Too Cool!

I signed up to receive a free 'Obama' pin to add to my pin collection. as a result, I've received A LOT of propaganda. This particular thing I found to be hillarious. I've watched it about 30 times.

The Trunk

How do you know when it's okay to let go of something?

If someone takes the time or makes an effort to give me something, I will find some way to use it, and will probably never get rid of it. I also have this same problem in regards to things that remind me of certain situations, time periods or my children.

If they draw me a picture or write me a note, you KNOW I will be keeping it.

The trouble comes in trying to find space to KEEP all this stuff. I mean, its not to the point yet where I have stacks of stuff lining the hallways and emergency personnel will have a difficult time getting the gurney in should I need help. But I feel its getting close.

I have been trying to clean things out and widdle down to things I ABSOLUTELY love. I'm tired of "stuff" I just want nice, clean, spaces.

But we've come across a....I don't know what word I'm looking for here. But I have a trunk, I want to keep it, Bill wants Goodwill to get it.

So for now it sits in a trailor awaiting its fate.

He sees HIDEOUS.

I see:

A new beginning.

• We were just coming out of a VERY ROUGH few years. We had both gotten to the point where we were done with living the way things were, and if we were going to make our marriage and our family work, LOTS of things had to change.
  And they did.

• I had just lost custody of my oldest son, and it nearly sent me to the brink of despair. But had to then come to the realization that I had to snap out of it for all involved, my self pity wasn't going to do him or me or anyone any good. It was what it was and I had to make the best of it.

• I was pregnant with Awesome Austin.
  

I saw the trunk at a yard sale down the street from the apartment in Little Mexico. They were asking $20.00 for it. I wanted it DESPERATELY. It was a Friday morning. I did not have .20 cents let alone $20.00. It stayed there.

The next day, when we went out for our walk again, I noticed it was still there. I stopped to look at it again, and the person having the yard sale said, "you can have it for $5.00." I said I'd have to come back, as I didn't have money with me (or at home or anywhere else for that matter). I spent the next few hours so nervous someone would come along and buy it. Bill FINALLY got home from work and I told him about it and how much it was, he told me I should go buy it, and gave me 5 bucks from the paycheck he had just cashed.

Bill stayed with the kids while I FLEW down to that house. It was still there. I gave her the money and dragged the trunk home. I set it up as an end table by the couch. I placed some magazines on it that my mother had given me, and put a little plant on it. I felt like I had just made the literal transformation to
Suzy Homemaker.

Every time we have moved, it has made the move with us, and most of the time it has been spent being a coffee table.

1995: The Apartment

2001 Halloween: The Rental House


2007 Dominic: SE Valley House
(lower RH corner you can see the edge)



You know what?

IT'S STAYING!!!!

Who knew doing this post was going to be such an emotional rollercoaster for me?
..

Once again, I win!
(not that I'm keeping score or anything.)


Off Topic: Last night I made this Peanut Butter Pie. OMG!!! SOOOO good! I added shaved chocolate on top...to die for. You people need to stop already with the good recipes-this "Troll-Body" can't afford to gain anymore weight!

Shrimp

So, about six months ago, the girls start begging for a new pet.  I tell them "NO.  I think 93 dogs is enough."

They keep pleading and bugging over the next few weeks.  I finally give in and say they can get another fish.   So one day, I dropped them off at PetSmart while I went to Wal-Mart so they could pick out their new fish.  When I pick them up, they come out and they are both just GRINNING from ear to ear, "We got Shrimp!"  Now if you knew my daughter Holly, at this point you would think,  Shrimp, of course, it makes PERFECT sense.

There was four shrimp, and they set up their home on the bathroom counter, as the bathroom is common domain.

Well, I thought they'd live a couple of weeks, and then we'd be done.

OH NO.  Those suckers live forever.

Or so I thought.

I had held off on relocating them, hoping they would die, so I could just wash out the tank and be done with it.  (again, another nomination for Mother of the Year!)

So Emmy is with me last week, I was downstairs and she was upstairs. 

I finished what I had been doing, and went up to help her.  I see her in the bathroom leaning over the tank with the Shrimp food shaker.

I yell, "WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

Emmy:  "I'm feeding the shrimp.  Oh mom, you should have seen them, I got here in JUST the nick of time.  They were almost dead."

I was THIS close to being free of having that tank on the counter.  ARGGHH!

So I breathe a heavy sigh and come to the realization that the shrimp and their habitat will be relocating as well.  So yesterday I put them in the car and when I got here I brought them in and put them on my bathroom counter for the time being.

This morning I was giving Muffin a haircut and Emmy came in and saw the tank.

E:  OHHH...Yay.  I didn't know they were here.

Me:  Yeah, I brought them yesterday.  See, I'm a nice mom after all.

Emmy peers into the tank, then she lets out a shreek-

THEY'RE ALL CUT IN HALF!!!!  

WHAT DID YOU DOOOOOO?  

YOUR A SHRIMP KILLERRRRR!!!!!!!

and she runs to her room, furious with me.

Add Murderous Shrimp Killer to my LONG list of names.

FOR THE RECORD:  I guess the rocks on the bottom of their tank, shifted back and forth in the car and they must have got caught up in them.  I did not cut them in half.

The Olympics

So, Emmy has had to follow the Olympics, specifically Wrestling, for school. So we DVR, than watch when we can. Cause really, who has an extra 17 hours a day to watch them?

I'm REALLY embarrassed to say this, but I am TOTALLY confused.

I thought they were for amateur athletes.

I'm not trying to be sarcastic here, but really, isn't that what they used to be?

I really enjoy watching them, but then when I read the news or listen to recaps on the radio, I get lost.

Like this morning when I ran Em to school.

On the radio they were talking about them, "Michael Phelps...gazillion gold medals...girls gymnastics...blahhh...Venus & Serena Williams....

WAIT.

HOLD UP.

TOTALLY confused.

Aren't Venus & Serena tennis Pros?

I'm not into sports too much, but I read enough to know their names.

Why are they in the Olympics?

And how does Michael Phelps earn 5 million dollars last year and is still considered an amateur?

I'm going to go "Bone Up" on my Olympic knowledge, because this is really bugging me not knowing the criteria.

Um.....apparently I'm NOT soooooo busy.


UPDATE:

Holy Schneitters!!!!

Who knew this was such a SENSITIVE subject.

This was the first response I found when I googled: 

Question:  "Are the Olympics for Amateurs or Professionals"

Answer:  The Olympics hasn't been about Amateurs since 1988. Look it up, moron.

So, 

they're for both amateurs and professionals and I'm a moron.

Case closed.