Christmas Eve 2012

12-24-12

Christmas Eve already??

It was a good weekend. The world didn’t end. We got the last few presents purchased and the cookies made. I even got to have a date night! I also got to see a couple of good friends, which was all kinds of wonderful.

It looks as though my parents have been adopted. A cat waltzed into their garage yesterday and has pretty much decided he lives in their house. My mom FaceTime’s me yesterday and shows me this kitty chillin on the ottoman, which means not only is the cat been allowed in the house, it is on furniture! He has a collar/tag and they called his owners with no response as of yet. I told them that this means he is home now. My dad really wants him to stay, whereas my mom is torn, which just means she wants the cat. LOL! I kind of hope no one claims him now. This cat (named Mellow according to his tag) even likes Matt, which tells you he is meant to be!

I am working this morning, wondering if the day will drag too much. I wish I could hear the rain from my desk. It was pouring this morning, which made the drive hard. Lots of puddles that were pretending to be lakes. I also managed to hit every single light on the way to work. There was just too little traffic to make it go quicker. Lame.

I am getting excited about setting up Santa stuff this evening. I love this part of parenting. I have gobs of fun stocking goodies I obtained from Party City and other places. I also am super jazzed about putting out the presents we got for them. Happy faces in the morning!

We gave the presents to Zach and Jessie last night. The items the boys picked out were perfect and well received! I felt all happy.

Tragedy at the Compound over the weekend. Andy and Scott’s beloved kitty, Belle, was killed by the Boxer girls. Sadly, Scotty discovered Belle, and they left the Compound soon after. We have heard from Andy in text form since our calls and texts were not answered right away. As expected, they just couldn’t talk at this point. I so understand. The pups are now going to be re-homed. There was much discussion on this, and it isn’t so much that she thinks they will do it again as she just doesn’t trust them anymore and doesn’t know that she ever can. She would much rather have them in a home where they will not have that issue. It is sad all around, and hopefully we will talk to Andy soon. This does mean the kittens will not be coming with us if we go this week. I say “if” since now I know Christmas has been canceled up there. It is possible there will be no people there. We shall see.

I have been emailing with my mom this morning (yeah, at 5:30 in the morning. My family is weird) and it looks as though the cat will stay if no one claims him. YAY! My dad is saying he will be the boys’ cat and just live there. They have a bedroom there, so why not a cat? Hee!!!!

Ken and the boys are coming today for lunch. Then the boys will stay with me here, giving me an early out. It isn’t like today is busy in the least, so it should be cool. Then I can go home and we can get prepped for Christmas Eve.  

Winter Solstice

12-21-12

Happy winter solstice!

I think we are supposed to all die today, too, but I will get back to you on that one. Maybe tomorrow?

Compliance training for someone who is not big into surrendering their will so blindly is an impossible task. At least I really liked the instructor, and he seemed impressed with my kids.

When I got home yesterday, the street was all kinds of busy what with giant trucks and tree cutting machinery. It is tree trimming week in our hood. They were making the trees look actually quite nice. I don’t like it when they “trim”. They often do too much. The trees in our neighborhood, though, are very overgrown and often cause problems in big winds. We have had on more than one occasion tree branches crash down on top of cars. This particular crew seemed to understand it was not a makeover, but a nice haircut.

It was warm out, and as I patted Lycos on the side, I knew this would be the perfect time to give both pups a bath. They would be around a bunch of people next week what with our trip to the Compound, and they were filthy. I didn’t want to do this when it was too cold out, and with the nice sunshine and time on our side, it seemed like it would be a win win. Ok, maybe a win for me, but the dogs did not think of this as anything close to that.

Lycos has a hard enough time standing up without any challenge involved. Add slippery and wet and my poor dog becomes one of those crash test dummies. She flops around, and seems to all of the sudden weigh a ton.

There was so much crud and blood on her. Yes, blood. Since I had not washed her since the flea treatments a couple months back, and with another flea invasion in full effect, she was quite gross. It also doesn’t help that she doesn’t have the dexterity anymore to scratch at these fleas or to really make much of a dent in the annoying feeling she gets when she is getting eaten. Poor pup.

Both dogs were quite shiny and I am pretty sure 5 pounds lighter after the scrubbing. I even put some conditioner on Miss Luna so she would sparkle. I then had them hang with us out front as the boys and Ken watched them cut trees. Happy dogs!

I was bored. I had washed two dogs, and I certainly didn’t want to just watch trees get cut, so I threw Luna in the bike basket and she and I took a ride. It wasn’t a long one. Just cruising the neighborhood, checking out the decorations. I do need to put a different padding in the basket for her. Specifically, she needs something on the basket to set her head on since she seemed annoyed at the less than comfortable side. She is surprisingly good in the basket. She isn’t as thrilled as Panda Dog used to be, but Panda was also smaller, so it may be a bit more about comfort. Luna also gets a bit nervous when we fly down a hill at high speeds. This may be since she knows that her mother has a hard time walking at slow speeds without hurting herself and this is just tempting the injury gods. But even though it takes a bit for us to get going, she never wants to get out when we get home. She likes the outings!

