well....I already used THAT title.....

I was going to title this post: "yes, I am still alive" but I used that one already. I was going to title this post: "the good, the bad, and the ugly" but same problem......wow! whoever said I was creative was wrong!

anyway.....I am going to do this in bullet style because there is so much to cover and none of us has all day:

good - the ceiling is almost done
good - the popcorn stuff is gone
bad - it looks horrible
good - we should be able to fix the parts that messed up easily
bad - it will still looks horrible
good - I got a wall paint even
good - the color looks really cool
side note: J was surprised by how notwhite our walls were compared to the ceiling
good - I think painting the walls will go quickly next weekend
bad - my right arm is really sore and my fingers/hand keep going numb
good - I expect it is only temporary
bad - I am so sore that I didn't shave my legs today.....and they REALLY needed it
good - dinner is in the crockpot for tonight
bad - it is probably the only night this week we are eating at home
good - I am almost done with my DT stuff for this week
bad - I haven't really scrapped in 2 or 3 weeks......but my shopping hasn't slowed down
bad - our Dyson was shocking R yesterday while he vacuumed up after the paintfest
good - they are going to send a replacement part that should solve the problem
bad - I want to know how to get a cute little picture to show up next to my name when I post on other's blogs......but can't figure it out
bad - I want a visitor counter on this blog....but (well, see above! lol!)

I had other stuffs to say....but can't remember now!

ETA..........yes, I know I was tagged.......10 odd things about me. I haven't forgotten.

blame it on the heat!

today my car told me it reached 90 degrees in our fair city. quite warm for this time of year. and while it will get even 20+ degrees warmer during the summer, I think this little heat wave has thrown people for a loop.

I can't believe how many dangerous driving incidents I saw today and how many horrible drivers were on the road. like the guy making a left hand turn.....from the right hand lane. the old people (yes, they were old) that cut someone off to turn left into the suicide lane......then laid on the horn because the guy already IN the suicide lane was in their way (they solved that problem by driving around him and cutting off someone already in moving traffic). and my final example (though not the only other incident I saw) is the girl who drove down the turn lane and missed the green light so she kept going straight through the intersection and through the red light......all while going about 10 miles over the speed limit and chatting away on her cell phone!

let me tell you, I was thankful to come home to find dh's unharmed car in the driveway. I can only imagine the insanity he saw driving home in rush hour traffic!

today's PSA.......school lock down notification!

Lock Down Alert

supposedly this site will send you a text message or e-mail if/when your child's school has a lockdown situation. then you can go to their site and find out more detailed information. IF it works what a great resource it can be! I really would have loved it on Friday!!!

the way I see it #225

People don't read enough. And what reading we do is cursory, without absorbing the subtleties and nuances that lie deep within - Wow, you've stopped paying attention, haven't you? People can't even read a coffee cup without drifting off.
~ David Shore (Creator and executive producer of the television drama House)

hhhmmm........that is what my Starbuck's cup said today. gee, kinda funny, don't ya think, DENNIS?!?!?!

what gives?!??!

so I use Suave shampoo and conditioner for color treated hair. until recently, finding it hasn't been a problem. last week I realized I was running low on shampoo so when I was at Kmart (because for SOOOOOOME reason R thinks they are the greatest place in the world for jeans......don't ask, I have no clue) I went over to the hair care section to grab some shampoo and conditioner. well, they didn't HAVE the shampoo....just conditioner. there wasn't even a tag marking the spot for shampoo. like people who have color treated hair don't wash their hair?!?!?

needless to say, I didn't buy the conditioner.

this morning I was ahead of schedule (well, really more like ON schedule) and had a few minutes before work started to cruise Walmart. as a rule I tend not to shop there, but can't beat the fact that they are open at 7am while my beloved Target is not open until 8am......30 minutes after I start work. I went over to get myself my shampoo and conditioner (and Swiss Ives facial scrub that I can't seem to find anywhere else either for some reason). oddly enough........they had the shampoo but not the conditioner. (insert shocked smilie here) what gives?!?!? atleast there was a shelf tag for the conditioner. am I buying some fad product that has reached such high demands that it can't be kept in stock?!?!? it is just generic shampoo and conditioner for crying out loud!

needless to say, I bought the shampoo. guess I need to stop at Kmart on the way home now.

she LIVES!!!!

but almost barely it seems.......

still really not too happy about all that went down on Friday. by the end of the day we had received a total of 3 pre-recorded phone calls from the school. the final one said that school stayed in session in lock-down for the entire day but also thanked all the parents that did come get their kids! lol! through conversations with other students my guess is that R's class was at half capacity or less by the end of the day.

