Rainy fridays are ususally my favorite...

No work, last day of school, not usually any hockey, no homework - not alot going on in general.

Today is, to borrow from my friend, Mr. Squarepants, Opposite Day.

I have twenty seven loads of laundry to fold, I'm meeting with the Daisy Scout Leader so we can plan for the month, pick the girlie up from school, go to BJ's for dog food and such, go to bank to get money for gas to actually get to BJ's, pick up my 4runner from the garage, take my boy for a haircut, vacuum, make dinner and then a snack for bookclub.

And then smooch on my best friend's new baby and go to book club. The last two don't really belong up there with all the others because these last two are enjoyable, especially the baby smooching.

The husband is working tomorrow so I've got early morning hockey duty, which is fine...because it's not really early morning. 8:20 a.m. ice time is practically lunch in hockeyland. Sunday he's got to be dressed and ready to skate at 5:40 a.m. and THAT is early.

Our T.V. remote is missing. Since last Sunday. You would think, the way my husband is complaining, that one of our children had been lost. I've never seen him actually LOOK for something so diligently. Every night he devotes actual time to searching a new place. HAH. I would rather D.I.E. die before I admit to him just what a pain in the ass it is, this clickerless existence.

But. Last night? My girlie woke up around midnight and I was watching Broken Flowers. I shut the movie off and notice that the VCR is still taping (Survivor is what I was taping, four hours earlier). I go and press the Power button on the VCR remote...and it shuts the TV off. I nearly jumped for joy. It's like, 15 years old and it works on the TV. Hooray! But my husband is thinking that he'll clean out under the couch and vacuum under the furniture in his quest for the clicker...so I may not tell him right away...do you blame me?

How can you not smile when you drive by a tree like this?

Walking around with your head up your.....

Last night, I'm watching Nightline and this political ad comes on:




A. I sat, mouth open for just a second.

B. I laughed. Out loud.

I may or may not vote for him but at least he knows what most people are thinking.

Wednesday

A question for you all:

How much homework do your kids get?

My boy is in fourth grade and wow, they've started piling it on. Last night he had a science project/presentation to finish preparing for (due today), a book to start reading for a book report, a few pages in his math book to read, two math worksheets, spelling words to write and then write them again in detailed sentences.

I'm wondering if this is the norm or is he just unlucky, in the way that the student in a school that didn't meet accredidation (sp?) standards would be unlucky. How in god's green acres this school DID NOT meet the standards I have yet to find out...if it has to do with standardized tests I just might vomit.

In other news:
I'm supposed to be at Target right now. Buying tights. And yet, here I sit.

In other, more interesting news:
I shampooed the kid's bedroom carpets yesterday...and they came out so good I didn't want to put their furniture back in.
Wha? Not interesting enough?

Okay then, I leave you with pictures from this summer's camping trip from h.e. double hockey sticks:



Sounds from the first night. My husband called me to tell me to batten down the hatches, downpours were headed our way. So I battened and everything stayed nice and dry. With the exception of the tent. And the puddles inside I spent all night checking on an soaking up before they could hit our pillows. The glowy thing is one of those fifty cent glow sticks hooked on a zipper pull inside the tent. Best nightlite ever.



Jumping waves at Sandy Neck. It was windy and borderline cold. And naturally, this being the Cape...the water was f-f-f-f-freeezing.

It was here that another parent said to me, as we were leaving "Your kids really play well together, don't they?"

I made a comment about being lucky but really I was thinking that just maybe we could stay for another hour or ten because it was the first time they had STOPPED bickering.



Sunset, the same beach - the same day. We didn't actually stay for ten hours, we had to go back to pick up their sweatshirts they left hanging on the dune fence. This time is was the much preferred low tide and they took off running. Next year we're planning a sunset campfire on this beach...










I didn't get any good shots of the campsite, but this is the view from the site...trees, wild blueberries and huge boulders. And the site was like, the cadillac of campsites, totally huge with neighbors on one small portion. The driveway portion.







We went letterboxing for Smurfs.













And ate entirely too much ice cream.












See? Now would you look at that...I've made it so that, when I stop and try to remember how 'all done' I was with camping alone with the kids...I can't. I have wiped the memory slate clean, somehow. And next summer, no matter how many times I go back and read that archive and you all are typing comments like "Remember last year???" I will just shrug my shoulders and pack up my car.

