Oh Doogie...

This clip brings me more joy than you could ever know...

Nearing retirement age apparently.

Okay, I totally stole this from The Accidental Housewife...

If you are older than 25, I guess you can't hear this noise... I tested it out last night. Jordan & Ben went crazy from the sound, while Michael & I sat there completely freaked out that we're officially old. When did that happen? I'm thinking that it's just a big gag that all people under 25 are in on. Right?

Created by Train Horns

e.t.a. My cats DO NOT like this noise! :)

TGIF

Michael is home! Cheers, ya'll!

The one about the big-toed bald man...

...you know the one? From Milwaukee? With the yellow walkie-talkie? No?! You don't know what I'm talking about? But I bet you know about catching the love bug again, don't you?



Many, many moons ago 11 years ago, we took the girls to their first concert to see another THE GREATEST brother band, Hanson. I don't know who loved Hanson more, me or the girls. I always felt kinda weird about my crush on Taylor, but I guess it's okay now that he has 4(!!!) kids. Seriously!!!

The first picture is before the concert when the realized where we were taking them & the 3rd picture is them after the concert with their faux "backstage passes" (you're right if you think Jordan looks a little wired, she slept through most of the concert, as she did the Backstreet Boys & 'NSync...she's a kid who loves & needs her sleep, what can I say?)

Anyway, with the "Economy in Crisis" updates all over the freakin' news & Michael being out of town, I needed something to cheer me up, so I decided to crank up some Hanson. Oh! They really make me happy! I think it's mainly because they remind me of a simpler time... I remember cranking this CD while I was cleaning our little apartment with Ben on my hip. This is a crazy little ditty I spent many hours bopping around to... it makes no sense, but it's fun & I love it!

Economy Schemonomy!

There's no crying in baseball...

...and there should be no skorts in soccer. The new Women's Professional Soccer League revealed their uniforms this week at New York's Fashion Week. Really? Really? Ugh!

Feeling Sad

Snappy the Line Judge (aka Michael) is out of town until Friday. Jordan is at a soccer game (surprised? I think not). Ben is engulfed in his latest book. And I don't even have American Idol to entertain me. *sigh*

I am the Champion!

I am the champion! Oh yes, I am the champion of Trivia Pursuit Junior. I am so proud.

Yesterday, Michael, Ben & I had a marathon TPJ session. In order to be crowned champion, I had to answer so many difficult questions, such as, get this:

• Which soccer position may touch the ball with his hands, on the field?
• What does a tadpole turn into?
• What holiday falls on the fourth Thursday in November?

My son is a very smart boy. He knows the answers to such questions as:

• What does the bird say in the poem "The Raven"?
• Who was the Roman demigod best known for his strength?
• What's the aurora borealis more commonly called?

However, he didn't get to answer those questions, instead he was asked such questions as:

• What toy company produces Barbie dolls?
• What is a chronometer?
• What fireproof material is now thought to be a cause of lung cancer?

Poor kid. But I'm sure he'll kick my butt next time.

(p.s. Michael would've beat me if his last question wasn't about the 7 Dwarves. Hi-ho!)

The envelope please...

Let the Academy Awards begin...

Zzzzz

Long.
Day.
Soccer.
Must.
Sleep.
Post.
Tomorrow.

Where's Wenda?

If you're a bloggy person, click on the Where's Wenda link on my sidebar. Three Bay B Chicks, Hot Chocolate Caramel Mocha & SITS have a fun little contest going on. It looks like it could be a lot of fun.

If you're a family person just checking in, you might not be so interested & you might realize just how crazy & insidious the bloggy world can be.

How to occupy an 11 year old in the car

1. At stop light, yank a big ole gray hair out of your head.
2. Hand it to 11 year old.
3. Pull a "normal" hair out of your head.
4. Hand it to 11 year old.
5. Let 11 year old compare/contrast the texture/flexability of said strands of hair.

Good times.

Let's do lunch.

Today I had lunch with an old friend from high school. I found her on Facebook a feww weeks ago, I had no idea she was still in the area. Why is it that I run into people from high school all the time that I DON'T want to see, but I rarely run into an old friend I'd like to catch up with?

We spent 2 hours at Chili's catching up. It was so much fun & we had to leave an extra big tip for taking the table for so long.

Today is the day!

Nineteen years ago today I became a Mom. I was 19 at the time, Michael was 20 (and 1 week exactly). Having almost no money at the time, we would spend most of our weekends going for long walks. At the mall. At the park. Being such young parents (we looked even younger than we were), we got used to people avoiding our eyes or looking with us with distain.

One day something changed. People started smiling at us. Pointing and smiling even. Even talking to us pleasantly. You see, our little girl had learned to sit up on her own. From the moment she could sit up, she would sit STRAIGHT up, eyes wide open, with a big engaging smile on her face. She was so beautiful & friendly, she DARED people to judge us & when they did, she convinced them that we were indeed a wonderful family.

God knew what he was doing when he gave us this one. She's been such a joy & a light in our lives for every one of her 19 years. We've been blessed. Happy Birthday Meggie-Poo! We love you!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanks to George & Abe...

The kids are off school today for President's Day.

The soccer field is like crack to us.

Although Jordan's team has been eliminated from this tournament, we are driving an hour (each way) to watch her old team (full of kids we still love) play against her BFF (who also used to be on that team, but who lives in Chicago now) in the consilation bracket.