Friday night R went to serve dinner at the VFW that sponsors his Scout Troop. found out that J's father is a member of that post! sheesh! you would think they would TALK and know this stuff! lol! as J and R and D are members of the VFW through J's dad.....technically they ALL sponsor R's Troop! while the dinner was going on, J got the stuff for the beginning of our living room project. (see next paragraph)

Saturday........Saturday was spent scraping that ugly nasty acoustial crud off our ceiling. J and I spent most of the day on ladders swearing as wet plaster-like junk was falling on our heads or (in J's case) because our arms were getting sore from holding a heavy pole with a heavy bag filled with that wet plaster-like junk in it. it was gross it took forever but now it is gone. and when it was done we swept and vacuumed the carpet (even though it is getting replaced in a few weeks). I just couldn't handle all that stuff getting tracked everywhere. and even though (with the boys' help) we got a great majority of it up.....there are still pieces everywhere. I am SOOOOOO sore!!!!! and next weekend we get to texturize the ceiling and then paint it and the walls!!

Sunday Lindsay from Cosmo Cricket was in town for a trade show with one of his rep companies. I went down to hang out and help him out. had a BLAST!!! it was probably good that I spent most of the day standing. I have noticed that standing up after sitting for awhile is the worst thing! lol!! we taught a class in the morning and then cruised some of the lss in the afternoon. what a blast to see things through his eyes! after that he took me and the boys to dinner. he and J got along nicely. they mostly talked Scouting (and scrapbooking! lol!!). Lindsay has 4 sons and 3 are Eagle Scouts and the 4th will be shortly. after that R went back to the show with us for the evening's make & take fest. R helped me set up the table and get things started. then he took some time to go around to the other tables to see what was going on. R was in total make & take HEAVEN!! that boy definately loves his crafts! lol!! before it had ended I had to drag him away to take him home. I am sure he went to bed with dreams of adhesive and distressing running through his head. one moment totally cracked me up.....I went over to the table he was working at to let him know that was his last station before we needed to leave......he shook his head and just kept saying, "adhesive.....Mom, I need the adhesive."

today....back to work.

and now I am pissed...

I am at home with the boys. just picked them up from school (well, actually got them an hour ago but we went and grabbed some McDs since they hadn't had lunch at school yet). the high school they share a campus with went into lockdown and then sent all their kids home. the boys' school went into lockdown and were turning away the busses for the afternoon kindergarten classes. by the time I got there half of our city's finest were milling around along with a local tv station. seems there was a call with threatened violence at the high school. anyway, they didn't close our school down (yet) but it was only a matter of time. I beat the rush to get my kids......literally. it was a packed madhouse when we walked off campus. I beat the rush thanks to a call from a friend who works at a different school. by the time we got home their was a nice long rambling yet lacking details message on the answering machine from the school principal.

anyway.....I am NOT pissed because I am home. I am PISSED because some stupid idiot has once again decided that calling in a threat would be funny. I am PISSED because my boys were scared. because they could tell from their teachers attitudes that this lockdown was different. and I really hope they catch the person/kid who did this.

and yes, my previous post said that I thought people over reacted yesterday. I still think they did. what makes today different?!?! they closed down one school and sent one other into lockdown. the entire county/school district did not come to a grinding halt. did I over react in going to get my boys? no, honestly I didn't. but I didn't get them because of the threat. I got them because I was going to have to go get them anyway. by 2pm that campus will be empty or we will have been told to come get them anyway. this way I am done and home instead of waiting in the school cafeteria for an hour while the overworked hall monitor and school principal ran back and forth to classrooms. heck, already before I left earlier they had called in administrators from other schools to help.

