And did I learn the first time? Picture frame complaint number one got me picture frame #2.

And picture frame complaint #2 will probably get me...you guessed it, picture frame #3 for my birthday.

And I'll totally deserve it.

Moving on.

The girlie got a haircut this morning. Second one in two weeks as the first one was a do-it-yourself job. She just took a handful of hair and snipped. She said it was snarly and she snipped just the once, about three inches off the side. It really didn't require immediate fixing but her bangs were long and her hair was ragamuffinish so it was time anyway.

We're throwing my sister in law a baby shower this weekend and guess how many guests have R.S.V.P.'d? Two. Out of Fifteen. I'm thinking people will just show up, at least I should say I'm hoping people will just show up.

Oh, remember all that Netflix trouble? Well, emails were sent back and forth and surprise...my movies have been coming quick like, well, something quick. Huh. So I'm back on the loving Netflix bandwagon.

I'm kind of looking forward to that invention show that's starting soon. At least for the first week and then I'll forget it's even on and never watch it again. Which seems to be pretty much what happens to every show I watch except Survivor. I did get sucked into Dancing with the Stars but that was on at the same Thursday night time so it worked out well. Two shows. One time. I've dumbed down my TV viewing schedule even.

I deserve whatever I get

Life Lesson Number 5646498:

If you're going to whine about a gift, expect to be repaid mightily. This is a little excerpt from a Thursday Thirteen I wrote back in November:

My brother in law and his wife got airline tickets to meet my inlaws in South Carolina next week for their first anniversary. We got a picture frame, decorated with roses and a hallmarky sentiment next to the opening for the picture. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth and all of that...but really...


Fast forward to last week. Our tenth anniversary had just passed and last Friday my husband went to visit his mom to escape the hell that is being the husband of a book group hostess. He returns, wrapped goody in hand. Now I don't expect presents for our anniversary, really I don't. Really. Anyway, I unwrap and lo and behold....

A shadowbox picture frame, with one of our wedding pictures inside. But what's wrong with our wedding picture, can't be that bad, you say?

oh no, the picture itself isn't bad but now it's been matted. On some antiquish looking paper and there are embellishements. Don't get me wrong here either, I'm a (very) novice card maker, I like gizmos, but the sheer volume and style of the gizmos has my head a-spinnin'. There are roses and doves and hearts, so many hearts, and wine glasses and wedding bells. And some of them are multi-dimensional and such.

The saving grace of this photo display is that it was handmade by my mother in law. And when I say SAVING grace I mean that literally, as in saving it from a spot in my eaves.

Yes, I'm mean. She probably spent hours on this gift and for that I am thankful. But the woman has known me for sixteen years and she knows that frou frou is NOT my style. Maybe it's my husband's style. I'll find out tonight because I'm hanging it right over his bureau today while he's at work.

Eye Spy

Okay, this is the second time around for this post because blogger was a little grouchy this afternoon. I'm sure it won't have you cracking up in side splitting laughter like the first one but hey, you can't win 'em all.

First off, the Show and Tell, for my favorite little birdie.


I took this last spring or summer and due to the lack of camera batteries it's what I'm posting. There's no new picture stipulation is there? My eyes are brown and used to need glasses or contact lenses to see far away. The last time I went to renew my driver's license I forgot both and took the vision test...and I passed. Huh? I know that I should wear contacts or glasses but when has the RMV ever been wrong?




Here's another knitting picture for my friend who said she didn't want to look at that AWFUL knitting picture for even another minute:



Now this, this isn't AWFUL knitting. It's knitting and purling. Look at me go, eh?





And tomorrow, a visit from a little bitch named Karma.

well, i am fully recovered.

from what?

an impromptu party on Sunday with 20 guests. and 45 minutes notice.

I hit my new friend Rachel up for another recipe (Italian Sub Soup), stopped at the grocery store, ran home made a few beds, a big pot of soup, a cold drink and voila...rolled out the welcome mat. it went swimmingly and our home was officially declared the sunday destination of choice for post hockey gatherings. i should be running scared but the season's almost over and i'll miss this crowd. I'm imposing a hockey ban for the summer. Waiting to see if the boy gets the D.T.s. Should be interesting.

Yesterday I returned to my knitting class, having ripped out all of that mess I showed you guys last week. I was basically knitting all wrong, flipping the yarn around and some other nonsense.
This week I actually learned how to do it correctly along with purling and increasing. woo-hoo me.

