Funny cuz it's true...

I just came across this blog on John's blog. (Yes, that would be the same John who proposed to Dana at Christmas!) You should read some of these. I'm not really sure what to make of them. Some are hilarious, some are just weird!

Overheard in Chicago

Ramblings....

For days I've been writing posts in my head, and even taking pictures to go with them, but as you can see, none of them have made it here! I shouldn't even be here now, since I'm going to be late for work, but I felt like I needed to "check in" with all my bloggy buddies. The weather here has been absolutely schizophrenic! A couple of days ago, the windchill was nearly 40 below zero, and everything was frozen and snow-covered. We had a little warm up on Christmas Eve (it got just above freezing, maybe 36 degrees?) so a lot of snow melted, but then by that night, it froze again. Christmas night, we had freezing rain, the likes of which I haven't seen in a while. It was so bad that nearly everyone who was at my parents' that night ended up staying for the night because is was just too dangerous to drive home. If I didn't have Dorky Dog at home, I would have stayed, too, but I didn't feel like cleaning up a lake of pee the next day. Yesterday, the temperature kept rising, and melting everything. Last night, there was the weirdest fog going on, which I'm sure was really just the steam rising from the ground. Today, it's about 60 freakin' degrees outside! Naturally, that means flooding all over the place here. My basement has water in it (I'm not even going to think about it!) and my dentist mentioned this morning that her basement was also flooded. It's been raining on and off all day, which isn't helping the flood situation. This weather is just nuts!! We had almost a 100 degree temperature change in a matter of days. I can only assume the temperature is going to drop again, drastically, and all this water will again be ice. Then we'll be listening to more news reports about 10 car pile-ups on the freeways. Oh, joy! I just hope it doesn't screw up my drive home from work tomorrow morning. Speaking of work, now I'm REALLY going to be late. Sheesh, me and my ramblings.... I'll try to post some pics from the bar later, since I have a feeling it may be a little slow tonight.


Oh, wait! Congratulations are in order for my friend, Dana!! She and John got engaged for Christmas!!! I'm so happy for them.

This just stolen...

Here are a couple of things I lifted from one of the DJs over at The Lite. This video is really neat, and a great idea for being green this Christmas, or anytime.

Furoshiki gift wrapping from RecycleNow on Vimeo.

This made me laugh out loud at a few of these.

Tips for the Holidays

1) Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving rum balls.

2) Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You can't find it any other time of the year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3) If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4) As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5) Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6) Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7) If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8) Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9) Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10) One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner. Remember this motto to live by:

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Have a great holiday season!

Thanks, Kevin!

I heart the G Family!!!

I haven't written about the G Family in a while, but I still love them just as much as always!! Especially at this time of year. They never cease to amaze my with their generosity. Thursday morning, Mr. and Mrs. G showed up with 24 goody bags for my babies.

Each bag was lovingly decorated by hand by, what I'm guessing was, the entire G Family. I love that this family actually does things together! It's sad to me that they are the exception instead of the rule when it comes to the families in Englewood. I realize not everyone had the idyllic childhood that I was privileged to have, but most of the families in Englewood are the polar opposite of what I had as a child. Most of our kids are raising themselves. Nearly all the families are single parent families, many of our students are foster kids, oh my God....I'd better stop right now. I had NO intention of writing a rant. Let's see, where was I? Oh, yeah, the G Family!!

Mrs. G always makes old-fashioned goody bags, with a piece of fruit, and few pieces of candy and maybe a little toy. This year, she included a book and some crayons. How great is she?

Of course, she brought me a lovely gift basket like she does every year. This one was just as beautiful as all the others. Just in case I haven't said it lately, I LOVE THE G FAMILY!!!

Private Post

The post is for Auntie KBL, and Auntie KBL ONLY! OK, I guess her BelovED can take a peek, too. Obviously, I can't keep the rest of you from looking, but I'm warning you now, it's BORING!

I LOVE this stuff!!

Getting in a good shake!How cute is he?!You talkin' 'bout me?

