The PenIs mightier than the sword...?

I don't think I've ever mentioned it here before, but I just adore Ellen.

2013 Day Twenty-Six

Ok, ok, I know you're DYING for me to finally post all about my Monkey, like I've been promising for days. :P

The other day we went to visit Stud at work, and Monkey was playing 'dress up' before we left.  Naturally, she needed to stay in character!

The reason we drove there was because she was overdue for a nap.  We all know what car rides can do to solve that problem.  About 3 1/2 seconds after I took that first picture, she looked like this...

Sunday night, Monkey and her daddy were visiting over at Grandma and Grandpa's.  She had on some new shoes, and her mommy had put on a matching shirt.  She loved them, and she looked so darn cute!

As always, she was a barrel of laughs all night, and entertained the hell out of us.  I was so busy enjoying her in the moment, I kept forgetting to whip out my phone and record it.  (Gee, can you imagine, just living in the moment?!  How unusual, right? :-/  )

She has a new song that she's been singing lately.  She had already sung it 4 times before I decided to capture it for Magnum, who was home sick.  By the time I got my phone out, she was SO over it, so this is not her best performance.  Trust me, she really does know this song, and nearly every single word.  I was completely blown away!!  (Can you tell her mommy is a HUGE Blackhawks fan?!)

I got Monkey all to myself today.  At one point, I noticed she was in my bedroom "playing," and when I went in to see what she was doing, this is what I found...

That's her pillow, which has a matching fleece blanket, that she uses when she naps here.  That handsome fellow is her skeleton, which I got her before Halloween.  The reason I picked it up for her is because a couple weeks before Halloween, I accidentally came across this video on YouTube, and she instantly became obsessed.

She learned the words and the movements in about 3 minutes. The next day, I went to the dollar store and found that cute blow-up skeleton.  It was PERFECT!  I thought I had a video of her from back then, but I can't find it.

Anyway, we had TONS-O-FUN today.  When it was time to go, I remembered the cute Monkey hat I had bought her a few months ago.  She loves it, and I love how it covers her cheeks and neck.

I LOVE looking into my rear-view mirror and seeing this...

And, there ya go!!  Was is sufficiently boring for you?  I can't even apologize, since I personally can NOT get enough of this kid!!!

I hope you're all staying warm tonight.  It's been below freezing here all day.  You know it doesn't bother ME at all.  I was still walking around in my hoodie today.  But, I don't like it for my baby.  I'm so thankful I have a remote starter on my car, so she can get into a nice, warm car when I drive her around.

Well, Magnum just walked in the door, so it's time to get dinner served.  It's a chilly night and a CHILI night. =)

Email of the Day

Ok, I know this is old, but my dad sent me the link in an email today, and I just had to share.  The last three snippets made me literally tear up.

I can't wait to watch Jimmy tonight to see this year's collection of videos.  (I think this was last year's?)

*I think this NaBloPoMo thing must be working already.  TWO posts in one day?!?! ;-)

What a workout...

Well, we never did make it to Sam's Club.  We went to my parents' first, and I shoveled for over an hour.  Stud had come with me, but one of my parents' shovels was broken, so I sent him back to our house to get our shovel.  By the time he came back, I was almost finished.  He took care of the back driveway while I did the sidewalk in front of my parents' and both of their neighbors.  The snow was still coming down pretty hard, so by the time we finished, it needed to be done again.  I'm contemplating going back later.  Or, I'll just go in the morning.  We'll see. 

I made another goofy ass video for Suz.  Man, I wish I knew how to dub over my annoying voice!!

Check this out.  As I was shoveling, a couple of my parents' neighbors went by on cross country skis!

Only in Chicago!  We're cool like that!

After we shoveled at my parents' driveway, we were going to head to Sam's Club.  But then, instead, we went to Bestest Friend's house, and shoveled there, too.  I figured it would be a nice surprise for her when she got home from her LONG day of hell at work.  (Just to refresh your memory, she's also a CPS teacher!)  Luckily her driveway is much smaller than my parents' and Stud helped, so it only took us about 35 minutes.  THEN we were going to go to Sam's Club, but as we were getting in the car, Magnum called to say he was on his way to the house to shovel.  I decided to go back to the house so the three of us could shovel together, and just knock it out.  It was nice to have some help, and we finished in about a half hour. 

