I'm back!!!  But I'm also hungry, so this may not last long. 

Also, I plan on doing Kween's challenge on Monday...so if I've visited you and commented on your angry post (Kween's people know what I mean), I'll get mine up on Monday!  Don't procrastinators tic you off?

Yeah, so no job this year.  Boo and, I guess, yeah at the same time.  I WANT desperately to be back in a preschool, but I NEED to have 8:30-3:30 hours.  I will not do what I did to my kids last year.  Jess basically raised Jason after school...not fair to her, not fair to him.  She needs to be free to do and be a kid while it lasts, and he was falling so behind in school...so once again, mom puts herself on hold.  It's OK, Jess started asking me the other day if I would be home when she got home, she stops herself and says..."I really like having you home when we get home, mom...it's nice to have you here."  How great is that?  (btw for new readers...she's 14 and 1/2)  So this year, she gets to join the clubs she wants to, have a little bit more of a social life...i.e, friends walking home after school, and Jason gets the teaching he needs reinforced after school.  Meanwhile, at home, the house is clean, I'm learning how to play the guitar and practicing my karate every day...I'll probably be the fastest black belt guitar playing fool out there...'cause, let's face it, I'm bored.  What'cha gonna do?  Wouldn't mind going back to school...but it's way expensive, Jess goes to college in 3 years, and with me not working, all extra spending is gone.  And we won't qualify for any help...he makes too much.  Loans...we certainly don't need any more payments out.  Sigh. 

Jess is in a show tonight and tomorrow...and yes, she rocks.    The show is called Crank It Up, and it's done by a group of kids called Kids Caring for Cancer.  They raise money through ticket sales and ads for the oncology and hematology dept. at the local Childrens Hospital .  Last year, I think they got close to $5000.  This year sales are down a little bit, but I hope the numbers aren't too bad.  Here's a pic of her singing one of her numbers "Kids in America"...isn't she cute????

I need to figure out how to upload a video/audio clip for her singing too...the one I have is for dress rehearsal and she'd probably hate me forever if I posted that one...it's not the way she wants it...gotta be perfect if I'm to post it, ya know?   But, of course, I still think it's good.

That's probably enough for today...don't wanna inundate you with too much at once, ya know? 

Oh...quick thought...remember that Friends episode where the guy puts his leg up on the coffee table and all is revealed?   He was at my gym today...if not him, his shorts certainly were.  Which leads me to wonder...we, as women, prefer to make our breasts nice and tidy while at the gym...bouncing around tends to hurt.  So, does a guy secure their... ummm..."package" as well?  Or do they like the bouncing?   On a side note, women, please do not wear short shorts when doing a spin class.  The other women behind you can see things we don't want to see.  The men, however, are happy, 'cept they're not able to sit down on the seat so well...go figure. 

This dog is too old to teach new tricks....I'm tired, I want to change my layout, I wanted to post, but after too much time just trying to find the right button to make a post I'm done for the night.  Stupid new xanga. (Or not so new, to people who update a heck of alot more than me!  )

 Eh, I lied...finally figured it out AGAIN.  I know I've whined about it before, and each time it turns me off at first, until I find the "don't want to try anything new button, go back to the old way"...which works for me.  However, now that I"ve made it all purty, I'm tuckered and want to go to sleep.  BUT, as I don't have a job yet this year, (which I will be posting about too), looks like I've got time tomorrow when the kids go to school...so talk atcha all tomorrow! 

Can everyone see that flower on my page?  It took a little bit for it to upload, so don't know if slower computers can see it or not...if not, I"ll try to find something a little simpler...

OK...so I'm sitting in spin class (actually, I'm spinning) in the last row.  In front of me, there is a woman with a thong on.  Obvious thong-age.  I've got all hour of spinning to sweat and think of why on Earth thongs exist.  I don't have alot of time to go into where exactly my thoughts went, and you probably don't want to know, really.  But one question remains...

If you were to walk up and give a person wearing a thong a wedgie, would they notice?

I just have to say I don't like the new xanga set up.  Anybody else loving it?  Maybe I just fear change...or I'm just lazy and don't want to take the time to look at what it has now...whatever. 

