Saturday, August 16, 2008

Manic Monday: Wax

It's sooooo non of your bees wax!!! Wax on. Wax off. Wax what? Wax this. Wax what? No, no, no! No waxing! Laaaaaser. That's where ir's at!

Really I so do not buy into the whole waxing deal. If you want to be hairless laser is the only way to go! I am the kind of girl who constantly cuts up my legs shaving. Is it really worth it? No. Keep your razors to yourself! While I've never tried waxing my legs or the like I can't imagine the pain being worth it given that the growth merely returns. Let's be smart about this! I started at Yamashiro's in 2005 and quickly became addicted to the hair free lifestyle. Just say no to waxing!

On the B Side: Hair free is the life for me!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Ohh La La!

On the B Side: Thank you Koug!!


Thursday, August 14, 2008

Angels and Pests #1

Per Ivanhoe here is my post!

Angel: His name is Dale. Dale at Metlife. I'm pretty sure that the "consultants" who man the phones at insurance companies should be well paid (oh except maybe for that first simpleton I talked to) as they have some serious complexities to sift through when it comes to the claims and explanations of benefits (and given the fact that we all pay out the nose for coverage anyway). I think Dale (my new best friend) must have a degree in helping morons like me make some sense of the nonsense that is billed, contracted, paid out and written off! To top it all off not only was he extremely helpful and patient he was friendly and professional! Given his help I was able to clear a $240 bill to a zero balance! Rock on Dale and the like (but not that first lady)!!

Pest: The "educators" that labeled Michael Phelps ADHD and told his Mom that he would never be able to focus. Shame on them!!! 13+ Gold Medals later I hope that they see the error of their ways and have a renewed outlook on what, who and how they label children. And to any mo fo' who may ever try to label any of my kids, STEP OFF me! I pity da' fool!

On the B Side: I am grateful for the day to day angels that we bump into in life!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Clancy's Wednesday Jar Pull

Clancy's Wednesday Jar Pull: How did you like being the oldest, middle or youngest child?

I am the oldest of two. Jazzy butt is almost three years younger than myself. I liked being the oldest but mostly I just love my Jazzy and the fun memories we made together (both good and bad!). I remember visiting my Mom at the hospital after she had him in 1979. I was sad because she had been gone and I couldn't be with her. Back then they did not allow children in the rooms at Geisinger Medical Center. I can still see my Mom waddling down the hall towards us as I was so excited and relieved. She had on slippers and a robe and pointed to my little brother through the nursery glass.

I paved the way for that kid (not that I had it super rough)! Once in a while my parents would try to give me a privilege but he would cry his eyes out and everyone felt bad. He almost always got his way. He was (and he would admit this) in the truest sense my bratty little brother. For instance, Christmas the year I was in 2nd grade my Grandparents got Jazz and I a TV to share. We were way excited! My Dad said I could stay up 30 minutes more at my insistance to watch "Family Ties" at 8 PM because I was older. The very first night Jazz ended up with the same privilege, which defeated the purpose in my mind but made me feel less guilty. Sometimes I just think it was easier for my parents to give in then to fight him!

I do wish I had been nicer to him growing up. I was allowed (in my mind) to tease and even be mean BUT I did not tolerate it from others. I hated when people teased or were mean to him. Those were the times we stuck together! Like when big bad Kevin Hurley from around the corner told my Mom Jazz was dropping f bombs at the bus stop. It wasn't true and made me so mad. I told Kevin where to go on many occasions despite the fact that he was years older and much bigger than us. It didn't stop him from chasing us almost all the way home, the jerk wad!

We use to go on family ski vacations every year. When I was in 5th grade the year we were on vacation I can remember quietly hissing the words, "Moby Dick" to him after we were supposed to be in bed for the mere puprose of stirring the pot (I still so love to stir the pot!!). He would of course do the tattle tale thing insisting the I was swearing to which I would deny simply because I wasn't. Then we would do the routine all over again. I would giggle my guts out simply because it infuriated him so much and let's face it, he loved to tattle!!

When I was in 7th grade I use to ask him how his Gynelotrimin was and when he inquired of me what that was I would tell him to ask his Gynocologist! My BF Cindy and I got a huge kick out of that simply because again it infuriated him not to know what we were talking about. One time he chased us around the pool screaming and threatening us with a big red plastic bat that he kept smacking with all of his might on the sidewalk. It was fun until he asked my Mom at which point I got chewed out (which didn't stop me from qiuetly teasing him).

I do think (and he also knows this) that he got babied a ton. For example, when I was in 9th grade he knocked on my door to be a brat. I was on the phone, opened the door and got his lack of trombone skills blaring in my face. My angry response was to shut the door as quickly as I could which jacked his trombone into his teeth and you can be sure that I was the one who got in trouble! We had way too many incidents that he incited in which I got in trouble!!!

