Fire Fire Fire

YUP. That's right, our little cottage by the lake had a little itsy bitsy fire.

It was like something out of a macabe National Lampoons something-or-other.

From the moment the kids woke up at 5:00am to the second they were asleep at 7:30 pm, my girls were a whiny mass of hysterical humanity.

The 4 year old who's legs apparently, no longer worked and she had endentured her 3 year old sister into servitude, which didn't go over well with the 3 year old. That coupled with my 6 year old with her persistent and non-stop questions, comments and commands....they were wearing me down before my first pot of coffee was even cold.

It was a two pot day.

I'd like to say that the day started off like no other, but if all my days were like yesterday I wouldn't be long for this world. You would find me wandering somewhere drooling out of the corner of my mouth as I muttered, "Stop hitting your sister" or "Get that toy outta the dogs mouth"

So, knowing that yesterday would be a challenge, I found an activity in my handy dandy KIDS FUN2007-2008 coupon book and decided to take the kids to the Roller Rink.

That's right folks. Roller skating. It's been a GOOOOOOOOOOOD 20 - 25 years since I was roller skating and I had to call the rink to make sure they had the old 4 wheeled gems, instead of the inline skates. (Does anyone remember when the wheels were made out of a clay like material? Remember when Polyurethane just came out?) OK...

Turns out, the kids couldn't turn off the whine/arguing/crying/complaining... and I put the kabosh on the outing. Of course, the decibel of crying increased 10 fold for about 10 minutes until they realized that wasn't going to get them out the door to the roller rink. They switched strategies... for like a second .....behaved.

I decided to spend the day taking down the Christmas tree and other decorations. (For those of you that haven't seen my tree or house, the tree had mostly plastic ornaments (due to the age of my children) and LOTS of lights with lights strung around the room and over the windows... very festive) My kids are young enough to appreciate the truly gaudy things in life! Oh, to be young again!

I thought I had all the lights off the tree but when I pulled the tree away from the wall, I pulled another set of lights that I had wound around the nativity scene and snow globes on the fire place mantel..... SMASH... there goes my 6 year olds newest musical snow globe. Water, Glitter, Glass all over the floor.

I swept. I wiped. I rolled up the area rug and brought it outside. I mopped. I was almost done.

There were tears. There were apologies and for like 3 hours... she said to me in a teary voice, "It's ok Mommy, I know you didn't mean to break my brand new Snow globe that Grandma got me for Christmas this year that makes music... which is my favorite song"

I plugged in my vacuum. It didn't work.

I plugged it into another outlet. It didn't work.

I turned the corner and plugged it into another outlet... returned to my vacuum and turned it on... and it kind of turned on.

It started, but really really slow, then my 4 year old started yelling... "FIRE! FIRE!"

I turned the corner to see orange flames coming out of the outlet, licking the walls about 2-3 inches above the outlet.

I yanked out the cord, and the fire stopped.

Pretty exciting stuff.

My brother in law came over with his electrical stuff and we figured out which breaker/fuse controlled the power to that outlet and we turned it off. He extracted the prong from the vacuum plug that was left behind when I pulled out the cord and he found that the outlet wasn't grounded. In fact, he found that the electrical box was plastic and it wasn't grounded. "That" we thought, "Might be why the breaker didn't go but instead we got a fire"

AND OF COURSE, We ain't no electricians, so I called our electrician who is probably on a long holiday, and we are using battery operated lanterns and extension cords for the wee hours for the areas of the house that are now without power.

Let me tell you, the kids are having a good time. We went to Walmart yesterday evening, to get our flashlights and my 6 year old picked out a little one that straps to her forehead! HA HA HA HA HA

She is walking around like she is going spalunking in a dark cave! HA HA HA

OH, the best is that Walmart had batting helmets (you know the kind they use at batting cages or for little league) and they had 3 pink ones that were on sale for $3.00 each. So, my girls are all walking around with these pink helmets on this morning, carrying their battery operated coleman lanterns... except for my 6 year old who is wearing roller skates, her spalunking forehead flashlight AND her pink helmet! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AH AH

It's 6:55, now and the kids and I have been up about an hour... the sun is due to rise at 7:22AM.... I think I will pack them up and take them all grocery shopping! That should kill some time before the sunrises! HA HA HA HA

Their father is coming to visit them today, so that will give me some more time to finish cleaning up the christmas decorations and what not.