I am a complete idiot. Ok, maybe not complete for this, but it is a sign I am getting old. Ken was mad that I headed out to work yesterday in flip flops. I know, it was cold, but I sit at a desk in which it is often too hot, and I enjoy walking around the office barefoot (or as the boys say, walking around with feet on). I thought I would appease him. After my workout in the gym, I decided to leave on my walking shoes. He was pleased. The only problem with this is that I forgot to bring them back this morning. Crud. I guess no workout this morning. The good news is I have a walk around Christmas lights tonight so I think I am in the clear.

When I get home I will need to pack the overnight bag for the children. Dax is already a little upset at us leaving them. He gets over it quickly, but I don’t enjoy the sad it creates. I am hoping the lights and maybe some promise of treats will distract him enough to not get too weepy. I have been crying at the drop of a hat since last Friday, and I honestly don’t know if I will be able to keep it together.

winner!

12-20-12

Crazy work tried to keep me down, but Christmas cheer prevailed!

Yeah, yesterday morning was crazy, hectic and stressful mixed with a dash of annoying. It was all finished in time to go to the ball, though. It seemed especially awesome since the party at work turned out to be a lot of fun. A couple of games produced a Gena with pantyhose on top of her head filled with balloons along with a clown nose on. That won me a prize. I also was fortunate to have my ticket pulled for one of the drawing prizes, which resulted in a $20 Pizza Hut gift card. I also got to take home a bunch of fresh grapes for Ken and Dax who gobbled them all up.

We went and picked up my DVD pack from KROQ, which was super happy making. Now it is just a matter of deciding which flick to watch first! I have seen all but two, which of course makes me a crappy fan, but a fan nonetheless. Perhaps I should watch one of those.

I was pretty exhausted come 7, what with so much festive cheer and hectic work all day, but my day was not done. We all went to go watch Ken play some indoor soccer. I was surprised at how many of the people on his team were AYSO board members (which gave me some chilling insight as to why things will never change). It was fun to watch. He had two games, but Dax and I opted to leave after the second game. He was tired, as was I, and it was now 9 o’clock.

He and I got home and rather than deal with the possible “but I am scared to sleep in the room alone” argument, I told him he could come sleep in my bed with me until Ken got home. I have to say, even though my excuse was to save a fight, it was truly wonderful having my baby curled up next to me, sleeping. It was one of those times that I wish I had a camera in my head because there was no way I was going to get up to take that picture. I will have to be content to have it in my memories.

The vacation time is starting to happen, what with several people already out starting today. Luckily, no one I have to cover for. I have to make it through 3 more days. Sure, I could have taken off Christmas eve, but I figured it wasn’t a big deal to work. I get home so dang early as it is; I am not missing out on any festivities.

For now, I must just tough out today. One day at a time, right? It should not be as crazed today. I do have a soccer thing tonight, but in theory it will only be about an hour. Plus, I get to take the boys, so that makes it a little easier in some ways.

Tomorrow night, after seeing the Christmas lights with the boys and my folks, we leave the boys in Gramma’s care and Ken and I have a night off. We have some Christmas shopping to attend to, which should not take too much. I had considered a movie, but I am thinking just a mellow dinner of chit chat. It is the simple things we need to cherish, right?

Acts of Kindness

12-19-12

Christmas party day, peeps!

There is something very satisfying about being incredibly white and trying to pull of saying, “What what?!?”

Ok, so I am feeling much more chipper this morning than I was yesterday by the time I was leaving work. Yeah, someone needed to be kicked square in the head, but I am over it and moving on. Shockingly, I didn’t bring the two flasks I threatened to. I will instead get drunk on holiday spirit.

I can drink later, anyway.

Work was just a nightmare in terms of people being stupid and lazy and not wanting to take responsibility for their job. I vented a blog on the internal site, to which the VP of sales actually read and responded to. That’s right, people of power actually follow me. Hee! He gave me some amazing ammunition to show that I was in fact correct in my anger. So I emailed him with some more intensive details on the situation that raised my hackles. We shall see what that does.

But now, I can just sit back and chill. I have the Christmas Party at 11:30 this morning, which takes up the rest of my day. Hell, I will even get some OT since it goes till 1:30, which means I won’t get leave work until like 45 minutes after my normal work day. There is supposed to be nummy food and silly games. Honestly, I could make fun of it, but I see no need to. My company, despite its stress issues, is really amazing when it comes to these kind of shin digs.

I am rockin my holiday threads (yeah, I am trying out random words I don’t use. Feel free to laugh) and especially enjoying my light up Christmas Light necklace. I also have the earrings I made out of Christmas ornaments. I am very festive.

Today when I do get home, we will go to KROQ and pick up my Tarantino box set. I am quite excited!

I am pleased to say I only have 3 presents left to get. I did very good!

There is a lot of drama with the kids and their friends of late. A couple weeks back, the Anthony freak out incident truly caused a rift with the dynamic in the group. Anthony had not come to play since that day, and the first time we saw him was at his birthday party. He told me how he really wanted to apologize to Zack for everything that had happened. I told him that was wonderful.