I am back to my original question........WHY????

a lot rattling around in my head today.....

but before I say it I ask that you remember one thing.....one SUPER DUPER important thing. this is MY blog. this is MY space to talk about what I want to talk about......what is going on in MY head.

I am SURE that you have heard about what happened at Virginia Tech. I, like most if not all of the country, am in total shock about how someone can do something like that. but fast forward from then until yesterday.

Weds night a meth addict in a nearby county told his priest that he was considering doing something that would make VT seem "mild." yes, I believe that was the word that he is quoted as having said. the result of that was that most of the schools north of us were in lockdown yesterday and most were actually closed with the kids all sent home by the end of the day yesterday. those schools are also closed today. the police in those areas were all in a major man hunt for this guy.

now.......before anyone tells me that I am insensitive and would feel differently if my own kids were in the same position........the boys were only a nice casual 45 minute drive from where this lunatic is.......so it is just as feasible that he walked the 2 blocks to the school near him as him having gotten in one of the 2 cars they thought he might have been in and driving down to some unknown school to carry out his little party. so, yeah, I could easily say that they were in danger.

but aren't they ALWAYS in danger? some high school kid could decide that he just is tired of being a TA for all these smart mouth 5th graders...... or a teacher could get tired of them not getting an appropriate raise for the 10th (or 20th) year in a row.......or the kid across the street whose dad locks up his guns but maybe, just maybe, forgot this last time....... or some whacked out sicko who thought it was funny to stick poison in Tylenol........ do you get the point?!?!?

and while I will completely cop to being a complete paranoid paper, I think people overreacted and not just a little bit. look at the POWER they gave this guy!! this guy, who btw, spent yesterday hanging out with his girlfriend......with absolutely no plans for mass destruction and who didn't even know what was going on until late last night when he turned himself in. one guy making a comment shut down the educational system for 36+ schools for 2 days!!!

just shaking my head......full circle......why would someone want to do this?

$1,000.....uh, no thank you!

I got a phone call a few minutes ago. they called my direct line at work and even had my name. they were calling from a local radio station and give away $1,000 if you call in when they say your name on the air. the guy asked if I wanted to be in the drawing.

(now, $1,000........that would be SOOO nice, wouldn't it?!?!? quick.....think of 5 things you could do to spend $1,000)

so.....did I want to be in the drawing? no, I told him. no because I don't listen to your radio station. and, although I didn't tell him, $1,000 wouldn't get me to listen to it enough to ever hear my name called. atleast this way someone who DOES listen to their station has a better chance, right?!?!?

so.....now I should have some positive radio contest karma due me, right?!?!?

happy anniversary, happy anniversary!

to J and me! seriously! can you believe it?!?!? not only do I feel like it can't possibly have been that long......at the same time it seems like it has been forever together! and of course not......we aren't doing anything exciting to celebrate. J has to go to a Scout meeting tonight and I think I am going to bed early with my cold/allergies/sinuses/whatever. how freakin' romantic! lol!!

but, can you believe it has been 4 days since I posted?!?!? what thoroughly exciting things have happened in the meantime?!?! uh, Friday I wrote a big ol' check for carpeting. Saturday we drove in horrible weather with waytoomany accidents for the boys to do horribly in some bowling tournament. following that we had run-in #2 and #3 with the reasonably inept folks at Johns Incredible Pizza (which makes me wonder if I did an earlier run down of run-in #1). the manager at their Fresno location was VERY nice and VERY accomodating....but the fact that he even needed to is totaly insanity. after potential run-in #4 I will certainly be writing a letter to their corporate office. I just want to write one letter so I am waiting for the issues from run-ins #2 and #3 to be resolved first! lol! so after being at Johns until uuuuber late on Saturday night, the boys bowled again Sunday morning at 9am. which.....wouldn't be so bad had we not been out so darn late the night before. four tired and grumpy peeps showed up at the bowling alley that morning.......after getting lost because the dude that was getting directions in that 12 of 12 picture..... yeah, him......well, he seemed to get Johns and the second bowling alley confused. but we got there and the boys bowled SOOOO much better than on Saturday. too bad too. Sunday was team bowling and Saturday was individual. they might have placed or something or whatever bowling people do if they had bowled like that on Saturday! lol!

