Busy never ends.

Or, at least that's what it's been like. We are going to Minnesota early Wednesday morning for a mini vacation. I have family there & look forward to spending a little time (even if it is a little, it's time). Dock has to work, so he'll be here by himself for 6 days. The horror! I look forward to it all.

We went to the lake (Lake Michigan) on Saturday. The water was pretty warm, unfortunately the wind was blowing pretty heavy, so out of the water was cold. It was a lot of fun. Some (lots of) pics to entertain:

Kyle actually stumbled over after this pic.

I will see you all & be back to normal when we return! It's also been busy with me making earrings. I'm a machine! I've made 49 pairs so far. I know I'll make a couple more tonight, too. Heh.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta!

It's been a whirlwind week for me. I took on a big happy project, that some of you may care about & others not. When the time comes, I'll spill. I have my neice with us til Saturday - so we've been having fun hanging out. And...big happy and, my oldest son finally called me! I can't even begin to tell you all how happy that made me! Whoever hasn't read about him, you can do that here (if you have a minute or a few). It was one of those posts that turned into something more than I meant for it to.

I miss you all & will be visiting very soon. I.am.so.behind.

I got some news from that phone call - freaky weird & joyful happy all at the same time. I'm not really "old enough" to have a nearly 22 year old kid. I do, and I guess I'm rather fortunate that he was responsible enough to wait until he was quite a few years older than me to have a baby. But, yeah - big news - I'm going to be a GRANDMA! Wow - that is looking really strange here & feeling even stranger. Me? ME! Nu-uh...nope, *siiiiiigh* yes.

My Photo for today - I have been working on graphics for a long time. When I first saw & started doing colorizations, I thought they would be terribly hard & I would suck at it. I didn't suck after a while. This pic is my favorite colorization that I did. It really was black & white before I got ahold of it. I just wanted to share - no biggie, but I liked it.

Join the fun!
Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

Candid Carrie is a wonderful hostess!

I just read about

the passing of George Carlin. Right now I don't have time to express what I thought of him, but I know I will miss his shows. The world is short a great comedic genious, now.

On the second day of summer

My hubby gave to me -
a bright shiny red SUV!

Okay, he didn't. Maybe when gas prices go waaay dowwwwwwn! Gah! I can't believe the prices! It's hard for me not to reminisce when I'm at the pump, thinking back on that little silver Corolla and putting 5 bucks in to last the week! I'm not that old, either. It was like 75 cents a gallon. Before 2001, it took a while for gas prices to climb as astronomically as they are today! Even back in 2001 we weren't even paying 2 bucks a gallon. I remember that July, Dock man was bitching about gas being $1.79. So, doing the math - it took about 13 years for gas to climb a dollar in price. Now, in 7 years, we've jumped nearly $3. This is just sick & twisted. Especially since the oil companies are reporting 36 billion in profit for the first quarter... not mmmillions, bbbbbillions! They are lining their pockets even better now that there's a "crisis". I know I don't read enough stuff or even think enough about politics & the economy, but the way everything is getting out of hand, I just can't understand the why - not at all.

Ahhh...I feel a little better. I am so glad the day camp is done! No more early mornings for me! Yahoo! At least not until school starts again.

I am already not happy with my header & the image decorations - sorry, but I have to change. When it's "right" for me, I won't change it for a very long time. I'm not into the images I used. Can't feel it anymore. I haven't been working much on my bloggy stuff - I'm going start a couple more (ad blog & store blog), but I've been doing so much with the kids. It's like I'm antsy as hell to work on all my "projects". Maybe the next couple of days will give e the time to work on my layouts & pick a name for my store... Another thing I need to work out - Ebay store or Etsy store (along with my blog store). I know not many dropped by to praise my work, but I am confident that I can do this. I keep thinking those are my first ones, so I will get so much better! Plus, not everyone likes the same style stuff. I have to be a little more diverse in style - I can't make what I like all the time. Heh.

I forgot to mention the fit my daughter threw at day camp. Fun. I always talk about how good my kids are when we are "out" anywhere. Most of the time, they really are.

Miss Independent was so very tired after an early morning, a long drive, & a long morning walk, that she couldn't help herself. She wanted someting she couldn't have. First simple, quiet tears & shivering lip. All of the sudden - full blown fit! I had no bedroom to put her in til she calmed down, I couldn't console her (miss independent..), my hell hath glazed eyes weren't working, whipering angrily in her ear wasn't helping & ignoring her made it worse. It was awful! I mostly felt really bad for her because she was being so stubborn I couldn't pick her up and she was. so. tired!. I felt eyes on me thinking, "aren't you gonna do something?" I finally got her to go pee, cause after she started dancing & yelling while fit-ting, "I g o t t t a go peeeee!" I had no choice but to pick her up & feel her wrath. In the bathroom, told her I knew she was tired and me, quite pissed off, I added that she had to cut it out - NOW! What I really wanted to do was put her in bed! She cried during her pee, she wouldn't pull her pants up & we went back out into the play area & she refused to move. I went out to grab our stuff, thinking we could sit in the car for a while & maybe she'd nap. *sigh* I was entirely angry & frustrated.

Along comes this girl, no older than 11. She takes Miss Independent's hand & walks her into the building. I gather my things & go in to see this girl consoling my daughter in such a sweet way, talking to her about being there meant having fun & crying wasn't so much fun! I'd seen this girl all day with 2 younger sisters, so I'm thinking this was something that came rather naturally to her. It was bliss! I was so thankful - what does one who is thankful do besides say thank you? I had no idea. It just felt like it wasn't enough.

Okay, these pics aren't the best quality, but I just wanted to show a few. Today, I gave a pair away to one of my son's classmate's mom. She liked them & the ones I was wearing, so maybe this is a good thing. ;)

Please let me know what you think! I had Cub Scout day camp today - took the whole boat. Miss Independent got so worn out by the end of the day that I had to carry a sleeping 4 year old through the woods - a good hike to the car. AGH! My arms were rubber! I will show some pics of Dew shooting arrows out at the archery range and fishing later or tomorrow. He got a bullseye and broke a clay pidgeon with an arrow! I didn't get to see it, though - had to stay with Miss Independent at the Pixie camp (too bad she's not independent in a way that I could leave her & actually walk with Dew's Den.). Dew's Den leader took some pictures for me.

I made some earrings!

My hands hurt a bit, but I think I'll get used to using the tools. They get pretty dirty, too - go figure, I didn't expect that part. Heh.

