Mexican Princess

AtHomeHubby's grandparents just returned from a trip to Mexico. His Grandmother, Aurora is Mexican and she has family there still. They sent the kids gifts - Brandelion got a miniature sombrero and DramaQueen got an adorable sundress. Brandelion told her that she looks like a pretty Mexican princess!

The Truth About the 80's

This is the first in a new series. I was thinking back to the early music videos when they really tried to tell a story with the video. So, I am going to post a video every so often as a tribute to my childhood.

After watching this video a couple hundred times, I so wanted my name to be Sherrie!

Pictures!

I realize these photos are a bit random, but they are a snapshot into my life...

DramaQueen's latest performance was pretending to be asleep. So Hubby also pretended to be asleep. Trust me, if his glasses are on - he's awake!

She kept saying - look mommy I 'seep!

The dog - not so fond of the flash going off!

Brandelion does yoga. He follows the Rodney Yee videos, and insists on doing yoga with no shirt. He's actually getting pretty good!

My Grandmother, who the kids call Grandma JoJo sent them Easter ears.

Brandelion liked them, until I got the camera out. Then I think he started to consider that maybe he didn't want his picture taken looking silly. He shouldn't worry, though. I'll wait until he is on at least the second date with a girl before I pull this one out.

Here is DramaQueen asleep for real, after having all of her requirements met. She has to have the sippy cup. And then she has to have her baby (swaddled, of course). Finally, she has to have her own blanket. This is a photo of what may have been her last nap for a while. I think she's given them up.

Nobody Calls Me Chicken

Karly from Wiping Up Snot DARED us to be interviewed by her. She even called us "chicken" when only one person volunteered. Well, just like Marty in Back to the Future "NOBODY calls me CHICKEN!"

Here's my interview:

Karly: How old were you when you got your first kiss?

There are two stories. First, the story I like to remember as my first kiss, we'll call it the Dreamy kiss. Second, my actual, horrible, disgusting first kiss.

The "Dreamy" kiss.

I was 13 and in 7th grade, and while I had "boyfriends" before - as a very immature 6th grader, but this boy, we'll call him Matt, was my first true case of love, or, at least, puppy love. (geez...what a horrible run-on sentence. Guess I wasn't paying attention in 7th grade English - Matt and I probably had the class together!) We started "going together" at the beginning of 7th grade. He was in all of the honors classes with me, but also played football and trumpet in the band. He was taller than me (a real feat - I was 5'4" in 7th grade) and had wavy brown hair. We would talk on the phone for hours driving our folks crazy. I remember how his mom would scream (in a heavy Texas accent) "Matthew - get off that phone NOW"

Anyway, we went together to one of the high school football games and sat together holding hands in the bleachers. After the game was over, and we had to leave we were standing up at the VERY top of the bleachers, looking over the back down at the parking lot. I wish I remember what he said, but he leanend over and kissed me - just a brief, but firm kiss on the lips. I was over the moon!

The AWFUL (but truthful) first kiss. I had this quasi-boyfriend type in 6th grade who was a "kicker" (this is what we called the cowboy types at my school). What I didn't know was that he dipped chewing tobacco. What he didn't know was that you should not kiss a girl (and by kiss I mean awkwardly shove your tounge down her throat) unless you have AT LEAST rinsed your mouth out. 'Nuf said.

Karly: If you won 1 million bucks, what would be the first thing you would do?

The very first thing I would do is not tell anyone except my husband. I don't want anyone asking me for cash. Then I would be practical and pay off all my debts, and buy a modest house. I would by two good practical cars and then splurge on two big vacations (1) a big extended family vacation, and (2) a honeymoon to Europe. Hubby and I never really had a honeymoon. I would invest the rest and give a chunk to charity.

I am all about financial security. That's why my answer is so boring!

Karly: Have you ever been arrested?

No, thank god! I am a prosecutor and it would have been tough to get this job if I had. Now, on the other hand, have I done things that I could have been arrested for? Yep, but nothing major. And I'm NOT telling that story.

Karly:What is your favorite thing about having a son?