WELL.  So my hubby's gone again.  Iraq this time for 6-8 weeks.  At least it's only that short a time and not 6 months to a year like some guys have to do.  Still sucks though.  I know he loves this job, but I really really wish he'd find a new one.  I like this job on the level that he's getting to travel and see places he's only dreamed of getting to see...travel was on his "list of things", ya know?  How cool that he's gotten to go to Germany, France, Oman...Baghdad (ok not so cool on the Baghdad)...he's waiting patiently for the chance to go to Japan, where we will SO go with him.  Pay is great, he has no worries after he gets home, no phone calls, no weekend work.  Just these crappy 2 times a year 6-8 week trips to the desert.  And the once a month weekly trips.  Not too bad, right?  Kids are Ok with it.  Jason was a little worried at first.  He's got a friend at school who is just army army army.  And has a tiny mean streak to boot.  He told Jason that people get blown up all the time over there, and he was watching the news the night before and it said a guy with the last name ***** lost his leg in a bomb.  Well, that concerned Jas just a little bit.  Oman wasn't bad, it's not in the news all the time, but Jas knows about Iraq.  What'cha gonna do?  I told Jason next time that kid says something like that, tell his teacher...she'll take care of it the way it needs to be done.  (I hope)

Let's see, what else is goin' on?  Finally got out of the house yesterday after almost a week of being house/couch bound.  I felt like a free woman...it was so nice...here's how my week went...Monday night, made a pretty good dinner, I thought...pork chops with cream of chicken soup, peas with mushrooms, rice pilaf...not too shabby.  Now, keep in mind my son has a nut allergy...so I always always check ingredients.  And I did.  Not a nut product in sight.  So while we're eating (and he wasn't excited about the pork chops...they looked gross, I guess, so he saved that for last) I finally make him eat the chops.  He starts complaining almost immediately that his throat itches...I tell him, nope, too bad, eat your meat, there's not one scrap of nuts in there.  Bad mommy.  So he complains and complains, I make him eat 2 more bites, then go get a drink of water...he did and says that makes his throat itch worse, so I go ahead and give him some Benadryl just in case.  Send him up to brush his teeth, he comes back down Cro-magnon boy.  Ever see the movie Hitch?  That was my boy.  Poor guy.  Next time I will SO believe when he tells me his throat itches like that.  His face got so swollen, he couldn't open his left eye at all...just about turned inside out.  So the next day, I had to take off work, run him to various doctors, keep him out of school (he refuses to go to school looking like a caveman...go figure).  Doc wants him allergy tested again in a couple of weeks when this gets all the way out of his system.  Jas doesnt' remember the last one he had...I"m not gonna tell him what's going to happen until the day of...he's a worrier.  If you've never had an allergy test, let me paint you a picture...you don't have any of your allergy medicines going on, number one...now imagine a little white board about maybe about 8 x 6 inches with about 50 needles sticking out of it.  Now, imagine your kid seeing this thing...not fun right there either.  They then take that board and put it on your childs bare back and press (lightly) down so that all the allergens that are on each needle go into the skin.  NO SCRATCHING, NO TOUCHING.  You then sit there for about 10 minutes waiting to see if any one of those sticks swells up and itches uncontrollably.  It's not a fun process.  BUT maybe we'll eliminate this mystery ingredient that gets him every so often...and hopefully it's the same ingredient that's in Pizza Hut (he's allergic to Pizza Hut pizza only - Papa Johns, Dominoes, any other pizza we've never had a problem with).  It just scares me that he could be eating anything without me or dad there, and someone might not know what to do...gonna have to pack a bottle of Benadryl with him everywhere! 

So that was my adventure with Jason...Wednesday morning I'm getting ready , and in walks Jess high fever and pukes in my toilet.  So there's another call in to work.  And she is feeling LOUSY.  14 year old needing her mommy to snuggle her on the couch all day lousy.  Breaks her fever Wednesday night, we're thinking it's all good, she wakes up with a horrible lung chunkin' cough in the morning.  I mean really bad.  And a new fever.  Mom calls into work again.  (this after my eval last Thursday with perfect scores all across the board)  She was still sick Thur and Fri, but thank goodness for snow days!!!!  Only problem for her was she had a vocal solo competition on Saturday that she's been working on for months...her voice was still gone from all the coughing.  She was SO upset. 

Good Lord this is a long post...guess that's what I get for only posting once in a blue moon!  Let me see if I can find a funny....

A Short Love Story

A man and a woman who had never met before, but were both married to other people found themselves assigned to the same sleeping room on a Trans-Continental train.

Though initially embarrassed and uneasy over sharing a room, they were both very tired and fell asleep quickly.....

He in the upper bunk and she in the lower, and at 1:00 AM, the man leaned down and gently woke the woman saying, "Ma'am, I'm sorry to bother you, but would you be willing to reach into the closet to get me a second blanket? I'm awfully cold."

