Pages

4/30/09

You Won't Believe This.....

Look, D got her face graffiti-ed on a wall!!


R has her portrait in an art gallery!



And S's on the side of a new building that's going up!!


Just kidding!!! I stumbled across this cool website where you can pick from several scenes, upload your photo & ta-da there you are.

Painted on the side of a wall.


Or on an old billboard.


Or even on an ad in a train depot.

I could go on & on & on & on with pics of the girls.

But I won't bore you.

Go there yourself & have your face tattooed on David Beckham's abs!!

4/29/09

Question of the Night

Asked by S while scrapbooking ~

You can be overwhelmed & you can be underwhelmed. But can you ever just be whelmed?

{Name that movie}

{Yes, Jan, I know.

I need a job.

Shut up....}

My Kids Are Soooo Weird

Right now, as I type this, D is dancing the Macarena {with no music}, S is finishing her cheer scrapbook, talking about scavengers & meerkats, dancing & randomly singing.

And R is sitting on the couch watching it all.

Where do these kids get it???

Not me, that I can assure you.....


4/28/09

Toughen Up, Baby!

I got a call a little while ago from the school nurse to come get D. Her "gasses reflex" was bothering her & her chest really hurt.

The "gasses reflex" she seems to get only in school.

I hate the school nurses now a days.

Well, I probably can't blame the nurses themselves, but the school district.

Did you know that schools consider it a fever when a child's temp is 99 or above? And they must be sent home?

In my book, if your normal temp is 98.6, 99 is NOT a fever. Really, 100 isn't much of one either.

But I know, they can't take chances.

'Cause kids these days can be such wimps.

Including mine....

4/26/09

Cha, Cha, Cha, Changes....

Growing up as a middle child, I felt the need to stand out in some way. So I dressed differently than most kids my age.

Especially as a teen.

And as a teen, I desperately wanted to color my hair. And have multiple ear piercings.

And my nose pierced.

{I still want my nose pierced!!}

But Dad would have none of that.

We weren't allowed to color our hair or wear makeup. And could only have one hole in each ear.

And I could just put that idea of a nose piercing outta my twisted little mind!!

The no makeup I was OK with. But the not coloring my hair & not being able to get at least one more hole in only one ear really bugged me.

Oh, how I had visions of pretty colors woven through my hair. And only one ear pierced.

Several times.

But Dad would have none of that.

So that's why, the minute I turned 16, and graduated high school, I bought a box of hair dye & got my right ear pierced again.

And my left ear pierced.

Four more times!

It was my rebellion against Dad's rules.

And my deep seeded need as a middle child to get noticed.

It was odd for anyone in our tiny two bit town to have multiple ear piercings.

In 1986.

Which leads me to my girls.

I have no problem with them wanting to color their hair. I've even tried to get them to put the red or pink I've put in my hair in theirs.

They would have none of that.

But they did want to color their hair. So I let them.

Unfortunately they don't want to do any bright colors. I had such high hopes for one of my girls to want their hair brightly colored like I did.

**sigh**

Last week, R wanted to go very blonde.

She bought the color & I applied it. It's not quite as light as she wanted so she'll have to do it again.

She wanted before & after pics, so here they are...

It's not easy to tell the color sense she insisted on wearing her hair up.


She took this picture. When the sun hits it just right it looks strawberry blonde!

I'm still working on one of them coloring their hair burgundy......

4/25/09

Dance, S, Dance

I have some videos of S's dance concert we went to last night. And since the may take a little while to load, I will give those who may not know, a little history of her illustrious dance career.

S has always loved to dance & twirl, so when she decided to take dance class when she got into high school it was no surprise. This is her second year in dance & between that, cheer & tumbling, she has become quite good.

I know. I know. I'm her mother. And all mother's think their kid is the best at whatever they do.

And the prettiest/handsomest kid on earth.

But she does dance really well.

I know, I'm no expert. But compared to the other kids in the dance class, I'd say that girls got rhythm!!

You can see how graceful she is. Have no clue where that comes from.

Hell. I fall up the stairs.

And trip over my own feet.

Really.

No joking.

Anyway. Sit back & enjoy Savvy dance her little heart out..

I video taped only the dances she was in. Not the best quality, but gives you an idea. This first dance was my favorite.

Each dance student choreographs a dance & this one was choreographed by her & a friend.


If you look real hard, S is the dancer in the front center. {I can always tell which one is her because she moves with a fluidity (is that a real word???) none of the other dancers seem to have.}



In this one she is 4th from the left



And finally, the last dance. You can clearly see her in the back wearing the zebra print dress after "undressing'. I don't think she was as into this dance as she was the others. She looks just a little bored.

