Learn something new every day

I learned a new word yesterday.

I also learned that I am very thankful I am not Filipino. Part Mexican? I can see the possibility.

My friend Sally talked about some friends of hers at work that brought in their "delicacy" during lunch time.

Now, mind you, tonight I couldn't remember what the word was. But I googled Filipino and boiled egg, and darn sure enough, it popped up.

I am going to spare you the pictures I found. Frankly, my stomach is thinking about ejecting its contents at the moment after seeing them.

But if you're feeling pretty spunky and want to learn something possibly new (at least it was to me) look up the word BALUT.

But I'll warn you. It's probably not like any other "delicacy" you have ever seen before.

Bay Bridge

Sorry this is kind of a fuzzy picture. I think you will get the gist though. This is the lower deck of the bay bridge. Yes, the traffic was abnormally light. The reason I took this picture was the thought of being on there during an earthquake. I know parts of this bridge had collapsed in the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

It made me think about the bridge that collapsed in I believe Minnesota, the twin towers that fell in New York, the earthquake in China where thousands of children were buried in their own schools. It was very humbling.

My aunt was driving home last night in Indianapolis when a tornado picked her car up, spun her around and dropped her in a parking lot. She had been stopped at a stop light.

You never know how long you'll be here. Live each day to the fullest!

El Papa

Tonight, Studmuffin reminded me that I had my camera in my purse. He said I should take a picture of this burrito. We stepped outside of the box tonight and tried a new Mexican joint. Okay, well, maybe it wasn't tooooo far outside our box! And I really don't have any hard and fast rules when it pertains to Mexican. I'll try any and all of those!!

We had dinner with a friend last night who would not try our Amigo. She IS Mexican. She told of gall bladder pain if she eats anything spicy.

Just for the record, if I need some type of living will or something that says if I need some vital organ taken out or I can't ever eat spicy food again, please take whatever is necessary, take my whole stomach. Just please make sure that I am able to eat Mexican food. Thank you very much!

The amigo

Sounds right up my alley, right?

Well, you bet it was! I am extremely picky when it comes to sushi. I like a nice clean restaurant, and if I smell any kind of fish odor, I'm outta there!

I found a sushi place a couple of days ago in my travels that's up by He-man's school. Hubby was all grumpy last night, and I said, how about some sushi?

Well, you don't have to ask him twice! He was impressed that I had found a new place to try. I had gone outside my box :)

I opened the menu, and there it was. The amigo!

I don't really know what was in it. Some kind of raw fish that I didn't object to. No octopus or anything like that. Guess what this roll was topped with!

JALAPENOS! And on top of the jalapenos was the sauce that they put in the spicy tuna. Some kind of tabasco type sauce.

We couldn't pass up trying this one. I couldn't tell you what kind of fish it was, and I'm not sure I even tasted the fish. It totally lit me up, but DARN was it good!!

We tried half the menu, and it was all good. Found a new sushi hang out!

Twonkies

No, that isn't a typo. I have had this picture scanned for weeks, and today I have the perfect opportunity to use it. This man (my grandfather) seriously lived on Twinkies, hot dogs, campbell's chicken noodle soup, orange juice, bologna and aspirin. There you have it. The recipe for a long happy life :)

My hubby went to a Hostess thrift store in his travels a couple of days ago. He bought zingers, apple pies, cherry pies, cupcakes and twinkies. I warned him when he brought them in that he should hide what he wanted. He said, no, that he got these other things for the kids to eat and the twinkies would be his.

Poor boy was crying this morning. Not only are his twinkies gone, but he said if my grandpa was still alive, he'd keep him in full supply of twinkies! My grandpa was so cool like that. He would take us to the 7-up (His name for 7-11) and tell us to get what we wanted. Now, mind you, he would always suggest something soft. Some good stuff, like chocolate or twinkies. (maybe he contributed to my chocolate addiction)

He would cringe when I would put sweet tarts up on the counter tho. Those will break your teeth he would say! Get you something good, something soft like chocolate or twinkies!

