If You Can't Say Something Nice...

Leaving

2009-01-06T20:17:00.003-05:00

After a long time thinking about it and hashing it over, it's been decided that it's time to move. Things aren't the same anymore, and even though I'll still miss this place with every fiber of my being, I know that the move will most likely be the best thing for me. I know that some will question my decision, and will wonder why I made it.

"Wasn't she happy?" They'll ask.

"Why can't she be content with what she has?!" They'll cry.

But I find that even though I know I may get criticism for the decision I've made, and even though my heart is protesting, my head knows that this is probably for the best.

Follow Me Here...

Mother Nature

2009-01-05T07:36:00.001-05:00

Duke, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

That's Dukie. He knew I wasn't feeling good yesterday and stayed by my side almost the entire day.

My snit yesterday? Totally caused by hormones - hello Mother Nature! I haven't had my period in a few months, and then, at 5 am this morning - SURPRISE!! That's one thing about MY period, it's like the surprise gift that keeps on giving. I never know when it's going to happen or how bad it's going to get.

So right now my lower back is killing me, and I'm exhausted with a huge project to finish up in the next few hours, but at least I know that the pain and the frustrations are caused by something specific, which is nice.

Everyone's complaining about how it's "back to school/work" day. Yeah, it's back to school day for us too. Toad actually woke up to his alarm clock and I only had to beat him upside the head three times to make him get dressed, and even though he's not excited to go back, Babygirl is stoked.

My only complaint? I have too much work to do to indulge in a kid-free hour of Rock Band 2!!

End of Vacation - and a Little Griping

2009-01-04T11:54:00.001-05:00

Watching, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

Tomorrow is the end of vacation, and while I've still been working here at home, I have been able to wake up at the lazy hour of - 7:30. Actually, a few days I slept in until 8:30 (Scott was home and up with everyone). Babygirl and Toad have been waking up late too! It's definitely going to be interesting tomorrow to get everyone up and back to school.

We played outside yesterday for an hour or so, and will again this afternoon. My SIL and her boyfriend/fiance/whatever-he-is, have been coming over every Sunday for dinner, and it's kind of nice. I love that Toad and Babygirl are growing up having their Aunt and Uncle so close. Tonight it's my turn to make dinner - I love being able to cook for more than just Scott and the kids.

I guess I'd better get some clothes on, then, so that I can head outside once again and freeze. Ah well, the kids enjoy it!

But before I go, I must tell you about my neighbor. Our Asian neighbor is very nice. She loves the kids because she doesn't have any grandchildren yet, and she spoils them whenever she's here (she has more than one house).

She also loves Scott.

Yesterday she called and asked if she and her husband could come down in order to bring down a few things. They brought down a few boxes of chocolate covered macadamia nuts (they usually do), and a jacket for Scott. A NICE jacket for Scott. A VERY EXPENSIVE jacket for Scott.

Our neighbor's son owns a company that makes outdoor items, so she occasionally snags items that were being used for display, or occasionally items straight off of the shelf. Then she gives them to Scott.

In the last two or three years he's gotten at LEAST five or so jackets from her (probably closer to six or seven now, including the last jacket).

Me? Nothing.

Now while I'm not usually one to freak out when everyone else in the family gets something except me, it's starting to take it's toll on me. EVERY TIME she comes up, she gives the kiddos something and Scott something. But nothing for me.

Maybe it's because I'm a fat-ass and can't fit into the clothes that her son makes. Maybe it's because she's Asian and men mean more in their culture. Or maybe it's just because she likes Scott more.

And let's couple that with what my Aunt said the other day - she and her daughter, my cousin, babysat the kiddos on New Years Eve so that we could go out for a nice dinner. When we dropped the kids off both the Aunt and Cousin made a point to say:

"Oh he's such a wonderful husband! To take you out like this! To call and ask us to babysit! He's so wonderful! You're so lucky to have him!"

Yes - I am lucky to have my husband. I won't dispute that. But the only reason he wanted to go out for New Years is because *I* asked if we could do something different. And the only reason he called for a babysitter is because *I* pointed out that we needed someone to babysit and that I had no idea who we should call because I didn't want to feel rude.

So *I* was behind the entire thing for the most part. And HE gets all the credit. And the stuff from the neighbor.

Apparently this post turned from being a lament about vacation being over to a lament about why my husband is "so much better" than I am.

*sigh*

Welcome back to the friggin' real world.

Happy 2009...a day late

2009-01-02T11:36:00.002-05:00

So 2008 went out with a bang. Scott took me to our favorite restaurant for dinner, and then we hung out with my SIL and her BF and the kids until midnight. Yes, the kids made it until midnight. I'm still sort of in awe about that! What did we do the whole time?

Play Rock Band 2.

And then, the next morning/early afternoon, the BF called and asked very politely if he could come down and play. And we did. For three hours.

It's a sickness, people.

Today was different, though, as the first thing we had to do was to take both Mals to the vet. Lovely. They've had this cough thing going on for about 2 months now - just when you think they're over it, they cough some more! One has it, then the other, and I'm sick of waking up at 3 am to a coughing dog, so we ponied up the $76 and came home with prednisone and a friggin vat of antibiotics! Seriously - 2 pills per dog, 2 times per day = 80 pills!! Thank God they're not that expensive.

Later this afternoon we're heading to the grocery store (funness!) and the dump (more funness) and after I get some work done, Scott's co-worker and his wife should be coming up, to....

Well, I'm sure you know what we're gonna do.

Sick, people, just sick.

Hope your 2009 is going beautifully so far!

Cleaning the Slate for 2009

2008-12-31T09:18:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure what resolutions I'm going to make tonight, but I thought that maybe, instead, I should clean the slate about things that are bothering me, or things that I need improvement on, before 2009 begins. Maybe it will help 2009 start off on the cleanest slate possible.

I told Scott the other night that I don't want any more children. Those who have been reading for awhile know that I had an ectopic in the summer of 2007, and that one tube is gone and the other is double clamped. How can we have more children? Adoption. Scott was adopted and he wants to adopt a number of children. After doing foster care for a few years, I honestly don't know if I can handle the stress. I told him this the other day and he got fairly upset. We're now in the process of sort of healing from this grand announcement.
I don't think I'm the best mom that I can be. Quite often I work instead of playing with them, and I tend to get snappy easily. I also think that I expect too much from my children sometimes.
I need to be better at communicating with my friends. I'm horrible at emailing back, and I tend to avoid the phone more and more lately. I love and appreciate my friends and need to keep in better touch with them.
I'm talking with my father, and that whole situation - with my mother and my father - is royally fucking with my mind. I need to get all of my priorities straight and do what is best for my children and them alone.
I know I can work harder than I do. Quite often I procrastinate and add stress onto myself. I have done this since before I can remember. I need to start working smarter so that I don't stress myself out as much.
I need to get my health under control. I've been avoiding some things that I need to get done, and my body is slowly showing me how pissed off it is becoming.
I need to make more time for Scott and I in the coming year. We didn't have any vacation together in 2008, really, and we need to change that for 2009. Only by us having a strong relationship can we be great parents for our children.
I need to make more time for myself. I am thinking about scheduling a weekly "Mom's bathroom hour", where I take a long bath, or a hot shower, then do my nails, ect. I can't spend the money on spa treatments around here - or won't because I'm a cheapskate, but I need to start pampering myself a little in my own home to de-stress.

So those are some of the things that I'm thinking about right now, and hopefully I can improve upon them in the New Year.

I hope you all have a happy, and safe, New Years and that your 2009 is amazing!

Holidays Over - Relaxing??

2008-12-30T11:26:00.001-05:00

Praise Jesus!, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

Are the holidays over yet??!! Oh, by the way, how awesome is that picture? It's what Toad looked like when he opened the DS on Christmas morning. Then he did a little dance - I'm so not kidding, I have video proof!

Anyway, yesterday Toad's friend came over to play for most of the day and then my mother came over to check out Rock Band 2 and to bring dinner (go MOM!).

Then, after they left and the kiddos went to bed, Scott and I played on our Rock Band 2 characters and opened up Livin' On a Prayer - BON JOVI BABY!!!! YES!

I was reminded today that New Years Eve is TOMORROW - WOAH! And we still have NO IDEA what we're doing. We were going to go out somewhere, but we can't agree on where to go out. Now there are talks of two things...

1. Of he and I going out to a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant, which is about 25 minutes away or so.

2. His co-worker and his SIL (one of my BFF's) and her fiance coming over to play rock Band 2 with us.

So I have NO IDEA what is going on, but I do know one thing - if my family is around me, and I get a kick-ass Happy New Years kiss from the hubby, I'm a happy girl.

But I have no idea what resolutions to make. I refuse to make the weight loss resolution, because I never stick to it. What resolution are you making?

Getting Spoiled

2008-12-29T08:31:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we headed to Walmart in order to let the kiddos spend some of their holiday money. My father surprised us by gifting Scott and I with a $50 gift card to Walmart, so we figured we'd look around and see if there was anything we wanted to purchase.

On the trip down we had to stop at an ATM machine to get money out for lunch (Scott's big for cash) and it happened to be an ATM machine that I used when I was in college. I had a weird flashback - remembering that I would often try to get out something as small as $20 and would often see "insufficient funds". Yet yesterday I took out $100 and there was enough left to pay the mortgage with - very surreal.

So we hit Walmat with me feeling very appreciative of the things that we have - our house, our vehicles, and most especially our family. That didn't stop me, however, from badgering Scott to use of the $50 so that we could purchase something I've wanted for awhile...

Rock Band 2!!! I've wanted Rock Band for a long time, but Scott hated that it was wired - Rock Band 2 is almost all wireless, except the mic and hat has a really long cord. It was definitely over $50, but using the $50 towards it, along with me promising some pretty big things to the hubby, meant that we came home with the LAST Rock Band 2 for the Wii in the back of our minivan.

Scott jumped online to do some work while I hooked the whole thing up (he helped in the end, though, when I couldn't figure out why the drums weren't working for some reason - in the end, Babygirl actually accidentally got it working LOL). Then we started jamming. Toad LOVES it!!

Scott eventually jumped on the drums - he used to play drums in high school, and it was very hard to get him off of the drums long enough to eat dinner. He did let our brother-in-law get on the drums for awhile, as he loves the drums too, and between the two of them I learned pretty quickly that Rock Band 2 can make anyone think that they're truly a rock star!!

So we came home with Rock Band 2 and it left me, once more, loving how hard we've worked and how hard we'll continue to work, in order to give our children, and ourselves, things that we've always wanted.

Bacony Christmas

2008-12-26T10:07:00.002-05:00

I've got lots of pics from Christmas I'm uploading right now onto Flickr, but I had to share this story - one of my bestest friends, Danni, sent me a Christmas package and asked Scott to wrap it - he was frustrated because he apparently bought the same thing for me. I laughed because it seemed amazing that my husband and one of my best friends bought me the same gift! On Christmas day he had me open his first (Sorry Danni) and then hers - this is what was in the package:

A whole lot of BACON SALT!!! I've been looking to try bacon salt for awhile, and they both got me some for Christmas! I will be set up in Bacon Salt for awhile!!

What's really funny is that Scott left a message on the order sheet about his order - this is what it said:

Hi guys! I'm so glad I found you! My wife has been wanting some Bacon Salt for a long time, so I'm getting it for her for Christmas. Thanks!! - Scott

And they replied!

Scott - I threw in some Bacon Lip Balm just to add to the holiday Bacony goodness! Enjoy! Tori and the Bacon Salt Team.

THAT is customer service people!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday and that it was as filled with Bacony goodness as mine was!!

The Christmas Party

2008-12-23T13:52:00.001-05:00

The girls, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

Look! Look above!! There, on the far left! The woman with the black and pink shirt and the black hair and the glasses?! See that woman?! She's a fatass and needs to stay behind the lens and not in front of it!!

Moving on.

The Christmas party with my mom, step-dad, and step-sisters and their families was on Saturday. It's the first time we've had it at my house, and the first time we've gone to it in a number of years. There was a massive falling out, and in order for there to not be ANOTHER falling out, let's not go there, kay?

Each step-sister has kids. SS1 has 2, SS2 has 5 (lord have mercy), and SS3 has 3. With our kids that's.....12 kiddos in the house. Add 9 adults and you're ready for a party - or a mental institution.

Everything was going fine UNTIL the sewer decided that it was pissed off and had enough and backed up on us. We have our own septic system, but when it was put in (long before we moved in), the dumbass who built it put in a 90 degree angle in the piping. This means that occasionally it gets plugged - especially when you've got little kids who don't pay attention to the Charmin bear commercial and use too much toilet paper.

Scott spent over an hour trying to unplug it when everyone was here, but was unsuccessful, so we had to very CAREFULLY use the downstairs toilet - making me feel like a miserable hostess.

(yes, he got it fixed the next day - a temporary fix I'm assuming. Yes, it will cost us plenty of money come the spring...*sigh*)

The gift giving went well, and there was really nothing blog-worthy about the entire situation, aside from the fact that none of us killed each other and the toilet broke.

That's NOTHING like the fact that today I left the dogs in the garage because I was trying to be nice (it's FREEZING in VT!) when I took Babygirl to preschool and did some errands - only to come home and find that they'd found the garbage bag from the Christmas party on Saturday night (nice segue, no?) and had strewn it from one end of the garage to the other.

NO CHRISTMAS FOR PUPPIES!

Guess what it did this weekend?!

2008-12-21T20:17:00.001-05:00

Tree day, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

SNOW! That's right - snow, and more snow, and more snow. Still waiting to see if Toad and Babygirl's schools will be canceled tomorrow or not. I'm gonna guess not - unless we get about a foot overnight!

We had the family holiday party, and I've got those pics over on my flickr acct. But I loved this pic - it really shows how much snow we got - LOTS. Scott had to shovel TWICE!!

More on the family party after I've recovered from all that damn manual labor LOL.

Loving my Camera

2008-12-18T09:42:00.002-05:00

Sometimes I look at photographs and I go "wow. Oh wow. I wish I could do that." But I know that the trick in taking an excellent photograph lies in not only practicing your craft, but in catching the little moments that make the picture great.

This morning I got up early and watched last night's Top Chef (I've said it before and I'll say it again - God Bless DVR). I heard Toad get up but I had no idea Babygirl got up until I walked into the kitchen and looked down the hallway. Babygirl was laying there on the floor with two of her bears - using one to rest her head upon, waiting for her brother to get out of the bathroom.

Instead of yelling for Toad to get out of the bathroom, or continuing with my morning routine, I snagged the camera.

Good pic or bad pic? What say you?

Christmas ornaments

2008-12-17T10:19:00.001-05:00

Me, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

I remember when Scott and I first got together - we had no Christmas ornaments. My grandmother hated the idea of us not having a tree and bought us a little one that we fell in love with. It had some tiny ornaments on it and was just adorable.

Then our son had his first real Christmas and so we got a tree and started to really enjoy Christmas with our son. Once again my gram saved our first tree by giving us the 12 days of Christmas balls, which we love and, again, still put up on our tree.

We slowly started to collect ornaments, and every year we let the kids choose one ornament and we add it to the tree. Now we've got plenty of ornaments - so many that our tree is stuffed, which I love. There are, however, some ornaments that mean more to me than others.

This ornament is, I believe, the first ornament I received when I was little. It's one of the first ornaments I try to put up on the tree and it means a lot to me because it's my link to my Childhood Christmases.

This Weekend

2008-12-15T11:57:00.001-05:00

Toad and Santa, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

Aside from a buttload of work and lots of cleaning, this was an awesomely amazing weekend.

On Saturday we took Toad and Babygirl down to our local little municipal building where we got to see a great clown show (and I use the word clown loosely, because he wasn't dressed like a clown, thankfully, but did have parts of his act that were definitely clown-like) and to visit Santa!

Babygirl decided that she had no desire to sit on Santa's lap. I'm going to remind her of that when she's older and wants to sit on a boys lap. "But honey, you didn't want to sit on Santa's lap, so why sit on that boy's lap?"

Toad, however, was excited and raced to the line. He asked (ie: BEGGED) Santa for a DS for Christmas. Santa's response? "We'll see how it goes." Good Santa. Actually, I'm pretty sure there's a DS in Toad and Babygirl's futures, but I'm not sure if it will be Santa providing the DS or mom and dad!

How awesome did that Santa look? Seriously! His outfit was gorgeous and his beard was home-grown! I wanted to go crawl on his lap and ask him if I could have a weekend getaway with the hubby as my Christmas present, but I'm pretty sure the folks who put the show and treat on would have ousted me immediately, which would've sucked because Toad and Babygirl both got ice cream, a cookie, a giant glass of milk, and two presents! We're definitely heading to visit Santa at thsi particular locale again next year.

We then headed up to cut our tree. We go to a place where you can choose and cut your own tree. This year it was $20. I've been told that in some places in the nation it cost over $80 to get a real Christmas Tree. Seriously?! That's nuts!!

Some friends that we haven't seen in awhile and their children popped up on Saturday and then Scott and I indulged in junk food and Batman. A pinch of cuddling was thrown in as well. A perfect recipe for a Saturday night.

Sunday we were all a bit lazy, but in between work and stuff we managed to get the house cleaned and Toad's floor cleaned. We even got the tree up when my SIL and her BF showed up. I have some great pics of that I can't wait to put up.

All in all it was an amazing weekend. One that I hope the children will remember for a very long time.

Takaani and Kamik

2008-12-14T10:10:00.001-05:00

Takaani and Kamik, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

Remember when they were just puppies a year ago? Remember?! Remember all of the chewed up towels and the destroyed toys? Remember the poop and pee on the carpet and the mountains of food we went through (oh, wait, we still go through that). Remember how adorable they looked as puppies?

They're not puppies anymore. But damn do they look majestic.

I knew there was a reason we kept them around.

Snowy days anyone?

2008-12-13T09:47:00.003-05:00

So last night Scott and I had a rather late night - I had a very stressful deadline to meet and he - well - he was just up for some reason or another. Anyway, around midnight we let the dogs out so that we could go to bed. This is what we saw on the back porch.

Nice, right? We'd gotten about four or so inches yesterday, but it kept snowing through the night. One reason I'm glad that I'm married is because I have someone I can browbeat into shoveling our fairly large driveway!

There are, however advantages to having a lot of snow - which I experienced first hand this morning.

And, of course, I had to get a pic of one of the mals in the snow, right? This is Kamik, begging me with his eyes to let him off the leash so that he could go run around in the snow!

And now I'm headed outside to enjoy some sledding time with the kids. Wait - let me correct that - they sled, I take pictures.

My Son

2008-12-11T09:35:00.001-05:00

Tongue Bells, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

A few months ago I proved that Babygirl was my daughter due to the whole "jumping in the air and sticking out your tongue" thing.

At least Toad's feet were on the ground.

Too Early

2008-12-10T09:46:00.001-05:00

Ice Fishing 2, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

I was driving around yesterday running errands and I was glad that I had my camera in the car. A few times I've seen ice fishers out on the large lake that's near us - here's the thing: it's too early! The ice hasn't had enough time to freeze yet! in many places, there is still water showing through the ice!

These guys, however, don't care. They walk out, tiptoeing in many cases, hoping that the ice is strong enough to hold them. Yesterday Babygirl and I caught two of them out on the ice - and this is why I love the telephoto lens! I was able to sit in the car and to get some shots of the crazy ice fishers who are risking their lives to get a bite.

And they say that those guys who are on Deadliest Catch are doing dangerous things. These guys, however, are absolutely stupid.

She's Definitely My Daughter

2008-12-09T18:28:00.002-05:00

In the car today, on the way to get the Christmas tree that we haven't yet gotten (dang tree place was closed until Thursday), I was trying to explain to Toad and Babygirl why we celebrate Christmas on the day we celebrate it on. Neither Scott nor I are huge church-goers, and we have our own beliefs. Our children are baptized protestant but that was really the first and only time they've been to church.

Anyway, I gave a brief explanation that Jesus was born in a stable (manger, whatever), and that the wise men gave him gifts when he was born, which is sort of why we get gifts on that day. At this point Toad pipes in, "So Jesus turned into Santa?!"

Um, no.

So I explained AGAIN and made it a bit more clear.

Randi: And then, when Jesus grew up, he became a great man. He helped a lot of people in a lot of ways.
Babygirl: How momma?
Randi: One time he cured a man who was blind and made it so that he could see.
Toad: How did he do that?
Babygirl: Duh - he gave him glasses.

And the Christmas Season Begins

2008-12-08T10:11:00.002-05:00

We try to not put up any Christmas decorations until after Toad's birthday is over. This is because I don't think it's right for us to celebrate Christmas before Toad's birthday is done, as the day should be just about him.

