Ten on Tuesday

1. I would like to remove my left eye and put it back in when allergy season is over. I spend 90 percent of the day rubbing it with a lot of force.

2. I may still bite my nails, but I RARELY touch my eyes. I don't touch my eyes because I don't want to cause wrinkles, and I am REALLY scared of pink eye. This tells you how much my eye itches.

3. I LOVE CINCO DE MAYO! Love it. I will take absolutely any reason to eat Mexican food. I think if I had to pick it would be my favorite food group ;-)! I LOVE sour cream and guacamole-the rest of the food is just a way to get sour cream and guac to my mouth! HA!

4. Tyler woke up in an AMAZING mood this morning.

5. Tyler is OBSESSED with the pictures on my phone. She will spend HOURS looking through them and talking about what she sees in them all. If someone found my phone and looked through the pictures, they may wonder! She really likes when I take pictures of random things. There is a picture of Ellie's butt butt (her stuffed elephant), a picture of Tyler's belly, a picture of Tyler's bed, RANDOM, but she loves it, and you should HEAR her giggle.

6. Jackson is VERY protective of Tyler! This little boy in J's class was SCREAMING (LIKE A BANSHEE) at Tyler because she messed up their game or something when I was picking Jackson up. And while the boy is yelling at Tyler, Jackson has his arms wrapped around her and telling her it is ok. These are the moments my heart MELTS!

7. If you follow me on twitter, you saw how I was talking about my crush on Bret Michaels. It is not so much that I think he is attractive (I THINK HE IS DISGUSTING and probably VERY DIRTY if you know what I mean)! I don't think he is a good person, singer or admire him in any way. It is his voice. When he speaks, it is so calm and soothing. There is just a peace that comes over me when I hear him. Whether on his nasty show Rock of Love or Celebrity Apprentice, I hear him, and there is an inner calm.

8. This leads me to state for the record that if a man ever sang a song for me, wrote me a poem, sonnet, ballad, WHATEVER and then performed it for me, it would make me VERY uncomfortable, and I am sure, no matter how beautiful it was, I would laugh. Lucky for me, Pat has no skills in any of these areas. BUT seriously, when I watch these reality shows and people perform to impress, NOT MY THING! Just wanted to write that in case Pat dies, and I get to live out my life dream of being The Bachelorette, the men have something to go on!

9. I booked a TEN DOLLAR room in Laughlin! Ten dollars. Pat and I are thinking of just going to stay there for the month of June, that would be 300 dollars. I would come back 20 pounds heavier and very very poor after all the eating and gambling I would do!

10. I like Laughlin SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more than Vegas. I am so weird I know, but it is smaller, not as many options, I don't have to research restaurants because there are no FIVE STAR restaurants I am dying to try, the buffet is BY FAR the best buffet I have ever eaten at, there is no Hoover Dam to pass through. I despise the Hoover Dam, but we will save that rant for another day.

Blogger Award:Honest Scrap

I was nominated for this award by my friend, Karen, over at Mommy Needs. She is one of the most honest bloggers I know, and I am flattered to be joining her company!

Part of the award is listing 10 honest things about myself, so here goes nothing!

1. I yell, maybe I am part Italian or something, but I don't even realize I am yelling, I feel more like I am talking :-)!

2. I spend much more money than my husband does on eating out.

3. I like to slam doors.

4. I despise going to the grocery store.

5. I have SO much gray hair!

6. I understand that if I bought a new 2 Liter for each day of the week, it would still be cheaper than going to McDonald's to get my $1 fountain soda every morning, but I love FOUNTAIN soda!

7. My daughter scares me! I don't like to be left alone with her!

8. I LOVE being alone in my house.

9. I would rather stay home in my pajamas and play cards than go out to a fancy dinner or party. This is the VERY reason I never want Pat to run for any political office.

10. I should probably be on some sort of medication to reduce my anxiety, but even though I am a Psychology major, I am too afraid to go talk to someone and have them judge me!

Now I nominate the following blogs to participate in Honest Scrap:

AMomTOBoys
Mommy Genes
Playgroups are No Place for Children

OMG, and I ALMOST FORGOT Cynthia at Our Mad Camp Adventure In all fairness, her blog was private for awhile, and I always think it still is, but hopefully you can all enjoy her honest to goodness East Coast Attitude living on the West Coast!

GIVE AWAY!!!!

Katie is having a Build A Bear give away! GO check it out!

Ten on Tuesday

1. Now Jackson has the OBNOXIOUS cough! Hopefully everyone will get it out of their system because I have had enough of the coughing!

2. I REALLY want to go to Postino tonight for the $20 special. I REALLY wish that they would start the special at 7 because the idea of going out at 8 is TOO MUCH FOR ME!