Alright, enough already!! I'm trying to take a nap here!

He just wouldn't do anything cute, sorry.

Still trying to capture some cute. The UPS guy distracted him :(

This is a loonngg clip and makes me a little sad. You can totally see how deaf he's become. You can see his Husky mask showing, mostly when he's in the darker part of the yard. You can also see his Shepard tail when he's walking away. Despite how much he pisses me off, he's still pretty damn cute.

It figures, as soon as I want to take a couple more pictures of him, he decides he wants to play! Dorky Dog!! By the time I switched modes on my camera, he was done being cute :(

OK, I started this friggin' post on Thursday, but Blogger decided to act like a PMSing little bitch that night, and wouldn't finish downloading these damn videos!! It's now 7:00 pm Saturay night, and I'm just now able to finally finish this. Ugh! Auntie KBL, I hope you appreciate the aggravation I endured for you!!!! Good thing I LOVE you!

***

OK, I just clicked on the videos, and they are so freakin' dark, you can't even see what the hell is going on !! I'm hoping it's just my computer, and that you'll be able to see them. Darn it!

Illinois' Official Christmas Carol

"Get packin', Rod Blagojevich,"

by John McHugh

(to the tune of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen")

***

Get packin', Rod Blagojevich

The state's in disarray

The Tribune wants you unemployed

At least by Christmas Day.

The TV pundits want your head

Could there be pay to play?

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy

Save Illinois!

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

***

Good riddance, Rod Blagojevich

Your Elvis look's inane,

The Senate's mad, so's Lisa's dad.

You drive us all insane.

Our transit's broke, the state's a joke,

The Tollway's one big pain.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy

Save Illinois!

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

***

Good luck, old Rod Blagojevich

The feds have quite a place.

Fitzgerald's poked his nose around

And if he has a case,

George Ryan's moving stuff around

Creating extra space.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy

Save Illinois!

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

Thanks, Peppy, for emailing this to me! It cracked me up!

Thanks, Pops!

Once again, my daddy sent me a great email today. This is seriously one of my favorite Christmas songs. It's definitely in my Top 10, if not my Top 5. Check it out.

I got another great email from a friend today letting me know what our new state motto is:

Illinois - Where our governors make our license plates

Maybe it's just me, but it made me giggle.

More proof that Italians are the most incredible people on Earth...My brother sent me this one today:

OK, dork that I am, this made me really miss my marching band days! :(

The weather here has been its usual schizophrenic self. It hit 50 yesterday, and this morning the windchill was below zero. The actual temperature hit about 10 degrees today. All four of my car doors were frozen shut this morning, despite letting my car run for almost 15 minutes before going outside. Thank goodness my son is practically a man now, because I had to use his muscle to get us in the car. However, I'm still walking around in my hooded sweatshirt, as it's not quite cold enough for a coat yet. ;-) I do keep my coat in the backseat, though, just in case my car breaks down or something.

The cold did keep some of my babies home today, which I fully expected. I had 6 out today! I shouldn't even admit it, but it was glorious! That's 1/4 of my class! If only that's the class size I had everyday.... We'd get so much more accomplished, that's for sure.

It's well past my bedtime, so I'll save the scoop about my son's party for next time.... ;-) Night, night!

Picture-palooza!

I tried to post these last night, but my computer wouldn't cooperate. So, I'll bore you with them tonight instead!!

We made a Christmas tree with our hands! How cute is this? Anything made with the babies' hands is adorable in my book. Usually, I let the kids decorate their fingertips with big sequins, and then I overlap the hands, so the tree has a "fringy" look to it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any sequins on hand, but I did have pom-poms. They still look cute, but I could do without so much wall showing :(

A close-up of the fingertips. At least I had cute pom-poms. I bought this huge bag of about 1,000 pom-poms, all different sizes and colors, so the babies had many to choose from for their hands.

The babies made "lights" again this year to string around the room. I LOVE these!

We started with some green and red construction paper, and some awesome peel-and-stick foam Christmas shapes that I actually bought at the dollar store!

