Friday, March 23, 2007

I hate PBS....

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Apparently I am the World...


You are the World


Completion, Good Reward.


The World is the final card of the Major Arcana, and as such represents saturnian energies, time, and completion.


The World card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. Everything is finally coming together, successfully and at last. You will get that Ph.D. you've been working for years to complete, graduate at long last, marry after a long engagement, or finish that huge project. This card is not for little ends, but for big ones, important ones, ones that come with well earned cheers and acknowledgements. Your hard work, knowledge, wisdom, patience, etc, will absolutely pay-off; you've done everything right.


What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.




THANKS G

Scoring with Jesus



It is official – I am a soccer mom…

We signed the girls up this spring for Soccer – we had 3 different groups to choose from – we ended up in the Jesus league.

In addition to learning the fundamentals of the game of soccer the kids {and parents} read scripture and devotions during the practice and games. It is all run so each child has equal time on the playing field and everyone is to shout encouraging words to the refs, all the players and the coaches – even if they don’t know what the heck they are doing.

Now let me just say – I don’t attend church on a regular basis – both the Third Child and I were raised Catholic – the whole nine yards…even were married in a Catholic ceremony. While I don’t despise religion as a whole I am just not to enamored of it – I have my own views and theories that don’t mesh well with very many types of organized religion where Jesus is one of the major players.




However, when we got married I did agree that any children we have would be raised in the Catholic faith (faith I don’t have a problem with…the Catholic part…well) – so that has been the Third Child’s domain to take them to church and expose them to the wonders that is the Catholic faith…

To which I get these responses

TW: If I don’t go to church am I going to die?

PWG: I don’t want to go to church – It’s boring and the seats hurt my butt…

There really is no denying that PWG is my daughter…none at all…when she uttered that fateful line – I just looked at Third Child and said

“Can’t say anything because I agree with her – especially the butt hurtin’ part”

Anyway Third Child was quite surprised when I signed them up for the Jesus League because of my aversion to religion combined with everyday activities.

But it was $75 a kid and that included almost everything but the ball and the shoes – so really how can the bargain queen pass up a bargain like that…

I just wonder what would happen if I showed up in this…




With this on the back of my car….






Would we be thrown out of the Jesus league????

Monday, March 19, 2007

OF broken scales and re-runs....

Well I didn’t post on Friday because my scale is broken….

However I really don’t want to get rid of it because now half the time it tells me I weigh 149 lbs…I love the scale when it says that….the other half of the time it tells me I weigh a lot more….I hate it when it says that...

Third Child mentioned to me that it told him he weighs 175 lbs – he told me it lied…a big fat lie although he was very flattered the scale thought he weighed 175.

So the scale is broken and I don’t know what I weigh…

Our DVD player in our bedroom finally broke to - sooo hummm replace the DVD or the scale first???

It might be awhile till I get a new scale….

Damn you re-runs...damn you

Last night was a night of re-runs…which led to this conversation with the Third Child

TC: You know tonight is a re-run of “Desperate Housewives” {wink, wink}
ME: Yeah I know…
TC: You know what that means {wink, wink}
ME: What??
TC: You have time to bump uglies with me {wink, wink}

Gee….how can a girl resist a line like that…how romantic…

Thursday, March 15, 2007

It takes all kinds of mothers...

It takes all kinds of mothers….

My cyber-gal Lotta recently posted about her hubbie working a lot of overtime and her displeasure of it…

She got a fairly nasty anonymous comment about it… basically about how she should be grateful that her husband has work and that she doesn’t have to throw her kids in a “toddler warehouse”

OH. MY. GAWD….

No she didn’t….

For many, many, many, many years there has been debate over SAHM and working MOM’s –

there is a segment of militant SAHM’s who feel that no mother should work and that they are doing a disservice to their children by putting their care during the day in the hands of another and that they are selfish in that they want to work instead of spending every waking minute with their children. That anyone who SAH should soak up the glory (such as it is) to SAH and worship their husbands who go to work so they can in turn stay home

There is a segment of militant WM’s who feel that SAHM are somehow wasting their time and energy – their education, their potential job skills to stay at home with their children.