So where did the word twonkies come from? That would be He-man. He asked his PaPa one day, PaPa, do you have anymore twonkies? My dad was like, WHAT? So we call them Twonkies now, even 14 years later :) Good times!

The countdown is on!

I faxed all 3 certificates to the Department of Real Estate today. I am now eligible for the state test. She said I should be scheduled in the next 7 business days. I don't know if that means I will take the test in a week or if I will be scheduled by then. Either way, I got nervous.

I think I want to have liposuction of nerves. Can they do that? Just suck out some of my nerves because I DEFINITELY have more than I need. What am I nervous about? I really have no idea. It's a terrible affliction!

I miss my honey bun!

Some good friends of mine have lost pets fairly recently, so we have all been remembering our pets. This picture happened to be on my desk that I cleaned yesterday. This is Honey and Jack and Jack's brother.....Killer :)

Jack has been sick lately, and he's been curling up just like Honey in this picture. When Honey was still here, Jack still laid on her just like this picture. He looks exactly the same except a little darker. This was before he decided he liked to lay on his back with his goods hanging out :)

Genetic bangs?

I happened across this photo yesterday and just got a huge kick out of it for a number of reasons. First of all, isn't my little baby brother so cute? My nephews look like him!

Second, check out that TV! Holy cow!

Third, see the box of grapefruits and oranges? Is it any wonder I am a fresh fruit and veggie freak? This is the way I remember getting grapefruits, oranges, lemons (my favorite) and apples. A couple years ago when I went to the orchard we always went to and asked for the transparent apples, they proceeded to tell me that those aren't the type you eat. They are too tart and are used for applesauce and such. Well, tell that to my entire family who ate those apples by the buckets!!

And last but not least, check out those bangs!! So Suzi's bangs may be genetic :)

Getting organized

It's scary, I know.

I am really trying though. I want to be like my anal husband :)

I have been kind of quiet because I am organizing and tossing out things that need tossed and filing (yes, filing) things.

The problem is, I still have about 22 files that say miscellaneous!

Rome wasn't built in a day tho!

Turning the other cheek

I know that is what you are SUPPOSED to do, but I never had to deal with this with the boys. They never fought with people.

We have a little girl next door who is shorter than Suzi, but maybe a bit stockier. We have had a few issues of this girl bullying. She has punched Suzi before. Most of this type of thing, I don't get too much involved in anyway thinking they all get over it and move on.

But Saturday, Suzi came running in the door with her best bud from up the street (the bobsie twin) and they shut the door really fast. When I asked what was wrong, she said that Alicia was trying to throw a water balloon at Erica and chasing them and saying Suzi was playing with a baby. Suzi had been "protecting" Erica earlier by telling those kids to leave her alone.

So then the doorbell rang and rang and rang. I go out there and the little "angel" says, "can Suzi play"?

I said, well, I don't think you really want to play with her. I think you want to be mean. She said well, she is being mean. She won't play with us. This little girl had just came and twisted Suzi's hand back. This was after she told them to run because she was going to kill them. GOOD GRIEF!

Now, here is where I have a dilemma. I know Suzi wouldn't just walk around and just be mean to someone. They have played out front with all these kids before. Those kids have swam here. But I don't want this girl thinking it is okay to put her hands on Suzi or any other kids for that matter. I think she would back down if Suzi stood up to her. Now, mind you, Suzi has 2 big brothers. She can totally hold her own. I wouldn't be worried about anything like that. I just don't want to give her permission to be hurting anyone else either.

This situation just seems different. Should I say, hey, next time she is doing something like that, stand up for yourself, or should I just let it go. She has stood up to her. She really stood up for Erica too. I am envisioning high school :) I know they are only 10, but still...

Thank you

Grandma's potato salad

My grandma would be so proud of me. I'm still making her potato salad for My Studmuffin! I know the way to this man's heart. Potato salad!

I think my oldest boy was a baby when she taught me how to make it at one of the family reunions. My Stud and I went to the farmer's market today and got all kinds of goodies to stick in there. I was peeling potatoes, and he was chopping onions. I had cut up everything, even the eggs, put in the onions and then was waiting on him to chop celery.

