| (no subject) |
[Feb. 18th, 2005|08:06 am] |
Ok, so I'm long overdue for an update on my pet pumpkin seed. I decided
to plant it against the recommendation of many who believe it will take
over my house and rule the world. I'm still holding onto hope that it
IS some sort of magical seed, and will lead to a far off and wonderful
place where I'll find a handsome man and a million dollars. I mean
really, it doesn't hurt to hope, does it? Here's a progression of it's
growth :
1st, I got some potting soil and an empty pot and planted it:
2 or 3 days later, it began to poke it's head out of the soil:
A few days after that, it had leaves!
I don't remember the exact time progression, but here's some more of it's growth over the past few weeks..
And finally, yesterday we have :
The plan is to move it outside once the weather breaks, and there is no
more chance of freezing. Hopefully I can keep it alive long enough.
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 8th, 2005|06:00 am] |
Well, things have been busy in my household as evidenced by the lack of
updates. The girls have me running around as usual.
Kaitlyn, my 9 yr. old, has been preparing for her upcoming performance
of Snow White with the Baltimore Children's Theatre.
Skye has been busy with All County Chorus, Talent Show rehearsals,
voice lessons, and preparing for the school play. All which have
me running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
For the talent show, Skye, is going to perform Martina McBride's "God
Will" and I have to say, hearing her sing it makes me want to
cry. Her voice teacher helped her record a rough .mp3 of it last
week, and if anyone's interested it can be downloaded here.
I recently bought a new video camera, so I'm sure the performance will
be uploaded once it takes place on Thursday :)
I did manage to make it out to Trivia with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) </a></b></a></a></b></a>and</a></b></a> |
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| There's a vegetable growing in my washing machine.... |
[Jan. 17th, 2005|01:07 pm] |
So, I'm doing some laundry this morning. I take out the first load, and
notice a shiny something at the bottom of the machine. I investigate
further, and not only is there a nicke in there, but right next to it a
*sprouting* pumpin seed?!?!
I kid you not.
First off, where in the heck did the seed come from? We were lazy this
year and didn't carve any pumpkins. Secondly, how the heck does a
pumpkin seed sprout inside of a washing machine? I would have thought
that the massive amounts of detergent, fabric softener, bleach, and the
lack of sun would have promply killed it.
Guess not.
Now the question is, should I plant it and see if I have a mutant pumpkin in the fall?
In case you don't believe me, here is little bugger:
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| Knitting |
[Jan. 11th, 2005|06:20 am] |
I took my first knitting class last night. God, I feel like such an old lady saying that! My 9 yr. old daughter wants to learn, so I thought the best way for me to teach her since they don't have knitting classes for kids her age is to take a class myself. I have to admit there is some part of me that thinks it would be really cool to knit some cool looking scarves and maybe some funky socks.
The first class was decent enough, and I actually managed to pick it up pretty fast. The teacher thought it would be hard to teach my daughter how to do it at this age and recommended bringing her to a knitting loom class. I guess it's similar but easier for kids to pick up on. I'll definitely have to look into that because I do want to encourage creativity in the girls in whatever way interests them.
At least knitting is something that can be done while I'm waiting around for the girls or watching tv. It actually will give me a good outlet since I'm usually very antsy and have a hard time sitting still for a long time.
9:13 am
Sitting here, I realized that I have way too much to do today.
I've been up since 3 am working. I took a shower at 5:30 because I thought I was going to go into the office until, I realized that I forgot the girls had a doctor's appointment. I got Skye up and ready for school, drove her, and came home. Got Kaitlyn up and ready, and drove her. Now, I have to leave int 30 minutes to pick each one of them back up, and take them to the doctor. Drop each one back off, and then head into the office. We are supposed to be taking one of the new people out for a team lunch. I'll do the lunch thing than work for about 2 hours or so, and head back to Kaitlyn's school to pick her up. Skye has talent show auditions and All County Chorus rehearsal after school and doesn't need to be picked up until 5:30. At 5:30, Kaitlyn and I will pick up Skye, get dinner, drop her off at home with my parents, and then Kait and I are off to Drama Rehearsal. Somewhere around 9:30 pm tonight, I will come home and fall into bed, clothes and all.
