaced by one without an egg tray. Just a few years ago I mentioned that old fridge and it's "problem" to my Mother. She said, yeah, she never could figure out what was wrong with it.

I laughed (and laughed and laughed) and told her what I had been up to and she was not pleased. Couldn't believe I could keep that up for something like ten years and not give it up. Her child!!!! It was quite funny - to me anyway - but it may be one of those things you just have to be there for. She still brings it up occasionally and I still laugh and she gets as pissed as her proper Baptist self can get. I sure hope my son has a little more mercy for me than I ever had for my Mother.

Anyway, this was the least lame thing (that's a hard one to believe isn't it!!) I could come up with for my inaugural Fun Monday. I've got to go clean my wreck of a house as I'm hosting our book club here tonight and would only like to be mildly embarrassed by the state of my house.

Of course after this lame post I guess I shouldn't be embarrassed at a little clutter.....

Hair Hell

Wash, blow dry and flat iron hair : 45 minutes


Get in car (in garage), drive 20 minutes to McWane Center for birthday party. Park in parking deck, take elevator to lobby. Spend 1 1/2 hours inside building. Obviously a very humid building. Take Punkin' to the bathroom on the way out and see this in the mirror

I hate summer.
I hate summer in Alabama.
I hate that I've got to go to an outdoor birthday party tonight, when my hair looks like this after staying inside.

I'm thinking of trying this look

Or maybe this
Oh. I take some of that hatin' back. There are some kinds of hot I don't mind.