By then, I was wiped.  So, needless to say, I never made it to Sam's Club.  Guess I'm going to have to dig around the freezer and pantry and see what I can scrape together for dinner.  For once I'm not feeling guilty about not making it to the gym, since I shoveled for over 2 hours today.  I know I'll be feeling that later in my back.  Maybe after dinner I'll fill the tub and take a long, hot soak.

Oh, and just as I started shoveling at home, Bestest Friend called.  I had been talking to her on the phone while I drove from her house to mine, but didn't tell her we shoveled.  I was laughing to myself as she told me how she was going to leave earlier than usual (most nights she stays at school until 6 or 6:30!) because she didn't want to drive in the storm, and besides, she had to shovel when she got home, and she was already tired from her long day.  Tee hee!!  About 2 minutes after we hung up, my phone rang.  "DID YOU SHOVEL AT MY HOUSE?!"  I swear she sounded on the verge of tears!  She's so cute.  I hope she's already sitting with her feet up, relaxing.

Ok, NOW I'm off to make dinner!

2/13/13

Wednesday, February 13, 2013
If you could send out valentines this year as you did back in grade school, what type of valentine would you send out to your blogosphere class?

 Ok, I'm taking the lazy way out of this one.

 These were just a few more that I liked.

Today is Magnum's birthday, but I got the gift.  I got to spend the afternoon with my Monkey!!

This is what she looked like when I got to my brother's.

 I love how her little butt is up in the air, and how her feet are crossed.  So damn cute!!

She's been a bit under the weather the past week or so, which is why I went to my brother's.  He didn't really want to take her out if he didn't have to.

After she woke up, she had lunch.  Naturally, lunch included a banana (duh!) and some of it ended up in her hair.  When she finished eating, I washed her up, and couldn't resist playing with her wet hair.  I thought I'd see how she looked with the same hairstyle as her favorite cousin.  I was laughing so hard, I almost couldn't take these pictures!

Pretty close, right?

 I know this video sucks, but I took it, so you're stuck watching it.  Or don't.  I'll never know!

When my brother got home, I left right away to get home to Magnum.  He actually got home earlier than I anticipated.  We went and picked up some soup for my mom, who's been sick this week, (it's her favorite beet soup from the Lithuanian restaurant down the street) then brought it to her.  Then we left to meet Stud for dinner.  We had a lovely dinner, and now I'm ready to hit the sack.  I'm pretty sure Magnum is already asleep. :(

2/4/13

Monday, February 4, 2013
Tell us about your first crush.

Hmmm...I believe this would be a boy I grew up with named JP.  Ok, those are actually his initials, but in the interest of keeping his anonymity, I'll just use his initials.  I was so helplessly in love with him for basically my entire childhood.  It started in kindergarten, and continued all the way through high school.  He was a super athlete, which made him even more attractive.  He came from a family of wrestlers, so he was already doing it in kindergarten.  When I look back on some of the things he had to do, it was borderline child abuse.  (I'm mostly talking about the workouts, and the having to "make weight" at such a young age.)

My sister's favorite embarrassing story she like to tell people about me is how she found my diary (yes, I was one of THOSE girls) and found an entry that said something to the effect of "I hope one day to be Mrs. JP!"  There were a few more, but I'll save myself the shame of sharing.

Now the best part of this love story is that when I went to my 10 year reunion, JP was there, and man, he did not age well.  I spent the evening wondering, "What the hell was I thinking?!"  I also found out that night that HE had a major crush on my MOTHER all those years!!  How funny is that?  He told me that he LOVED that my mom was always the chaperone on our field trips, and how he used to purposely act up so he'd have to sit with her on the bus.  How hilarious is that!?  It made my mother's day when I told her.

I've heard from other friends I've kept in touch with from high school that these days, JP is fat and bald  now.  We ARE middle aged now, so it's not like this is headline worthy news.  I've never been one to really care about a guy's physical appearance, anyway.  But, there's just something about that that makes me chuckle.  I think it's because for so long, I put him up on a pedestal, and viewed him as some sort of Adonis, and it turns out he's just a regular, average guy.  Does that make sense?  Well, it does to me!

There are going to be LOTS of boys who have a crush on this little cutie patootie, I'm sure!  You know I'll use any excuse to share pictures and videos of her, right?