On Monday, Anthony came out to play with Bobby, Dax, Zack and Jess, and the latter two ran home. Bobby came to let me know and within a bit, I had all 5 of the kids in my front yard. I discussed what was going on. Anthony apologized and also explained to me how he was now on meds that would help him with his anger issues (he proudly proclaimed they last 8 hours). I asked Zack if he forgave Anthony, to which he said he did. I also inquired if they still all wanted to play. There was some uneasy answers, mostly surrounding a question on if they were still allowed to. Zack seemed to think his dad was against it. Jess, the much more level headed one of the two, told me and Zack that their dad had said it was all up to Zack if he wanted to play with Anthony. I didn’t want to be responsible for kids playing when they were not allowed to, so I told them if they truly wanted to play with Anthony, they should go speak to their dad. Sadly, they did not come back.

Ken went and talked to their dad. He is of the same mind set as us, which is, Anthony had a bad day and it appears that he is getting help for it. We have dealt with Anthony significantly longer, and are not as worried about him doing anything out of control. Their dad agreed and said it was really up to Zack.

Yesterday, Anthony didn’t come out to play, but Zack and Jess did. Dax and Zack, normally super buddies, kept fighting. I came to find Zack leaving in a huff. He had decided Dax was being unfair about some game. I had seen him be super dramatic in the past, and when I discussed it with all of the 3 remaining kids, it sounded like Zack was over reacting. Dax, though, understood from my discussion with them that clearly he was having a bad day and that there was some miscommunication, so he offered to go and apologize to Zack. Zack didn’t come back, but I did explain to the three remaining kids that they are all friends, and that they would fight from time to time. I know this is all just kids being kids, but it had been interesting having these deep conversations with them. It even had Bobby and I discussing friends in my life that I have been stupid about and stopped talking to. It was like having your own epiphany robot. Bobby is very good at making one realize their own soul.

The boys and I will go watch Ken play some soccer tonight. He has two games, starting at 8. Yeah, way past my bedtime, but what the hell, right? We will probably not stay for both, but we will see.

I am embarking on the 26 Acts of Kindness project. It is where you do random, small good deeds for people in a way to remember the 26 people who lost their lives at Sandy Hook. I have a checklist, and I made copies so I can include the list for every act I do. Some of the things people have done are very simple. Leaving flowers on peoples’ cars or tipping 100% on a bill. I think it would be fun to go down to a Torrance school (since they are still in session) and make sure to bring some cookies or something to the teachers there. I will see about making some cupcakes this afternoon and take them down to the school tomorrow when I get home from work. I need to do this. I need to have something good with this horrible event. If it means I step out of my normal mode for 26 people, I feel slightly better.

Dreams

12-18-12

A week from Christmas??!?!?!?!?!

I had some funky dreams last night. Ken and I got remarried, which in itself isn’t odd. The party for it was. So many people there, and I kept talking to random people that I was supposed to know, and I truly did in the dream, but when I think about how I “knew” them, it was all fiction. Like this one younger guy and an older woman. They apparently worked with me before at some company. I was really jazzed to see them, too. They were super happy to see me and we discussed the good old days. I am telling you, I have no freaking clue who they were or who they represented. It was so weird.

Then after the party, Ken had this whole random ass surprise scavenger hunt type thing for me. I remember having to dig something up. I wasn’t pleased because I didn’t want to get dirty. I also know that at some point I went to a hotel to sleep. I was in this long white nightgown and I had to answer the door to say goodbye to some people, who ended up dragging me to the after party? It was all so uncomfortable and odd. I remember finally finding the bar and getting a drink. It was as if I was the guest of honor at a party of strangers. Plus, I felt all disheveled what with me being barefoot in a nightgown, that was pretty see through, and I was, well, let’s just say I was ready for bed underneath. Yet no one seemed to care. They treated me like some kind of royalty. It was odd.

I don’t know if I even want to start to analyze my dream.

Guns

12-17-12


I don’t like guns.

I say this because it seems like it needs to be put out there first. I truly see no reason to own a firearm unless you are a person who goes to a shooting range or uses it to hunt. I have never understood the appeal of collecting guns. I have never wanted to fire a gun. I get nervous just using the laser blasters at Disneyland.

I am a child of the 80’s who watched all those after school specials in which some kid accidently shoots another kid all because they were showing off their parents’ guns. Who else was just as shocked as me when I watched David Silver’s buddy shoot himself accidently on 90210? Seriously, they freak me out to no end.

This being said, never has it crossed my mind during all of these senseless shootings that the gun is to blame.

We need to stop blaming the NRA and any other gun owning individual when someone decides to shoot someone else. I know people personally who enjoy going out shooting and are incredibly responsible with their weapons. They cherish them and would never allow them to fall into the hands of their children.

I know that there are people out there not as safe. I am not giving them a pass. I don’t know how the shooter from Friday’s massacre got a hold of his mother’s guns, but for all we know, he had always been very safe up until that time. His mother may very well have had them locked up. How is it the fault of an organization that enjoys their rights the reason for a person having a sickness?