The babies cut the spirals and the star, then stuck on the shapes...

...and ta-dah! Christmas trees!

We wrote letters to Santa the other day. They're pretty generic. I wrote the letter on chart paper for them to copy. Normally, I sit with each baby individually and help them write exactly what they want Santa to bring them, but I just didn't have the time this week. I'm going to try and do another letter next week that's more personalized. (If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it, and actually read a couple of the letters.)

We made the requisite paper chains during math time the other day. Of course, we were working on AB patterns!

This unit in our reading series is about food, and last week's big book was Apple Farmer Annie. The back of the book has several recipes for different apple "things," like apple sauce, apple cake, apple muffins, etc. Last year, when we got to this unit, I brought in my crock pot and we made "cinnamon apples." The babies lost their minds!! They LOVED them so much, it became a weekly thing. I loved that we were actually using up the apples from the lunchroom, because hundreds of them get tossed in the trash every week. Well, I knew this year's babies would love cinnamon apples, too, so we made them last week. They were such a hit, I told them we would try to do it every week, as well.

Tuesday, I brought my crock pot and my apple/peeler/corer/slicer back to school, and we got busy.

Ms. Nikky in the lunchroom gave us lots of apples. (I had already peeled about 10 before I snapped this picture)

On my favorite gadget, the apple/peeler/slicer/corer from Pampered Chef!

In the crock pot they go...

...with a sprinkling of sugar and cinnamon!

Turn it on and let it cook! Oh, except for one thing....one of the little bastards, I mean babies, unplugged the damn crock pot at some point!! I didn't notice until about noon, when I was wondering why our room wasn't filled with the delightful smell of cinnamon and apples yet. So, instead of cooking for a good 4 1/2 hours, like they did last week, they only cooked for about an hour and a half. They were still pretty crunchy, not all soft and mushy the way we like them. But, they still tasted yummy! How can you go wrong with apples and cinnamon, right?
OK, I'm about to throw this damn computer out the window! It's taken me about 3 hours to finish this damn post, thanks to all the pictures!! Does anyone else have trouble when they try to post pictures? Anyway, time to hit the sack, as it's after midnight. I've got a looonnnggg day tomorrow. I'm letting my son have a party tomorrow night, and I still have tons of cleaning/straightening/shopping/setting up to do before the kids arrive at 7:00. Plus, I have to attend a wake at some point tomorrow afternoon. My sister's ex-father-in-law passed away Tuesday. My two nieces have just been so upset the past couple of days. The older one was supposed to come to the party. As a matter of fact, she was going to come home with me after school tomorrow and help with all the party prep. Now I'm screwed since I put it all off til the last minute, thinking she was going to be helping me. Man, it sucks to be a procrastinator!! I wouldn't be so worried about it if it was just going to be the kids, since they'll all be down in the basement. But, I invited the moms to stay if they choose to, which means the upstairs needs to be presentable!! Damn! OK, bedtime for Bonzo!!

Seriously!?

And this clown was supposed to be helping our former governor get out of prison early! Haha!
http://www.wlit.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=&article=4701306
http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/Gov.Blagojevich.Federal.2.883154.html

While I was away...

...some stuff was going on! Here is a modge-podge of "stuff" I've been meaning to post about.

I did a seriously half-assed job of decorating this year. I just haven't been in the mood to do all the holiday stuff. Perhaps my three jobs have something to do with my lack of enthusiasm? I don't even know why I'm sharing these pictures with you, since the decorating pretty much sucks.

I usually look so forward to the day after Thanksgiving, as that's usually my big decorating day. In the three years that it's taken to finish my freakin' basement remodel (a post for another day!!) I haven't really done the big decorating. At least not inside, since it's been pretty much a mess for the past three years. Over the past couple of years, I've been slowly weeding out the decorations that didn't work, and last year, I finally threw out all my lights. Most of them were strings that only half worked (I would just bunch up the half that didn't work, so you couldn't see them) and I was sick of using them. I got rid of everything! I also threw out my Christmas tree a couple of years ago, since it had gotten filthy with construction dust. The past few years, I've been purchasing a potted "baby" tree at Sam's Club and just setting it on a table as our Christmas tree. I know, pretty lame, right?

