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“It’s Called PUNishment not FUNishment”

Kids, Uncategorized, WritingWrite a comment

So said the late great Bernie Mac. Upon hearing those words, my husband decided that particular phrase must get marked down in his parental lexicon to be referenced for later use. Also included are Red Foreman’s ( That 70’s Show) variations on calling people a dumbass, and the one he currently employs regularly to the eternal frustration of Miss A: “Ok right now.” I believe he got that last one from Office Space. Whenever Miss A is dawdling (which is pretty much all the time) the husband will start in with the “What I want you to do now, ok right now, is to put your shoes on, ok right now, and then, ok right now…” it drives her completely nuts and usually results in her attacking him with what she likes to call “the neck chain” rather than actually completing whatever task he was attempting to get her to do. Yet he continues to do it.

Personally, I think he enjoys making her flip out.

Do all fathers share that? Do they all get a secret thrill out completely ticking their kids off just by repeating an oft-used and much hated turn of phrase?

I know my Dad did. Ugh. Even now I can hear him telling me “I can’t never did do anything.” You’d think, as much as that phrase annoyed me, I’d stop saying “I can’t!”

But guess what, I was a kid…”I can’t” is pretty much par for the course.

I get what he was saying, I get the message he was trying to teach me about not giving up. As an adult I can even appreciate the witty wording…but still…to this day that phrase raises my hackles.

Miss A says “I can’t” all the time. It is incredibly frustrating and I want her to cut it out and at least try her best…but I’ll tell you what…

I am VERY proud to say that I have never, not ever, responded by telling her “I can’t never did do anything.”

I just can’t do it.

When Being a Loser = Winning…Starting the Decade Right

Life, Uncategorized, Working OutWrite a comment

Tomorrow I’m joining a group of friends to start a 12 week Biggest Loser contest…we did one the fall of 2008 and I won! It was a great way to get rid of all the weight I put on with Lil’ G. The problem is, I’m still carrying some extra pounds I gained when pregnant with Miss A…and she’s 6.

So true

So, this is it, the start of a new decade, and one in which I don’t want to waste anymore time wishing I’d look better in a swimsuit or running in terror from the thought of trying  to find a pair of jeans I look good in.

I have always been active and enjoyed exercise, I have never been a “bad”  eater, I think I have more bad habits than anything else – mainly not eating all day and then, since I’m starving by dinnertime, eating too much.  I won’t even get started on genetics and all that – I know that my inherited DNA makes losing weight an extra hard uphill battle, but I refuse to let that be an excuse for me not to go for it.

Yep, that's me on the scale before I'm even a year old.
Yep, that's me on the scale before I'm even a year old.

Besides, there’s a lot of cash on the line!

And I really love to win.

My Gripe With GirlScout Cookie Time

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Miss A is a Daisy Girl Scout, which I don’t think they had around when I was her age (I was a Brownie, which now doesn’t start until 2nd grade).

As a homechool kid, it took some effort to get her involved in a troop – last year I was lucky enough to know another homeschool mom who was a troop leader and invited Aishtyn into the troop. This year that wasn’t an option, so I begged our way into another friend’s troop. It’s a good thing, because the charter school Miss A was just accepted into doesn’t have a Girl Scout troop either.

I love Girl Scouts, Miss A makes new friends, learns how to be a good citizen, and has fun doing all sorts of activities and crafts. (Like Christmas Caroling with these really cool home-made flame-less “candles” I have to show you how they made these sometime, they are really neat!)

This year, Miss A will take part in that classic Girl Scout tradition – COOKIE SELLING.

My idea of selling Girl Scout cookies involved setting up shop in front of a bookstore or StarBucks and letting the incredibly charming Miss A sell away.

Apparently, you can’t do that. To sell in commercial locations, the whole troop needs to be involved.

Plan B: the plan I think many girls implement – is to give the list to their parents to take to work. Um…no…there is no way the husband is pimping cookies at work. I know him, and he just won’t do it. (Thanks Dad, for helping me sell enough cookies when I was a kid to stack boxes higher than my head!)

Brownie Melonie edit

So I guess it will have to be the “classic” method. Door to door solicitation. Which would be fine except for the fact that we live in the MidWest and it’s the start of January.

And therein lies my gripe with Girl Scout Cookie time.

Aside from asking girls to trek through snow and subzero temps to peddle Peanut Butter Patties, I question the wisdom of this choice for other reasons.

January? Really?

What makes you think that trying to sell people cookies the same week they are all making resolutions to lose weight and eat healthy is a good idea? Everyone just dropped all their extra cash on a gym membership or fancy piece of exercise equipment…they will have no dough left for a $4 box of Tag-a-whatevers!

