If D can do it, so can I!!

Yesterday was filled with excitement. I took D down to Little Clippers to get his hair cut and he didn't cry. Not even a whimper!! YES YES YES! He even had clippers used on him for the first time ever. He's such a big boy!

Apparently, he inspired me to call for a hair appt. I needed a color SOOOO bad. M disagreed - he said that it was very popular and stylish to have the ring of dark hair on top of the head of blond hair. As I was speaking to the girl on the phone, she asked if I wanted a cut too. SUUUUURRE! Why not, my bangs are hanging in my eyes. That evening I zoomed off to my appt. and sat in the chair to determine what I wanted to do. I was bored with my current look. I needed a change. After speaking with the stylist and seeing some pictures, I looked above the stylists chair and saw the cut I wanted. Just then my colorist walked over to say hi and I pointed out what I wanted. She then got TOTALLY excited and started talking about how she was going to color my hair.

Love it LOVE IT LOVE IT!!


Yep, it's short and dark! I really think that it shed about 10lbs from my body. Can't wait to show everyone....LIVE!!

Well, if Buzz can do it....

When I put D down for a nap or to bed, I know that he doesn't go to sleep right away. He'll play for a while and finally pass out. Which is fine with me. I still get some peace and quiet in the house. Last night D was up WAY past his bedtime (all my fault) and I knew he needed a nap. After a bit of playing in his room I knew that I needed to step in and get him to bed.

When I opened his door, I saw him standing on his foot stool (you know from that cute soccer chair) at the window. But there was something different and wrong about the window. It was VERY clear and....the book D was looking at was....um...half OUTSIDE the window!!!

The screen was missing! I walked over to D and got him off the footstool and looked out the window...down 2 stories.

Apparently, if Buzz Lightyear can fly, so can most of D's toys.

We're heading to Home Depot to buy some window locks. This way he can have his window open, but only a little bit.

Stink, Stunk, Stank

Went to the movies this evening. Finally saw The Dark Knight - Batman....on the IMAX screen of course. Eh, the IMAX didn't really heighten the Batman experience. Anyways, there were 2 seats next to us open on the isle and a older kid and a younger one sat there. The older one sat next to me.

WELL - the guy who sat next to me had the WORST breath ever! PLUS, he was a mouth breather. HOLY COW, it was bad. Then, to top it off, about half way through the movie he farted! Nope, I'm not making this up. Really, how much stink could come from one body? I guess the cherry on top of the sundae would have been B.O. About 2/3 through the movie I couldn't stand the breath anymore and had to cover my nose with my hand. I was extremely uncomfortable sitting like that, but I had no choice. Yes, I should have switched seats with M, but that's just a pain to do in a crowded theater.

And the Russian judge gives it a 8.2

We're talking Olympics. I'm obsessed with them, but they're killing me. Last night was the womens gymnastics all around, but it didn't finish until almost 1am! I didn't make it. I made it half way through the last exercise - floor rountine. There were only 2 competitors remaining, the Americans. I couldn't do it. I couldn't last.

HOWEVER, on a better note, today we're getting a cable upgrade AND dvr!! YES!! No more staying up late to watch the Olympics, I can just record and watch later. YES YES YES!!

What's bugging you?

Well, in my house it's just bugs. All things bugs. I bought a Praying Mantis egg from Lowes in the spring and D has been fascinated with it since. I tied it to the bushes like the directions stated and we began to wait....and wait....and wait....and wait.... - ok, you get the picture. Until 2 weeks ago.

Just when I was going to give up and toss out the egg, I went to the zoo. At the zoo there is a nice bug exhibit and I saw a baby Praying Mantis, so I decided to ask about my egg. I thought a PM egg only held 1 or 2 PM, but I learned that it can hold up to 500!! HOLY MOLY!! The "bug man" said he would be surprised if my egg didn't hatch anything. He said that the egg wouldn't burst open like a chicken egg, but rather there would be a small hole in the egg.

