Friday Date

5-29-15

I have shouted in the office at least 3 times this morning. It is a good thing it is Friday.

My goodness it is frustrating when your department is the dumping ground for the whole company, especially when we turned in record numbers this past year.  A sales driven company will never appreciate the folks who bring in the money and manage the credit worthiness of customer. We are not the enemy. We are simply trying to keep our company doing well.

I am bummed the local beaches are having issues with tar washing ashore. Manhattan Beach closed its beaches, as did Redondo. It is hopeful it will reopen by tomorrow, but I know there are still warnings to stay out of the water. I am saddened by this because my boys were hopefully going to the beach tomorrow with my folks. This certainly puts a damper on their outing. I know Torrance beach is open but the water warning still stands. Cross your fingers that everything is cleared up by morning!

Once I drop off the boys, Ken and I are going out. The plan is to take him to this sushi place that has those cool little boats that float by with options. I am not a fan of sushi, but he pointed out most places have other things that I can eat such as teriyaki or tempura. I will hopefully find something of interest, but even if it doesn’t work out, I can go next door to get something since the place is near many other places. I am not sure what the rest of date night will entail. With registration tomorrow morning, I don’t expect a late night. Then again, the registration doesn’t start until 10 so we will have plenty of time for sleep so it might be ok.

Toph is still in the cone of shame. I took it off for all of 5 minutes yesterday in a moment of feeling bad for her. Sadly she went right for her incision, so I had to turn her back into sad lamp. At this rate, she will most likely be coned through the weekend.

Summer is fast approaching, so I am hopeful that Sunday I can get the rest of the yard ready for pool placement. We saw some really cool umbrellas at IKEA so I would like to get one of those to put over the picnic bench. I sometimes like to be outside while they swim, but I don’t want to be in the pool. Colorful hair plus pool water do not always mix. It will also be nice if we do pull off the party idea for the 4^th of July.

I want to take a flower to the JFK Bidet today. It is his birthday after all. 

Irish Family

5-28-15

That was a lot to handle yesterday.

Tuesday night, I checked on Toph’s incision site. It was a little pink, but the most alarming thing was the small hole. It was opening up. Never a good thing. We located a cone of shame and put her in the bathroom overnight since the clinic was already closed. Ken ended up taking her in the morning.

Turned out not only had she managed to pop open her incision, she also got a pretty bad infection. Not cool. So they had to re-open her in order to stitch her back up. I picked her up early afternoon yesterday where she was still coming down from the anesthesia. She was not a happy camper. However, when we got home and she realized it was me, she was desperate to get out of the carrier and get to me. I had to keep her in the bathroom a bit to let her rest. She was not having it. My hallway sounded like a horror flick with her scraping her cone on the door trying to get out. I sat in there a bit with her, petted her and was amused that the cone acted as an amplifier for her purrs. We let her wander the house a little last night, but she mostly just wasn’t sure what to do with herself. The cone was clearly annoying. She spent the night in a cage as I don’t want her irritating the site. She is on Clavamox so hopefully everything will clear up quickly.

Her fate was on my mind all day. I was sort of thankful for the reports I had to work on. I finished them in record time, so I ended up completing a whole bunch of other projects. I did the work of 4 people yesterday in less than a full day. It was nice simply to keep busy.

Soccer texts and emails also were crazy yesterday. Parents needing advice on changing regions and executive votes on donations were front and center. It wasn’t bad, but it did add to the general chaos (General Chaos-salute) that was afoot.

I am also still trying to not be frustrated with the track team. Dax had his off site practice on Tuesday which was cool, but I hated watching him sit around for 45 minutes of the 60 minute practice. They spent much of the time working on the relays, which I suppose in some ways is the one thing that needs real practice since the baton exchange is difficult to master. I found out that Dax is running the 50 meter dash, which he will rock since he is a sprinter. He also is doing the running long jump, which I didn’t expect since I would have guessed he would be better at the soccer kick. My intel (thanks, mom!) showed that 3 graders didn’t do more than 2 events each. 4^th graders were more likely to do 3. I also found out that there are 17 schools participating at the track meet. Sheesh! It is a bummer that we will end up watching a whole lot of meet with only a couple of insanely quick runs for Dax. The good news is he can train over this next year and maybe next year he can be on something like the relay. I am betting they put him on 50 meters because that is where his strengths lie, which is why he isn’t doing something like a relay. That being said, I will be good and not be THAT parent who demands her child be a part of every race.

I am considering going to Hull with Dax a few times over this next week to have him run the track. I can walk with him and he can not only get some stamina training, but I can have him do some sprints and time him. He needs practice not looking over his shoulder and just running through the finish, not slowing down near it. I think once he is racing fast kids, it will not be an issue.

Today looks to be significantly less crazy. Dax has practice for his play at school so he stays after class for a bit. It means I can hopefully get Bobby done with his homework quicker since we won’t have a distraction. Somehow I don’t know that this will actually happen. Especially when he comes up with gems like he did yesterday.

It occurred to me that I am the world’s worst parent as I rock out to O.P.P. and White Lines in front of my children. Bobby asked me why I thought this and I explained that the two songs personify sex and drugs. Bobby chuckled and said that it was ok since we are an Irish family so they can handle this. Not sure if I am impressed with his reasoning or concerned about his views on what Irish means.

Tales of a Four Day Weekend

5-26-15

It is never a good sign when the boss shows up super early on the first day back from a long weekend.