I went to WalMart the day after Thanksgiving, and long story short, I picked up a couple of trees for $25 each. Yay! They're pre-lit, which I've always been vehemently opposed to, but I figured, screw it, they're $25! Once I got them home, and opened the boxes, I fell in love! I actually bought extra lights, since I figured there wouldn't be enough on the tree, but once I plugged them in, I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't need to put any more lights on the tree, and that left me lights to string around the room in the basement. It looks perfect for the party my son will be having Friday night. (I haven't taken pictures yet of the decorations, but I probably will the night of the party.)

But, I'm still a sad, sorry case. I only brought one box of ornaments in from the garage (because they were in my way when I was trying to get my outdoor decorations) and they happened to be my son's. It's only about a third of what he has. Every year since he's been born, my mother, sister and I have always given him personalized ornaments every Christmas. Plus, other people have given him ornaments here and there over the years. He has more than enough to decorate a whole tree. Like a said, I brought about a third of them in, and we used them to decorate the tree in the basement, which is "his" tree. No garland or tinsel, just a scattering of ornaments. Like I said, sad! But, it actually doesn't look that bad, does it? I know, it needs a skirt, I'm working on that.
Yes, ever the teacher, I put my Christmas books on display on top of the bookcase. My son has his own bookcase in his section of the basement, and there's about 20 Christmas books on top of it. I know, I'm a dork!
These are the only decorations I put outside. I decided to just "showcase" all my penguins. Plus, Santa, of course! The landscaping is all new (I had it done in November) so the bushes are so little! The are barely big enough to justify lights!Lame, right? I should be embarrassed by these photos, I know. I didn't realize until after I uploaded the pictures to my computer that I didn't get my inside tree in the picture window. I think I had the blinds closed. Oh well, no big deal. It only looks good from a distance, since there's not a single thing on it. Seriously. I didn't put one single, solitary ornament on the tree. I had originally planned to put all my penguin ornaments on it, as I have enough of those to decorate two trees. But, when I went out to the garage to look for them, I suddenly became overwhelmed by the thought of first, lugging all the boxes in, then realizing that in three short weeks, I'd have to pack them all back up and drag them back out to the garage. I just said, "Screw it!" Yeah, I'm definitely feeling the effects of the chronic fatigue I've been suffering with lately. I suppose three jobs will do that to you. That's why I'm cutting myself so much slack, and I refuse to feel guilty about this. The one upside is that we have gorgeous snow on the ground, which always makes the lights and decorations look even better. Gotta LOVE Christmas in Chicago!!

Well, this post has wiped me out. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm trying to watch the series finale of Boston Legal while I type! I know there was more "stuff" I meant to share, but it's going to have to wait until next time. You're welcome! ;-)

Overheard during centers today...

Boy 1: "When girls are around, I get nervous and fall out!"
Me: "WHAT?!"
Boy 1: (giggling now) "Yeah, when I see a girl, I fall out!"
Me: "You're so silly!"

I then overheard another snippet of conversation involving kissing! "...and she kissed me on my lips and I fell out!" Several of the boys mentioned girlfriends (!) which makes me a little uncomfortable. One of the boys did make me laugh, though, when he said, "Everytime a girl comes around me, she wants to be my girlfriend!" Hmmm...future playa in the making?

(For those not in the know, "fall out" means to faint/collapse/pass out, depending on the situation. It's very much an "Englewood-ism.)

A little something for the kiddies...

...or anyone who wants to waste a huge chunk of time like I just did!!!

http://www.dominicks.com/ifl/grocery/Holiday#iframetop
Click on "Create your own gingerbread man."

Have fun!!

In the meantime...

...go here for some fun!

No...