There are gobs of danger in everyone’s houses. I am guessing we all hang our car keys up somewhere accessible for our kids. So if Bobby decides to go on a joy ride tomorrow and kills a few people, are we to blame Chrysler because they happened to make the car her drove? Of course not. What about if he takes out one of those Ginsu knives you get on the tv and stabs me. Should we assume that it means the knife maker did this? Or perhaps we should blame the television since they are the ones who convinced me to purchase a knife that can cut a can in half? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to this.

Guns are serious weapons. They shouldn’t be treated carelessly and truly, anyone who does own a firearm should take every single class places like the NRA provide for gun safety and handling. Villainizing a group who doesn’t advocate violence doesn’t bring back these victims. Instead, we need to as a society figure out why someone would want to cause this kind of carnage. I can assure you, even if guns were not allowed, a person who really wants one could find a way to get one.

I hugged them tight

12-17-12

I am still weepy.

The news started breaking on Friday about a school shooting. The details came in, with every update of my browser showing me worse news. I didn’t want to look, yet I couldn’t pull away. The early reports showed 18 children were now dead. All of them were between the ages of 5 and 10. Dax and Bobby ages. By the end of the day, it was even worse. 20 6 and 7 year olds, the exact ages of my children, were dead at the hands of a 20 year old. A beloved principal and school psychologist along with teachers were dead. My mom is a school psychologist. I know too many teachers to even begin to name them. All of this was hitting way too close to home and I found myself shaking at my desk, trying to not cry.

It was a slow day at work, which sadly allowed me to bounce around between CNN, Huffington Post and every other news site that might give me information. I read horrible things such as the children were killed execution style. I saw the mix-up between the brother and the actual shooter. All of it was data I needed to absorb, trying to make sense of the entire thing.

I am not trying to be dramatic for the sake of my blog. I honestly have been truly hurting from this. I wanted to run from the building and go pick up my kids early and hug them. When I got to the school and got Dax first, I pulled him into a bear hug, not caring about the railing between us because honestly, I couldn’t wait long enough for him to come closer. I choked back tears, and Mr. Williams and I both commiserated over the tragedy. He had lived in CT for a while, and even taught near there. He was angry at gun control, and even though I didn’t share his view, I shared his passion at the idea that this was so awful that people were oozing out their pain in various ways.

I snagged Bobby, held him tight and once again had a hard time saying hello. I could breathe again. My children were with me. I don’t know that they were any safer, I just knew even if something bad was to happen, I was with them.

I spent too much time online this weekend, checking for updates. I don’t know what I hoped for. These babies were not going to get to spend Christmas with their families. I saw a picture of the president holding the granddaughter of the slain principal, and I loved the fact that she would have been so proud, but I hurt knowing that the way this moment happened was because the principal wouldn't see it.

I spent the two days filled with as much distraction as possible. Saturday I urged Ken and the boys to come with me shopping before I could drop them off to the birthday party. I needed to get out of the house. I needed to be with them. I had to stop myself from getting too crazy with presents that I wanted to shower them with.

Sadly, our own tragedy came in the form of Padfoot, Ken’s iPad. He had set his case down near one of the video games and forgot to pick it up when they went in for their laser tag session. I showed up while they were in the room, and when they came out, Ken realized he had left it out in the open. Some asshole decided to steal it, rather than turn it in. The Find My IPhone app doesn’t seem to be working as Padfoot has not checked in on the network since Friday. It doesn’t look good.

I tried to make the weekend as pleasant as possible. The boys told me about some shenanigans taking place in their room with a sword being moved without their knowledge. I am guessing they just forgot they moved it because honestly, I didn’t have anything to do with it. They came out to tell us and I quickly responded that clearly it was the work of a bored elf. I explained to them that elves at this time of the year have already made all the toys so they let off steam from a hard year of work by messing with kids. They thought this made a lot of sense and proceeded to set a trap for him. On Sunday morning, I quickly snuck out and had Luna eat the pile of pretzels that had been used for bait, and placed several squished pieces of tootsie roll into the box. It looked like poo. I also included a note saying, “Can’t catch me!”

The boys were freaking thrilled.

First off, I was amused at their realization that the pellets were poop, and then the lighting quick change to them being chocolate. It was quite a range of emotion in 10 seconds. Last night, they opted to make a new trap. It would probably work since I watched Breezer almost get caught in it.

In actuality, Bobby’s first words to me, with all seriousness, “Mom, don’t we have cat traps? That would work.” I pointed out it would probably only catch a cat, not an elf. They both argued that we would only put in elf food, but we convinced them the cat trap would only upset their kittens.

This morning when they get up, they will find one of my Christmas bears and Jessie from Toy Story tied together with Christmas ribbon with a note on them saying better luck next time. I instructed Ken to put on his best surprised look and to brush up on some whimsy so that he could play along.