Blogger, you tempermental little bitch

Okay so this post? Has taken me all day to write because blogger was just NOT cooperating.

And this post? Is nothing spectacular.

Just a note:

If you can, watch the show Heroes tonight, on NBC. They're repeating the pilot that was on last night and it was pretty good.

One more thing: Steven Weber (the guy from Wings) on that Studio 60 show? Whoa with the plastic surgery there, big fella.

Off to work.

So, I guess sitting Indian Style is still in style...or is it pretzel legs?

And I'm back.

I've sat down to post a few times, but meh. I kept deleting everything I'd write (all ten words!) but I think I'm over that now.

My car is back. For now. It still needs some canister filter to be replaced and four new tires but that's gravy compared to the work that's been done so far. I think we'll be hitting the five thousand dollar mark soon...hey it's a telethon...phone in your pledges now! Time's running out!

On the fiscally irresponsible side you all will have to deal with less of my writing and more of my photos. The camera was purchased. And I love her. 12x zoom, people. How can you not love a 12x zoom? Wanna see? And no, I cannot line them up. Sorry. I'm technically retarded. or computerally challenged. And just so you know...i will sometimes swear in front of the kids but they won't hear me saying retard. Is that backwards logic?



View from the Transmission Shop.










In the past few days I've read a post or two about Fantasy Football. I've gotta tell ya...I'm so glad I'm not alone in this obsession. I am crazy for checking the stats and injury reports. For updating my roster and worrying over 'probable' starts. I've always watched football, the Patriots and the Cowboys. Now I find myself watching highlite reels and score tickers, rooting for teams I could honestly give a crap about. Not even my husband can quite grasp this new found obsession interest. Plus I can knit and watch. Mostly. Except where the Pats are concerned. Last night I was bemoaning my Tom Brady choice, the year he seems to have lost some of his fire. My other option is Mark Brunell and mostly, that's not really an option. Except yesterday when he was, like 24 of 26. Gah!

For those of you who read that last paragraph and thought...blah, blah, blah. Well, sorry. It's that time of year.

And then there's Survivor. Which I just watched yesterday and I have to say all the worry about splitting the tribes based on races, I find it interesting that the teams are not appearing to be insulted by this but seem to be embracing it. The representing and such. It's nice, the embracing of their differences and their backgrounds. I was glad to see Billy go...not so glad to see Yul find the immunity ALREADY. Lesson to next season's survivors: Do not send another team's strongest players to Exile Island...it gives them another HUGE advantage in that they can search for the idol, duh!

That's it for now, I don't want to spoil you all...

Maybe I'm just not nice

I was clicking around some blogrolls or links or something the other day and I came across a link to a story...

there's this group of moms, from I don't know where, sounds like a city - but anyway - one of them found a hat. And they posted that they found a hat on their message board (like it had been left behind at one of their outings or something...i'm hazy on the details).

She specified that it was a boy's hat and posted a photo.

An uproar. It caused an uproar. God forbid but she assigned a gender to this hat and insulted the possible little girl owner. I guess the message boards went all flooey with people typing on both sides of this "argument". One group was indignant: How dare she assume that the hat belongs to a boy and then the other side of the camp (the side of the camp I'd be squarely in) with a great big 'give me a break'.

I'm all for not hurting people's feelings on purpose. But come the hell on. Has this pc/senstivity crap sucked out people's common sense? Are we always on the verge of offending someone with innocuous small talk?

I don't go around calling someone with down's syndrome a retard. But if you do something so stupid that you should've known better...then I'll bust out the retard. Of course it's more like retahhd, but that's something else entirely. And my boy, who is short for his age...I call him a smidge. My abbreviated form of *gasp* midget.

So if we're in line together in the grocery store don't go too crazy if I try to make a comment about the weather. How'm I supposed to know that you're horribly offended by snow? And if you are...that's why they invented peapod.

Note: I found the link.

Preferences

Another meme! Hurray! Jennifer tagged me and I was actually GLAD (no, I'm not ill) as I am trying to keep up with the pictureless posting and lord knows i'm not that great of a writer so phew, thanks for the meme Jen.

