Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Summer Conversations... or, Why Reading the TV Ticker is a Great Lifeskill.

The days are passing too quickly. Summer is evaporating before my very eyes. Football starts Monday. How is this possible?

I plan on cramming every bit of summer fun into these last days of summer. Or, I might just stay home and watch movies in the air conditioning...... Let's just wait and see.

Summer has been going on long enough that I'm comfortable with my next declaration. People, I vow to you all. I declare with a loud voice. Sponge Bob stupid will not be on my TV again this summer. Amen.

I know there are 2-8 blog readers out there that like to click their feelings at the end of each post. Please, don't hide your true cartoon thoughts.

Now, on to more important summer things. Today, PrissE and I had some floating time. Seems like it's been too long since we had a good float together. I'm not talking about ice cream.

During today's float, we discussed current events with the lifeguard. Because we can people. We can discuss current events with teenagers and no one gets hurt. That's why.

Today's current event was the NFL lockout ending. I was delighted to share my current event knowledge. The conversation went a little something like this:

Me: I read today that the Cowboys have released a bunch of players to get under that new salary cap.

PrissE: I'm so impressed! You read an entire article! Was it online or in a magazine?

Me: Oh NO! It was the ticker running across the bottom of the TV while I watched Sports Center. That information is accurate.


PrissE nearly drowned from laughing so hard. Now do you see why it's so important to share your current events with the lifeguard?

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Summer Routine?

No. We don't have a summer routine. This deeply disappoints two people in my house. Two people that really need a cruise director. Sadly, we didn't budget for any new employees this summer. So, no cruise director.



One of my friends asked a very interesting question on the FB yesterday. What is the most frequently asked question at your house? No one really replied with anything except me.

'What are we gonna do next?'

'Can I have a snack now?'

'Is my Under Armour shirt clean?'


Children can ask them as many times as they want. The answers are always the same.




'I'm not your cruise director.'

'Is it 3:30?'

'I have no idea.'


I was super bored one day, so I answered their questions with random answers...... for instance, to the question, 'Can I have a snack now?' I replied, 'I have no idea.'

Totally confused them both. So, true to form, one ate a snack and the other walked away with a confused look on his face.



It didn't stop there. Mav came by right before lunch with the standard, 'Is my Under Armour shirt clean?' So I replied, 'Is it 3:30 yet?' He looked at the clock, and walked away. I really chuckled, because Moms are so good at stuff like this. (Or so I thought.)

3:30 rolls around and Mav informs me that it is 3:30 and his shirt still isn't clean. What do I have to say for myself? Smiles. Walks away.

Now, I'm the puzzled one. I get up, go look in the laundry room, stand there for a second, and he re-appears. Just looks at me and says, 'It works both ways Mom.'



(Did I just get zinged? By my own trick?)

I'm just filling the day people. There's no reason for any of this.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

I'm home.

While I was away, I think only one of the teenagers missed me. I received one phone call from the smallest boy. The one that has been attached to my hip for most of the summer. He phoned, it went a little something like this:

Me: Hello? What's up cutie?

Mav: Mom, I'm busy but I needed to tell you I made a bead sculpture.

Me: Okay, what are you busy doing?

Mav: Didn't you hear me? I just made a bead sculpture.

Me: Oh! That sounds cool. What of?

Mav: BEADS. Can't you hear me. It's made of BEADS! Little plastic circles... different colors... BEADS!!

Me: Yes, I get that. What are the beads in the shape of?

Mav: Reade, Meg and Penny.

Me: OH... how neat! Why did you......

Mav: Mom, I gotta go. Gaggy is waiting on me to go to the store.

Me: Okay, bye! I love you!


** END SIGNAL **



Sometimes, it's all about the beads.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Multi-Tasking

It's a skill every mom possesses. I'm not always very good at it.

Multi-tasking.

Yesterday afternoon, I amazed even myself.

I was sitting in my newly painted, just short of AmAzing new office finishing up swaps for convention this week. Simultaneously, while also, at the same time I was able to lead two (2) boys in the important packing of the camp bag. One week at camp requires a ton of stuff. All of the stuff is on a list. Neither of my children could stay on the same item of the list, so I ran two different check off lists.

During the important camp bag packing, I also gave verbal instruction on how to appropriately fold. Simultaneously, while also, at the same time giving the second boy instruction on what to write on his 'don't forget' post it note. Then, they switched, and I did the same thing in reverse. (Please keep hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times during this ride.)

Let me sum up all tasks done yesterday afternoon all at the same time:

1. stamp, staple and assemble 40 swaps

2. pack two (2) boys for camp

3. teach them to fold

4. check off two (2) check lists.... in different order.

5. write important post-it notes

ALL AT THE SAME TIME!

Summer isn't for wimps. You may applaud my super power multi-tasking skills.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Movie Review

Luckily, over the past few weeks, I've been able to see a few of the new summer movies. I really enjoy going to the movies, so I thought I'd just share my feelings about some of these movies. Maybe I can help you decide if you want to see these flicks or not.

Mr. Popper's Penguins: Super cute little film. No bad words or nudity. I went with a group of kids, and they commented that Jim Carrey was a little annoying, but all in all a really nice film with a good story. Has a happy ending, which I totally love.

Bad Teacher: Eh. Maybe skip this one. It was alright. It's pretty raunchy with a few scenes that I had to hide my eyes because I don't need to see that stuff. There's a whole lot of F bombs. Justin Timberlake is 'less than' awesome, which totally upset me, because he's PrissE's secret crush. I really thought I'd enjoy this movie, because I usually enjoy a good comedy. The plot line switches quickly and for no apparent reason. Sadly, the bad stuff goes unpunished, which really upsets my sense of justice. I saw this movie with a group of teachers and we all left feeling mostly the same way.

Cars 2: We hauled the family to the drive in for this one! It's pretty cute! The Looney Toones trailer at the beginning was every one's favorite part! This sequel isn't as good as the original, but we still really enjoyed it. Had a lot of laughs and the kids are still saying some of the quotes from the funny parts. This movie makes us really like Larry the Cable Guy, but don't let your short people watch anything else Larry the Cable Guy does on cable TV. His stand up is strictly the adult variety.

X-Men Original: The second feature at the drive in was the new X-Men movie. I'm not sure of the exact title, but it's the one that's supposed to explain how it all got started. WARNING: There's a F bomb in this movie, and that's pretty much the only thing my kids wanted to talk about when it was over. I'm not a X-Man movie person, and I haven't seen the other X-Man movies, so maybe that handicapped me. YAWN. None of the adults in our group could stay awake for this movie. Kevin Bacon is the bad guy, and he's the best part of the movie! Every time I'd wake up, all the characters were still trying to kill Kevin Bacon and I began to beg to the Movie.... please, let Kevin Bacon's character die! Certainly it will be over soon after he's dead.

I soon began envying all the folks that left the drive in after the first show. They were the smart ones, not me. I say skip this X-Man movie.

Here's my disclaimer: These opinions are only MY opinions, and don't reflect any sort of payment of any kind. We bought all our own tickets with our own money, but if the X-Man people want to send me a refund, I'd take it.

Is it X-Man? or X-Men? What do you call the blue girl? Nah.... Never mind. I don't care.

The summer's not over yet! Happy Movie going!