He loves to crack me up and make me laugh. He stands up for me when Hubby is "picking" on me. He worships and I know he will protect his little sister.

Karly: Daughter?

I love the girly stuff - fixing her hair, the way she plays with her baby dolls. I especially love how chatty she is. I can picture many years of us having girl talk.

Karly: If you could do one thing different in your life, what would it be?

I would go back and tell my 19 year-old self, "Girl, your metabolism is going to change in college. DON'T eat crap like you are still in high school. You are going to be PISSED when you gain 20 pounds that first year!"

Thanks for the interview, Karly. Would anyone else like to be interviewed? I'll try to come up with individualized questions, like Karly did for me. Come on...don't make me call you Chicken!

Visual DNA

Thanks to multi-tasking mommy, I found this...I'm a sucker for a quiz!

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

A Couple (or more) random things

1. Photos - I was going to post a bunch of cute photos, BUT, photobucket is not working right, and so I am going to have to do it from home later when I can get the correct frikin' size of photos. My kids are cute, but you don't want the images so damn big that you have to SCROLL to view each one!!


2. There is a cute way to do everything - For example - I understand that if you ride the bus and then have to walk a bit to get to your office, your high heels might be uncomfortable. You might even feel drawn to wear sneakers or some sort of flats. I get that. I even do that sometimes. (In fact, I just bought a very cute pair of slip on sneakers from Rocket Dog - Fabulous!) So, great, wear CUTE comfortable shoes.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T WEAR YOUR UGLY-ASS "I WORKED IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEKEND" SNEAKERS WITH PANTY HOSE!!!!

This is a look that should not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES be worn in public. It should only be worn in private if you are trying to fend off your horny husband. Thank you. This has been a service of the National Working Woman Get a Clue Foundation, sponsored by What Not To Wear

3. Stop spamming my email!!!! The "government entity" that I work for has the ability to leave spam messages on our work email. As in,

"Now is the time for your mammogram! That's right, Government Entity is sponsoring Mobile On-Site Mammography. The van will be here on X, X, X and X dates, and for those of you that work in our satellite locations, you can find the van on X, X, and X, but not on X date. Make your appointments now, and be sure to bring your insurance card. For questions call XXX-XXX-XXXX. Once again thats Mobile On-Site...."

Now, I have a couple of problems with this.

• More than half our workforce is men


• MANY of us are WAY too young for mammograms


• We all have email


• YOU CAN'T ERASE A MESSAGE WITHOUT LISTENING TO THE WHOLE THING!!!

We get at least two of these spam voice mails a week. What an OUTSTANDING use of government resources.

Thank you, those are my rants of the day. Just remember, people, we can all make a difference, even if it means our small contribution to the world is wearing matching clothing and not spamming voice mail. Peace be with you.

It's More "Me"

I never really liked the title of my blog, and I had gotten sick of the colors so....

TA DA!!!!

I wanted to reflect the balancing I try to do in my life, and wanted something short, but catchy that could work as a theme throughout the blog. I have other ideas of what I would like it to look like, but this is the best I could do without HTML editing.

Also, my tag line, "how long is she going to keep talking?" is a quote from my lovely son. When I came home from work yesterday, and we were sitting in the living room, I was talking to AtHomeHubby about something, and Brandelion whispered to him, "how long is she going to keep talking?" It cracked us all up!

I have also reorganized the sidebar with some new links - be sure to check that out. And leave comments!! Lots of comments!! I need all the validation I can get. I have low self-esteem people!

Don't send out the search party

I'm just a bad, bad blogger.

You don't care how my life has been busy, work has been crazy, just finished a jury trial and about to start another one...blah blah freakin blah.

At least I didn't let it go a month without posting. Here are the highlights:

My job has gotten EXPONENTIALLY (hah! and I said I'd never use math!) busier and I can no longer really post from work (although, I am doing it right now - stickin it to the man). Also, by the time I get home, I am barely willing to expend the energy to help feed the kids and get them to bed.