It was a good weekend, though, so I am trying to stay positive. I am glad I took Friday off as I got to sleep in along with getting a crap ton done all day. We started the day off with going to the school for “Portfolio Day”. I am not a big fan of school activities that are scheduled for the morning before school since it is pretty obvious the district forgets that in this day and age most people work for a living, but it is what it is and I am glad I was able to go.

Bobby’s classroom was first and I adored the mission the class worked on over the past couple months. It was adorable! Bobby was able to point out the people he made and the other contributions he created. Even though I think it would have been fun to make missions at home, I loved the teamwork involved with the class making one giant mission. I also know that Bobby really seemed to get a lot out of the whole project and he talked about it daily. This makes it even better!

I was a little jealous that they had done the owl vomit project and that I had not known it was happening. That being said, the results were so cool! We had seen Mike Rowe do one of his early Dirty Jobs shows on people who collect the owl vomit and then sell it to schools. It was fascinating how these little balls contained such perfectly preserved bones. Bobby had a skull and a tiny little jaw bone in his along with other bones. It was so cool! I am going to get a box frame so I can put it up somewhere.

Dax’s classroom was so crowded! It is always hard to maneuver in there anyway, but then add a crap ton of parents and it becomes impossible. I really enjoyed having Dax show me how he did his weaving. It was so simple yet cool looking. He is working on another one after having done 2 already. The yarn he chose for this one is really pretty and I am anxious for him to finish so I can put it up somewhere.

Ken and I didn’t stay for the assembly or PTA meeting. We needed to get out to KROQ in order to pick up the soccer tickets for the game that night. It was fun, though, since KROQ was doing their Party Machine morning in which they play just random, fun and happy songs all morning. It is the best! Since we used to go to the live broadcasts for Party Machines pre-kids, it was almost like doing it again. Sure, we didn’t get to see Kevin or Bean, but it was still fun.

Once we got back home, Ken had to jet off to go to class which allowed me to go take care of bank stuff for the region and get the oil changed in my car. I got home early enough to have spare time which allowed me to clean like crazy. I scrubbed the kitchen and worked on laundry. I even mopped the floor! I felt all accomplished by the time the boys arrived home. I wanted the place to be nice for the weekend so that we didn’t have to worry about too much. I also wanted the place to look nice for Mrs. Fasheh who was coming in the morning. Yay me!

Dax and Ken went to the Galaxy game and had great seats! Not only that, but Dax won a shirt and got a picture with the mascot who came up to him. Jerry, Nicole and Ally were also at the game so they got to go say hello to them. Dax was truly in hog heaven. Ken tried to get tickets for an upcoming game at the Rose Bowl for Dax since Messi was going to be playing. Sadly they were pricey and sold out quickly. Hopefully soon we can get some so Dax can see him play up close.

Bobby and I didn’t go to dinner as planned. He seemed more interested in just hanging out and playing his PS4. I can understand that. So he and I did head out and take bowling tickets to my dad and we visited there for a bit. Then on the way home we picked up Wendy’s which was his choice. 

On our way home, we also happened to see Angela waiting for a bus. He and I both considered going back for her to take her home but I didn’t want to subject him to her brand of crazy for the night and honestly, it was not supposed to be a night where I took a friend to her apartment. It was supposed to be just me and Bobby. I have some guilt, but overall I am ok with my decision.

Saturday morning, Toph and I headed to San Pedro for her appointment. I didn’t go nearly as early as I normally do, and subsequently there were already two people already in line. I didn’t mind, and didn’t even raise a stink when 2 people cut in front of me when the doors opened. I figured I would get in when I did and just hung out. I ended up chatting with a nice rescue lady who complimented me on how I looked to be one of the only people there who really loved their animal. She pointed out that out of the crowd there, I was the only one talking to my cat and not on the phone. That’s why my cats are better than your cats. Ha!

Mrs. Fasheh came over around 10:30. It was nice seeing her and she was so happy to see the boys growing up so much. She couldn’t believe the different in Dax. He really has thinned out since she has saw him so it was cute how happy she was. She didn’t stay too long, but it was nice to chat with her and congratulate her on her retirement. She is planning on still doing some private tutoring so I am hopeful that I come across someone that may need a tutor so I can refer her.

Toph was ready much earlier than expected, which was nice because I was happy to get her home. She is healing well, but I can tell she is feeling a little off. She has been super affectionate which has been cute, but I still worry. She is eating ok, though, and still mostly active even though she has been a little more lethargic than normal. It’s funny, though, it feels like they flipped her love switch and she is now super kitty wanting more petting than she used to.

The rest of the weekend included some projects, shopping and movie watching. Sure, we could have probably gone some places and done something fun, but it was nice not really having to be somewhere. I also was glad we were able to spend some time and watch the new Into the Woods and The Imitation Game. We also re-watched Inglorious Batards. It still holds up and is so much fun despite the whole Nazi thing. Hmm, we watched two Nazi flicks. How strange.

We put up some curtains downstairs, which is awesome! It will be nice since it will keep out the super intense sun in the afternoons during homework. We also were able to pick up cool things for the cupboard to store our cookie sheets better. Yay IKEA! We picked up a thing for the broom closet, too, but sadly it didn’t fit. We will look for one at Lowe’s since I think the idea of having a rack that rolls out with the trash can and some shelving will be good for that.

Ken also cleaned up the garage a bit and we cleared out the recycling from the Catio. I am hopeful that maybe this week I can get to the side of the house again and go through the remaining items. Much of it looks to be trash, but we are not sure. We couldn’t do much since one runs out of trash space so quickly these days when you work on a project.