I have bribed Ben to come with us by promising to take him to see the Pink Panther this afternoon. It's a win/win for me, as I love soccer & I love movies. :)

Happy President's Day!

Spring is in the air

Jordan's team lost in the semi-finals today in PKs against a team that had outscored their other opponents 16-0. They held them to a 0-0 tie in regulation, so we were really proud, but the end result was still heartbreaking.

On the plus side, I reinstated my flip-flop tan this weekend. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! You will be surprised to know that we will be spending the weekend at a soccer tournament. It may not be romantic, but the weather is supposed to be beautiful and I'm fully planning on restoring my flip-flop tan while sitting on the sideline with my sweetie & grabbing some Chinese food at the food court between games. Sounds like a good perfect day to me!

Morning Movie Etiquette...

I got to get my morning movie fix this morning. I went to see...

I enjoyed it much more than I expected to. I think it's one of those movies I could watch several times, along the lines one of my favorite movies, Love Actually.

Morning movies are great for several reasons, among them:

1) Cheap ticket ($5 before noon)
2) Popcorn & Diet Coke for breakfast
3) Theater is usually pretty empty

Today, surprisingly, I was the first one in the theater, so I picked my favorite seat. Dead center of the theater. By the time the movie started, there were 8 other people in the theater... 3 women DIRECTLY(!) in front of me, a couple IN MY ROW 2 seats to my right & a group of 3 people IN MY ROW 2 seats to my left. WTF?! This was a large, stadium style theater. I KNOW I had prime real estate, but as a general rule, if you get to a theater with only 1 person in it, DO NOT SIT IN THE ROW OF, DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OR DIRECTLY BEHIND THAT ONE PERSON! Oh yeah, and when you DO sit down, no matter how many people are in the theater, please do so gently and without sound effects. No woman in her mid-forties needs to PLOP into a chair with an OOOMPF!

Yeah, I know, I got to go to a movie on a Friday morning, I shouldn't complain...

Dear America...

Please, please, please make it go away!

Thanks,

All Sorts of Yumminess...

I'm not normally a gourmet cook, but last night's dinner in honor of my favorite 39 (!) year old,

was quite delicious, if I do say so myself. I found all my my recipes on the internet or in blogland...

I put the birthday boy to work at the grill... he grilled some steaks

rubbed with this then I made some delicious chimichurri sauce

photo from http://comiendoverde.blogspot.com

and these wok seared green beans (my family's favorite)

(photo by: Pornchai Mittongtare) subscribe to Bon Appétit

and these Crash Hot Potatoes from The Pioneer Woman

photo from The Pioneer Woman.

Although you might not think to put together Argentinian & Asian influenced cuisine, it all went together really well. Honestly, I make those green beans so often, I never even thought of them as being Asian influenced, but I guess they are, being "wok-seared" with sesame oil & rice vinegar (duh?!) .

Michael is a really healthy eater & doesn't normally eat sweets, so for dessert I used an idea I got from Jill at Peeptoe Pumps and Pearls. I made Diet Soda Cupcakes using Red Velvet Cake mix & Diet Dr. Pepper.

photo from Sweet Southern Delights

Mine weren't that pretty, but they were delicious!

TODAY...

Is actually Michael's bday. I wrote that post yesterday so I could publish it quickly this morning... although I still didn't publish it until today.

Ohwell. Happy Bday honey!

Today is THE Day!

Happy Birthday Michael! I couldn't ask for a better man to spend my life with, nor a better "baby daddy" to raise my children with.

I love you!

Boxing Day

I've been reading a lot of decorating & crafting blogs lately. I'm truly in awe of the work so many bloggers do. I used to really love to do craft projects. Somewhere along the way, I've forgotten that part of myself. While I was shopping for birthday gifts last week, I was thinking about all of the great crafts I've seen lately & decided to decoupage a box to put her gifts in. I've never decoupaged before, but it was a lot of fun & I think she really liked it.

Weekend Update

I just dropped Megan at Target, where we met her boyfriend so he could give her a ride to Gainesville. I'm sad to see her go, but I'm happy we had a really nice weekend. We played some games, had some laughs, visited with some family, opened birthday presents & caught up with some old friends. Anyone who knows me or has read my blog for any amount of time will notice one thing missing from this weekend. That's right...NO SOCCER! (actually, Jordan & Michael went to a game Friday night, but since neither of them played & I didn't attend, I'm still declaring it a soccer-free weekend). I enjoyed it immensely.

The high school season is over for Jordan & for most of the teams that we "follow" (yes, we're soccer stalkers). This means club season is about to start again in full-swing. In fact I just realized that, aside from the week Jordan is in Portugal, this will likely be the last soccer-free weekend we have until June. (Sorry Ben!) Wow!

Next weekend Jordan's team is in a tournament here locally, and after all of the cold (at least to us Floridians) weather we've had lately, I'm really hoping to be able to break out some shorts & flip flops & enjoy some warm sunshine.

Yummy

We're heading to California Pizza Kitchen tonight to celebrate both Michael & Megan's birthdays (Michael's is Tuesday, Megan's is NEXT Tuesday). I'm debating between the Thai Pizza or the Thai Crunch Salad. Either way, I can't go wrong.