I'll warn you now, this is a seriously boring video, and I'm sure I'M the only one who thinks it's worth watching.  But, just to give you a little info about it, she's watching a video on YouTube that she absolutely ADORES.  It's a song about 3 Little Fishes that her mommy has been singing to her almost since she was born.  She does the cutest little thing with her hands, making a fishy, which you can almost see here.  What cracks me up about this video is that based on how excited she is, you'd think it was the first time that day that I put it on for her.  In actuality, she has probably watched this damn video about 30 freakin' times at this point.  (you can tell by how dark my kitchen is in this video that the sun was already setting.)  She was still so excited every time I hit "play" that I had to try and capture it. 

My poor baby is getting some molars in, so she's been chewing on her fingers all week.  Thank God she's such a happy baby, and even teething can't make her crabby.  Oooo, I just want to eat her up with a spoon!!

I'm a day late...

...with this post, but here it is anyway.

 We FINALLY got some snow around here!!  Yippee!!  Check it out. 

I was SO happy all day yesterday.  I didn't even care that the temperature was in the teens.  I actually took a little video to show you.  Ok, it's mostly for Suz, but I don't mind sharing it with all my Bloggy Buddies.  Even though I seem drunk.  And stupid.  And maybe a little high?  Eh, whatever!

Right now my weather widget says it's 8 degrees outside.  Sounds like a good day to snuggle down and watch some movies and/or catch up on my magazines.  Man, I live a wild life, don't I?

Dancing Machine

My brother just emailed this to me. Enjoy!

Email of the Day

Of course, like most of my "Email of the Day" emails, my Daddy sent me this.  I thought it was pretty neat.

Need a giggle?

Holy moly, this just made me crack the hell up!!! I found it over on A Mom, Money and More, where Sonya Ann posted it. Thanks, Cyber Sister!!

I Will Survive...

I know I've posted this one before, but it's still pretty cute.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Bloggy Buddies!!

Tips for a Happy Marriage

Grandparents Send Awesome And Awkward Wedding Toasts - Watch More Funny Videos

Oh, today's youth....I fear for our future...

This just made me laugh out loud, so I'd thought I'd share it with my Bloggy Buddies, and spread the happiness. (NOT for young ears! Lot's of f-bombs. Probably why I loved it, right?)



**I just tried to watch this on my page, and part of the box is cut off. I don't know if it's just my computer or not, but just in case, here's the link.

Been trying to get out of this funk...

I just came across this and had to share. Excuse me while I change my pants...

Do you need a good laugh?

My brother shared this with me today, so of course, I had to share it with you!! (This is only the beginning of the video, because it was too big for him to send the whole thing.)

I told my brother that this video should be used to create a PSA for pit bulls. What she's laughing at here are the dogs. My brother has a rescued pit, as does her mom (a gift from my brother a few years ago). I know they may sound menacing, but that's just how they play. And, she's ALWAYS smack in the middle of that play.

Actually, the second half of the video really shows that better. The dogs are playing tug-o-war with some rubber rings, and Monkey gets right in there and tries to pull the ring away from the both of them. I've seen her do things to Pootz (her daddy's dog) that would make most dogs snap at her. She steps on his head, takes things out of his mouth, pulls on his tail, etc. And, he could not be more gentle with her.

He's incredibly protective of her, too. My mom likes to play a "game" with her, where my mom gets on her hands and knees and 'chases' Monkey around the table. It's actually really cute to watch, because Monkey is so damn smart, and she constantly stops and reverses, thinking she can out-smart Grandma. Well, the dog always goes ape-shit-crazy when they play, because I guess he thinks my mom is really chasing the baby. It's pretty funny.

Anyway, the point of this long-winded story is, I guess, that pits get a bad rap, which infuriates me. Every pit I've EVER encountered (and there have been MANY) have been the sweetest, friendliest, most loving dogs I've known. That's why I want people to see this video (the unedited version, really) to see how happy these two pits make my Monkey.

Ok, PSA over.

What the hell is wrong with some people?! (updated)

Does anyone else think this is outrageous?


Here's the link to the online article where I lifted this video. I can't believe this bully was put on PAID leave. That's unbelievable!! I don't care what happened before this BABY landed in time out. He's a THREE year-old, and she's supposed to be a responsible ADULT. Watching this just turned my stomach. This chick wouldn't have made it 5 minutes at the Hell-Hole if she can't deal with THIS. It just makes me so sad for this little boy. What did this "time out" teach him? To counter angry/upset feelings with more angry/upset feelings? That if you're bigger, you can push people around and taunt them? What the hell was she thinking?!