...I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I just haven't had the time/energy/inspiration to post anything this past week. I'll be back soon, I swear. I plan to get a full night's rest tonight (something that hasn't happened in quite some time!) so I should be full of "piss and vinegar" tomorrow. [That's one of my mom's favorite phrases. Weird, I know!]

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been right at the top of my list of favorite holidays, even as a kid. It was right up there with Christmas and my birthday. As I got older, it moved it's way up the list. If you're a pretty regular reader here, you may remember that I met CSJ on Thanksgiving. Naturally, in the beginning, that only made me love Thanksgiving even more. We always celebrated our "anniversary" in the best way - with family. When things started going south, about 10 years later, Thanksgiving started to be really hard to handle. I know it's stupid to let him ruin Thanksgiving for me. I still have my family, my wonderful son, many, many things to be thankful for, I know all that. But I let myself "waste" almost 10 Thanksgivings dwelling on what used to be. How stupid! The past few years, things have gotten back on track, and I'm finally able to truly enjoy Thanksgiving for all it's worth. I love my family, and I love spending the holiday with them. I can now truly focus on all I have to be thankful for without letting that depression creep in and ruin things. Don't get me wrong, I still think about what used to be (obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this post!) but I don't let it ruin my day like it used to. It still makes me sad, but more for CSJ, because HE'S the one missing out. As we say in our class, "Too bad, so sad!"

I had a few more things I wanted to share about my babies, but I need to start getting dressed. I worked at the bar last night, and it was CRAZY!! It was the highest register ring we've EVER had! After cleaning, stocking, getting breakfast, and driving home, it was after 6 am before I got to bed. Then that stupid dog of mine woke me up at 10:30! I tried to go back to sleep, but gave up at 11, and got up and started cooking and baking the things I need to take to my mom's for dinner. Hopefully I'll be able to catch a little nap after dinner :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends, "real" and bloggy :) I hope you have a day filled with love, family, good food and blessings.

This was one of the emails from my daddy today. It cracked me up!

(I hope this little video doesn't offend any of you, as that's not my intention.)

A little DIBELS giggle from today:

The picture choices were window, raisins, bell and something I can't remember.

Me: Which picture starts with /w/?
Glasses: Waisins! (Of course, this little darling has a bit of a speech impediment, and always says it that way!)

I forgot...

...to mention this little tidbit yesterday. While I was working on the Thanksgiving project at the back table, some of the babies were at centers. One group happened to be working on the floor next to my table. I suddenly heard D.U., the same little darling you said, "Don't 'ehhhh' at my lovely teacher!" say, "John McCain tried to kill Barack Obama." He stated it very matter-of-factly. My head snapped up, and I said, "What?!?" He repeated himself, so I asked where he heard such a ridiculous thing. He said his cousin told him. I assured him that the story was utter nonsense, and told him he shouldn't repeat it again.

These are the moments that make me shake my head in sadness.

Some funnies...

Even though I think you all will find this humorous, my teacher friends will especially appreciate it! This is what happens when you use Everyday Mathematics!!

This week, I've been working on a Thanksgiving project with the babies (pictures are coming!). I had a group at the back table with me, working, and the rest of the babies were at their seats doing their name papers. Well, S.H. brought his paper over for me to check, and I asked him to fix something, and he went, "Ehhhhh!!" I guess kinda like a cross between a growl and a groan. So, D.U., who was sitting at the back table with me, yells back at him, "Don't 'ehhhh' at my lovely teacher!" Have I mentioned how much I love my babies!!??

On the way to lunch, one of the first grade classes passed us in the hallway. They had a sub today, and she was having a hard time with one of the little darlings. He also happens to be the nephew of a woman who works at the Hell-Hole. I tried to get him to listen to her, but he was more interested in whining and pouting, so she told him to go stand on the wall while she took the rest of the class to lunch. In the meantime, he stood there, whining and whining, so Ms. C., one of our custodians, said, "Boy, what is you whining about!?" R. proceeds to whine, "He whine, whine, whine, my, whine!!" So Ms. C. said, "What!?" and he repeated, "He hit me in my privacy." I heard and understood him, but she didn't. So, with a completely confused look on her face, she says to him, "What?! He hit you in your popsicle?!" I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even explain to her what he actually said! Maybe you had to be there, but I'm telling you, it was freakin' funny!