AND that... was yesterday.

Well, there was more... like, we went to the playground for an hour
my friend M and her ward came over to play and accompanied us to Walmart
my sister and her kids came over and.....

Rosie the Wonder Dog, true to her nature... and with the speed of light snatched a game piece from my neices new game of Trouble. While we were all looking for the piece on the floor under the table, Rosie was in the livingroom exploring it with her teeth. My sister found the piece later as they were packing up their stuff to leave.

Here is the new mantra for cleaning up: "If you don't pick that up, Rosie is going to get it!" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Have a Happy New Year!

Anyone have any New Year Resolutions?


Did I tell you......that my Ex-Husband, now "misses me & the kids" This was written in the card he gave me for Christmas... with a $500.00 gift card to me. He also gave me clothes, boots, a new winter jacket and other gifts. (of totally unappropriate proportions) -(note: I gave him 5 framed pictures of the kids, and they were "from the kids") Anyway, I used the gift card to purchase a Stationary Recumbent Bike. That will go hand in hand with my new water drinking routine... and I'm going to be the healthiest 43 year old on the planet... ok, maybe..... just the healthiest 43 year old.... in my house.

Well, it's now almost 7:00. I'd better get drinking my coffee... ha ha ha ha ha

Have a great New Years!
Happy Holidays

Well well well... Budd fell in the well?

NO! It's.... Could it be.... Why yes.... based on the following tasteless picture... I do believe, and you will agree.... that













Scary Hobo Clown is back in town

And he's with his babe! Butterfly Barbie! HAW HAW HAW

(How do you like my new laugh? I have stolen it from Bruce, it's not as easy to type as HA HA HA HA HA... but not as insipid as LOL - pause to look up insipid on webster.com - I'll take definition #2 Chuck, for $500. -- 2 : lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate, or challenge : dull, flat )

So, this weekend was the family christmas party, lots of fun. I left a little late. Not chronologically late, I mean I waited a little too long to leave and was unable to avoid the melt down....... times 3! It started with the 3 year old, and morphed into a full out triple torrent (yes, in case you are wondering I still have webster.com open... as well as thesaurus.com... haw haw haw)

So, I exited the party, with three screaming, crying children... who.... were asleep before I hit the end of the driveway! lucky me. THEN... I got to thinking. I seem to be the first one to leave all the time, I wonder if they were talking about me.... Then I got to thinking more... who cares, 'cause .... I'm the one with the blog! HAW HAW HAW --ok, I'm done with the HAW HAW... I'm going back to HA HA... because it sounds better in my head when I type it

Couple of funny things.

First, funny... at the company holiday party, I had my digital camera. I took a ton of pictures of the guests. One of the couples were our companies sales reps from Panasonic. They were a cute couple and I took a picture of them. It was nice and I displayed it for them on the LCD of my camera and said, "Look at this great picture I took of you.... You could use it for Christmas cards"

They looked at my camera..... they looked closer at my camera, I shoved it in their faces and said, "Really, it's a great picture for your holiday cards"... they laughed a little embarrassed laugh and tried to escape from me.... I really really wanted confirmation that it was a great picture and I shoved it in their faces again, until finally the guy turned to steer his wife away and said, "I don't think our family would appreciate a naked barbie doll on the holiday cards.."

Slowly I turned the camera towards myself and saw.....








HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AH --- OH MAN..... I burst out laughing and went around telling everyone else the story and showing the picture... 'cause I thought that was so funny... then I noticed there were a number of people really avoiding me! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA I followed them a bit, trying to explain about the blog, and Rosie and all.... I honestly did you know about how I was collecting debris for the next photo montage of my dogs toy destruction... but it fell on dead ears. OH, tooooooo funny!

Yesterday I created my final Christmas Masterpiece.... a lovely ensemble of ingenuity and elegance....

Realizing that my friends Mary and Jane wouldn't appreciate the Gift in a Jar of Taco Chili bean Soup, or the Home Made Granola (I like to call Natures Broom) I had an epiphany. I said to myself, "Self, what does your friend Mary like?" The answer..... "Likes herself a nice bottle of wine" So..... I went to Micheals Arts and Crafts.... procured tiny little swarovski crystals and glass paint, and I hand painted them some festive sparkly wine glasses.... I am sooooo proud of myself.

