Random Thoughts--A Tuesday Tradition

So, it's Tuesday.  That means random thoughts with Keely.  Oh, wait, She's new jobbing and running and still taking haitus from Random Thoughts so we get to join Stacy, who is leading the rebellion.  And enjoying her glass of wine at the same time.
And now to random:

• And I've drawn a complete blank.  There is no random flowing.
• Umm, hmmm...Oh yeah!
• Bruiser absolutely loves being outside.  It does not matter what we are doing outside, as long as he's outside all is right with his world.
• Bruiser plays fetch better than the dog does.  
• Turbo is half-heartedly learning how to ride his bike.  He really feels about his bike much like Calvin did from Calvin and Hobbs.  He just knows that the bike is out to get him.  We have said that he needs to learn how to ride before the end of the summer.  He's getting there, slowly.

image from google images

• I'm so waiting for cherries to come down in price.  Nothing says summer to me like cherries.
• We are heading to the mountains to see how much snow is still up there this afternoon.  The highway over the mountains is closed for the winter and they usually open it by Memorial day.  This year there was so much snow that they didn't get the road open until like a week ago--almost two weeks later than normal. 
• Nick has accused me of being an Eeyore recently--and I guess I have not been really positive.  It's hard to be perky when you feel lousy.  I'm trying--this last weekend helped.

All right, that's it for my random, go see Keely Stacy for the other random today--go on, go!

Revived and Refreshed

So how was your weekend?
Ours was relaxing and refreshing.  We did a bit of yard work, watched little boys splash in a wading pool, got a bit of sun and revived after what was admittedly a long week before.
Summer has finally come to our part of the world.  We had temps in the mid 70s all weekend.  It got a bit cloudy on Saturday, but Sunday was gorgeous.  Turbo and I washed the car, watered the flower beds and he had fun playing with his supersoakers.
Bruiser had fun trying to keep up with Turbo, riding his bike and eating grapes.  We all had fun just enjoying being outside.
Then on Saturday night, we watched Pirates of the Caribbean--the first one, and the third one--hey it worked and we just don't get to the movies that often.

I rearranged the living room for the summer and it's growing on Nick.  I'm finally feeling almost like myself again and that feels wonderful.

Proof that spring/summer has come.

A sculpture found on the campus where I work.  Yes, on a college campus.

I hope everyone else's weekend was wonderful and full and relaxing too.

Confession Time!

So it's time to confess it all.  Well, maybe all, or some of it or really what ever you feel you need to so your conscience doesn't bug you.  Sometimes confessing will make that little annoying voice shut up, sometimes it doesn't, but here we go anyway:

• I feel bad about not really visiting anyone last week.
• But being flat out with a sinus infection/flu thing doesn't lead to very coherent comments.
• to top it all off, Nick was out of town so I had me very little back up.
• the Grandparents helped as much as they could, but I was still on my own, sick, with two active boys.
• To make it even worse Mother Nature decided that we needed lovely weather as well.
• Yeah, I spent the whole of the last week looking out the window at the nice weather.
• My kitchen stove is a disaster.
• No energy to clean will do that.
• But even sick I did get the laundry done.
• Except for the towels, they're sitting in the dryer still.
• Nick is home!
• I'm so happy.
• So are the boys.
• I'm on antibiotics.
• I'm horrible at remembering to take them.
• I think I'm going to do that most horrible of things and go swim suit shopping.
• For a two piece.
• And hopefully it has less material than the last suit I bought.

Well that about covers my confessions for this week.  Go see the fabulous Mamarazzi and confess for yourself.

Spin Cycle--Decorating?

This weeks spin is all about decorating.  I'm not so good with the ideas in that area.  Nick comes up with great ideas, I add my two cents so they work for me too and off we go.
The last room tht we decorated was the living room.  We repainted, hung pictures, and arranged the furniture in a manner that looks pretty good for that room.  I picked the paint color, Nick chose frames and together we came up with an arrangement that we both liked.  The furniture placement was mostly my idea and I'm getting itchy to rearrange it.   Here are some pictures of the photo arrangements:

We may need to change them out soon, just for some variety.
The next room that really needs attention is Bruiser's room.  It's really a blank slate right now.  The walls are baby blue and the carpet is a slate blue.  Yeah, not a lot of imagination there.  But hey, all he does in there is sleep right now.  I'm planning on changing things up a bit when he gets the big boy bed, but I'm not rushing that one either--the kid travels when he sleeps.  Bars are a good thing right now.
I'm thinking of doing something with Scooby Doo, cause the kid loves him some Scooby Doo.  But I also might just go for some bright primary accent colors and keep the background the baby blue.  I'm not sure.  There is an added complication in that the hand me down cloths are stored in large rubbermaid tubes in Bruiser's room.  So they sort of need to be disguised, or incorporated.  I think Nick and I will be brainstorming for Bruiser's room when the time comes.
Well go see Jen at Sprite's Keeper for more spins on decorating.

Proud Mommy Moment--Turbo

 So I'm joining in with Kmama and Emmy Mom for Proud Mommy Moments this week.  The end of May Turbo turned eight.  If someone had told me what a difference being eight would make with a little boy, I'd have never believed them.  But truly, Turbo is acting way more grown up than I ever thought he would.
Memorial Day weekend, playing with the new Lego set Turbo had been given, Turbo and two other boys were assembling it.  At one point one of the boys was playing with an already assembled part and Turbo said Please give that toy back.  In a calm and very nice way.  No demanding, no anger, just asking nicely.  I was so proud.
And then last weekend, when I was so sick, Turbo was helpful, didn't complain about running errands around the house for me and cooperated with what we watched on TV.  I'll admit there were times when little boy activeness got the better of both boys but over all Turbo was helpful and a pretty good kid while I was sick.
I guess they do grow up, mostly while you're not looking.
If you have a Proud Mommy Moment or even a Not so Proud Mommy Moment, go link with Kama and Emmy Mom.

WWTK--Easing Back In

Well, after a trip to the doctor and a lovely prescription for antibiotics, I'm starting to rejoin the living people.  I'm still not quite 100% so I'm going with the ladies of We Want To Know to post today.  This week's questions are from Janette.
Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn want to know:

1. Everyone seems to have a quirky family situation--what is something unique about your family dynamic?  Nick and I seem to be fairly normal, but Nick's dad tends to hold grudges and right now does not talk to most of the rest of the family on that side.  Nick is the filter for news--at this point mostly who dies, the consequence of an aging family.  For my side of the family--I get news from my mom but the rest of the family on that side is pretty far flung and I was never close to any of them.
2. What is the most stressful aspect to blogging (aside from the network going down)?  I have had moments when I have looked at my screen and the blinking cursor and wondered what exactly to write.  Other times I have wondered about how to fit everything I wanted to into a week. Truthfully, I don't find blogging to be stressful--it's relaxing and gives me a connection that I can't make in real life--finding friends in real life is tough in my smallish town.
3. We all end up on a blog at some point in our day, but name your top 3 favorite websites you flock to daily (non-blog)!  Facebook--yes I have been sucked into the Facebook world.  I check it at least two or three times a day. LOLcats--I like to have a smile a couple of times a day.  Dear Abby--I'm a sucker for reading advice columns.  I think because no matter how bad I have it there is always someone who writes in who has it worse.
4. What's your sign?  Believe in it or not, does any part ring true to you?  I am on the cusp of Leo and Virgo--I'm usually the last day of Leo, but on occasion I end up as a Virgo.  I tend to read both and usually the Virgo fits better.  Virgo traits fit me better too.  But I read both and go with the one I like better.
5. IceCream!! ICECREAM!! We all scream for icecream! Name your favorite flavor/brand!  I like just about any flavor--my tastes change according to my moods, but Ben and Jerry's is never bad and locally I prefer to get Dreyer's.  I love Rocky Road, Butter Pecan, Strawberry, and Peach Pie, and Pistachio and...

BONUS QUESTIONS:
Name the blog that brought you to the link party--Seriously Shawn, Mamarazzi, Impulsive addict and Janette--really all of them.
Future Question Suggestion:  What is your Guilty Pleasure TV?  What is your take on that most summer of activities--camping?
OK, now you can answer the questions and join in the fun.



 

The flu...