Now that it's over, it's time to get ready for Christmas! This doesn't mean that I haven't purchased tons of presents already - we have - and they're steadily arriving via the UPS truck. Fortunately the UPS guy isn't scared of Duke - in fact, the other day he remarked "he's such a good dog." Gotta love a dog-loving UPS guy.

Yesterday my favorite sister-in-law came down and babysat for a few hours so that Scott and I could get some little things and we even went out to lunch! Huzzah! I had an excellent prime rib and some mashed potatoes, and I discovered that I like the little baby corn at the salad bar!

We also got some Christmas decorations for around the house - garland and stuff. We have tons of tree stuff, but for some reason I never put up other stuff. Now, however, we're going to! I'm hoping that the kids and I can get some of it up before Scott comes home.

Do you decorate a lot of stuff around your house for Christmas?

And Interesting Birthday Party

2008-12-07T10:14:00.002-05:00

I had a few surprises at Toad's birthday party this year. The first was one of my best friends showing up. K said she'd pop in, but as she's got a 2 month old baby, you never know what will happen! She was able to stop by with her beautiful 3 year old daughter, Chickie, and her 2 month old son - whom has yet to have a nickname - and her significant other, C. They seemed like they had a good time! Chickie did the jumping game and the egg hunt (it was Yoshi's egg hunt - it was a Mario theme).

As she was there anyway, I cornered her and took a few shots of her and the baby. This is my favorite.

Isn't he cute?!

Another surprise was my father showing up. Yes, he's been upgraded (slightly) from the term sperm-donor to the term of father. He called and asked if he could bring Toad's birthday present down, and then called when he had to reschedule. He actually showed up and brought my little brother (who is 20) with him.

He played with Toad and me on the Wii and had a blast saying "my big sister". As we've never been raised together, it was interesting, and I really enjoyed it.

This afternoon my sister-in-law is babysitting so that we can go out and get stocking stuffers and go to lunch. We haven't gone out to eat in FOREVER, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, enjoy birthday candle blowing goodness.

The 8 Year Old

2008-12-06T21:46:00.002-05:00

I've written about Toad's birth story before, so I won't do it again. Instead, I'll tell you about how awesome this kid is.

Toad is in second grade and is doing amazingly well. he's extremely intelligent and he loves to help his friends in school. he has tons of friends and is the most popular kid in his class (a class of 7), and he enjoys hanging out with his friends.

He also enjoys hanging out with his sister, although he'll never admit to it. I feel so fortunate that he is such an amazing big brother. I know that he'll fight with his little sister, but I also know that, when it comes down to it, he'll protect her at all times - hopefully he'll beat up any boy who tries to date her (because neither of them are dating until they're 30. Amen.)

He loves to play video games, and I hope that his dream of becoming a video game designer comes true. He loves to play the Wii, and I know he'll love the DS that he's getting for Christmas (I think he was a bit upset that he didn't get the DS for his birthday, but we'll make it up on Christmas.)

He has a very soft heart. He loves to mess around but when someone hurts his feelings he lets it be known very quickly. At the same time, he feels bad when others get hurt too, and tries to stick up for people all the time.

He's a very fussy eater, and for a long time both Scott and I thought that he would grow up eating only chicken nuggets and noodles, but once I asked him to put an effort into eating, he's been trying new foods, and making us both extremely proud.

I love both of my children, but as I've told Toad numerous times, I will always love him longest. He's my baby. He is the one who helped me to grow up.

I love you birthday boy, and I can't believe that you're already 8.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best son and big brother in the whole wide world.

WATER!

2008-12-05T08:53:00.002-05:00

In case you weren't aware, we've got a household full of animals. The dogs usually take up the spotlight here on my blog, simply because they're CONSTANTLY underfoot. I realized yesterday that I don't talk much about our cats. We have two cats - Duchess and Holly. Duchess has been with us for almost 7 years, and Holly has been with us for about three. Wow - I just realized that she's getting up there in years!

Anyway, Holly's a Mouser, with a capital M. She loves to chase anything and to kill it and eat it (bleck). When the weather gets cold, she decides to chase after Duchess and annoy her, just for fun. Last night was a good round and we got mad at both cats.

In our house we have a routine - get up, let the dogs out, put water in the dog bowl so that the cats can get first dibs on it (we've tried having a "cat" bowl but that didn't work so well). Anyway, Holly always waits for the water - unlike Duchess, she considers herself too high brow to drink out of the bathroom tub faucet. She's very impatient to get her water. This morning, however, I was still ticked off at her for chasing and annoying Duchess last night so I skipped giving her water and went straight to watching a bit of Survivor from last night.

The kids got up, I did their normal morning routine and complete forgot about Holly. Until she reminded me.

Holly sat right in the dog's water bowl, making her needs very well known. Then she wouldn't get out of the bowl so that Scott could fill it! So he decided to offer her a drink out of a cup.

I should definitely take more pictures of our cats.

Friends from Afar

2008-12-04T09:17:00.003-05:00

I should have written this yesterday but it took me a bit to pull myself away from work and the new TV in order to get a shot - and this post definitely deserves a shot. Remember a few weeks ago when I was lamenting about Babygirl not being challenged at school? How she flies through workbooks like nothing and how she loves anything academic? The wonderful, beautiful, extremely thoughtful Jaime decided to take matters into her own hands and sent the kids two workbooks!

One workbook is more trucks and boy stuff - because even though it looked a little young she didn't want Toad to feel left out, and the other is all animals (which Babygirl LOVES). The minute she opened the package she jumped up and down and ran to get some pencils to do the workbook! It's right up her alley too - the perfect level to challenge her and yet is simple enough that the majority of the time I don't have to stop what I'm doing every two minutes to explain what she's supposed to do (God bless you for THAT one Jaime!).

Toad has been doing the truck workbook, even though he is a bit old for it, but it keeps him busy and he enjoys it, so who am I to stop him?! Babygirl meanwhile, has FLOWN through the workbook and is almost done. She skipped a few pages so we'll go back and work on those together, but she absolutely loved it - not just having something to do, but knowing that someone sent something special just for her.

Jaime - you're wonderful, beautiful, absolutely AMAZING and I love you oh so much - you've made me remember why friends you meet online can be just as amazing as friends you meet IRL. Thank you!!

Be Still My Heart

2008-12-03T08:10:00.002-05:00

Dear Mr. 46,

It hasn't even been two full days yet but I have to tell you that I am still completely enjoying being around you. I want to spend more and more time with you and find myself thinking of excuses as to why I can turn to you. I watched you play with the kids last night on the Wii and was fascinated by how well you worked with them and by how much you apparently wanted to play with them.

I am enjoying spending time with you so much that Babygirl and I spent a good portion of time yesterday moving things around and cleaning up the area that is expressly yours, so that you can not only look great but feel great.

I still love touching you. Your smooth surface is just too difficult to not touch, and even your sleek extensions are enjoyable to handle as well.

I'm not sure quite how to tell you this, but, Mr. 46, I think...I think...I think I love you.

Love,

Randi

P.S. Please don't tell my husband. He's got a fragile ego and, well, let's face it, he's not anywhere near as big as you are...

Why Scott Will Never Go to Deer Camp Again

2008-12-01T21:44:00.002-05:00

So I'm sure you all heard that Scott went to deer camp - three weekends in a row. The first weekend was fun. The second weekend kinda sucked because of the massive migraine that I had.

The third weekend Scott learned why he shouldn't go to deer camp very often.

I would like to introduce you to a few people. First, please meet Mr. 27. Mr. 27 is the television that my grandmother gave us when we lived in our teeny, tiny trailer right after Toad was born. It saw us through switching from VHS to DVD, getting surround sound, and countless hours of children's television programming. Here is Mr. 27.

Here's what Mr. 27 looks like from the entrance to the living room. Please ignore the huge mess in the background - some of it is kids toys, and the big black thing? Well, that's the accessory to the next thing...

So Scott went to deer camp for three weekends in a row. Randi, however, was at home. With the kiddos. Dealing with Mr. 27, who's had better days. See, he's starting to slowly let us know that it's time for him to be put out to pasture. He's been flickering on bright screens and has been extremely annoying at the front connectors - if you touched it, hell, if you breathed on it, the connectors would cause the tv to lose all of the images.

So Randi took a trip to Sears and came home with a slip for Mr. 46. Hello Mr. 46!!!!

Mr. 46 is a 46" Samsung LCD HD HDMI/DVI 1080P PIP FUKME TV. Yes, yes it is. I informed Scott when he called that I'd used his name to get credit for a new television. Okay, okay, I had permission to get it with his name (his credit is better than mine right now - damn college loans), but *I* picked it out and *I* ordered it - it's the first time I've ever picked out anything that expensive by myself, and I feel pretty damn proud!

We went down the Wally World on Sunday and found the stand you see the television on. I'm actually kind of in love with the stand as well as with the television. I love that it holds the television up off of the stand, so that I don't have to worry that the kiddos or dogs (more likely dogs) will accidentally brush up against it and break it.

The thing is that we were going to buy a new television when our taxes came in, but since there was an awesome deal, and since Sears was offering a good "buy now - pay whenever the fuck you have money" thing, we decided to take it and give ourselves an early Christmas present. Here's what Mr. 46 looks like coming into the living room.

The mess is still there (damn kids - oh - wait - I can't blame them for the dust in my house? Crap!) but can you see how much room it has freed up? Sorta? Kinda?

Or maybe it just looks better because it's sleek and black and SHINY. I just love touching it - it feels so smooth...

We just picked it up this afternoon (it's Monday when I'm writing this), and it took us the better part of the evening to get the television secured onto the unit and all the cords plugged in - we still haven't tied them all down in the back yet, but we got sick of moving things around.

So now that I've got my great white hunter back in my bed where his arms can go around me, think it's be bad of me to sleep out on the couch so that I can be closer to Mr. 46?

Learnin' Poker

2008-11-29T09:40:00.002-05:00

We've been trying to find new games to play with the kiddos, and because Scott has been playing poker at camp, he's brought the poker playin' fun home with him. He taught the kids how to play two card guts, and then I decided that I wanted to play some blackjack! So we taught Toad and Babygirl to play blackjack. While Toad is old enough to count, however, Babygirl got a little frustrated...

Here's my losing hand :).

So, as I was saying, Babygirl began pretty into it...

Then she realized that she had to do some counting. First she started with her fingers and tried really hard to count...

Then she realized that there were more dots than there were fingers and that she needed to count some other way.

Unfortunately, *I* lost. Babygirl, however, won! She couldn't count very well, but Daddy helped her. Playing poker with kids - oh so fun.

Another Weekend Alone

2008-11-28T15:31:00.002-05:00

Scott told me the other day that he was going to be leaving to go back to hunting camp after Thanksgiving. I sort of guilt-tripped him into staying, at the night after Thanksgiving, but he headed out this morning. So once again, I'm alone with the kiddos.

My patience, she is wearing thing.

I love my kids - honestly - but I feel like I haven't gotten much of a break in the last month or so. Yes, the SIL and I did go out on Sunday, and I am so grateful to have gone out, so maybe it's that I feel like I haven't had time to connect with the hubby. We laid on the couch and watched a bit of television yesterday (and some the day before), but we haven't actually had a conversation - an enjoyable one - in quite some time.

Today I'm actually feeling very, very alone. Yet I've got two children and more critters than I need to count here in the house, so why am I feeling so alone?

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T09:36:00.000-05:00

Today will be filled with food...food....and, um, FOOD.

As I type this we're watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - no wonder it's 3 hours long - the anchors WON'T SHUT UP! I love the broadway songs they're showing, but if the anchors would shut up and just show the floats, I'd be so much happier. And it'd be easier to keep the kids entertained as well!

I made a pumpkin roll yesterday, and a pumpkin cake, and in a bit I'll start some rolls so that we can bake them and have REAL fresh rolls.

So what am I thankful for? Hmm...let me make a list.

That my children are healthy and happy
That my husband and I have managed to stick through it (because I'm too poor to live on my own right now)
That my friends are wonderful - both in real life and online
That everyone I know is happy and healthy right now (as far as I know - but occasionally I'm kind of oblivious)
That I have a job I love
That we have some money set aside for Christmas (or there'd BE no Christmas, lemme tell ya that).

So yeah, that's a few of the main things I'm thankful for this holiday season. I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving day and that you're able to enjoy it, no matter where you are!

Simple Minded?

2008-11-25T09:09:00.002-05:00

I'm a bit put out today. A lot of things are going on that are frustrating me. One of which is Scott. Apparently our few months of harmonious lifestyle are a few months too much, so now we're at each other's throats again. It's not as bad as it has been, but little things are setting us both off.

Take, for instance, New Years Eve.

Here's where you think I'm a hick - I have never, not once, been out for New Year's Eve. This year my SIL has New Years Day off, a rarity for her, and would love to go out with us. I agreed and said that I'd talk with Scott.

Here's the thing - he has no problem going out, but he doesn't want to go out anywhere around here. He says that all the places around here are "small, cramped, un-fun bars" and that there's nothing to do but "sit, talk, and get drunk". Wait - isn't that the point of New Years Eve?

He wants to head to Canada, but getting across the Canadian border on New Years Eve would NOT be enjoyable - trust me - and then there's the whole "what if it's snowing too hard to drive far" part of the equation that you have to add in.

As we're discussing what to do/where to go, he says, "I know! We'll go to New York City! If you want to go out, we might as well do it big!"

New York City is about 6 1/2 hrs away from us. It's not horribly far, but then again you're talking about driving. In the middle of winter. At the busiest time of the year in New York City. No thank you. I'm perfectly content to stay here and to go to a bar or a restaurant and to enjoy spending time with Scott and my SIL and her fiance.

Apparently Scott isn't, because once I said that I didn't want to go to NYC, and I explained the reasons why, he replied that I was, "being simple minded."

Simple minded.

There are only a few insults that I can't take. I knew that I hated being called a cunt - that's just not right. I'll proudly wear the title bitch, but cunt is just an ugly word. I don't like to be called stupid, either. Saying something like, "you're being so stupid" to me will likely have me turning around and blasting you with a round of Randi-Bitch. I don't think anyone is stupid - okay, so Bush is, but no one that I KNOW is stupid - I just don't associate with stupid people.

So to call me stupid is hitting below the belt. And simple minded? Apparently that's akin to stupid in my book.

So I got upset. Honestly I didn't get horrible mad AT FIRST. I was a bit of a smart ass and made comments like, "I'm not sure if I can handle something like that - I'm too simple minded." This apparently pissed Scott off, but instead of just apologizing for making that comment, he stormed off into the bedroom to get on the computer.

Finally he did apologize for saying it - followed by the ever-present BUT...as in, "I'm sorry I used that word...BUT I don't think I was using it the way you think I was using it."

Oh - that's right - I'm too simple minded to figure out what he was saying. Silly me.

Some Of My Fiction

2008-11-24T09:38:00.002-05:00

The girl sat on the swings, swaying gently back and forth. Her dark brown hair was gathered together at the nape of her neck and hung scraggily down, reaching the middle of her back. It looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks, and, as far as she could remember, probably hadn’t been. In her house, no one really cared if you were washed or not, as long as you didn’t get too near any of the adults.

The stinging words of her classmates still rang in her head, even though they’d been gone for hours. She wasn’t sure why they seemed to bother her so much tonight. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t been called those names before in her 10 years. Maybe it was because the boy she had a crush on, Jeremiah, was the leader of the pack this time. Maybe it was because he was the one who hurled out the most insulting taunts, or maybe it was because the perfect Jessica was standing beside him the whole time, enjoying her torment as the kids hurled vile names at her.

Her light blue eyes stayed fixed on the lone soda can that was sitting in the middle of the playground. It was dented and dirty, and had obviously been discarded after all of the delicious nectar had been sucked out of it. She’d had soda a few times, usually only when her case worker came and took her out to have lunch or something, but she remembered what it tasted like. Sweet. Bubbly. To the cast off foster child, soda tasted rich.

An autumn breeze stirred up and had the dried colored leaves flittering across the ground. It was soon to be winter in Vermont, and that meant long nights filled with shivering skin and aching bones. She thought fleetingly of the puffy new pink coat that her caseworker had brought to her a few days ago, and knew that, by now, it was safely entrenched in her foster sister’s closet. Amy was a year older than she was, and would likely not fit into the coat, but she hated when Carly had anything newer than she did, and tended to take it from her bedroom whenever she wasn’t home. Amy’s parents, Michael and Andrea, would have the coat back in Carly’s bedroom whenever her case worker visited, after all, they didn’t want to lose their monthly allotment for taking care of her, but they wouldn’t lift a finger when Amy took it back to her bedroom after the caseworker’s scheduled visit was over.

Carly was through getting mad at Amy, after all, it didn’t do any good to try to tell on her. Michael and Andrea didn’t care, and she’d learned years ago that there was no point in telling her teachers about what was going on at home. She was a foster child. A ward of the state. As long as she was getting food and looked physically healthy, no one cared.

Jeremiah, however, was another matter. This was the first time she’d dared to like a boy, and to have him yell words like “loser”, “scum bucket”, and “cunt” at her made her infuriated. She wasn’t quite sure what the last word meant, but after Jeremiah screamed it he got this mean looking smile on his face, while the other kids gasped in shock. Soon all of the kids were yelling it out loud, and only stopped when the bus pulled up to the curb to take them home. Carly, however, didn’t get on the bus, but stayed sitting on the swings, the very place she’d been ambushed, trying to make sense of the whole situation.

She thought of the two mile walk back to Michael and Andrea’s house, and of how she’d get yelled at when she got home for making them “worry” (they only worried about her disappearing and their checks becoming non-existent), and sighed. She supposed she’d better get started.

Suddenly the anger began to build in her. Anger at Jeremiah for calling her names. Anger at Jessica for looking so smug the entire time the crowd of children were taunting her. Anger at Amy for taking all of her things. Anger at Michael and Andrea for not caring. Anger at her mother and father for abandoning her to a life of being ignored and hated. Anger at the world in general.

Her eyes narrowed on the soda can and she briefly thought about walking over to kick it as hard as she could. Suddenly the can went flying across the playground, landing ten feet away from where it first lay. Carly’s eyes flew open wide and she looked around, wondering exactly what had happened. The wind had died down, and there was no one else around. She couldn’t have made the can move, could she have?

She looked at the can again, and willed it to move. It lay still. She thought about saying all the magic words she knew from her beloved story books, but they seemed silly, and besides, she hadn’t said a word when the can had become airborne in the first place. What was she doing? She tried to remember. She knew she’d been thinking about how much she hated her life, and about how ignored she felt. She knew she had been considering getting up and giving the can a strong kick before she started her long walk home. Her eyes narrowed on the can, imagining how hard she’d like to kick it, and once again, it flew high into the air.

Carly’s face of surprise slowly transformed into one of cautious happiness. Maybe her life didn’t suck as bad as she thought it did after all.

Hunter's Widow Weekend #2

2008-11-23T18:27:00.002-05:00

The first thing you need to know about this weekend was that it went nowhere near as smoothly as last weekend went. Last weekend was good - this weekend? I had a migraine on Saturday. I haven't had one in a long time (a few months), but because it was just me with the kiddos, I couldn't take anything strong enough to kill it until the kids went to bed, so i suffered most of the day. It rocked - umm - NOT.

I finally took the meds I needed around 9 pm, though, and slept a lot. Then, this morning, the hubby showed up home early, mainly because he called the night before and knew about my migraine, but also because the other guys had left camp and he didn't want to hang out by himself. I dropped the kiddos off at my mother's anyway, giving htem time to play with Grammy and her time to play with them., so that my SIL and I could head to see Twilight.

So now is when I give you my review. To begin with, most of you were wrong - I actually didn't have to worry at all about getting tickets. In fact, there were FIFTEEN people in the theater, including us. Fifteen. Yeah - that was busy. Apparently us Vermonters are a bit slow to catch onto the newest hyped up thing.

I have read the books and love them. I have issues with some of the writing (as in there are only two main lines I can think of in the first book that are memorable), but the caracters are amazing and that's what saves the book. So I read them, then I gave them to my sister in law, then we both got hooked and agreed to go see it together.

We went to the theater, which was 45 minutes away (the only one near here showing it) and started watching. I understood why they changed some stuff, and was fine with that. I actually would've given the entire movie a B+ or so, IF they hadn't fucked with the most important part of the movie - the part with Edward and Bella in the meadow. That part? That integral, extremely important, extremely NECESSARY part, was done WRONGLY. Horribly wrongly. As in "I wanted to shut my eyes the entire time and pretend that it didn't exist" wrongly. My sister in law agreed entirely.

The rest if it was all right, but if you haven't read the book, my guess would be that you would have no idea what was going on for most of it. I was actually disappointed in the movie. There were a lot of things that could be changed without messing with the original story, and a lot of things that could've stayed in.

