School started.



We’re back to the usual hustle and bustle that is our lives. I’m awake at 5:30 a.m. and I’m in bed at 9:30 p.m. Routines are supposed to be good for kids – but our kid hates it. She’d rather watch TV than do homework. She’d rather watch TV than have dinner. She’d rather watch TV than take a shower. Those damn TV shows are hypnotic, I think….they reel the kids in and they turn them against their parents. After one 30-minute show, those cute, adorable, loveable kids suddenly become rude, whiny, deaf, evil little brats. I don’t get it. Maybe the music they play in the background is one of those satanic, backwards-playing, Beatles albums? Maybe the commercials are filled with some secret code language that only kids can hear – like those dog whistle things? Our children are being brainwashed right under our noses! We might think the cute cereal commercial is harmless – but when we hear “I’m coo-coo for cocoa puffs…” our kids are really hearing, “Ignore your parents. Whining is good – it’ll get you anything your heart desires. Writing on walls is good. Homework is bad. Homework is the devil!”




...these boots are made for walkin'... 

Summer Lovin' Happened So Fast!

We had a great Summer. Disney World was a lot of fun! Hot. But fun. Exhausting. But fun. We walked and walked and walked until our feet threatened to fall off of our legs, shrivel up and die. But we loved every agonizing minute of it! J took TONS of pictures with characters…we had breakfast with Winnie the Pooh…we swam in the Fantasia swimming pool…we screamed our heads off on scary rides…we pigged out on junk food….and we bought more crap than any one family deserves to have in a lifetime of trips to Disney World! It was a crazy, expensive, amazing experience.







One of my favorite things about our family vacations is the road trip itself. Talk about family bonding! This year we had a DVD player on both trips, which (although it was highly entertaining) took away from some of the usual deep, witty banter the three of us enjoy so much. I’m amazed at how J’s little brain works sometimes and how witty and sharp she is. She’s a little sponge, soaking it all up and squeezing it back out appropriately. Sitting in the car with J and hubber, I realize how truly happy I am – how content my life is. I’m free of worries and conflict. I’m enjoying life with a family I cherish more than anything. I’m so thankful…I’m so grateful…I’m so fortunate.

Last weekend we celebrated our second anniversary as a family. We stayed at the Boardwalk Inn in Kemah. Unlike Disney World, Kemah is relaxing.








We spent a couple of hours, sitting under an umbrella, sipping on fabulously sweet, alcohol-loaded concoctions while taking pictures of Julie playing in the dancing water fountains.

We had nice dinner and we played in the amusement park before settling in for the night.





The next morning we drove to Galveston and played on the beach. Galveston beaches are nothing to brag about, believe me, but just sharing a carefree afternoon with my two most favorite people in the world made me feel like I was in Hawaii.

4th of July

I almost forgot to write a little about our 4th of July excursion! If you live in Houston, the place to be on Independence Day is downtown at the Elenor Tinsley park. There's a huge festival there - with live music, great food, and tons of freaky weirdos (Hang on to your kids!). Obviously, we stayed home most of the day. But, true to our family tradition, we ventured out into the world around 7:00 p.m. in search of a fun place to view fireworks. Here's how cute we looked:


Our happy little family...waiting for the fireworks on the 4th of July!

...Unfortunately, people got wise to our secret spot (in the parking lot of the Houston Police Federal Credit Union) and closed it off. Where to go... Where to go?? Why, to pee-pee of course! It doesn't matter where we're going or how long we're gone, J ALWAYS has to go to the restroom when we're in the car. Unless she's watching a DVD, of course - in which case, her bladder goes into hibernation or something. Anyway, we found a restroom then continued our search for the perfect spot for watching fireworks. Finally, we found this place:


Oink Oink! I felt right at home!


Sis and friend joined us at the Pig Stand for tailgating & fireworks!


Don't worry - our view of the fireworks was NOT obstructed by this gorgeous sign!