...knocked me on my butt last week.  I was unable to do much of anything but inhabit the couch from Friday to Sunday.  Nick is out of town for work so the weekend was interesting to say the least.
What makes it even worse for my poor boys is the weather was pretty nice and mom couldn't set foot outside.  And I sure couldn't trust Turbo to watch Bruiser out there.  So we spent a lovely weekend watching TV and letting Turbo play video games because I could not function.
What this weekend was supposed to bring was some fun in the sun at the lake Nick is camped at for work--he's doing some geologic mapping and being close to the field area helps.
I'm still not 100% but I am better.  I'm sorry I was not able to get around to anyone on Friday, but my mental capacities were pretty nil.  I haven't been that sick in quite a while.
What surprised me was that Turbo was really quite helpful and pretty understanding.  He willingly ran errand around the house for me and was willing to humor Bruiser most of the time.
So instead of a fun weekend, I spent mine trying to get better.  I was mostly successful.  I think this one might linger for a bit.
And how was your weekend spent?  Hopefully in a better manner than mine.

I'm Confessing...

...that I need to get some stuff off my chest so I can have fun this weekend.
Without further ado:

• My son has an addiction.
• To video games--hey he's only 8.
• They do make an effective threat--taking the privilege of play away anyway.
• I am sick
• I think I caught the flu
• To make it worse, the weather has been quite nice.
• I love the behind the scenes that come with movies on DVD
• We are supposed to go join Nick to go camping this weekend.
• He's working in the field for all of next week.
• I just hope I feel better soon.
• My confessions are lame this week
• But I can't think straight
• So this is what you get.

Now go see Mamarazzi, she's hosting solo.

Spin Cycle--Waiting

I am a waiter.  I have waited for lots of things--most recently for summer to come.  It might finally be here, but don't tell Mother Nature, she'll take it away.
Why does waiting for something make it take longer to get here?   The more you anticipate something the longer it takes to actually get here.  Then you seem to rush through the fun times and start waiting all over again.
Turbo has been going through the agony of waiting recently--for the end of school, his birthday, camping trips, Christmas, really any fun holiday, and waiting for video games.  Looking at it, he gets to wait for all the good stuff.
You never wait for a doctor's appointment, at least not the same way you wait for Christmas.  Oh you get to wait--in the waiting room, the exam room, for the doctor.  But that's not the same kind of waiting.
I know what the difference is.  It's anticipation.  The wanting of what you are waiting for.  Very few want to go to the doctor.  But just about everyone waits with much anticipation for Christmas.
Anticipation makes waiting excruciating, or livable depending on the level.  It's interesting because Bruiser waits for us to come home each day and that is his world.  Turbo waits for the next fun activity on his horizon--that's his world.  I wait for the weekend and for the small trips out of town we take.  It all depends on what you long to do, or anticipate doing.
This post is part of the Spin Cycle--after much waiting Jen of Sprite's Keeper brought it back. I'm glad I was patient, but the anticipation of it's return was long and very worth it.

WWTK Wednesday--Fame, Talent and all that Jazz

So time for We Want To Know Wednesday.  This week's questions are brought to us by Impulsive Addict.
And here we go:

1. If the blogging world had a talent show, what would your act be?  Reading aloud from a popular book--Harry Potter or something like that.  I have it on Nick's authority that I read aloud quite well.  Turbo likes my reading to.
2. What's the most likely reason you might become famous?  Famous?  Maybe for winning a large amount of money.  I'm really not that interested in fame, but money might be nice.
3. What question are you repeatedly asked that you are tired of hearing?  What's for dinner?  Especially when I have no good idea of what to make--even sometimes when I do have a good idea of what to make because it's often followed by I don't like that--from Turbo mostly.  Meal planning has helped but there are just some weeks where meal planning goes right out the window--travel, activities, etc. really derail dinner plans sometimes.
4. What's the last thing you broke?  Truly broke?  The dryer.  Or at least it broke.  And I am the one who uses it the most.  On the other hand I often break my kid's hearts by being the mean mommy and saying bedtime, time to stop playing the game, time to go home, etc.
5. Finish the sentence:  I can't believe I used to do anything uninterrupted.  From a simple conversation to going to the bathroom I am always interrupted by something or someone.  Used to be if I did get interrupted in the bathroom, Nick felt bad and immediately left me alone--he never wanted to come keep me company.

All this We Want to Know Wednesday Q&A fun is brought to you by:

Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi and Seriously Shawn