Dale Earnhardt Jr Fans

Move on. Nothing to see here. Maybe here, here, here, here or here. But not here. Thanks.

Converting

Last night my husband and I have a conversation about religion. He says that he always wanted to marry a nice, Jewish girl. Then he asks me to convert. I ask why, since he's not Jewish. He tells me that he wants me to convert and then denounce the religion like he did. I then ask, I speak yiddish, I nag you, I give you guilt trips, I can't cook and I am cheap, how much more Jewish can I get? True, he answers.

DeLay and Terri Schiavo

Another fine example of DeLay in action. I have not formed an opinion on the Terri Schiavo case as I do not know all the facts. I do know that my husband knows more about my wishes than my parents would as I have discussed this very topic with him on multiple occasions, but never with my folks. I also know that starving is a terrible way to die, if your brain actually registers the feeling. And I know that I would never, ever, ever cast a vote for Tom DeLay, well unless it was to vote him off the island.

The hunt

I have a deep, dark family secret. It involves the annual easter egg hunt. I am the oldest of 4 on my mom's side of the family. The youngest is 25. We never stopped the hunt for eggs. Our parents still hide them every year. Even when I had children of my own, we did not stop. Granted, we give them a 30 second head start, but then it's ON. It has grown from the original 4 to include my hubby, my sister-in-law, her sister and husband, one of my brother's friends and his wife, and now my husband's brother and wife. Oh, and a few kids.

The trash talking started early yesterday. My cousin traded in her platform sandals for a pair of tennis shoes. I had the number 17 stuck in my head. Must beat 17. That was last year. I didn't win. This year will be different. Finally, the 50 something year old parents have hid the eggs for their late 20's, early 30 year old children and their children. Let the kids go. Then we're off!! I run down a path towards the creek and my 11 year old cousin is close behind. Focus, must focus. Man, I wish I hadn't finished that last glass of wine. I run back towards the house, right through the mud, not slowing down past the 2 years old picking up eggs. Must win this year! Victory! 23 eggs! Wait, sister-in-law's sister has 28. She probably stole her kid's eggs. Well, there's always next year.

Blonde moment again

As I am looking at the quarters I am about to toss into the soda machine to get my afternoon diet coke fix, I am perplexed. What is Sionilli? My first thought is some Canadian change was mixed into my stash of quarters. Then no, it feels like a US quarter. It took a minute before I turned the quarter 180 degrees.

Oh! Illinois!!

The Explosion

Working in the oil and gas industry, accidents such as the explosion at BP hit us hard. Especially so since I have quite a number of friends who work at that particular plant. Once I heard the news yesterday, I quickly called around to make sure everyone is okay. I finally heard back last night and everyone is accounted for and unharmed physically. Mentally, they all seem to be in shock. I feel so much for the employees and families of those involved in this terrible accident.

Breakfast or dinner?

On the way home from school the other day, my son fell asleep in the car. He didn't wake up when I carried him in from the car to the house and I finally decided to wake him around 7 pm. I had his dinner ready at the table and as he sat down to eat, he asked me, is this dinner or breakfast?

No need to advertise

About 5 years ago, hubby and I began our first attempt at small business ownership. We decided to resurrect his lawn mowing business from high school and college. So, we got a DBA, printed up some flyers and started to pass them out. That was as far as we got. Since we both had full time jobs, we quickly realized it wasn't going to work out. Our business name got into the Yahoo yellow pages and for years we would get phone calls from potential customers.

Pleasant surprise

I knew that we would find out about raises today. I wasn't holding my breath for anything too great, knowing how they've gone the last several years. I was also trying to head off disappointment. Imagine my surprise when I open it up to see not only a hefty raise, but a promotion to boot! What a great day!