Crackuccino

What the heck do they put in the drinks at Starbucks? I’m beginning to wonder if there’s some underhanded, illegal activities going on there. I’m not a dope head and have no idea what it’s like to be addicted to crack – but if it’s anything like the addiction I have to the toffee nut latte, iced caramel machiato and the caramel frappuccino then those crack heads have a serious problem! And I know that it’s not just me this epidemic is affecting because J is hooked on those damn non-coffee frappuccinos! The vanilla bean frappuccino to be precise. The kid starts salivating every time we pass a Starbucks coffee house or when she gets a glimpse of one of their billboards. She’s like Homer Simpson, “mmmmmm, starbucks!” She turns into a zombie. Nothing can snap her out of it! She yearns for the sweet vanilla cream…she craves the fluffy whipped cream doused in… CRACK! When I tell her we’ll stop there on Friday, she counts down the days! “3 more days till starbucks!” This is not normal, I tell ya! I’ve even found myself hoarding dollars for the stuff (instead of using my debit card) so that hubber won’t know how often I go! But now, I think he’s on to me. I’m a crackuccino addict.


J - going looney - maybe all those crackuccinos finally caught up with her!

Boardwalk Beast

Last weekend we went to the Saltgrass Steakhouse at the Kemah Boardwalk to celebrate my sister's birthday. Her birthday isn’t really until July 23rd, but we’ll be living it up in Disney World that day, so we figured we’d hook up before hand. Sis had the brilliant idea that riding this thing would be fun. According to her, you get a little wet – like walking through the rain for a few minutes. Apparently, my cute little sister is a lying sack of crap! We got DRENCHED. It was like someone was standing over us, pounding us with 50 kajillion gallon buckets of stinky salt water. And it didn’t trickle cutely over us. It GUSHED. It was a good thing I didn’t wear a white t-shirt! We walked off of that boat as if they’d just rescued us from the middle of the ocean and didn’t have the common decency to offer us a towel. And, as if that weren’t FUN enough…we got caught in the STORM OF THE CENTURY. The sky opened up, and in 10 minutes, that place was covered in 5 inches of water! And it wouldn’t stop – until, of course, we finally reached our car. By that time, it was bright and sunny with not a cloud in the goddamned sky. J thought it was the “funnest day EVER!” She wants to do it all again next month when we stay here for our anniversary.


This was before we got DRENCHED!


The ride we never got to ride!

Another Trip...

In approximately 8 days, we'll be on the road again. Destination: Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida! Doesn't it seem like just yesterday we were getting back from Colorado? The only problem I have with all these trips (and it's a GREAT problem to have) is that I can't keep up with my scrapbooking. Last night I finally finished our 2002 Road Trip to Colorado book. That's no type-o. 2002. I'm two years behind! And I haven't even touched the small events that have happened along the way - like birthdays and christmases and memorable holidays, etc. How do those OTHER moms keep up? Damn the super moms. Damn them to hell!

Now- about our trip. We've got plans! We've dissected books and watched videos and we know exactly what to expect and which parks we're going to. And which rides at each park we want to ride. And which shows at each park we don't want to miss. We even went to the Disney store in town to load up on cheap gear! This is the readiest we've ever been for a trip, I think! Yes, we're dorks.

The anticipation of this vacation makes all the regular daily crap I deal with before leaving seem so insignificant. Missed a deadline? Who cares! I'm going to Disney World! Article pictures suck smelly ass? Who gives a crap! I'm going to DISNEY WORLD! Have to sit through a long, boring conference call where normally it's all I could do not to pound my head in with a hammer? No problem! Surf the net - during the call - I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD! Dangit! Everyone else can eat my dust!

The only bad thing is that I have to go back work eventually. So, maybe I should make sure I leave a clean slate before I go to Disney World. Maybe. MAYBE NOT!

Diaper Drama...

On our way to the grocery store a few weeks ago, we saw a rolled up diaper on the sidewalk about 2 blocks from home. I remember commenting at how raunchy it was for someone to have tossed a diaper there. I remember Hubber saying maybe it FELL out of someone's stroller as they were strolling along. I remember J saying maybe it BLEW out of someone's trash can. I DISTINCTLY remember all this happening A FEW WEEKS AGO.

