10

1. Soon I'm going to get the Halloween pics up. Soon. I promise. STOP HARASSING ME. ;)

2. I, like Neurotic Attorney, am sick of the election season. I don't even care anymore. "We're Screwed '08" is my new mantra, cause the mess we've gotten into in the past 8 years ain't gonna be fixed overnight. Especially by the selection I had to choose from today.

3. It made me really really sad not to get to cast my vote for Hillary. I felt a renewed sense of hope in her campaign this year. For a brief moment, I could look at my daughter and say, see, you CAN be president. Then I forgot that's really not true if you have a vagina and an opinion, cause that makes you a bitch and for some reason, that's a bad thing.

4. Look up "bitch is the new black" sometime. It's awesome, it's from about March, and is a skit by Tina Fey on SNL. Heck yeah, bitches get stuff DONE.

5. Who the heck were the random California chicks on my ballot for president? Can you say "random?"

6. Ralph Nader, just give it up. You're only screwing the people closest in ideology to you, just like most third party candidates (please see Gore, Al)

7. I just remembered, in reference to numbers 3 and 4, a friend of mine sent me a pic of a little girl wearing a shirt that says, if you think I'm a bitch, you should meet my mom. Although I'd never put it on Emma, I found it hilarious. Again, bitches get stuff done. "Sometimes being a bitch is all a woman has to hold on to" - Delores Claiborne

8. I want to shoot a hole in my TV for all of the toy commercials that are on every 30 seconds, since all I hear all day is "I want THAT!"

9. I have had the Kanawha Valley Crud for almost 2 weeks now. I think it's finally going away but seriously, it's like it gripped my body and wouldn't let go.

10. Toys are so much cooler now, that when my kids see a plain old doll or car or something, they want to know what it does. I wanna be 5 again.

Who am I?

Wow, this is pretty right on for me...

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Bette!

You are a Bette -- "I must be strong"

Bettes are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Stand up for yourself... and me.


• * Be confident, strong, and direct.


• * Don't gossip about me or betray my trust.


• * Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender, vulnerable side.


• * Give me space to be alone.


• * Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don't flatter me.


• * I often speak in an assertive way. Don't automatically assume it's a personal attack.


• * When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that's just the way I am.

What I Like About Being a Bette

• * being independent and self-reliant


• * being able to take charge and meet challenges head on


• * being courageous, straightforward, and honest


• * getting all the enjoyment I can out of life


• * supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me


• * upholding just causes

What's Hard About Being a Bette

• * overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don't intend to


• * being restless and impatient with others' incompetence


• * sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it


• * never forgetting injuries or injustices


• * putting too much pressure on myself


• * getting high blood pressure when people don't obey the rules or when things don't go right

Bettes as Children Often

• * are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit


• * are sometimes loners


• * seize control so they won't be controlled


• * figure out others' weaknesses


• * attack verbally or physically when provoked


• * take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings

Bettes as Parents

• * are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted


• * are sometimes overprotective


• * can be demanding, controlling, and rigid

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

How to tell if your kids are spoiled

Ok, I'm a bit embarrassed by this ridiculousness, but I knew you blog readers out there would get a kick out of it. While we were at the beach, we visited that money pit known as Build a Bear with Emma, while Ethan went to the slightly less expensive "boy" version called Ride Makerz. Our creation there is named Purple and she is complete with bear purse, bear panties, bear shoes, a shirt and skirt...and a full on Snow White costume. So, of course, we had an issue...Purple has a Halloween costume but Butterscotch, Ethan's saved-from-the-yardsale best bear bud, needed one. That's how you roll when you have two kids, folks. So MawMaw went on a quest at Build a Bear and found a Spiderman costume.

Excuse the kids, they're a bit ragamuffin like in these pics...




Purple, Butterscotch and in the corner, Lovey Bear, the other best bear bud of Ethan's.


And of course one without the mask...


This ranks right up there with the Great Pony Box debacle of '07. And I sink a bit further into "idiot parent" quicksand...

Questions for the kids...

I'm back from Blogger underworld to answer Kim's challenge. By the way, Kim, Ethan was eyeing Sophie's picture with the jumper and declared that she looked like a vanilla (va-illa) muffin. That's high praise from him. Oh, then he asked where Sophie's mommy was in the pictures. For those of you who don't know, Sophie's mom has got it going on and my son has a big ole 3 year old crush.