We took our baby stuff over to Maria’s. It is nice to keep cleaning out so much stuff as it makes the house feel even more awesome. I really need to work on my desk, which may be a this week project if only because I need to go through some soccer stuff for Saturday. We have a registration even at the Carson Library. The boys will spend the night at my folks on Friday night, which means Ken and I will take advantage of a free night for a date. I am glad the boys can spend the day with my parents on Saturday since it will mean they don’t have to be bored at the library. I think that Sunday I will have to come up with a fun family outing.

With 4 of the next 5 Saturdays soccer-fied, I am hopeful to work on everything to get the yard ready for the pool. We are almost there! I am looking forward to swimming.

I suppose I should work now.  

No work tomorrow

5-21-15

Ok, I have decided to just call today Friday and not bother with work tomorrow.

I have a pretty full agenda for my Friday. I get to go to Portfolio Day, which should be entertaining. I know I have seen a good chunk of their work, but it is still fun to see them proud of their work. I am hopeful that the morning is a bit on the cooler side since I know it gets warm trying to get through these classrooms.

Once we are done at the school, I am going to head out to KROQ. I am picking up the tickets for the Galaxy game tomorrow night. I am hopeful that they are cool seats because I know how much Dax will enjoy it if he is up close. I made Dax stay home last night instead of going to Ken’s game, but that kid has been so tired lately I needed him to sleep. Hopefully a big time soccer match will make it up to him. I hated watching him stifle tears while I read.

When I get back into town, I will head to the bank to get some information concerning the information I need to open new accounts for the region. I don’t anticipate being there nearly as long as I fear I will be, but it is still something to get done. Once I get the branch manager name and phone number, I can also get our National Office to write the letter to open the new account. So much red tape. Bleah.

Bobby has agreed to a haircut. He and I (and possibly Ken and Dax) will go up to Supercuts and have them shave the underside of his hair. I really think it is going to make a huge difference in the tangles. Plus, summer will be easier. Sure, I could have Ken handle it, but I think letting a professional get everything even first will allow us to maintain. That will be nice.

Bobby doesn’t seem super impressed with going to dinner with me. I am not shocked since his primary focus is now getting to play GTA all night. I am unsure as to what I will do with my time what with me having done a fair amount of cleanup yesterday. Maybe I can work on my desk.

My weeds have not been cut, but Ken was getting in touch with the gardener so perhaps I don’t have to fret about it further. Who knows, maybe when I get home I will find a glorious patch of dirt in front of my house instead of gross.

I suppose I should try to find something to kill the next 5 hours.  

Awards and Hair

5-20-15

Stupid headache.

My goodness I am bored today. I am pretty sure I can find some rabbit hole to fall into, but it takes some time. Yesterday I played on the Torrance newspaper site and reviewed the column they used to do called A Penny for your Thoughts. A “roving reporter” asked a handful of folks the same question, everything from something on politics to pop culture, and would post their answer with the person’s picture and address. The answers are incredible sometimes. There were two in particular yesterday in which the citizens were asked about particular music trends. First, there was the one in which they asked about Rock and Roll. One person actually said it was most likely dead what with Elvis being in the military. Oh, and then there was the question about this new band called the Beatles. Every one of the people asked made a crack about their hair being out of control. But the best was the lady who thought the “craze or fad will eventually fade away.” Yeah, talk about being on the wrong side of history, lady!

Oh hey! We won an award last night. The counsel meeting was actually pretty cool. We were not there too horribly long, and I was a little put off at first when they did a prayer after the pledge, but overall the time there was entertaining. The Historical Society got recognized last night, too, which was awesome since these are the good people who brought me my newspapers. WOO!

I started playing on Pottermore, but I don’t know if I have the patience to think in a clever way this morning. I did just unlock something on Gilderoy Lockheart, so that will most likely be interesting, but I will read it in a bit.

My plans when I get home are to cut down the weeds in the front. Ken had made arrangements with our gardener to come when he had time, but it has been too long and the weeds are irritating the crap out of me. I am a little nervous about the edger, but I think I can manage. Plus, there isn’t much to do so it shouldn’t take too long.

I also need to help Dax with his report. I will most likely put together his village model before he gets home and let him add the finishing touches. We have about 2 pages of report left to write, but it has been going quite smoothly so far.

Dax got his first sleepover invite! He is going to Max’s party on June 13. They will be seeing the new Jurassic Park, which should be fun. I hope he has a good time and doesn’t get too nervous about the sleepover part.

Track practice was entertaining. It is a lot of kids, which surprised me a little. They didn’t just dink around, either. They ran. They practiced on the relay race, specifically how to pass a baton, which isn’t an easy feat. Dax also did a couple of tries at the long jump. It ended up being at Adams, not Torrance, but next week it is at Torrance. It meant homework for Bobby was a little harder to do what with no seats close to the practice, but we made do overall.

Ok, Tylenol popped, so hopefully the headache will disappear shortly. I would consider going home, but I am already not here Friday so I think that wouldn’t be a good plan.

I need to do my hair. I am doing blue next, so I will have Ken do the parts that are not super purple. That way it is kind of two colors. I am considering having him up his game and even use foil and re-do some of the purple, too, but we shall see. This weekend I can go pick up color and see what we can do.

Mrs. Fasheh is retiring! She emailed me yesterday to let us know. She wants to return the microphone system we loaned her. Hopefully she can come by Steve this weekend. I was just thinking about her a couple days ago. I like that we have been able to keep in touch with some of the boys’ teachers. I think I want to get a nice bouquet for her for when she comes by.

