Free fun

Uncle Joe's new couch and loveseat came in a pretty awesome box. It has provided hours of fun as a boat, house and a train.

Happies and Crappies - St. Patrick's Addition

HAPPIES * I have a goal to become more domestic. I thought it went nicely with being a homeowner and also, I won't have any money to do things outside of the house. I think it is about time I learn how to cook. I wouldn't mind learning some other things too. I am have a Mormon heritage. I feel like I should know things like... how to make jelly and bottle beans and stuff.

* While I was pondering my future domesticness at FHE last night, I started to talk to my home teacher Andrew, who is a professional gardener at the beautiful Longwood Gardens.

The new place has a sliding glass door off of the kitchen that most people build a porch off of. Since I cannot afford a porch, my sliding glass door will lead to no where and will just have a gate across. I was thinking maybe I could put a pretty basket or something on it with a few flowers, just to dapple in domesticity. So I started asking Andrew about good hearty plants and before I knew it we had made plans for a small but full blown vegetable garden and a one tree orchard =P. I'm actually very excited for it.

CRAPPIES

* I stayed out late this past weekend (got home after 3 for the first time in.... I don't even know how long...) and I still can't seem to recover. I was in my pajamas by 6:30 tonight and literally nodding off putting Isaac to bed around 7:45.

* I am being summoned for jury duty on my spring break! I will have to waste one precious day off of school sitting around in Norristown. Booooooooooo.

* Glenn Beck sobbing about the state of America... just kind of disgusts me. I won't go on...

* All of the stuff I have to buy after not living on my own for four years. And... a tiny part of me is irritated because if I was getting married near strangers would be sending me rice cookers and crock pots. I know it's petty but I do sort of feel gypped...

Anyways, I had more, but I'm tired. That's all for now...

More from I Hate Miley Files

http://www.usmagazine.com/news/radiohead-miley-2009133 Radiohead Accuses Miley Cyrus of "Entitlement" After Insult A war of words has erupted between Miley Cyrus and her former rock Gods Radiohead. The argument started when Miley tried to use her clout to meet her heroes backstage at the Grammys. The notoriously shy band refused. Miley then blasted the group on a syndicated radio show as “Stinkin’ Radiohead!” and said, “I’m gonna ruin them, I’m gonna tell everyone.” But the band aren’t taking the insult lying down. A spokesperson for the band responds on their behalf, “When Miley grows up, she’ll learn not to have a sense of entitlement.” Miley says the Radiohead dis was a huge disappointment to her, “I was so upset.” But Coldplay exceeded her expectations. “Coldplay was so nice. Chris Martin hung out with me the whole time,” she gloated.

Drum roll please...

The mortgage is approved.

The colors are chosen.

Construction starts (hopefully) Monday.

=) =)

What being a mom is all about...

