Take it outside, boys!

So.... it's been a LONG while (ahem) since my last post. So much has happened this year, it makes my head spin! Here is one such "happening".
My husband and son always love to goof around and wrestle. I make them go outside to save the furniture, knickknacks, really anything that might be in their path.  While cooking dinner one night, I laughingly told them to take it outside, with the famous last words "Don't hurt each other!"  


Then THIS happened! Total separation of the AC joint.

And No he wasn't even on the good drugs yet.....

After the operation and 6 weeks of therapy and recouperation he is almost as good as new!

Theme Music

I am obsessed with blogging. There is no other way to say it. It’s like scrapbooking on steroids. I have pictures, videos… even theme-music (like Peter in “Family Guy”)! THEME MUSIC!!!! Who doesn’t love that?


Admittedly, as a beginner, “newbie” previous non-blogger I am constantly having to figure things out. I mean, who knew the joy, the rapture I would feel when I discovered how to EMBED. Really.

Previous conversation with Jessie:
Me: So today I learned how to EMBED a video to my blog!
Jessie: Oh, you mean an HTML?
Me: No...Oh yeah, that was it. The cut and paste, thing you do in HTML mode.
Jessie: (chuckling) Cool, Mom!

At this point I do not feel cool. But hey! At least I have THEME MUSIC!

So yesterday I wanted to share my experience of skydiving in my blog. (hey, Skydiving is cool..) Problem #1: The DVD of my jump won’t let me copy it.
Problem #2: No matter HOW hard I tried, I couldn’t get the glare/image of me using my camera to tape the DVD (like a Dum-Dum) off.
Problem #3: My video which saved to my computer just fine, was too long to upload to my blog.
Problem #4: This is now an all-day project. That. Won’t. Work.
Problem # 5: I will not be denied.

After calling in all resources, (which meant my son and his friend)…hours later (yes! hours!) I was denied. AND I burned the buns I was toasting for our BBQ sandwich dinner. Where’s the theme-music for that?

"TIT LOANS"

Yessss. What can you say when your son comes home with a picture of a title loans store, neon sign with the "LE" burnt out? Seriously?

Shoes As Weapons

My Mom is a "vertically challenged", petite woman with an Amazonian Warrior-Woman attitude. Seriously, she, when riled, you do not want to mess with. Growing up in the late 70's early 80's, clogs were the shoe du jour. Not only did they give Mom the extra inches to make her a respectable 5'3 they also made incredible deadly missiles when hurled at people.

Jim and I were snuggled up, relaxing when this old memory of Mom chucking clogs when mad at us kids, made me laugh. I shared the story with him and he said "Hey MY Mom threw shoes at us too, only she wore these pointy high heel pumps!"

Now to be fair neither of our Mothers practiced shoe chucking often, but we both agreed it was effective as the memory stuck all these years! It made me wonder why I haven't hurtled a shoe at Nick. I mean, I've surely been mad enough at times...... I suppose since my footwear of choice is mainly flip-flops or none, it's a moot point.

There is nothing scary about a mad Mom wielding a flip-flop.

"Good Luck, God Bless, Stay In The Condo!"

In June 2009 I was witness to the best, cut- you -off at the knees exit line.

My son, Nick had an incredibly busy weekend, just before our "family vacation" to Daytona. The weekend before we were Florida-bound he spent the night (Fri) at a friends house where they played "Hide-And- Seek-In -The-Dark" outside. The next morning (Sat) he was dropped off at his Grandparents house to sleep over there.

Phone call from Mom: "Hey sweetie, I think Nick must have gotten into some poison Ivy last night. I've given him Benedryl and he wore a frozen beauty mask to sleep in, BUT....it's bad.

ME: "What?! How bad??" (Now what you need to know at this point is that Nick, like my Dad, is HIGHLY sensitive to Poison Ivy)

Mom: "Bad. His face is all swollen and he can't open his eyes."

I picked him up and seriously, It looked like he had stood on his face in a patch of Poison Ivy. My son looked like Shrek with his eyes closed (and red, not green). Even his ears were eclipsed by the swelling. Not to mention the rest of his body was covered in rash...but it was the face that was so shocking.