I haven't taken any pics yet, I want to create a nice space for taking the pics. Got to do the presentation right, you know. I have been thinking about where & how in my house would I create a decent space? Me thinks I need to go out & purchase a few pretty drop cloths. Ihave plenty of decor props for a finishing look, I suppose...

In the meantime, I will snap some simple pics & you all can tell me what you think. One thing to keep in mind, they are beginner earrings & eventually I will get better & the designs will become more ornate. Another thing, I really limited myself on what I bought because I wasn't sure how I would enjoy doing this & whether or not I actually could. Since I am loving it - I can't tell you how hard it is for me to sit here & not jam the kids in the car to go out & buy MORE! Now, I will be better at coordinating the beads & pieces I choose, including the clasps, accessories & hangs.

Yeah, baby! I'm so excited! *spoken with a English then Scottish Mike Meyers accent* for real. Once I have a few pictures, I will show & hopefully I will get some feedback from you all! Maybe you'll say "I would spend a little of my hard earned cash on you pretty work!".

A new toy for our (my) desktop

So, the other day, I discovered Yahoo! widgets. These are little toys/gadgets for your desktop. I'm a little late in the game because they have apparantly been around for some time (3-4 years?). I downloaded the puzzle maker, the weather gadget, the triangle game, Calvin & Hobbs comic strip gadget & the bouncy ball. The widget only shows the ones you download. If you expand the widget, it has some standard gadgets included like a clock. The puzzle maker allows you to drop any picture into it & you can select the amount of pieces (up to 120). It's neat! I like having the weather gadget on my desk top, too.

Baseball must have been browsing the gadgets you can add & he discovered I Speak. This little doohickey will say anything you type into it. I know there are computer hardware accessories that you can buy to do this very thing. The voice is a masculine computer voice. He showed it to me & we discovered it can give us hours of amusement.

Just yesterday, Dew got home from day camp & was rather crabby. Baseball opened I Speak & started typing. Poop was his first entry & I Speak said poop in a masculine computer voice. The next entry had Baseball just typing in random letter to see if I Speak could actually pronounce the jumblies. It did and sounded uber silly! I typed in some things (punk bitch, yes, I am juvenile, but I had to! It will cuss if you ask it to) and it spoke them with great clarity. Dew heard & was automatically intrigued by this wicked computer toon voice. He comes over & proceeds to try & take over (fruitlessly, as always). Because he isn't allowed to do what he wants, the squealing begins. Baseball then types in "Andy is a poo-poo." I Speak says that very phrase easily perfect. Dew tries not to smile & dilligently continues trying to take over. Eventually Dew is faux crying. Baseball types in "Andy is a cry baby sally". That phrase sounds so clear & funny coming out of the computer speakers, we all laugh. He plays it repeatedly and more laughter is generated.

When Dew finally gets his hands on it, he types in (or tries to, he can't spell everything , yet) "Kyleisapoopydiaper", only he can't spell diaper right & he made a couple more errors. So, I Speak says.."Kyle a is a poopy dapyr". Like it's all one word. I swear, as silly as it was, we were all cracking up like mad!

If you are so inclined to waste some time with the kids one afternoon, check it out. It really is a lot of silly fun. It cures some boredom, too.

The last of the rearranging...heh

Since I have had no luck with the adsense, I am removing it from here. This is mah family blog! I am keeping the Amazon widget, though - because I like Amazon & I can use it to purchase my own stuff. In my attempts to try to make a little cash with this blogging thing, I figured I might have more success with the ads if I actually talk about stuff I use. Since the new blog will be about things I use & how I feel about them, I can has all my ads on there! I enjoy blogging & if there is a way for me to make a little money doing it, then I will try. I have to do something because with the price of everything going up everywhere, I don't like the idea of Dock bending his back every week & me not helping a little.

Some ventures for me: I will start creating jewelry (mom's been doing it for years & has always encouraged me to try. I am going to start creating stuff for me, that I like - hopefully I will get some followers who like my stuff. Maybe then, I can open my own Etsy shop or just sell from a specialized blog); I am in the process of learning more about writing a custom template (learning how to alter the one I create to have several different templates), then customizing & creating perfect blogs. I hope that I have enough creativity to offer others. Since I am working these things out, I am finding less time to read my favorites! Have to get back to that because I miss you ladies!

Carrie - I may have more than 3 readers, but the ones who post comments are my favorites! ;) & you, lady - are so funny, I so look forward getting my daily dose! Even though I'm not missing yours everyday, I haven't been posting comments as much. I can't imagine how much you have going on, now, in such a short time. You are successful for just being who you are! Fabulous!

Cathy - you are an amazing person! I get that from reading your blog. I wish there were a way to one day meet up. I know it isn't plausible right now, but maybe one day! A blogger conference or something! You seem to be so many things that I'm not & that appeals to me in a way I can't explain. On the same token, I think we share many of the same views & I've only been reading you for a short time. I am glad I found your blog, because reading it - for me - is inspirational because you are just you.

Sorry - I got all sappy just thinking about how only the 2 of you have made an impact in my life in such a short time. This blogging thing is really amazing. That the 2 of you take the time to read me - that is almost inspiring enough on its own. Thank you!

Everyone else who spends time here - thank you , too. Now that I'm realizing I can have my cake & eat it, too - my posts may become more fun to read.

Monday was Funday!

Yes...well, I was planning on taking the kids to see either Ironman or Kung Fu Panda last night. The whole scenario changed when Dock man whined, "You're gonna leave me...all.. alone?" Gah. So, we discussed. The kids started throwing out ideas after he said he didn't want to see a movie.

he is a "stay-in" kinda movie guy, doesn't do well at the show, thinks it's too uncomfortable - whateva

Baseball (fka, Kyle) starts talking baseball with Dock because it was mentioned that I have one of Baseball's strike-outs at bats on video/photo. Baseball argues that he can hit better than his dad any day of the week! I stress that his dad was a sporty young lad and can probably still hit pretty well. The idea of batting cages comes up & voila! We have Zao Island! An outdoor/indoor mecca of games & fun! They have bumper cars, go carts, mini-golf, a HUGE arcade and even baby alligators to feed. Don't worry they are out of gnawing ankle reach!

I had to let Dew know that he couldn't go in & pet them. If he did, they'd gnaw a hole in his ankle or worse.

All is decided - I go to finish the paperwork for the Cub Scout day camp (Camp To-po-ne-be, I kid you not) that Dew will be attending Tues-Fri, and return home. Time to go!