The best part of the entire trip was spending time with my SIL. She and I don't spend much alone time together - or time with another woman without kids or men involved, and we had a blast. We laughed the entire way down and home and now I need to make a bumper sticker for her that reads: Caution - Driver Cannot Make Left-Hand Turns. She's getting it under the Christmas tree, oh yes she is.

Extraction Delayed

2008-11-21T15:25:00.002-05:00

Toad's teeth extraction has been delayed. We got there and met with the dentist. He checked out Toad's teeth again and his response was, "he's such a good patient - can I talk to mom in the other room for a minute please?"

Turns out that he doesn't want Toad to turn out like his mother (ie, scared shitless of the dentist), so he rescheduled it until Dec. 27th, when he'll have four LITERS of nitrus waiting for Toad's pleasure.

I asked if the mother gets to have nitrus too, but unfortunately that's not allowed. Dammit.

So, basically, tooth crisis averted for a few weeks, Toad got a "get out of school for free for today" card, and we all got McyD's.

The Great White Hunter Strikes Again

2008-11-21T09:44:00.002-05:00

This morning, at 11:45, Toad will be having two teeth pulled.

Ask me if I'm excited.

Later, after we've all gotten home and probably after we've gotten groceries, the Great White Hunter will be heading out to go after the trophy deer once again. Will he get it? Who knows. I only know that he goes out and has a really good time, and as long as he brings home either venison or money (from playing poker), I'm happy.

And it wouldn't hurt if he called to say "hi" too.

Sunday my sister-in-law and I have a date to go see Twilight. I really hope we get to go. I absolutely love the books (even though I know there are problems with them, I just love the characters), and can't wait to see how it's translated on the big screen.

But to see it? We have to go 45 minutes away. Why? Because the theater that's only 15 minutes away ISN'T PLAYING THE MOST HYPED UP MOVIE OF THE FALL. Yeah. They're geniuses.

Blame It On The Hormones

2008-11-19T09:05:00.002-05:00

Am I the only woman who ever wonders how her partner's ex's stacked up in bed?

I have...issues...in the bedroom. Sometimes its good, and when its good its REALLY good. Other times it's not so good. It's ALWAYS good, however, for Scott. From what I've managed to pull out of him over the course of 9 years (GOD that still shocks me sometimes), his previous partners never had anything to complain about.

I, however, feel some days like I have nothing but complaints when it comes to certain aspects of our marriage. I hate that. I hate feeling that way.

Sometimes I turn around and say that our lack of successful intimacy (boy is that a mouthful) is his fault. That he should be a God in the sack or something. That he should be responsible for making us both feel good.

Then I remember that his previous partners never had a problem and realize that the problem is me. No matter how I try to relax, or what I try, I seem to constantly get into a rut.

What happened to having a sexual life like they do on the movies on in the books - an intimate life where you, more often than not, burn each other up when you walk into the bedroom? Where you enjoy your encounter every single time, even if you don't reach the ultimate destination?

I'm laying the blame on my doorstep. I have to. Obviously Scott's had no complaints before, and I can't seem to find enjoyment every time.

Or am I alone in this?

At The Birthday Party

2008-11-18T14:37:00.004-05:00

So I mentioned that we went to a birthday party on Sunday, did I not? There are, however, a few things about said party that have been stewing that need to be said.

First of all, the party was fine. The kids were fine. The parents, however, I have issues with.

Scott has known the father for a long time - he actually lived in an apartment with him when they first got out of high school. Then the father met the mother and they split. Scott can't stand the mother. He believes that she's to blame for the father changing. I try to keep an open mind, but I did observe some things.

First of all - the mother has a serious control complex. She has to control or dictate everything. At one point her daughter, newly turned 5, was decorating an arts and crafts project she'd bought for all the kids to do and the mother actually said, "Why do you always do that? Why do you make it look like crap?" She's FIVE. She was sticking stickers onto a door knob thingy. And then, when she tried to turn it over to decorate the other side, it was all, "Why are you doing that?! No one sees the other side. You're the one who decorated this side to look crappy - now you either have to fix it or suck it up." This said to a FIVE YEAR OLD.

Now I don't believe in babying my children unless there is a reason, and I also believe that you have to earn your children's respect, just as they have to earn yours. We believe in rules, boundaries, and limitations (all hail Cesar!) and also in sitting down and having fun with the kids. Last night, for pete's sake, Scott was teaching the kids how to play Two Card Guts poker (Babygirl kicked his butt, by the way). We balance silliness and playing with rules and structure. I'm no June Cleaver, but you will NEVER hear me talk to my kids the way this woman did and does.

Another thing, however, happened. We bought the girl a pretty cool present (Blendy Pens - seriously, if you know of any children between the ages of 4 and...well..29...get these, they're so much fun!) and she wanted to open them. She kept trying to get her mother to let her open them and her mother didn't want her to. That's fine! We've run across that situation here. Usually we take the child aside, explain that we'll open it when all the guests have gone so that it doesn't get broken/lost/used up, and redirect them to other toys that they can play with.

This, however, didn't happen at the birthday party.

The mother kept saying "no". Fine. Then she got ticked off as the child kept asking for them. At one point a truck broke and the mother turned around and snapped, "See! Look what you did. I thikn your father is mad at you - you broke the truck." She even brought Toad into it, by saying, "Since you can't play with it correctly, Toad's taking it home." Of course the child screamed, grabbed the truck, and ran off, confusing the hell out of my son. Then she wanted the pens again. The mother put them on the bar, said no, and walked away.

Pop quiz: what do you think the child did?

Of course. She hopped up onto the bar and grabbed them down. The mother then takes them away from the daughter again and, one more pop quiz, where do you think she put them the second time?

Back on the fucking bar.

Of course the daughter jumped up and grabbed them again. This went on three or four times. At one point the mother again said, "I'm telling Babygirl to take them home! There! How do you like that?!"

Once again, the child made a face and just went for the pens. By this point the father, who had been a great help during the party, had had enough. He walked into the living room and turned on the telvision to watch football, escaping the screaming and fighting that was going on in the kitchen.

I have a feeling that he does that a lot.

Finally the mother had enough. She ripped open the package and hollared, "there! If you want to open them, that's fine. But don't come to me if they get ruined or destroyed."

Now class, who do you think won the battle?

The child, of course.

This could have been handled SO much easier and without the stress. The parents simply had to take her aside, explain why she shouldn't open them now, and, if that didn't work, she should have put them where the daughter couldn't reach them.

But no. Instead, she'll go on watching things like this happen and wondering why they keep happening.

Polygamist Lifestyle?

2008-11-17T09:40:00.002-05:00

I had a rough drop-off with Babygirl this morning, so I came home and decided to watch something I'd taped yesterday - Forbidden Love: Polygamist. It's a documentary-style show on TLC. Apparently this main journalist is traveling around trying to understand the different family lifestyles in order to help her understand what she wants (although I think she already knows what she wants).

This time she's traveled to discover what life is in a polygamist family - she spends time with two polygamist families and the only thing that really doesn't get discussed (well it does, but not to my satisfaction), is what happens in the bedroom.

In one family, the gentleman (who lives in a tiny house with two wives and 9 kids), says that the girls get to decide which bed he's into - the girls, however, disagree and say that the husband is the one who decides.

Now, here's the thing - I've often wondered how much easier it would be with another wife in this house. You'd have someone to do half the work, someone to help take care of the kids, ect. But I know that it isn't for me. Why? Because there is no way I can give up cuddle time on the couch with my husband.

Last night he held me and rubbed my arm and nibbled on my ear. Is it just me, or are there other women who would choose cuddling and holding over sex most of the time?

Weekend Recap

2008-11-16T10:33:00.002-05:00

I just realized I haven't said anything about what happened this weekend. Let's start with Friday, shall we?

Friday

Friday was the day that the Great White Hunter said he was leaving for camp. The day before I spent three HOURS making home made chicken soup and another two hours making chocolate chip cookies (which, by the way, rocked ass).

When he first talked about leaving he said he was going to leave after lunch. Then he said that he was going to leave around 11. Friday morning, however, I noticed his eyes constantly wandering towards the clock. He started packing up his bags around 9:30! I, of course, was a bit upset by this - I mean, I have NO problem with him going, but he just seemed like he was more excited to leave home than he would be to come BACK home.

Anyway, he left. Then I dealt with a dog who has suddenly decided to mark his territory (at least that's what I think he's doing) by peeing on the corner of something. He did it in the living room on Thursday, downstairs in the rec room on Friday, and in our bedroom on Saturday! Each time he doesn't pee much, but in my opinion, any pee in the house is too much pee. I also discovered that the minute my husband leaves the house is the minute that I get my period. For the first time in MONTHS. Of. Course.

Babygirl and I spent the afternoon goofing around and killing time. Then, right before it was time to pick up Toad, the phone guy came. Our phone has been acting strangely lately and I keep calling them - but it doesn't always mess up when they come to fix it. My plan had been to pick up Toad and head out to go grocery shopping immediately, but since the guy was here I had to bring him home instead.

The phone guy was great and hooked the line up to the second line we have in the house that hasn't been used since the nephew was here, basically to make sure that it's not an inside problem (newsflash - phone's still fucked up, but at least he tried SOMETHING - he's supposed to call Monday).

We went grocery shopping and did all the errands. Then we got home. I immediately called our older dog down and had him go into the house before us. Even though the doors were locked, I always worry that somehow, someone got into the house. Duke, our protector, is great for that.

I realized how much of a total pain in the ass it was to -

unload the groceries
get them all upstairs
get the kids stuff all upstairs that they bought
get the kids food spread out for them
get the dogs
unload groceries

Usually Scott and I split this up and I get the kids set up and take care of the groceries (after he brings them up), while he takes care of the dogs. Not so. This time it was all me.

The rest of the night was uneventful in the terms of the kiddos. I, however, had a bitch of a time falling asleep. For some reason, feeling like I was the only grownup in the house made it difficult to get to sleep comfortably...probably because I don't feel like I'm a grownup half of the time.

Saturday

Saturday was pretty good - the only caveat was that I was out of feminine products to take care of the period, so after Toad's friend visited (from 11 - 4), we hit the store to pick up some. The kids, however, didn't know what Mommy was buying, as they were too enthused that they were being allowed to buy a few dollar toys.

We watched a movie and the kiddos went to bed and then I indulged in my newest passion - online poker. So sad. Then I watched a chick flick that I rented specifically because I knew I could watch it without Scott bugging me.

Sunday

So far this morning has been fine - we have a birthday party to go to in about an hour (and we still have to wrap the present - I'm always so ahead of this kind of shit), but I feel kind of disgruntled. I have NO problem with Scott heading out for a weekend or two (even though I've never had a full weekend away...whatever), but I am kind of upset that he didn't call the kiddos this weekend. I know where his camp his - it's about 30 minutes away on the property owned by his brother-in-law's father. The camp itself is a short walk from the main house, where they would have NO problem with him calling home.

I couldn't be gone from the house for a day without calling to tell the kids that I loved them and that I was thinking about them, and he's been gone for 48 hours with no word at ALL.

So yeah, I'm a bit pissed off. Yet I feel like if I greet him with anger when he comes home it'll just start a huge fight. So I'll try to be nice, and will let him know, instead, how hurt I was that he didn't call the kids. I know that they've been asking about him and wondering how he's doing and what he's doing and if he got a deer (I'm going to assume no). Not having a good relationship with my own father, I guess I feel kind as though he's ignored his children for the weekend, which, in my eyes, is unacceptable.

(Side Note: whenever we've gone away for a weekend together...the last time was two years ago...he's ALWAYS anxious to call the kids to see how they're doing. I know, he probably feels like they're safe with me, but usually HE'S the one who's the most excited to call them, and now that he's alone with his "boys", he doesn't spare us a second glance. Yeah, I guess I am kind of pissed off.)

ABC Meme

2008-11-13T20:35:00.002-05:00

Caught this one over at Slackermama's and just had to do it - if only to answer the B question.

A is for age: Not yet 30, and that makes me happy :).

B is for burger of choice: Wendy's Baconator. Oh yes. Yes please. I can feel my arteries clogging and I LURVES IT! I don't like veggies on my burger and this one comes with NO veggies and with only ketchup and mayo, which I always order anyway! I've renamed it the RandiBurger and am putting up a shrine for it in my kitchen. I can only eat a half a one at a time, though, which is annoying. (on an interesting side note, I ate half of a leftover one cold for breakfast one day and I felt less tired than if I would have eaten two wheat toast. Go figure.)

C is for the car I drive: My car's a 2004 Ford Freestar. HIS car's a 1999 Escort, although technically my name's on the Escort and his is on the Freestar :)

D is for your dog’s name: Which one? Duke, Kamik, and Takaani.

E is for essential item you use every day: My laptop. I love it. I can't do with it, and when I have to be without it, I pout.

F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Gah! Too many! I can't pick one! If I have to pick one show that I simply CAN'T miss, it'd be House.

G is for favorite game: Making my husband crazy. Isn't that a game?

H is for home state: The same one I'm living in now. I'm a homebody - or a coward :). Either way, I love my VT.

I is for instruments you play: I USED to play the oboe. There's something you probably didn't know about me.

J is for favorite juice: I don't drink juice often - it makes my sugar go BERZERK!

K is for whose bum you’d like to kick: The person who invented the Baconator. Didn't he raelize that I'd get addicted?!

L is for last restaurant at which you ate: Nienty-Nine. Oh god I love their redskinned mashed potatoes.

M is for your favorite Muppet: COOKIE! COOKIE COOKIE COOKIE!!!! Then Sesame St. went and turned him into a vegetable eating monster. So not cool.

N is for number of piercings: Just my ears, so that's two.

O is for overnight hospital stays: Five.

P is for people you were with today: Kiddos, Hubby, Babygirl's annoying preschool teacher, Babygirl's nice preschool teacher...

Q is for what you do with your quiet time: Watch television, read, try to evade my husband's groping hands...

R is for biggest regret: I don't regret. Or rather, I try to not regret. Life is too short to live it constantly regretting things that you've done, or haven't done.

S is for status: Good. Thanks for asking ;).

T is for time you woke up today: 6:30.

U is for what you consider unique about yourself: I talk. A lot. And very fast. Kitty has said I sound like Tinkerbelle on Speed.

V is for vegetable you love: I'll settle for vegetable I tolerate - the answer would be carrots.

W is for worst habit: Talking. Too much.

X is for x-rays you’ve had: If ultrasounds don't count, none.

Y is for yummy food you ate today: cream cheese chocolate chip cookies. Oh yes, yes please.

Z is for zodiac: Leo - cuz all the best are Leo's baby!

That was kind of fun, in a PG-13 kinda way. I'm going to have a bit of time on my hands this weekend because somebody is going to deer camp (thank you for answering my prayers oh divine one), so I think I'll have to come up with a not-so-PG-13 version of this ABC, what do you think? Any suggestions?

Guess Where I Was This Morning?

2008-11-12T13:57:00.002-05:00

At the orthodontists! Remember six months ago when I had to bring Toad to the orthodontist for the first time? At that point the orthodontist put us on the 'wait-and-see' plan - which I have alternately titled the 'let's-see-how-much-we-can-get-out-of-your-insurance-before-we-start-anything' plan.

Surprise! It's been six months! So this morning we headed back to the orthodontist in order to see if we're still on the 'wait-and-see' plan or if we've moved onto the 'we-know-your-insurance-is-going-to-pay-so-we're-actually-going-to-think-of-something-that-we-can-do-to-torture-your-child' plan.

Guess what? A decision has been made....sort of. The orthodontist wants to have two of Toad's bottom baby teeth pulled to make room for more teeth to grow in. Apparently right now he's trying to fit four teeth into a space that would only fit three.

He's always looking for shortcuts that kid - just like his mother.

Then he said that Toad would come back in four more months at which point we'd probably make the decision to pull two of his top teeth. Why can't we pull them all at once? I have no idea.

"And how soon will it be when the teeth are pulled?" I asked.
"In four months, like I said." he replied.

Now, I'm not an orthodontist, or a hygentist, or anythign that ends in -ist, but I'm also not an idiot. I knew he was talking about two separate procedures but the conversation wasn't making sense!

"No, when will you be pulling his two bottom teeth?" I tried again.
"I will be sending a letter to Dr. L, recommending that the two bottom teeth get pulled." he said.
"So you're not going to be doing it? Dr. L will be doing it?" But, wasn't that the whole point of going to the orthodontist and not his regular dentist, Dr. L?
"I will be sending the letter out today, so you can call him on Friday or Monday to schedule the appointment." he said, clearly getting exasperated with me.

Mmmm...kay. I absolutely love Dr. L (as much as you can love a dentist), and I have NO PROBLEM with him extracting two of Toad's baby teeth (possibly four), but why were we making the appointment and spending the money to go see the orthodontist if he was only going to ship us back to the dentist? ARGH!

Then he said that after those four teeth were pulled (how much you wanna bet Dr. L will be respnosible for pulling the other two teeth as well?), we would wait for "four years or so" and then would work on getting the healthy teeth straight.

Huh?

So we'll let the grow in crooked and then we'll work on fixing them. Can't we just help them grow in straight, or straighter, in the first place?

Please, PLEASE Go To Deer Camp

2008-11-11T08:42:00.002-05:00

Last year Scott went to Deer Camp - I remember it as being a quiet, albeit very odd time. I remember being scared that I couldn't take care of the kids by myself during the whole weekend, and being shocked to discover that it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be (of course, I let them live on junk food and video games all weekend - duh).

Deer season time is upon us again, and I assumed that Scott was going to head out to deer camp again. He goes out to a camp in the middle of the woods with his in-law's family. I would say that they rough it, but considering that the entire camp has been redone to include not only another whole room, but also brand new wood floors and walls and a full kitchen, (and a generator for the lights and television), I don't consider him roughing it.

Now, all of a sudden, he's talking about not going to deer camp.

GAH!

I've been looking for him to go away for the weekend for over a MONTH! And now he's talking about NOT GOING?! Excuse me?!

And here I was all prepared to make the homemade chicken soup to send with him, along with my secret cream cheese chocolate chip cookie recipe (which was devoured last time), and he's talking about not going?!

I had visions of snuggling up on the couch all by myself, renting a chick-flick that he hasn't wanted to watch, and getting junk food just for me.

I was trying to make plans for my sister-in-law to come down one night and to spend time eating dinner with the kiddos and watching a kiddie-flick.

I dreamed of being able to stretch out in the bed all by myself.

AND HE SAYS HE MAY NOT GO?

Oh he's going all right, if I have to shove his gun and gear in the car, bind him up with electrical tape and drop him off at camp myself!

A Little Advice Please?

2008-11-10T10:01:00.002-05:00

I know some of you are parents - and I know others of you aren't. Either way, I think you can help me out with the situation going on now.

When we went to Babygirl's preschool meeting with her teacher (whom I have issues with anyway), we discussed how advanced she is - although I hate using that term, she truly is. She can do everything she needs to do to not only be in Kindergarten, but to almost pass kindergarten! She's learning how to read (by continually asking me how to spell crap), and she can do addition and subtraction! It's ridiculous!

Anyway, at the meeting he mentioned that she hadn't gotten bored...yet...but that they'd deal with it when it occurred.

Newsflash: she's gotten bored.

Last week I had to almost shove her out the door to get her to go to preschool, and I let her stay home on Thursday. Today I, once again, had to cajole her to leave the house and go to preschool. Why? It may have something to do with the conversation we had on Wednesday. It went something like this:

Babygirl: "Mom - how come I have to glue cheerios onto a piece of paper? I'm not a baby."
Me: "I know you're not a baby honey. Some of the other children, though, are younger and can't do as much."
Babygirl: "But I'M not a baby."

It's true - they were gluing cheerios. What were they gluing? One cheerio for the number one. Two cheerios for the number two. Three cheerios for the number three.

I think she's a bit past that as she can add one and two and three together.

Now I know that the class can't revolve around her, and I'm not asking that. I am, however, seriously wondering if I should withdraw her from preschool for the rest of the year. Yes, I know, I'm risking my sanity. But it's getting to the piont where she is hating to go to school. At the age of four. This, to me, doesn't bode well for the rest of her academic career.

On the other hand, I hate to pull her away from social situations. And I really hate to lose my 2 hours of freedom every morning (not that I get much done, considering that I have to run back and forth constantly with bringing her and getting her).

Any advice?

Holiday Wishlist

2008-11-07T20:27:00.002-05:00

I was surfing around and found a holiday wishlist - I think this is a great idea and I hope that some of my blog friends (and real friends) post their lists so that I can peruse them and see if I can make any Christmas wishes come true.