Of course, you should have seen me.

First, I downloaded my inspiration which was a very intricate and beautiful hand painted wineglass by some artist in California... and after the first brush stroke on the glass... I realized .... I was no artist.... So, I basically took the festive colored paint and dotted all the glasses and glued the crystal in among the dots... THUS.... making the glass sparkly and festive! Very Very nice.

NOW.... I did some research on the glass paints.. and it is pretty funny that the paints say: "Has been found in California to cause birth defects" Yeah, funny right. Only in California! HA HA HA HA Well.... I'm not in California, now am I... ha ha ha Anyway, I didn't paint up to the point where someones lips would come in contact with the paint, and I didn't paint the inside of the cup, so I think... we will be ok. AND... According to everything I have read, these beauties will be gorgeous for years to come, provided they are hand washed.

Pictures? nope. I already wrapped them. BUT I will tell you this.... Mary is scared. I told her I just wrapped her gift and she said, "Oh, you didn't have to get me anything..." To which I replied, "I didn't buy you anything... I made you something"

silence

silence

silence

Breaking the silence I said, "And it doesn't contain oatmeal or beans..." She brightened up, but is still scared.

Today is Christmas Eve. The kids are very excited. I love Christmas. My ex-husband will be coming over in the morning to dispense his gifts, then hopefully he will be hitting the road pretty early. AND..... in 1 week. I will officially be.... 1 year older.. Let me see. I have to recalculate my age.... Hmmmmmmmm officially I'll be 43. However, since I don't feel a day over 33... ok, Maybe I feel a day over, especially when I have to go up and down a flight of stairs several times, like I did when I had to hide all of the wrapped Christmas gifts... but other than that ... I don't feel 43. AND.... I don't look 43... if I'm standing 20 feet away... with the sun behind me..... so bright you have to squint to see me... and I'm wearing a baseball hat......... and sunglasses... under the right conditions.... I'm a real hot babe!

OK... that's about it. Today I am going to try to dodge the "cold bullet" that has pierced my anti-bacterial/Tylenol stronghold. All three kids woke up this morning with slight fevers and runny noses... Well, actually my youngest (aka The Snot Bullet) has been liquid for several days. The other 2 just manifested this morning. Well, that isn't going to stop me from my Christmas Eve festivities. nope.

Have happy holidays!
Hugs all around

Wheel Chock

Well, if you are reading these entries in order, this will only be funny after you read the entry immediately following... and then only if you read the WHOLE ENTIRE ENTRY

The banana bread was so dense and had to cook so long that by the time it was done, I could have used it to chock my car parked on a 90degree angle... no problem.

HOWEVER, I snuck the secret ingredient into the Quaker Oats Oatmeal Cookie recipe... and turned it into granola (because as cookies, they were too moist, but when cooked longer they crumpled into a tasty treat)

OH YEAH, I'm a maniac... (not a flash dance kind... more of a betty crocker on caffeine kind)

PLUS.... I downloaded the BEST sugar/butter cooky recipe on the planet. OH, it was awesome, didn't have any exotic ingredients and it tasted better.... are you sitting down... tasted better than ANYTHING Pepridge farms is putting out... and as you know, they are the Gold Standard for cookies, because: They Remember.

OK, gotta go!
Hugs

Long Time No Hear... No hear... cause no write

Well, I didn't lose you when I came over from the dark side... I have probably lost you by my failure to keep you updated.

First of all, I have decided that I might be a little, tinsy winsy bit melancholy. I can't explain any other reason for my complete and total aversion to showers on the weekends. (ha ha) Unlike my single parent friends with small children, I am not reluctant to leave my house in my smelly 2 day old condition... I embark on great adventures leaving a path of reek..

Well, atleast I suspect I do... because as you all know... you really can't smell yourself... and if it ever gets to the point where you can... even if it's just a whiff... you know it's bad. I think it's the same theory for perfume. You know, how you smell your perfume as it wafts towards you in the atomized cloud, but as soon as it lands... nothin

Unless of course, you are the my ex-husband, who conquered that particular physics anomoly by using the 6 squirt method. YUP, 6 full squirts of whatever you got... and himself and 1/2 the country can smell him coming.