Off to our new family practice where all the office aides and nurses came out to look at my shrek-son while we waited our turn. After steroid shots, creams and an antihistimine the doctor advised me as to what to do during our vacation, for Nicks recuperation. "Reschedule your vacation." she said. "Wait, we just can't do that", I started.... "GOOD LUCK, GOD BLESS, AND STAY IN THE CONDO." she said to MY SON as she whisked out of the room.

wow. The greatest parting shot ever...."Good luck, God bless, Stay in the Condo"

Sidenote:

So, if anyone's wondering..I had him soak in Aveeno Oatmeal Bath twice a day and slather himself up in Aveeno body oil after baths. Between that and his steroids, antihistimines and creme, his rash and swelling cleared up in about 4 days. And we did not stay in the condo.

"Samson, you in DANGER, Boy!"

Have you ever heard a song that just makes you stop everything just to listen? Not even thinking to chime in because it is just that GOOD? Makes the -hair -stand -up -on -your -arms, good?? (OK, so now you know I have hairy arms. Get over it.) And no, it wasn't on American Idol....although contestants use this song a lot. THIS version, by some guys from Norway TAKES MY BREATH AWAY. Can't help it ya'll...the song is just beautiful. I have tried to share the magic of this video with my husband, who, to his great credit tries, really. he says: "Sure Honey, it's beautiful...but, umm, well don't know about wanting to rip my clothes off and have their baby and all." See.

I show it to my son, who although he has a healthy appreciation for music with his "anime techno" he loves to listen to...didn't get my rapt fascination with this song. I say: "Listen to the words..they're beautiful, bitter-sweet....it's about sometimes getting the object of your desire and it sometimes can destroy you. Beautiful words...

My son looked at me oddly and said "Nice, Mom."

Here are the lyrics:

i heard there was a secret chord
that david played and it pleased the lord
but you don't really care for music, do you
well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall and the major lift
the baffled king composing hallelujah

hallelujah...

well your faith was strong but you needed proof
you saw her bathing on the roof
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
she broke your throne and she cut your hair
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah

hallelujah...

baby i've been here before
i've seen this room and i've walked this floor
i used to live alone before i knew you
i've seen your flag on the marble arch
but love is not a victory march
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

hallelujah...

well there was a time when you let me know
what's really going on below
but now you never show that to me do you
but remember when i moved in you
and the holy dove was moving too
and every breath we drew was hallelujah

well, maybe there's a god above
but all i've ever learned from love
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
it's not a cry that you hear at night
it's not somebody who's seen the light
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

hallelujah...


You just want to warn poor Samson to stay away from that conniving cow, Delilah. She's not all that! Or get all Whoopi Goldberg in "Ghost" and tell him "Samson, you in danger boy!"

Dental Appointment

Today I am taking Nick for his dental cleaning....at our new Dentist.  Since we moved to Loganville, I have been using our regular Dentist, Dr. Cavola.....but driving to Conyers for an appointment was getting old.  I hate change, but this is realistically necessary.  So a few months back, on a Conyers jaunt, I stopped by Dr. Cavola's office and asked for our records and latest X-rays.  How I found our new Dentist was serendipity.....thier office is right next door to our local bowling alley.  Last November on Nicks birthday, the family all met at the bowling alley to play and celebrate.  My daughter's purse was stolen while we bowled.  Long story but it ended happily enough....the Dentist office next door called us to say they had found it in thier front yard!  They were so nice, so I checked them out and decided to adopt them as our new family Dentist!  So here is another great tip:

 **Cut down the time you spend in a doctor’s waiting room by having the office fax or e-mail any forms before your visit. Some offices have thier forms on thier website which you can download and print.  Bring them with you to the appointment, completed.  Along with any medical records, or in this case latest x-rays, your insurance cards and drivers license.

You just breeze in and everythings done!