It wasn't my favorite of the evening either....



Thanks for stopping by.

Hope you enjoyed the concert...

{Larger video can be seen here. Don't know why I didn't think of this sooner!!}

4/24/09

Idiot Bus Drivers

We have a fairly new public bus system in town called The Orbit. It's a free shuttle bus that will pick up/drop off riders in the neighborhood.

It's not such a bad thing. Many kids use it to get to & from school. College students use it to get to & from college. Employees use it to get to & from work.

Except the drivers seem to all be idiots.

I've seen a driver pull away from the stop while some poor sap is running up to the bus, hands waving shouting.

Several times.

I've had no less than 3 drivers pull right in front of me after loading/unloading passengers. The dumb ass just had to wait until I was 5 feet from the bus with no one behind me to pull out.

Idiots.

Then, to make me like the drivers even more, here's what one did the other day while I walked D to school ~

As I've done for several years now, whenever we get to an intersection {even though it is on a side street that is not very busy} I pause to make sure no vehicles are coming. And if they are, we stop to be sure they obey the law & come to a complete stop at the sign to let pedestrians cross.

Most drivers are courteous & obey the law.

Except, several years ago, there one weird school bus driver who stopped to tell me I shouldn't stand at the corner because I could get run over!!

Mind you, the kids & I were standing on the other side of the sidewalk furthest from the street. Wasn't stopping better than walking out into the intersection in front of a moving vehicle???

Maybe it was his way of warning me he might run me over. Because he doesn't know enough to drive on the street & not the sidewalk.

I'm just saying. I don't know.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

As we walked to school that one fine morning, an Orbit bus driver was coming up a side street we had to cross. Just as we reached the intersection, so had the bus.

I paused before crossing & thought "a public servant is behind the wheel & will obey all traffic laws."

HA!!

That shithead driver slowed down just a bit, letting me think he was stopping. After all, he had the stop sign. And we were pedestrians.

Just as I was going to step off the sidewalk & cross the street, he continued through the intersection!!!

WTF!!!

I wanted to yell "YOU DUMB ASS!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO STOP! AT THE STOP SIGN!! AND LET PEDESTRIANS CROSS!!!"

But I didn't. I just told D he was stupid & not a very good driver.

I was unusually calm & composed that day.

I'm now convinced that when the city put the add in the paper for bus drivers, it also said "only idiots need apply."


Question

Are those who "tweet" on Twitter called Twits???


4/23/09

Wondering....

Why don't the shoes ever get in the box?

The box that's right next to them????

4/22/09

I Walk to School

It occurred to me this morning, after taking D to school, that for the past 11 years, I have had at least one child in elementary school. The same elementary school they all went to. And out of those 11 years, I have walked the girls to & from for 8 of them. That's a lot of walking.

Although the route has changed only slightly over the years, we can usually find something along the way to talk about. Since day one, when S started kindergarten, we've walked. {Except for the 3 years I was working.} And it never fails ~ someone {or everyone} will complain about having to walk. But in the end, they forget about being mad and enjoy it.

It's sad to think this might be the last year I'll walk a kid to school.

Today, in hopes of maybe finding something a bit out of the ordinary, I took my camera along.

This is one of the sites in front of our apartment complex ~

It's a clock tower on the public library. I've always thought it look so cool. Very modern.

At the corner, by the sign for the library & Historical Museum are some desert plants. I like how tall the stalk is on this little guy...

In front of that wall behind the plant is a large grassy area. Every morning after the sprinklers go off, there are always birds hanging out there pecking around for some grub. {Get it ~ grub??? Birds eat grubs!! OK. I'm not the most humorous this morning.}

I'm still working on getting clearer shots with the zoom. {And my comedy routine!}

The best part of the walk is this tree lined area. Reminds me, just a little, of the roads around the town I grew up in.


Oh, and look. We did see something just a touch outta place ~

But then again, living in suburbia, finding a shopping cart anywhere other than the grocery store isn't all that odd....

The rest of the walk is pretty boring. Nobody has anything cool, interesting, unusual or otherwise photo worthy in their front yards.

Boring Suburbanites.

I, on the other hand, am not a boring Suburbanite...

At least I like to think so....

There was one house that had a bunch of pretty flowers growing along their side fence ~

Not sure what they are. Bougainvillea maybe?? Don't ask me. I love flowers, but unless it's a dandelion, pansy or daisy, I'm pretty much clueless.


So I sent D off to school with a hug & a kiss.