Yesterday, my favorite mom, Mrs. G., brought me a big bowl of her delicious pasta salad. OK, technically, I can't honestly say if it's delicious, because the last time she brought me some, my son ate the entire container, so I never got to taste it. I told her that when I gave her the container back, so yesterday she says, "I brought you a bigger container this time since L ate it all last time!" Gee, guess what happened to this container? I told my son about it this morning, and he proceeded to eat 3/4 of it for breakfast, and ate the rest on the way home from school. The little pig! But, it did smell delicious, and he sure wolfed it down, so I assume it was wonderful. Mrs. G. even put broccoli in it this time because she knows we like it. There was also shrimp -yum! I just wish I would have gotten a bite, that's all.

Wow, look at that, a whole post about school stuff!! It's about time, huh? I'm even gonna give you one of these:

Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted. ---Garrison Keillor

I've...

OK, the rules are simple. Copy and paste the list, putting the things you've done in bold. I'm not tagging anyone, just play if you feel like it. (The comments are NOT part of the game, but I couldn't help myself!)

1. Started my own blog (duh!)

2. Slept under the stars (gotta love those summer nights!)

3. Played in a band (yes, I was a band geek most of my life!)

4. Visited Hawaii (on my list of things to do before I die!)

5. Watched a meteor shower (The city lights make it hard to see much of anything at night)

6. Given more than I can afford to charity (I've always been a sucker for a good cause. As a matter of fact, please go here.)

7. Been to Disneyland/world (sadly, I've never taken my son, though)

8. Climbed a mountain (yeah, right, I'll get right on that one...#1 I'm afraid of heights, #2 I'm lazy!)

9. Held a praying mantis (ewww...bugs!)

10. Sung a solo (more times than I can count)

11. Bungee jumped (again...terrified of heights! Plus, NOT crazy!)

12. Visited Paris (not that interested, sorry)

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (LOVE to watch storms, but get really seasick, so I watch from land)

14. Taught myself an art from scratch (knitting and crotcheting are arts, right?)

15. Adopted a child (who knows what the future may hold...)

16. Had food poisoning (don't EVEN want to think about it!)

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (um...see #8!)

18. Grown my own vegetables (every summer brings tomatoes and peppers)

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France (but, I love the song!)

20. Slept on an overnight train (I've only been on the L!)

21. Had a pillow fight (come on, what girl hasn't done this?! That's what slumber parties are for!)

22. Hitchhiked (again, NOT crazy!)

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (two in the last week! haha!)

24. Built a snow fort (ahem...did you read last night's post?!)

25. Held a lamb (petted one, but didn't technically hold it. Grandpa used to get one every Easter...)

26. Gone skinny dipping (can't believe I haven't done this! Gone swimming in ALL my clothes, though!)

27. Run a marathon (have I mentioned that I'm LAZY?)

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (haven't ventured up that far north in Italy yet. My family is from southern Italy)

29. Seen a total eclipse (very cool!)

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (most Sunday mornings I'm just getting home from work at sunrise)

31. Hit a home run (I used to play on a softball team, but I don't ever remember hitting a homer)

32. Been on a cruise (I was 18, and went with my aunt. Had a blast, despite being the only one on the boat under 50!)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (From both the US and Canada sides)

34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors (That's a given, isn't it?)

35. Seen an Amish community (only on TV, but I'd love to someday)

36. Taught myself a new language (in an attempt to teach my son - French, Spanish and Italian. Oh, and learned American Sign Language so I could teach it to my babies.)

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I'm still waiting for the day I can stop playing catch-up!)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person (again, never go that far north)

39. Gone rock climbing (see #8 AGAIN!)

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (sadly, no)

41. Sung karaoke (I'd do it every night if I could!)

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (one more thing on that damned list!)