So I have been blogging on myspace for years. But I rarely log on anymore and I have moved my blog over to this site. For nostalgia's sake this morning I was going through some of the old entries. I have to hand it to myself, being a single mom of a toddler, working full time and going to school full time-- it's a wonder I survived. It was a humourous to go through all of the old entried where I am despairing over him teething or ear infections. Those days are long gone. As unbearable as they seemed at the time, they really were over in a blink of an eye. Anyways, here are a few of my favorite entries that I felt like I should transfer over: For a while I went through a haiku phase with Isaac. Here's a sample: Yet another night Staring at me from the door Get back in bed Crib-- how I miss you! Lovingly caged him each night while I did homework And this one, I think one of my most memorable moments ever as a mother. I think Isaac was a young two at this point. May 27, 2006 Worst 20 mins of my life *warning-- TMI-- seriously, if you don't want to read about bodily fluids, stop reading* I guess this is what being a mother is all about. Isaac threw up last night. I didn't think much of it honestly. Today he was clingy, tired and not quite himself. I was working from 9-3 and Isaac was spending the day at his father's-- I would pick him up after work. His father reported to me that he had a long nap, and ate a little lunch, so I took him ahead to the birthday party of a coworker's daughter. It was at Chuck E Cheese and, I was looking forward to it, despite the noisy location. I decided to take Isaac to the party and leave if it seemed to be too much for him or whatever. I wanted to chat with everyone, honestly. We enter. I say hello to my friends. Almost immediately a horrible smell wafts up to us emanating from my son. I excuse myself, grab the diaper bag, change him on one of those awkward fold down things in the bathroom of Chuck E Cheese. He clearly still had a touch of a tummy bug, as the contents of the diaper had the consistency of water. (I warned you ahead about TMI, so don't get grossed out on me now). I change him into the one diaper I have in the bag and we return to the party area. I chit chat for about 5 minutes when I smell it again. A quick diaper check reveals more of the same as before. I am out of diapers. Someone points out a CVS right across the street. I drag the diaper bag and Isaac back to the car, sweating profusely at my forehead chest and underarms, as it has become very hot and humid today. I grab my purse, go around and lift Isaac out and see a smear of liquid poop on the back of the carseat. I realize that on the ride over, the situation has escalated to a fullblown poop blowout and he has the contents of his diaper halfway up his back and soaking through his shorts and shirt.I am repulsed clearly. I have some paper towels in my car and try to clean up the carseat and my child as best I can. I have an extra outfit in the diaper bag, so I plan to buy some wipes, come back and get him cleaned up properly. I walk towards the CVS, and deposit all of the soiled paper towels in the trashcan and think to myself about the disgusting things you have to do when you are a mom. I located the diaper aisle, grab a pack, and start to look around for the wipes. All of a sudden Isaac lets out a sort of a rumbling belch. He coughs a few times and I see the vomit in his mouth. He tries to swallow it down and for a brief moment I think it has passed. Then he opens up his mouth and SPEWS forth vomit everywhere. I thought he was done more than once, but he just paused and then would let out another cough and another great. foul river would come pouring out. I am now covered in puke (my pants, shirt, neck, most of my one arm) and he is also covered in a layer of puke, on top of his layer of poop. The pack of diapers I am holding in my hand is now covered in puke, and there are drops of puke all around me in the aisle (although not too much. My front and pants took most of the impact of the deluge). I grab a second pack of diapers, and still holding the pukey pack and with Isaac on my hip begin to wander around trying to locate a bathroom. I don't see one. I approach the pharmacist to ask her for one. She says I can use the bathroom that is usually reserved for staff only. All of the patrons at the store are staring at me, clearly horrified. This is when I look down and realize that the force of him puking must have sent a great jolt of pressure out his other end, because liquid poo is now dripping down his legs, and down my arm and pooling up by my hand. It was all I could do not to burst into tears.So I take him into the bathroom. The girl who lets me in tells me I can leave the pukey diaper pack in the back room. I strip Isaac down, rinse out his top and shorts in the sink. I take off his diaper. He is covered in poo from basically his armpits to his ankles. I just put him in the sink and rinse him off under the faucet, and put a clean diaper on him.There was some clorox on a shelf in the bathroom and I used that to clean the sink out. Then I tied up the trashliner (because the diaper I left in it smelled horrendous as you can imagine) and I put his soiled clothes in another trashliner. Lastly, I washed my hands, and although I was still covered in puke and poop, I managed to leave and pay for the opened package of diapers with as much dignity as possible. I can only imagine how I looked covered in puke, wreaking of poop, and holding a child on my hip who was now wearing only a diaper, and a holding trashliner full of soiled clothes. As I am pondering how I became a human toilet, to add insult to injury Isaac grabs a huge fistful of the shoulder of my shirt, and procedes to blow his nose into it. And that my friends, was the worst 20 minutes of my life. =)

WWJJD?