Yesterday, on our way to the grocery store again, guess what we saw on the sidewalk about 2 blocks from home? Yep. There it was. In all is bloated glory. It had expanded to triple the size it was a few weeks ago because of all the rain we had gotten. But, there was no mistaking it - it was the SAME diaper. In the same spot. Now you're thinking we live in the ghetto and dirty diapers on the sidewalk are to be expected in the GHETTO. The thing is - we don't live in the damn ghetto. We live in a very upscale neighborhood. And the house that is directly connected to the diapered sidewalk is worth probably $900,000. So, you'd think that after a FEW WEEKS, the owners of said house would have disposed of the bloated diaper by now. You would think. But noooooo. There it fell and there it stayed.

Maybe the home owners thought the diaper owner would come back to claim his or her property? The thing is - there's a gutter about 3 feet from the damn thing. Why not kick it to the curb and down the gutter. Hubber said - maybe someone did, but the rain flooded out the gutter and the diaper came floating out and back to the same spot. So, why not pay the yard man to pick the damn thing up and throw it in the garbage. Hubber said - maybe the yard guy did, but he forgot to put the lid on the trash can, and when it rained, the trash can filled with water and the diaper floated out - and over the last week or so, drifted back to the same place. So, what happened to the rest of the trash in the trash can? Didn't it float out, too? Hubber said - yes, but it drifted down the curb into the gutter. The diaper was too heavy, at that point, to drift any farther.

So, why not take it and toss it into the bayou? Hubber asked - obviously no one wants to pick it up...why would anyone carry it all the way to the bayou 5 blocks away? Then I said - they could hit it with a stick. Yeah. They could hit it with a stick all the way down to the bayou. We ALL know the bayou didn't exceed its banks. So, there wouldn't have been any floating or drifting OUT of the bayou.

This solution made sense. And Hubber finally agreed with me. What better way to dispose of a diaper on a sidewalk than to hit it with a stick all the way to the bayou? That's what ANY sane person would do.

Then J said - what if the diaper explodes when you hit it?

Lonely Shoe



From now on, when watching the news or reading the newspaper, please play close attention to stories about pedestrians getting hit by a car. You'll notice that in EVERY - SINGLE - CASE, the person hit has lost one shoe.

This just in - small toddler killed in a hit and run accident...

Then the camera zooms in on that poor kid's shoe. One shoe.

78 year old woman walking to church is hit by a car....

Again the zoom to the shoe. One goddamned shoe.



Has any scientific research been done that proves when a person is hit by a car, they fall right out of their shoes? Even if the shoe laces are tied so tight that there's no way the shoe could fly off? What the hell is going on? Maybe...maybe...it's actually happening when the paramedics arrive on the scene. THEY take the victim's shoe off to check circulation to the extremities? If so, why not pack the damn shoe up in the ambulance? Why leave it in the middle of the road? Or....or...maybe the sudden impact of being struck by a vehicle causes feet to shrink. Ahem. A FOOT to shrink. The left one. Because it's on the same side as your heart.



Just think - every time you see a shoe laying on the side of the road, it's a pretty good indication that a person was struck by a car in that very spot.



%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%



Speaking of weirdos...



...how many news stories does one person have to see before they realize that leaving children in vehicles could be deadly? Huh?! Are we that fucking stupid? I live in Houston where it's 90 degrees on Christmas day! YOU DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN IN A CAR. THEY WILL DIE. THEY CAN DIE IN JUST 5 MINUTES. YOU STUPID ASSHOLE. I'm not kidding when I say this - last summer, there were at least 2 or 3 deaths each month. On the news, we got to see stupid, idiotic mothers crying saying they just ran back into the house to grab something... or they had to run into the store in a hurry and didn't want to have to unstrap the baby and drag it inside. IT'S YOUR FUCKING KID! There have even been instances of people leaving the car running with the baby inside while they went into a convenient store and wondered why ANYONE would want to drive off with their baby! IDIOTS! Just a couple of weeks ago, a mother claimed her 2-year-old child woke up in the middle of the night, went out the front door and into the car where it suffocated and died. WHAT THE HELL?! That's the stupidest, most unlikely thing I've ever heard! They forgot the kid in the car overnight! How do you FORGET you have a child? HOW? I mean - if I don't see or hear my daughter for longer than 2 or 3 minutes, you better believe I'm going to look for that little heffer and make sure she's not breaking something or writing on walls or whatever it is she likes to do to drive me crazy.