Heading towards our destination, - there's a reason for telling this tale, and I hope you find it as amusing as I did - we catch a light getting ready to turn left. Green light & we wait.

Baseball: What are we doing?
Dock: Waiting for traffic.
Me: Yeah, gotta wait for the cars to pass.
Baseball: But why is it taking so long?
Me: Cause your dad's driving.
Dock (to me): You better watch it or I'll have to press the passenger eject button.

I had a good laugh. In the meantime, Dew mentions we're not going the right way.

Dock: We're not? Lead the way, buddy!
Dew: You go that way.
Dock: Which way?
Dew: That way! (from the back of the van where no one can see him, he must be pointing in some direction.)
Dock: Okay, that's the way we're headed!

As time goes on, I will reveal more of Dock man's sensitive nature & comfortable humor.

The time had was ultimately fun! The kids were glad we went to Zao rather than the movies. Miss Independent (fka Maia - I'll explain that another time) was happiest turning in our tickets. She caught the motherlode there. After that, we went out to dinner, which is rare because Dock works so much.

I just took Dew to the drop site..yes, he's gone for the day & I am sad. As much as he makes me crazy, I sure do miss when he's not here. He's going to have a blast today! They do things at this day camp that I know we aren't the type of family to do with him. Shoot bows & arrows, fish (yeah, we don't), shoot BB guns *shock*, etc. It's highly supervised. We aren't real outdoorsy, but I am proud to say he won't miss out on outdoorsy type activities!

TTFN

I am an indiscriminate watcher of movies

I had to begin this post that way. I want to warn you that there are plenty of movies I like that really suck to most other people. If I see something I really got a kick out of or really enjoyed, I will post about it. I never listen to others' reviews. I have to see for myself if the acting was truly lame or if the plot was non-existent. Since you've all been forwarned (my 3 readers), I can go forward! I must also mention that I think I have an 18 year old young man living inside me because, I loved this movie!

I had to warn because after watching Crank last night, there should be something said about gratuitous sex & violence. An amazingly funny (yeah, that did surprise me) movie about a guy who's been injected with a poison that affects his adrenal glands, nearly shutting them down. In order to stay alive, he has to figure out how to maintain high adrenaline to keep his heart rate above a certain level. He does this in many ways - if you watch the movie, you'll see. The ride in this movie is fast & furious. It stars Jason Statham (The Transpoter & The Transporter 2) as the dying hit man, Amy Smart (The Butterfly Effect) a ditzy blond at her finest for this role, and Jose Pablo Cantillo as a hit man with serious(ly funny) anger management problems. Dwight Yokam makes an appearance as an underworld doctor & his character is lovable in a raunchy, sardonic way. This movie is filled with action & loads of sarcastic humor. I laughed out loud several times! I know that's bad considering some of that laughter takes place during scenes that are killer & sexy.

Just to give you an idea of some of the comedy in it, in one scene - after Doc has given Chelios some advice about epinephrine (Doc is somewhere else, getting ready to fly back to LA), he decides he needs some because other things he's tried are wearing off & not keeping his heart rate up enough. Chelios makes his way to a hospital pharmacy & can't remember the name of it. When the famale pharmacist tells him what he's looking for but won't give it up, a patron (Linkin Park's Chester Bennington) suggests nasal spray. Chev grabs handfuls of it & heads out. In the meantime, the pharmacist is calling hospital security (Chelios' composite drawing is all over the tv, as he has brought some chaos to the city). Heading out, two cops spot him & a chase ensues first inside, then outside the hospital. Chelios dons a nifty hospital jonny to try & throw off the cops, but it doesn't work. He's running down the street, nude under the jonny & gets a call from the doc. Doc explains that too much epi will cause certain symptoms - heart feels on fire, very cold feeling & raging hard-on. Chev realizes the former along with the audience. Juvenile comedy glee!!

Another little funny quirk, everytime Chelios' cell phone rings, it, too, sounds like it's dying. Nice little nuance.

Filled with double cross & non-stop action, I would recommend Crank to anyone who enjoys a little gore, lots of violence, sex & sadistic comedy. It's unfortunately unrealistic but worth my 88 minutes of watching time - by a long shot! I watch movies to be entertained & Crank came through for me.

Father's Day - My Two Dads and My Man

Since it is now the wee beginning of that special day for Dads, I will have to pay tribute to my own. This may take a while, please be patient.

My Dad. My step-dad, actually. I do consider him to be my dad, though. He provided for me; he stood up for me during some of the most trying & important times in my life; he was uber silly often (especially after a few beers); he took me camping & tubing; he gave me a dysfunctional but honest view of the world.

He spent over 17 years married to my mom and continues to be my dad even though they have been divorced for almost that long, now. Even though it's rare I hear from him anymore, he remarried a psychotic chihuahua (if anyone knows anything about chihuahuas, they know how possessive they are), I still think about him often. He will once & a while call me if he gets depressed or upset about his current living situation.

He is the man I helped convince that the woman he was living with was not doing right by his son - I did this from 1100 miles away. He actually listened to what I had to say. He responded to my scariest concerns. I miss ya, dad! I will call tomorrow & hopefully your chihuahua doesn't piss on your leg or bite through your cell.

---

My other dad. My birth father. Hmmm, where do I go with this? I'm unsure about that. When I first moved to Indiana, I got in touch with that side of my extended family, as I hadn't seen any of them for over 13 years. We kept in mild contact for a few years, lost that contact, then I contacted a few of them again about 6 years ago. I have been in mild contact with one of my uncles (awesome dude! Happy Father's Day, Uncle Joe!) and a couple of my aunts. My father was one of 10 kids.

During this time, I didn't speak with my father. Some of the family members were guarding me against it. I've not heard very good things about him from his own siblings. I don't know him. I do know that he called me several days ago and mentioned he would be in town. The time that I'd heard from him before that, well, it didn't go very well.

What I didn't understand at the time of the previous call was his expectations of me. I hadn't called him (nor would I) in several months. He spouted on about how I should call more often & he wanted to be a part of my life (I was 34 at the time). The responsibility isn't mine, it never was. I gave him an idea of how I felt about him and I honestly didn't think I'd ever hear from him again. When I answered that last phone call, I didn't know what to think. I almost didn't want to talk to him. He spoke of issues he was having & how he'd moved & had his leg amputated (I think he mentioned that the time before - or is it both legs now?). This conversation was centered around him - a little narcissistic in nature. He failed to ask about the kids, though he mentioned they were his grandkids, his only ones, because I was his only daughter. He mentioned that if ever he should die, that I would get everything....chuff. He doesn't have anything, least not that I know of. He mentioned that he has the pics of the kids in his wallet, he keeps them in there...hooray for you!