Ahhhh but I digress. Back to the showerlessness which I have come into. So, not long ago me and my friend Mary would comparing our inability to shower with the responsibilities of the little ones constantly pulling us away.... away.... away.... from personal hygiene... and she thought she had me. She did. she has slept in her clothes and worn them 2 days running, her hair (which is great for refrying) looked like she used Mayonaise as a shampoo and her feet were dedicated to her slippers, like a seagul to the ocean.

I trumped her.

HOW?

I went food shopping! THEN, I went to Kohls, THEN I went to Walmart (where I'm sure if I had had a tin cup I could have made a dime in charitible contributions) Yes, my friends. It's this wonton disregard for what other people think (although not totally, since I did have the grace enough to cover my head with a baseball cap) .... (special note to self: look up wonton to make sure it's the correct spelling and I am not referring to a great cup of soup)... OK... let me rephrase...

Yes, my friends, its this WANTON disregard for what other people think that has led me down this path of self evaluation. THAT and the realization that my friend Mary probably took a shower this weekend, because A) someone was watching her ward for her... and B) she went on "sort of" a date. Nothing like having a date to get a girl in the shower.

Besides my propensity for the derelict look, nothing much is going on but CHRISTMAS shopping. Yesterday I spent 2 hours wrapping gifts. Honestly, if I could give these kids the world... I would. However, I am mindful A) that I have no money B) that giving them everything doesn't do them any favors.

With that in mind, I was careful not to overindulge and this year, I didn't get them so many similar things. Last year, I tried to keep harmony by getting them all the same stuff, thinking no arguments would ensue... and although that is true, it didn't exactly work as planned.

OK.... Speaking of my lovely little urchins... they are ALL demanding immediate attention... and requesting I check the status of the banana bread in the oven.

Yesterday whilst food shopping I purchased babyfood. stage 3 carrots. I am goign to start sneaking them into things I cook.. if I can. Today, I snuck some into the banana bread. I think it will be ok. I'll let you know.

A Morning Epiphany

This morning. I almost teared up when my three year old daughter knocked on the bathroom door before going in.

You might think that's silly, stupid or perhaps you are struggling to understand why that would get me all mushy... Come on people. Knocking on the bathroom door... that's a big girl move. It shows me that she is thinking about people and things other than herself.

Yup my baby isn't a baby anymore... So.... no I have to work on the "baby weight" ... ha ha ha ha ha ha I suppose with my youngest 3.5 years old... my excuses are dwindling... sigh....

Let's just flash back to the "black coffee" moments in my life! NOoooooo!!!!!!! AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Well, the lights are up. The tree is up. The house smells like Christmas, I have 1/2 the presents wrapped. It's great! Of course, it would be better if I was independantly wealthy... then I could spend more time with the kids and not have to rush around and worry about bills... but hey! Life's not THAT great... right? NO one has it THAT good.... (daydream sequence....-30 minutes later-)

Let's focus on things that we are thankful for.... as opposed to Brad Pitt (sigh)...

So here it is! The First Annual - List of things I am thankful for!

Follow this link to my latest greatest survey...

THINGS FOR WHICH I AM THANKFUL!

Holiday Shopping and Christmas Decorations

Most of you know that I recently moved. I have a nice bin of christmas decorations for the inside of the house, but I didn't bring any of the thousands of lights with us in the move... because they are so cheap..... and because they are so cheap, they don't last long.

I picked up 500 (5 boxes of 100) of those little lights at Home Depot. They were only $2.00 a box. I also picked up some big gold bells for the door knob, larger lights (600 feet in all) for the outside, and 2 rakes. (That reminds me... the cashier at Home Depot made a point of telling me to log onto the Home Depot website and enter the code on my receipt so that I can enter to win $5K. He leaned forward and almost whispered it, like it was our secret and I was gauranteed to win... do they teach that in Home Depot School... very effective)

In addition to docorating the house, the girls and I are going to rake up the yard. My lovely HUGE yard is a beautiful yellow blanket of leaves. I might. (and I stress might) get out the ladder and clear out the gutters, which I can see from the ground are CLEARLY filled with the gorgeous yellow folliage.