I have met militants on both sides…

However I would dare to say that most MOM’s be they SAHM or WM could give a rip as to what other women do.

I for one am in absolute AWE of SAHM’s – part of me is jealous – not the fact that they have the opportunity to SAHM, but the fact that most of them make it look easy to deal with their kids all day. Meanwhile come Sunday evening I am at the end of my rope with my children and I have only spent the past 48 hours with them – not the past 168 hours…I am not cut from the SAHM cloth – I just am who I am and I’m OK with this…

It comes down to doing what is right for yourself and your family.

However, I do have a bone to pick…with the militant SAHM’s on two accounts…raising my child and working because you HAVE to work

I get frustrated when someone makes an off-handed comment basically stating a working mother is somehow less of a mother…that WM hand our children willy-nilly to another person to “raise” or throw them into a “toddler warehouse”. I had someone say to me once (not knowing I was a WM) “I don’t know why people have children just to hand them to someone else to raise” – WTF – I am raising my children thank you…hasn’t anyone ever heard the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”. Look at the bush women in Africa – they pop a squat, have a baby and then go right back to work…they hand their children to elder women and go off to work – gathering food and twigs and stuff…hence “village raising a child”

And on the other front – I especially love the few militants who disagree with mothers working but put the cavet in “Oh but if they HAVE to it’s ok”…ummmm double standard anyone…

Now I have gotten in many a heated debate with militant SAHM…I am not a militant WM but it does piss me the hell off when people (any people) talk out of their ass without knowing all the facts…so yes I will debate the merits of WM from my vantage point to the end. But please…don’t tell me I am doing a disservice to my child by allowing them to go to a daycare…don’t tell me that my children will think I am a horrible mother because I didn’t wipe their ass every single time they took a dump from birth on…and last but not least – don’t give me that little stare and the disapproving “oh” when I tell you I work outside of the home.

It is a time honored debate…one that doesn’t have a right or a wrong…and won’t ever have an ending because we women are one catty bunch

Friday, March 09, 2007

Bagels and French Fries

Well I got on the scale this morning and found that I hadn't lost a single pound...

BUT I am A-OK with that - after loosing 3 lbs last week I was just happy to keep it all off.

I forgot to mention last week - when I lost the 3 lbs - the MIDDLE number changed!!!

Those of us hefty gals that are trying to loose weight understand the importance of the middle # changing...

The first number for some of us might change...I know when I first started on my weight loss journey a few years ago the moment that first number changed was such a wonderful life affirming thing...

The last number - well that always fluctuates....

But the middle number... that is the sweet spot number...when that number changes for the better it makes you feel like you have accomplished something...doesn't matter that the last number has changed 9 times to get you to a new middle number...

To treat myself for not gaining any weight this week I treated myself...

I had a wonderfully delicious bagel this morning...and for lunch - wonderful, crispy french fries...

and yes I will be drinking my weight in water this weekend to flush it all out of my system....

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Of HUMPING and BJ's

Happy HUMP day everyone….

It’s WEDNESDAY….half way to the weekend…

I myself have been stuck in electronics hell.

See I have a small little problem…I obsess – yes imagine that I obsess

But I don’t obsess over things like a clean house or if my kids’ hair is brushed…Nope

I get a little idea in my head and then I have to obsess over it until it becomes me.

My latest obsession – Camcorders – I shat you not – Camcorders – For some reason it got into my head about how great it would be to film TW and PWG and make DVD’s to send to family and friends. After all I have a brand-new computer that I made sure had two DVD drives, including a DVD burner…(yet somehow I failed to make sure it had a firewire – oh well)

Six years ago we received a very nice camcorder from my parents – me being the obsessed freak I am just naturally assumed it was some piece of outdated junk by now without even looking at it and so the obsession began.