I did spend a month or two with him the summer I was 15. In that short span, I spent more time with friends of his or doing what I wanted than with him. It was a fun summer, don't get me wrong - what 15 year old doesn't want to spend summer nearly unsupervised? Before that summer it had been at least 9 years since I'd spent any time with him. After 36 years, it's all too important that I work time into our schedule to go see him (because I certainly won't be giving him my address...eeeks!). Yay for him! If he has all my 36 birthday presents saved up, I might do it!

---

My hubby - Dock Man. He has learned to be better dad than his own. He is the silliest dad, for sure! He sings silly songs, makes up his own words and has conversations with the kids using those words, likes to have hockey fights with the boys, he is the "fun" parent. At the same time, he has the kids' respect. They behave better when he's around (not fair!), they listen better to him (sooooo not fair!) and he is the "fun" parent (I know, redundant, but it had to be said again). The kids know he loves them & they adore him. He will spend his Father's Day doing what he loves best - following his fantasy baseball without interruption! No chaos tomorrow! I hope it's as peaceful for you, hon, as you helped make Mother's Day for me! I love you!


Shameless plug of my son's photography. (Kyle's pics from his field trip)

Just playing around again.

So, I was a little bored this morning & I created this custom layout using digital scrap elements from Shabby Princess. The elements I used are free elements and I did not create them myself, I just altered them a bit to fit what I was trying to achieve.

The actual template is from Our Blogger, the Penthouse style. That is the template I am using for my own blog. They have several other ones. I discovered their templates doing a search & they are technically correct & easy to work with.

I still have so much to learn, but for now, I am going to play around with what I have to become more comfortable with this stuff. Eventually, I hope to learn everything I need to so I can create my own templates & my own elements (I have a good deal of experience playing around with design for other hobbies I've had).

I still have my offer of redoing a layout for someone who might be inteested. I will keep that open for as long as it takes. Heh. The practice will be good for me & any guinea pig, erm, person who might like a change is welcome to ask for one!

Later tonight or tomorrow

I feel a need to post some eye candy. I don't know about you all, but I love looking at men who I might see in my dreams. From time to time, I find myself obsessed with a music or movie star who can hold my attention for more than a minute (okay, maybe not obsessesed because I don't often obsess over anything). Not because they are interesting or intelligent but because they really look good. I give kudos for superb acting and/or singing ability, but it isn't necessary if you look like this:




The lead guy, the hottest thing in the video (Matt, from Avenged 7 Fold), is my latest music crush & prolly will be for a long time. He seems to epitomize my dream of the perfect man (absolutely perfect bod, perfect smile - man those dimples, pefect boyish good looks)! So, let your eyes do some walking (imagine some hands, too, if you'd like - I do it all the time!) & check it out! (and yes, that's him with all the tats running half nekkid. Showing off his perfect pecs & biceps..Yeooow! HOT!) I like bad boys. Don't you? This ought to tie you over...if you like this sort of thing. Some of Matt's bandmates aren't too shabby, either.

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta!

Howdy, & welcome to the City of Chicago. Okay, howdy is bad...Hey! Fugetaboutit, cuz Da Bears & Da Cubs are a best teams in all sports. Not really - I don't like either team, just trying to get into Chicago mode. My dear friend Billie is always telling me how my hub sounds sooooo Chicago.

Anyhoo - about the pic. This is the Sears Tower. Kyle had a field trip before the end of school that took them to Navy Pier. They went on one of the tour boats that glides down the Chicago river. I have several other pics to share of this, I just have to get them together. I told Kyle he did such a great job of capturing the architecture of the city - he really took some fantastic photos! Maybe a photographer in the making? Maybe, but he'll probably take pictures of super cells & other stormy things.

Join the fun!
Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

Candid Carrie is a wonderful hostess!

Had to participate because eet ees fun

TV Reviews

I guess I wouldn't have been a bad 1930's wifey. I always said I should have been born long ago - oh, wait I was. Just not long enough ago.

70 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

Since that's all done, now

I suppose I can get back to real blogging. So many nights, as I'm laying in bed I think about things I might talk about here. Like the daily activities in my life are so very boring sometimes and it's not enough. The kids & me, the kids & me...that's my life. I think about things that fascinate me to a fault. Serial Killers are one thing. It's a morbid fascination, I know. I watch an abundance of real crime tv. Some of my favorite shows are: The First 48, Crime 360, Most Evil, I Survived, The Investigators, Suburban Secrets, Snapped, and a few more. I can miss these & commonly there are reruns of any one of these on late night tv. It probably explains to some of you why I may be paranoid. Heh. I survived is the one that gets me BAD! There is always a story of a woman who survived a rape and/or brutal attack (often in her own home) and I am affected the most by those. Reading Insane Mama's recent recollection & share of something awful that happened to her has me fascinated just the same. It's awful & I hate that it happened, but I am awed by it.

I have to get going. Gotta rearrange & print off a copy of a 15 run pool for the hub. Pain in my...I will return later for more about nothing, or something - it depends on your point of view.

This is how it looks to me:

If you click the pic for a better look, then you'll see the fonts I'm using. I may have to succumb & go default. I just think my fonts are more interesting. ;)

It's fresh, it's new...how do ya like me now?

Okay, new layout is up & not quite running yet. Funny how you have to re-tweak everything once you upload the modified template. This will be how I roll for a while, until I decide I want a new look (not often, jsut once in a while...heh).

Kyle's trip to Navy Pier

Just a little thing thing...

Okay, for those of you who read my blog, are on blogger (cause I'd have no clue how to edit another) and are in the mood for change. I offer one of you a blog edit. This may take a few days or a week or so. If you have a plain ole & would like a little pimpin', post a comment here and drop me an email (to butter me up, ok not really, just tell me why you want one) lil_ole_me77@yahoo.com . I will listen to what you want, ask you to look for things that make you happy, ask you to choose a basic layout & try to come up with something that's just for you! If this is successful, I will do it again another time.

I edited this one and made my banner. I also edited one that I am still working on (but intend to finish today - comp problems kept me from it) that you can see here. If you'd like me to wing one for you - say hi!

This will be open for commenting for the rest of today (until the early am tomorrow - or longer if no one posts, heh).

How'd it go?