Yesterday we made 24 jars of "chili mix gifts". The kids had a great time filling the mason jars up with the dried beens, while I put together the chili mix flavoring packets. Then I made 8 jars with the dry ingredients for Banana bread (that will go to my friends with kids... as we with kids always seem to have rotting bananas) and with the last 4 jars, I think I may make some home-made granola.

Yesterday at Target I picked up the greatest little gift bags, they were made out of recycled paper and had holiday pictures on them that looked kind of antique. SO... I will be dropping the mason jars in those bad boys, and handing the gift over. DONE

So, when all is said and Done... I have 36 gifts for about $2.40 ea. ..... The fun making them.... priceless. (of course, not everyone would consider dried kidney beans all over the floor the makings for of a fun afternoon! I guess you would have to be under 7 years old to appreciate the bowls full of beans.)

I figure these 36 gifts will be appropriate for teachers, co-workers and neighbors. Pretty much everyone, but my friend Mary who tries to stay away from gifts that come in jars. (not to be confused with gifts that come in bottles) In fact, I believe she will go to great lengths to avoid a "gift in a jar" including but not limited to crying "FIRE!" at an office party as a Gift Jar baring co-worker approaches....

Yesterday I also did ALL my christmas shopping. OK, who am I kidding. I got the bulk out of the way. MOST I did online at www.etoys.com, JC Penny.com and target.com. The rest I did in person at Target. I ALMOST bought a TON more stuff at Kohls.... where I went to buy a cute little dress for my work office party... and although I didn't find anything I liked, I found a ton of stuff I could give to the kids for christmas... for 1.5 hours I shopped.

Then.... I walked to the cash register... (or should I say the huge line waiting for an available cashier) and I realized... that I didn't get what I came into the store for... and here I was about to spend a ton of money... MY new method for curbing my spending is... if I can't find what I came in for... then I can't get anything.

It worked well in Costco, that afternoon where I went to find some large containers of spices for the Chili Mix. Costco (like BJ's) usually sucks me into it's web of bulk products for reasonable prices. It is not often that I escape that store (and I do mean escape) without dropping a couple hundred. Of course, once I leave I have all the meat and poultry in the land... but still.

Anyway, getting back to me and my cute black dress....

I didn't find ANYTHING. nothing. And, who the heck is Daisy Fuentes... AND WHY OH WHY are people putting those leather belts around their waist... I feel.... It looks.... Does anyone else remember the 80's?

I watched a couple hundred episodes of "what not to wear" and although I'm not as bad as some... I am still a fashion nightmare... And... How come no one told me shoulder pads were out.... Yes, I noticed no one was wearing clothes with shoulder pads... But I just checked out my treasure trove of "skinny clothes" (you ladies know what I'm talking about) and most of my gems are.... at the very best, classic 80's..... at the very worst.... classic 80's.

Excellent you might think... however, apparently Daisy Fuentes forgot about the shoulder-pads and I haven't seen any "flock of seaguls" hair cuts walking buy... so, I'm thinking only parts of the 80's are back.

That's it for today. I have breakfast to cook and coffee to drink.

Have a great day!

OH, stay tuned for the latest installment of Rosie the Wonderdog - Unassembles Plush Toys II

Homemade Holiday Gifts

In another life, I was a crafty bead stringing, glue gun wielding, glass painting maniac. Now, my craft projects focus primarily on one word: WASHABLE

Back in the day, there were a few notable gifts that were bestowed upon my friends.
remember......

The Banana bread that was so dense you could use it as a wheel chock if you parked your car on an incline?

The 5 been soup in a mason jar?

The flavored instant coffee... also presented in mason jars?

My favorite, the hand painted hot plates?

And of course, the homemade Bailey's Irish Creme

This year, I am trying to work it out... but I am toying with preparing and gifting... Martini's. Here's how it goes. I get a bunch of holiay Martini Glasses, then I make a bunch of martini's I use that wrap & Seal stuff, to seal the top of the martini... then I put the instructions.. which read: Place in Freezer for 2 hours, then drink. (that will chill the glass and the alcohol...)

The alternative, is to prepare the drinks and give them out in mason Jars... why mason jars.. because those are the only jars I can ever find.. that are reasonably priced.

The other thing... I was thinking about making is some after dinner liquore. (spelling?) Liek Annisette or Frangelica or something. (well, not frangelica, because that takes like 3 months to actually get the finished product) but the other stuff, only needs to steep for 10 days.