Ken was gone much of yesterday. I normally would be more upset at losing him yet another full day of the weekend, but with the iPad incident fresh, I decided to be more understanding than that. The boys and I headed to the Galleria in the hunt for a present for Evie and Uncle Matt. We did find a fantastic item for Ken. I also introduced the boys to Cinnabon. They smelled it and had been on their best behavior while I shopped (sure, this may have been in part to the fact that they sat outside the store playing their iPods while I shopped), so I decided to treat them. They were quite pleased.

We got home where I decided to work on worst mother of the year. I allowed them to watch several hours’ worth of South Park. They discovered it recently. The older episodes are way less, um, questionable. First, I was surprised that those old episodes, even when airing on Netflix, had swear words beeped out. The newer ones do not have that. F-Bombs a plenty were present. I didn’t mind either way, but it was interesting to see how they have evolved.

I wrapped all of the presents I got on Saturday and placed them under the tree. I also worked on the two handmade presents that I did this year. I worry they are both lame, but I was so excited about them so I hope the two recipients like them. I also did inventory on what I still need to shop for. I am doing pretty damn well, with only presents for 4 people left. I figure I get paid on Friday, and Friday night the boys are with my folks so Ken and I can go get the remaining items then.

Wednesday this week is the company Christmas luncheon. It tends to be a 2 hour shin dig that has pretty decent grub and prizes. I figure I get paid to sit around and laugh at bad jokes, so why the hell not, right? I have my Christmas outfit for the occasion picked out.

I need to stay busy today, lest I fall back into looking online for more answers that are not there. I can sometimes rationalize murder. I can see how someone snapped and killed a person they know or even someone they don’t. This is one of those times when honestly, I can’t wrap my head around it. I can’t understand how anyone can walk into a room of first graders and systematically shoot each of them more than once. 27 people were shot, 26 of them died. This guy wasn’t just spraying bullets. This guy meant business.

How can anyone be that kind of evil?

   

RIP Buckey Balls

12-14-12

Panda was born 26 years ago tomorrow. I miss that dog.

Hello my wonderful Friday! It is so nice to be in your presence. I am hoping you are kind to me. Feel free to go by quickly as I am anxious to have a couple of days off.

My shopping adventures tomorrow will need to take me over to a place like Game Stop. I want to find Bobby a couple of games for the Wii. I think with these games, I will also need to start coming up with a reward system to allow him time to play them.

I did some cleaning yesterday, which was long overdue. I am hoping to accomplish more on Sunday in the form of laundry. Apparently Ken is gone all day on that day.

I am playing in the app store this morning. Some of the best games I can get for the boys are all free. Plus, there are enough games that actually allow me to zone out. I am not ashamed to say I sometimes hang out in the bathroom much longer than I need to and play a couple of games just so I don’t have to go back to my desk.

Said app browsing has also created a video of the boys pasted on dancing elves who are grooving to some crappy hip hop. Yeah, Friday needs to be over.

I get my bonus today. I am excited. It is the money I am using for this shopping spree planned for tomorrow. I think one of my other purchases will be another bra. I know you are not supposed to buy for yourself when it is December, but this seems like an ok thing to do.

There is some kind of a potluck at work next Friday I think. I really don’t want to participate, but I also feel I really need to suck it up. Sigh. I hate office politics.

Bobby comes running in the house randomly last night in the midst of his killing games with his friends and places a peanut on my desk. He looks at me and says, “You’re a nut, mom!” and promptly runs out giggling. Yeah, that kid is a clown. Clearly the joke book we got for him was a good purchase.

I was involved in way too much waste management yesterday. I removed what felt like 30 pounds of pee contained in Dax’s nigtimes in the trash in their room. I also cleaned out every cat pan. I delegated the dog poop pickup.

Perhaps dangerous toys are truly just ways to weed out the stupid kids early so they don’t become stupid adults. 

I am a little concerned about my photo searching. I typed in "thin the herd" on Google and a picture of Bambi came up. 

too much pee

12-13-12

What do you mean I have to come back to work?

It’s cool, I really don’t mind that much. It was a nice day of kid stuff. There were only a few hiccups, which were corrected and overcome, so overall everything went smoothly. Bobby did his singing which was fun to see again. Ken and I were then able to help out in Dax’s class for his party, which I enjoyed quite a bit. I think Mr. Williams was also quite happy to have the help.

Poor Bobby is still adjusting to his glasses. He has had a couple of headaches, and even felt a bit dizzy yesterday. It is making him a bit tired. We called the optometrist to verify this was ok, and they said this was normal, and to just have him wear them a little less at first to get adjusted.