If you want a true accounting of my exhaustion, just ask my frustrated, yet VERY understanding, hubby. He hasn't complained, and I mean not even once. Eventually, I'll get used to my new pace. I've taken a bunch of pictures (well at least 10 or 12) in the last month, and I'll try to post some.

The kiddos are still adorable, and doing and saying cute stuff. DramaQueen can climb out of her crib now - making for tons of fun early in the morning for AtHomeHubby.

We have been agonizing over kindergarten enrollment, and didn't get into the one school we really wanted (we are on the waitlist), so, he is enrolled for fall in full day kindergarten at our district school. This is an entirely different post - we have just gone round and round on this subject.

This past weekend my parents were in town overnight, and we went to the Phoenix Museum of Art (I'd put a link, but I'm just that lazy - google it if you want to check it out) and the kids had a great time. Brandelion told me yesterday that he LOVED his "cheesy cake". This took me a minute to figure out, but then it dawned on me - we went to Cheesecake Factory (feel free, once again, to google it), and he had pizza and "cheesy" cake. Cute!

We have set a vacation in July - and I am PSYCHED. We are going to this cabin for 3 nights with my inlaws, and my brother in law and his family, including my adorable niece who will be about eight months old.

Okay, thanks for enduring the boring "catch up" post. I will try to keep up with it more.

Unitarian Jihad

JON CARROLL, San Francisco Chronicle

Friday, April 8, 2005

The following is the first communique from a group calling itself Unitarian Jihad. It was sent to me at The Chronicle via an anonymous spam remailer. I have no idea whether other news organizations have received this communique, and, if so, why they have not chosen to print it. Perhaps they fear starting a panic. I feel strongly that the truth, no matter how alarming, trivial or disgusting, must always be told. I am pleased to report that the words below are at least not disgusting:

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!

People of the United States, why is everyone yelling at you??? Whatever happened to ... you know, everything? Why is the news dominated by nutballs saying that the Ten Commandments have to be tattooed inside the eyelids of every American, or that Allah has told them to kill Americans in order to rid the world of Satan, or that Yahweh has instructed them to go live wherever they feel like, or that Shiva thinks bombing mosques is a great idea? Sister Immaculate Dagger of Peace notes for the record that we mean no disrespect to Jews, Muslims, Christians or Hindus. Referred back to the committee of the whole for further discussion.

We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.

Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues.

We are Unitarian Jihad. We will appear in public places and require people to shake hands with each other. (Sister Hand Grenade of Love suggested that we institute a terror regime of mandatory hugging, but her motion was not formally introduced because of lack of a quorum.) We will require all lobbyists, spokesmen and campaign managers to dress like trout in public. Televangelists will be forced to take jobs as Xerox repair specialists. Demagogues of all stripes will be required to read Proust out loud in prisons.

We are Unitarian Jihad, and our motto is: "Sincerity is not enough." We have heard from enough sincere people to last a lifetime already. Just because you believe it's true doesn't make it true. Just because your motives are pure doesn't mean you are not doing harm. Get a dog, or comfort someone in a nursing home, or just feed the birds in the park. Play basketball. Lighten up. The world is not out to get you, except in the sense that the world is out to get everyone.

Brother Gatling Gun of Patience notes that he's pretty sure the world is out to get him because everyone laughs when he says he is a Unitarian. There were murmurs of assent around the room, and someone suggested that we buy some Congress members and really stick it to the Baptists. But this was deemed against Revolutionary Principles, and Brother Gatling Gun of Patience was remanded to the Sunday Flowers and Banners committee.

People of the United States! We are Unitarian Jihad! We can strike without warning. Pockets of reasonableness and harmony will appear as if from nowhere! Nice people will run the government again! There will be coffee and cookies in the Gandhi Room after the revolution.



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Startling new underground group spreads lack of panic! Citizens declare themselves "relatively unafraid" of threats of undeclared rationality. People can still go to France, terrorist leader says. Michael row the boat ashore, and then get some of the local kids to pull the boat onto the dock, and come visit with jcarroll@sfchronicle.com.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/08/DDG27BCFLG1.DTL

This article appeared on page E - 18 of the San Francisco Chronicle