We'll see if i remember any of it tonight.

The mess with the daughter's school is slowly working itself out. Her preschool/day care is closing at the end of the month. It was the only school in town that would provide before and after kindergarten care on the same schedule the girlie would of had in the fall. (half the town goes in the morning, the other half in the afternoons and then in January ~ we switch. What fun for working parents, eh?)

So I guess I'm going to be enrolling her in another preschool that will do the pre and post kindergarten mess but she will be going on the opposite schedule as all of our neighbors, as it's across town. And I will have to provide transportation on the three days she DOESN'T go to this before and after place.

Is making any sense? Am I just prattling on? Yeah? Oh-kay then.

Doesn't matter. That's all you get from me today. Mindless blather.
What??? Just like every OTHER day you're saying?
Fine then. DOUBLE mindless blather for you tomorrow. Hah. That'll show you.

Show and Tell Friday....because I cannot adapt to Thursday. or because Comcast PhotoShow stinks. And now with a bonus question for those who knit..

So, I had my pictures for the show and tell ready to go and because one of the calendars needs a little editing up...i head to photoshow. It's done right by me before, only this time...not so much. Crashacrashacrasha. I open it, try to import, it closes. over and over again. Of course I'm not sure why I expected the eighth time to be different than the first but I digress.

Last night we had the opportunity to see the Bruins for $10.00 a ticket and, well, we couldn't pass that up and that bit in mightily to my blog messing around with time.





Here is the calendar that required no messing around with because (and I must say I feel better after seeing that I'm not the only one who does this) it's blank. Oh sure, I flip the picture of Black Labs every month but I rarely, if ever, write a thing on this. Usually I just use it for reference I guess. Not that it references anything and mostly I run up the stairs to look at the real one.









I have a thing for organization. Or should I say...wanting to be organized. I've never really acheived this lofty goal and I've always wanted to buy this calendar so buy it I did. There was alot of time spent filling in our names (with different colored sharpie - a trick that might have worked if I hadn't lost MY color) and I wasn't too happy about the big pictures they like to throw into the middle of the pages, making it almost impossible to see what you've written. But still, I really like this one. It comes with stickers (three for Halloween and only 12 for sports practices. which makes less than no sense AS IF we would only have 12 practices in a sixteen month period - and who has three halloweens? )

But it's a full sixteen months and not the cheesy four months to a page deal either. And there's a pocket for the sharpies and a real holder that doesn't rip. love it.

And hey, check out my superior photo editing skills. Time to quit my day job, no?


And now onto the question...

I learned to knit on Monday. Just casting on and the knit stitch so far, but it's a start. Last year, there was one row of incorrectly done casting on left on my needles for like, eight months. I had to DUST the yarn. But it looked so pretty and knitty in the corner of my room. Anyway...

Here is my problem:
Actually, I don't this is a picture of my problem. This is what I think it SHOULD look like (am I right?) And this is how it started out looking:





But then:











Look...the spacing is all wacky. I've no idea what I did differently. None. Any more experienced knitters have a clue? Because, even though it's just practicing I'd like to figure it out before I move on.









This is what it looks like all together. Any ideas?

My show and tell will be up tomorrow as my little photo editing gizmo keeps crashing and i have some gizmoing to do before i post.

grrrr.

it's too late to monkey with it again.

g'nite.

Phew. Monday Morning crapfest, complete.

Traveling with a hockey team is NOT for the faint of heart. A IV drip of alcohol is actually the remedy most commonly suggested by other, more experienced, parents. Friday we left at the crack of dawn. Which seemed to come even earlier because all night I was woken up by an eight year old boy running downstairs to go to the bathroom/get a drink of water/double check the time (only 12:30/1:15/3:30 am????)

The team was beaten handily by a elite traveling team. ooof. It was a blow but more interesting was the fact that after the game some of our players were chatting up their players and we found out that *surprise* their goalie was 11 years old. um, nice. Bet it felt good to beat a team with 5-8 year olds on it. And then we had breakfast at a local diner. Chet's. Where Nancy, the owner and cook, couldn't have been a day under 75. Twenty five of us had breakfast there in under an hour. Why does a simple trip to Friendly's with a family of four take so much longer?



But the hotel...it had a pool...and what would the kids want with thinking about a hockey tournament when they could swim. and swim. and swim. The pool, it never closes and after dinner at a pizza place

where we horrified the locals it was time to swim some more. And some more. The next morning, another loss. Funny that this huge sports complex would have some of the crappiest ice the kids have skated on all year.