When I was serving my LDS mission in Belgium/France for a period of 18 months he only wrote to me once. Keep in mind that my family is not LDS. He was in college at the time at Penn State and sent me a package of red Swedish fish with a card for my birthday. The card said, "Happy Birthday. I hope that you are doing good at whatever missionaries do. Please tell Dad that I sent this". The end. He did redeem himself when he moved across the country to help me when I was a single Mom with two young toddlers! He use to hold it against me but now that he has his Micci we have made our peace (he went from being spoiled by my parents to really being spolied by Mic!)!!!

There were times when we bonded together. I prompted him to ask my Mom what the f word meant. We both were curious and had heard it on one of the many not cool shows we watched on HBO (Police Academy, Revenge of the Nerds, Up the Creek, Pretty Woman). We stood in the kitchen looking at my Mom while she was at the big brown sink. She didn't look down as we stood beside her peering up. Her response was unforgetable. "It's a bad kind of love". End of story but it still makes us laugh!!!

We also bonded smuggling in a kitten into the playhouse after my Grandfather put my cat to sleep while we were on vacation (she was allergic to milk and he fed her some unknowingly...it was tragic really). We went down to Pearl's half way house together on our bikes in Riverside, picked out Tigger and brought him home. We kept in him the playhouse for a few days before introducing him to our Mom (who was a sucker for strays and Jazzy!!!). Tigger actually just passed away a few years ago and was a great cat!

Despite the fact that he use to eavesdrop, throw my friends shoes in the snow, cut the heads off of my stuffed animals, take my stuff without asking and then lie about it (ahem, my Alanis Morisette and REM cd's...busted!), threaten my friends that he was going to kick them in the 'geraniums' and do his best to get me in trouble (I still can't believe he told my parents I was sitting on Chris Pehowic's lap on the front porch, ugh) I wouldn't trade my bratty little Gyno guy for the world! I use to hate and deny the crap out of it when people use say that some day we would be the best friends but apparently they really did know better than I did! ;)

Here is some note worthy information on birth order from the Child Devlopment Institution. Time magazine actually did a piece on this in 2007 that I found interesting and here is a birth order predictor quiz that is kind of fun!

On the B Side: I love my little brother to pieces!!! Despite our constant antagonism towards each other growing up we had a ton of fun, made lots of great memories and are very close now! Love your guts, Jazz man!!!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Go Koug!

Check out Koug's magic.

Crazy toes! Here's our porcelain Adi Cakes! Our small tribe!
On the B Side: I'm so excited to have photos of our 4 little moonbeams!!!


WTH?

What is wrong with people? This is such a sad, unnecessary and sensless act. I cannot imagine as a parent allowing this kind of thing to take place. While I do not claim to understand, I do think that it is even more disconcerting that a parent abdicate responsibility. How could one feel faultless??? Bless this poor child's heart.

Both of my parents work in the mental health field and I am often shocked and dumb founded at some of the stories that they relate. I cannot fathom the ill treatment and awful circumstances that children are subjected to so carelessly.

When I was home in PA when Dayton was young I met a young boy who was one of my Father's clients. He was sweet and smiley at the tender age of 6. Now that Dayton is 6 this strikes an even deeper chord in my heart but I digress. I later learned that this boy had been abused in every shape and form of the word. When he was a few months old he was taken from his Mother for neglect. He was found in a crib with burns on his legs from his urine. He was placed with his Father and removed at the age of 18 months after being hospitalized with bruises from a belt all over his little body. He bounced around foster homes and ended up being sexually abused by the only "family" he knew and trusted.

What a crazy series of tradegies that caused a young boy, an innocent young boy so much pain. Imagine being a little person desparately wanting to be loved and learning not to trust anyone bigger than you? I can still see his little face in my mind. He had big blue eyes, blonde hair and he just wanted to be noticed. He peered at us over his hands as he smiled. This was a particularly hard and heart wrenching case for my Father that unfortunately did not end well.

On the B Side: I am so grateful that I was raised in a loving family. I recognize that this is a blessing, not an entitlement and unfortunately not something that everyone has. Reading about this kind of autrocity makes me even more determined to love, protect and nurture my children. It also reminded me of the wonderful people that serve as advocates for these young children. I do not know how my Father does what he does but he has a heart the size of Texas and goes far beyond the call of duty to help those that stand in need.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Scrappin' with Adi Cakes!

I'm new to doing this kind of thing online but check out my first creation! I'm excited to get into this kind of thing particularly if I can do it digitally which will
A) Save on costs
B) Save on time
C) Document my cute family

Manic Monday

Growing up we would skip through the forest located behind our home and play in a small stream nestled quietly in the woods. We had some neighbors that would always lift up the rocks in the water. Once the rocks were removed you could see all kinds of nasty creatures quickly flutter away in the cloudy water. Most often they were crayfish that looked like minature lobsters swimming backwards. They were super creepy to watch and it makes me skin crawl thinking about them.

While I was in New Orleans on business in 2002 I found out that people actually eat these nasty things. That's where today's topic for Manic Monday comes in: boil. Yes, apparently crayfish are boiled, eaten and enjoyed as Cajun cuisine. Gross. Really gross.

On the B Side: I love Mo's Manic Monday posts! I love the simplicity of one word that causes you to think of something entirely random. It's conjures up all kinds of memories for me that I haven't thought about in a long time.