*sigh* |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 7th, 2005|08:19 am] |
I'm really tired of everyone being sick. I still haven't fully recovered from my pneumonia, which worries me a little, because I would have thought 7 days after starting antibiotics it would be all gone. The girls both now have sore throats and the little one, Kaitlyn, has a very odd rash. We went to the doctor yesterday, and neither of them have strep. The doctor contributes the rash to whatever virus is causing the sore throats. After we got home though, she (Kaitlyn) disovered a baseball size (in diameter) red spot on her leg. I'm assuming it's part of the rash, but it's a bit worrisome. I was going to try sending her to school today since she's been home most of the week, but when I went to wake her up noticed that the side of her face is very flush and looks like the rash has become worse on her face.
I think I need to call the doctor again :(
I just can't wait until we are all better. |
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| Weight |
[Jan. 6th, 2005|12:18 pm] |
So I decided to join the weight loss commitment at TC. I wouldn't mind
losing 10-15 lbs. although I know I don't really need to, but it would
be nice. Mostly, I just want to try eating healthier and exercising,
then if the weight loss comes it's a bonus. My biggest problem is that
I usually don't eat enough during the day and then I end up packing in
the calories with fast food at night. I started a fitday journal to
keep track of what I'm eating. It's very enlightening already.
Fitday Journal |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 6th, 2005|02:56 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  discontent | ] |
For Christmas, my mom signed her and myself up for Tai Chi
classes. Our first class was tonight. I was surprised at
how difficult it actually is. It looks easy, but really
isn't. I'm thinking my legs will be very sore tomorrow.
On another note, I'm going to talk to my boss tomorrow about coming
back into the office full time. I love being able to work from
home, but the crazy hours are really starting to wear on me. Most
nights, I get 4 hours of sleep and if I'm lucky can squeeze in a nap
during the day. Basically though, I'm perpetually exhausted and
end up spending my weekends sleeping to try to make up for my sleep
deprivation. It's also pretty hard to have any sort of social
life when technically you should be in bed by 8:00 pm.
The truth is that I really don't like my job very much right now.
It is extremely frustrating, and I think being isolated from the rest
of my coworkers exacerbates that frustration. As a result, I'm
completely unmotivated at work and it's very depressing. I'm
hoping that this change will be the kick in the butt I need.
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| My new bedroom goodies :) |
[Jan. 4th, 2005|09:26 am] |
So after my exhausting yesterday, I have this to show for it:
I still need to pick up a few more things, which means back to Ikea once again. I'm satisfied though :D
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| I'm exhausted! |
[Jan. 3rd, 2005|02:07 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | drained | ] |
So, I pretty much slept the entire weekend, starting on Friday (although Friday's not really the weekend). I woke up this morning feeling..well, pretty much recovered from the pneumonia. Or so I thought. That is, before I decided to drive 45 minutes to Ikea, and then proceed to walk aimlessly through the store for hours on end.
I got there at 9:00 to find out that they don't open until 10:00. Well the store doesn't anyway, the restaurant opens at 9:30. So I sat in the car for 30 minutes waiting for it to open. I played Bob on my Sidekick II and drank the 32 oz of soda that I bought on the way there. Needless to say after about 15 minutes, I reeaaally needed to go to pee (TMI, I know). So I wait painfully for the store to open. Finally, they open up..about 5 minutes late mind you. I quickly visit the ladies room and then get myself a cinnamon bun and coffee (after washing my hands of course)> Finally, the store opens.
Now, keep in mind I went there to buy two bookcases, that's it. Nothing else. As I'm wandering aimlessly through the store, I noticed the bedframe that I had been eyeing when the new catalog came. But no, I didn't come here for that, so I move along. Finally after making my way through the maze that is Ikea and picking up a few colored, plastic storage thingies for my kids, I find the bookcases that I want in self-storage. If you've been to Ikea, you know that everything comes in these cool flat boxes, so you can easily put them in your car. And, I'm sure you'll remember that each box weighs an un-godly amount.
So, I push my cart, that for some reason I can never stear, up to the shelf and proceed to pickup the first of the bookshelves. Good God, the box weighed 100 lbs! Somehow, I managed to manuever both of them onto the cart without killing myself or dropping the box on my foot. At this point, I'm starting to feel a little worn out, but still not too bad. Although, it was getting quite warm in the store.
I wheel my cart (without running into anybody or anything) over to self-checkout. Ring up all my items (fight with the cash register), wheel my stuff outside, walk to my car, drive over to the pickup area, push all my seats down, and find someone to help me load the 200 lbs of furniture into my car.
Still doing okay.
So, here's where it gets hairy. At this point, I really should have just gotten in my car and drove home. But, no, me being who I am, decide that I REALLY want the bed frame and I might as well get it now. I mean, it IS a 45 minute drive to get here and I'm already here. So why not.