SO..... If you were on the receiving end of an homemade alcohol gift... would you like a single decorative drink.... or a couple of drinks in a mason jar... or a fancy after dinner sipping kind of drink (also in a mason jar)

Of course... if you insist, I can also put together another 5 bean soup medly! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA AH
---------------------------------

Oh yeah, I need a analyst to come forward and analyze my poll data. Thanks in advance.

---------------------------------

Today is Thanksgiving! My kids have been drawing Turkey's all week! it's really funny. last night I made the Candied Yams, yum yum and today I am making Apple Pie. Home made.. ok, not so homemade, well... real apples... anyway. And later we are going to all get together to celebrate!

I have come to terms with the fact that I will NOT be getting up tomorrow morning in the wee hours to go shopping... primarily because I don't have anyone to watch the kids. I will have to make other arrangements to get out shopping... or I will probably end up doing what I always end up doing... shopping online.

I love the internet!

OK. Have a great day! Be Thankful. Eat Lots. Drive safe!

Black Friday List

I jotted down most of these while watching the TV commercials... and found some others online, but you should still check with the store before scooting off at 4:00am.

Black Friday Shopping is slowing encroaching on Thursday...


Best Buy 5:00 AM
BJ's Wholesale 6:00 AM
Home Depot
JC Penney 4:00 AM
KB Toys 5:00 AM
Kohl's 4:00 AM
Macy's 6:00 AM
Office Depot 6:00 AM
Old Navy 5:00 AM
Radio Shack 6:00 AM
Staples 6:00 AM
Target 6:00 AM
Toys R US 5:00 AM
Walmart 5:00 AM

If I could just find someone to watch the kids... I could actually be done with my christmas shopping ... before 8:00am! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Poll Results....

Are not in... we have a couple more days.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a wonderful thanksgiving.. and I hope that you can find at least one thing to be thankful for!

And remember.... The day after thanksgiving marks .... the first day of Christmas Shopping!

Rosie and I are working on ... one of a kind... christmas ornaments. They will be handmade and comprised primarily of plush toy and doll parts. They will be wondrous and beautiful, perhaps a little scary. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

OK. Enjoy your holiday.

Oh, a well known state worker remarked the other day that he doesn't have Friday off. He claims, "We used to have that day, but "they" took it away from us"

All I could do was look at him and think... Tutt Tutt... poor baby, only has 65 days off this year! HA HA HA HA HA HA

I have some real suggestions for Corzine on how to cut taxes.

By the way, I have recently been dubbed.... "Mommy with the gorgeous pajamas..." I guess my ratty old sweats were not impressing the girls or atleast they didn't notice anything UNTIL I actually got a pair of pajamas that have flowers and have a top and bottom that match... The kids think I am a super model.

Maybe I can do an add like the one that Alicia Silverspoonsteinawitz did in an endorsement for PETA (People Eating Tender Animals... right?) Whhaaaaaaaat? Don't you read Yahoo News?

First of all... it's interesting to get the two points of view, Here is the report from

The Cattle News: http://www.cattlenetwork.com/content.asp?contentid=175085

And From Peta: http://www.peta.org/feat/alicia_psa/index.asp

Sooooooooo all of that is to say... that I think I should be modeling my new cotton PJ's to support... the "cotton pickers coalition on pausing time management" or more commonly known as the "wait one cotton pickin minute" movement.

Have happy holidays.

Welcome back

I don't want to make this a big entry... because I don't want to distract from the poll. (pause to spell check -- I dont' want anyone to think by poll I mean a small bald man from polland.) Shout out to Rosie and Idaho!

---Don't forget to vote!---

Rosie, email info@myfriendcooks.com with the "info" (wink wink) I'll get it and send it.

POLL - Is it cheating if....