Of course, as I wrote that, I got an email back. We will see her Saturday morning. Yay! Guess I have some cleaning ahead of me. If I can get it all done by Friday night, I will be able to not stress in the morning, what with Toph and I heading to Pedro for her spay appointment.

I think this weekend will be when we deal with Bobby’s hair. His tangles are out of control and I think the best plan is to Sokka his head. This would mean shaving the underside, which would rid him of much of the curls that cause the issues, and then his top hair would still stay long. I showed him the man bun that has been all the rage online, but he wasn’t super impressed. Hopefully he doesn’t regret a hair change as drastic as we are suggesting, but quite honestly I am tired of getting annoyed that the hair doesn’t get brushed in the morning. There are times when I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to be home to help get the household ready in the mornings.

I realize the plan on Friday night was to go to dinner with Bobby since Dax and Ken will be at the StubHub watching the Galaxy play, but perhaps it would be better to just pick up food and allow him to play GTA all night. I can work on the house uninterrupted and I know in reality, it is what he would prefer. Of course, we could do dinner early and then when we get home do the game/cleaning time. I need to discuss it with him.

I need to get to Target. I need to take the recycling in. I need to water my new trees. I need to fix the dogs’ water. Man, I have too much on my plate and not enough motivation. Ha!

So busy

5-18-15

Another week, another Monday.

On the plus side, my tushie is all kinds of happy this morning what with it rockin the brand new chair! WOO! It had showed up on Friday and we had considered building it ourselves when we determined not only did it look more complicated than I wanted to deal with, it was 30 minutes before I left and I didn’t feel the need to mess with it. Instead, I was able to walk in this morning and have it all ready. Yay!

I am kinda bummed this morning as an email went out earlier (like 5:30 early) that the safety director was let go. He was a sweetheart and I really wonder what took place. The position is starting to seem cursed what with it going through like 3 people in the last couple years. Makes you wonder what is going on.

This past weekend was filled with movie. We watched Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back along with going and seeing Age of Ultron again. It was nice to have a lot of down time. You would think we would have spent time watching flicks we haven’t seen, though.

Knowing the boys would get bored watching the whole parade, we decided to go up to the parking structure at Del Amo and we watched the fly-bys for the parade. It was a perfect spot for it. We then were able to go down to the exhibits which were right there once they showed up. It was especially nice since during the fly-bys the boys (mostly Dax) were able to hang out in the car and play their video games. It was comfortable, which I think was a huge selling point. They both really enjoying climbing up into the tank, which was fun.

I got caught up on Mad Men only to find that the series finale wasn’t until 10 o’clock last night. This means I am currently in a net full of spoilers. I don’t really care too much since most of the spoilers don’t really ruin it, and if anything have often been helpful in understanding some of the Twi Peaks-esque crazy Mad Men has always delivered. I had plans on doing super cleaning this afternoon (the downstairs needs some work) but I may just sit on my butt and watch the show. As much as I enjoy the program, I am kind of glad it is all done simply because it is one less thing that I feel stressed about keeping up with. Ha!

This week looks crazy busy. Tonight I have to get the boys to not only do their homework, but Dax needs to complete Tuesdays’ work along with probably writing his Native American paper. Hopefully he brings home the instructions so we know how long it needs to be.

Tomorrow is the first track practice off site after school, so this means doing homework with Bobby in the stands, which could prove to be a real pain in the butt. Tomorrow night we are going to the city council meeting were our region is getting recognized, which is pretty damned cool.

Wednesday is more crazy homework with us making sure that the native American display we have mostly put together is good enough to turn in and making sure homework for Thursday is complete.

Thursday has Dax staying till 4 for rehearsals. I haven’t decided yet if I will just drive up there and work with Bobby on homework on campus while waiting for Dax so I can bring them both home or if I have them both just walk home alone. I will need to talk to them about that.

Friday I will work in the morning and will get home in time to go to Open House in the morning. Afterwards I will be able to go to the bank to work on soccer banking stuff. Bleah, but it will finally be getting done.

Saturday morning I take Toph down to Pedro for her spay appointment. It isn’t a huge deal, but I will need to go early to take her. Thank goodness our weekend isn’t too crazy which will allow me to keep an eye on her healing.

With my mom now reading the whole Harry Potter series and the boys being almost done, I may need to get my ass in gear and re-read them all so that I can also join in on some of the discussions that will take place. That should be a lot of fun!

RUN!

5-15-15

I should have worn jeans, even though I am comfortable in the pants I chose.

Dax is officially on the track team! Woo! There is a possibility that he is doing the 50 meter dash according to my Intel (my mom saw the list in the classroom! Ha!), but he could do others. It all depends on the assessment done by the coaches over the next couple weeks. Sadly, I have very little information. I found some data online since it is a district wide meet, but I would have liked a better packet of details from my own school. I am hopeful that next Tuesday since there is a practice at a track after school, I will get more details. It looks like I have to stay in the stands and I can’t say hang out with him lest we lose sportsmanship points, so that will be different. I am so used to being practically on the field for soccer, so hopefully it all goes well. It will be the worst if he loses and cries because I will have a hard time not sprinting to him.

I am happy to report I at least took care of budget stuff so it means I am stress free for that aspect of life. I still need to get over to the bank, but that looks to be a next Friday activity since I will be home much of the day since Adams’ open house is in the morning. I will be thrilled when that is done.