And, if you're going to buy a new bedframe, you really need nice new sheets and bedding to go with it, right? At this point, I believe I wandered through the store for at least an hour if not more. I got a new quilt, quilt cover, pillow shams, square pillows to go in the shams, sheets, fabric to sew curtains (god knows when that's going to happen), and oh yeah, the bed frame.
Now I'm feeling like I'm going to faint. I have to get out of the store and go home, before I pass out in the middle of Ikea.
I pay for all my stuff, go to full-service furniture, pick up my bedframe. Back to the car. Drive back to pick up area. Find someone to help me load all the crap I just bought. Wouldn't you figure though, the bedframe box doesn't fit. So, we take everything out of the box and try again. Still doesn't fit. Take the previously loaded boxes out, and voila! It fits. Load the 200 lbs of furniture back in the car. Drive home. Find my Dad to help me unload the furniture. Phew!
What in God's name was I thinking? |
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| Pneumonia sucks! |
[Jan. 2nd, 2005|12:22 am] |
I found out on Thursday that the cough I had been fighting for over a week was pneumonia :( The doctor gave me some cough medicine with codeine in it, which essentially has rendered me bed-ridden since I've been taking it. Give me about 20 minutes after taking it, and I'm knocked out. I think that I've met my monthly sleep requirement in the last 3 days..hee hee.
The girls and I had plans to go bowling with my best friend and her kids for New Year's Eve. The pneumonia ruined them. I was still going to go, because I don't feel all that bad, but between my mom and my older daughter yelling at me, I decided to stay home. My oldest ended up going to a party at one of her friends house, and my parents took my youngest with them to my sister's New Year's Eve get together. I ended up watching Napolean Dynamite and playing Luigi's mansion until they came home at 11:30. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 30th, 2004|12:56 pm] |
Quote:
Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept
in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall
begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your
old nonsense.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
How many times have I lay in bed recounting the numerous "mistakes"
I've made in my life? I should have said this, or I should have done
that. How often have a felt the need to point out how "terrible" a
person I am, because of this mistake or that flaw? When you are in the
midst of troubles, it is so hard to remember that every mistake or
stumbling block is just an opportunity for growth. One of my goals for
the coming year is to really learn how to let go. To let go of both the
past and future. The past is the past, and I have no control over the
future. I can only imagine how good it would feel to truly live in the
present. |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 29th, 2004|10:12 pm] |
|
It's winter. Cold and dark. I always get depressed this time of year. I'm not quite there yet, but I have been feeling extremely anti-social. I really need to move to Florida! |
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| (no subject) |
[Dec. 3rd, 2004|10:58 am] |
This will be short and sweet, because I'm just not in the mood to
write...
The girls and i had an awesome trip to Disney. It was so nice to be
able to hang out with them for the week, and just enjoy being together.
It's surprising how relaxed I was on this vacation. Way more than I
have ever been, and I was doing it as a single mother. As usual we got
lots of strange looks from people, probably because they were wondering
what three "young" girls like us were doing wandering around Disney by
themselves. Several people did ask us if we were sisters.
On our last night there we ate dinner at Mitsukoshi in Japan (@ Epcot)
and Cal Ripken was sitting at the grill next to us! It turned out to
be very interesting night. The restaurant is a Hibatchi style
restaurant so we were sitting with another party. It was 2 older
couples and another women. My oldest daughter, Skye, was chatting
throughout dinner with the woman sitting next to her. At the end of
the dinner, one of the gentlemen came over and whispered to me that
they all thought we were such a nice family that they would be honored
to buy us dinner. I couldn't believe it, and honestly it almost made
me cry. Of course I told them they didn't need to do that, but they
insisted. I guess nice people still do exist.
Here is my favorite picture from the trip....
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 18th, 2004|09:20 pm] |
It's been a freakin' long time since I've updated this page. Life has
been hectic, crazy, and a bit interesting. I think I should change my
official title from Mom to Chauffer. I swear all I do is drive my kids
around, sit in the car waiting for my kids, and then drive them around
some more. I love them to death, but I'll be very happy when they are
grown :)
The last two months we have been busy with drama rehearsal. They are both performing in Cinderella with the Baltimore Children's Theater.
The last two Saturdays they have had two performances a day, they had
two shows yesterday, two more this Saturday, and two more Dec.
11th.