3. Vicki and Tiko's wedding was beautiful. The ceremony was in a Greek Orthodox church, something I have NEVER experienced before, full of ritual and beauty! The "priest" spoke REALLLLLLLLLLLLY fast and about 90 percent of it was sung, but Vicki and Tiko were smart, in the program, they wrote what was going on and what it meant because otherwise, I don't know how many people would have known what was going on. The reception had belly dancers!

4. Tiko is our friend from college. It was sooooooo great to see some of our old friends, but it made me miss Karissa TERRIBLY. In college, the two of us hung out with this huge group of guys, but we didn't care because we had each other. On Saturday, it was myself in a pew with a bunch of men. It made me miss my sidekick!

5. For Mother's Day this year, I want Pat to drink a grass shot from Jamba Juice. I think it smells JUST like fresh cut grass (because it is), and I cannot imagine drinking it (neither can he)! I don't know that I will actually follow through with this plan because he says that if he does this, then he wants to go camping for Father's Day, and I am sure I don't have to tell you my feelings on camping!

6. I made cinnamon rolls for our dinner exchange this month. The Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls. They took THREE HOURS from start to finish, sure that included rising time, but still having to think about cinnamon rolls for three hours was EXHAUSTING!





7. I am sanitizing the humidifier again (I wrote this on my last Ten on Tuesday too!)! I am still drinking!

8. The Strategic Default story about housing on the Today Show this morning is KILLING ME! Matt Lauer is OBVIOUSLY disgusted by the whole thing, he says, "Once you get past the moral and ethical obligation of defaulting on your loan, what makes you a good candidate for strategic default!" I have a huge crush on this man. It is as though he speaks what I am thinking every morning. Since the whole Tom Cruise interview years ago, I knew I loved him! I love how he doesn't back down.

9. Speaking of Tom Cruise. I think Suri has been in the past few issues of People magazine, and I think she and Tyler could DEFINITELY pass as sisters. They both have the same stringy hair, pale skin, big eyes, and LOVE of dresses. I would bet money that if Katie would pull Suri's hair back in a bow, or if I would let Tyler's hair hang in her face 24/7, they would look even more alike :-)!





10. We tried to go swimming on Sunday, but it was still cold, so we had a water gun fight instead. It was a lot of fun!

Scorpion King Part TWO!

If you haven't heard the original Scorpion story, it goes something like this. . .Pat and I move to San Antonio so he can go to law school, I don't really like it there (the food was weird, but OH HOW I CRAVE IT NOW!), first night by ourselves after our family leaves, PAT GETS STUNG BY A TEENY TINY, SUPER SMALL, BABY SCORPION! It was the first interaction either of us have EVER had with a scorpion, so immediately I call my mom crying that I want to return to Phoenix and leave San Antonio in the dust! Pat reads on the Internet that baby scorpions hurt more because they can't control the venom released, of course we have to hear FOREVER about how much it hurt! (Would be so much better if I had blogged way back when, and I just could have linked it!)

ANYWAY, now almost seven years later, PAT gets stung again! Thursday night, I hear him yelling for me to come to the family room, about 9:30 PM. I go out there to see what all the noise is about, and he is standing still telling me to get him a shoe because he was just stung by a scorpion and needs to kill it! I go get him one of his large flip flops. He stands there telling me that isn't the "right" kind of shoe! OMG, kill the thing already! (TIP: I learned you are supposed to spray them with hairspray before hitting them because the mommy scorpions carry their babies on their back, and they can all scatter) So, he uses the flip flop to kill it. His leg is throbbing, OMG, worst pain ever, BLAH BLAH BLAH! I have heard it all before. And, inside I am laughing because I saw BOTH scorpions that stung him, and this one is HUGE, so I think, well, if the baby was sooooo bad, then this one surely won't hurt as much! WRONG! Scorpion Drama King ENTERS!

All of a sudden, the leg that wasn't stung is tingling, moves up into his arms, face, ears. THEN, suddenly his throat and ears itch. THEN suddenly his whole body is numb! OMG, do you see where this is headed? The throat and ears itching sounds like an allergy to me, so I give him some Children's Benadryl (adult dose), and he also takes some Motrin! I tell him to go to sleep. Of course he is FREAKING OUT, because he has scared himself to death reading WebMD, so he keeps waking me up to discuss it. Finally I look online, and the instructions I read say to call poison control with questions. THAT WOULD BE GENIUS instead of continuing to wake up your sleeping wife! The poison control people say that everything he is experiencing is NORMAL after a scorpion sting. I continue to laugh. He tells me he hopes I am never stung by a scorpion because I couldn't handle it. I tell him I have birthed two babies. He tells me this is "worse than the ear incident", which if I recall wasn't painful, just weird. Finally I go to sleep, and he stops waking me up, even though he claims he didn't sleep all night!