I now know almost EVERYTHING there is to know about Camcorders – MiniDV, MiniDVD, HDD, Hybrid, CCD, DV in, DVD dubbing, Hi8, Sony, Panasonic, JVC, analong, digital, optical zoom, image stabilization, etc.. – you name it I could probably hold a fairly decent conversation with a techie about the pros and cons of various formats and brands of camcorders…

I stumbled across www.camcorderinfo.com – which if you are looking for a camcorder is the place to start – they also have a message board for viewing – I signed up and had to wait a day before I could post my 101 million questions…so while I was waiting to post I figured I better give these techies the full array of what I currently have.

So I dug out my old camcorder and learned I HAVE a MINIDV {smack myself on the head} – all be it an older model without a few bells and whistles…but still it is a MiniDV….so I should be able to make a DVD of it – right???

Ummm yeah – so then my focus switched from camcorders to obsessing how to get the MINIDV tapes to DVD’s….oh great yet another obsession…

I can now hold a decent conversation about DVD burners and converters too…

So after LOTS of researching I decided that maybe the best way to go would be to get a DVD recorder/VCR rather than a stand alone DVD recorder – it would serve a two fold purpose – add yet another piece of electronics to my house and the fact I could burn old VHS tapes to DVD and hook up my camcorder to burn DVD’s…

In talking with my father yesterday and running down everything I have been obsessing over in the past few days – he told me “well wouldn’t you want to edit it so you don’t have the boring parts”….ahhhh that is what FAST FORWARD is for old man…so then I started obsessing about someway to upload my tapes onto my computer – edit them and then burn them to a DVD (and yes I have so much time in my schedule in which to do this – but I digress – that apparently is an offshoot of my obsession problem)

However my current camcorder has a problem – it has three ways in which to output the video – Composite cables, S cable and a DV cable (Basically Firewire) – If I had actually known something about computers when I was busy building my Dell I would have added a firewire slot – but I am an idiot so I have a bajillion USB ports but no firewire/DV ports…Apparently I can ADD a Firewire to my computer??? But that is an obsession left for another day…

On my way home from work yesterday I decided to swing into BJ’s (oh all you smutty-minded people who though the BJ’s in my title referred to something else…I like you :) ) and look over their selection of DVD recorder/VCR combos…

Upon looking at the DVD’s I turn around and run smack into a box…a box called – well I can’t think of what it is called cause it is sitting at home right now and I am not– but in it’s basic sense it is a box that allows you to plug either an S cable or a composite cable in one side and the other side has a USB port for your computer – UREKA….it was $40 so I bought it – I figured if I am out – I am only out $40…grab a pack of DVD-RW and on my way – Upon checkout it spit me out a huge receipt – on which was a rebate form for $20 for the little box thingy…SCORE…now I’ll only be out $20 if the sucker doesn’t work…

So of course I get home and have to rip into it RIGHT NOW (another side effect of Obsession) and try and get everything hooked up and loaded…wellllllll the software SUCKS…simply sucks…I actually got video to my computer….but somehow the Audio has gone poof….using Roxio MyDVD (came with my computer) I was able to upload video (still no audio) and burn it to a DVD-RW and play it back on my computer…

This morning I got on-line to try and figure out about this little contraption I bought and found it has a 1 STAR rating on Amazon.com – the basic gist is that the software sucks and the company sucks…there was a 5 start rating for the device itself from one person – he stated that he used different software and it worked great. I did find out that the company was bought by another company (after most of the reviews were written) that has a fairly decent reputation…and I found their technical support (turns out I am not the only one with Audio problems) – so I go back to the drawing board armed with technical print-outs…if I can get the Audio to work this little contraption might make me very happy….and for $20 a bargain to boot.

I still think for the long run a DVD recorder/VCR is in my future…after all who doesn’t want to see an hour of PWG and TW running aimlessly on a soccer field?

Friday, March 02, 2007

Well Yes...I have lost some weight...