Yay Friday, and yay Friday on a weekend with nothing pending! It means the work day will drag since getting home means kicking off my shoes, curling up on the couch and becoming one with Steve. I do have intentions of making a numtastic dinner. We picked up this yummy BBQ Chicken at Costco last night so I think I will make that. It is so nice having just done a Costco and Ralphs’ run since it means I have options galore for nourishment.

Apparently the award our region got yesterday wasn’t the only one we are getting! Jimmy told us last night to keep Tuesday open at 7 since there is some other honor happening. Not sure what that means, but it is not through AYSO. Odd, and super intriguing! I am all jazzed!

I am thinking that I need to color my hair blue for the track meet. School colors, yo!

We are hopefully getting new chairs at work. This will be good since I think it will help my hip which has hurt due to it being crooked.

I now feel the need to go dink around. 

Not so Deep Thoughts

5-14-15

I braided my hair today so I wouldn't be tempted to hack it all off.

I got a raise yesterday.

People forget that their pain isn't the only pain.

I may have loaded up on too much clothing with animal prints.

That being said, damn those clothes are comfy.

I have been sucked into region pride this morning with a new award we have won. We freaking rule.

I really want to be in bed when it starts raining.

We are supposed to go to Costco tonight but I am feeling some shopping fatigue.

I have a sore spot in my ear that is annoying especially because it hurts when I put in an ear bud.

I hope there really is rain today.

Is humanity doomed because of how many dumb folks are out there?

I want a pet dragon. Ok, not like in Potter, but one from Berk.

I really have to pee but I am waiting for a commercial break.

Soccer

5-13-15

I almost didn’t come to work.

I woke up this morning briefly in my turning over and I happened to glance at the clock on the dresser. The time said 4:30. Now sure, in reality, I should have jumped out of bed and freaked out. I am supposed to be sitting at my desk by 4:30 and here I was lounging around in bed. My first thought was that one of the cats must have stepped on the clock and set it ahead an hour. This was logical and it also meant I had another 20 minutes to sleep.

It wasn’t my only thought.

I really hoped it was right. I hoped Ken had forgotten to set the alarm. I hoped that I was currently relaxed for a good reason and that I truly was meant to be playing hooky. I then started planning. I spent the next 20 minutes going over things I would accomplish today if I was in fact able to sleep and not be stuck at work. I knew I would head over to the Galleria and pick up the order that had come in. I would go to the bank and discuss our region options. I would watch a couple of Mad Men episodes. I would call Fred and go over the budget issues. It would be a glorious day!

Then the beeping started.

Damn.

So I am now at work, trying to determine when I will be squeezing in the various things I wanted to do. It is probably good I came in, what with me leaving early on the 22^nd since it is portfolio day for the school. I can handle 8 hours of working. It isn’t that bad.

When I leave here, I will head to the mall to pick up my order. I wanted to go last night, but homework and a grocery store run prevented any extra outings. On the plus side, we have groceries. YAY! Homework wasn’t really an issue so much as the boy attached to it who seemed to be super dinky all afternoon. Of course, the irony was that a huge part of the homework was an opinion essay on whether or not homework is important.

It also looks as though my afternoons just got even busier. Granted, it may not be as bad as it seems, especially since one of the biggest issues of homework is supposed to be light. Dax not only has his track practice, he also will have his rehearsals for the play he is in for class on Thursday afternoons. It means he will be walking home alone (Bobby, too) on those days. It is only for 3 weeks, and the school year is winding down, so it might not be so bad overall, but I do see some stress on the horizon.

Of course, all of July certainly makes up for it. With Ken and the boys gone all day during the week, I will not only have no homework to deal with in the afternoon, I will have me time! I will most likely have something like 4 hours an afternoon. Dude. I am hopeful for the pool to be up since perhaps I will take advantage of the quiet and I can just float.

We also made some arrangements for our trip to Salt Lake City and subsequently Colorado. Holly graduates the first weekend of August. She is getting her doctorate in Occupational Therapy. This is a cool thing and we are all going to celebrate her accomplishment. So we fly out on the 31^st of July for the ceremony on the 1^st. Then we are there for like a day and then we drive to Colorado. There are a lot of us, so it will be a good ole fashioned convoy! Woo! I told Ken we totally need CB’s, but I somehow doubt that will happen. Not a bad thing, but man, that would have been entertaining. Apparently the drive is not too much longer than a normal trip from Steve to the Compound, so that isn’t bad. I am going to see if I can find some awesome Roadside attractions we can maybe stop at. That would make for some awesome!

Mmmm…carrots. They had some mini peeled carrots on clearance so they were picked up last night. Yay!

GAH! Too much to do for treasurer position. Feeling overwhelmed. Need to find time. Really, I just need to suck it up and get it done.

I done good this morning. I won tickets for Ken and Dax to see a Galaxy game. Yeah, I kinda rock.

Ok, now to do something useful here. 

Don't lock the keys in the car

5-12-15

Well, the busy isn’t going to be all soccer related now.

Dax made the track team, which is freaking fantastic! I am so proud of him. Not sure which events they have him running, but he does have a butt load of practices coming up. Most of the practices are at 8:20 in the morning, so before school. However, every Tuesday starting next week until the 2^nd of June he has practice for an hour at Torrance High. I will be picking the boys up after school and heading over to watch, which will be fun. I will have him work on extra homework on Mondays night so that it isn’t a big deal on Tuesdays, and I will work with Bobby at practice so that we can hopefully get most of it done. The meet itself is on the 5^th and it looks to be 6 hours long! Whoa! That being said, I get to watch my little speedster kick some ass that day!