CREEPY!!! So I have been playing around with LinkedIn off and on and getting connected to some of my coworkers and even some customers. It has actually been more of something for me to do when I am bored, just kind of seeing who is on there. Recently, one of my customers connected to me on there and he sends me a note saying something about it being nice to have a face to the chick who always hounds him for money. It was meant in good fun, and it was let go at that point. A few days later, he sends me another message on there saying my picture was pretty. Ok, I will take a compliment. Just because some customer says I am decent looking doesn’t mean he is gross, right? I thanked him and he then responded quickly, telling me it wasn’t fair that the picture was only half. I was confused, so I wondered if perhaps I had uploaded my profile pic wrong. I verified it was in fact ok, and asked what he was talking about. He proceeded to tell me how he wanted to see a full picture of me. Sigh, ok, dude is being a smidge yicky, and I explained that the pic was simply one I took with my phone. He then sends me a message saying he would like me to send him my pictures to his phone so he could, “keep all to my sel promise that is very hot... if you would not mind i would love to have..all to my self.” Holy fuck, ewww. Oh, but wait, there is more. He sends another message saying, “fyi what we say stays between what we say ...promise....way to many big mouths out there today ...if that is okay with you.got my word”. Dude. I stopped responding and just laughed a bit at creepy guy. I was surprised when he didn’t say anything all day yesterday, assuming that he probably got the message and moved on. Nope. I got in this morning to find a voicemail from him asking if he had scared me off and wanted to just say hi. Eww.

It appears that I only have to deal with Bobby on homework tonight. Mr. Williams is not assigning any tonight, nor is he over the holidays. This is ok with me. I have plenty of things he can practice on. Bobby’s doesn’t look too bad, either, so they both get a break.

I am considering having Ken take the boys to their birthday party on Saturday and I will go Christmas shopping instead. I figure we both don’t need to be there, and I have some shopping that needs to be done. As much as I hate going places during the holidays, and especially going by myself blows, I think it best to not drag them along.

Ittles, or as she is known more recently, Princess Piddles, is hell bent on making me kick her ass. I caught her in the act of peeing in Lycos’ bowl on Tuesday, and found her shitting on the bathroom rug yesterday. Pans have been clean, but she seems upset about something. Sadly, I am not feeling warm and fuzzy towards her enough to figure out what is wrong. She also pissed on Dax’s comforter. It means over these next few days I need to make sure the house is in pee lockdown. Doors have to be closed, all items on the floor picked up, and perhaps considering one of the happy collars for her as well.

As if her pee wasn’t bad enough, Lycos is insistent on not letting us know when she has to pee at night, and she creates a Lycos Lake by Ken’s chair every night. Even when we get up to let her out, she manages to take this as permission to drink more water and then pee again. I suppose some of this is my fault, being that I brought the watering hole down to dog level so that I didn’t have to keep filling a bowl for them. She is old, so I do cut her some slack. Also, dog piss is significantly less potent than cat piss. She also does only pee in the same spot every time, which happens to be an area that is easy to clean up. I am considering putting down those puppy pads, but last time I put down towels, she simply peed in front of them.

busy busy busy busy

12-11-12

The kittens seem fine!

Ok, not that I was too worried, but this was a first for us. We had talked about it and on Sunday we picked up vaccinations for the kittens. This allowed us to administer them ourselves. It was a much better rate of $10, and allowed us to do them in our own house, which probably saves the cats some stress. They did seem the standard slightly lethargic on Sunday night, but as of yesterday morning on, they were back to normal, running around like crazies. This will now allow us to be able to take them down to the shelter over the winter break and get them spayed. Dax seemed very concerned about this last night, even tearing up a bit when I tried to explain what they would do. He was very worried they would die. I assured him that this was routine and they would be ok.

It was a fun afternoon with watching Dax sing. Seriously, I am such a sucker for shit like that. I had to keep my own happy tears in check as he sang at me. Yes, he and I were making eye contact much of the time, with me mouthing the words, which made him smile more. He was positively adorable.

Today we get to go do the same thing, this time with Bobby’s class. Seriously, these are some of the best reasons to be a parent. There is not a whole lot of things that are cuter than a class of kids singing Christmas carols.

Not only did I get to watch kids sing yesterday, I managed to do some serious cleaning. The boys wanted to do their homework in the living room in front of the tree. This meant I could work on my desk. I also got inspired and opted to work on organizing Ken’s desk. I put to use the desk baskets I brought home to good use by taking all of the mail and paperwork and breaking it down into 4 piles. I also made a 5^th pile, which was the largest pile, which was all recycling. This frenzy of clean then had me cleaning up the entry way and the rest of the hall into the house. I straightened the living room, too! It was a happy making time for me.

After dinner we also were able to get over to Dollar Tree where I picked up provisions to make little gift bags for all the students in the boys’ classes.  A Christmas pencil, Christmas eraser, a candy cane, and chocolate coal. LOL! YAY!

Tomorrow is my day off. I am not going to even bother with work being that I will be running around a lot. Bobby performs again tomorrow at 11. After his performance, we run over and get pizza. Then we bring it back to the school for Dax’s Christmas party. I am guessing we will also stop in on Bobby’s class party as well. After school, we are going to the book fair, which will probably mean getting some books. Then after homework, we are off to Louis Burgers for the school fundraiser. Phew!

Now to get through today. 

10 more days till X-Mas

12-10-12

Singing week is upon us!

Today Dax sings, tomorrow and Wednesday, Bobby sings. I will be at that school quite a bit over this next week.