(starting a new paragraph because that one was too long) Sunday after bowling we knocked another Old Spaghetti Factory off the list of ones needing to be visited and then headed home. thankfully the weather was much nicer and there were no accidents to slow us down.

Monday was....well, a Monday. what do you expect?!?!?

my 12 of 12 for April

12 of 12 for April!!!!
if you have no clue what I am talking about.....check out CHAD

1. the day started with checking e-mail. Google was personalized to celebrate the anniversary of man in space! finally......someone is "out there".

2. my traditional odometer picture. 48 degrees.....brrrrrr!

3. traditional shot of the price of gas. sheesh!!! isn't this HORRIBLE?!?!?!? no wonder I don't have many miles on my car. I can't afford to get "there."

4. my office drinks lots of soda. the cans are saved and then I take them home to R to crush and recycle.

5. Thursdays are my short day (since the boys get out of school early). I am off at 2pm. I got out of "there" early because I was antsy to get the boys settled so I could check out a new lss.

6. fed, the boys are dropped off at the bowling alley to meet up with some friends and practice for this weekend's tournament. from the scores posted below in R's 12 of 12 it sure looks like they needed the practice! lol!

7. YEAH!!!! new SUPER SIZED lss finally opens!!! this place has more stuff than any place I have ever seen.......except LM HQ. and they did a darn good job of opening up well stocked. and the crop room looks really nice. Michelle met me "there" and we had a nice looksie!

8. not really sure why, but Tessa was willing to look at the camera for a picture. so....I had to include it! lol! if you look you can see a few pieces of her dog food near her. she is a very picky dog. she will go through and eat all of one kind of the pieces before moving on to the next kind. often you see her nose rooting through the bowl pushing the wrong pieces here and "there" in her hunt for the particular pieces she is eating at the time. what a nut!

9. a surprise envie!! I saw the airmail and immediately thought of Cecilie.....but it wasn't from "there".....it was from Australia!!! a new friend sent me a lovely card and some beautiful flowers for my scrapbook!

10. I actually had too many pictures for today and debated keeping this one. but J said, "oh, no......just think about how you and your friends can laugh at a man actually getting directions." good point.....the picture stays! lol!! J is trying to figure out how to get us "there" to the bowling tournament this weekend.

11. "there" are all the Mr. Potato Head pieces we have. quite a nice collection, don't you think?!?!? the boys had fun making a complete extended family with them on Easter.

12. and "there" is me in the mirror. I had intentions of being included in the Green Tangerines picture, but when I was "there" I forgot. so here it is. I actually thought my hair and me looked cute yesterday. this picture.....not so much! lol!


13. J won a Scout award last night. I didn't get to go "there" with him to get the award because it ran too late (see how late R went to bed last night) and D had to work on homework and a school project.

so......if you can't tell, my random word was "there." I am sure I could have worked it in a few more times.......but I didn't, so "there" you go! lol!!

The Bug's 12 of 12

here is R's first 12 of 12......he did a darn good job.....except he forgot to take a picture of his teacher! lol!!
















1. self portrait in the fogged up mirror.


2. band practice every Thursday morning. R plays trombone.
















3. the school janitor gets the school ready for a visitor.
















4. Sam Shane (a local news guy who wrote a kids' book) came and visited.
















5. after school we passed a guy getting a ticket for speeding in a school AND construction zone!
















6. R's random word was "handle". this is the handle on his backpack!!
















7. afternoon snack at McDs. (hey, atleast they had apples instead of fries!!)

(yeah.....SOOOOO don't know where that picture just disappeared to! I'll repost later....but your really didn't miss anything!)


8. some bowling practice with some friends!

















9. Dad gets a Scout award. R goes for the food! lol!
















10. Tessa w/bunny ears. it was getting late and R needed to get his pictures taken.
















11. R's Heroscape game. still set up......
















12. messy messy room! Bad R!!
















13. bed time......FINALLY!!!!



















I have no clue why this entry is all screwy. I'm going to have to work on that!

vintage Arctic Frog......and The Bug

I know! I know! vintage?!?!?!? but seriously, discontinued, unavailable, rare.........