He said, what happened? I told him I was waiting for the celery.

He said, I thought YOU were making ME some potato salad. I said, I am!!

After he finished chopping the rest of the things and I stirred it all together, he thanked me for making him some potato salad. See how that works?

Brotherly love

The Lifeguard boy just came by and said, "Let me see what you've got on that blog thing!"

We were scrolling through, and he wanted me to make something perfectly clear. He saw the picture of him, his brother and his sister, all sitting on the slide smiling and playing together. I commented about how they USED to get along so nicely.

He said, "Yeah, but Suzi couldn't talk then."

Those were the days :)

Babies!

http://cam.dellwo.com/

The name and password are both guest.

One egg is hatched and it looks like the other is working on it!

I should have known!

I put both of the pics up because of the difference in zoom and lighting. In the first pic, it looks like there is snow on the mountain. But what is exciting is the tassel on the corn. I had to look up how to spell tassel. That's when I got my sex education of corn. I should have known that the tassel was the male part, huh?


This next pic shows our beautiful blue California sky. I wonder if there is any other goofy person out there taking pictures of corn as it grows. Now that I know what I am taking a picture of here, I am wondering if I have some psychological problem right now. Males parts of the corn.....male parts of the chihuahua... Freud would have a field day with me!

Is it a mullet?

There was a whole lot of teasing going on around here this evening. You know how when one child reacts, the other keeps going? I hope I was able to teach Suzi a lesson. She was mad because George was telling her she had a mullet.

I asked her why she cared. She said because he was saying she had a mullet. I asked her if she liked her hair. She said yes.

I said then why do you care what he says? If you like it, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.

She looked at me kind of funny.

That was the last I heard about it.

Bad daddy

Or so says Jack. Daddy let somebody else in Jack's spot. He was not the least bit happy about it. I really tried to get a picture of Jack, but he wasn't quite feeling photogenic during his sulking.

My Studmuffin really is a good daddy though. Of all the seating in the room, my little baby girl chose his lap for watching a movie. (my little baby girl with the crooked bangs)

When is it ever going to be MY seat again? That was my favorite spot too before there were kids or dogs! I'll share for now, but one of these days....

Why I am not a hairdresser.

She was bugging the poo out of me. Mom, take me to get my hair cut. I want bangs. So I gave her bangs. Yes, I will get them fixed, but for now, she's happy. She needs the rest of it trimmed anyway. I will take her to have that done and let them fix them. They were straight when I cut them, but not straight when they go different directions.

So she's happy, and I am happy that she is happy. And QUIET!

Did we fail geography?

My hubby had told me that one of his clients was from Israel. Well, I am probably one of the most geographically challenged persons you will ever encounter. I am trying to improve, but I really don't think I will ever be a world traveler.

Today, My Studmuffin just called me. He said, remember I told you he was from Israel? I said, yes. He said, it was really Egypt. My next comment was.....well, that doesn't change a whole lot for me. I don't know where either of them are!

His comment? Yeah, that's what I told him. That it could be Iran, and I wouldn't know the difference!

So hubby and I do not complement each other on this geography thing. This must have been the class we were in together that we were too busy playing footsie or passing notes or whatever. It sounds good anyway. I can blame my geographic shortcomings on him :)

Actually, it was one of those times where I thought, I just love that man! In some ways, we are so much alike it isn't funny! We live in our own little world!

500th visitor!

I've hit a milestone of sorts! I had my 500th visitor to my blog last night. LATE last night :) While I started this as a journal or scrapbook for my kiddos, it's actually been fun knowing I have a few faithful readers.

I really thought this post was going to be saying, Thanks, Mom! You're my 500th visitor. Nope! That was not the case. It was my buddy from New Zealand! How cool is that? She is a faithful reader, and I just wanted her to know that I appreciate that!

I made the bed

He had to find a new spot.