The weekend was crazy hectic. Friday night we did get the call Bobby has been asking me about since last week. His glasses had finally arrived. We went over to the optometrist and were able to, as Bobby put it, “change his whole life.” He is such a nut. He loves them and wore them much of the weekend, including during soccer play on Saturday. He didn’t need to, but I think he enjoyed wearing them. By Sunday afternoon he was noting a slight headache, which I am sure was due to the shock to his system. He seemed ok, but he was clearly needing a glasses break.

Saturday had us all over the place. We needed to pick up party supplies for the soccer game. We also had various outings for things for this week. It felt hectic, but I suppose it was mostly relaxed.

The party was a huge success. It was the perfect combo of fun and mellow. We had lots of food and families were able to bring blankets and chairs and could hang out. The kids played soccer against siblings and parents. What was nice about the scrimmage was that it was super casual. Players could leave during the game and go get something to eat. People could wander in during the game. It was awesome! We had made little soccer gift bags complete with a book on Sharks for each kid. We gave out their medals and thanked everyone. The team presented us with a card signed by the tea, and gift cards which was super sweet. Lots of pictures were taken and the whole time was very enjoyable.

After the game we went in search of shirts for the singing events. I had a JC Penney’s gift card, so we thought that would be a good place to go. Sadly, they did not have simple, plain polo shirts. I really didn’t want to spend too much, so we hit up the Sears outlet store. No dice. I decided I would go look on Sunday.

We then ended up out in Manhattan Beach to go to the Comic Bug. They had a special on a set of comic books that we were sure the boys will enjoy. Since we were out that way, we had dinner at Tomboys which was nice.

Sunday was a drive out to Grammie’s for lunch. I think we drove more than we visited, but it was good to get out there. We should make a point of going more often since she doesn’t really like (nor should she really) to drive that distance. Hopefully over the summer we can go swim more at her place, too.

When we got home, it was time to leave again. Ken was participating in this Menorah building at Del Amo, so the boys and I went to Target with the hopes to finally find their shirts. Thankfully Target loves me and we found what we needed.

Bobby has been really enjoying reading his book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He has been carrying it around with him all weekend, reading it while in the car and in the mornings before the day had really begun. It is cool seeing him enjoy reading to this level. He and Dax have both been reading to each other every morning, which is super cute to see and hear. I am hoping that we have instilled a love for reading in them.

This weekend I am hoping to place an order for a lot of the Christmas presents I am getting for people. Yes, it is a little late in the season, but I get a bonus on Friday which will allow me to do this. I really only have one last thing for Bobby I think and at least this means the kids are done (except for stockings, but that is easy).

The troops are arriving. Time to be busy. 

wow, for not wanting to write, I wrote a lot

12-7-12

I wasn’t going to write today.

I don’t even know how much I will write today. I am feeling just kind of bored with everything. Sure, there is I suppose some work I can do, but truly, with no boss man here, I have zero motivation. I did note that for some reason I can’t get into Facebook. I am guessing they have finally gotten wise and blocked us from the site. Then again, who knows what the real truth is.

The soccer meeting was over before 9, which was freaking awesome. Hell, it should have only been an hour long meeting, but the extra 45 minutes was a bunch of standard bullshit. I did find myself getting even more frustrated with Bandaid Bitch and her lap dog of a husband. Their arrogance and self-righteousness is truly sickening.

I did enjoy the minor conversation I had with two of the people I actually like. I was wearing my little bottle of “poison” necklace. T approached me and asked me what was in it. Without missing a beat I answered poison. She and D (names have been “changed” to protect the innocent) asked me what kind, and I explained I couldn’t tell them lest it somehow could implicate me in the future. They exchanged nervous laughter and it was pointed out that it was a black poison. I told them that this way you could slip it in something like soda and no one would know. D says, “You have given this way too much thought.” I ended the conversation with, “Well, I am not really a people person.”

“Santa” wrote the boys letters. I typed up a couple of letters and left them in front of the advent calendar for the boys yesterday so they would find them. Each were personalized, having Santa explain to them that they needed to be good in ways that were very specific to each. They were genuinely excited and surprised, which was happy making to see that the Santa magic is still alive in my household.

I have replaced some of my hourly arm circles with squats. My legs certainly hurt. I have no idea if it does any good. I suppose it makes my muscles stronger in general. That is not a bad thing.

I may be spending too much time on Pinterest since I am now interested in making a couple of the Christmas presents this year. Clearly I am delusional since we all know I don’t have an ounce of talent. I am an idea girl. I can come up with some fantastic plans. The doing? Not so much. I am really ok with this. I just think it is funny.

Hee! More paper boxes coming home with me today for wrapping of presents. We are putting all of the presents for the boys in these giant boxes. Some of the presents are small, some are large, but all are in giant boxes, which makes it all look cool under the tree. It is quite a bit of fun. I also have been trying to only put one or two under the tree at a time since it is fun watching Dax especially, who has basically been stalking the tree, note all the new presents. He is very observant about it.

I put together the holiday packets for Bobby’s class this morning. The good news is that it looks as though she didn’t give them 3 weeks worth of work. She only gave them one week, which is AWESOME. It means we can get this done at a much more leisurely pace. Plus, I can have him practice on book reports.