And if they didn’t spend money on the above, they are probably still broke from the holidays. Not to mention completely cookied out from all the seasonal goodies and treats.

This is Miss A’s first year, so maybe I am unaware – do they sell cookies again at other times of the year?

And just to clarify, I love Girl Scouts, this is not a negative comment on them – it’s just one mom’s gripe.

Now, who wants to buy some cookies?

So I’m Fickle

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In November I talked about my love for the recently discovered website, Pandora – in which I was able to listen to music while madly typing my way towards my 50k goal.

I loved Pandora, I loved how it introduced me to new artists based on stuff I already liked (hello Frou Frou and Jem (no, not with the Holograms). I loved the cute little widget I can add to my website and share what I’m listening to (I always find it interesting to see what kind of music people like). I loved that I could build different “radio stations” based on my mood or what I was doing.

But all was not perfect  in the Pandora world…my biggest beef is the limit they place on how much you can listen for free…well then, that’s not really “free” anymore.

Then along came Last.fm…oh sweetness and light, I am saved! This site is really neat – totally free, listen as long as I like, and a big list of free mp3s available to download to boot. They also allow you to select artists you like and build playlists based upon your taste, and they include videos (cool, huh?)!

Sorry Pandora, I just found something a little better.

I hope we can still be friends.

Book Binge has Great Taste!

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One of the positive things I am discovering about joining FaceBook is that it is easier for me to keep abreast (please pause for a moment to let your inner junior high boy giggle, done? ok) of the latest from my fav sites I don’t do a daily visit to (yes, I can do that from GoogleReader, but FB makes it so much easier for the lazy person hiding in me).

This was how I discovered that:

A – I totally missed an awesome series of book giveaways for the 12 days of Christmas at Book Binge

and B – they are featuring Karen Marie Moning in their author spotlight this month.

I love Karen’s books. The Highlander time travel series and the Fever series, she writes fun heroines, sexy sexy heroes and great dialogue. So yay for Karen!

Right now they are hosting a tournament of KMM heroes, so go and place your vote. Oh, and you can vote for more than one (kinda like having your cake and eating it too…but if I think about that too long in reference to KMM’s heroes I’ll need a cold shower).

The Crying Game

Blogroll, IMO, Movies, UncategorizedWrite a comment

Over at the Quiet Life, Monday Muse Miz Booshay was talking about how she cries readily and regularly at movies (me too), how she cried during the first 10 minutes of UP (me too, just saw that with Miss A last weekend), and how, amongst fellow movie criers, when watching Julie&Julia, she was alone with her tears (I haven’t seen it yet, so I’ll have to let you know).

Her post got me thinking about the movies that have made me cry the most – and the ones that are sure to make me cry every time I see them (which is why I avoid some of them – they pack an emotional punch I only need to get hit with once, kwim?)

One such movie for me is What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I cry during so many parts of that film, but it’s the moment after the mother passes away and there is the issue with the stairs that I just lose it completely. If you know my family, you’ll understand why, I think.

I cry, of course, during Gone With the Wind, when Scarlett calls for Rhett and he doesn’t know, when Bonnie dies, and of course, when she finally realizes she loves him just a little too late.

I admit it, I cried during Titanic.

I cried during Somewhere in Time, sigh, I love that movie.

I cried during Shakespeare in Love, SIGH, I love that movie even more.

Miz Booshay talks about having the good movie cry  – you know, the joyful cry – tears of happiness – and I’m trying to think of movies that spark that in me, I know it has happened, I just can’t recall any right at this moment…

I’ll think about it and get back to you…

after all, sometimes a solid happy cry is good for the soul.

Especially after watching Gilbert Grape.

The List of Shame

IMO, Music, Time Wasters, UncategorizedWrite a comment

We all have them, those songs that we should probably be too “something” for – too old, too cool, too un-cool, too non-conventional, too mainstream, too whatever..but despite it all, we still love them.

Or maybe we know a song is really bad: the lyrics are beyond awful, the singer had enough electronic assistance and back-up singers to start a dozen bands, the tune is obviously trying too hard to be catchy and you MUST resist…but somehow you…can’t…(imagine that last part in the voice of Cpt. Kirk).

Case in point: I just bought a song from itunes from a singer I really can’t stand…really. Lady GaGa is more Lady GagGag to me, and when that new Bad Romance song of hers comes on the radio I shriek like I’ve been bitten by a hyena and clutch at the stereo dial, praying I can get the damn song off before my head explodes from the awfulness. Yet, somehow, I find myself really liking another of her songs. Everytime Paparazzi comes on the radio, I find it still playing in my head hours later – and I like it. So I caved, and for just under $3, bought a series of 4 remixes of the song.  There, I admitted it.