The good life

I wasn't really going for the pornographic dog shot here, but this is how my pup sleeps. This is that reeeeeally deep sleep that nothing affects him in. You can see even his front paws are up in the air. Life is good. I want to be a chihuahua!

He's certified!

He's sunburned, has burns on his knees from the 110 degree concrete, but he can stabilize someone with a possible spine injury in 13 feet of water. He's a certified lifeguard. I'm so impressed. He's been in classes night and day since Thursday. 20 hours in the past 2 days. If only I could get him this interested in schoolwork :)

For Nancy

Here's a pic of George Porge. He was having a good hair day today, or so he thought!

Innocent?

She was so innocent when she was 2. Now, not so much!

I wanted it written for her to read some day when she has her own children. Yesterday, children marched into my home like ants. They all had towels (which was a good thing) and they swam. And they swam. And they swam. It was hot, and I really didn't mind. I did wonder why there were so many kids, but my daughter is quite the social one, so I didn't think too much about it.

When one of the children's parents came, she wanted to verify that it was NOT a birthday party because she didn't bring a gift. I said, well, it wasn't even a party. She proceeded to tell me, Oh, yes, it was. We have an invitation. It seems Ms. Capricorn had handwritten invitations for people to come to her pool party.

Yeah, the one I knew nothing about.

Leadership material, ya think?

Well, if I let her live that long!

*her father wanted me to add that she is watching tv.

It leaves me speechless!

Whistle codes

Do you know there are whistle codes? I didn't. But my little baby boy does! He said he can whistle to tell me to get my butt out of the pool :)


He just LOOKS like a lifeguard doesn't he??? For some reason, these kids are quite used to smiling for the camera these days :)

Good advice

Handle every stressful situation like a dog.

Piss on it and walk away.

*thanks to my buddy for sending me this and thanks to my other buddy for helping me save it!

The boy does not have a poker face!

My little baby boy a.k.a. my bodyguard, is enrolled in a class that started last night, and it is lifeguard training. It's a pretty rigid schedule for him the next few days. He goes again today from 5-9, and then on Saturday and Sunday, he goes from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

You know how my boy feels about "school" or maybe it's just the homework he doesn't like. Thank GOD there is no homework for this!

BUT he walked in, and without saying a word, all of a sudden, there's that pretty, white, non-crooked smile. Not before, of course, those dimples caved way in. What does that mean? I think he liked it!

His first words were, it's a darn good thing I can swim. To which my reply was, yep, He-man, usually, being able to swim is a prerequisite for being a lifeguard :)

He had to swim 20 laps, which proved a little tiring for Mr. Athletic. He had to dive 13 feet and retreive a brick. And then he had to tread water for I think two minutes without using his hands. He said he did all 3, but that 20 lap thing.....PHEW!

I hope he does pretty good with this lifeguard thing. I really don't think he will ever be cut out to be a poker player!

Who's neglected NOW?

This is my baby, the one who thinks we are attached at the hip. This is him IGNORING me. He's not a happy camper because he thought he was getting to go bye bye and have fun. NOOOOOO! Mommy took him to the vet.

He got a VERY cute little bandana for his troubles, but he's just not into that anal probing thing. Who can blame him?

So I am not feeling the love right now, but at least my baby is protected from those wicked things he got innoculated for!

Neglect

The poor dog just doesn't get enough attention. It's sad. He must also think he is a cat. He climbs on daddy's desk to say he's worked enough, and he climbs on my desk to say I've played enough :)

It's so quiet and peaceful

And, YES, I'm still procrastinating. I did get lots done this morning. But it is like 70 degrees outside, the winds are about 8-10 MPH, and it is beautifully sunny. Who really wants to study?

So I decided I would make my precious babies some brownies for after school. I'm a good mom like that. They will be allllll ready for them when they get home. Minus maybe one or two or three or four :)

And the good thing. I am saving my daughter all those calories by eating all the batter before she gets home. See? I'm a good mom! Besides, there is cookie dough in the fridge she can have! She doesn't have to hide it in her dresser drawers to eat it like I did :) It's really a wonder I never died from salmonella or botulism or something.