I'm not tagging but really...can you resist? you can? ah, well...

1. If you make sweet tea, or your favorite style, do you use Luzianne, Lipton or something else? Sweet tea? Hot tea or iced? I only really like instant Iced Tea, usually Crystal Light, but my mother-in-law buys something yummy too. I don't drink hot tea or coffee. ew.

2. What brand of toilet paper do you buy and is it the larger rolls or regular? Cottonelle with ripples. At the very minimum the double rolls, triple if I can find it. Do you know how tired I get of changing that roll? I'm sure you can relate.

3. Which brand of bath soap do you use? Body wash or bar? I like Sundrop Soaps, from a little local independent company or any homemade type of product. When I run out I usually use the husband's, which is Dial.

4. What cereal do you buy for yourself? Cocoa Puffs and Frosted Flakes are my favorites.

5. What brand of dishwasher detergent do you use? Liquid or Tabs? Liquid, Target brand.

6. What is your favorite fruit? Blueberries

7. Which brand of laundry detergent do you use? Tide with the little HE symbol. Ususally mixed with Biz or Oxyclean.

8. Do you like chocolate? No. Can't think of anything worse. (Did you buy that? If so, I've got this bridge...)

9. Are you right or left-handed? I'm a righty. No special coated scissors in art class for this girl.

10. Do you still write checks or use a debit card? I'm a stone age check writer. I'd switch to debit and online bill paying but the husband has vetoed it. which, i could honestly care less.

TV Meme

Instructions: Bold (or change the color) of all of the following TV shows which you've seen 3 or more episodes of in your lifetime. Bold and Italicize a show if you're positive you've seen every episode of it. If you want, add up to 3 additional shows (keep the list in alphabetical order).


24
3rd Rock from the Sun
7th Heaven
Adam-12
Aeon Flux
A.L.F
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
Allo Allo
American Idol/Pop Idol/Canadian Idol/Australian Idol
America's Next Top Model/Germany's Next Top Model
Angel
Arrested Development
Babylon 5
Babylon 5: CrusadeBattlestarGalactica (the old one)Battlestar Galactica (the new one)Baywatch
Beavis & Butthead
The Ben Stiller Show
Beverly Hills 90210
Bewitched
B.J. & The Bear
Bonanza
Bones
Bosom Buddies
Boston Legal
Boy Meets World
Brady Bunch
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bug Juice
Casualty
Chappelle's Show
Charlie's Angels
Charmed
Cheers
China Beach
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Coronation Street
Coupling
Cowboy Bebop
Crossing Jordan
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm - Only one season left to watch...
Dallas
Dancing with the Stars
Danny Phantom
Dark Angel
Dark Skies
Davinci's Inquest
Dawson's Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadliest Catch
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives
Dharma & Greg - Why, WHY did I punish myself?
Different Strokes
Doctor Who (new Who)
Doctor Who (series 1-26)
Dragnet
Due South
Dungeons and Dragons (old cartoon)
Dynasty
Earth 2
Emergency!
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Everybody Loves Raymond
Facts of Life
Falcon Crest
Family Guy
Family Ties
Fantasy Island
Farscape
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Flamingo Road
Frasier
Friends
Full House
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan's Island - thought I had seen them all until I netflixed the first season - then...Surprise! All new to me..
Gilmore Girls
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Green Wing
Grey's Anatomy
Growing Pains
Gunsmoke
Happy Days
Head of the Class
Highlander
Hill Street Blues
Hogan's Heroes
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Invader Zim
Invasion
Iron Chef (Japan)
Iron Chef (USA)
Ironsides
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Favorite Show.
JAG
Jackass
Jeopardy
Joey
John Doe
Kate and Allie
Kath and Kim
Knight Rider
Knots Landing
La Femme Nikita
LA Law
Laugh-In
Laverne and Shirley
Law & Order
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: SVU
Little House on the Prairie, same thing as Gilligan, we THOUGHT we had seen them all
Lizzie McGuire
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Magnum P.I.
Malcolm in the Middle
Married...With Children
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission Impossible
Monk
Moonlighting
Mork & Mindy
Murphy Brown
My Family
My Favorite Martian
My Life as a Dog
My Mother the Car
My So-Called Life
My Three Sons
My Two Dads - ACK! Greg Evigan!
Mysterious Cities of Gold
NCIS
Night Court - My dad used to love this, again...why did I watch too? ugh.
Nip/Tuck
Northern Exposure
Not the nine o'clock news
Numbers
One Tree Hill
OzParker Lewis
Can't Lose
Party of Five
Perfect Strangers- is this the one with Balki?
Perry Mason
Picket Fences
Pirates of Darkwater
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prison Break
Profiler
Project Runway - Am now addicted
Psyche
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer as Folk (British)
Queer Eye For The Straight Guy
ReGenesis
Remington Steele
Rescue Me
Road Rules
ROME
Roseanne
Roswell
Samurai Jack
Saved by the Bell
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Scooby-Doo Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Slings and Arrows
Smallville
Small Wonder
So Weird
South Park
Spaced
Spongebob Squarepants - it certainly FEELS like I've seen them all.
Sports Night
Square Pegs
St. Elsewhere
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Enterprise
Stargate Atlantis - New season
Stargate
SG-1 -Newseason
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Survivor- I know I've missed at least two or three episodes
Taxi
Teen Titans
Teletubbies
That Girl
That 70's Show
That's So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Bionic Woman
The Colbert Report
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Days And Nights Of Molly Dodd
The Dead Zone
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Golden Girls
The Jetsons
The L Word
The Love
The Love Boat
Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mighty Boosh
The Monkees - One summer I watched them all. I think.
The Munsters
The Mythbusters
The O.C.
The Office (UK)
The Office (US)
The Pretender
The Prisoner
The Real World
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Smurfs
The Sopranos - working on Season Four
The Suite
Life of Zack and Cody
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
The West Wing
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
thirtysomething
Three's Company
Top Gear
Twin Peaks
Twitch City
Upstairs, Downstairs
Veronica Mars
Wings
What Not To Wear (US)What Not To Wear (UK)
Whose Line is it Anyway? (US)Whose Line is it Anyway? (UK)
Witchblade
Will and Grace
Wonderfalls
Wonder Woman
Xena: Warrior Princess
Young Hercules