Arctic Frog collections on e-Bay

I have my eye on 2 of the collections. haven't bought yet because I haven't decided if I need 1 or 2 sets of each! lol!!

regarding The Bug.....he is doing his first 12 of 12 today. got his teacher's permission on Tuesday. her question: "gonna take a picture of me??" LOVE his teacher! went over the idea of trying to not take just pictures of kids where they can be recognized if he wants them posted online. we will see how well he does. we might just have a few pictures and then tell what the other ones were! lol! asked him whether he wanted to post them on my blog or whether we needed to start a blog of his own. I am thinking "The Bug Report"......you know, like "The Corbert Report." just as he was getting out of the car today he asked: "this is just for fun, right?" "what do you mean?" "I don't get a prize or anything for doing this do I?" lol!!!

12 hour countdown to 12 of 12

just a reminder! (STEPHANIE) that tomorrow is 12 of 12. R is planning on joining me in picture taking so I might have a double entry for you!

a meme courtesy of Angie.....

I normally pass on things like this, but I loved the challenge of only being able to use 3 words to answer each question.

Where is your cell phone? In my purse
Boyfriend? No thank you!
Hair? brown with highlights
Your mother? Lives far away
Your father? Very detail oriented
Your favorite item(s)? Cozy Heart Penguin
Your dream last night? Slept all night
Your favorite drink? Classic Coca Cola
Your dream guy? Married him, thanks!
The room you are in? my quiet office
Your fear? There are many.
What do you want to be in 10 years? In a size 10
Who did you hang out with last night? With scrap supplies
What are you not? Patient and understandingA
re you in love? Very much so
One of your wish list items? A house keeper
What time is it? Weds, 9am
The last thing you did? Talked to boss
What are you wearing? Business dress clothes
Your favorite book? Don’t have one
The last thing you ate? Tall Starbucks mocha
Your life? Crazy hectic insane
Your mood? Annoyed and tired
Your friends? wonderful loving supportive
What are you thinking about right now? All my friends
Your car? Hyundai Santa Fe
What are you doing at this moment? Typing this out
Your summer? Dinner out doors
Your relationship status? Married 14 years
What is on your TV screen? No tv here
When is the last time you laughed? Tv last night
Last time you cried? In bed Monday
School? Done for now

check out Angies blog: Many Little Blessings to see her answers......

a very un-productive productive day....

are you sensing a theme here?!?!?

D decided that he really didn't like his breakfast this morning and returned it all over the carpet this morning. BLECH!!! nothing worse in my world than puke. needless to say, we stayed home from school today. he never threw up again, but he slept until noon, ate a little chicken soup, took a nap, did his homework, read a little, ate a little more soup, and went back to bed.

I, on the other hand, had OOOODLES of work to do at the office today! one of those days where I really wish I had the ability to telecommute. and I have an important business meeting tomorrow that will take atleast half of my day so I won't get much work done then either. I don't have many in person formal type meetings in my position. a lot of conference calls, but not many actual meetings. days like tomorrow I could use a business suit. oh well! lol!!

but during my un-productive productive day I managed to accomplish a few things. the worst and largest of all being that of balancing the checkbook. oh dear me!!! I last balanced it in mid-February. when I printed the cleared information from the credit union's website it was 15 pages worth! YIKES!! took me 3 hours. I really need to do a better job of keeping up on this stuff. I also managed to mail out the April and May calendar pages for the grandparents. and yes, I know that today is the 10th of April.......I am running a tad behind! lol!! talked to our sales person about what we want to do about the carpeting and will go in on Friday to sign whatever we need to sign and give her $$ to get the ball rolling. also found the place to get R's costume for his school's wax museum in May. R is going to portray Benedict Arnold. told you he always liked the bad guy! lol! but I am really hanging my hat on the checkbook thing. for someone who usually balances it weekly, that was conquering a mountain!!

well....I have some scrappy projects to work on. oddly enough, I haven't felt motivated to scrap much. I have lots of great photos waiting for me and some fun projects halfway done, but nothing is making me CRAVE scrapping. sure hope that feeling goes away soon (and not in the middle of my meeting tomorrow! lol!).

a very un-Eastery Easter.....

would that be like an un-Brady Brady Christmas?!?!?

anyway, yesterday was Easter. for some reason it was a little *off*. perhaps because we had no egg hunt to attend on Saturday. instead the boys had bowling. perhaps because we didn't dye eggs until late Saturday. perhaps because the Bunny only hid the hard boiled decorated eggs instead of 5 zillion additional plastic eggs. perhaps because my mom, stepdad, and nana weren't here. perhaps because we attended no crazy brunch. I am not too sure!