Anyway, the idea of spending another day breathing in that humid chlorinated air had me hiding up in the room reading vanity fair and cranking the ipod. In order to preserve my sanity we headed up to Nashoba for some snow tubing. Perfect. Although watching my son's tube fall off the lift/puller and watching him start to slide back down the hill, that was a bit of a heart stopper.

Another dinner out, reservations for 40 please?. Where the boy actually ate french fries and declared it the best dinner out EVAH. And then...you guessed it
...swimming. A few hours of that and I was all pooled out. I took the kids up, put them in bed and watched Walk the Line. I love me some Joaquin.

The next morning the kids are running on fumes. They play the game of their lives. And win. A parent from another team asked me how we did...I tell him our new training philosophy of chlorine, sleep depravation and sugar has worked wonders.

five crappy ways to start your week

1. Realizing at bedtime that you left your favorite pillow and pillowcase at the hotel.

2. Getting a notice today at daycare that the girlie's school will be closing on April 1st and that we can bring her to their other center, five miles and one school district away. Child care plans for the fall *poof* ~ gone.

3. Remembering that *ack* I'm hosting my book club this Friday. As in four days. Must try to fit actual reading time into this week's schedule.

4. Downloading all of the hockey tournament photos into my computer this morning only to be unable to find the file where I thought they were one minute later.

Okay, so it's only four. Or maybe five because it was, like five degrees this morning. And that's stinky too.

But on the bright side the hockey tournament was a blast. At least for the boy. And I'll be back later to post about it.

Ack. Show and Tell. I almost forgot.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaves with Sour cream Smashed Potatoes and Steamed Peas. And gravy. Homemade gravy.

A recipe from the either love her or hate her...Rachel Ray. Damn her and her thirty minute meals. I don't want to like her. But I do. So uncool of me but I cannot resist her thirty minute meal charms.




I'm gone for the weekend. Big time hockey tournament. woo-hoo. There are professionally made signs and mohawks. And there's sure to be pictures.

Have a great weekend y'all.

Laundry Tips for Your Enjoyment

Make sure your son does not have a clump of used black hockey tape in his pant pocket.

Also, don't leave a black ball point pen in your own sweatshirt pocket.


Both have happened this past week - and surprise - of the fifteen or so items that were covered with A.) blackish nasty substance or B.) black ballpoint ink - 13 of them were mine. Hurray!

There's been alotta hockey this weekend. Something like five games & practices in three days. We've got a repreive before this weekend's tournament ... and we all need it.

I would like to say I've been watching the Olympics - but I only catch fifteen minutes here or there. We've watched a few of the hockey games though and some speed skating and that skeleton. I used to love the Olympics, maybe it's just a phase but I'm not feeling it this year.

I had big plans yesterday afternoon - which were waylaid by some unexpected guests. It was fine, gave me time to think over my decision a little more. Today I blocked it out of my mind - I worked for a few hours, got some things done. But after work, I did it. I ran upstairs and sat down...clicked a few times, printed a sheet or two, hopped in the car and sped away. If you want to call 13 mph on my dirt road speeding away.

Anyhow. I pull into the parking lot, surprised at myself. What did I just do?? Even though I've been mulling it over for a few months now and pretty much knew what I wanted it still came as as surprise that I just went out and bought it. My favorite-ist new toy. My girl, she is a girl, somehow I just know.







Which is why I bought her a pink jacket.



















I'm not sure what I'll call her yet. I'm thinking on it.

But I think I'm in geeked out love.

Survivor, Spring Training and 216 hours of FUN!

I had forgotten that February vacation began this afternoon at 3:20 p.m. Maybe denial isn't the exact same thing as forgetting but either way... I was surprised when my son came home skipping and singing a diddy about his 216 hours of vacation. ( Nine times twelve is one hundred and eight times two is two hundred sixteeeeeen ~ there's no real tune just sing along however you'd like)

Survivor last night...

I saw this picture over in Petroville and thought...PERFECT!

I thought Bruce was kind of cool until the brag-o-rama started, with the t-shirt water filtration "oh, this is the best one yet" stuff. And then slam, back you go to Exile Island. Hang ten Brucey.

