My husbans's brother Matt just got back to the US from Iraq about a month ago and has been visiting us this week.
He got married "on the sly" before he was deployed which I figured out because we women just have ways of finding out these things. It's called paying attention to detail! Here's the cliffs notes version...Matt was in the car with us on the way to LAX and he asked his "girlfriend" if she had remembered her military id card when he was talking to her on the cell phone...I said "Holy Cow! You got married didn't you???" You don't get a military id card for being a girlfriend. Josh says what are you talking about blah blah blah. Matt confessed and the rest is history. Now back to the girl
Now I finally get to meet this mystery girl named Tiffany from Ohio. She's a cute blond who looks like a little O.C. bikini girl but with one huge difference. She is suuuuuper sweet, smart, and low maintenance! I totally love her and she loves us. Tiffany spent tons of time with the boys and asked if I had beaten them or something because they were sooo good when she and Matt took them to the beach. That was a proud moment, probably because their good behavior didn't require a beating (wink wink)
They left last night to go back to Hesperia for a few days and I came home to a thank you not of the fridge from Tiffany.
We need more girls like her on the west coast!

My eldest has a theory that when you are playing around and it gets a little rough you just yell "STOP! I CAN'T BREATH!". I remember doing that as a kid when my brother and I would get into it. That always worked much better than "I'm gunna tell Mom on you!" It made you sound like you would have continued this fight and possible won, but you were going to die so you had to stop. Super hard core!

I'm thinking that "STOP! I CAN'T BREATH!" isn't just for kids anymore!

Next time things are a little too rough at work or crazy at home I'm gunna try yelling it and see what happens. I can see it now...everyone running to my office while I start gasping for air.

Think about it...If I really mess up at work, nobody will point it out if I can't breath right? Soon they will forget and I'll act like it never happened.

I think this just might work!

We have an "illegal" dog named Reggie. Reggie is a 92 pound Sheppard/Lab mix and the owners of the house we live in don't know we have a dog...much less a dog the size of a U-Haul truck. I got the dreaded call last night from the land lord..."We are going to stop by tomorrow afternoon to show the painter what needs to be done. Is that OK?" Of course I say fine which means mad dash to the side of the house to clean up dog poop at 9 PM in the dark! Mind you, this dog poops half his body weight every day so it's not the easiest task. Fortunately he likes to do his "business" in private so he only goes on the side of the house.
I'm considering posting signs showing people running with their kids holding bags of dog crap...ya know...similar to the ones you see on the 5 fwy when you get closer to T.J.
AY DIOS MIO!

My boys are 13 and 6 years old. Many people wonder if they are close because of their age difference which is a valid question. Fortunately my boys are very close and I know they are close because they wrestle all the time. Siblings who aren't close are never around each other but I can't keep my boys away from each other. If one gets in trouble the other always tries to bail him out. The Wright brothers are often sent to opposite ends of the house so they will stop but it never works. My husband is afraid that the Stephen will hurt Jagger because he is so much bigger but Jagger fights dirty so I worry more about Stephen getting hit where it counts.

Over the last few days I have noticed that it has been alarmingly quiet in my house. I thought that I had finally gotten them to quit wrestling and somehow my boys would do what I say when ever I say. We would all run in fields of wild flowers and live happily ever after.

As I walked back to see what these sweet quite boys were up to, the super mom feelings quickly vanished as I see them wrestling in complete silence.

Yes, someone will get hurt but what would boys have to brag about if they didn't have scars?

So my mom and I have a small (really really small) karaoke business and today we hosted a karaoke party for an 8 year old girls birthday party.

You know how in the movies the nice normal people...usually blond girls...are invited to a party, everyone seems nice at first and then you realize you are in some weird freakish cult meeting hosted by Tom & Katie and you can't leave because they have already drawn the curtains and began chanting & drinking funny punch???

We set up our karaoke equipment and collected the song requests. Every request was for a Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus or High School Musical song. I played the songs one by one. In unison they sang "Fabulous" from the High School Musical soundtrack. Then they all began to dance. I don't mean a casual sway to the music dance...I mean the actual dance from the movie dance! They knew every note, every move, it was insane!

After an hour of listening to the same 5 songs play over and over again I found myself singing along. What have I become? Am I enjoying myself or am I in too deep?

After 2 hours of non-stop Disney Channel music I was free. I look in the mirror and realize how close I came to the edge.

If this blog helps just one person it will have been worth it all.

Don't let The Disney Channel raise your children...It's scary!

A very popular "all you can stomach" soup and salad bar charges $2.45 for a drink! $2.45!! We will call this place Soupa Plantationa to protect their good reputation. This it is not an alcoholic beverage for $2.45 but a soda or tea! I can get a bottle of not that great but doable in a pinch wine at Trader Joe's for $2...you all know the brand I'm talking about...but Soupa Plantationa charged me over $10 for basically cafeteria food! What's more, they don't even give you a AAA discount anymore!
I was lured to this restaurant/cafeteria by a coupon that only saved me fifty cents. I could save that by saying no when my kids want a gum ball at the grocery store. Without the coupon I would have paid about $11 for what they consider a meal.
Instead of a coupon for fifty cents I need a coupon for common sense!
CAN I GET A WITNESS????

OK so...

This is strange I know but Josh of all people has been getting in touch with people from JUNIOR HIGH and he is wanting to have a 20 year reunion next summer. Josh is not the sentimental blob of goo very often but as we get a little older we miss the times when the worst thing we ever did was pass notes in class and cheat on our homework at lunch.

Josh and I actually went to Jr. High together and never dated until our mid 20's after we had both married other people and gotten divorced. We only dated for about 6 months before we got married but once you've gone to see "Phantom" with the guy in a teal suite from Jay Jacobs there really isn't anything to hide anymore.

It's funny to see how our friends have changed so much since 8th grade but when we talk we just pick right up where we left off. After Josh and I had gone on a few dates he informed me that the pants I wore to my 13th birthday party made by butt look like a bowl of jello. I could have gone my entire life without knowing that. I thought I was the coolest kid ever and NOW I find out it looked like I had two pigs fighting in my pants. I just hope when we all get together next year nobody brings up my Hammer Pants!

Labels: Reunion 2009