The Rules

- Make a post to your blog. The important thing is to make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.
- If you wish for real possible things, make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it’s your address or just an email address at which you can be contacted by potential wish-grantors, real or imaginary.
- Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your post, so that the holiday joy will spread.
- Surf around your friends list/blogroll/RSS feeds (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list.
- If you see a wish you can grant, and it’s in your heart to do so, make someone’s wish come true. Sometimes someone’s trash is another persons treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don’t want or a gift certificate you won’t use–or even know where you could get someone’s dream purebred Basset Hound for free–do it.
-You needn’t spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn’t to put people out, it’s to provide everyone a chance to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not–it’s your call.
-There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just…wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you’ll have the joy of knowing you made someone’s holiday special.

Okay, and now for my wishes. Some of these things are absolutely not possible, I'm sure, but if I'm going to wish, I'm going to make it things that I really and truly want.

1. A new bed. I'm so sick of our bed squeaking and groaning and grunting. I would love a new bed.
2. A new television. Ours is not only small, it's starting to break down. It flickers for no reason and nothing we can do can fix it. We've had the television for almost 9 years. Flatscreen would ROCK.
3. Some sort of Rock Band for the Wii - we played Rock Band II today at Walmart and it was a BLAST - the kids loved it, we loved it, it would be tons of fun to play with all together.
4. My mother to stop mourning the loss of my grandmother's house. I know that she wanted the house, but it didn't happen. Because of it she's livid at someone in the family and it's tearing her apart inside. I hate seeing her so upset and know that it will only get worse if she doesn't let it go.
5. A weekend vacation with Scott. We never really got a weekend away this year, when we usually have a weekend together somewhere away from home. I would absolutely love to spend a weekend away in a cabin with just the two of us.
6. For one of my photos on Flickr to make Flickr Explore. I know it's silly. I know it's stupid. I WANT to be on Explore. I haven't yet. It makes me feel...ugh. I just want it LOL.
7. A whole day by myself. Alone. No kids, no hubby, just me, a pile of DVD's and my favorite junk food.
8. A vacation to Disney World with the kids. I truly want them to experience Disney World - I know that they want to go to Disney World. Toad just wants to go on an airplane (gah) and spend the night in a hotel.
9. For all my blog friends to have wonderful holidays. I have some blog friends who are newly in love, and others who are no longer with their loved ones. I just hope that they can all have a wonderful, happy holiday season.
10. To get my grandmother's ring and her picture up. I finally chose the picture I want and ordered it, but I ordered the wrong size. I want to have her picture up with the ring in it.
11. To make sure that my children have a wonderful Christmas. Nothing is more important to me than that. I want them both to have an amazing Christmas - to get all of the things that they want and for us all to have a great day.

So that's my list! I want to see yours!

Sunsets

2008-11-07T08:35:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was rather rough. Considering that I was really tired (note to everyone: Randi doesn't do well when she's exhausted), and that the school called and I had to pick Toad up because he'd thrown up at lunch (ewww), it was definitely one of "those" days.

Sometimes I actually get stressed about the idea of Scott coming home from work. I look at the dishes I didn't get into the dishwasher yet, or the mess on the table still there from Babygirl's watercoloring adventures, or the pile of laundry I should have found the time to fold and feel guilt that I didn't get things done. After all, he works outside of the home and I work in - I should be able to find a few free minutes here and there to pick things up, right? (working on this)

I heard him walk through the door and mentally groaned. He came upstairs, deposited his lunchbox, said hi to the kids, and jumped on me. Literally. I was laying prone on the couch, hoping that maybe if I kept my eyes closed long enough I'd actually feel like I was floating in a warm Tahiti waters, when this great glob of MAN landed right on top of me.

He pinned me down and kissed me and, with a grin, asked how my day had been. He knew it was rotten as he'd called during his lunch break. I refrained from complaining and instead let myself be enfolded into his hug.

Instead of running around and picking things up that I forgot, which he usually does, he moved beside me and let me rest my head on his shoulder for awhile. The kids eventually came running in and thought it was GREAT! FUN! to have mom and dad both prone on the couch, and so proceeded to jump on us. Those few minutes of peace, however, when I was able to feel his strength and his comfort, were enough to help me get my third wind.

It's been unseasonably warm outside lately, so before supper (when I began folding laundry), Scott took the kids outside. The next thing I knew he was pounding on the back door telling me to grab the camera and head outside. What I saw was the most beautiful sunset I'd seen in awhile. We stayed outside playing around for a bit and I watched the colors change from one minute to the next.

Eventually the color went away and the sky darkened, changing as everything, even a relationship, does. But I was able to jump into Scott's arms and get another of his world class hugs, knowing that, at least for that night, he was everything I needed him to be.

Sunset 2, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

How Many In the Bed?

2008-11-06T08:48:00.002-05:00

Last night I had far too many people/creatures in my bedroom.

The three dogs sleep in our bedroom. It's the easiest way to keep them from destroying the house. We leave a crack in the door and place a cooler in front of the crack - my way of keeping it open while at the same time keeping them from leaving.

Since the time change our oldest dog, Duke, has decided that 5:30 is the time to get up to be let out, not 6:30 the way it used to be. He, in turn, gets the other two dogs riled up and they all want to go out NOW.

Then there's the fact that something's wrong with my bed (other than a lack of sex being performed in it). It's squeaking and groaning and creaking and that's keeping me up half the night. It's always been kind of annoying that way, but it seems like it's just getting worse. I asked Scott to fix it yesterday, and he said he was going to - which so didn't happen.

Then, because apparently I don't have enough messing with my sleep right now, Babygirl got up at 2 am. She had a nightmare. To give Scott credit, he got up and tried to get her back to bed. He tends, however, to not take the required time that is necessary to truly get her to sleep, but I can't bitch because my ass stayed in bed instead of getting up with her.

So I called out that she could pop into bed with us. This means that on the right of me I had Babygirl, and on the left of me I had Scott.

I tossed and turned for about 2 hours...then I was TOO FRIGGIN HOT! So I woke Scott up and made him switch places with me so that I could get some air on the outside ledge of the bed. Finally, around 4:30 am, the dogs decided that they wanted to go out. Of course. 2 hours earlier than they're SUPPOSED to go out.

This is why, at 7:40, Toad was waking me up asking if he was going to school today or not. GAH! He got dressed really quickly and I dragged Babygirl out of bed and we dropped him off at school during their breakfast serving.

So this is the way my day started, and I've decided something - I need far, far fewer people in my bedroom. Maybe it can just be ME sometime?

Thank You

2008-11-05T09:41:00.002-05:00

Thank you to John McCain - your consolation speech allowed me to show my son what a truly graceful loser can accomplish. I appreciate how kind and sincere your consolation speech was and hope that we can all work together to make our nation one again.

Thank you to Scott - for being there while I was continually IM'ing you the results of the election last night as they were coming in.

Thank you to my boss - for emailing back and forth with me until 10:30 and for admitting that you, too, were having a bitch of a time getting any work done.

Thank you to Misstress M - who, in a totally un-politically related rant, wrote a huge blog post about the topic I discussed yesterday - feeling fat and ugly and not wanting to have sex. You're a wonderful woman M (as are many others I love and admire in the blog world).

Thank you to America - for voting for Barack Obama as president.

Thank you to Barack Obama's children - for allowing us to share your father during the next four years.

Thank you to Michelle Obama - for allowing us to share your husband during the next four years.

Thank you to Barack Obama - for never giving up, never quitting, and for recognizing that while last night was the time to celebrate, there's still tons of work to be done.

Yes we can. Yes we did.

Why I Dislike Sex

2008-11-04T09:25:00.002-05:00

I know, it seems weird, right? Here she is, a woman who reviews sex toys, and she's talking about disliking sex? What gives?

I'll tell you what gives.

I think we put far too much emphasis on sex in our society. Seriously! Every time you turn around someone is getting picked on, or put down on, or made to feel ugly due to sex! Take me. I hate that I feel fat and ugly. I do. But then again, it's not as easy as just having the "willpower" to be thin. I have a body that doesn't LIKE being thin. It doesn't like it so much that it makes it exceedingly difficult to lose weight. I could do the same diet and exercise program as a woman who doesn't have any medical issues and while she would lose 2 pounds a week, I would lose 2 pounds in two months.

I'm not even close to kidding.

A few years ago I went through a massive phase where I dieted and exercised my ass off. I started by cutting down my carbs and by doing aerobic exercise 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes. When I saw no results after a month (and I mean NONE), I bumped the exercising up and lowered my carbs even more. I was miserable. I was crabby and grouchy and ready to kill someone. So I got really pissy and decided that I'd just starve myself. That ended well, lemme tell you what.

I know I have PCOS. I know that the symptoms include obesity and depression. Forget what GI JOe told you - knowing is not half the battle.

Because of my weight and the depression issues, I have serious issues when it comes to sex. I can't turn my mind off. I can't stop feeling fat and ugly. This means that I feel like I have to work that much harder to enjoy myself - but working harder doesn't help you to enjoy yourself during sex.

I've had SO MANY PEOPLE I know tell me "Randi - just relax!" My answer? "HOW?!" How do you relax during sex? How do you not think about how fat you are, or how ugly you are?

It's gotten to the point where I will get into one of my moods and I will tell Scott to just go out and get a girlfriend. That I'd almost rather just live together and husband and wife and mom and dad without the sex to complicate things, because complicate things it does. A few nights ago we were up until 1 am because of a situation that had occurred the night before...again...all about sex. I take full responsibility for being 70% of the problem in making this argument longer than it needed to be, and Scott was really sweet about it, but I tend to wonder if our lives would be easier if he had a girlfriend on the side who didn't have the problems I have in bed. One who was self-assured and confident and who could orgasm in just a few minutes. One who never had "sex" issues.

Sarah Palin Got Punk'd

2008-11-03T09:09:00.003-05:00

Oh.My.God. This is awesome. Palin got pranked. If you haven't watched this yet, you have to watch this.

I live in VT - very, VERY close to the Canadian border. I know a lot of great Canadian people and the only complaint I have is getting back into the States after I visit Canada (proving we're more anal retentive then they are), and I seriously wish that I could listen to these two all the time - they nailed her!

Time For My Husband to Come Out Of The Closet

2008-11-02T10:22:00.003-05:00

I've tried to hide this fact about my husband, but I'm afraid that I just can't. The signs have become too obvious and have, in fact worsened over time. The situation is getting out of control and I know that my husband needs to finally admit what is going on. After all, they say that admitting that you have a problem is the first step towards conquering it.

My husband, Scott, is a backseat gamer.

I'm sorry, I know. There is nothing more annoying than a backseat gamer, save maybe a robo-telemarketer (damn you John McCain!).

I've always known that he likes to watch video games and I like to play them, but more recently, as Toad has become able to play Link games and other more complicated games, he has begun to show his true colors. If Toad is playing Link, you'll hear something like this:

"Wait, why are you going that way? Toad, turn around - turn around - NO, turn around the OTHER way. Yeah, that way. See? Right there. Go pick that up. No, not that, the other thing. Yeah, that's right. Wait, wait for it - it'll tell you where to go. Now go follow that arrow. Check your map and see where you've gotta go...okay, you've gotta go left a little bit. See? Go left. Go left just a little bit dude. There you go - yup - keep going - you've got a long way to go. No, you've gotta go right past it dude...go left...NO go LEFT Toad! Go left - left left left left...right there. Keep going that way. LEFT Toad...you're going right...you're going to go right around the island if you keep going that way. Check your map again...okay, you're doing good. Keep going! Just keep going! Go ahead...you're going the right way. You're going the right way...stay on that path right there and you'll be alright...."

Yes, I took this directly from a conversation that JUST HAPPENED. Wait, calling it a conversation would say that Toad was having some active part in it, while in reality he was just sitting there trying to play. He's got WAY more patience than I do, as I'd have a fit if Scott were saying that over my shoulder the entire time I was playing.

Do they have support groups for backseat gamers?

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T09:52:00.005-04:00

I happen to absolutely love Halloween! I don't go out and buy Scott and I costumes (although I would if he decided we should go to a costume party - hint hint), but I do love helping the kids get the costumes that they want. We always head down to my mother's house on Halloween because she gets tons of kids and the people who give the candy out are people that I've known most of my life, meaning it's the safest place to be. We can (and did) walk miles just collecting candy.

This year Toad decided that he wanted to be Link. Who's Link, you may ask?

Here's Link! Link is from the Legend of Zelda games - which have been around for a LONG time! I happen to love Link, so when Toad decided he wanted to be him, we scoured the internet looking for a costume. Unfortunately, we didn't find one! So we worked together (and had a lot of help from some friends) and put together our very own Link costume. THAT is the project I've been working on for awhile (the non-work project, that is). How do you think we did?

Babygirl was MUCH easier to dress! She decided to be a fairy. No problem!

After we got there a good friend (and my mother's neighbor) was there. Her grandson wanted to go trick-or-treating with us. No problem! We love N - he's a great kid. So he and Babygirl and Toad began knocking on doors and getting as much candy as they could fit in their candy bags. Wait. Hold that. I forgot, we dumped the candy a few times, so in all actuality they collected as much candy as they could fit in THREE candy bags.

Since it was a Friday night, my mother had a little party for her friends. Whenever Halloween is on a weekend, we always give out jello shots to the adults who trick-or-treat with their kids. Yeah, it's actually really fun! Unfortunately THIS year I didn't get to give out any! I was on kid duty the entire time, and while it was a blast, I would liked to have given out at least a few jello shots! Here's the entire crew on my mother's front porch.

I, of course, brought my camera along (duh), and this I think is one of my two favorite photos from last night. It's Scott (again, duh) watching on as the kids to trick-or-treating. He's an amazing dad, and he proved it again last night. Not only did he do the entire walk with me (he usually doesn't), he was always there to help Babygirl up or down from steps and to give piggybacks to anyone who needed them (mainly Babygirl).

On the way back up the street from the fire station (what, doesn't every fire station give out candy and glo-sticks on Halloween?), I caught sight of a beautiful sunset. When I showed everyone the picture, they asked me where I'd taken it. Imagine their surprise when I said it was right down the road! Of course, they'd been imbibing on a few jello shots, so that could explain it...

And this morning, Toad, Babygirl, and I unloaded all of their loot. The glass bowls are Babygirl's, the colored ones Toad's. Think we got enough candy?

There are tons more great photos (and they look better too - for some reason the ones on here don't look as good as the ones on the Flickr acct) on the Flickr acct - head over and check them out!

Beautiful

2008-10-29T09:31:00.004-04:00

The other day Sherry left a comment on one of the photos of my dogs. "That is a ridiculously gorgeous dog".

Yes, yes he is...or they are. I love that my dogs are gorgeous in the same way that I love that my kids are gorgeous (oh don't freak out, I'd love them if they were butt ugly too), simply because I enjoy beautiful things - probably because I'm not beautiful. This feeling of enjoying beauty, however, seems to manifest itself in odd ways. For instance, I enjoy seeing a beautiful home, but I tend to be a bit lazy when it comes to doing things like dusting, or mopping (although I constantly sweep and vacuum as I'm always barefoot).

I love looking at beautiful clothes, but I tend to purchase a lot of cheap, unattractive clothes. I love gorgeous jewelry, but the only thing I tend to wear is my wedding/engagement rings, and those I put on only when I'm going outside of the house.

I'm not sure why I enjoy looking at beautiful things so much. Maybe it's because I like to notice the small things and can be amused easily, or maybe it's because I know I'm not beautiful. Any way, I truly enjoy that my animals are so gorgeous - they make it easy to look like I know what I'm doing when I take a picture. Hence this photo of Takaani this morning:

I have to add this photo, as it's just plain WRONG - there should never be snow on a jack-o-lantern.

Da Boyz

2008-10-28T10:45:00.001-04:00

Sleeping, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

Some of my shots with my new camera are me testing it out and getting used to it. Others are me trying to be artistic. And then there are those that are just me trying to document what everyday life is like in my house.

I had a huge project for 2 weeks. During that time Scott spent more time alone on the couch than he did with me. Apparently he got lonely and he invited Duke up on the couch with him - which means that Takaani and Kamik weren't far behind. I peeked over the bar to see all four of the boys (minus the one tucked away in his bedroom) passed out.

Aunt T

2008-10-27T09:47:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if I've talked much about Aunt T before - I may have...who knows. Aunt T is Scott's biological half sister. She and he share the same mother - but Scott was adopted and Aunt T wasn't, so they weren't raised together. She was a big part of his life when we first met, then we had a huge falling out after our wedding and we didn't talk to her again until a few years ago. Since then she's been a constant in the kids lives. She comes over usually around once a week or so and loves her niece and nephew like only Scott and I can.

Aunt T looks JUST LIKE SCOTT...which is really weird for me, and has to be for her because all you have to do is look at Toad and you can see that he, too, looks JUST LIKE SCOTT (minus the blonde hair, of course). Aunt T has said before that she can look at the kids and see some of herself, which is something I've never experienced, not having any full siblings or half siblings who spend any time with our children.

Aunt T and her significant other, Uncle S, came down to do pumpkins and during the soccer game I got the chance to use the telephoto lens to its full capability. Aunt T doesn't like having her photo taken (NOT that I blame her for that at all) and I was able to stand on the top of our hill and take photos of the soccer game before I joined in, snapping this amazing picture that shows, to use anyway, exactly how Aunt T feels about her nephew.

Pumpkin Carving Ahoy!

2008-10-26T20:04:00.001-04:00

Getting Too Big, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

I had an absolute blast this weekend. After working my tushie off for almost two weeks in order to pay for my new camera, I finally got to enjoy it a bit. Sunday Uncle S and Aunt T came down and we did some serious pumpkin carving! We had six pumpkins to carve and after we were done carving, got in some soccer on the front lawn!

I can't believe it, but Toad's actually big enough to carve his own pumpkin. It seems like it was only yesterday when I was afraid he'd stab me in the face with a knife if I gave him one, but now I realize that he's gotten big enough to handle one of the knives that comes in a pumpkin carving kit. He needed a little help from dad to do a few areas, but that was it. he did it all and he is so proud. Well, actually, he didn't do it all - he refused to pull the guts out of the pumpkin.

And that, dear friends, he gets from his mother.

I've got tons of pictures up on the flickr acct - both of the pumpkin carving and the soccer match!

Bathroom Fun

2008-10-26T09:23:00.001-04:00

Bathroom Fun, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

I actually stepped completely away from the computer yesterday. I did! Seriously! I even asked Scott to check my emails to make sure that nothing life-altering came in. Shock and surprise, nothing did. I spent hours working on another project (photos to come when it's completed), sat and watched Survivor while eating lunch (as the kiddos went over to a friend's house for a few hours), had chocolate fondu for supper with the kids (I'm the BAD mom...hey...there were bananas we dipped!), and watched Hulk II with Scott and my best friend Danni.

Oh yeah, that picture above? That's what happens when the kiddos are off from school for half a week. They dragged almost every blanket/pillow/comfy thing they could find in the bathroom to play. Now both of their rooms are WAY bigger than the bathroom, and so is the living room and kitchen, and that's not to mention thee two rooms downstairs that they can use. And they decide to bring almost every toy they have into the BATHROOM?

I love my kids. They're weird, but I love them.

Frost line

2008-10-24T23:59:00.002-04:00

Frostline, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

Those of you who don't live in cold - ie mother fucking freezing - climate don't know about one of the most fun things you can do on any given morning - watch the frost line recede!

The frost sets in during the night and does everything it can to kill all of the plants in the area. In the morning, the sun does its best to push the frost back. While it's warming up, you can see the frost line - the area where the shade still protects the frost from melting.

I actually like watching the frost slowly, but surely, disappear. I also have a strange tendency to think that I should walk over to the line and jump from one side to the other yelling out "LIFE DEATH LIFE DEATH LIFE DEATH".

Yeah, I know, I'm weird like 'dat.

If McCain Wins? Move to Canada!

2008-10-24T15:42:00.001-04:00

Sex Toy Review - Smartballs

2008-10-24T10:11:00.002-04:00

A little something different for our sex toy review this week! My friends over at VibeReview have sent a fun little toy to test!

When I got pregnant with Toad, the first thing I was told by a friend was to make sure I did plenty of Kegels. My response? "Of course!" My inner response? What the hell is a Kegel. I had no idea what a Kegel was and it took a bit of research (God love the internet) before I figured it out. Until then I was baffled that the vagina was actually made up of a muscle that you could strengthen!

Neither of my children were born vaginally. Toad was born via emergency c-section and Babygirl was born via scheduled c-section. This means that since neither child has come out of my most sacred glory hole, I shouldn't need to do Kegels, right?

I'm glad I waited to review this next product until today, as a few days ago the most wonderfully marveous AAG wrote a post about how she didn't believe a woman's vagina would become more loose during sexual intercourse depending on the differently sized things that were put into it. Many women agreed and said that they'd never had a problem being loose. Other women, though, said that they had. My opinion? I think it's a personal deal.

I mean, look at it this way: some people can do just a tiny bit of weight lifting and can show serious definition in their muscles. Other people can work their butts off lifting constantly and may show absolutely no definition. Muscles are all different in what they can do, so the idea that some women will have a hard time staying tighter than others.