It's so nice she still loves a hug & kiss good by. Even if it's at the cost of {gasp!!} having a friend see.

Unlike Princess S.

Who wishes her mother would walk 10 paces behind her.

Which is precisely why I walk right next to her.

In public.

And slip my arm through hers.

Because it bugs the hell outta her....

4/21/09

Heat, Blue Skies & Attitudes

Yesterday was HOT. It got up to 97 degrees!!! Today is supposed to be hotter ~ 100! Aahhh, living in Arizona....

It wasn't just hot yesterday, it was beautiful. The sky was clear & magnificently blue. When I went to get the younger 2 from school, I was just in awe at how clear & blue the sky looked.

It gave me an idea.

For a photo.

So....

I wanted to go to the little park next to D's school, but they flooded it, that idea was out. I was kinda bummed. I really wanted to get some pictures of the girls. {S has dance rehearsal all week, so she gets out of the photo shoots.}

We got home, piled out of the truck, & headed up to the house.

An idea struck me.

I had a clear shot of the incredible blue sky.

From the parking lot.

So, I plopped down in the middle of the parking lot, made the girls stand in a good spot. {So I could get mostly sky behind them.} And shot away.

The pictures came out so cool.

They look like they were taken against a backdrop.

A man made backdrop.


But it isn't. I can assure you. Those trees are really there. At the apartment complex. Where we live. These are straight out of the camera. My cheap point & shoot camera. No 'tweaking' required.


D wasn't as co-operative. No surprise there.


I didn't take too many. She was being a punk. Quite obvious from her posture in this picture. Can you feel the attitude oozing from your computer screen???

And my butt was burning.

On the hot pavement of the parking lot.

I got in one more shot though...

OK. Not really! I "stitched" the 2 photos together. Pretty cool, huh?

Oh the joys of photo editing programs....

4/19/09

Games People Play

Like many families, we like to play games. Sometimes they're computer games, sometimes they're board games. One game we occasionally play we like to call "What if We Won the Lottery".

This is fun, because as the ghouls get older, what they would spend money on or what they would do with it changes.

Just the other day we were playing "What If We Won the Lottery". All 3 ghouls would by new clothes. I told them I would give them only a certain amount, like maybe $1000, to buy all new clothes. S, being the oldest, & {sometimes} wiser, said she would go to Buffalo Exchange {a funky 2nd hand shop on Mill} that way she could get a lot more with her $1000. I'm beginning to think some things are sinking in!

She also said I probably wouldn't buy her a car.

"You'd still make me pay for my own car, wouldn't you?"
She wisely asked.

"You betcha!" I replied.

Somethings she has learned to accept.

Now, the other 2 weren't all to sure what they would do, other than buy new clothes.

One thing's for sure that they all agreed on ~

A new house would be on the top of our list.


"If We Won the Lottery"

Of course, it'd help to actually play the lottery!!

4/18/09

Shiny, Sparkling, Spotless Saturday

Today was our 'Spring' cleaning day. Mostly because the living room carpet was full of crumbs {with such a small space, they tend to travel from the kitchen} and itty, bitty paper scraps from S's scrapbooking.

My desk also needed a good scrubbing. I've been very good about keeping the clutter off it ~ there was just a small stack of papers to be filed, but man, oh, man those dust bunnies were huge!! Actually, they were no longer dust bunnies ~ they were dust monsters!!!

So, out came the vacuum & those blasted monsters got annihilated by the hose!!

Now my work space is so much nicer to, well, work at. Sadly, though, those dust bunnies will reproduce {again!} & be bugging me again in the next week or two.

The vicious cycle never ends.

I need a hermetically sealed work area.

In case you are curious, here are some pics of my work space. I didn't think of taking some before pictures.

You wouldn't want to see those anyway.

Those dust monsters were scary!

If you'll notice, living in a small space with 3 girls, requires the use of the large space under the desk to be used for storage. And yes, that is my laptop and the girls PC. I occasionally use both when I'm designing.

This is my "J" wall above the desk. Because, duh! My name starts with a J!! They used to be on my office wall at work. R & D gave me the one in the upper left frame. I think it might've been for a bookmark, but I like it framed. The rest I made with some leftover scrapbook papers I had.

I know, I know. The frames are crooked. I thought about straightening them. But then thought, Most people would straighten their pictures on the wall. I'm not going to. I'm leaving them crooked. They're supposed to be that way.

Like when I used to cut my own hair.

I meant for the left side to be shorter than the right.

Check this out. It is the best desktop picture ever.

I mean it.

EVER!!