I have been busy much of this morning, which I guess is nice since it means the day has been flying by. I prefer it to not knowing what to occupy my time with. I have been fielding AYSO budget questions, entering track schedules and doing a crap ton of actual work, which means I have been a multi-tasking god. Yeah, I kinda rule.

Yesterday seemed to be a cruddy day, and I was actually worried today was starting bad what with me unable to unlock the door at work and managing to squirt perfumed glitter into my eye. I suppose at least I managed to not lock my keys in the car this morning, which is what I managed to do yesterday as I was getting ready to head out to the dentist. I have decided to be positive this morning and know that this afternoon will be good as I get to watch a movie with my mom. Plus, Dax told me he has NO MATH HOMEWORK for this week. Dude, how excited am I??? Bobby’s homework is light this week, too, since testing starts this week. We do need to build Dax’s Indian project, but it looks as though it may not be due till next week. This means we got a decent jump on it yesterday since Dax crafted his clay buffalo already. Woo! We have a trip to Joannes in our future what with us needing cloth for a teepee. Hopefully we can get it all done before Sunday.

We had plans on going to a Lego convention this weekend, but it doesn’t look at cool as hoped, so we will skip that. I think now my plan is to try and go see the Armed Forces Day parade. Not sure yet. Ken hinted at another outing to see Age of Ultron, which I am quite thrilled at. Who knows, perhaps this will be a good weekend of doing nothing! YAY!

I did manage to do one happy making thing yesterday in the form of watching an episode of Mad Men. I found a web site that allows me to watch the episodes. My plan is to now catch up ASAP. With the series finale this Sunday, I think I can manage to watch an episode a night. I have 5 to watch. I might even let Bobby and Ken play GTA while I sit back and watch my show on the iPad. Hell, I don’t mind the small screen and I can chill downstairs. Plus, Friday night looks to be slow, so I should be able to watch multiple episodes if need be.

Ok, I was working on this but got super side tracked. What a shock, right? Sigh. I suppose I will post and get my ass in gear to get shit done. 

Organized Chaos

5-11-15

Every day I am at work I find myself fantasizing about winning the lottery so I can stay at home.

Friday I went to a funeral. I showed up super early, concerned that it might be crazy packed. There are a handful of churches in this small section of Old Torrance and I knew parking was always a bitch when church was going on.

It turned out to be a pretty small service overall. There were maybe 45 people total. It allowed me to sit in the very back so as not to intrude. Sure, I wanted to experience the whole service, and I wanted to pay my respects, but I also didn’t want to insult anyone or make any aspect of the funeral to be about some random Facebook chick showing up. It would seem rude.

The priest was this little Asian man who seemed incredibly lovely. At one point, there is a time in which he was able to speak what seemed freely. Obviously with a Catholic service, there is a lot of traditional aspects that need to be done, but it was nice to heard this man talk so kindly to Lisa and her family. He spoke a lot of how humans need to gather for things like death. He pointed out that sure, everyone in that room was most likely thinking about things they would need to get to later, but for this hour, we still all set those things aside to say goodbye. He talked about it is this ability to love others that god specifically gave humanity. It was incredibly deep, and in a lot of ways it made me feel better about crashing this funeral. We don’t have to of known a person to feel sad for their passing, and to be together, even with folks we don’t know, doesn’t make us weird. It just makes us human.

I could have gone to the reception, but I still felt as though this would be inappropriate. I slipped out the way I came in once everything was done. I also ended up helping two ladies who had been lost during the whole service. They were driving past and stopped to ask for help. I told them that although they missed the mass, the reception was about to take place. They seemed relieved that they didn’t miss that aspect.

Lisa sent me a message shortly after I left. Clearly some random purple haired girl in the back of the room isn’t going to go unnoticed. She thanked me for coming and wanted me to come back. I declined, simply because I had other things I had to tend to. I was super flattered that she not only recognized me, but told me next time we need to hang out. I told her I would love that and hope that it is during happier times.

Saturday morning, I got up crazy early for it being a Saturday that I was totally allowed to sleep in. Ken and Dax headed out to the soccer field at like 6:30, and truly that meant both Bobby and I were up. He and I did have chores to tend to before his friend, Ian, was to show up at about 9, so it just meant we started early.

We managed to scrub the kitchen, clean the living room and downstairs. I straightened the bathroom and then Ian showed. They were playing GTA in the living room, which meant I needed to find something to do other than watch tv. Laundry, cleaning my room, cleaning out a closet along with numerous other chores. I seriously kicked some domestic ass. It kept me busy and out of the boys’ hair while they played games and watched YouTube for 4 hours.

After Ian went home, Bobby and I headed to the soccer field to retrieve Dax. We hung out for a bit, which only resulted in bickering between them. Super frustrating all around. I wanted to go to Target, so I took my chances with taking them. Luckily, they were mostly ok. They only got grouchy after we got home and we said we were going to dinner.

Ken got home from soccer and decided he wanted steak, so we went to Outback for him to get a steak. Thankfully, the steak was good since most places never make it the way he wants. The boys were mostly ok with the menu there, so I suppose that is still a win.

Sunday morning, Ken headed out early again. After he left, I was up. I couldn’t sleep, so I took a shower. Both boys didn’t want anything to do with my nonsense. We were going to be meeting up with my folks around 10:15 for Don Jose’s. I ended up leaving super early because I was bored. I bribed the boys with donuts and so it allowed me to get out of the house and gave me destinations before brunch.

Don Jose’s was busy when we left, but we were disappointed when we were there since the service seemed slow. Thankfully they have such nummy food, it is hard to stay mad at them. I of course ate way too much, but it is all so dang yummy.