So far, it's okay. I did not reformat. I ran a complete diagnostic check of all my hardware (twice for the ones I thought might be troubled, actually) and eveything came up in the clear. That tells me I may have a virus. It really can't be anything else unless my diagnostics check is lying to me. I ran it from the Boot to Utility Partition - I'm thinking it should be accurate.

This evening, my good friend Bille sent me some things I was unable to download over WLM. I got my anti-virus updated to the new version, I reinstalled IE 7, and ran a couple other programs. I still have to run another virus scan - if it shows nothing, then I will have to seek out another one to check again. Something is wrong, I just don't know what. In the meantime, I am ecstatic that my internet is working properly again & I can fix my blog. (adding & removing things was out of the question because IE wasn't letting me download or pop up anything, even from trusted sites & whatnot) One of my biggest annoyances is that I have removed some programs from my comp (software) and they still show up in my Add or Remove Programs list. If anyone knows how to make those go away, I would be eternally grateful! I don't know if that affects my HD storage, but since I am below 50% capacity, I'd like to make sure they are really gone.

So - wish me further luck. Worst case scenario is I will have to reformat - & since I do have everything backed up now (YAY!), I wouldn't mind a nice clean up of it all.

External HD, check!

It's here. I am in the process of writing down all the software I'll need to redownload for my PC's protection & the other fun things I need. It's almost finished transferring files - it was easy & has been rather fast.

Am I ready to start all over again? Nope, but I think I have to. If it is, in fact, my hard drive that's going bye-bye, I need to be certain & this seems to be the only way to know for sure - aside from paying a dude 150 bucks to come out & test it. Or driving my tower to Best Buy & signing up for Geek Squad. I'm always one for doing it myself, unless that fails. Wish me luck!

All patched up! and Thoughts at bed time.

Yeah, it was a simple job. It's wicked having a neighbor who is handy if you have a husband that has a problem changing a light bulb. He isn't that bad, but I am certainly the handy one in our house & I wouldn't even attempt to know anything about an AC unit. He basically cleaned all the grass, dirt & yuck out of the unit. Tomorrow Dock man & I are going to dig up an area around our AC unit to prevent this from happening again. We were clueless, obviously, that one should keep a decent bare space around it so as to avoid dirt, grass & other things from getting in there & botching it up. May seem like a simpleton type idea, but we didn't know it could do that. The unit's outside exposed to the elements, who-da thunk?

Our neighbor is a nice guy, for real. His family is very nice, too. He doesn't want to charge us anything for fixing up our unit, but we feel an obligation to do something for him (I have to). I think we are going to get him a gift card to his favorite place to shop (Menards). The only thing he asked for was - the next time I grill brats, he would like one, too. Heh.

So last night as I rest my head on my pillow, I was thinking about a lot of things. Mostly my inability to trust people. The inability to let people truly into my life. Except for my far away friend. Since, oh, I don't know, 1992, I don't think I've made a true new friend besides Billie. I have a hard time even letting my family in (extended family, who I never spent a lot of time with when I was young on my birth father's side). I am really bad at staying connected with my old friends who come back into my life and my old family who I've known all my life. I can't really say what my fears are, just that I must have something that's keeping me from doing this. I can contribute my feelings of isolation to having a hard time making friends.

Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of acquaintances. & everywhere I've lived I've made plenty of those. People I can call & chat to every once in a while. I have made get together dates & those go okay. If ever they fall through, I always fail to try again. It is a trust tissue, I think and I never used to be like this. I have no idea why I do this or where it comes from - well, maybe I do.

Without getting too deep, maybe I'm afraid that my life is all wrong. That I have too much to hide from the world & that they have it so much better? Maybe I'm afraid of having another good friend back out on our friendship because they don't like my hub? That is a story. I sometimes think it is the reason behind my lacking the ability to trust new people, to even give myself the chance to make friends.

Before I get into that, let me tell you why I trust Billie. I met Billie on a forum for a gaming community. We started talking because we were both learning something to do with the game around the same time. Because I knew a tad bit more about it, we began an IM session on Yahoo. We decided it would be easier to communicate about it all on the phone, so we exchanged numbers. The first phone call was awesome! Talking to her was like reconnecting with someone I have known all my life. It had a sweet familiarity about it. I've never had that happen before with a new person, since Becky. It was especially fantastic.

We kept talking, every week night & have since then, back in October of 2005. I have known her since then & it is possible to truly know someone without the benefit of a physical meeting. I know this is possible because we are doing it. We hear the good & bad about each other. The only reason it's possible is because we are honest - to a fault. Billie knows me about as good as my old true friends - the ones I've had since I was a kid, the ones I still talk to but never get to see because they all live in Colorado. Our friendship feels like it's old. She loves me & I her no matter how we are as human beings or what we say. I've gotten pig headed with her on occasion & she tolerates it. Sometimes I act like I know it all & she tolerates it. Sometimes she says things that irk me & I tolerate it. I mention this toleration thing, we don't just tolerate it, we talk about it. We can disagree with one another - everything isn't about "wow, funny you should say that, I feel the same way!" - the fakey conversations, the tiptoe conversations, the agreeable to everything conversations, those don't exist with us. They never did - unless we were being honest about our own feelings. I can tell her anything without feeling judged. I don't need to see the look on her face because I know it's like my own, whatever my emotion conveys.

I do want to meet her one day in her town or mine. I know that won't matter much, though because we will still live over 2000 miles apart. I will value her friendship forever. She is a true friend to me & the only one I've made in over 16 years. I do wish we had the opportunity to get together once a month at least - if we were neighbors, we'd probably get in too much trouble. (not really, I don't think)

I'll tell you all about Becky another time. I want to keep this positive, about my friend Billie & how much she means to me. Thanks, Billie - for being true, honest & loving. Thanks for listening when I need you to, thanks for not judging me or who I am. Thanks for kicking my ass when I need it and thanks for being who you are. Who you are is what makes you so special to everyone who knows you. I know my life is better because you are a part of it.

BTW - Cathy, thanks for the visualization of the ocean & the cool breeze! I can feel my toes dipping in & cooling me off! I'm so glad we have AC again! It's supposed to be 90 today, with humidity....ACK!

Sweaty day!

We have to have something done to our AC. It stopped blowing cold air the other day, hopefully the remedy is a simple one. Hopefully, it just needs a swift kick (erm, recharge) & then we will be happily dry & cool again. That is the one thing I truly miss about Colorado, the dry air. I can handle these 90 (okay, so today wasn't 90, but it was still hot & mostly muggy) degree days if they're not accompanied by the sticky, icky humidity. Our lower level floor is actually sweating...at least where there isn't any carpet. Who knows, underneath the carpet, we probably have some wetness, too. Nasty thought.