Laying it on the line

If the pictures of my daughter standing on a toy on top of a desk weren't bad enough, get a load of this. It looks like we have our 4 yr old son hanging out in a bar playing pool! We were actually at his grandpa's wedding. Look at that little pool shark! Already hustling the girls!


All dressed up in a suit, look at that sly little grin when he realized mommy had that darn camera again! He's still a little pool shark!


This concludes today's stroll back in time. I have procrastinated studying long enough. Off to hit the books!

Daddy's way of babysitting

He had it really tough when he babysat, as you can see! I have no clue why they were sleeping on the floor. I was going to blame Daddy's babysitting on the next picture too!


But then I realized, only the crazy mommy with the camera would have taken these pictures :) Look at that deer in the headlights look! She is so busted!


Damage control. Wave like a princess and look cute! (She still tries to use that. It doesn't work so well now tho!)

Thank goodness she's half grown. What a terrible parent I was grabbing a camera!

Monkey see, monkey do!

Except I don't type with my feet :) Do you think she is trying to be just like mommy? I should mention that I AM fully clothed when I am on my puter tho :)

She was also supposed to be on HER computer. She does know now to stay away from mine!

A soon to be Senior!

Can you believe this cute little kindergartner is going to be a senior? I don't care if he's 6, 1 and weighs 209 and drives a big ole truck. He's still my little baby boy!

Proof

They DID all get along at one time. I think!

I told ya he was at the ballfields since he was little!

Are they not the cutest? He used to get to hang out in the dugout with the big boys! These guys are still big buds like this!

TGIM

Thank God it's Monday! That's mine and Jack's motto!

Poor boy gets no sleep over the weekend. He sacks out for most of Monday. He's waiting on his Daddy to get the heck out of here so he can get some sleep!

All the laundry's done, put away, floors are swept (did I mention how I HATE dark hardwood floors?)

Suzi's room is calling me, but I am covering my ears (LA LA LA LA) I don't hear it :)

Jack and I better enjoy today. We only have a couple more Mondays to enjoy the peace and quiet.

F-R-E-E that spells free...

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

It's been one of those weeks. This commercial got stuck in my head early in the week thanks to one of my buds!



One thing REALLY cool about having a kid that drives now....without any prompting, he went to the store some time this past week. He bought his daddy a birthday card and signed it from him, his brother and his sister. How cool is that?

And he bought me a Mother's Day card. How cool is that?

George Porge wanted to stop and get me a rose bush, but Studmuffin suggested he wait on that til we get to the new house. (It's the thought that counts anyway )


And Suzi, she's made me about 14 cards and keychains and just been all around nice to her Mommy the last few days. Except of course when she was wrestling with me and got a take down ONLY because I stubbed my toe

War wounds

Okay. I lied. I didn't figure he would let me take a picture of it. But he's proud of his war wounds! It looks a little better this morning, but I can see some funky colors coming soon!



And, yes, he's a really cool kid. He's got one brown eye and one blue one!

Heads up!

Have you ever wondered why they say that when a foul ball is anywhere but inside the confines of the field for which it's intended?

Shouldn't it be like, heads down?

George Porge sure thinks so. I'll save you the picture of the indention the laces left on the side of his nose close to his eye. This is a boy who grew up in ball fields. Either he was playing (he was so darn good and I wish he was still playing) or his brother was playing. So he knows what heads up means.

Well, he was watching his girlfriend's softball game yesterday....or should I say he was text messaging at his girlfriend's softball game yesterday :)

The crowd yelled "HEADS UP" and George raised his head up! SMACK! right in the nose. He was bloody and has a nice lace print on the side of his nose.

I have a little guilt because of my initial thoughts. It's really a sick thing. I thought, well, thank GOODNESS it didn't hit your teeth!!! Let it hit him ANYWHERE but there :)

Happy Mother's Day!

They don't know how good they have it!

Before the princesses would let me take their picture, I had to go get them a bowl of blueberries. I think I should be laying out there asking THEM to get me bowls of fruit :) Wouldn't you love to be young again?