Wow, that's alotta TV. And wasted time...Dharma & Greg, Saved by the Bell, MASH (yes, I hate MASH)...and yet, I'm noticing shows that I wish I watched or watched more of(netflix queue, here I come) Veronica Mars, Smallville, House...

I added The Love Boat, BJ & the Bear and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. C'mon play along..

I'm not sure what to post today...

too lighthearted and I feel insensitive

too somber and I know I can never do it justice.

See you all tomorrow.

Hanging My Head in Shame

I have a confession.

We went to Newport today instead of watching the Pats.

We listened to some of the game, we love Gil. Look, there's my friend wearing his (2nd) superbowl ring. We know his daughter and she never tires of hearing us yell "IT'S GOOD! THE KICK IS GOOD!!!" Or maybe she does.



There are limited beautiful days left here in New England. Sure, autumn is all about the pretty, the harvesty but I do love the sun and surf. This is a picture from last year but change the bathing suits to tshirts and shorts and you pretty much get the idea. Oh, and add some kites, bubbles and Del's Lemondae.


See? How do the Patriots hold a candle to that?

On Notice

Seriously, did you watch Thursday night's game? Was he in every one? Every other one? I was sick of Peyton Manning BEFORE all of these commercials and now? Let's just say that he's not a great marketing tool for NFL Network. A tool maybe, but not a marketing tool.

And on a side note: Does Geraldo realize, that since he's totally off his rocker, that saying things like [Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart] "exist in a small little place where they count for nothing." doesn't help to make a case against either guy. Geraldo saying somthing like that makes the stuff Colbert and Stewart say look like downright gospel.

And onto the 4Runner. It's still in the shop. Not the original, dealer shop, oh no. It did go there first (hence the 12K price tag - for parts only), but after the guy tried selling me a new car just seconds after he told me that this one wasn't worth fixing, I smelled a rat and told him we'd be picking it up.

So I lied. A tow truck came and took it away to a transmission shop, whose name I took from the phone book. Not my usual M.O. when spending a gazillion dollars on repairs but desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, when I called him back to ask him to pick the car up at the dealer's, he said "Hey Dad, when do you want to go get that Toyota?" A mechanic who works with his dad? Perfect. Or I hope so. I'm not a fan of a garage where the oldest employee is 23 or where the cashier takes your money and his fingernails are grease free. Uh-uh.