First of all, she should have placed him in time out, and walked away. It's time out!! If she really HAD to talk to him, it should have been after the 3 minutes was up, and it should have been about what he was thinking/feeling. She should have acknowledged his feelings (anger, sadness, whatever it was) and talked about how he could better deal with those feelings. (It's not ok to throw toys when we're angry, etc) It absolutely should NOT have been, "Come on, tough guy!" and all the other garbage that spewed from her big mouth.

I don't know why this has touched such a nerve with me, but I'm seriously pissed off and upset about this video. Maybe I've been away from the babies for too long, I don't know. What I DO know is this video makes my inner-three-year-old want to slap that bitch!

I saw this article last night, and it also had me upset. What had me most upset, I think, is that this poor baby is just about the same age as my Monkey. I can't even, for one second, imagine someone treating her like this.

I supposed I should just stop reading/watching the news, huh? I don't think my heart, or stomach, can take it anymore.

***UPDATE***
1:45Pm

Ok, I noticed that the above video said "Part 2" so I made the mistake of looking for Part 1. Oh my hell, now I REALLY want to smack the ever-livin' shit out of this psycho bitch!!!! See for yourself. Maybe YOU can figure out which one has the maturity of a three year old.

This broad has a serious problem. Who the hell thinks that's an appropriate way to talk to a child?! Hell, a BABY. HELLO, HE'S THREE!!! Why would she keep antagonizing him to point of screaming. The poor thing is completely frustrated! Um, yeah, kids that age sometimes throw toys. Get over it! Your job(and, yes, his parents' job, as well) is to teach him that it's not ok to do that, and show him how to channel his anger/frustration elsewhere. It's not to be the CAUSE of that anger/frustration!! This bitch is pure evil. There's a special place in hell for people like this.

Man, I wish I would have just left well-enough alone. Now my blood is boiling. I think I may need a drink. Time to fire up the margarita machine. (In all fairness, I spent the 4 hours between these two postings outside in the Hades-like heat, pulling weeds/trees, and FINALLY planting my tomatoes and basil. So, trust me, the margarita is well-deserved!!)

Day 14

Thursday, June 14, 2012
What food brings you intense joy to eat?

Well, I think the obvious answer would be CHOCOLATE. I love to eat it AND drink it! I may even choke it down even when there's a disgusting raisin in the middle of it. But, I prefer when there's a juicy strawberry covered in it. Or a banana. Or a marshmallow, peanut, popcorn, potato chip, you name it. I think the only line I'd draw when it comes to chocolate is no chocolate covered bugs, please.

Back when we were dating, CSJ would always pick me up from work or school or home with a Hostess ChocoBliss in the car waiting for me. (hmmm, why was I so fat at our wedding again?) I don't think Hostess makes those anymore, which is a shame. They were awesome!

Holy crap! I Googled ChocoBliss, in hopes of finding a picture to share with you. I did find a picture,
but I also found this!


I don't even remember this commercial, but man, do I remember that cake!

My new bestie, Funny, had the nerve to ask me who Monkey is today. Hmph. I can see she's missed a post or two. But, all is forgiven. I'm sentencing her to read back through ALL my archives, though. This is post #1356, so I see she's gonna be real busy this weekend. =)

Here, Funny, is my Monkey!!!


Isn't it too bad she doesn't like to swing? How dare my brother torture her like that! Those must have been screams of terror, don't you think?

I love you can see how freakishly long her legs are here. She's gonna be a heart-breaker, that one!

May 30, 2012

Ok, today's prompt is really stupid, so I'm skipping it.

Instead, I'm sharing a really cute video I just watched over at Tiffany's place. It was put together by the teachers at her former school. It's really cute. And, you don't even have to be a teacher to appreciate it!


I'll also share with you a little reminder of how crazy the weather is here in Chicago. Two days ago I was bitching about having to turn the damn air conditioning on, and today, I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, cuz I'm freezing! Granted, I have every door and window open, and the ceiling fans on, but that's exactly the way I like it!! I'd rather sit in a cold room, in a sweatshirt, than in a miserably hot room, naked (cuz that's the ONLY way to sit in a hot room!)

Ok, I'm sorry, I know it's wrong, but...

...this made me laugh my ass off.

Go get a tissue first...

When Stud was a baby, my mom used to watch him several days a week. They used to watch a lot of Disney movies together, and Dumbo was one Stud used to ask for daily. My mom could never figure it out, since the minute this scene started, he would cry his little heart out. But, every time my mom would say "Let's turn it off," he would cry harder and say "NO!"

I warned you to get a tissue!