I have been blogging like mad for a few months & am truly enjoying it. It has become kind of an additction. I spend soooo much time reading others' blogs & I do post a lot of comments around. I would probably do it much more if I didn't have my responsibilities...the kids, the hub, the house. It's a good thing I can keep it in perspective.

I am waiting for my external HD to come calling. Should be here Monday or Tuesday. I am feeling a good deal of impatience, part of the reason being that I want to get my new layout up & running. The main reason is because I am tired of the error messages & the inability to download any fixes or any type of helpful software. I have done these things in the past & much to my dismay, the tools I was using to detect any kind of bugs weren't finding any. Once I reformat, I will know what the deal is.

The Soundtrack of My life

I know I talked about doing this a long time ago & finally I've gotten around to it. If I had to sum up parts of my life in song, this is how it would go. I will try not to babble too much, sometimes when I write things like this it gets overly stream of consciouness like.

In the beginning - I think my mom may have had too many tiptoes in the tulips, er, maybe just tipsy toes? I dunno, but the three of us kids have different dads. Around my birth we will hear the song by Tiptoe Through the Tulips.

Things begin to get a little dark in the early parts of my childhood (and don't feel bad because I am better for it, in spite of it). Hell is for Children don't you know? Things weren't so Wonderful .

After the age of 8, things did brighten up quite a bit. Even though I hadn't tried it yet, I'm thinking Everybody Must Get Stoned - Bob Dylan. Maybe that's why I was a handsome spinner as a kid - always spinning & twirling mightily. Trying to capture that dizzy. I loved to Dance the Night Away my parents had many parties & we had lots of friends.

(between ages 10 to 15, this song would have to play in the deepest background. I don't like it, but it kind of suits the situation. Not necessarily from my point of view, but that of another. Without saying more, I think many of you may be able to figure it out. Urgent - Foreigner)

Now, entering the teen years, I suppose so much had happened to me & I think I probably would have benefitted from my own Personal Jesus . It was a troublesome time in so many ways. Not everything was about Sweet Dreams.

I met Eric Let's Go All The Way - Sly Fox (trust me - every bit of that including band name fits). Then after I had my son, things changed drastically - of course, I repeatedly said Papa Don't Preach...absolutely (funny, 1986 that song came out)! I found too much time to Party All The Time - cause we really did, my friends & I. No One Is To Blame because, really - who would I have blamed? I never really thought any of it was all my fault.

Let's take off for a while, Runaway. Somebody Save Me, cause I certainly did need some sort of saving. Mostly from myself. Heh.

I'm getting older & trying to find my way in life. I realize this is a lot harder than I was thinking it might be. At the time, it didn't feel so hard because everything was all about My Prerogative. Around this time, I was beginning to break the ties that bind (even though I was gone for a good part of 15 & beyond, I was still tied to home) & mom could sense this, I suppose. The Living Years was her way of telling me something. I thought I had that all figured out & then I saw another curveball fly by my head. Roam and I was, again, roaming around trying to find my way. Eventually, I end up Back to Life.

I spot Dock man at a bar & whoosh! I Wanna Sex You Up , along with Right Here, Right Now (really, I was feeling that!) Soon after, I head back home, 3 states away & get to feeling lonely I Touch Myself. Love at first sight was what I was believing, as deeply as one could. Talking on the phone & keeping in touch for a couple months wasn't really enough for me. I needed to move on out. Can't Stop This Thing We Started. Shortly after, we both realize Love Takes Time .

Eventually, we get to the right place and completely understand The Power of Love (our wedding song, he chose it). After a while I know that I'm The Only One, though it takes Dock man sometime to truly get that. Even so, he took even more time to stop his Foolish Games . Course it was always me, being the utter Bitch. I know he's all Bent, so I succumb to it all. I still believe we are the only two of us that fit together, if that makes sense.

Soon after we reconcile (yes, that bit above was a brief separation tidbit), we experience our second pregnancy together With Arms Wide Open, again. For the better part of the next few years, it's mostly Headstrong, Get Busy, & Feel Good Inc.. Along comes our final child together & we will spend the rest of our days Somewhere Only We Know. Even if it means Sugar, We're Going Down, at least it'll be outside of Rehab.

Severe Weather

This is the time of year I have a love hate relationship with. End of May, through much of June where I live is the most active time of year for massive thunder storms. Some of those storms were accompanied by an occasional tornado and often damaging winds.

Last night we had an extraordinary lightning storm. When the storm was the strongest, around Kankakee, IL, it did produce tornadic rotations, but as far as I know no serious touchdowns. By the time this got to where I am, it lost a lot of its power. When it was over Dock man at work, it was producing golf ball size hail. Behind this storm was an even bigger one, but it didn't seem to pack the punch of the first one. I had to take some pictures of what I was seeing. I got a couple good ones, but one in particular just awed me. It looks like it was taken during the day. The picture I took just after (the one I am going to post here) is pitch black. I will also post a video of some of what I got to see. At the end of the video, the sky lights up so bright, almost as bright as the picture - it's wicked! When it gets to the end, click the button on the progress bar it will show the last frame clearly.

It is late at night & pitch dark when this is taken. That's how bright the lightning was!

I am freaky frightened of loud thunder & the chance of a tornado. If we get a loud crack of thunder - I do my best not to flinch because of the kids. Dew is very afraid of a good thunder storm & if we happen to be in one, he obsesses about a tornado coming. Maybe this is in part my fault because I worry about that - often out loud. Kyle, on the other hand, wants to be a storm chaser as soon as he is old enough. He loves the storms & wants to get right out in them. I think the chasers are sometimes safer than those of us in the path, so that doesn't bother me as much as you may think it does.

On another note, I do apologize for my post yesterday. It was story I wanted to share & maybe it was a bit much for some of you. It's the type of thing kids do (my niece & nephew always like to hear Dew say all the things he's not supposed to & they are 14 & 16). I found it funny because it's not something that happens often. Even if we aren't careful about what we say around our kids (because the "bad" words are always used for emphasis around here), we don't allow them to speak that way. Dew was telling me that the kids he was around today - 2 older girls at his den meeting - were saying bad words like shut-up & be quiet. He thinks many words are bad & those include all derrogatory terms - i.e. stupid, dummy. I hope that it didn't offend anyone. I post about things that happen in my everyday life. That was just something I found funny.