Ok, I'm done for now.

The Simple Mind



I'm almost a little ashamed to admit this - but I'm hoplessly addicted to The Simple Life and Newlyweds. What the heck is wrong with me?! Paris & Nicole are trampy versions of Jessica. And I love all three of those heffers! They're funny as shit!



Maybe my issue is that I'd secretly like to be gorgeous, rich, superficial and dumb as a gnat. I wonder what my life would be like if I had been born the daughter of a billionaire. I definitely wouldn't be plastered in front of this thing typing my heart out, that's for darn sure! I'd probably be out SHOPPING. For $76.8 kajillion shoes. With matching bags. And strappy, clingy see-through dresses. With no bra. Or panties. Wearing blue eyeshadow. And hot pink high heeled flip flops (which I hate, by the way).

For Father's Day we got Hubber a TiVo. Let me just say - that thing is the best invention EVER. I mean seriously. In the olden days, I had to "hold it" until a commercial when I got the urge to pee. Now? I just pause that sucker. Yep. Pause. Live TV. Whoda thunk?!

*******

I just re-read my last entry where I was acting as the friggen infomercial for the 8-minutes in the morning crap. To know me is to know that that diet lasted all of 2 weeks. Those skinny people in that book suck. And speaking of suckage. Yesterday on Oprah (which I have a TiVo Season Pass for) there was this lady who weighed 350 pounds and had gastric bypass surgery and now weighs 125 or something ungodly like that. Her boobs drooped all the way down to her crotch before having an extreme make-over. I'm not sure why suckage reminded me of that lady. Maybe I was really remembering the guy who had lyposuction. Ewww. Fat shlurping through a clear tube is nasty. I'd rather leave it in my body where it doesn't make me puke to look at it. It's time to face the facts and come to terms with the realization that I'm just meant to be overweight. Big, beautiful women ARE IN. 'nuff said.

*******

I'm in the market for a new vehicle and I can't make my mind up. I like everything. I like nothing. Will my precious Peanut hate me when I trade her in? Will she curse my new car? Will her new owner be as caring as me? Will her new owner be a smoker and give her cancer? Or will she sit in a used car lot for years just rotting away and wondering why her mommy left her? What the hell is wrong with me?! The Peanut is a CAR. A CAR. Not a person. Not a cat or a dog or even a hippo. But A CAR! Any other sane woman would be thrilled at the prospect of having a new vehicle! No other sane woman would be worrying about hurting the feelings of her old car. I need to get a grip! Breathe in. Breathe out.

Life keeps going...and going...and going...

Ok, so where the hey have I been, you ask? Mostly just being busy out of my friggen mind. That's where. My last post was March 2. It is now April 22 (duh). You know how usually time seems to go by really fast? Well, Spring Break was only a little over a month ago, but it seems like it's been 89 kajillion years since I was in Colorado, soaking it up in a jacuzzi without a care in the world. It's been meeting after meeting after conference call after luncheon after gosh darn meeting at work lately. And at home. It's been J's school stuff...Hubber's coughing...My cooking, cleaning, barking orders... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! And now, my grandma pulls her guilt trip crap about how she NEVER sees us...and that she hardly recognizes J anymore. Damnit woman, I barely have time to watch my Y&R every night and catch Survior and Friends on Thursdays...and you want me to find time to visit YOU every week?! She's nuts.

It would be nice to be one of those X-Men characters that can stop time, wouldn't it? Oh, the things I would do! How funny would it be to go around and pull everyone's pants down? Then, QUICK! Turn time back on! Hillarious! I can just imagine everyone so perplexed... why are my pants around my knees...wait a minute... why are YOUR pants around YOUR knees??? Ha! hahaha!