Happy Birthday, Studmuffin!

I know I promised crab legs for dinner, but what about Mexican for lunch :)


Happy Birthday, you sexy thang!! Who's older NOW, huh? muahahaha!

Random

Yes, it's random, but I like it!

My pretty little baby

10 years old??? Where exactly did those years go? She will be leaving 4th grade in a few weeks. (I think )

Audition

My Studmuffin first said, it's a good thing that boy is standing in front of the pool, otherwise, he would blend in with the deck.

His second thought was to send that picture in and let him audition for the next Coppertone commercial.

I love that funny man!

Hear that beat? It's a different drummer!

My son was quite proud of this picture, so I guess I should be too. He's graduating 8th grade this year, so they are having a class barbecue soon. Someone asked if they could wear speedos. The principal announced that if someone was bold enough to wear a speedo, that they could wear it.

George (or speedo boy as I now call him) decided that he is bold enough. While he WAS out today trying to tame down that white glow, he is very comfortable about going in front of people in a speedo. I wish I had that kind of self confidence! I took the picture, and he said, "Put THAT one on your blog! I look GOOD!" So here ya go!

He got some crazy idea that no hair on his legs would make it "cooler" when he was skating. At least when he had hair on them, they weren't quite so blinding!

I have to say, I was not going to post it. But ya know what? That's my boy, and I'm damn proud of him!

Garden of Eden farmer's market

Is coming this weekend! Can you think of any better day for that to start than Mother's Day? Needless to say, I am very excited!

I also saw a sign today for pick it yourself cherries. Not at these particular trees, but down the road.

If you can't see the cherries, click on the picture and check them out. I'm just amazed! I think I need one of these trees at my new house!

Where's Waldo?

This is Jack's Waldo impression. This basket of towels is fresh from the dryer, so they are still warm. I just got the others in to dry and came back to this. I swear I want to be a chihuahua! Life is so good!

Chihuahua heaven

I think this is Jack's favorite part of the day, watching TV with daddy. Pretend that's a rottweiler or a great dane or a german sheperd there with hubby. He sometimes gets a complex about his sissy dog!

Who thought he wasn't good enuf?

I know I shouldn't be laughing, and I will feel bad later, but right now, I am getting great pleasure from it!

Today, my little baby baseball boy played against his old high school. The school who didn't feel like he was good enough for their team. (I think we were not in the money enough for their team)

Anyway, I had to take Suzi to her cheer fitting, and when I left, we were up 1-0.

When I came back, it was 2-1, and we were down. There was a runner on 3rd and a batter up, and He-man was on deck. The batter walked, so here comes He-man. The runner stole 2nd. They change pitchers.

He-man gets a 3-2 count. Mom was very nervous. The little baby boy smacks the ball into the fence. He needed about 4 feet higher to put it over. He hit both runners in and got to 3rd. He pitched the whole game, and they won 3-2. Woooo hoooo.

This is a proud mom!

Why do we have happy cows?

The Studmuffin figured it out today. They have blue skies, sunshine, endless food supply and their own "fans" to keep them cool!


We have commercials here in California about our "happy cows" Here's an example:

Look at those TEETH!

Doesn't matter that he needs to bathe and shave, LOOK at those TEETH! WOOO HOOOO It's a wonderful thing to see your hard earned money do some good. What a handsome boy, even if he is mine!

Photographic evidence

A. He's not on the couch.
B. He's not on the puter.
C. He's not talking on the phone.
D. He's not on a video game.
E. He's not on the throne.
F. Last but not least, he CAN work!

The plot thickens

If you're going to work on cars, you have to have more tools. Little known fact :)

The man boys

I don't know who is happier, a pig playing in mud or these two underneath "the truck." Jack is out there in the middle somewhere too. I keep hearing that noise that "Tim the tool man" used to say on the show Home Improvement. Next thing you know, they'll be building a hot rod!

Japanese Plums

I hadn't had these since I lived in Florida, so going on three years ago. I was so excited to see this tree overflowing the other day. I am now ready to puke from gorging myself on them :)