Next morning, RIDICULOUSLY funny, shuffling around like an 80 year old man, I send him off to work because I seriously cannot look at him anymore! He continues to text me throughout the day talking about his numbness, pain, ear and throat itching. I tell him to make a doctor's appointment, he calls poison control again. They AGAIN tell him that everything is normal. He takes some more allergy medicine ear and throat itching goes away-I AM A GENIUS(For the record: Poison Control said the Benadryl wouldn't do anything, but when it wore off the itching would come back, so I think it was working.)! I take him lunch, mainly so that I can see his condition and make fun of him for ETERNITY! He still looks like an 80 year old man. He comes home from work only to look pitiful until we retire for the evening.

When I asked him this morning how he was doing, apparently A LOT better, the tingling has apparently subsided, and for that I am grateful because Tiko's wedding is tonight, and I don't want to miss it!

HELP!

Recently, I asked for help! I know in this day of SUPER moms, mini vans, and play dates, asking for help is unheard of! Everyone puts on their designer jeans, a full face of makeup, heels and a cute top to drop their child off at school. Everyone is smiling and happy at all times, and they MOST DEFINITELY speak to their husbands in a pleasant voice at whatever hour they will grace you with their presence! It is taboo to admit that you have had enough, that you can't do it alone anymore, your cup runneth over, etc.

Well, loyal blog readers, I am here to tell you that I am NOOOOOOOOO SUPER MOM! My daughter looks at me weird if I wear make up, I wear the same two or three pair of black pants and a rotation of 5 t shirts all week long, and I MOST DEFINITELY do not wear heels-flip flops 12 months a year! If you follow me on twitter, you know that I have MOST DEFINITELY not been in a good place lately. Pat has been working RIDICULOUS hours, I feel like a chef, chauffeur, nurse, maid, accountant, assistant, personal shopper, and anything else I may have left off. I am bitter and unhappy. I am not really enjoying my life because I am too busy worrying about what I have to do next or hating on the fact that I am doing it all alone!

SOOOOOOOOO, I turned to my fabulous friend, Claire, mom to 2.5 girls, who also has a husband that works long hours, but the thing that is different between Claire and I is that she doesn't really seem as bothered or frustrated by it as I do. I texted her. . .asking her what the secret was, and would you believe it, she has a SECRET! I asked her if I could share the email she sent, and she happily agreed! It may be nothing new to you, you may have heard it before, but sometimes it is nice just to have a little reminder!

Here's what Claire had to say:

I know that it is so easy to look at all the piles of CRAP around us and start to feel really sorry for ourselves. I do it on a weekly basis at least. ;o) But, I have a little phrase -- almost a mantra -- that I always have to tell myself, and you may have heard me say it before. "My response is MY responsibility." The reality is that all I can truly control is my response to the things that happen around me. I can't control my children's actions or words, I can't control how much work Justin (her husband) has this week, or if he gets so absorbed in what he is doing that he forgets to call and tell me he's not going to be home for dinner. All I CAN control is how I choose to respond to these things. Sometimes I fail, miserably. But, after practice - most the time I can get myself to a reasonable place. My stress level is much lower when I choose not to get upset in the first place. Because WHY do I get angry? Because something I value has been taken away, whether that be a clean living room floor, or a second person to share the bedtime routine with. It has inconvenienced ME and then I get angry. Also, I find that it helps to think of the situations I have been in that are worse, or the people I know that are going through things I can't imagine dealing with. Those thoughts help me to respond more appropriately. Then, my good response breeds a better mood in the house, and then feeds my good responses, because I am just in a better place.

All this might sound ridiculous and you might be rolling your eyes or wanting to smack the computer right now - which is fine! This is just what has worked in my life, and though it certainly isn't an overnight solution - over time, it has done good things for our family. You are right to feel frustrated, annoyed, even angry. No one can deal with all the daily junk we do and not be! I am not saying to pretend those feelings don't exist! Just to respond out of love and thankfulness when you are addressing issues. And when they are things out of every one's control, then I go scream into a pillow before choosing how to respond to my family. ;o)

I am sure we have all had our moments, and for some reason the time and place of this email SPOKE to me! I am hoping to implement this mantra into my own life soon. I am sure LAUGHING every time Pat starts to tell me about his scorpion sting issues (more to come on that tomorrow) he has been having, isn't EXACTLY what she was talking about, but it sure is better than the alternative! :-p

Ten on What Day Is It?

1. I have met some FABULOUS people lately. I don't know what it is, but I have become friends with the most delightful, helpful people! I have conversations with people, and just an instant connection. I always thought it was more difficult to make friends as I got older, with the whole not working thing, but lately, I seem to be striking GOLD, HOORAY!