BUT......in our own odd way, we did celebrate Easter. we went to Fox & Goose for a lovely breakfast! afterwards we welcomed the spring harvest by buying lots of wonderful fruits and vegetables at a farmers market we were told about. R spent most of the time framing and taking pictures. he is quite enjoying my camera and J is starting to agree that maybe I need a new camera (you know...... so I can pass my current one down to R! lol!). after that we went and enjoyed the Ansel Adams photo exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum. enjoying his vision of our beautiful world.

I hope you all had a blessed Easter and found the simple joys of the season!

take me out to the ball game!!!!

second night of the season and J won tickets for the game at work! AND the RiverCats won! hopefully this is a doubly good omen: good season and lots of tickets! I don't know if it was just because it was early in the season or we are an especially good looking family, but one of the team's photographers asked to take a picture of our family. it was nice because I got her to take one of us on my camera when she was done!
anyway, pretty much pure torture going to a baseball game on a Friday during Lent. just the SMELL of the hot dogs was killing me! lol!

in other news, we spent most of the day doing spring cleaning......or in basic terms: throwing stuff away! J and R pulled out D's carpet and padding on Weds night. and we spent today going through books, toys, and clothes in both boys' rooms. luckily the garbage got picked up today so that the carpet was gone and we could fill it back up with Happy Meal toys, etc. the back of my car is also packed full of stuff to take to Goodwill tomorrow. it got to the point that I stopped itemizing what I was packing up to take. I will try and go through it a little tomorrow. I also found that I have a LOT of Beanie Babies.....especially the ones that McDs used to give out. I have sets in and out of plastic. R thinks I should start selling on e-Bay. I might see if there is a market.

on the way home from the game I told the boys that although we were all having such a blast cleaning that I need to stop having so much fun and get some serious scrapping done tomorrow. they both think I am crazy.....so what is new?!?!

me and my boring teeth.....

yes, I am purposefully NOT talking about the weekend and my trip to Detroit. why? well, because it would be a humongously LONG post full of inside jokes and that just isn't right. what I will tell you is that it was a TOTAL BLAST!!! and that meeting Cecilie alone was worth the trip! I can't wait until she comes for her visit in October. I will have her ALL TO MYSELF for about 5 days before I have to share her at the LM crop! lol!!

so, on to my teeth......I had a dentist appointment yesterday morning. yes, quite torturous to come home at 11pm one night after a busy busy weekend only to go to the dentist the next morning. but, yes, there was a method to my madness.....I got to sleep in a little more since my appointment wasn't until 9am! tee hee hee!!

anyway after the hassle of getting my insurance to company to admit that I was actually covered, I started with x-rays. really cool....they do them digitally. so like our digital cameras, they just pop up on their computer screen. then the hygienist came in to check me out (my teeth....not ME). I had to admit that I hadn't been to the dentist in 2+ years. guess I need to pay a little more attention to the right side of my mouth but otherwise I ROCK the teeth brushing! lol! normally they schedule a separate appointment for a cleaning, but since I ROCK the teeth brushing she did it right then and there! then the dentist (first female dentist I have ever had) came in and told me I had boring teeth and there was nothing for her to do. odd that being called boring is a compliment! lol! she asked again if it had really been 2+ years since my last dental visit.......like I had just gone last week and was lying because I have a thing for people scraping around in my mouth! sheesh! lol!

then as the hygienist walked me to the front desk she asked me to schedule my next cleaning.....in 6 months. heck no! I just survived 2+ years without a cleaning, why oh why would I come back again in 6 months????? anyway, I told her I expected I would come back in 1 year now that I found someone that my dental insurance was willing to pay and I was willing to go to.

the boys go in 2 weeks. somehow I don't think they will fare as well as me.