Shane is a bit grating. The little alliance, oh how they HATE each other. Which is perfect. What I hate is when someone (i.e. Shane) annoys the crap out of someone else (Firedancer girl) and then that someone else proceeds to bad mouth him LOUDLY to any, including Shane, who were within hearing range. Um, shut up david letterman sideshow girl.

The sand wrestling match was kind of funny, with the body slamming and whatnot. I was kind of surprised that the girls seemed to be tougher fighters than the men. Watching dead eyed RuthMarie (or is it Ruth Ann? - it's Ruth something or other) get swung around by Bobby was good tv.

I had no real opinion about the girl they voted out. Misty, I think. meh. whatever, it's too early to care about most of them.

On OLN (outdoor life network) they're showing repeats of Survivor All Stars. I was actually loserish enough to be heard saying "oh, look it's Colby" "Aw, Boston Rob & Amber...look how cute" and "Oh, wow...remember Ethan...yeah, me neither". Like they were old friends. cripes.

We're still watching Little House on the Prairie. They must've taped like 756 episodes per season. I feel like I'm always getting them in from netflix and still, just tonight, we started season two. In which Mary gets glasses. I found it interesting that the optometrist said her eyes were fine, no troubles at all - except for needing glasses. Dude, she goes BLIND, in like, less than a year. Pah, 1800's medicine.

In real life, Laura Ingalls' sister Mary did go blind. Just a spot of useless (or not) trivia information.

Some one at work gave me that James Frey book to read. I'm thinking why bother?

Pitchers and Catchers report tomorrow. The Red Sox now have a center fielder that sounds suspiciously like a box of cereal in my cabinet. I have great hopes for you Coco Crisp. I am sending bad mojo Johnny Damon's way and am hoping that Mr. Crisp has us asking 'Johnny who?' by the middle of May.

Show and Tell

The Show and Tell for Blackbird


the banes of my existence loves of my life.

The ugliest toys in the universe.

I unchildproofed my house today. And NOT because they've been driving me crazy and I'm willing to throw caution to the wind but because my son is almost nine and the girlie is 5 1/2 and I'm just tired of pressing those levers. And if they decide to eat all the cereal in one sitting, pour the rice all over the kitchen floor or stick a sandwich in the VCR, well so be it. Still, they are growing up. And I'm not at all pleased.

I didn't want to like Gray's Anatomy but I do. Alot.

I don't want to like the Bachelor and I almost never watch it. But when I remember it's on I'm there.

I don't want to like those Jack Johnson Curious George songs. But I love that funny little voice of his. Jack's not the monkey.

And it's Valentines Day.

I've begun shunning this holiday in the interest of self preservation. Gifts bought with a sigh at the very last minute should, in my opinion, not be bought at all. I do not like hearing "Oh, are we doing Valentine's Day this year? but I don't have..., I didn't get...".

Enough of that.

We are celebrating with heart shaped pancakes and a treasure hunt with clues like:

It’s big, heavy and black
And the things inside stink
We are always lugging it
Back and forth from the rink.

If you guessed the son's hockey bag you've totally caught on. At least we are supposed to do the treasure hunt...the son was a little, ehem, demanding this morning. Treating me as hired help instead of the woman who stays up late at night making up rhyming clues so they can run like madmen to find their boxes of conversation hearts and such. Ah, love.

Yesterday

The view from the couch

Kitchen Window Feeder


And besides a simmering pot of chicken noodle soup and a game of fetch with the dog in the snow...that pretty much sums up my Sunday.

Snow. Finally.

Oh, Masterpiece Theater....could you not warn me, say with a gentle reminder, that PBS does not have commercial breaks?

I forgot and I feel like if I even miss a minute of Bleak House I'll have missed something major and now...I have to pee.

I am trapped upstairs, leg-a-tapping for 25 more minutes.

From the Horse's Mouth

The latest response:

In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service. As a result, those members who receive the most movies may experience that (i) the shipment of their next available DVDs occurs at least one business day following return of their previously viewed movie, (ii) delivery takes longer, as the shipments may not be processed from their local distribution center and (iii) they receive movies lower in their Queue more often than our other members. By prioritizing in this way, we help assure a balanced experience for all our members. Those that rent a lot of movies get a great value and those with lighter viewing habits are able to count on our service to meet their limited needs.


Apparently, this is called throttling. Still cheaper than a video store and yet, leaves me feeling all dirty and used.

Kerplooey!

my head could just about explode right now. And if it does...you people are responsible for seeking justice on my behalf.