Fast cars

I must admit, I never really got the fascination. Sure, I love to drive fast, take the turns tight, pretend I'm a Nascar driver, but I never understood spending premium dollars to buy a sports car. Since the @#$@% Focus hadn't been repaired as of yesterday, I was forced to drive my mother-in-law's Z3 BMW convertible. After an extremely intense day at work, on the drive home, I saw the light. What a release.

Stress free zone

Work has been pulling hard. Too hard. And if my personal life were a little less stressful, it probably wouldn't be such a big deal. But I'm burning the candle at both ends. I have been super stressed out today and decided I needed to blow off steam at lunch. Had plans with a friend, which fell through. Ok, I'll go run. Get to the locker area and the shower is closed. Argh. Headed back to my desk to eat lunch and stew. Decided this afternoon I had to leave or my head might pop off. Headed to a nearby park and walked around and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon. Drove back to work and felt 10 billion times better.

Phone manners

Last night the phone rings when I'm in the middle of a messy diaper change. Knowing that the only people who call are hubby, my mom, or telemarketers, I tell the boy to answer the phone. I hear part of the conversation- Hello? Who is this? A few minutes later he brings me the phone. It's one of my friends who has a daughter the boy's age. She proceeds to tell me when the boy was getting off the phone with her, he tells her he loves her and then bye. Of course she responds I love you too. How cute. :)

Sunday morning ritual

Sunday morning, hubby and I stop at his folks house to return their lawn mower. Another item we need to purchase after the wheel sheared right off our mower last fall. I walk in and they are sitting around the kitchen table, sipping coffee, reading the newspaper, and then I notice the television. And on it is the preacher from Lakewood Church. Now, this would seem normal for most people, only thing is, they are Jewish. So, I have a puzzled look on my face and they tell me he has a good message and they watch him every week. I answer that there is something not quite right here, but I can't put my finger on it.

@#$@#$XD#@$ Focus

Busy weekend again, but at least some things were accomplished. Friday, we closed on house #5. Everything went fairly smoothly with that. Saturday we spent most of the day working on the house. Wading through the mountains of laundry, whacking down the neck high weeds in the yard and celebrated my grandfather's 83rd birthday that evening. Sunday, we finished most of the detail work in rent house #4. Hubby and I were starting to feel in control of life again. That didn't last long.

Last evening, we go to move the 2000 Ford Focus, the car so well made it's had 12 recalls, and the key won't turn. Won't move at all. Flip through the owner's manual. Nothing. Check the internet. Oh boy. Thousands of irate Focus owners complaining of this same problem and it repeatedly happening. And the dealer charges around $400 to fix and Ford won't recall the part. Great. Luckily, I also found a link to how to replace the cylinder yourself for $50 in parts.

Dining with kids

Last night we met up with friends who have kids around the same age as ours for dinner. Dining out with kids is never relaxing, never easy, but it's nice when the kids have someone their own age to entertain them. My husband picked them up from school and met me there as I had to work a little late. I knew something was wrong with my daughter when I saw her. She was very clingy and kept laying her head on our shoulders. I chalked it up to the unresolved ear infection we're still dealing with. Halfway through dinner, she starts projectile vomiting. My husband takes her home while the rest of us finish up dinner. You can always tell who are parents in situations like that. Kids throw up and the parents just keep on eating.

Precious days

Took the boy to the dentist yesterday afternoon. His teeth look great, lots of space for the permanent ones to come in, no cavities. The visit took longer than expected, so instead of taking time to take him back to school, I brought him into the office with me. I sit him down next to me, pull out a pad of paper and all the colored highlighters I have around and he gets busy 'doing his work'. He looks up at my bulletin board where I have pics of the family and points to his picture and exclaims- 'Mom! That boy looks just like me!!' I explain that it's because it is him. I finish up a few loose ends, show him how the copy machine works, and then take him around to visit a few people. He was so well behaved and it was so nice spending time together, just the two of us. After work, we picked up the girl and I finally delivered on my promise of McDonald's. It's days like these that I will miss so much when my babies aren't babies anymore.