"Unwind" by Neal Shusterman

My son, Nick loves to read.  (He gets this from me! :-)  It's amazing to see him get so excited about a book and over the past couple of years, I read pretty much everything he reads.  That said, he has been bugging me to read his current favorite, "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman.  Curling up with a highly recommended book seemed the appropriate thing to do yesterday, since I was all grumpy and fat, and bloated.....
\
It was an awesome book!  A very quick read, perfect for a sluggish afternoon!  Here is a review by the NY Times:


"What keeps Unwind moving are the creative and shocking details of Shusterman's kid-mining dystopia. First, there are the Orwellian linguistic tricks. People who have been unwound are not "dead"—they are "in a divided state." Then there are the rules and rituals. Before being unwound, Lev is honored with a lavish "tithing party," which bears a strong resemblance to a bar mitzvah. The most terrifying scene is devoted to the unwinding itself. The author's decision to describe the process is a questionable one—a book's great unknown can leave the strongest impression on a reader—but he executes as precisely as the surgeons who perform the unwinding. Ultimately, though, the power of the novel lies in what it doesn't do: come down explicitly on one side or the other."

INTRODUCTION TO COUPONING

You may want to get another email account and use it specifically for couponing. Your email box will be filled with newsletters, shopping updates etc.. Most email accts are free.

TIME SAVING HINT:

Use Google toolbar *AUTOFILL* button to create your form fill information (name, addy, phone #) and from now on all you have to do is click AutoFill in your menu bar and it will automatically fill in your information so you don't have to type it in each time you have a form to fill.

In the beginning, signing up is tedious, but once you've got the main stuff, it's pretty easy because it all comes to you. I designate time in the morning to cruise through my inbox and Sunday mornings to get my Q's matched up with the weekly sales ads.

I use envelopes for my shopping, each envelope dedicated to a particular store, to hold my savers card, shopping list and Q's. Envelopes labeled and filed in a recipie box, binder, folder, whatever works best for you to put all my "use later Q's"

Ways to get Q's

• Kroger,CVS, Kmart and Ingals all have frequent shopper discount cards. Get them and keep in your designated store envelopes.
• Sign up on your favorite manufacturers websites for emails, special savings.
• Don't forget to look by the sales fliers at the entrance of each store, for in-store coupon booklets (Publix, Rite aid, Walgreens), free mags (most of which have Q's)
• Sunday paper. I have a sub. to the Sunday paper only! PS: Publix runs a "mystery gift" Q for .01/with the purchase of $10.00 or more each Wed. It ONLY is available in the Wed. paper.  I have gotten everything from Ballpark Hot Dogs, 1lb of coffee, tortilla chips, bleach etc. Good deal!
• "Blinkie" machines or in aisles by product. Even if you aren't buying the product now, you might later during a sale.
• Always check each purchase (check your cupboards!) for a "peelie" (coupon peels off front of package) or a coupon inserted in product or inside box....before throwing away.
• Always check your receipts for "RR"s (registar rewards), or Q's
• Friends, Family
• Printable Computer Q's usually allow (if they don't it will say in the fine print of the Q) you to print TWO of each Q. Use your back arrow to reprint after you have printed once. If you have more than one computer in your house you can print two more Q's from each computer. They track the IP address of each computer so as to limit you to 2 printings each.
• Become "fans" on facebook with your favorite manufacturers to get Q's and special orders. Again, you may want to set up a facebook acct specifically for couponing. I just use facebook for keeping up with my son and couponing, so I only have one acct, but it fills up daily.

"Death of a Snowman"

It lasted only one day but it was a GREAT day.........

Sean and Nick take on "The Man"

Spicy squid, Snowmen and Bad Paprikash

GOT SNOW?  We do!  Yesterday was a fabulous day.....my Dad took all "his girls" (which also included my brother, ha ha) out to a great Thai restaurant for a pre-Valentines lunch.  Yummy!  I got the Spicy squid salad...whoo hoo!  While there it started to snow...those big, wet,  picture-perfect flakes.  It was beautiful!

In the evening, Jim, Nick and I played and played.  We made a snowman, snow-angels, had a snowball fight and just generally had a blast!  Our snowman turned out to be taller than our son, who is 6'6! 

For a Georgia-boy this is BIG snow!

As for the paprikash...well while I was putting it together I realized I didn't have enough regular canned tomatoes...so I used a can that had jalepenos in it.  We like it spicy anyway, I figured.

HOT!  Very hot!  Jim had to come to the rescue and fix it so we didn't incinerate the linings of our mouths.  Oh well.. after much "tweaking" it finally simmered down.  Delicious, but definately not quick and easy, as I had hoped!