You are to email Netflix customer service, a misnomer if ever there was one, and you will bombard them with questions regarding their newly slowwwwwwed doooooown shiiiiiiiiping.

Over a week for me to return one movie and have the next one in my mailbox. Eight days. And that's if it gets here, as promised, on Tuesday. It used to take three or four days so I took it upon myself to send a little inquiry to the folks in charge of those red envelopes of movie watching joy.

Imbiciles.

The first response was a nice cut and paste job from their shipping policy. Yeah, well thanks. Do they not think I know how it works?!?!?! I have been swearing by netflix for almost two years now.

I request a resolution. Twice. What I got was more of the same shipping policy...blah blah...within one day of distribution center...blah blah.... Um, maybe I'm just brilliant or something but I happen to know where BOTH of the cities are that have shipped movies to me. All Two! And the new one, the one they must've just opened that's a 20 minute drive from my home, is much closer than the old one. And certainly not eight days away.

So I will email them yet again, those phantom netflix fools. And I will trust that after the head explosion that's sure to follow their inane response you, my internet blogging friends, will make Diona and Amanda and the rest of the customer service team regret the fact that they couldn't get their heads out of their asses.

So, thanks in advance.

For Lisa. A picture of my super secret dog, Baxter.







The other day Jennifer posted about the seemingly sudden whamo of babies appearing here in blogville. They're here in Southern New England too. My sister in law and one of my best friends are both expecting. Two new little babies coming my way. For a minute or two, I get a little wistful, a slight pang of baby envy. And then it hits me. Which do I want more a baby or an Ipod? And when the answer is an Ipod ~ that's when you know you should be done having babies.

Just sent out the book club email notice. We're up to two members out of about twenty that I find, well...awful. And guess who were the second and third people to respond....You betcha. Ack. Well, take the good with the bad I guess.

The boy is wanting to sign up for lacrosse. Does anyone know anything about this sport? My only recollection is a high school boyfriend who used to end up bruised and bloody after a game. I have a feeling the 8 year old group won't play so rough, but I'm curious now...

So last week a few of you were wondering why my ten year anniversary plans involved a FAMILY vacation - two parents, two kids and a dog.

Well, the dog - has never been to a kennel. And I've tried but the one time he was left overnight at the vet's office they called me bright and early the next morning saying that he had been barking non-stop and they were going to have to sedate him if I couldn't come right down. He doesn't really bark unless he's locked up or tied to a run. But vacationing with him might be negotiable because I could go the pet sitter route but haven't really looked into that yet. We once asked my husband's aunt to watch the dog but it was a nightmare. As in...she left the dog in the cellar unattended for fourteen plus hour stretches and he barked so much he lost his voice. That was a relaxing phone call to get from our neighbor three days into our vacation.

And then there's the big question of who'll watch the kids. My parents don't watch my children unless I am absolutely desperate. Not because they are mean and horrible grandparents and I fear for the kid's safety, but because they don't really WANT to. Ever. And they never come out and actually say it, it's way more passive aggressive than that. With lots of audible sighing and statements like "Well, what will they eat if they come over? - we don't have anything they like". And because attending parent teacher conferences is a guilt ridden experience and my kids have obviously never even spent the night with my parents...well, a week away is unimaginable.

And my inlaws, well, they watch my nephew. All the time. And we do not allow our kids to mix with the nephew unless we are there to directly supervise. He's a sneaky little menace. And so, even if we ask two weeks in advance and they say yes - my sister in law will call up two hours in advance and they'll tell her yes and then call us to say that L. the nephew is coming over too and because J. (husband's sister) has to work, well, that takes preference over our plans. Which is a little (okay, alot) maddening. There is no way they would tell her to find someone else to watch this boy while we were gone. No way. And they are scheduled to watch the nephew (unless J.'s work schedule changes at the eleventh hour, which it does and then we feel guilty because the inlaws finally get a night off and who are we to be honing in on it with babysitting requests) on both Friday and Saturday nights so quick overnight weekends away are pretty much out too.

This bothers us. But not as much as you think it might. Sure, sometimes it's bad with the favoritism from the inlaws and the lack of interest from my parents but in actuality we either get over it or create one of those never ending family squabbles.

And so, with the intent of a vacation being A.) one where we actually vacate and B.) gaining some peace of mind - we will travel together. Plus I would miss them terribly.