News Update. Headlines from Across the World

Dear Readers it has come to my attention that I haven't been well rounded enough in my blog. So, in an effort to increase your reading pleasure I will periodically insert
THE DAY IN NEWS - Which will just be a blog entry dedicated to news.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
--There was a "worlds biggest liar" championship.
Read about it here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071116/od_afp/britainliaroffbeat_071116093714


LOCAL NEWS
--Corzine prepared to offer a plan to cut NJ's debt in 1/2
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/11/corzine_says_he_has_a_plan_to.html

MOB NEWS
Yo Antney, youse guys weren't too .....uuummmm.... youse guys got caught.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/11/14/gambling.arrests.ap/index.html#cnnSTCText



WEATHER - EXTREME, MOSTLY COOL SLIDE SHOW

Europe
http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/03/weather-europe-biz-cx_tvr_0806euroweather_slide_2.html?partner=msnbc

America
http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/20/weather-storms-united-states-biz-cx_tvr_0720weather_slide_8.html?thisSpeed=15000

CELEBRITY NEWS
http://video.accesshollywood.com/player/?id=170474

http://video.accesshollywood.com/player/?id=158293

OK... enjoy fun...

Couple of things this week:

#1) My kids are learning the words to all of the Queen songs on the Queen's Greatest Hits, just because it's the only CD I loaded onto the mp3 player... AND T. Berri (3) loves to sing Fat Bottomed Girl... at the top of her lungs, in the bathroom... while going potty. silly silly kid

#2) Thank GOD for Grandma's and Grandpa's. THEY ROCK!

#3) MC is right, Grandmas have a thing about seeing kids in clothes that actually fit... they don't like the hand me down, almost fitting, but still a size to big, crap.

#4) Coffee Rules

#5) Due to the week of free, HBO, STARZ and ENCORE, I have been up watching TV until the wee hours of the night, I toggled between "the Holiday", "The English Patient", and something else with gay men, a pregnant girl and murder and mayhem... and I am here to say, I should have been sleeping

#6) Sometimes it isn't easy, but it is worth it. (you may insert anything hard but worthwhile for the word "it")

#7) Coffee still rules and the Juan Gill 2006 Jumilla wine I picked up at the bottle king could remove tar from your wheel wells.

That's it for today.

I just want to address one serious item:

To MC who wrote: (well, actually, she didn't write, she just spoke) "People are actually avoiding me because of the 2 year old strapped to my leg" or something like that....

I say to you.... NAY I CHALLENGE YOU, to go find those people.... ask them to watch the 2 year old for a second while you go to the bathroom... and head out the back door. AT LEAST give them a reason for running when they see you! HA HA HA HA HA A AHA HA I actually know what you mean... with kids that have nick names like: The Snot Bullet, Phlem Fillies and Walking Petri Dishes of Virii... visits to my house are few and far between... in fact, you and my sister are the only ones that brave the Germ Barrier.

And so...my friend. You may bring your entourage of one, to visit me and the kids any time you want! .... cough cough.... but I'll be keeping my eye on the back door! HA HA HA HA HA HA

Have a great day!
Enjoy my little Rosie Collage below!
Hugs all around!

Ahhhhhhhh Stopping to Smell the Rosie

I hope you enjoyed my little collage of pictures...

I used the classic Tim Burton headless doll as the intro... because .... I think it sets the tone.

My next production will be a "Search and Find" piece. Where I will challenge you to find the missing parts of toys from the pile of disfigured and maimed items on the carpet.

Have a great day

Enjoy

(there is music, so crank up your speakers)

Introducing..... Rosie the Wonder Dog

Today she ate off Jo-Jo the Clowns foot and mangled several sippy cuts containing various stages of ... yogart. When asked why she eats everything she says, "Tastes like chicken.."

As you know I have retired the Slag boy adventures and am completely moving on.

I decided that although not every entry will focus on my dog... she's as good a name for a blog as any.... especially since my mother just ... (are you sitting down) bought her some clothes.

My father has referred to Rosie as ... The devil dog. (This is coming from a man that has 2 Standard Poodles) He was not referring to her behavior... but referring to her appearance. (which is a little scary if you don't know the love ball behind it) AND AGAIN, I remind the reader that my father is the owner of 2 Standard Poodles... names: Belle and Bridget.... PPPPPPLLLLEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEEE

So my little satan spawn is curled up in bed with my three year old, I used to think that she like that bed best because she like sleeping with that chidl best... which I believe she does, but not because of that childs disposition, but because of that childs size. Smallest child....more room for Rosie.

And so... a new era is upon us.

It's all about the happiness that is... a house, a dog and 3 kids (with lots of toys... that taste like chicken)

Don't forget to look up.
.....It will make your neck feel better.