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (and it always has to be done anonymously)

44. Visited Africa (remember that list?)

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight ('nuff said)

46. Been transported in an ambulance (Thank God I can say no to this one. I have, however, followed many, many ambulances to the hospital with my loved ones in the back)

47. Had my portrait painted (I think that's too creepy, I wouldn't want one)

48. Gone deep sea fishing (I mentioned that I get sea sick, right?)

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person (list!)

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (no interest, that heights thing again)

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (don't like to be that close to fish!)

52. Kissed in the rain (among other things ;-) )

53. Played in the mud (really, who hasn't?)

54. Gone to a drive-in theater (ah...I miss those!!)

55. Been in a movie (have yet to be discovered)

56. Visited the Great Wall of China (Oh, my God, the list!!)

57. Started a business (twice)

58. Taken a martial arts class (I suppose Tae Bo doesn't count, right?)

59. Visited Russia (I got nothin')

60. Served at a soup kitchen (I wish I could "bold" this one, but not yet)

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies (hundreds of boxes!)

62. Gone whale watching (that involves being ON the water, so no!)

63. Got flowers for no reason (CSJ wasn't always a CSJ)

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (It was a good way to get out of Government class in high school!)

65. Gone sky diving (why do so many of these involves heights!!?)

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (I can't even handle watching film of it. I think I would totally lose it in person)

67. Bounced a check (WAY more than I care to admit!)

68. Flown in a helicopter (yeah, that height thing again)

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy (I have far too many of them)

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial (One of our most memorable family vacations from childhood)

71. Eaten caviar (I'm not mature enough to get past the fact that it's fish eggs!)

72. Pieced a quilt (only a paper one with the babies, so I didn't think that counted)

73. Stood in Times Square (never been to NY)

74. Toured the Everglades (too afraid of 'gators!)

75. Been fired from a job (don't want to talk about it, thank you very much!)

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London (only on TV)

77. Broken a bone (in 5th grade, at the roller rink, thanks a lot, Bob!)

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (one day I'll write all about the summer I dated a biker....)

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (list!)

80. Published a book (one of my secret dreams is to write a kid's book. Also on the list...)

81. Visited the Vatican (I actually may have done this as a child, but I don't have any memory of it)

82. Bought a brand new car (CSJ bought me my first new car for my 21st birthday. Again, not always a CSJ...)

83. Walked in Jerusalem (what a walk that would be...)

84. Had my picture in the newspaper (more than once as a child)

85. Read the entire Bible (there's more I haven't read than have)

86. Visited the White House (I haven't, but my cousin did, and then was on the news. Story for another post)

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (but I have witnessed it, see #25)

88. Had chickenpox (along with my entire freshman class in high school!)

89. Saved someone’s life (only GAVE life)

90. Sat on a jury (thankfully, I wasn't picked!)

91. Met someone famous (but it's a secret....)

92. Joined a book club (several over the years)

93. Lost a loved one (several over the years...)

94. Had a baby (uh...DUH!)

95. Seen the Alamo in person (never been down south)

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (I'm embarrassed to say, I don't even know where it is)

97. Been involved in a law suit (thankfully, I can say no to this one)

98. Owned a cell phone (got one the minute I became a mommy)

99. Been stung by a bee (and discovered I was allergic the last time it happened. NOT fun!)

100. Had sex outside (not sharing details today, sorry)

Oh happy day!!!

A few minutes ago, I went to the back door to let Buster in and immediately noticed wet spots on the ground. My first thought was, "Just in time, it's raining." So, imagine my surprise and delight when I actually opened the door and saw this:

Oh happy day!! This just made my night, And my day! And my weekend!! Maybe even my month!!!

You can't make this $#it up!

This is seriously one of the funniest things I've ever had emailed to me. Thanks, Ed!!

Daddy comes through again!

Sometimes my dad sends me the cutest, most hilarious stuff. If you haven't filled your "awww" quotient for today, you MUST go here!