I forgot about the egg until later that week and I went to look at it. Sure enough, the egg was MUCH lighter and there was a small hole. So the hunt was on. WE HAVE PRAYING MANTIS' in our garden!! YIPPEEE!! I've counted at least 10. Ranging in size from 1 inch to 2 inches ling. So, our new thing in the mornings is to go outside and search through the flowers and decorative grass to find the Praying Mantis'. I did catch one the other day - WOW they're fast - and D held it in his hand.

I became fascinated in them when I was student teaching in a 1st grade class. One of the kids brought one in for Show and Tell....well, it never left our classroom. I got a cage (large pickle jar), put dirt and sticks in it and fed our class "pet" live crickets every week - it was a full sized adult, probably 5 inches long. It's cool to watch a PM eat. They're fast hunters and will quickly sever the head of a cricket....I know TMI, but it's COOL!!
The picture shown is NOT a PM from my house. It's just a pic I found online.

Soggy

This weekend was the annual camping trip for my MOMS Club. When I asked M about it months ago, he didn't want to go. All of a sudden M wanted to go camping this weekend, so I reminded him of the MC trip. Yes, we'll go. However, this was on Thursday so we knew that we wouldn't be ready to depart on Friday, so we just planned on going up on Saturday. Which is fine cuz the opening ceremonies for the Olympics were on Friday night.

We got everything ready and we were off Saturday morning at 9. It's just over an hour drive, so we pulled into the camp before 10:30am. PERFECT!! We knew that there were going to be 2 families per campsite which was fine with us, but the family we were going to share with brought 2 tents. Then we were told that they were packing up and leaving, so we decided not to unpack our stuff until they left. I'll just preface now that nothing was unpacked.

The morning was nice, cloudy but not cold. The kids were having a BALL playing in the dirt, squishing bugs and riding bikes. Until the rain started. Not just sprinkles, but RAIN. Down pouring rain which would last for about 15 min and then stop completely. The sun would peek out and tease us. Still, it didn't stop the kids from playing. All day long, rain and stop, rain and stop. There was one point where D was just a soggy pup.

We decided not to set up camp and went home around 8pm. It was nice to sleep in my own bed, take a hot bath and have warmth.

Blogger right now won't upload more pictures....when I can, I will.

ARRRRGGG!! -vent about nasty stuff.

Ok, it's not often that I vent on my blog, but this has been bothering me for a few days. M was out of town on business on Monday night. At dinner after picking him up from the airport he told a story which has really really bothered me about his character or perhaps societies lack of involvement.

Apparently on Monday M was at a restaurant where he witnessed a man overstepping the boundary of punishment to a toddler - under 2 year old. M saw this man spank the child - extremely hard. Ok, for some, spanking isn't bad and I also will let it go when I witness it happen. However, this man with the toddler then continued to spank the child many many more times because the child would not stop crying. Yanking the childs arm so the child is almost dangling off the ground and the man taking full swings to the childs butt, lower back and probably upper legs.

I asked M if he stepped in to say something and he said No. WHAT!!??? You're witnessing the abuse of a child and you did nothing? I then asked if anyone else in the restaurant did anything, and No, no one did anything. I then asked WHY he didn't step in, his reply: "Why? It's not going to change the behavior of that man. He's not going to change because I said something."

My blood turned HOT and I was angry. Have we become so self involved that we are no longer willing to help someone who needs it? Would people have stepped in if he was abusing an adult? Probably not because people don't want to become involved. And sometimes when they do, they end up getting physically hurt. As was the case of an attack in my neighboring city a few months ago. On a commuter train, some guys were harassing an old man, a woman stepped in to help and she had the cr@p beat out of her!!

It makes me sick that not one single person stepped in to help this child who clearly needed help. I told M that the LEAST he should have done was call 911 and report it to the police. And who knows, if someone did step in maybe that man would have changed his behavior. We have no idea how our reaction affects people. We hear stories all the time about an alcoholic who was given words of advice and suddenly they decided to get sober....it can happen. Or at least I'd like it believe that it can.

Yeeeehaw Everyone!!!