I really haven't had a hard time with this, but I've been intrigued by Smartballs for a long time and was really eager to give them a shot. It was definitely weird using them the first few times, and for the first week I couldn't wear them longer than a half an hour or so. But during that time I was doing Kegels and, I have to tell you, Scott noticed a serious difference. Heck, *I* noticed a serious difference!

They were a bit intimidating to me at first (God only knows why, it's not like I don't have a closet full of sex toys), but once I got used to them they were fun! They're not really for sexual use, althgouh I'm sure you could figure out something or other to do with them (and if you do, send me information about what you used them for!), but rather are for helping to tone up the most natural sex toy of all: your vagina!

I absolutely recommend these. It's a huge misconception that you have to have had children in order to need things like Smartballs or Luna Beads, as any woman, no matter how tight or loose she is, can get benefit from these types of products.

And Toad Said...

2008-10-23T15:20:00.002-04:00

Time: Monday when Toad came home from school.
Scene: Kitchen

Toad: Mom! Guess what we learned to do today at the library?
Mom: What?
Toad: We used Microsoft Office and did clipart. You know - Microsoft Office - the place you work.

You Want Proof?

2008-10-22T12:13:00.002-04:00

I got proof! I've got proof of the snow that hit our porch last night at 10:30! 10:30!! NO FAIR! There shouldn't be snow before Halloween. It's just WRONG.

Scott was playing with the dogs last night. It's hard for me to figure out how big the dogs are, because I see them all the time. But when Scott was messing around with them I got a good idea as to how tall they are.

And when I picked up Babygirl from school on Monday, I brought the camera. She reminded me of a prisoner in a jail cell!

In other news, my kiddos are off for the rest of the week. My wonderful, lovely, absolutely BEAUTIFUL mother has agreed to take them for the rest of the day today so that I can get some serious work done. I love her so. She would've taken them over night last night but Toad had a dentist appointment and Babygirl had an appointment this morning, but they're there now and I'm getting work done.

AFTER I have a quiet lunch. Ahhh....

Breakdown Imminent

2008-10-21T10:34:00.002-04:00

I had a seriously difficult time yesterday. Between work and dealing with Babygirl's minor setback at preschool (she started crying again for NO REASON - UGH!) I got a little...testy. And, of course, I took it out on Scott. Well, it's better than taking it out on the kids, right? But he took it as well as any man who has an almost hysterical wife can and did everything he could to give me a hand around the house, which I much appreciated.

I'm still buried in work. I will be buried until Monday night, and then I swear that I'm taking a few days off.

In other news, they're saying that we may have to deal with getting the bad word tomorrow. You know - that four letter word that is absolutely NOT supposed to be here right now? I can't say it. I can't! Okay...I'll try...ssss....ssnnn...snnoo...GAH! No!

Yes, I love that fluffy white stuff (except when I'm out at 10 pm shoveling it), but it's too early! The kids still have to go out trick-or-treating, and if there's snnnn...snnnnoo...that icky white stuff on the ground, they, and their mother, will be FREEZING OUR BUTTS OFF!

*sigh* I guess that's what I get for living in Vermont.

In other news, the kiddos last day of school for the week is...today. Today. Then they'll be home for three days. THREE DAYS!! Fortunately grammy has decided that she's like to have them hang with her tomorrow after an appointment that we have, giving me tons of time to do anything I want.

Like work.

More Photos

2008-10-19T18:49:00.002-04:00

Yes I've got more photos up from this weekend. Well, really they're from Sunday because on Saturday I was running around doing errands with a friend and doing some work. But today I took out the telephoto lens I splurged on (I told Scott that I consider it interest for having to deal with a crappy camera for two years) and started on my never ending journey in learning how to use it. The best photo of the day, in my opinion, was this one of Kamik.

He look oh so dangerous, but in reality he's a big baby. I'll guarantee you that the minute after I snapped the photo his tongue dropped out and he looked like a big old goofy dog again.

I've also discovered a new favorite hobby - sending with the telephoto lens fixed on a kid and then yelling out their name.

I also learned that I can get the BEST candid shots with the telephoto lens, since the kids have no idea I'm taking pictures of them. Observe Babygirl and Toad wrestling over a stick. (yes, we find enjoyment in strange things in the country).

This one came out a little blurry but I really like it. It was Babygirl on the swing with me using the telephoto lens (of course).

Oh yes, the more I get to use my camera, the more I want to kick Scott out of bed and cuddle up with it. It was so enjoyable to take pics with it today.

In other news, yesterday morning I watched a tree lose its leaves. I've been sitting at the dining room table facing our back door lately and there has been one tree that I always enjoy looking at. It's a small little tree that had bright orange leaves. Yesterday morning I watched as every single leaf fell to the ground. Winter is officially on it's way.

Things I've Learned - Starring my Canon

2008-10-18T06:35:00.004-04:00

I learned a few things yesterday. Yes, they all relate to my new beloved Canon. Yes, you're going to be hearing about my Canon A LOT in the next few days. Why? Because unlike every other person I read online, I'm not pregnant nor am I having a baby...the Canon IS my baby. Moving on.

I learned that when you have a halfway decent camera, the majority of the photos that come out of the camera don't need touching up! Here's Babygirl in all her Babygirl goodness.

I learned that the previous photos of my oldest and most beloved dog Duke so didn't do him justice.

And I learned that you can have A LOT of fun sitting in the backseat of the car with your daughter on a Friday night driving home realizing that you can control every aspect of your camera and how it takes pictures. See what happens when the shutter doesn't close? You get some really cool/funky pics.

I'm heading out with a friend for a few hours today to go to a huge craft yard sale and you'd better bet that my Canon? She is going with me. Yes, she's a she. Her name is Michelle.

I so do not have a problem.

Busy Weekend - Et Vous?

2008-10-17T10:14:00.001-04:00

I'd like to talk about how we've got a busy weekend ahead. I'd like to talk about how I've got tons of work to do (work is good has become my new mantra) and about how we may or may not have a new respite boy this weekend (depending on if he is brave enough to spend the night). I'd like to talk about the HUGE craft yardsale I'm going to with a friend this weekend that I'm totally looking forward to.

But I can't.

Because as of right now, UPS has marked my new camera OUT FOR DELIVERY. You know the one, the camera that I ordered on WEDNESDAY? The one that I used super saver shipping on so it would arrive anywhere from 5-9 days after the order was placed? The one that is out for delivery TWO DAYS after I ordered it?

Apparently it came directly from Mass, which isn't that far from here, so it's here now.

I heart Amazon. And UPS. And Scott. And my boss. And pretty much everyone/everything right now!

I don't usually do anything like this but *SQUEE* I'm getting my camera today!!!!

Sex Toy Review: Little Paul

2008-10-16T09:42:00.003-04:00

I'm a vibrator girl. I believe I've said that before. I only had a handful of orgasms before I was dragged by the hubby to a sex toy shop and made to pick out a vibrator. I actually felt as though using a vibrator was wrong - MWA HA HA HA!

Anyway - I love it when I get to review new vibrators from VibeReview because there are so many different ones out there! There's big ones and small ones and thick ones and skinny ones and ones that go inside and ones that go outside - you could get tired just thinking about them all!

So the vibrator I receivd this time was the Little Paul. Here's what he looks like:

Alright, get it out of your system now. Go ahead and giggle if you want to, because yes, the Little Paul looks a little bit like a giant caterpillar. It looks like a toy you'd give a baby, doesn't it? Trust me, you won't be giggling when you're done with it.

The only bad thing I have to say about the Little Paul is that it takes AAA batteries. I'm a fan of toys that take AA batteries simply because, due to kidlets, I have so many in the house! I have a preconceived notion that only toys that require AA batteries are worth using. The Little Paul, however, changed my mind.

I had some quiet time (no kids - no hubby - yay!) and got going with this little toy. I put the batteries in and turned it on. I actually like where the buttons are, which is near the end of the toy right before the cap. I turned it on and....nada. Oh there was a little vibration, but not enough to do anything. So I turned it up. It was alright - there was a little vibration but nothing too major. So I kept turning it up. Eventually I got to a speed which worked for me and that I was happy with, but I was still thinking about how this was just a regular old vibrator - nothing special.

Until I accidentally hit the plus button again. The toy doesn't just vibrate, it has a pulse mode. Click the button enough times and you get a variety of different pulses that are created to drive you wild, and oh boy did they.

They say that the Little Paul is designed for G-spot stimulation, but I have only ever found success with G-spot stimulation when working with my husband, so that did nothing for me. The pulse modes, however, have become my new best friend! I still can't believe that so much technology can reside in such a little package! If you want something bigger, the Little Paul has a big brother, known as the Patchy Paul. His reviews are just about as good as the Little Paul's. It'd be interesting to play with them both together, don't you think?

I Won Something!

2008-10-15T09:10:00.003-04:00

I've got a lot to talk about today! Later I'll be posting my weekly sex toy review (and this is a good one) but right now I have to say something earth shattering:

I WON SOMETHING!

Me winning something is like finding a big ass diamond ring when you're prospecting for fun - it hardly EVER happens. The only other time I can remember that I've won something was when I won the beautiful framed 8x10 picture from Jenera (who just happens to have another giveaway going on right now - hurry as it's done tonight at midnight!), but other than that I'm not a winning type of person.

I noticed over on AAG's blog that a friend of hers was giving away one of the DVD's he makes, so I figured that I'd enter because not only did the site look good and the prize very interesting, the man can actually write (that's something you don't see every day, let me tell you what).

And I WON!

What did I win? I won a copy of andy one of Comstock Film's DVD's that I wanted. I chose Xana & Dax. The funny thing is that I was just telling Scott that I was in serious need of watching some new porn.

Yes, I like porn. I'll say it out loud: my name is Randi and I like porn.

I mean, I'm not obsessed with porn, and I don't have very much of it, but I definitely enjoy watching it with the hubby. The problem is, however, that I'm kind of a porn snob. I mean, I like watching two people go at it, but if there's nothing INTERESTING about it, I'll just turn it off.

These DVD's look to be extremely interesting! Not only are they couples having sex, they're actually couples have sex! These are actual real life couples who have agreed to let the filmmaker into their home so that they can be filmed being intimate. It sounds like it's going to be the most erotic documentary that I've ever watched.

They've gotten TONS of notice from magazines like Women's Health, Men's Journal, Esquire, and even the sainted OPRAH magazine (I'm not an Oprah fan but if you like her, there you go).

So in a few days I get to crack open the case of a DVD that I've actually WON, and better yet it looks like it's going to allow me to watch a truly special connection between two people which is way, WAY better than just your average crappy porn DVD.

I'll let you know how it goes after we watch it!!

Discriminated Against

2008-10-14T08:56:00.002-04:00

Hello. My name is Randi and I am discriminated against due to my boobies.

There. I said it. Wow, that was a load off my...err...chest.

I'm not going to say that people think I'm dumber due to my chest size, because in order for that old stereotype to be true I'd have to have a smokin' body to go with the large breasts. Instead, my breasts are just large.

How big are they? They're a size D, which makes my husband very happy. All he wanted in live was a woman who was short, had big boobs, and could cook.

I'm 5' exactly, have size D breasts, and so far my cooking hasn't killed or poisoned anyone. I could have a face like Jabba the Hut and he'd still love me.

Anyway, I like to wear underwire bras when I'm trying to look halfway decent. If I wear any other type of bra I get a uni-boob, which I really hate, so underwire it is. Now I've gotten fairly comfortable in underwire bras, but after a few hours, the bra really starts to get uncomfortable and I want it off. I want to be able to feel the breeze on my the girls, and to swing my arm while using the Wii without having the wire cut into my flesh.

Now in the security of my own home you'd think I'd be able to go bra-less, and for the most part, this is true. If someone comes to visit, though, my first instinct is to rush into the bathroom and get a bra on. My mother always said that you shouldn't be seen in public without a bra.

But wait, those pretty girls with the little boobies can go without a bra all the time! They can wear those cute little tank tops without wearing a bra, or those strapless numbers and look so adorable! How come *I* can't go without a bra?

I'm not talking about wearing no bra and going to a sit-down dinner, I'm just talking about wearing no bra when I go to pick up one of the kids from school, or when I go to grab a gallon of milk. If I do those things now the response is an immediate "*GASP* You went out into the public...without a BRA ON?"

Yes, because I'm sure the sight of my face isn't enough to scare the general population, I want to add to their fear by unleashing the puppies on them.

So anyway, my name is Randi and I'm against breast discrimination. I feel that no matter what sized breasts you have, you should be able to walk around without a bra pinching/pulling/annoying you.

A Fairy Tale Story Involving the Kodak P880

2008-10-12T11:12:00.005-04:00

So would you like to hear the story about my camera problems? Then I shall tell you - in fairy tale story version.

Two years ago for Christmas, ye wonderful husband spent far too much money trying to surprise his beloved wife by purchasing her a digital SLR camera. He didn't know much about cameras but since the couple had a smaller digital Kodak for a long time, he decided to buy the Kodak P880.

When she opened the box she was ecstatic - she'd always wanted a digital SLR and he'd spent more money than the couple had to buy it. The excitement, however, went away quickly when she realized that something was wrong with the camera. A shadow kept appearing on the lower part of the screen. So she saved a few of the photos on the cameras internal photo album and called Kodak, who told her to send it in.

She did and when it arrived things seemed to work a bit better. A clicking sound was still there, but she wasn't going to belittle a gift that her husband had worked so hard to get for her. She figured she'd deal with it. She did, however, use the camera much less than she wanted to, as it frustrated her too much to use it frequently.

A few months after it came back from the camera repair company it started to breakdown again. This time she would turn the "on" button on and the camera would flicker on and then turn off. For a few weeks she thought it was a glitch that she was doing and then came to realize that it was the camera. A call to Kodak again and, after a bit of a battle, they agreed to look at it.

She sent it in and they sent it back claiming that NOTHING WAS WRONG. Well. A few weeks later she called them again and they agreed to look at the camera for a third time. This time it came back as repaired and with the claim that everything was fine (interestingly enough, when the woman called Kodak the third time they claimed to have no record of the second return. Interesting.)

So the camera came back and it...was still broken. Oh it took a week or two before the problem manifested itself again, but manifest itself it did and both the wife and the husband were unhappy. They called Kodak and dealt with people who didn't understand English for hours before finally an email directly to Kodak managed to reach a higher level person who agreed to exchange the camera for an "identical refurbished one". The wife was happy, as all she wanted was a camera that worked.

The old camera was sent in and, a few weeks later, the new camera arrived. And joy was felt around the house as the wife began using her camera constantly, taking photos and being happy with them. Until, one day, she did a little editing and realized that the camera had burned out pixels on it. There were anywhere from three to four burned out pixels on every photo, and some photos had burned out pixels as well as lightened pixels. To make matters worse, the camera was also started to do it's "turn on/turn off" trick again.

Then, a few days later, when the wife and husband were at a wedding, the wife accidentally turned to the photo album and realized that the photos that she had taken when she first received the camera, in 2006, were still there. But wait, wasn't this supposed to be a brand new refurbished camera? And since the photos were on the internal memory, shouldn't they have NOT been there?

The wife called Kodak. Again. And was told by another person who couldn't speak English that they were unsure why there was a problem with the camera, and why the old photos were still on the internal memory. The phrase, "I don't know why Mrs. M" was uttered a dozen or more times.

After a 20 minute hold, the technician returned on the phone with the wife and said that she could have the camera fixed. "For $150 plus shipping".

The wife politely thanked the woman and then asked why she should have to pay for a camera that hadn't been working from the beginning. One that was never dropped or damaged in any way. One that was supposed to be replaced but obviously was not. The answer? "I'm sorry Mrs. M. I don't know."

So now the wife has been given the go-ahead by the husband (thanks to a few large projects she's taking on) to get a new camera and she needs your help in deciding between them. Should it be the:

Canon Rebel XTi

or the

Canon Rebel XSi

Because you know that the wife will no longer be dealing with Kodak.

Big Dogs

2008-10-10T15:03:00.001-04:00

Big Dogs, originally uploaded by scootersbabygirl.

For some reason, this one didn't come out very well after I downloaded it and played with it. But then again, I've been having issues with my Kodak, so let's not go there.

Remember little Kamik and Takaani? Little - heh - that's Kamik and Takaani a few days ago. Yes, they're huge. On two feet, they're as tall as I am. They eat 6 cups of food a day...each...and constantly run over the hill to find apples to eat. Bottom-less pits they are, but we love them dearly. I've got a wicked fun video of the two trying to ambush Duke when he had the ball - I'll have to put it up sometime. But for now I wanted you to see what my two foot-warmers looked like at TEN MONTHS OLD.

Yes, ten months. I know, I know, we're crazy. Too bad they're so damn cute and lovable.

(btw, Takaani is on the left looking at the screen and Kamik is on the right - and I now understand how parents of identical twins can tell them apart so easily.)

Growing Up a Bit

2008-10-10T09:13:00.004-04:00

So what do you think of my new look? I posted yesterday and checked it and realized that the photobucket account that was hosting my header and graphics had become toast! Eek! So I found a new one and I actually quite like this one. What do you think?

I found out some news last night. My mother had wanted to purchase my grandmother's home. She was rushing trying to get HER home sold so that she could. She finally got a nibble last weekend. The only problem? Someone else wanted to buy my grandmother's home. They were waiting for probate to go through on the inheritance they had.

My uncle looked at my mother and said that if she had a purchase agreement, and the other people's probate didn't go through, he would sell gram's house to her. (he's the executor). She got the purchase agreement.

The probate went through.

I have a distinct feeling that my uncle promised the other people that they could have the house, and that no matter what my mother did, she wouldn't have gotten the house. Here's where things get tricky for me:

I'm kind of glad that my mother didn't get the house. I disagree that it was the best option for her because I feel that the home would never have been hers if she bought it. She wanted to put a great deal of money into the house which would have raised the cost a great deal.

On the other hand...

I'm sad because she didn't get the house for her. I know that she wanted it, and she deserves to get what she wants. Even though I disagree with the decision, I supported her in it.

Wow - damn - am I growing up? Is it that I'm just so close to hitting that big 3-0 (okay, I know it's in 10 months, but the time keeps ticking here people!), but suddenly I feel wiser...or maybe it's just that I've been up since 5:45.

She has decided to not go through with the sale on her house because she feels she has nowhere else to go. I disagree in that I know there are plenty of other homes that she and my step-dad could move into that they could afford and enjoy, but again, it's her decision and I'll support her.

I have this feeling that she's like me. When she has her heart set on something that is extremely important to her, like buying my grandmother's home, she puts everything into it, and when it doesn't happen, she doesn't want anything.

Kind of like me and the whole Kodak camera thing. (nice segue, eh?) I had another conversation with them yesterday, which resulted in nothing more than a ridiculous conversation in which the person said that she would "gladly fix your phone, Mrs. M, only you have to pay $150 and shipping. Yes ma'am, we know that the camera has been into the shop three times. Yes ma'am, we know that you have been dealing with this since your husband bought you the camera. No ma'am, I'm not sure why the photos from two years ago are still on the internal memory when we said that we sent you a brand new camera. I'm sorry for the trouble, ma'am."

So yeah, Kodak wants me to pay to have a camera fixed that hasn't worked right since we got it. That makes sense. So I've got my little heart set on another camera (it's a Canon that costs a bit over $600) and thanks to a PMS rage, went off on my husband yesterday about how all I want is a "fucking camera that works". He listened to my rage and let me vent. I know, logically, that I can't afford a new camera right now, but because my old camera doesn't work (seriously, it sucks) I don't feel like taking pictures AT ALL. The ones from the other day needed A LOT of photo editing in order to make them look halfway decent at all and I'm still not happy with them. Seriously, I'm ready to use Babygirl's little camera!

Anyway, this is how my mother and I are alike. If we can't have something we truly feel that we need (I'm not talking purses or clothing here, I'm talking BIG IMPORTANT things), we don't want anything at all.

Apple Picking and Kids Photos

2008-10-09T11:23:00.002-04:00

One of the things I enjoy about Scott having a week off here and there is that he gets to take part in some of the kids stuff. For instance, yesterday was Babygirl's preschool's date to go apple picking! So we jumped in the van, grabbed our birth certificates and licenses (because it's across the border in Canada), and headed for some PG rated apple pickin' fun!

Here is Babygirl and Daddy waiting patiently (mostly) for the fun to start.

Finally! Time to pick some apples! The guy was really nice and led us to apples that were low for the kids sakes.

Babygirl's best friend, B, goes to preschool with her AND lives in the same town, so they'll be in kindergarten together as well, which I'm very happy about. Aren't they just too cute?

Eventually Scott and a few other parents grabbed a ladder in order to get the really good, really high apples.