Which made me think of other songs I liked, but if anyone caught me singing it (or rocking out to it in the car, yikes), I wouldn’t deny it, but would feel I had to justify it somehow…or at least acknowledge that I should be embarrassed by my poor taste in music.

So here we go – my list of Top 10 Songs I Should Probably Be Ashamed To Admit I Like

10. As discussed above, Paparazzi by Lady GaGa

9. I am a mom to a 6 year old, which means I have accepted that Hannah Montana is going to be a part of my life. But I admit I really like some of her songs, especially Hoedown Throwdown

Somehow it goes against my principles to like songs from an American Idol winner, but sometimes they are just so darn catchy!  So that reason alone, covers the following 3:

8. That Jordin Sparks song…One Step At a Time

7. Before He Cheats Double Whammy: an American Idol winner AND a country song!

6. Battlefield again by Jordin Sparks – I was kind of irritated by this song when I first heard it, (steal from Pat Benatar much?) but the more I hear it (and it’s rather hard to escape it) the more it grows on me…like a fungus.

5.  1,2,3,4 by Plain White Tees  – Lil’ G really likes this song, and in a year or two, probably could have written the lyrics for it…but I have to say, I like it too.

4. Here I Go Again by Whitesnake Crazy women who go to court for beating their husbands doing  naughty things to the hood of a car aside, there’s something about this song that just makes you want to belt it out at the top of your lungs.

3. Fallout Boy – I Don’t Care Really? Fallout Boy? I know, but I love to run to this song.

2. Taylor Swift – Love Story I suppose I shouldn’t be embarrassed, based on the number of awards this girl has won even Jesus buys her music, which kind of makes me wish I didn’t like it (the whole not wanting to like what everybody else likes).

1. Nickelback….So Far Away Ok, this one I am truly ashamed of…of all the bands out there, Nickelback is one of the biggest jokes – poser rock to the extreme, Google Dolls squared. But this one song, I like it… alot.

I am sure there are more…oh so many more…but those are the ones I could think of right away.

So embrace your bad taste and be proud: what songs do you love when you rather wish you didn’t?

It’s the dawn of a new decade, and I’m joining the Dark Side

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Yes, 2010 is here, and I have finally crossed over…given in…taken the plunge…I have joined the Dark Side FaceBook.

For years now friends have encouraged me to get on board and I have demurred and ran screaming (well, not really that last bit). Partly because I get my blogging fix on this here site, and partly because I harbored some secret hope that the legions of suckers Facebook users would all get hit with some crazy computer virus/identity scandal and me, in my brilliant move to not go with the flow, would avoid the travesty and could stand on my isolated mountain top of non-web-socialization and laugh.

Well, it’s 1-2-2010 and I have become a sucker joined Facebook. Aside from connecting to friends and keeping up with such important things as their favorite t.v. shows and what they ate for dinner last night, I joined to help spread the word about my theatre company, and to beg people to buy my book when it eventually gets published (notice I did not say “if”).

And yes, I’ll admit it’s pretty cool to see how people from my past are doing.

So if you have joined FaceBook years ago, or like me, are just getting on board the mothership now, look me up and we’ll be FBFFF (face book friends forever  – I just made that up). I made it easy with a little link you can click on (check it out over in the sidebar).

Don’t worry, I promise not to waste your time posting about what I had for dinner last night.

Unless it was really really good.

Feliz Navidad & Bob Rivers: On the Air with Miss A and Mr J

Hallmark Moments, Homeschooling, Kids, MusicWrite a comment

Recently, Miss A had a chance to visit a local radio station and hang out with the disc jockeys for a bit. Our homeschool group was invited to come to the station and get a little on-air time, answering questions about what it is like to be a homeschool kid, and since it was right before the holidays, there were some Christmas questions thrown in as well.

Miss A and her homeschool buddy Mr. J (whom you may remember from the Hawaii proposal) were the first to get behind the mic. These two are anything but shy: both loquacious and precocious, it was sure to be interesting.

My favorite moments (aside from their unsolicited commentary on Michael Jackson) included Miss A singing Feliz Navidad, and Mr J blowing the d.j.’s away by spotting Bob Rivers’ name on their title screen.

Here it is: On the air with Miss A and Mr J!

I apologize for the shaky video at first, I’ve only used my new Flip (thanks Joyce!) a few times and am still getting the hang of it 😉 it gets better later on!

And click HERE for an audio clip to skip all the extra stuff and just hear how they sounded on-air.