So I got out of my bed and peed (because urine does weigh something) and stepped on the scale…

I saw a number and thought to myself – “THAT can not be right

So I got off – took out the battery – put it back in brushed off the bottom of the scale – and stepped back on….the same number popped up

WTF

So just then TW stumbled into my room – I had her come and stand on the scale

44

Hummm TW gained a pound?

So that means my number MUST be right!

I LOST THREE POUNDS!!

{Imagine a chubby girl doing the Robot}


So I am down 10 pounds

This has really driven my momentum…now I must keep it up….

What I did this week:

  • really watched what I ate this week – no additional snacking
  • made sure I got my water in everyday
  • I even added some olive oil to some of my meals – something I had not been doing
  • drank a few glasses of milk and had some yogurt this week
  • exercised on my elliptical for 20 minutes 3X’s this week
  • faithfully took my One-A-Day Weight Smart pill every night….

Thursday, March 01, 2007

for some reason...

From Post Secret



this cracks me up - although I am pretty sure whoever sent this in in going to require extensive therapy...



Rachel Ray Ain't Got Nothin' On Me

For I am crowning myself the QUEEN of the 30 minute meals…

Now both PWG and TW love watching Rachel Ray – doesn’t matter what she is hawking – be it dinner in under 30 minutes or spending $40 a day (Ha…I could stretch $40 into 3 days…the trick is making sure you pick a hotel that not only has a continental breakfast but also an evening “social hour” – load up those pockets in the morning and you have lunch – eat enough peanuts, popcorn and sip enough bad boxed white wine and you have dinner)

Anyway with working full-time there is very little time to prepare an elegant dinner most nights (ok not most nights…every night)…so I live hard and fast by the “get er done” cooking method…

Now one thing I will admit - I am horrible at getting my children to partake in “Adult Food” - that food where it is either

  • Somewhat expensive (i.e a nice piece of NY Strip Steak)
  • Somewhat spicy

I would have to say out of a 5 day workweek at least 2 night a week I try to prepare “Adult Food” – it is these nights I pray in homage to Chef Boy-r-Dee and the man at Tyson who said “lets mash a bunch of leftover chicken together in a flat round disk shape and call it a ‘patty’” – because without these two people (Oh the person at Eggo that said - "let's take half of a regular waffle and half of a chocolate waffle and fuse them together" - they must never get rid of that wonderful concoction that makes morning at my house so very nice)…I would be one very unhappy momma…

Last night was an “adult meal” – I had a nice piece of Flat Iron Steak and some Portabella and Crimini Mushrooms (mushrooms courtesy of my boss who brought in huge boxes of them cultivated from some place called the Mushroom House in PA…)

  • Tangent time – Flat Iron Steak is a relatively new cut of meat…it is similar to Flank steak…if you want to know more check HERE - anyway the meat is fairly inexpensive – I got a nice sized piece for 2 people on sale for about $5 – it was delicious….very tender and I WILL be buying it again (on sale of course)

So I threw some Worchester Sauce, Balsamic Vinegar, Olive Oil, minced garlic and some steak seasoning in a glass pan and let the meat marinate for about 10 minutes. I threw the same ingredients in a glass bowl in which I threw the cut up mushrooms in. Don’t ask me the ratios – I just added a splash here and a splash there…(I did put a little too much vinegar in the mushroom bowl though)

Third Child threw the meat on the grill for 10 minutes on medium heat while I sautéed up the mushrooms…nuked a turkey dog for TW and a Crabby Patty for PWG (that beloved Tyson Chicken Patty…one day the girls wouldn’t eat anything – then I offered them a “Crabby Patty” and it has been love ever since…) – opened a can of Mandrian Oranges (I am not completely a horrible mom…they do get fruit and veggies on occasion :)

I let the meat rest for about 5-6 minutes – sliced that puppy up – threw the ‘shrooms on top and ate it up…YUM-MO

PIS-SHA – Rachel Ray…I finished in 26 minutes.