4/16/09

Rambling, Babbling & Just Plain Nonsense

Another windy day today. Not quite as windy as yesterday, but cold! Fifty degree mornings are not for me. Thank goodness they are few & far between.

My punk ass Ghouls are still being butt heads about me taking their picture. I've had a ton of hands in front of faces, backs of heads, shirts pulled over heads, you name it, on my camera. Anything except an adorable, lovable face.

Thank goodness for digital!! Delete. Delete. Delete....

So, to improve on my photography skills, I've been taking pics of stuff around the house.

Despite what Sean may think of them, I do have some pretty cool things. Most of them have a history to them. Handed down from generation to generation.

Take this for instance ~

It's steeping in history. If only it's bins could talk. Oh, the stories they could tell! It was in the house I grew up in for ever. I think it might've come from Mom's house when she was a kid. There's even an orange plastic scoop for the flour that's always been with it. And is only for the flour. Not to be used for anything else. Never was, never will be.

The lettering is mostly worn off, but the second bin is for tea. It isn't holding any at the moment. It has birthday candles in it!!

The coffee bin doesn't hold coffee either. I hate coffee. It holds my packets of catchup, soy sauce & hot sauce from fast food restaurants.

And the bins must always be in this order ~ coffee, tea, flour, sugar. Always has been, always will be. As long as it's in my house.

I even added my own bit of history to it. Box tape stuck on the sugar bin. In one of our many moves since Mass. we taped it shut. The tape stuck. And I never tried to remove it. Adds character.

Then there is this gem ~

Unfortunately this is not the original.

The original was from Mom. She got it for like a wedding gift. Or something. I love it. I love vintage do dads. Anyway, Sean & the ghouls have always known that they can't break it. I wasn't sure I'd ever find another to replace it. Then one day

Sean broke it!! I told him he had to rummage the antique shops & hope he finds another. Like that ever happened.

What did was a stroke of luck. Several months later, Mom & I were browsing antique shops for kicks. {Antique shops are almost as fun as thrift stores!} That was when & where we found the above gem. My spoon rest!! This one was slightly different, but I no longer remember what the difference was!! I had my "family heirloom" back! Sort of.

Then I have goodies like this ~

This is my best thrift store find yet. A set of vintage Mikasa china. It's not complete though. I have 8 of everything except the dessert/bread plates. That plus a creamer and 2 cereal bowls. One big, one small. All for only $20.00!!

Have I told you lately how much I love thrift stores??

The pattern is called Mediterrania. In what else but avocado green! It's very hard to find. When I first got them I wrote to Mikasa to ask about them. They told me they are no longer in their catalog {Duh!} but they could tell me they're from the 60's or 70's. {Again, Duh!} They told me to check replacements.com.

So I did. The only thing I found was the dinner plate.

It sold for $27.00.

That was for one plate!!

I'd say I got a great deal.

And my latest {from Mom. Thanks Mom} is just starting to make a history of her own.

Meet Cheese Louise ~

Isn't she cool?? I love funky kitchen gadgets.

Almost as much as I love thrift stores.

Next will be a pictorial of my salt & pepper shakers......

4/15/09

Wicked Windy Wednesday

Say that 3 times fast!!

Go ahead. I'll wait. Not so easy is it?? But it makes for a fun post title!!

The day didn't start off so windy. Actually, the day started with clear skies. You can tell by this picture of the moon I took about 6:00 this morning. At least that's what time I think it was. Didn't pay much attention to the clock.

It's not all that exciting to look at. It's a moon. In the sky. Pretty simple. Some day I will learn how to take really awesome photos of clouds, sunsets, sunrises & full moons with a point and shoot camera. Some day. Maybe. Or I'll just keep taking dull boring pictures like this here moon pic. Ones were the color isn't quite right. But no one will ever know. Except me. Maybe.

The wind didn't stop D & I from walking to school today. It was a brisk, refreshing walk. At least that's what I keep telling myself. All the way there. And all the way home. My butt will thank me for it some day.

Later, I stepped out my front door to try and get some photos of the trees blowin' in the wind. And believe me, the wind it was a blowin'. I didn't quite capture the movement the way I'd hoped.

Although the tree does look blurry. Like it was blowin' in the wind. But that has more to do with the photographer than wind. When you use the zoom on a point n' shoot, your photos come out much better if you use a tripod. I don't have a tripod. And the wind it was a blowin'. A lot. It was very hard to hold the camera steady. Leaning against the building helped some. But didn't stop my hands from shaking a bit each time I pushed the shutter button. But I'm learnin'.