Sadly, Joe called me yesterday. The engine is also ill and engines aren't his thing. He almost let me tow it away to another, much more reputable but 20 miles away, Toyota dealer...with a warning to be careful, that he was worried I'd be throwing good money after bad (or is it the other way around) and that I should be able to get an estimate from them before I bring it in. He told me to stick to what I know about the problem and not let them bully me. (I, at this point, am beginning to like Joe, whose wife, he tells me, is a Kindergarten teacher)

He, in passing, mentioned that he had spoken to his friend, his engine fixin' friend whose name is Manny, and that it's probably a head gasket, because Manny knows all about these things, so make sure I tell them all that I know. I inquire if perhaps Manny would be interested in fixing my car...and Joe? He actually sounds pleasantly surprised. Of course, he says, I'll call him and bring your car over to him this morning and I won't charge you for anything until we hear what Manny has to say. (Did I mention that he's charging me only $100.00 for a tow and hours worth of work??) The name of Manny's shop? Manny's Family Automotive.

Could it be? Could I have actually, FINALLY, found some honest and honest-to-god mechanics? See, yesterday I said I wouldn't jinx myself anymore...and here I go again...optimism is just so hard to beat down.

School Daze

Hey, *knocks on monitor* you're still here? Thanks for your patience. Blogging will resume on a fairly regular basis from now on, unless... No. No unless, we jinxed ourselves last week. I won't make that mistake again.

Who am I kidding? Of course I will.

The son started school on Tuesday, he's graduated to a new school. He was more nervous than excited...but god forbid he should let on that school might actually be *gasp* okay. He rarely has anything too positive to say and yet he excels. And enjoys it. Stubborn boy.

He finished up his suggested summer reading about a month ago. But the postcard? To send to the librarian? He raced around on the first morning of school to write that paragraph.

Like mother, like son. Procastination is an art.

His bus comes at 7:30 a.m. Ugh. The bus picks him up at where our little road meets the main road and while I would love to not have to go, I just can't do it. The apron strings are like those extenda-leashes...they just keep getting longer....

I haven't gone to the bus stop in my pajamas. Yet. It's only the third day, this will all change by March.

The girlie began life at the big kid school today. An apple pinned to her shirt, a bus tag tied with yarn around her neck. She was smiling but nervous when I pulled into the parking lot in the smokin' hot (that's not the radiator I'm tawkin' about) 1985 Metallic Blue Plymouth Voyager. (it's the in-laws vehicle - mainly they use it for Home Depot trips and the dump. Oh JOY! - But it runs a heck of a lot better than the Toyota at this point so I'll shut up now).

The worst feature of the Voyager? The missing hubcap? No. The fact it's an 85 Voyager? No. It's the 'Dubya '04' sticker plastered on the back. I'm thinking of covering it tomorrow. Somethings are just to horrible to bear.

Her kindergarten teacher was my husband's first grade teacher. Which is a source of never ending joy to the girlie. I'm sure the teacher will like the daily reminder from her of just HOW LONG she has been on the job. The lady doesn't like email but she appears to still like children, which after 125 years of teaching, is admirable.

I will bore you with car talk tomorrow...There would be pictures but they are on film. My god, what a backwards transition that is. Film. And developing. Holy motherofgod. Since we're hemmoraging cash we might as well just spring for a new camera...that's not a very convincing argument is it? Still, I'm betting I can get the camera purchase approved. Don't judge, we suck with money and $300.00 plus $ATonofMoney just doesn't seem that bad anymore.

I'm eavesdropping on the firefighter's training that's taking place just outside my office door...did you know milk could be a hazardous material? Large quanitites could kill off aquatic life. Not to mention creating a chocolate chip cookie craving of epic proportions.

And on the last note, I am ready for some football. And will be cheering for whoever's playing Pittsburgh. Unless it's Indy (which I know it isn't) - because Indianapolis? Stinks.

When it rains...

The first estimate: $12,000 plus.

To fix a 2001 Toyota 4Runner that I bought. Last year. And am still paying for.

holy fucking shit.