There are more pictures of the day over at the Apple Picking set on Flickr. I also put up some more Kids Eye View photos! Babygirl loves taking photos with the camera (we're debating on getting her a slightly more high tech one for Christmas, although Santa just bought 2 Nintendo DS's and has a slightly empty pocket right now), but here are a few she's taken lately that I really like.

This one really caught my attention - I love the way it looks, from the colors and the beige behind it.

This is one of the few photos of Scott and I together that I like - and I had no idea she even took it!

Forbidden Wednesday - Leather Bondage Kit

2008-10-08T11:33:00.003-04:00

It's Wednesday and once again time for the sex toy review of the week! This time it's a doozy of a little bondage kit, brought to us by VibeReview.

BDSM - Bondage Dominance Sadism Masochism. In other words, total fun!

The tricky part about BDSM is that there are so many different levels to it. On one hand you could have a couple who likes to tie each other up just for fun. One likes to take control and to torture and torment with lips, tongue, and fingers. Then you've got those who are into hardcore BDSM - the ones who like to bring out the whips, paddles, ball gags and leather hoods.

The best part is? Either is fine! You don't have to feel constrained into just one type of BDSM, you can do as little, or as much as you like.

Now it's time for Randi's embarrassing story of the week. So a long time ago Scott and I lived in a trailer with Toad. The trailer had two bedrooms - ours, and Toad's. We ended up moving right at the time when I had my tonsils out, so needless to say, I wasn't much help with the moving. My step-dad and mom helped immensely, getting things packed and letting us use their truck to haul everything to our new house.

The day came when it was time to move the final big pieces of furniture - you know, the bed and such. My dad lifted the mattress off and moved it to the side. He then lifted the box spring off only to discover a long set of ropes tied to the bottom of the bed. Each piece had a quick slip knot in them for easy tying.

You've never seen my face get so red.

We've since grown up and no longer have ropes underneath the bed. Instead, we purchase much higher quality bondage materials in order to indulge in our games. This is why I was more than happy to check out the Leather Bondage Kit. It's billed as a bondage kit for newbies, and as such, it works perfectly.

It comes with two leather cuffs and with a little cat-o-nine tails and a mask. The downside of this kit? The leather cuffs aren't the nicest I've ever had. While the inside is soft, it's not fur-lined, so it could definitely rub after a time. But then again, bondage is supposed to be a little uncomfortable. The way the clips work is perfect, allowing you to get tied up in locked down in a number of different positions (if your husband asks if he can hog-tie you, JUST SAY NO - that's all I'm saying) and the fact that there are four means you can tie down each one of your limbs.

The cat-o-nine tails looked, at first, to be kinda of wimpy. Then I got smacked with it. Let me just say, OWWWW! It's tiny, but it packs a wallop! You can definitely feel each and every stroke, no matter what part of the body it happens to land on.

The mask is actually the nicest part of the entire kit, or so I believe. Finding a good mask can be tricky, as you want one that is not only comfortable but actually works to hide the light. This mask is both. You can see NOTHING when you've got it on and it didn't pull my hair like other masks I've tried have.

In short? This is definitely a good bondage kit for beginners. If you're looking for something a bit more controlling, try the Under the Bed Restraint System - we have this little kit and it has changed the way we play the game entirely. The cuffs are fur-lined and therefore much softer as well.

And let me just say, both ladies and guys, if you've never tried being tied up and tormented before, do give it a shot. You'll discover that the inability to move or to see what's going on truly heightens the experience...at least for most people!

Still Here

2008-10-07T07:57:00.002-04:00

I'm still here! yay! I've just had a really, REALLY busy couple of days. Want a little example of what I've been dealing with? No problem.

So we take Respite Girl once a month - last weekend was the weekend her mother and I agreed upon, as apparently the mother was flying down to Florida with the new boyfriend (don't ask.)

So Respite Girl was here and, let me be perfectly honest here - I absolutely get that she was upset with her mother for leaving. I get that she was worried that her mother wouldn't come home. I know she goes through a lot of tough crap. But that doesn't excuse the fact that she slapped Toad.

Twice.

Long story short? She slapped him for no good reason. The first time we let her get away with it because we believe that every kid deserves a chance and because we knew how much stress she was under - she's basically a great kid! The second time, however, was the last straw for the weekend. So her 17 year old sister had to come and get her, which I felt horrible about.

Apparently the agency we go through is upset with the mother for leaving the state (something I didn't know wasn't kosher or I wouldn't have agreed) and were planning on taking care of it on Monday. The entire time between when she slapped and before her sister got there, she was swearing up and down that both her mother and her sister beat her. Now you never know what happens in any house, but neither Scott nor I believed this whopper. She's actually where she is because her mother is too lenient. Now don't yell at me - there is definitely a chance that the mother DOES hurt her, which is why we reported it to the worker so that it wouldn't slip through the cracks. She even said that her mother and sister never let her use the phone, which we know is a blatant lie.

So Monday morning rolls around. Scott's home for the week because his factory is shut down again. We get a phone call fairly early on in the AM. It's one of the workers - she says that RG is saying that Scott hit her.

Of course.

If you've never been in the foster care world, this is huge. If they decide to take her at her word (by the way, OF COURSE SHE'S LYING), Scott could get into huge trouble. He could not only get investigated, he could lose his foster license (which means that I lose mine too), and he could even be fined or go to jail.

The social worker said she was going to talk to RG some more yesterday, and that's the last we've heard of it. I started out Monday morning hoping that she was okay, and ended my afternoon rip-shit-pissed at a little girl who likes to throw out possibly damaging lies.

Then let's pile tons of work on top of that stress, along with the decision we have to make about getting another respite child once a month - this one is a boy who believes he's a "gangsta", apparently, and you've got a very stressed out Randi.

Forbidden Wednesday - Pjur Woman

2008-10-02T14:39:00.003-04:00

Sorry I'm a bit late on this one guys! Life has kicked me in the ass and I'm so behind that I feel like it's Wednesday instead of Thursday! Anyway, here's my Wednesday review from the lovely VibeReview!

The last time I tried out a lube from VibeReview, it was a water based lube and I absolutely loved it! Let me tell you something: any woman who says she doesn’t like lube hasn’t tried it. It’s like a man saying he doesn’t like to use one for pleasing himself – a total lie. Lube can make every day beautiful. I’m one of those women who tends to need it every time that I manage to get lucky with my husband.

The reason I wanted to try the Pjur Woman Bodyglide is because I wanted to see if there were any differences between a water based lube or a silicone based lube. The simple answer?

Yes. There are.

To begin with, the silicone based lube is quite a bit thicker than the water based lube. When we put the water based on, it was kind of hard to tell if it was there or not for a minute. With the Pjur, you knew that it was on there immediately.

The lube felt fine – maybe it’s because I’m apparently used to silicone based lube (until I tried using these I never looked twice at what the base of my lube was), but it felt similar to other lubes that I have tried that were silicone based. Scott actually said he felt that it desensitized him a bit the times we used it, which it shouldn’t have because it’s not a desensitizing lube, but maybe it felt that way for him because he’s gotten used to a water based lube now.

If you’re into anal play (no judging here), I would say that you should definitely go with a silicone based lube. It’s thicker and lasts longer – which you definitely want when you’re going “there”. If you like using silicone based toys, however, you should avoid using a silicone based lube like this one, as they don’t tend to mesh well together.

There were two things that I really noted about this lube. The first? It seemed to come off of my sheets (and me) much easier than most silicone based lubricants that I’ve tried, which is always a good thing. The second thing? It didn’t feel that greasy and wasn’t smelly (which may be three things, but math has never been my strong suit).

The price on this one is also right, as it’s much less expensive than some other lubricants and works perfectly well!

My Sunday

2008-09-29T13:12:00.002-04:00

Sunday morning I was up by 7, dressed by 7:30, and out the door by 7:45 - admittedly not my typical Sunday morning. Where was I going? Boston. Why?

To see the New Kids On the Block!

Did you catch the VH1 Behind the Music: NKOTB Live! show last night? Yeah, I was there. That's right - little old me who never gets to do anything remotely exciting as it pertains to the pop culture world. I was so there.

My bestest friend in the world bought me a ticket for the concert for my birthday, and then planned a whole day for me in Boston. She seriously rocks.

I got down there around 11 and she and her husband, M, were all set with plans. To begin with, we hit a huge mall...we have no malls in Northern VT, so it was great fun. I got Scott a shirt that has a bit yellow smiley face on it that says, "Boobies Make Me Smile" - perfect for him. I got Babygirl an Ariel shirt and Toad a light saber. We had a delicious lunch and then headed to another treat:

IMAX!

D had bought tickets for us to see Eagle Eye in an IMAX theater, and I've never experienced anything like it. It was amazing. The movie was good too!

Then it was off to the TD Banknorth to see NKOTB! They seriously rocked the house. I was screaming like a little school girl and was almost deaf at the end of the night! D and I stood up the entire time and were swaying with the music and singing along. And her husband M? M sat there and did his best to not fall asleep - he did admit later (reluctantly), that it was a good show and that they were great entertainers, even though it's not his "thing" (ps M - I don't think it's any man's thing unless they're gay).

And what was up with the pregnant woman at the concert? I saw more pregnant women last night than I've seen in an entire year!

After the concert we had to wait a good little while to get out of the parking garage (Seriously TD Banknorth - $25 for parking? Are you ridiculous?!) but M saved the day by driving out the in ramp. He's such a rule-breaker :).

I called Scott at 12:30 and told him I was headed home.

I popped a few NoDoz and did my best to not fall asleep. I wasn't too worried for most of the trip, until I hit Franconia Notch. Franconia Notch is a very windy, one lane road that passes right in between some very large mountains. You're not allowed to drive faster than 45 on it and you have to be very careful. During the daytime, it's a BEAUTIFUL area. I have discovered, however, that at 2:30 am, the notch ain't quite so pretty. The fog was so thick that I couldn't see 3 feet in front of the car. Let's add to the equation that I was really tired by this point and that it's a great place to find Moose and you've got one freaked out Randi.

I eventually made it out of there. The other scary place came when I went past the exit for one town that I know and went past a second exit and realized that I had absolutely no recollection of the exit that came in between those two exits! Yikes! That was a good 20 mile or so stretch of road that my memory has blocked out. Can we say "exhausted"?

I got home at 4 am, dealt with the dogs and took a shower. I stashed the goodies I'd bought and kissed the kiddos on the forehead and then passed out in bed around 5.

Only to be awoken at 9:45 by the phone ringing. Dammit.

I'm still a bit tired but I will say on thing: the experience was absolutely and definitely worth it. I ahd one of the most enjoyable days (that didn't include Scott or the kiddos) I've ever had and am so, SO grateful to D and M for not only making plans for me, but for driving me around and showing me an awesome time.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

M and D driving me around Boston - they're so awesome!

View of the bridge

M swore that he would deny he went to the concert - thanks to D's cell phone we have photographic evidence! Sorry M :).

I kind of liked how this photo came out.

Me and D at the New Kids concert - I love ya D!!!

Errands to Run, Baby to Cuddle

2008-09-26T20:26:00.003-04:00

What did we do today? We did a lot of running. Let's see, first we took Babygirl to her dentist appointment, where Mr. TattleTale told the doc that my tooth was starting to feel worse again. Traitor. The dentist wants me to call him if it gets worse and wants to see me in November when I'm due to get he medicated filling taken out and the new filling put back in - as long as the tooth isn't fully dead yet. If it is, then we'll have to talk about root canals. Lovely.

Then we loaded up with gifts and headed down to see my friend's baby! I have, as I've said before, only a few really good friends in real life, and K is the one I've known the longest. Yesterday K had her second baby - her first son - S. Hmm...S needs a nickname. I'll figure that out eventually.

Anyway, we headed down to see S and I definitely got my fill of baby...for a day or so anyway :). It was kind of difficult holding him, but it made it easier knowing that K knew how difficult it was for me, and that she was as sweet as she always is. Want to see how cute he is? Take a look!

S was born a healthy 8 lbs, 9 oz. and, so far, has been doing lots of sleeping. He felt all snuggly and warm in my arms and I love how he smelled like baby - in a good, non-poopy way.

The fun part of the visit was S's big sister, Chickie. Chickie is turning 3 - tomorrow. So she gets to almost share a birthday with her new little brother. She kind of likes him, at least for now, and made sure to point him out to me...

She then settled down in the chair with her grandmother and held onto her baby brother for a little photo op. Isn't she cute?

I know that K is worried about how she's going to handle two children. She's worried about how she'll make sure that Chickie still gets all of the love she deserves now that S has arrived. She's worried about the extra stress level that comes from raising an infant and a toddler.

But I know she'll do fine.

As a mother who's been there, done that with two children (and almost the same length apart as Chickie and S), I know that she'll do it. Your heart doesn't become crowded, but grows when you have more children to love.

And Chickie is a wonderful little girl. She's warm and intelligent and a very sweet little girl, and now a very sweet and intelligent and warm big sister.

Just shoot me - please?

2008-09-25T13:40:00.002-04:00

OMG, I've been SO FRIGGIN BUSY! First of all I'm trying to pick up some of the work that's piling up on my boss due to my best friend getting ready to have her second baby (as I type this, she's probably in labor). Yes, I get to cuddle a baby tomorrow. Yes, I'm stoked about it. Yes, I will have pictures.

On the other hand, her having another baby is bringing back all of those feelings about the ectopic I had last summer. I'm not AS sad as I was, but it still hits me that I never got a chance to cuddle my own little twinkle, as it never got a chance to grow.

But tomorrow I will hold her baby and I will do my best to not try to escape out of the hospital with him. Scott will be going with me, so that should help.

Then I've signed up to help out with Boobiethon!! Do I have the time? Not relaly, but it's something that I dreamed of helping with last year and I am very honored to be able to help. Head over, check it out, and donate your own boobies for viewing! I'm donating mine - but should I donate covered or UNcovered? Hmmm...what do you think?

So that's my week in a nutshell - work, baby talk, emotional issues, and Boobies. That's a full plate, eh?

Forbidden Wednesday - The Odyssey Tickler

2008-09-24T16:29:00.002-04:00

Every Wednesday I will be reviewing sex toys from the fabulous VibeReview! You can find this sex toy, along with tons of other great ones, at their website.

I’m sorry I haven’t been around the last few days. I had a HUGE project due yesterday and it took over my whole life! I haven’t even had time for sex!

Thankfully I took some time to play with one of the great toys from VibeReview BEFORE the big project encompassed my entire life, so I’m able to give you a review today – yay!

Did you know that some women orgasm from internal stimulation while others can only achieve orgasm from external stimulation? Personally, I think this isn’t fair. I mean, look at a man – a man can feel really good just from someone putting their hands down their pants! While most women (like me) have to struggle and fight to figure out exactly what gets their rocks off. Yeah, it’s frustrating. But you never know what will work, which is one reason why I wanted to try the Odyssey Tickler.

The Odyssey Tickler looks like no sex toy I have in my vast collection. It is listed as a vibrating dildo but looked more, to me, like a toy that would go into other orifices. And, in truth, it just may – I haven’t tried it in that aspect (more about my issues/experiments with that kind of sex to come at a later date). Anyway, the toy is supposed to tickle and tease your inside while the textured nubs are supposed to tickle and tease your outsides.

Unfortunately for me? It didn’t do too much. Oh yes, I could definitely feel the internal stimulations, and if I were someone who was able to thoroughly enjoy internal stimulations, this would definitely be my toy of choice! Unfortunately I didn’t feel much from the nubs of the tickler no matter what I tried to do. In short? This toy didn’t do much for me.

If, however, you’re someone who likes internal stimulation, this would definitely be the toy for you. A little nub on the top of the toy changes speeds quickly and with no fuss. It is a sleek little toy and is very smooth. It slides in easily and doesn’t go so far as to be uncomfortable.

I think I’ll stick with more traditional vibrators such as the Liv or the Little Paul (which I will be reviewing in a week or so!). But if you’re into internal stimulation, the Odyssey Tickler is definitely something that will tickle your fancy.

(okay, I apologize for that cheesy ending, but I couldn’t help myself ;) )

A Few Things - Bullet Style!

2008-09-20T08:59:00.002-04:00

I forgot yesterday to show you one of my favorite new websites: Second Rate Snacks! This is a wonderful website that actually compares the "real" brand of products with their generic counterparts! So far they have compared tons of things like Pop Tarts vs Toast 'ems, Hot Pockets vs Tony's Pouches, and Diet Rite vs Tab (seriously - they still sell Tab?!) with accompanying photos for every post, this is going to be one of my first stops every morning - love this new blog!
It got me to wondering what two products I'd like to compare. Hmmmmmm..
We have a surprise anniversary to hit tonight. I have to make meatballs for it. I have a super-secret meatball recipe that, seriously, ROCKS. Am expecting tons of compliments...or tons of ignoring (I know, not everyone has the same taste buds).
Apparently yesterday I wrenched my back somehow because damn, it hurts! I was even woken up around 4:30 because of it and wound up sleeping on the couch with tons of ibuprophen in my system. Amazing how you can hurt yourself when you aren't that much of an active person, isn't it?!

So what are your plans for the weekend?

More from my Old Diary

2008-09-19T10:50:00.003-04:00

You know, when I open myself up to the internet, I really open myself up! Here is another entry from my old diary - you'll get a kick out of this one.

October 30, 1994

GUESS WHAT?! I've actually got a boyfriend! Scott S. He's wicked cute, really sweet, altogether nice. You see, last Sat. when K was up, he and his parents had dinner at our house. The next Monday, after it was dragged out of me that I still like him, MM ran up to me and told me that he'd told her Sunday that he really liked me. I denied it until Tuesday, 10th period when he and EK put his picture up in my locker. That's when I first talked to him.

I sort of avoided him Wednesday and Thursday, but on Friday I asked him to E's Halloween party. I was the "mystery meat" of the day and I told them to make sure to close the cover qiuck when I first saw him. Thank God, she did.

I sat next to him for awhile but I found some excuse to leave. Then, when he was in the doorway to the Smoking Lounge (side note - a smoking lounge during high school? WTF?) CC grabbed him to dance. he put his hand out ot me in a sort of plea and said, "Randi".

We started out far apart, but somehow we wound up really close. You couldn't tell where one of us ended and the other began. When the song "November Rain" was just beginning the piano solo, EK (who was dancing w/ J) poked us and said, "The song's over guys". I started to leave but his grip on my waist tightened and he said, "no, it's not". And we danced 'till the very last note of that damned song.

By that time I had the feeling that he really liked me, so I grabbed his hand and he held mine. We were like that for awhile in the living room when Chris said, "God Scott, I hpoe you're not doing that on purpose."

I couldn't take it. I got up and left the room. When I saw Chris and J and some others coming out and Scott trying to find a place to put his jacket, I thought he was going to fight Chris! But he wasn't. I told him that I really hated him, then he took me to dance again, I think just to spite Chris who was standing there watching.

Well, we were the couple of the night. We got our picture taken a few times. At one point, someone, I think Chris H, asked us if we were joined. It seemed like it! Everytime he was behind me, he grabbed my waist and would start swaying to the music. By the end of the night, everybody was asking me if we were going out. Technically, no, we weren't.

While i was waiting for my mother, EK grabbed him and asked him why he didn't ask me out. But then, I walked over to him and gave him a final hug because mom was there. After I left, he told EK that he was going to, but I left too soon. When EK told me this, I was ECSTATIC!

I have my first B-friend.

143,
Randi

PS. I've stopped reading romance novels! I've got my own romance now! I don't need to read about it anymore!

So what did we learn about Randi from this entry? That she is extremely romantic? That she's a little delusional? That she's a bit dramatic? That apparently she likes to date guys named Scott?! (and no, that Scott is NOT my Scott...thank God.)

Sorry - Not Tonight Dear

2008-09-18T14:26:00.002-04:00

Yes, I review sex toys. Yes, I LOVE reviewing sex toys. Do I want sex constantly?

No.

Wait - what did Randi just say? Did she just say that she isn't some sort of a nymphomaniac sex fiend?

So Scott and I have been together for a fairly long time. I know there are plenty of others who have been together longer, but for me, this is a very long time.

Now I think we do really well. I mean, there are times when we go a few days in between sweaty sessions on the sheets, but for the most part we do the bump and grind more then 3 times a week (which is, apparently, the average amount for a married couple).

Lately, though, I've been kind of out of it. I've been more in the mood to lay down and watch television than to do anything sexual. So how many days has it been since we've had sex?

Five.