2. Tyler has croupe, we went to see Dr Leonard at Pediatric Associates. VERY QUIRKY, but very thorough. It was the first time I had a doctor fully examine my child, not say a word to me, and then tell me at the end what is wrong with her. He is feeling her stomach, looking in her ears, throat, eyes, etc. and not A HINT of what he thought. Eerie, but I liked him, he was different!

3. I am obsessed with Melrose Place, new, old, whatever! It consumes my life!

4. I spent my afternoon sanitizing a humidifier, this is why I drink!

5. I am craving a complete steak dinner!

6. There are sooooooooooo many AMAZING summer deals out there for Phoenix/Scottsdale resorts! SERIOUSLY, the possibilities are endless! Right now The Montelucia and Wild Horse Pass have SMOKING deals!

7. Tiko, Pat's good friend from his days at Wells Fargo, is getting married this weekend, I am so excited to see all of our old friends!

8. I still REALLY need to get a new computer, maybe one day I will get around to it!

9. I am so excited for Modern Family tonight! I am sure I am the only person out there who STILL has not watched Glee, but it is one of like ONE shows that both Pat and I enjoy, so we are waiting to watch it together!

10. Have I mentioned lately that the fact that the Redbox doesn't get movies on their release dates BUGS ME! The Blind Side has not made it to the box yet, and I am DYING to see it!

Ten on Tuesday-Easter Edition

1. We had three different kinds of egg dying kits this year, one for Jackson (normal Cars egg dying kit), Tyler (paint and glitter) and Rylee (tie dye)! It was a little crazy and looked like an arts and craft studio. The tie dye didn't work so well, but the kids had fun. (Why is my Tiffany's crystal bowl in the middle of the table? That's where I put the eggs when it was time to start coloring!) Would you believe I don't have a picture of the finished project?????



2. It normally isn't a big deal to be out the door and arrive some where at 8:30, but I am not usually getting ready, I just throw on my black pants and drop the kids at school. Easter morning was a little hectic, but I think we all looked good!





3. The kids LOVE running around and looking for eggs at the Easter Egg Hunt they have at the hotel. Tyler opted out of the baby egg hunt and went with the big kids. She found more eggs than Jackson, and she was happy to share with him.





4. The food at the Valley Ho wasn't that great this year, disappointing because the atmosphere is PERFECT! HOWEVER, I was fascinated with the Bloody Mary bar. They had soooooooo many different things to add, the two weirdest were grapefruit juice and A1 steak sauce-had I been drinking a Bloody Mary, I probably would have stood there for an hour trying to decide what to have in mine!

5. Do you guys hide hard boiled eggs or plastic? We never hid the hard boiled eggs, but it turns out A LOT of people did when they were younger. The whole idea kind of makes me want to throw up!

6. Tyler started to cry tears of joy when she found her Easter basket. It is so cute, yet disturbing that she cries as easily as my mom and I do.

7. I didn't take my kids to see the Easter bunny the past two years. I think I will have to make a special effort to take them next year before Jackson gets too big.

8. I got the new Jodi Picoult book for Easter, and I don't have nearly enough time to read it. I don't know that I LOVE it as much as I have loved the ones in the past, but I do love her!

9. I got Pat some new ear buds for his iPod because neither of us can STAND the ear buds that come with it. Who has ear holes that large? Anyway, he looks at them and says, "Wish my iPod worked!" OK jerk, how about a thank you!?

10. Jackson was INCREDIBLY excited about his Mario shirt from the Easter Bunny. I don't think I have ever seen him so excited about an article of clothing, BLAH!



*BONUS* I think the Valley Ho would be a good place for Claire Beeler Photography to do a photo shoot. Lots of quirky things around that would look cute in pictures!

Pedicure on my Toes Toes

I have no problem painting Tyler's toes. I have painted them since she was a teeny tiny baby. It is quick and painless. HOWEVER, Tyler sucks her fingers, so I REFUSE to paint her fingernails because I am convinced somehow the polish is going to poison her, even though I am sure I have ingested plenty in my day, and I AM FINE!

Yesterday, after I painted her toes, she looked at me and said, "Can you paint my nails, Ryann (girl in her class) gets hers painted?" I paused and said, "Sure!"

PARENTAL FAIL! The peer pressure got to me :-)

April 1st

The year was 2005, I had made an incredibly IMPORTANT decision, not to return to teaching and stay home with baby Jackson who was only 3 months old at the time and STILL COULDN'T SPEAK! I was really nervous about telling the rest of my teaching team because I liked them so much, and I really valued their opinion. When I finally went in and told them, I spit it out as fast as humanly possible. They all looked at me and said, "Yeah right, you are pulling an April's Fools Day joke on us!" OMG, all the time I spent AGONIZING over telling them, and I choose to do it on April 1st!

Rookie Move!

Needless to say I try to keep my mouth shut on April 1st, and Jackson, well he can speak VOLUMES today!