What says summer more than a County Fair? Guess what? I went to one last night. Catrina asked me to go and see one of her favorite country music singers who was playing. WELL, being such a HUGE non-country music fan, I agreed to go. It has been years since I've been to a fair - I probably haven't been since I was 8 or 9. Which is strange because literally 1 mile from the house I grew up in was the fairgrounds for my county.

AND, you cannot have a county fair unless the weather is 90+ degree's - even in the PNW. Yesterday was no exception. It was 94 degree's. I left D at home with a sitter cuz I knew the fair would be "too old" for him at this point. Off I went.

I think I know why I haven't been to a fair in years. Rednecks. Lots and lots of rednecks. We didn't drive, so I can't really critique the auto's found in the parking lot, but I'm guessing there would be a lot of pick up trucks.

So, we were sitting in the bleachers listening to the concert and people watching. There was a man, woman, toddler and 2 strollers. Hmmmm, why 2 strollers and only 1 child? It's because the man was pushing a stroller for his DOG!! His DOG! Yes, this man was a redneck. Long long hair, wrangler jeans, HUGE belt buckle, cowboy boots and hat. Looks like he came right out of Hee Haw (for those who remember that show). He paid more attention to the dog than he did to his toddler. He scooped that dog into his arms, danced with him and everything. As soon as I can figure out how to get the photo off of my phone, I'll post it here. Catrina and I barely watched the concert cuz we were too interested and stunned about the man.

There were 3 cute little old ladies sitting in front of us, but in front of them was this crazy woman who stunk to high heaven. She also was a bit "off" cuz she collected all the streamers (like handfulls) that were blown into the audience. With the exception of her stink (which we could smell without a problem 2 rows up), she looked and acted perfectly normal the entire time.

After the show, was RIDES. I haven't laughed that much in a very long time. We rode 3 rides and had a blast. We were like kids.

The bus ride back to the shuttle parking was also interesting. The person sitting 2 people from me all of a sudden barfed into the isle. Wouldn't be so bad if we weren't sitting in the seats which didn't ride sideways. So the barf trickled it's way down the isle and we had to sit the entire ride with our feet up!! I was wearing flip flops, so there was NO way I was going to put my feet down! At least it didn't smell.

Ah, summer time at the fair.

Bubble Fest 2008

Bubble fest was a bust. I wasn't planning on taking D to it, but then I thought that it may be great fun for him. Thursdays are generally our standing playgroup day, but several of us were going to bubble fest.

We met at the park as usual and then Casey stated that she was loading the kids to go. That got me thinking, so I asked D if he wanted to go. YES! He was excited. Bubbles to a 3yo are fun....well to a 38yo too. Then Krista packed up her kids and off we went to the library for Bubble Fest. I don't know what I was expecting, but I felt that the activities were geared to older children - Kindergarten and older. PLUS, it was packed!! Lines were long and people were rude by butting in.

D's favorite thing at Bubble Fest was the bubble cup that he received. You take a plastic cup, punch a hole in the side, cover the top with cloth and secure with a rubber band. Squirt a little dishwashing liquid on the cloth and wet with a spray bottle. Then stick a straw in the hole and blow. Mounds of foamy bubbles are generated from this "machine". AND because I wasn't planning on going to BF 2008, I didn't have my camera on me. You can check out pictures of bubble fest on my friends blog - Dancing on the Edge.

147 days left

It's August 1! HOW?!! WHERE did the year go!?? I was watching CNN news yesterday and saw on the scrolling ticker there are (I think) 153 days left in the year. WHY? Why would they put that on the ticker? Is it that important for us to know? Why not just state that there is 147 days left till Christmas? Yes I made the calculations. Get shopping now. Geesh! Time does get away from us. Soon we'll hear that there is only 5 days left for shopping.

Well, to celebrate the remainder of the summer and perhaps year, I'm off for a girls weekend away. Don't know if it'll be a wild weekend - one of my friends is getting a root canal done this morning. We may just be babying her, but it'll still be fun to get away. I've been looking forward to this trip for a while.