How cute are we?!

OK, my brother took these photos of us, and they are, admittedly, not very flattering for any of us. But, everytime I look at John's face, I start cracking up, so I had to share!! (John, I promise, I'm not making fun, it genuinely makes me happy to look at these, since then I remember how much we laughed Sunday night!)
How cute are these two!!? I had such a great time hanging out with Dana and John Sunday night. I was so nice for us all to get to know each other better. I hope they had as good a time as I did.

Stop, thief!!

I just totally stole this from SJ, over at Give Me The Booger. It made me laugh out loud and spit on my computer screen. Thanks, SJ!

One more thing...

...I've been meaning to post about. A couple of weeks ago, my son asked me to email him some pictures of us that I had on my computer. He made no mention of why he wanted them. A little while later, he called me in the living room, and showed me his new background on his computer screen:
How sweet is this kid?! I couldn't possibly love him any more!!!

What a night!

OK, since it's now after 3:30 am, and I'm just getting home from the bar, I'll come back tomorrow and post details (and photos!) but I just wanted to say that I had a blast with Dana and John tonight! I love them! I may just have to finally break down and get my behind out to Iowa now....

Dana's here!!!

I didn't mention this earlier, just in case plans had to be changed, but I'm on my way to go meet Dana, my newest bloggy friend (Miles to Go Before I Sleep). We've been trying to coordinate a meeting for quite a while now, and she's finally here!! We are meeting at the bar, and I hope she and John have a good time. (Sometimes Sunday are a bit dead in there.)

A few more...

Looking back through these photos has been a lovely little trip down memory lane so far. The two boxes I've been digging through, though, are only from the last 4 years or so. I'm going to have to do some serious digging to get to the baby pictures. I may just be ripping pictures off the wall to scan, since all my favorites are hanging up.


One thing I was surprised to see while looking at these pictures is that my baby was seriously pudgy! Ok, well, I always knew he was on the chubby side, but I never really thought it was serious. Ah, the blind eye of a mother in love! But, I've been tearing up looking at some of these pictures. I have absolutely no recollection of my baby being this overweight. (I didn't even post some of the really pudgy pictures, just in case he sees this!) I guess on the upside, he obviously never had an issue with it. Thank God he was never teased by the other kids at school. That just reiterates what I've said before about his class being so special. They were more like 30 brothers and sisters. I've never seen a class of kids that were this close to each other. Even the teachers at his grade school have made the exact same comment several times over the 8 years they attended that school. OK, I'm started to feel tears coming again, so let's move on!!

This was taken in Hollywood on a trip that I took my son on for his 12th birthday. This was the trip during which he fell head over heels in love with Smileygirl!! I was in a bit of a "blonde" phase (thank goodness it's night time, so you can't really tell!). You can see that at 12, my son was already almost taller than me :( (I'm standing on the street, he's up on the curb)


This was taken on his 11th birthday. I did some serious cropping here, mostly to cut out my own pudgy self!!! This was one of those pictures that had me taken aback. But, he's still pretty damn cute, don't you agree?

Here are my three favorite monkeys. We were at The Children's Musuem at Navy Pier. I LOVE THIS PLACE!For those who are not long-time readers, last year around my son's birthday, he went for his annual check-up, and his pediatrician said he wanted him to lose some weight. Long story short, my son lost about 50 pounds over the next three months. That's right, smack in the middle of the holiday season!! He's amazing! He also grew about 2 inches, so he really looked very skinny. Too skinny as far as I'm concerned. Over the summer, he did put a few pounds back on, but once school started, and he started having gym everyday, he's slimmed back down. I think he looks awesome! If only his lardass mother could get with the program.....

Here's a picture from his graduation party this past June. I literally caught my breath when I saw this picture, and saw how tiny his waist had become. He went from a snug 38" to a comfy 32". Impressive, right?
I suppose I should go answer the call of the piles of laundry screaming my name from across the room, huh? Oh, don't worry, I'll be back. (Yes, for some of you, that's fair warning. )