I will be making my reading rounds a bit later. I have to get the Dew ready for bed. Ahhhhh, summer time! NO SCHOOL! I have to retrain my 2 youngest on how to be quiet while daddy sleeps. They bicker (and scream & squeal and fight like mad) when they have to spend the whole day together - drives me bananas. Speaking of that - not 2 minutes ago I hear a hollow swat & Maia is sobbing. Dew slapped her back because she took something away from him. I am talking to him about keeping his hands to himself & her about giving him something & swiping it out of his hands. At the end I say "Understand?" Chuckle boy grins & I ask him what's funny. He says "you forgot to say rubberband."

A bit of comedy in the mire..the "F" word.

And a few other things I neglected to mention. Kyle had his first baseball game last Saturday & his team won. The summer league baseball they have here has the upper middle schoolers (7th & 8th) on teams with high school boys. It's quite cool, but more like a scrimmage type league - they play each other (3 teams for our town) & one other team. Kyle is playing with the big boys now!

For now, my comp has calmed down, but still isn't right. I don't want to shut down, yet, as there are things I want to get done before I do that. I want to figure out how to network our 2 computers on our router (haven't done that & had the router for a long time) just so I can transfer or copy files to the other comp. I hope that's what networking can do. As far as that is concerned, I am clueless. The only files I am truly concerned about are my pictures. I would lose soooooo much memories & history if I crashed for good. At the very least, I am getting an external HD tomorrow.

Comic relief? Well, I was down in Dock man's hole watching baseball with him & Dew came down. I can't remember what prompted this reaction (Dock man musta said something Dew found amusingly sarcastic - we're all sarcastic), but this is what happened:

Dew: If you do that, I'll call you the "F" word. (this is where cussing gets me & Dock in a bit of a pickle, and Dock's worse!!)

Dock: Huh? What "F" word? I don't know any "F" word.

Dew: The "F" word, you know - the real "F" word.

Dock: What word are you talking about? (I am begininng to grin deeply, have to turn away)

Dew: It's the bad word that starts with an "F".

Dock: Huh? Really, what word are you talking about? Tell me what it is.

Dew: (with great enthusiasm & laughter teeming in his voice) I can't say THAT! It's the "F" word! It starts Ffffff - uuuuuu (he's sounding the letters out s-l-o-w-l-y).

Dock: What is the word? Ffff - uuuu (sounding it out, too), never heard it.

(I want to stop Dock because I know this is so wrong, but I don't because I'm nearly giggling. I couldn't speak at the time)

Dew: I can't SAY IT! I'll get in trouble! It says Fff - uuuu, you know.

Dock: But I don't know, you have to tell me! Ff - uu...fun?

Dew: Nooooo! That's not it - it's a BAD word. A word I'm not supposed to say. Ffff - uuuuu.

Dock: If it's not fun, what is it?

Dew: I will get in sooo much trouble!

Dock: No, you won't get in trouble.

(as Dew talks about trouble, he looks directly at me. I have to concede & try not to smile)

Me: No, you won't this time! But since dad wants to know what word you want to call him, I will let it go. Just don't. say it. again.

Dew: It's F - u - c - k (he spelled it this time).

Dock: What? I still don't know that word. (he really wants him to say it)

Dew: Agggh! (he's happily exasperated and smiling sheepishly, I'm sure because he can't believe we are going to let him say it) F - u - c - k (spelling again).

Dock: Just say it, cause I don't have any idea what word you are talking about!

Dew: It sounds like Ffff-uuu-ccckkk (ever so s-l-o-w-l-y!!)

Dock: Ffff-uuu-ccckkk? Huh? (same slowness here)

Dew: (a bit of a boy squawky voice) Yeah!!

Then, he says it so quiet & in a pig like squeal. About 5 times.

Dock: That word? You want to call me that word? If you call me that, you better say it like a man & not in that squealy voice.

Dew said it a few more times, the same voice & couldn't stop laughing! Both Dock man & I were cracking up pretty good, too. Afterwards, of course we told him he wasn't allowed to say it until he was older. What's really odd about this - the only thing I've ever done is explain to them all that cussing is for grown ups - just like beer, cigarettes (I also tell them cigs suck & I hope they never start & the "whys" of this) & driving. It's always been enough to keep them from saying the words I use everyday. He feared saying it like it was uber taboo. Good! That's all I can say - he won't say it around us (unless Dock man urges him too, again! I don't think so, though). That it's good he fears the bad words.

I am awful, I know. Many of us have done this, so I know I'm not alone. Good laughter after a shitty day, even if it's laughter in an uncouth manner.

In a frustrated rage!

I cannot even begin to tell you all how pissed I am. I have spent the better part of this morning trying to figure out what might be wrong with my computer. So far as I can tell, I think my HD is dying. Sucky thing is, it's only 2 years old. I know that now days, the HD isn't all that expensive to replace. The reason I am so pissed is because I spent the better part of last year trying to figure out why my game (The SIms 2 & its expansions) wasn't running right. I bought this Dell XPS 400 beefed up to handle the game (beefed it more than it needed to be) - spent over 2 grand to do it, too. The ultimate fix for me was just not playing the game any longer. To have this happen now is beyond my ability to stay cool. The only thing I can tell you - I will never, ever buy another Dell product - NEVER! Customer service was crap (with the exception of a few reps, very few), and I dealt with them regarding this PC right out of the box - there was a problem from the beginning. I'm thinking that should have been my first clue that this wasn't going to be a good investment.

Anyhoo - I am having an abundance of issues. After reading about all of the stop errors, I am coming to the conclusion that it is the HD. Thanks, Dell! Next time I'll go to Walmart & pick up one of their cheap-o emachines or something. Our last one lasted us over 6 years without a hitch! Actually, with all the Windows frustrations this year, I'm thinking MAC!

I may be typing this all for nothing cause who knows if this will even allow me to publish - it's not allowing me to do much. It took me 2 & a half hours to just get it restarted. I can start up in safe mode for a short time, but the things I can do in there are very limited & this feels like safe mode. Wish me luck, cause Dock man isn't going to want to spend more money on this baby. (I also bought a bigger power supply & such, add that to what we've spent so far.) Before I break down & buy a new HD, I will use my restore disk (after backing up the most important things on my HD now) & see if that changes things, ends the errors & stuff. At this point, I don't think I have any other options.

I think I'm going to have to go shopping to heal my head. *sigh*

It actually didn't get weird...