We then headed to the Del Amo Mall in order to make my bear. It was a bit chaotic. Dax chose to make Hulk, so I opted to make this rainbow kitty that was cute. Bobby made a white cat. They complained about accessories, which was frustrating. Although, Bobby did get underwear for his cat, which was pretty damned entertaining. Ken had sent me texts asking if we were coming by the field. He wasn’t feeling well and needed meds. I felt like I needed to rush a bit because I needed to get to the field.

Sadly, Ken was super sick and when he got home he pretty much went straight to bed. I am glad I made some dinner, but did feel a bit sad sitting on the couch watching That 70’s show, stoned, all alone. It wasn’t the ideal Mom Day, but I know I should not complain.

Today I have a dentist apt with Bobby at 4. I need to make sure my house is straightened up before I go to bed as my mom is coming by tomorrow to watch Jersey Girl. I also need to start getting Dax’s Indian project done, which should be interesting with him now on the track team, which means he will be at the school late I think two days a week. Yeah, stress and chaos in my future.

Sigh. I need a nap. 

I gotta make it through 5 more hours.

5-7-15

Happy Friday to me!

Of course, today is the most treacherous. Trusty claims he will be in by 11:30. My hopes for this are that he actually shows up at 1:30. That way I don’t deal with him at all. By that time I will be home, printing out my financial reports for the board meeting tonight. Woo!

The meeting tonight will most likely be pretty fun. This is Boss Man’s last meeting in charge. He will still be around, but no longer as RC. We have a trophy for him which will be fun. He has a lot going on with the tournament this weekend so I am placing bets that the meeting will be short. We aren’t even having food. Lucky for the boys, Stephanie and Sabrina will be home which will allow the boys to stay at home during the meeting. Lucky for me, I get to sleep in having taken the day off for the funeral and for some extra time for me to go to the bank to get the region account cleared up. All in all, it should be a good evening.

I really want to go watch Age of Ultron again.

Like a freaking lot.

I am a little nervous about going to this funeral tomorrow. It really goes against so many of my natural tendencies. I will be going alone and I am so out of my element with being in a huge Catholic setting. Plus, I don’t really know these people. That being said, I think that a lot of it will be very cathartic for me and I am glad I am doing this.

Bobby was so cute last night. Dax was with Ken at the game, so Bobby and I had some bonding time. He then asked me if he would remember talks like this when he got older. He seemed a little bummed that it is most likely that he wouldn’t. I did tell him the best way to remember things like this were to write in a journal. I am going to really try to encourage this more and more. He liked the idea and I am considering having him read a few of my blogs so he understands what it is all about.

Bleah. As much as I am thrilled at the rapid pace in which this day is going, it still means I am getting closer to that scary time frame in which Trusty will arrive.

middle of the week

5-6-15

It seems ballsy on my part to have bud balm on my arm right now, but dammit it works!

I did a fair amount of housework yesterday. There is still laundry that needs to be done, which I will hopefully rock today. I also have the old baby stuff to clean up so I can get Maria over to take it off my hands. I also would like to make sure the house is in order what with the new possibility of Ian coming over on Saturday. I figure the downstairs will end up cluttered after the kids are done, but I can at least prep it so that the only cleanup is stuff they do.

Ken has a soccer game tonight at 8, so it is very possible that Dax will be heading out that way. I don’t know that Bobby will what with him knowing he can’t just go with his iPad. I may need to bust out a small book to read to him since I am done with Bunnicula and really, I wouldn’t start the second one until Dax was home. Either that or we rock some Blue’s Clues again. Sadly, I only have one episode left that recorded. Maybe we can watch the Upside Down Show.

Oh my! Looks like rain in the forecast for reals now. Doesn’t start until tomorrow, but it means this afternoon I make sure the things I have been working on outside are covered and safe. Ken also put a lot of Lego out there because he is using the trailer for the tournament this weekend. I am anxious for a day in which I can get enough stuff organized in the garage that things can always be put in there temporarily. I am starting to wonder if perhaps I can get more of the catio functional.

I really want a trellis put up over the cement area out back. It would be cool to have it open and then have some kind of retractable cover that can make it so you can cover it better during something like a rainy day.

I have black lipstick. Yeah, maybe not the best idea, but I really want to use it. I played with it a bit this morning, but with the outfit and hat choice of today, it didn’t seem right. Perhaps tomorrow I can make it work. I also really like the red/black ombre look, but I think that I would need to practice a shit ton before making that a public look. I know the black may seem too gothy, but I think if I partner it with my hair down and wear something kind of colorful it will work. Of course, I am also considering tracking down some purple lipstick so it matches my hair. Ha!

It is funny how much more relaxed this department is when the boss is gone. Mind you, these people all tell me how I am too hard on the boss, but in reality, they are all scared of him and also find him annoying on every level. Yeah, not big on brown-nosing, but I suppose you gotta do what you gotta do.

Sigh, it is time to find something to occupy my time. 

Flowers

5-5-15

Even though Trusty is out of the office, the office is still not where I want to be.

Oh shit, I got all kinds of distracted. I went to see what this untitled document was and found all of one line. Oops!

My yesterday was mostly uneventful. I did end up going and picking up this book I found on the Trash and Treasure site for the boys. It is a Harry Potter pop up. They were quite thrilled when they saw it. Ken wanted it to be more epic, but for $5, I am not complaining.