"I have a better idea," she replied. "Just for tonight, let's pretend that we're married."

"Wow! That's a great idea!" he exclaimed.

"Good," she replied. "Get your own damn blanket."

After a moment of silence, he farted.

The End
 

edit:  btw, what are those mini things for?  I guess I gave myself one...thought maybe it was something to go on the side...durn new fangled contraptions...

Got a sicko at home today, so I GET TO POST!!!!  I know, I know, it's a miracle in and of itself.  He's on the couch watching Curious George, so mommy gets to get on the computer.  It's so exciting...

So how's everyone doing????  I miss all my old "peeps" on here...though I do try to keep up with the sub lists I get emailed...I can check my email at work, just can't log on to xanga...school systems tend not to like it so much...speaking of, don't know if I ever got to share the news of my job....I am in the local school district, now!!!!    Just a program aide for the preschool right now, need that paper degree to go higher, but my foot's in the door when I do have it!  Only thing that stinks are the hours...11-5:30.  11 is great, 5:30 not so hot.  Totally missing my kids.  And my son is getting lost in the school shuffle.  Found out he's ADHD this year, we're seeing a psychologist to learn other ways of helping him WITH his medication so eventually some day he'll learn to help himself control his impulses...but right now, we have our hands full.  So next year I have decided if I can't find a preschool position that has the normal hours of 8-4 I'm not gonna do it.  My kids are more important...I love preschool and that's where my working heart lies, but my whole heart is with my kids.  I was thinking about that the other day...no, I don't have a degree, and sometimes it's hard looking at the young teachers at school, they have it together, have their degree, their careers...I made a choice when I was younger...I made the choice to raise my kids to the best of my possible ability...leaving my personal goals to simmer for awhile...guess the simmering may just not be completed yet...so when I get a little envious of those around me with the career and some that look down upon me for not having that precious piece of paper that says college graduate...I'll just take my hugs and my kisses, and frame those in my heart...guess it depends on what's more valuable to you, right?    Don't get me wrong, eventually I"ll get that degree...hopefully I'll be able to go back before my son graduates high school...

As for the post below...I'm doing much better.  Every so often I decide to be stupid...I think I got this, now.  I'm OK.  I also think it helped posting that.  A mental purge, as it were. 

Now, so I don't get kicked out of the Queen's blog for being a bad poster...I'm participating  in a couple of challenges...

one was to state some simple pleasures of your life...easy peasy.  Though I'd better limit it to 5, or this list'll go on forever!

1.  Working out hard in the early a.m. sweating like a madwoman, going outside freezing, but getting to come home and immerse myself in a steaming hot bath with a good book.  Aaaaah....

2.  Coming home from work and getting tackled with hugs and "hi mom's"

3.  Going into the classroom and getting tackled with hugs and "hi Ms. Mindy's"

4.  My kitty snuggled on my lap right now, purring and kneading my arm. 

5.  snuggling under the covers on a cold morning with hubby and kids...giggling, tickling...need I say more?

The second challenge was "I remember when"... Hmmm...let's limit this one to 5 too...

1.  I remember when my breasts didn't touch my belly button.  Those were good days.

2.  I remember when I would spend ALL day outside, sun up to sun down, picking wild blueberries, splashing in the creeks, pretending to lay on fairy beds with the sponge moss...just soaking up the day, the sun, and life.

3.  I remember when I could remember yesterday.  Or even 5 minutes ago. 

4.  I remember when my mom and dad had hair without gray and bodies without aches and pains.  Playing softball in the back yard as a family, Daddy playing horsie with us whenever he was home on leave...parents aren't allowed to grow old. 

5.  I remember when sex wasn't something that had to be scheduled into a week...sigh....

Alrighty, that's it!!!!  Ya'll have a great weekend!!!! 

Funny Jokes - The Mommy Test…..

I was out walking with my then 4 year old daughter. She picked up
something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth.

I asked her not to do that.

“Why?

“Because it’s been laying outside and is dirty and probably has
germs.”

At this point, she looked at me with total admiration and
asked, “Wow! How do you know all this stuff?”

“Uh,” I was thinking quickly, “…everyone knows this stuff. Um,
it’s on the Mommy test. You have to know it, or they don’t let you
be a Mommy.”

“Oh.” We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was
evidently pondering this new information.

“I get it!” she beamed. “Then if you flunk, you have to be the
Daddy.”