Speaking of booties... J has a new obsession with the word "ass." Since an ass is a donkey, then why isn't the word "grass," grdonkey? and "glass," gldonkey?" That's some funny shit, huh? My child is a genius. She'll be the next Nobel Prize winner! The next Einstein! I'll be rich! SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

Seriously, though. I've been super busy lately. I did read that book, "8-Minutes in the Morning for Real Shapes & Real Sizes." All the cheese-ball-ish pictures of Jorge were really hokey and drove me nuts half the time, but there was a pretty good message there. It's all about eating smaller portions and making sure you're getting vegetables and fruits into your diet along with essential vitamins/minerals, etc. I know, it's the same crap that's been pounded into our head since FOREVER, but Jorge just makes it seem so easy. PLUS - you only have to exercise for 8 minutes everyday. And you do it in the morning right after you wake up. EASY! Piece of friggen cake! uhm. errr... did I just say cake? I meant... sugar free jello! I start Monday. I've contimplated pigging out before then to try to get it out of my system. But, I decided against it. I'm actually trying to eat sensibly BEFORE I even start dieting! I see a whole new future for me!

Ok, I'm back from Colorado and I've finally gotten caught up with work, so I have a little time to blog. It's been a crazy week. It was like the entire universe had it in for me. I even got paranoid a few times, thinking maybe someone had me on Candid Camera! But today is surprisingly quiet. My boss said he was going to give me a happy birthday by not talking to me about work all day. Woo Hoo! So far, he's stuck to his word...but then, he's been in meetings most of the morning anyway. Either way, it's been nice so far. Tonight my family is meeting at the Aquarium downtown for dinner. I was supposed to have a birthday lunch, too, with a few girlfriends, but we're postponing that until tomorrow. So, I'm flying solo for lunch today, it seems. Poor me. :-)

So, anyway - on to my vacation. It was really nice to be able to get away for a little bit. We didn't get snowed on while we were there, but we drove up to the mountains twice to play in the snow. The snowman we built was little, scrawny and pathetic, but he was cute. We stayed in an awesome cabin while we were in Estes Park near Rocky Mountains National Park. It's so neat around there, deer and elk just hanging out in the streets and in people's yards.

The one thing I learned NOT to do in Colorado is eat at Mexican restaurants. We went to this place called The Grumpy Gringo. I picked it because I loved the name, of course. It sucked ass. Hubber's sister liked it okay - but she's a gringa herself, so she doesn't count. Hubber's been around my peeps long enough to be considered "one of us" - and he didn't like it much either. Or at least he said he didn't when I gave him the "I think this stuff is nasty as shit" look.

While in Estes Park, we did manage to drive by the Stanley Hotel. But our ghost tour was cancelled so we didn't get to do the fun stuff. It's a really gorgeous place. I was kinda disappointed that we didn't get to see any ghosts. Oh well, maybe you have to actually STAY there to get that little treat.

We also drove up to Pikes Peak which was pretty damn cool. We didn't speed up the damn thing, though, like they do in those 18-wheeler races we heard about.

Do you watch South Park? Assuming that you do, remember that episode where Cartman wants to have his birthday party at Casa Bonita and one of the kids he didn't invite wanted to go really bad and Cartman kept bragging about it? Ok, well, we went there. It's kinda like Ponchos, only better, with entertainment and such. The food sucked ass, of course, but we had a fun time watching the cliff divers, magic shows and playing games. J thought it was the best restaurant EVER. She would be wrong.

We also went here and here. Those places were awesome...except we did them both on the same day and when I woke up the next morning, I could barely walk. The Cave of the Winds is supposed to have some haunted caverns...but again, no ghosts were hanging out to scare the crap out of us. I guess it was just our luck. When you're looking for a ghost, there's never one to be found.

Ok, well that's pretty much the skinny on my Spring Break vacation. Stay tuned in July when I go to Disney World!