After I got home from book acquisition, the pups and I headed out to the library. It was a good walk, and I could tell I am not the only one out of shape. It does make for better behaved dogs, although they tend to be really good on leash. I know both of them were quite concerned when I tied them to the bike rack to go into the library. I was gone maybe 5 minutes, but their faces when I came back out told the story of pups having been left to die. Sheesh, dramatic much, girls?

I timed it right where I was able to wait for the boys at the school. I hadn’t planned on it since I thought I was way early, but as I started to pass the spot where I usually wait for them, I heard the bell, so the dogs and I decided to wait. Both boys were thrilled with the company and they even asked to walk the dogs, which I loved!

Once homework and dinner were done, we went to the dollar corner. We actually didn’t end up going into Dollar Tree having been able to find what we needed at the 99 cent store and Big Lots. We were in search of flowers for today. It is Teacher Appreciation Week, and today you bring flowers to your teacher. The original plan had been to go get one in a pot so it lasted longer. We ended up going with plastic, which allowed for us to also add trinkets in the form of a tiara for Miss Van Wie (she apparently has declared herself a queen, which I totally respect!) and an airplane for Mr. Chin (Hanger 11, yo!). I hope it goes over well.

Today looks to be fairly low key. It is Cinco de Mayo and Taco Tuesday, so I fully intend on rockin some tacos for dinner. Whether or not I feel inspired to make margaritas is still up in the air. I have to admit, drinking has lost some appeal in terms of sitting at home drinking. I still enjoy well made cocktails at places, but since I lack the finesse required, it isn’t something I seek out. Plus, if I want any kind of buzz, it is far more satisfying to have a hit.

I have an hour left in this place. It also means I only have 2 more days left of this week. Let’s see if I can make it. 

Avengers weekend

5-4-15

I have a week of no Trusty!

My weekend was full and fun. It will be nice to recover from it with no stupid man asking dumb questions all week.

Saturday was spent mostly hanging out in a folding chair. Our registration event was a success. We had 160 signups and even though we didn’t have gobs of volunteers helping out, it seemed to not be a real issue. Plus, the people there were some of the best ones, so it made for an enjoyable day. I like how much I get to laugh at something like this. During lulls in crowds, you end up chatting with folks, and for a person like myself who gets overwhelmed with too much chit chat, I was quite happy. It probably helps that I had things to occupy myself with that allowed for some down time for me.

The evening was spent just hanging out. It was good to be able to do nothing. It almost felt like a separate day. I am always happy for some time to be spent doing nothing on a weekend. Especially since I was so busy all day. I had even prepped by crock potting a pork loin that was way ready when we got home. It was nice having some mashed potatoes, too. YAY!

Sunday morning, we did a whirlwind clean up since there would be a mini gathering in the evening. Once that was done, we were off to see Age of Ultron. Oh. My. God. So much great! I can’t wait to see it again. I was annoyed that my 3D glasses sucked hard, so the next viewing will be without this. I don’t care about the explosions being all up in my face. I want to be able to listen to the dialogue and watch their facial expressions, all of which can be done in a regular format. I only cried once, during which I spent a lot of time before it worried that what I cried about was going to happen. It didn’t, but what DID  happen still made me sad. The witty banter back and forth between characters was wonderful, which I suppose shouldn’t surprise me what with Joss Whedon at the helm.

After the movie, we hit up Target with mixed results, and then over to Costa where Aaron was working with some students. Ken wanted to show us his classroom and he also needed to help Aaron with something, so during that time I dragged the boys out to the campus to show off my old stomping ground. Damn, my school has changed! You hear about the plans, and you read about it and even Ken told me all about it. That doesn’t prepare you in the least to look out to where the office should be and instead there is a raised field reminiscent of the grassy knoll. It was all so very strange. The Quad also looked wrong, although I think that was just the perception when you are 14 looking at it compared to 39. Either way, the memory stroll was awesome.

Big Wok is hands down one of my favorite places to eat. I love that boys enjoy it and that it is far enough away to keep us from going too much, but close enough to go a fair amount. This occasion was for Ken’s birthday. It was also a perfect day in which I ate very little.

After dinner, we headed back to Steve to partake in cake. We had picked up a Pac-Man cake and I made some brownies. The sweets were not as great as the random conversations had at the table. It was a lot of fun hanging out with my folks and Stephanie. I like it when I get to laugh so hard I am exhausted afterwards.

Oh yes, and there is nothing so magical as lady parts being pointed out on your wall. YAY!

make this friday go fast

5-1-15

I am a rebel.

Ok, not really, but I feel all rebellious parking where I did today. Sadly, everyone here knows I am too quick to be ignorant, so I just have to own it and be ok with breaking some rules.

Today looks to be pretty boring overall. I have a meeting at 10, but hopefully it will be quick and painless. When Ken gets home, he and I are running over to the dispensary. I discovered a new vape product endorsed by Tommy Chong so it has to be pretty damned awesome, right? So we are going to ask our people what they think. We need to get some chocolate, too, so might as well stock up for relaxation products for tomorrow afternoon after the incredibly exhausting registration event.

Sunday will be awesome what with the Age of Ultron and going to the Big Wok for dinner. All around awesome sauce!

I find myself rather distracted this morning. Clearly it is a Friday and there is too much online to mess around with. Plus, it seems as though all of my bad paying customers thought it would be fun to place large orders when their credit line can’t handle it. Sadly, it is a fine line I must walk in which I keep them “happy”, don’t release the order and keep them from trying to gain sympathies from Trusty. If Trust catches wind of any order, he releases and it ends up being a huge headache. Thankfully, much of next week he is out of the office, so happy days for me.

I am so ready to go home.