Saturday we leave for our trip to Disney. I'm so pumped. It
dawned on me, that one great thing about being single is that I can do
and go wherever the hell I want! This will be the first vacation
ever where I can call all the shots....we can eat where I want, go
where I want, and whatever I want. I think I may be in heaven ;)
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 4th, 2004|07:47 am] |
Ok, so aside from my fantastic weekend, I have been pretty busy and haven't found the time to update my journal. Last Sunday, my oldest daughter Skye competed in a local "Idol" contest. It was her first time performing in front of a bunch of people like that and I think she was very nervous. I thought that she did an outstanding job and had much more stage presence than some of the performers. Unfortunately though, she didn't win or even place. I honestly was surprised, but there were a lot of talented kids there. One of the judges, who is a record producer, sought her out after the competition to tell her how well he thought she did. He said that he was very surprised that she was only 12 years old because she had such a strong voice. He also said that she got all 5's (the best) from him but that unfortunately he wasn't the only judge and she was competing against much older kids. The winners were 14 & 15. Whatever the outcome, I think she had a great time and was able to get some good experience.
Here's a link to her performance: http://home.comcast.net/~pcgrrll/beautiful.WMV
On another note...I just purchased flight, hotel and Disney Dreammaker package for November. The girls and I are going to Disney..woohoo! :) I'm so freakin' excited. The three of us have never been on vacation by ourselves, and I think it will be a lot of fun. I'm so looking forward to it.
Oh, and to Skittles and Hippster's delight, Andrew purchased two plane tickets to Dallas. So, I'm going to Dallas too :D Of course Andrew thinks I'm going to pay him back..what does he know ;)
Hee hee..just teasing!
So now, I just need to find myself a costume. If I'm going to a Halloween party in Dallas, I'm going to do it right.
Suggestions anyone?
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 24th, 2004|10:50 am] |
Article from Baltimore Sun:
--------------------
Grim endings make children happy readers
--------------------
Lemony Snicket: The author's dark series draws hundreds to see his offbeat appearance in Clarksville.
By Sandy Alexander
Sun Staff
September 24, 2004
He has become famous writing about bad things happening to children, but Lemony Snicket had more than 850 people laughing and cheering last night at the Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville last night.
Lemony's alter-ego -- his representative in all literary, legal and social matters, Daniel Handler -- was there, as coincidentally he always is. And he delivered an energetic but dryly delivered presentation that included a large bug in a glass box, a reading with audience-made sound effects and a song with accordion accompaniment.
Most of the young people who turned out to see the popular author realized Handler and Snicket were one and the same but gleefully went along with his ruse. They were excited to see the author, whose appearance was secured by a Howard County Library staff member who won a national contest with the best display about Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books.
As Snicket, Handler has won over audiences around the world with his 11 installments (out of a planned 13) chronicling the perilous events that befall three orphaned siblings -- fires, neglectful guardians, forced labor in a mill, deadly fungi -- as they seek to escape the clutches of their evil uncle, Count Olaf.
More than 25 million copies of the books have sold, with the 11th installment, The Grim Grotto, released this week. They have spent more than a combined 600 weeks on the New York Times Best-Seller List, and a movie starring Jim Carrey as Count Olaf is due in December.
That success was achieved with a recipe of adventure, mystery and smart writing that involves literary references, humorous wordplay and witty asides delivered in deadpan tones.
In The Grim Grotto, the "good guys" have a picture of novelist Herman Melville on their uniforms, while the villains have sentimental poet Edgar Guest. The characters are eager to find out the truth about a mysterious meeting taking place at Hotel Denouement. And as the narrator, Snicket feels free to interrupt with such oddly truthful statements as: "Having a personal philosophy is like having a pet marmoset, because it may be very attractive when you acquire it, but there may be situations when it will not come in handy at all."
Handler said he doesn't worry about his readers, largely ages 8 to 11, understanding every bit.
"There are references hidden in these books so deeply they are unknown to even the oldest of readers," he said. Some children get every detail, some adults get very few, and, he said, "There is enough in any of these books to turn off any reader."
Such dark warnings are also a consistent part of the series, which has stated from the first page of the first book that people who enjoy happy endings would be better off reading something else. So far, readers seem undeterred.
Handler grew up in San Francisco, where he lives with his wife and 11-month-old son. He attended Wesleyan University and also writes novels for adults.
When it comes to his books' reputation for being dark, gothic and sometimes scary, he said he is confident the right readers will find them.
"It often disturbs me that children are all thought of as identical, en masse," he said. "I think readers are individuals."