Is the world ending? Of course not! But this is right around the point where I start to feel guilty - like I'm withholding sex from my husband (because we all know men will die if they don't have sex frequently - kidding - kidding). Last night he was really ready to go. My response? Check the chat:

Me: I'm actually nervous about later tonight.
Scott: "smile"
Me: Seriously!
Scott: what's wrong?
Me: Well, here's the thing. I have tons of crap to do here. I'm tired. I want to get something unhealthy to eat and lay on the couch and watch tv.
Scott: okay...
Me: And I don't want to have sex.
Scott: WTF?
Me: I know! I'm sorry! I'm just obsessed with thinking about how I don't want to have it and it's causing me serious issues. Yes, I know, I'm a moron.
Scott: let me worry about it. get your work done.

I knew, then, that he wasn't going to let me get away with not "servicing" him last night. When I got done I IM'd him and let him know I was finished. I bypassed the snacks (I was too lazy to even think about it) and crawled onto the couch. I found some crappy television, allowed the dog to jump up on the couch and fell asleep.

Scott eventually came out and dragged me to bed.

Aww.

But how sad is it that I'd rather have a long and fulfilling body massage than a mind-blowing orgasm right now? Does anyone else go through this on a regular basis?

Forbidden Wednesday - 52 Weeks of Naughty Nights

2008-09-17T14:41:00.002-04:00

Every Wednesday I will be reviewing sex toys from the fabulous VibeReview! You can find this sex toy, along with tons of other great ones, at their website.

Scott and I have been married for six years. We’ve been together, however, for nine years this October. Nine years. Nine. One more year and we’ll have been together for a decade – a DECADE. Seriously, that scares me. I mean, on one hand I’m extremely excited that Scott and I have managed to avoid divorce and not kill each other, but on the other hand…a DECADE. When I was young I thought that by the time a decade of a relationship came around I would be lying on the couch with my husband thinking more about a massage than having sex.

Oh – wait – that did happen.

Actually, if you dig right down into it, scientists have proven that this is a normal part of any relationship, and it takes work to keep your relationship from fizzling out. That is actually easier said than done. Now I’m in the unique position of actually getting to review sex toys…which means that, at any point in time, there is at least one toy sitting in it’s pretty box from VibeReview in my closet (my closet, by the way, is stuffed with sex toys…I go to sleep fully expecting some sort of a sex toy monster to collect in there and to attack me in the night…pleasurably, of course), so we sort of have to get our butts in gear so that we can test those toys. But what about if you don’t have any pretty new sex toys waiting to be played with?

Check out 52 Weeks of Naughty Nights. This little game isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. Most sex games are board games or dice. This, however, is something different. Here’s how it works: you open up the box and you’ll find a few LONG rows of tickets. Some are for “him” and some are for “her”. You then place those tickets into the pretty silk bag that comes with the game. Shake it up and then snag one out. Make sure, of course, that you get the right ticket. You then scratch off the ticket and do as it says!

This game is designed for you to pull one ticket out every week, but there is no rule that says that you can’t pull a ticket out of the bag whenever you want to spice things up a bit. The suggestions we’ve uncovered so far aren’t anything that is too scary, even for a couple who has not done a lot of playing around with more rough stuff. It can, however, be a bit intimidating, especially when you’re asked to submit yourself entirely to your lover. This, I’ve discovered, can actually bring about a whole new dynamic and can help you to see parts of your lover that you didn’t know were there before.

This game is definitely one that will be staying in our bedroom for awhile. I love when it’s time for us to scratch the cards and hate it when Scott won’t tell me what he scratched (an option in the game which is fun but exasperating). Best of all, this little game is one of the most inexpensive ones, making it easy to purchase it and not feel guilty.

Cell Phones - Come On!

2008-09-16T09:36:00.003-04:00

I went to pick up Babygirl from preschool yesterday (which they're not calling playgroup - wtf?) and noticed a father coming to pick up his son. This particular father doesn't often pick his son up, so it was a bit of a surprise. A few moments after we got into the building, however, I noticed that he was doing something.

He was talking on his cell phone.

While he was talking on his cell phone had grabbed his son's stuff out of his cubby, shoved it into the backpack, took his hand and walked out. No "hi", no "hey buddy! How was school?" Nothing.

Was he talking to a doctor about a loved one's impending death? No. He was talking about work.

Now I'll be the first to say that it's not easy to blend work and a family, but every morning I work from the minute I get home from dropping Babygirl off until I head to get her a bit before 11. Then I come home, have lunch with her and play with her until about 1:30, when she enjoys rest time and I get more work done until Toad comes home. Then I play with them both for a bit and dispense snacks and the night goes on (I do work in the evenings usually but always take time out to have dinner with the family).

I would never, EVER walk into my daughter's preschool with a cell phone attached to my ear - even if I had one!

And you could see on the little boy's face that he was sad and yet resigned. He was used to it. He's a really sweet kid - fortunately his mother's a bit more of a class act than his father is.

Romance Lessons: Lesson 1

2008-09-15T09:03:00.003-04:00

Before I say anything else, watch this. I don't care who you're voting for, I don't even care IF you're voting (okay, I do, but that has nothing to do with this) - this is the sketch that everyone is talking about - Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton on SNL this past Saturday - this is the whole sketch and is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS!

I could seriously watch that over and over again - too funny! I remember when SNL used to be funny, then it got old. This, however, was amazing. I was told that the rest of the show was great too (because they didn't let dolphin boy speak much - it's good to see SNL getting funny again!

And now what I was really going to write about: a lesson for guys.

Lesson 1: How to Get Laid - Guaranteed

Guys, do you want to get laid? Seriously? Do you want your wife or girlfriend so hot and bothered that she practically rips your clothes off? I'm going to teach you how that is accomplished. Just follow my three easy steps and you'll find that your girlfriend can't wait to get your naked butt into bed (or on the couch or in the bathroom - or wherever you may happen to be at the time!)

Plan Something Nice - it doesn't have to be something expensive. You don't have to take her out to the most exotic and costly restaurant that there is. In fact, you can make the perfect experience something you put together in your own home! Light some candles, put some classy music on, and get some food. If you can't cook, you can get cheap takeout from tons of restaurants and grocery stores - just make sure you take it out of the plastic containers before you serve the meal.
Be Gentlemanly - if you're not living together, pick her up from her house and meet her at the door - honking from the driveway doesn't count. If you're living together, ask her to slip into something comfortable and be waiting at the bedroom door for her, arm extended. Kiss her hand - and don't bring her hand do your lips, actually bend down and kiss her hand slowly. Pull out her chair during your meal and make sure that you see to her every need graciously and with a grin on your face.
Dance - this is the most important part of the evening. Dance. Make sure the music is slow and smooth and pull her into a dance. Look into her eyes when you dance and take advantage of the little opportunities that appear. For example: when she tips her head up to look at you, kiss her gently on the forehead. If she leans her head onto your shoulder, pull her a bit closer.

Tie all three of these things together IN THIS ORDER and, most importantly, DON'T PUSH and I guarantee that you'll not only get laid, you'll be given an experience that you'll never forget!

Next time we discuss how to get laid we'll talk about what a woman can do to get her husband in the mood, even during football season!

Went to a Wedding

2008-09-14T18:42:00.002-04:00

We went to a wedding yesterday. An old friend from High School - EK - was getting married. She was a beautiful bride - take a look:

Her gown was beautiful. But going to the wedding, and the reception, made me realize something: I don't know that girl anymore. When we arrived at the wedding I looked around and, even though I was being seated in the bride's section, realized I knew very few, if any, of the people sitting around me. See, EK moved away shortly after college and has a whole other life that I'm not a part of. She had her wedding here in Vermont but she no longer lives here. It made me sad, but I realize that people move on.

Something that made me happy, though, was K. K and EK were friends in graded school, long before I met either of them. I met K in high school and she became one of my best friends. To this date I only have a few "best" friends - three, to be exact. K is one of them. K and I had a huge fall out a few years ago but in the last few years we've come together again. She has a beautiful daughter and is expecting her first son in a few short weeks. (the sooner the better in her eyes, of course!)

There are so many things that I love about K. To begin with, she is extremely patient with me most of the time. I know that I'm not an easy women, but K is one of the few women that I can get along with, mainly due to her patience. She is also the first person willing to get into a debate with me who won't get mad at the debate. So many people get ticked off when they debate, but K doesn't - she points out her side and then listens to yours and then debates, and if you begin to butt heads she says, "whatever" and ignores you :).

K had a totally different life than I did - she has six siblings that she grew up with and I had none. She had both parents and I had one. She is an introvert and I'm an extrovert, yet we are able to be friends. I am extremely fortunate to count her as one of my beloved best friends.

Once I find/take pictures of my other two best friends, you will see how completely different all of my best friends are.

Chatting with the Hubby

2008-09-11T18:45:00.002-04:00

There are a few things you need to know about my husband.

1. His command of the English language is...well...a bit different.

See, Scott was born and raised in Vermont, but he speaks what I'd like to call Scott Speak. My SIL and I both agree that occasionally you need a Scott-English language dictionary just to get what he's saying.

2. His command of the English language gets even worse when it comes to writing/reading.

I've seen him read the word Elementary as elephant, and I think it's a problem that was never diagnosed when he was a child. I've tried to figure out how to help him read better and to enjoy reading, but I just can't seem to figure out what to do, and there's the fact that I can't force him to enjoy reading.

Anyway - the other night we were on the chat together. He's recently begun using the MySpace IM that I left on the desktop while my laptop was at the doctors getting fixed. I've been trying to tell him for a LONG time that the IM would be easier to use at night than tramping back and forth down the hallway once the kids are in bed. So far it has worked beautifully - and the "argument" we had the other day was actually less painful than normal because we were able to discuss it over chat instead of raising our voices. Sometimes, however, I find out some interesting things about my husband thanks to the chat...

Me: Babygirl’s coughing

Scott: yeah just heard her

Me: see - this is a much easier way to communicate than YELLING down the hallway

Scott: yeah..way much..almost done here..gotta shower..I smell

Me: shower? I need to shower!

Me: and shave

Me: can you hang on for about 10 minutes or so?

Me: want a showering partner??

Scott: yup

Scott: HELL YEAHHHBABY

Me: we haven't had a shower together that was enjoyable in a long time!

Scott: saving myself

Me: for who??

Scott: you'll see

Me: what, will someone be showing up tonight that I didn't know about? Did you somehow get Brad Pitt to come here and have sex with me?!?!?!

Scott: noo..with me...

Me: You want Brad Pitt to have sex with you?!?!?!?!

Some Photos

2008-09-11T16:24:00.002-04:00

I've been so busy working lately that I haven't posted up a few photos that I wanted to show you! Okay, first off is Babygirl on her first day of her last year of preschool - was that ever a mouthful. She wore this dress that we found at a yard sale (I am in love with this dress) and after this photo grabbed up our black cat and almost strangled her to death. She loves that cat.

Next up is this fun photo - which requires a slight explanation. After we got the freaky worm/caterpillar that we had to let go, the kiddos picked up some bug catching kits at the dollar store - hey, it was their money. Anyway, for a few days their main delight in life was to go out and get the strangest creatures they could find. One day Babygirl came home with this itty bitty toad - seriously, it was no bigger than your thumbnail! I loved this toad and made him a little house in the critter container we bought for the caterpillar - I even gave it a little bath...

That "bath" is the medicine cup part of a Pepto Bismol bottle. No, I don't take Pepto - no, I don't allow my kids to take Pepto, simply because my grandmother once said that her doctor told her he wouldn't give Pepto to his dog. So we avoid Pepto - all except Scott, because HIS family believed in it, but let's not get into that old battle. Moving on...

Most of the things the kiddos caught have been fairly harmless and cute. The last one Scott caught - and he was harmless, but defintely NOT cute...

Bleck. We only have one poisionous snake in VT - the Timber Rattler - and I've never seen one. Watch me get killed by one in a few days...

Today

2008-09-11T08:55:00.002-04:00

Babygirl is home today from preschool, as she had a 102.something degree fever last night (is the amount after the dot truly that important? I just see 102 and start to panic slightly). So she and I have agreed that we are having a PJ day.

I went to drop Toad off at school and noticed that the two kids whose responsibility it is to put the flag up outside every morning had done so but had left it at half-mast. My first question? "Who died?"

I then decided I would go home and see what dignitary or politician passed away that necessitated having the flag at half mast. Then I turned my computer on and remembered.

How could I have forgotten?

Do I get forgiven from forgetting simply because I hardly ever look at the date? Although I did remember that I looked at the date yesterday because I wrote a check and saw that it was the 10th. Do I get forgiven from forgetting because I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my children and my husband? Do I get forgiven from forgetting because I am constantly busy?

No.

You may forgive me, but I refuse to forgive myself. There is no excuse. 2,998 lives were lost...they were:

Mothers
Fathers
Aunts
Uncles
Children
Grandmothers
Grandfathers
Cousins
Husbands
Wives
Innocent
Heroes

Their loss should never be forgotten.

On the Brad Pitt blog I put up a tribute photo - here, however, I can not avoid the reality. I need to remember the stark reality of how difficult that day, and the many following it, truly were for so many people around the world. The terror that rushed through my body when I saw it happen. "This doesn't happen in the United States", I remember saying, over and over as I watched the second tower get hit.

But it did.

And it can again.

This is why it is vital that we remember those people who lose their lives, and that we cherish our family and friends and loved ones every day, because you never know when we will lose our loved ones, or when our loved ones will lose us.

I pray that the spirits and their loved ones find peace today and all days.

Forbidden Wednesday - Miracle Massager Attachment

2008-09-10T07:20:00.002-04:00

Every Wednesday I will be reviewing sex toys from the fabulous VibeReview! You can find this sex toy, along with tons of other great ones, at their website.

Have I ever told you that I’m not really an accessories girl? When it comes to jewelry, I’ve got my wedding/engagement ring (on a bizarre side note, why does the engagement ring always outshine the wedding ring? It’s like saying that the thought of getting married is better than the deed…weird.) and a few earrings that I may put in if I’m required to go somewhere fancy or am trying to seduce my husband without being obvious about it (he has a huge thing for big old gypsy hoops), but in the jewelry department, that’s about it. And here’s where I get my official Woman’s Club Card revoked – I have one purse and I hardly ever use it. So when it comes to accessories, I’m a complete dunce.

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Alton Brown on the cooking channel it’s that you should never buy a piece of equipment that only does one thing. Have you ever watched his show? He constantly has little gadgets that can not only fry your egg but that can chop up onions and give you a new hairdo while it’s creating ice. Okay, so maybe it can’t do all that, but the tools that he uses can all do more than one thing. Why, then, can’t a vibrator do more than one thing?

Remember a month or so ago when I did a review for the Miracle Massager? That wonderful, heels thumping the mattress, eyes rolling into the back of your head plug-in massager? Yes, that massager? Well guess what? It has an attachment! The Miracle Massager is not only great for external stimulation (and for driving you husband absolutely crazy if used in the right way), it’s also good for internal stimulation!

Say hello to the Miracle Massager Attachment. Okay, seriously, why didn’t they give this attachment its own little name? I mean it’s so unique looking you could name it something like, “the Miracle Massager Thumb Attachment”, or, “the Miracle Massager OMG-HOLY-SHIT” attachment – either would work.

This little PVC attachment goes right onto the head of the Miracle Massager. I’ve got to say, I just assumed that it would slip right on, but if it did it would fall off pretty easily. Instead, Scott and I had to spend a few minutes the first time working the attachment on. It’s gotten easier to put on as time has gone on, however, but that first time was kind of annoying. The attachment then works to not only “massage” your g-spot, but also has an external nub to hit your clitoris. But does it work?

I’m not sure. What – I’m serious! I’m not sure because every time I’ve tried to use it I’ve had to shut it off because it was too intense. Seriously! Apparently I’m more sensitive than I believed because all of the times I’ve tried this toy have wound up with me backing away in fear due to the intense vibrations that are caused all the way through/inside your body.

Now here’s where I tell you that the next time I have a few drinks (which will probably be this weekend due to the wedding we’re attending), I’m going to pull this baby out again. I’m going to have it already attached to the massager and I’m going to give it a go again, because I know that once I relax more into it and get used to the rhythm, this little baby is going to give me such an intense orgasm that I will realize I’ve finally found a sex toy that will replace my husband.

Achy

2008-09-09T07:16:00.003-04:00

My back aches. My neck aches. Basically, I feel like someone let Mike Tysen into my house to pummel on my body while I was sleeping last night. Why do I feel this way? Because I wasn't able to turn and move last night during bed.

Why not? Because Scott and I went to bed upset at each other.

Since we've been together, one of the rules we've had is that we try not to go to bed angry with each other. Usually any fight we have works itself out by bedtime, or we stay up until ungodly hours to try to stop the fighting. Last night, however, was an exception.

I was in bed while Scott was on the computer and I was trying to explain to him why I was upset. His response? Let me paraphrase:

"I think you're being unreasonable in wanting the kids to apologize. They're kids and they're supposed to take their mother for granted."

See, I was a bit upset that Scott hadn't explained to the kids why I was upset last night (because I was too upset to) and that he hadn't asked the kids to apologize to me for misbehaving last night at supper.

Scott feels differently. He remarks on how he always took his mother for granted and didn't appreciate her until he was a lot older, and how that's what all children do. I agree...to a point.

I'm not looking for the kids to thank me for every little thing I do. I know that my role as a mom means that I get to be taken for granted, and I'm fine with that - however, when a situation like last night occurs, where the kids don't make an effort to eat and generally make supper unenjoyable for everyone, I would like an apology. I would have loved Toad or Babygirl to come over to me and to say, "Mom, I'm sorry I didn't really try my dinner."

"You're mad because the kids didn't meet your expectations at dinner time." Scott said.

"It's not like I set the expectations high! I don't expect them to gobble down everything I make - I try to make foods that aren't too disgusting and that are things they'll both eat. All I want is for all of us to sit down, eat our meal and talk about our day. I don't want to have to argue with the kids to eat every two minutes or try to keep Babygirl in her chair constantly."

Apparently that pissed Scott off and he refused to talk to me. Then I reared up and turned back at him. "You're one to talk! The reason you jumped down Toad's throat tonight was because he didn't meet YOUR expectations! He changed his mind and wouldn't stick to one decision, which is what you wanted, and so you yelled at him."

"No - did you hear what he was saying? It had nothing to do with that."

"Yes. It did. You're being such a hypocrit!"

"Say whatever you want, Ran, I'm not getting into it."

He then chose to bring in the silent treatment and so I rolled over and went to sleep. Even in sleep my body knew I was upset with Scott, as it never once turned to him in the night as I usually do. Which is why my back and neck are killing me.

I was going to

2008-09-08T19:53:00.003-04:00

I was going to write a post about how pissed off I was.

I was going to write a post about how I'd worked hard to make a dinner that everyone would like but that the kids hardly touched.

I was going to write about how good the BBQ boneless spare ribs tasted, and about how I'd made sure that the carrots were fairly dead in the pan and smothered with butter and a touch of salt.

I was going to write about how Babygirl cried when she tried the carrots and spit them into a napkin, and about how Toad spit out his BBQ boneless spare ribs into his own napkin.

I was going to write about how Babygirl almost fell out of her chair...again...even though I've asked her 1,745 times to sit her butt down in the chair during supper.

I was going to write about how I got thoroughly upset and, after dinner was ended, began cleaning up saying the entire time that I was "never going to cook again because no one eats it."

I was going to write about how I was washing down the table muttering about how "I try to make a nice supper that we can all eat together and no one cares."

I was going to write about how I was more pissed at Scott than anyone else because he didn't sit the kids down and talk to them, asking them to apologize to me for making dinner a not-very-pleasant occasion so often.

I was going to write about how he believed that I was expecting too much from our children and about how they're "just 7 and 4 and won't appreciate their mother for a long time".

But I'm not going to write about that.

After I finished my much overdue work, Scott and Toad got into it over bed - Toad wanted a drink and Scott said he'd had enough chances to drink the milk he had and that he only wanted it now to get his own way. He called Toad a bad name - swore at him, actually, which is something he's never done before. I heard Toad crying and screaming, trying to get his point across to his father, who, of course, wasn't listening and, to quote, "don't care".

I approached Scott and told him, in between his sputtering, that he needed to apologize to Toad for calling him a swear word. Reluctantly, he agreed to and went in to apologize, with is classic "but" after the apology.

I then went and got a cup from the cupboard. I filled it with milk. I snuck into Toad's bedroom and gave it to him. After he drank it I kissed him on the forehead and went back into the kitchen to hide the evidence.

They may irritate me and drive me insane sometimes but they're still my children and I love them more than anything else in the world.

Another Addiction

2008-09-07T11:37:00.002-04:00

A friend dragged me off somewhere yesterday and is in big, BIG trouble. Why? Because she got me addicted to something.

I can't say what she got me addicted to here because, frankly, a few people read this site and I don't want them to know about my new addiction. Suffice to say it's legal and even PG-13, which is a huge change for me :).