http://jezebel.com/5065998/10-invaluable-life-lessons-i-learned-from-judge-judy 10 Invaluable Life Lessons I Learned From Judge Judy By Tracie, 3:00 PM on Mon Oct 20 2008, 26,325 views A few years ago, I was backing out of a parking space, when a woman flagged me down to tell me that I'd just hit her car. She showed me the damage to her bumper, which had paint marks of three different colors, none of which matched the color of my car. She said that we wouldn't have to involve authorities or my insurance company if I just paid to repair the damage. I knew I was being scammed, but couldn't just drive away because the woman already had my plate number. So I thought about what Judge Judy would do, and told the woman to call the cops, because I knew that JJ would say that if I'd done nothing wrong, I shouldn't be afraid to involve the police. The cops showed up, took one look at my car, saw that it hadn't been washed in ages, and pointed out that I couldn't have possibly hit the woman's car, because none of the dust on my bumper was disturbed. It was then that I realized that Judge Judy has been instrumental in teaching me to act like a responsible adult. After the jump, the 10 life lessons I learned from JJ. 1.) "Um" is never an answer.When you're asked a question (particularly if Judge Judy is the one asking) don't ever, ever, ever begin your answer with "um." It makes you look stupid, and more importantly, it makes you look like a liar. And no one wants to look like a stupid liar. 2.) Beauty fades, dumb is forever.A lot of people try to coast by on their looks. And that might work for a while, but eventually those people won't be as conventionally attractive as they were in their youth. If you don't wise up and learn to use your brain instead of your body, you'll have a way tougher time getting by in life. However, while beauty does fade, there's always tasteful plastic surgery to keep it from going completely down the tubes. 3.) Don't ever co-sign on a loan.Unless you're married to someone, you should never co-sign on a loan, because both parties are jointly and individually responsible for repayment. So if you co-sign with a boyfriend for a loan on a car, and then you break up, and then he decides to be a jerk and not make the payments, your credit will get royally f-ed up. 4.) Honestly is the only policy.If you tell the truth, you have nothing to worry about or be afraid of, because shit won't come back to bite you in the ass. Case in point, the woman who accused me of hitting her car. She was totally lying, which is why she didn't want me to call the cops. But I was telling the truth, so I had nothing to be afraid of. 5.) If you are going to lie, you have to have a really good memory.So if you do plan on lying to get out of a situation, you need to be smart, because stupid people always get caught in their lies. Think the entire thing through, cross-examine yourself in your head. Think of every possible scenario which could trip you up, and memorize the crap out of your story. Or, you can just go with lesson #4 and never lie to begin with. 6.) If you help out a boyfriend/girlfriend financially, it does not automatically turn into a loan at the end of the relationship.If you pay your BF's parking tickets, and then six months later you break up, you can't go asking for that money back. You should've been asking for it back during those six months that you were together. Think of the lost money as an expense for a bullet dodged. 7. Put on your listening ears.If someone is talking to you, don't pull an Elisabeth Hasselbeck and utilize the time to think of what you're going to say when the person is through talking. Actually listen, and maybe you'll learn something. 8.) You can't put your hands on anybody.Sometimes the idea of punching someone in the face is so fucking tempting that you can hardly stand it. But you really shouldn't ever resort to hitting anyone, because it just makes it seem like you aren't smart enough to win your argument with words. However, if they hit you first, you can go apeshit on them in "self-defense." 9.) Parents don't borrow money from their children.Unless you're trash or a Lohan. And nobody wants to be trash or a Lohan. 10.) Don't be an idiot.There's a lot that falls under this category. Like not forgetting to bring receipts and bank transactions to court when you're suing someone. Or not keying the car of your ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend. Common sense is underrated. For this category, think of Judge Judy holding court in your conscience. You'll never make a stupid decision ever again.

Happies and Crappies 3/3

Happies

• A two hour delay today after starting off the week with a snow day! I adore two hour delays and it was a surprise to me. I figured we would be back as usual.
• Tomorrow I am going to a conference on teaching kids with autism to read. Looking forward to it. So it will be Thursday by the time we really get into the swing of the week! Hurray!

• The fact that for the last couple of days I have been able to devote some time to reading for pleasure again. I have been reading the above book which I got for Christmas. Frida Kahlo is my favorite artist and is such an interesting person. I wish I made more time for reading and less for watching TV.

Crappies

• Money FLYING out of my bank account. It's pretty ridiculous and sort of stressful. It seems like every time I turn around there are four more bills to pay, or invoices arriving.
• Still not having heard back from the mortgage company. Five business days my foot. I know there isn't any reason why it won't work out, but it is concerning... I just want to have the official word.

Anyways, off to Target to return some things. How are things going for you??