I have been working on a new layout all day - sheesh! I knew it would take a little while, but getting it all to mesh & look right together, that takes forever! So you shall see a new blog up very soon - in the next couple days. You'll have to let me know what you think of it all when it's done. I didn't do the entire layout myself, I just modified an existing custom one. I did this modifying via a test blog I created to do just that. Thay way, I wouldn't disrupt the serenity of this one while making changes. It would have been supremely chaotic otherwise, trust me!

I think my eyes are crossed, so I won't be reading much today, I will catch up tomorrow. HTML used to always cross my eyes - some things never change.

Wicked awesome!

I am here to announce that I was invited (by way of blogosphere & reading Candid Carrie's blog, which I read nearly every day!) to enter a really neat contest. Not only that! I am also a lifetime member of the Secret is in the Sauce! What do we have to do to become a member? Comment & have fun - read other blogs to laugh, cry & relate to all of us out here just living life & enjoying the ride (basically what we all do already!). If you want to be a part of the sisterhood that is a bunch of moms (or not moms) blogging check this out! It's all about being here for each other & finding our way together.

The ladies responsible for all this are Heather (who seems to share all kinds of mindless junk!) and Tiffany hosting the Romero Diaries (many a good read there, too). Drop in & say hello!

Playing with my layout today.

Things might get a little weird today, I am going to be playing with the layout I have, trying to make it look cooler, creating something more specific to my tastes. The key word in all that is "trying". Here's hoping!

Contest!

This is a fun contest devised by a "modern day alchemist", also known as the Talisman & author of the blog Misadventures. Posted are 9 images of objects magnified with a scanning electron microscope. The first round of the contest has passed, but you can still give it a shot in round 2. Now there are also 27 clues posted & the objects are listed in the clues, we just have to figure out which 9 objects represent which images. Also, if you post a link to the contest, you get 2 extra entries for the prize drawing!!

Personally, I enjoy games such as this one, so head on over & see if you have fun with it, like I did! Round 1 (to see the images) and round 2 to see if you can match the object to the image! By the way, most of my answers were uneducated guesses, it all about having fun for me - even if I do suck at it! (Not sure how I did, yet, waiting on baited breath. heh.)

Little humanity

They are indiginous to all places of the globe (and beyond, maybe). Most likely they can be found among giant wooden or plastic gymnasium equipment - in places called "parks". They frequent toy rooms and bathtubs, as well. These miniscule humans, called "children" practice many survivalist behaviors. In my observations, it doesn't matter the culture most behaviors are shared among them all - at least in the beginning. Some common fuels for these minute beings are sugar charged juices, either in pouches or boxes; candy of any kind; and often french fries. These items of canned energy are not recommended by anyone, but they do tend to calm the savage beasts from time to time (though only momentarily, as the sugar eventually kicks in). Sometimes we resort to anything to quell the crying, whining or flat out yelling. Basic sustenance does not require chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers, tacos or any other fast food - I just find all of the above handy in an eating (or rather, non- eating) crisis.

On playgrounds & in toy rooms, these tiny humans exhibit dangerous activities! Things that, as adults, would deem us insane & have us committed for years. For example - in a rage, these "children" will throw large toys, rocks and whatever else they can pick up. I have seen the destruction, especially when a sibling or other child is in the line of fire! Just today I observed the "mine-claw". I am willing to wager all of us have experienced this, but if you happen to be unfamiliar with it, I'll explain. This "mine-claw" is the action of raising a hand high over one's head, hand in a claw, swooping the hand menacingly toward the toy in question to snatch it out of the hand of another while wailing or screaming "MINE!". This is usually due to the fact that the first child either set the toy down or had it taken forcefully away from them. It is a dangerous thing to see & it's best to keep your distance until the deed is done, lest you get clawed yourself.

Some other treacherous behaviors include: jumping from the highest points of the play equipment (fearless, it's scary!); jumping from the swings or swinging hilly-nilly, nearly hitting other swingers or passers-by; running without watching where one is going - this behavior tends to hurt the runner more than anyone else; spinning uncontrollably, again, tends to waiver the little one doing the spinning because of certain dizziness causing the drunken walk or run; climbing the furniture & crawling about things that shouldn't be accessed by such small humans; sometimes they even resort to primitive tribal dances e.g., stomp & wail, jump & spit, tongue waggle & throwing the body on the floor - those are just a few you may have seen; something new to some of you may be the knee slam - the act of jumping straight up & landing squarely on the knees.

Bathtub behavior can also be alarming. It is necessary to mention the bathtub activities because some of them need to be corrected as quickly as possible! You will find these "children" swilling bathwater from the rinse cup; blowing fart bubbles with or without the use of the mouth; playing dive bomber from the side of the tub (depth of the water seems to be unknowable); submerging the head for too long, causing slight choking; & making surfable waves without understanding the consequence of a flooded bathroom.

All of these behaviors are exhibited without regard to how mom (or dad) looks or feels or even how we may respond. It's all a part of the learning process for us & for them. Eventually, they grow larger & learn that there are limits to their humanity and mortality. We have to find the patience to hinder the barbarian behaviors and mentor the calmer, gentler nature through the adolescent years of small humans. Those adolescent years are another ballgame entirely. Once I get through with the last female child in my household, I will share my knowledge with you. She is only 4, so we have years to go. Wish me luck!

(really, really lame lack of sleep rant - done!)

Sunday fun!

Okay, so it really wasn't all that much fun, but it was nice. It seems we have been struck with a couple days of nice weather. I went to do a little shopping today - got Dock man some work jeans & Maia some new tops (can't resist the stuff they have at Kohl's that store is my weakness for my daughter's clothing, among other things.) It is impossible for me to resist those charity toys & books they have at Kohl's - Kohl's Cares for Kids. The stuffed toys are always super soft & pretty well made, as far as stuffed animals go. Because they are charity things, they only cost 5 bucks! I have gotten the How Do Dinosaurs... books & stuffies, the Guess How Much I Love You & You're All My Favorites & the stuffies, some Dr. Suess Stuffies - Yertle the Turtle & the Fox in Socks (they were out of the books *pouting* and Hortons!) and today I got the Kung Fu Panda book with 2 of the stuffies. Po & Tigress. When was the last time you paid 5 bucks for a big, super soft stuffed animal? The books are always a fun read, too.

Afterwards, I made some grillin' food & we washed the van in the driveway. The van was a filthy thing! It still isn't super clean cause I was almost out of soap, but it looks a million times less dirty. heh. We all jsut hung out outside for a long while after. It was a simple, nice day. Loved it!