Other than meeting my new addiction, we just chilled out yesterday. We watched a movie and watched Toad have a meltdown when his movie wasn't chosen (we picked out of a hat). I can forsee tons of problem with this in the future!

Next weekend we're heading to a wedding and will be kid-free the entire night! I'm getting all dressed up and maybe, hopefully, Scott will dance with me (someone needs to tell him to dance with his wife next weekend) - it'll be like...like...like the last time we danced together at our own wedding six years ago!!

Dear Senator McCain

2008-09-05T08:35:00.003-04:00

The following is a political post - done my way. If politics isn't your thing, read along to enjoy the snarkiness instead ;)

Dear Senator McCain,

I would like to thank you. Seriously! Oh I know, you've gotten tons of people harping on you right now and you definitely are not the favorite person to most people in the US, but I am on your side. Really! What?! Why are you looking at me so strangely? Okay, I know, I have been an active Obama supporter for awhile now, that's true, but I still want to thank you.

See, before a week or so ago, I thought that the election would be fairly close. I mean, on one side you've got Obama. The fact that he's a black man is enough to throw off tons of voters, but the fact that he's bringing hope back into the world seals it for many - there are some people who just don't want to hope. He's an unknown and "different", so I knew that there would be tons of voters who chose to elect you simply based on the fact that you were a white man who had been a veteran and who has been in the political world for quite awhile.

Obama selected Senator Biden for his running mate - a man who has the foreign experience that he lacks and who, it has been documented, is not afraid to tell Obama when he thinks he's on the wrong track.

And who do you select? Govenor Palin. What attracted you to her? Is it the fact that she's extremely conservative? Is it the fact that "in 2007, the Alaska Creamery Board recommended closing Matanuska Maid Dairy, an unprofitable state-owned business. Palin objected, citing concern for dairy farmers and a recent infusion of $600,000 in state money. Palin subsequently replaced the entire membership of the Board of Agriculture and Conservation", basically changing up an entire board of people to ensure that she got her way - oh, and by the way, the business was closed a few months later and sold for a very low amount a year afterwards.

Or, did you choose her, Senator McCain, because she's a woman and you're hoping to get the female voters who were waiting for Hilary Clinton to step up at the democratic convention (side note: thank you, Senator Clinton, for keeping your mouth shut that day - we all appreciate it)?

Whatever your reasons for choosing a govenor who has absolutely no experience in the foreign trade and whos biggest political achievement before a year and a half ago was being mayor of a city that had 9,000 people in it (which is smaller than the "city" next to me which, to put it into perspective, has no Starbucks, no malls, no delivery pizza, one factory, the only hospital in the area, and no Walmart or Target...basically it's just buildings, a grocery store, a Wendy's, a play park, and lots and lots of NOTHING.), I thank you.

Due to your decision, you've opened up a huge, non-ending closet for the media to fish into and you've made it much easier for those people on the fence about voting for Obama to slide over to his side.

Thanks!

Sincerely,

Randi - a HUGE Obama Supporter

Edited to Add: Oh I SO just found this and it is ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS! Why hasn't anyone told me to watch the Daily Show before? This was on the other night:

Blast from the Past

2008-09-04T20:05:00.002-04:00

We were going through some old photos looking for the perfect picture of my grandmother to put on our memory wall. I'm being really fussy about it, but it has to be perfect. Fortunately for me, I found it. Unfortunately for me, I found some other photos along the way. One photo shows how naive I used to be - meet 18 year old Randi and her first EVA boyfriend, D.

Yes, those are D's pants - and didn't I feel important wearing them? D was a bit of a daredevil. He liked to jump off of anything high. I met him in martial arts class and a short month later I was losing my virginity.

Kinda like how I jumped into the sack with Scott after 6 hours. I work quickly apparently!

D was, and still is, an inherently nice guy. Unfortunately, he fell in love with someone else while we were dating. We were together for almost 2 years and then I met some strange guy wearing suspenders who was sitting at my mother's kitchen table. The jerk had the gall to make my head spin and knock my socks off, and sooner than later we were having a baby, getting married, and buying a house.

Let's check out the similarities in D and Scott.

Both have dark black hair
Both have goofy grins
Both have an athletic type of build
Both have been mistaken for being gay
Neither has hair on their chests
Both have dark brown eyes
Both are fairly short

Then I realize that D would have been not only a horrible husband, but a horrible father for any children we would have had together. I also remember how long that year and a half seemed with him, while the last almost-9 years with Scott have seemed to fly by.

I definitely got the better end of the deal.

Giving Myself Credit

2008-09-04T10:10:00.003-04:00

I usually say I'm not the worlds best mom, but this time I'm going to give myself some credit. Here was my morning.

3:30am - hear Toad coughing uncontrollably. Get up. Put on robe (yes, I sleep comfortably) and get Toad drink. Realize his bedroom is much cooler than mine and cuddle up next to him to, of course, "comfort him".
4:00am - hear Toad coughing again - this time right next to me. Have him sip more apple juice and realize I should probably go to bed myself. Kiss and hug him and hope he sleeps.
4:02am - realize, from my own bed, that I'M thirsty. Go get myself some apple juice and turn on the television in the bedroom.
4:30am - wow - the George Lopez show sucked a whole half hour out of my night. Good thing it's done with.
5:00am - shit. Second George Lopez show (continuation of the first one) was really good. Now it's 5 am. Realize Scott's alarm clock will be going off in about an hour and try to get to sleep.
6:00am - hear Scott's alarm clock go off. SHUT THE DAMN THING OFF! Snuggle into his pillow and pass out again.
7:00am - hear my own alarm clock go off - turn it off.
7:05am - hear Toad's alarm clock go off. Listen as he gets up and turns it off. Get ready to haul myself out of bed.
7:45am - SHIT SHIT SHIT!!
7:46am - explain to Toad that we're REALLY late and have him earn son of the year award due to his suggestion that, 'since we're late, mom, I can just eat breakfast at school, if that's okay with you.'
7:47am - throw together lunch for Toad and watch Babygirl stumble out of bed.
7:55am - drop Toad off at school...in my "old lady" nightgown - hope that no parents see.
8:00am - get Babygirl and myself dressed. Actually, she dresses herself quite well...I took longer than she did to get dressed.
8:15am - swallow a few ibuprophen to ward off incoming headache.
8:25am - get out of van to walk to Babygirl's preschool.
8:25am - "MOM! I just saw a caterpillar!"
8:27am - scoop extremely strange looking HUGENORMOUS caterpillar into kids tupperware snack container I'd just happened to leave in the van. I'm psychic like that and not lazy at all...truly.
8:30am - get Babygirl's hands washed and show caterpillar off to classroom full of children. Her know-it-all teacher has no idea what type of caterpillar it is. Feel slight sense of smugness.
8:45am - drive to mother's work/school to see if she has any containers to keep caterpillar in (due to Babygirl's "can we keep it?" pleadings). She says no. Crap.
8:50am - go to pet store which doubles as a hardware store in our rinky-dink town and get a small critter habitat...justify expense by realizing that kids will be bringing home more and more bugs as they get older.
9:10am - get the mail in post office - bring caterpillar in because I have NO IDEA what type it is and don't want to kill the creepy little thing.
9:12am - saved by post office customer who says that these types eat all the tomatoes in a garden.
9:30am - let dogs into the house and feed them - they've been outside starving all morning. Get habitat set up for caterpillar. Slice up one of Scott's precious tomatoes (sorry honey) and put it into habitat with caterpillar.
9:35am - watch caterpillar try to climb out while I begin searching to discover exactly what kind of caterpillar it is. Ignore the nudging from the head that says that we have way too much work to do to be spending time looking for a specific species of caterpillar.
9:45am - discover that it is a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar which winters underground - no chrisalis for us. Dammit. Expect pissed off Babygirl when she realizes we have to let it go tonight.
10:00am - field phone call from Sperm Donor, who just got "terminated". As he says, "I wasn't fired - I was terminated - it sounds better."
10:15am - field phone call from woman from post office (how did she get my number?!) who says she knows what it is - thank her, exchage witty stories, and get off phone FAST.
10:25am - start to look for photos to show you guys how insanely huge this bright green caterpillar is when I discover it's NOT a Tomato Hornworm Caterpillar - it's a Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar. Wonder briefly who is growing tobacco around the kids school or if they have been growing some other form of smoking material....
10:35 - get ready to post and smell the coffee that has been sitting on the counter for me, patiently waiting for me and ready to help me "get a start" on the day. Realize I've done NO WORK and that I will be playing catch up later, all due to my kiddos anda 6-7" slimy green caterpillar. Lovely.

Here's a video of the Tobacco Hornworm Caterpillar - it's actually pretty funny and looks almost exactly like mine, except ours is a bit longer than this one.

Forbidden Wednesday - Purple Magic Wand Review

2008-09-03T09:09:00.002-04:00

Every Wednesday I will be reviewing sex toys from the fabulous VibeReview! You can find this sex toy, along with tons of other great ones, at their website.

So there we were, in his truck, alone, together. I’d known him for about five months and here he was pushing a vibrator on me.

“If you’re worried about me watching you, just put the blanket over yourself and I won’t be able to see anything.”

I was insanely curious. My ex-boyfriend had this idea that the only reason you would ever need a sex toy was if you weren’t ‘doing it right’, so I had never tried one before. This boyfriend, however, seemed to believe that sex toys and vibrators made the world go around and that they were, in his words, “just plain fun!” I really liked him, and I was curious, so I turned the vibrator on and gave it a shot.

Wow. I have never been without a vibrator since then. And that boyfriend turned into my husband a few years later. Of course I chose to marry the man who introduced me to battery-powered sex…why not?!

Now, years later, thanks to my curiosity, my sex toy box is filled to overflowing, but I’m always on the look out for a new vibrator. When VibeReview asked if I would check out Briana Bank’s Purple Magic Wand, I said, “sure, why not!” After all, I’ve learned two things in the past few months – not all vibrators are built the same, and VibeReview never sends me crappy items. Actually, I’m not even sure they carry crappy items!

I was looking forward to using the Purple Magic Wand and so it was one of the first things I took out of the package. When I took it out, I really loved the jelly feel of it, and the way it looked excited me! It isn’t the most wide toy I’ve got, but it’s definitely one of the top 5! There is, however, a trick to this vibe. Unlike many other vibrators, this one has the vibrating bullet in the tip of the shaft, not near the middle, making it ideal for internal stimulation but a bit tricky to navigate if you're looking for clitoral stimulation. The controls, however, are like nothing I’ve ever seen in a vibrator. Not only does the wheel turn easily, it is situated in such a way that it is extremely easy to turn the power of the vibrator up and down yourself without having to worry that you’ll get carpal tunnel syndrome.

This little beauty is also great for water sports! It actually feels even more silky when you use it under water than it does when you use it out of the water! Light some candles, grab a drink (or two), heat a bath, and bring along the Magic Wand and you’re in for a very, very relaxing evening.

My Take? Great for beginners! Very pretty to look at and perfect for anyone who likes internal stimulation. If you’re looking for a clitoral vibrator, however, you may want to check out some of VibeReview’s other toys, like the Laya Spot or the Lily.

Guilty Pleasure Movies

2008-09-02T09:30:00.005-04:00

We had a really good time at the corn maze yesterday and almost came home with a kitten! If only Scott wasn't the adult in this family - jeez. All right, so we don't need another animal in this house...but they were so cute! You can see the photos of our corn maze adventure on the flickr acct.

I haven't had much time to watch movies lately as I've been as busy as possible on this dumb desktop (please laptop, come back home soon!), and it got me to thinking about guilty pleasure movies. You know the ones - the movies that you are sort of ashamed to admit that you love but that you couldn't live without? Here are my top three guilty pleasure movies.

The Last Unicorn

"I have forgotten that men cannot see Unicorns. If men no longer know what they're looking at, there may be other unicorns in the world yet, unknown, and glad of it."

Oh the Last Unicorn - this is my chicken soup of movies. I can watch this film and can instantly feel better about everything in my life. If I had to choose one movie to take with me on a deserted island, THIS would be the movie. This film has been in my life since I was very little and living in Florida. I love Unicorns to this day, and while I avoid having much unicorn decor in my home, I do have a unicorn tattoo to remind me to always be young and to believe in things that everyone says couldn't possibly be true. Some of my favorite quotes have come from this movie, such as:

Unicorn: You are a true wizard now, as you always wished. Does it make you happy?
Schmendrick: Well... men don't always know when they're happy. But I - I think so.

Schmendrick: It's a very rare person who is taken for what he truly is.

Prince Lir: No. My lady, I am a hero. Heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen. A quest may not simply be abandoned; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever. A happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

"Dear Bill and Ted, good luck on the report. Sincerely, Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted 'Theodore' Logan." That was nice of us. "P.S. Duck!"

I love this movie. Seriously, I love this movie! What's not to love?! It's absolutely hilarious! I quote from it all the time - Scott and I can spend hours trying to one-up each other when it comes to quotes. Believe it or not, however, I don't have the DVD!!! For some reason I never think to buy it (and I have a hard time spending money on myself anyway). Whenever it's on TV, however, I can't avoid it. I see the name of the movie and click over quickly, grinning, and quoting it almost word for word. Some of the best quotes?

Ted: OK wait. If you guys are really us, what number are we thinking of?
Bill, Ted: 69, dudes.

Ted: This is a dude who, 700 years ago, totally ravaged China, and who, we were told, 2 hours ago, totally ravaged Oshman's Sporting Goods.

Bill: So-crates - "The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing".
Ted: That's us, dude.

Overboard

Annie: I don't belong here, I feel it, don't you think I feel it. I can't do any of these vile things and I wouldn't WANT to. Oh, my life is like death. My children are the spawn of hell, and you're the devil. Oh God.
Dean: But baby, we LIKE you.

Overboard - the romantic movie to end all romantic movies. What's so romantic about it? It's GOLDIE HAWN and KURT RUSSELL! These two have more chemistry together onscreen than almost any couple I could even think of! The story is absolutely wonderful and I can't help but be smiling and grinning like an idiot at the end of the movie...and when he first kisses her...and when he buys her the washing machine...and just about all the way through the damn movie, actually! Scott, however, is very intolerant of this film and quickly escapes whenever I throw it into the DVD player, so I wind up watching it by myself - which is exactly the way I like it! Favorite quotes?

Annie: I'm a short, fat slut.

Annie: But WHAT? My children are in need of medical assistance! And you can sit here and smugly lecture me on the importance of tests? Tests which exist to pigeonhole childrens potential, a thing which cannot *possibly* be measured, least of all by anal compulsive HUNS! And my husband may be a "large child," but that's none of your business! And my children may be rotten, but they're MINE. And I think that they're bright, and sensitive, so I have no doubts whatsoever about their intelligence. I do however have *serious* doubts about YOURS.

Dean Proffitt: You know what your problem is?, You are so god damn bored you have to invent things to bitch about. You don't have a single thing to do on this earth except for your hair, the closet was fine, you just needed something to fill up your useless, nail polishing, toe polishing, rich bitch, sun tanning days.

Now I usually NEVER tag people, but this time I'm going to! I want to know what your top three guilty pleasure movies are, especially:

Finn
CinnKitty
JM

What are YOUR Guilty Pleasure movies?!

Yard Sale!

2008-09-01T11:14:00.002-04:00

Much less fun than going to a yard sale is having a yard sale. My mother and other family members have been running the yard sale at my grandmother's house, trying to get rid of her excess things and of things other family members and friends have brought down. I went down with the kiddos yesterday for a few hours to give...well, I would say a hand, but we were pretty slow, so we'll call it moral support. Hey, I brought fries and shakes, that counts, right?!

While I was there, I kind of started to get bored, so I took a few photos. I know, I know, too many photos lately, but I was having fun!! Take this one - it's one of the only times you'll see them this close without fighting.

And this one of some purty flowers that were at my grams house. Don't ask me the name, I don't know what they're called - they're probably a really simple flower, but I don't remember the name! I'm flower-dumb like that...

And then there's Dad - also known as Step-Dad and R...the name changes depending on the day and my mood ;). He was also there for moral support. And for the heavy lifting - we hate heavy lifting.

And on the way home I stopped at the top of a hill that we climbed the other day (I mean climbed with the car - do you think I'm eager to walk up big hills? Nope!). I realized that it had the perfect view of the village we live in. What do you see? A church - a house or two, and lots and lots of trees and mountains. That's.it. No, my house isn't in this photo - I don't live quite that close to the village (thank god).

Today we're looking to head to the corn maze, where I'm sure to get dizzy and will probably become hopelessly lost. What are your labor day plans?

Why We Go To Yardsales

2008-08-30T20:41:00.002-04:00

I mentioned to Kitty today when I spoke with her by phone (yes, I am THAT lucky) that we were going to some yardsales today. She, however, says that she avoids them due to a traumatic childhood memory (and yes Kitty, that would put me off of yardsales to!) 9 times out of 10, however, we come home with something that is truly enjoyable. Today, it was all about Babygirl (not on purpose - there was just no boy stuff we ran into!)

Babygirl transformed into Babygirl Dancerella!

See the pink pretty tutu! See the dance mat! See her smile! See her brother's "WTF" face!

Ahhh, the young student studies the master on the television intently, vowing to complete her training...

Look! See the complicated and highly technical dancing bar made from plastic pipes! See the pointed toe!

Aaah yes, the dancing instruction is over! She now has the look of a ballerina - the stance of a ballerina - the attitude of a ballerina...

The grace of her mother...

Well, she can't be completely perfect, right?

I bought this for FIVE BUCKS - we got a beautiful brand-new (looking) snow suit for 2 bucks, and a neat rubbermaid picnic backpack thingy (oh so technical) for five bucks. All in all, Babygirl and Mommy were happy - Toad was happy because he got extra Wii time (since we didn't find him anything), and Dad was happy because...well...I don't know! Dad...are you happy?

yes...if my girls and toad are happy...dad is happy!!!

Awww - I knew there was a reason I married him!

We also sold TONS of toys at the yardsale going on at my grandmother's house - so far the tally's at about $113. Suh-weet! I'll be heading there tomorrow with my camera...disaster in the making...

Bonding over the Wii

2008-08-30T10:27:00.004-04:00

"Hey babe! I hope it's okay, but I invited a few friends over for this Friday."

Alright - considering I tell my best friend she can spend weekends here without ever telling him, I can't complain.

The people he invited were old friends of ours. We'd had a falling out quite some time ago and we hadn't talked in, well, forever. Scott and the husband work together, so they got to talking about getting together and, of course, about the Wii. He invited them up and they accepted.

They came up and it was almost as if the situation had been resolved. Almost. There was still some underlying tension, so we did everything we could to make things comfortable. We had some food, they met the dogs, and we tried to relax.

Then it came time to play the Wii.

The Wife isn't much of a game player, but reluctantly agreed to try some bowling. And she laughed. And laughed. And laughed!

We played a bunch of different games, all the while listening to the kiddos staying up WAY too late in our bedroom watching TV, and they began to fall in love with the Wii. I figured it would be a good time to make some Mii's for them (for the non-Wii player, a Mii is a character you design to look just like you. Or like Elvis, depending on who looks better). The Husband thinks that Scott's Mii looks like Randy Marsh from South Park.

Okay, so he kinda does. Anyway, I figured that it would be hilarious to make their Miis. I wasn't mistaken. Both the Wife and the Husband have infectious laughs. You know the kind - the type of laughs where you first stop and quirk your head and think, "wow - that's a unique laugh", and then find yourself, minutes later, laughing along with them. That's the type of laughter they have.

The Husband laughed a bit when we re-created the Wife in Mii form, but he almost died laughing when we did his character. He laughed so hard, he stopped breathing for a moment. I laughed so hard I had tears coming down my cheeks.

I haven't done that in a very, very long time.

It was really late when they left, and we're still feeling a little tired today from our evening, but it was definitely fun. It was exactly what we needed and I hope that we can all remain friends again. Thanks Wii.

YES WE CAN

2008-08-29T08:59:00.004-04:00

I was busy working my fingers to the bone last night (seriously, they ache), and when I work I totally phase myself out from listening to what is going on around me. Thus was I shocked when my boss emailed last night and said she was behind because she'd been watching Barack Obama's acceptance speech.

Huh?

I knew the DNC convention was this weekend, but I forgot all about Obama's acceptance speech. I've watched a bit of it on YouTube, and, as always, my heart was in my throat watching them. What surprised me, however, was Scott.

Scott watched some of the YouTubes for me this morning and we talked about Obama. He said that he feels hope. He said that he wants to go and get sworn in for the FIRST TIME EVER so that he can vote for Barack Obama.

He totally earned himself a blow job.

Do you thinks that's legal? Promising sexual favors for your vote? Hmm...

Here's my favorite part of the speech - I promise I'll ignore the political stuff tomorrow, but for today, please, PLEASE, even if you don't like Obama, watch this clip. It is amazing.