I have been making Dax do something different with his paragraphs each day. They fill out a sheet when they are in class with their name and the topic. I have been making him erase his name and write it nicely, and then add a date. I have been keeping all of his paragraph’s in a folder so the date will be nice to have. Plus, I figure it is good practice. I am trying to have them both do a little bit more advanced thinking since I know it will help them in the long run.

Bobby is anxious about his glasses. He keeps asking me if we get to pick them up yet. I expect a call any day now. I am tempted to email them, but they did say 2 weeks and it hasn’t quite been two weeks. I am anxious, too, since I really am curious as to how much it will help him. At the very least, it may help in the idea of it being like a placebo. Wearing glasses may in fact make him think he is smarter and therefore it will boost his confidence.

I do love the energy in my department today. It is very clear the boss is out and that the holidays are upon us. I was explaining my wrapping scheme, and you could tell they all find me crazy yet endearing at the same time. I like that there is more chit chat. It will hopefully make the day go by quickly.

Not much to say this morning

12-6-12

Hallelujah!!!

There is no better email to receive on a Thursday morning from your boss than this one:

Dear All

I will be on vacation Thursday 12/6 and Friday 12/7, returning Monday morning 12/10.  Call me on my cell phone with any pressing issues.

Woo hoo!!!!

The only real issue with this morning is that my zen is being interrupted with a couple of people coming in earlier than normal. Oh well, I will deal.

The RC assured me tonight’s meeting is going to be pretty easy, what with there not being much going on in the region that needs discussion. I am thankful for this, as I truly don’t want to spend a shit ton of time hearing people talking about stuff I don’t care about. I am hoping I can start writing the checks that are for ref points, though, so I don’t have to do them all at once.

I finished my book last night. I really enjoyed it, but I was a little upset when it was done. I suppose it ended the way it should, but I still wanted more. I am going to start the author’s first novel this morning. I am curious as to its quality.

I watched a couple of episodes of Parenthood last night, also. I am concerned that a major character, one even though I don’t care for will die and I will be a freaking mess next week when said episode airs. The character, Kristina, has breast cancer, and treatment has not been going well. Next week, she gets really sick and appears to be in ICU. She looks like she will die. It makes sense in the idea that it would certainly make for a good way to be realistic, but seriously, I will freak out.

I may need to get out more.

So much pizza

12-5-12

There might be nothing better than a good book.

I am nearing the end of the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. My mom had loaned it to me some time ago, along with another book by the same author. I had not gotten around to reading it until a couple days ago when I noted that it was on the list of top books for the year. I can see why it was included on said list. It is quite good and I am enjoying it immensely. Sadly, when I get involved in a book I tend to do nothing else but try to read it. This makes for a frustrating work day when I am trying to sneak time to read and people keep coming to my desk.

Truly, I am writing this journal entry out of habit since I really just want to be reading my book while no one else is in the office.

It was a better homework day yesterday. Ken had the boys ride their bikes home on their own as he stayed at the school to speak to the GATE teacher. We got everything done with no tears or much yelling. My hopes for tonight are that Bobby does even more than last night since I would really like him to complete multiple book reports this week. I also want him to be able to go out and play with his friends. They seem to show up like clockwork and it is quite distracting. I am tempted to set visiting hours, but wouldn't that make me evil?

It looks as though I will be doing a bunch of checks tonight for soccer, which means a visit from the RC. Not a big deal, especially if I can get him to bring any extra check requests over tonight so that I don’t have as many to do tomorrow night. The meeting is long enough without having to stay after to get signatures.

I need to go to Party City and Dollar Tree in the next day or so. I need to find plastic sharks so that I can put them on a bunch of cupcakes. I suppose this also means I need to go get cupcakes. These are for Saturday. We are having the team party. It will be fun since we are also going to play parents vs. kids again. It will be awesome, and I know the kids love it. I am also pretty sure the parents do. I am supposed to bring a main dish, as per my offer. I now have to determine what to bring. The good news is it looks as though I am getting $100 from the region for this party. I do want to get something nice for the parent who was our new ref, though. He busted his ass for us!

I think tonight I will make the boys go on a walk with me. They need to get some more exercise (I know they run like crazy during the hour they play with their friends, but I would like some more for them) and I do, too. Plus, I figure if I make it one of those outings in which we might see Christmas lights, it will be good incentive.

Ken added the Lego advent pieces into the advent calendar we already had set up. The boys didn’t know this and when I opened the drawer for last night, I acted confused when there were two bags of Lego pieces in there. Dax uttered a hushed whisper of, “Oooh, Santa came early!” It was perfect! It will make for fun evenings around the piano this season.

Dax apparently volunteered us to bring pizza to his classroom party next week. Neat. I am not sure how we will pull this off, what with us needing to be at the school at like 10:30 to get seats for Bobby’s performance. I guess we can go get pizza, have it in the car and then go get it when we go to Dax’s room after? We have to have the pizza in his room at 12:12 (the party is on 12/12/12 and of course starts at 12:12), and the singing starts at 11, so we may even have time to just go pick up pizza after the singing. Dominoes is just down the street. Hmm…