1. How old are you?
Ethan:3 (pronounced "free")
Emma:3 (ditto, and Ethan added, "Like me?")

2. How old is mommy?
Ethan: tries to eat last night's popcorn trash; "I don't know"
Emma: 3

3. How old is daddy?
Ethan: hm, 38 (he's close, almost 33
Emma: 58

3. How do you bake a cake?
Ethan: Put cake in the oven then eat it
Emma: I don't know, then gave the above answer after hearing Ethan's.

4. What is daddy's name?
Ethan: Michael
Emma: Michael (we've gone over this before

5. When is your birthday?
Ethan: May 15th
Emma: May 15th

6. What is your favorite color?
Ethan: lellow, blue and orange
Emma: pink and purple

7. What is your favorite animal?
Ethan: uh, a doggie
Emma: a piggie, no I think um a pony, um a horse, a horse is my favorite animal; Emma later added a doggie after Ethan answered

8. What do you want to be when you grow up?
Ethan: a racecar driver, basketball player, baseball player and a soccer ball player- that's all. (Mommy might have missed one as these were said at warp speed)
Emma: a ballerina and Sleeping Beauty and all of the Disney Princesses; and a mermaid (then she stuck quarters in her mouth, so evidently a piggy bank as well)

I tag Jennifer.

10

1. Is anyone else confused by Blogger's new way of putting in pictures? All I see is code now. I'm not even sure where I'm putting the text anymore.

2. I am so hearting the new season of House. How sad is it that new TV shows are the highlight of my evenings?



3. I really have to do a Christmas budget list. I remember fondly the times when I finished all my Christmas shopping in like 2 trips.

4. I get why kids are so spoiled. It's so hard not to just buy all the cool stuff that you think they'll love and give it to them for Christmas.


5. Twin Daddy Law Man is out with a client and the boss and I don't trust the kids enough to stay in bed to go downstairs and work out on the elliptical. Good thing, since I hear a kid making another bathroom trip as I type this.

6. How many excuses can kids come up with for not going to sleep? Nightly, I hear how each is keeping the other up, how they're cold or hot, how they need a book, how the cars and trucks outside are keeping them up, and how they have to go to the bathroom.


7. Emma was talking to Neurotic Attorney in Target the other day about trying on a Tony the Tiger head and how it nearly knocked her over, and ended the story with "It was INCREDIBLE!" Cracked us all right up.

8. Allegedly there have been no Pee Pee fountains as of late but I'm not betting on it. Let's just say don't drink the water.


9. I am and always will be a Mountaineer fan. But this is one heck of a depressing year so far.

10. I just love the movie Lean on Me, and I just saw it's on! Gotta go! "Dear Eastside..."

Things I cannot believe I actually hear...

So, kids are in the tub the other night, and since they're way past maximum wrinkle capacity, Michael goes to get Ethan out, only to find that he's standing up peeing. Nice. He calmly explains that he and Emma were making "pee pee water fountains." Great. How do you discipline a kid when you're laughing so hard that you're crying? Cause I so was.

Another instance of 3 year old logic...it's an hour past bedtime and things are still rough and rowdy in Twinkie room. Michael takes his turn to yell at them to go to sleep, and Emma explains (as she and Ethan are wearing pillow cases on their legs) that they're mermaids. I guess mermaids don't sleep.

The bedtime travesties continue in Twinkie land, as sleep seems to be optional to them, and cannot occur without a flashlight, Bunbun, Lovie Bear, Butterscotch the saved from the yardsale bear, the proper blankets, and books. So one night Emma, who believes sleep is wholly unnecessary, actually fell asleep first. This irritated Ethan to no end, so in a bit we hear Emma crying. Ethan's explanation? "Emma was asleep so I poked her in the eye til she woke up."

Sometimes I think life with three year olds is like a Road Runner cartoon.

A bit from the beach

I'm working on publishing some beach pics but I'm learning how to use Picasa to edit some, so bear with me. Here's one where we were trying for the typical "laying in the edge of the surf" pic and were surprised by a bigger wave. More to come...