Young people "get a very unusual experience reading the books," said Danielle DuPuis, the Howard County librarian whose Lemony Snicket games, events and display at Central Library in Columbia won a national contest held by publisher HarperCollins and secured the visit.
"How kids can relate to it is there are a lot of unfortunate things that happen in our lives," DuPuis said. "We always have to make the best of it."
She added, "I'm amazed, astounded as to the amount of information kids retain from these books."
"I guess I just like how much suspense there is and how unpredictable it is," said Megan Fullarton, 10. Her friend, Kathleen Murphy, also 10, added, "They're exciting. They have a lot of action in them."
Both girls, who live in Ellicott City, agree that the horrible occurrences Snicket warns readers about "are not as bad as he says."
Answers to the mysteries in the series were not forthcoming at Handler's presentation -- for which free tickets were gone in a little more than an hour.
Handler, sticking to the third-person point of view, first told the audience about Snicket having been bitten in the armpit by a large bug, which he produced in a glass box. He then lunged up the aisle, shoving it dramatically at his mostly young audience members, who giggled and clamored to see it.
He imparted several lessons throughout the evening. One is never raise your hand, because you will expose your armpit. "Let someone else receive a good education [in school] while you remain safe and insect-free," he said.
The second was, if you see Count Olaf, scream and run away.
And the third, demonstrated by two young volunteers and by Handler's accordion playing: "If you squeeze anything hard enough it will make noise."
Noise was abundant as the audience screamed and acted out scenes along with his song. Then the children and their parents lined up to have their books imprinted by Handler with the official Lemony Snicket stamp -- a sort-of autograph.
When asked about the following his "horrible" books have developed, Handler pointed out that people look at traffic accidents as they drive by. "People give in to their baser instincts all the time," he said. |
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| Book Signing |
[Sep. 24th, 2004|10:30 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | drained | ] |
I took the girls to a book signing with Lemony Snickett last night. Our local library won a contest through Harper Publishing for the visit.
Last week I waited in line for almost two hours to get the tickets which they were giving away for free. The paper said there was 850 tickets and they were gone in 10 minutes! Each person was able to get 4 tickets a piece. My best friend tried to get tickets for her two daughters but she was late :( Since I had an extra, we were able to take one of her daughters but the other one couldn't come.
The door opened last night at 6:15 and we arrived at 5:30 to get in line. It was a mad house! Screaming kids and rude parents abound. We ended up getting a seat in the 6th row and thank god we did! Lemony (although he said that wasn't who he was) gave an hour long hilarious "presentation". I can't believe how funny he was. After that, they proceeded to call people by rows to go stand in line to meet and have your book signed.
We waited in line for 2 hours! Two freakin' hours and we were in the 6th row. I can't imagine the poor people sitting 20 rows back. |
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| Why? |
[Sep. 20th, 2004|05:19 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
Why is it that the things you want are always just out of reach.......
.......and the things you don't want never fail to chase you down and knock you off
your ass? |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 12th, 2004|04:03 pm] |
Welp, this weekend was pretty good but went by too fast!
Friday night the girls and I watched 13 going on 30. Not usually my type of movie, but it was actually really cute. My mom and kids didn't get a lot of the jokes though. I guess you have to have actually been a child of the 80's to get some of them. I'm 30 now, so I could definitely relate to a lot of the scenes when she was 13. I can't believe we really dressed or wore our hair like that :O
Saturday was busy but very nice. I went out on a lunch date, and had a really good time. I'm not sure that anything will come of it, but I guess we'll see. Then the girls and I went over to my best friend's house, ate Chinese for dinner, and watched a movie. The girls spent the night, so I ended up having the rest of the night to myself.
Today, is my relaxation day. Trying to get some cleaning and laundry done. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 10th, 2004|12:24 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cynical | ] |
| [ | music |
| | It's True That We Love One Another - The White Stripes | ] |
I had awful dreams last night :( I don't remember what the first one was about except that I was so freaked out that I woke myself up. The second one was a doozy though. I dreamed that my girls died...a mother's worst nightmare. On top of that my dog was in a car parked on a hill, and it started rolling away. So to sum it up, I lost everything that was important to me in one fell swoop.
It would be nice to have more control over my dreams. Years ago, I was big into dreamwork and had gotten pretty good at changing the events of my dreams. Someday, I will pick it up again. It takes a lot of work and concentration but the results are worth it. I had my first flying dream back then. Flying dreams are awesome. |
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