While I was out my front door, trying hard to catch wind in the trees {isn't that the name of Pocahontas' friend??} this little sparrow was flitting about on the roof above me. I tried getting a photo of that too. Flitty little bugger kept moving. Every time I'd get it in the frame & the camera focused, off it flew. Or hopped. It finally sat long enough for me to snap it's picture. But I was using my zoom. 'Cause God forbid it help me out some & land near by. So it's blurry.

See how that little bugger was lookin' at me?? Saying to himself "I guess I'll give the human a break & stand here for her. Way over here. So when she uses the zoom on her cheep {get it!! Cheep!!!} point & shoot camera it'll be blurry. Because she doesn' t have a tripod. Or have a clue how to take a good picture using her zoom."

Bugger.

4/14/09

Cali

We used to have a cat. She was an adorable little thing. Sean found her. Alone. At the disc golf park. So he did what he always does when he finds a stray. He brought her home.

For a while we couldn't think of a name for her, so she was Kitty. Then S, who was obsessed with California at the time, decided to call her Cali. And it stuck.

Here is teeny, tiny Cali when we first got her. Around June of last year.

Isn't she adorable? She was so tiny, she practically fit in the palm of your hand!

S's bed & the bean bag became comfy spots for her to rest.

When the girls would leave her the heck alone!!



Her favorite thing to do {besides sleep on the kitchen tile in the sun} was to try to get the gerbils. She would go back again & again to stare at them, then try to get them. She never had much luck with that!



See that little house to her left? The one that says The Three Little Pigs on the roof? That's a book. I think maybe Cali had been reading it. And was trying to huff & puff & blow the gerbil's house down. Because after a while she looked like this ~


She wore herself out trying to get those little rodents!!

Sadly, we were unable to keep our little Cali. The apartment complex we live at found out & we would've had to pay like a $300 pet deposit. We didn't have that kind of money. As much as we loved having her. And believe me, my girls are pet lovers & were not happy we had to find her a new home.

Lucky for me, {and Cali} I have a wonderful Mom who is a cat lover. She said she would take her. Cali would be happy at Grandmas. She had 3 other cats to play with. And we had visiting rights. Anytime we went to visit Mom, we could visit Cali. If she would ever come out of hiding. It took her a while to adjust to her new home. But now she has. So much so, she is now one big, fat, huge cat.


If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think she was a different cat!!

4/12/09

HAPPY EASTER!!!

4/11/09

Rainy Day & Mis-Behaving Children

Last night S & R decided they would get up in the middle of the night & play around. I woke up about 2:30 when I saw the kitchen light on & heard giggling.

They tried to tell me they got up early.

Right. They never went to bed. They waited until I was asleep then went out to the living room.

To create mayhem.

I sent them {back} to bed.

Had to yell at them 2 more times.

Then they finally quieted down.

About 4 AM.

I was tempted to rattle pots in their room about 7 to rouse them from their beds.

But I didn't. They got lucky.

I did, however, yell for them to get their lazy arsses outta bed at 9.

Then this morning, my camera wasn't on the desk like usual. They had it in their room.

And look at what I found on it ~

Even though I was not happy they were up all night goofing around, I must say, I'm very impresses with her jumps!! She caught some serious height there!! Guess it shows she's a cheerleader!! LOL

Apparently R was pretending to be Spiderman {woman? Girl?} Again, not happy she was up on the cabinets & goofing around at all hours of the night {morning}. But kinda cool shot. And she caught some good height, too!


We were going to go to the park. But it was raining this morning. Which is rare here in the desert. The sun did come out, but the park is still soggy. So we stayed home.

I wanted to get some rain pictures. So took a walk to the mail room & took some pics along the way.

It was sprinkling & I tried to get the raindrops in the puddle. Didn't quite work. But, hey, I got a cool shot of the reflections in it!


Some plant at the bottom of the stairs. I liked how I was able to get the rain drops on the leaves.


A close up of the rain dropped leaves. {I know, rain dropped is not grammatically correct. But I like how it sounds.}


Some flowers by the office. See the rain drops on the purple flowers to the left? I like rain drops on flowers. And bright green leaves.

When I got back to the house, I found this outside the door.


Kinda gross.

Especially since it's from a pigeon. Dirty birds.

But it made a cool pic.

See the bubbles in the puddle to the bottom left?

And the one towards the top left?

And the ripples around the {Gross. Gag. Barf.} broken egg shell?

I'm pretty proud of these pictures.

I'll give you my photo tip of the day:

One thing I've learned is NEVER use the flash. It can ruin a good shot. Use natural light as much as possible.

Now if I can only get my 3 Ghouls to cooperate for pictures.....