Charades

Today I played the game of charades all day with Pirate and not 'for fun'. His speech is coming along but some of it I just don't understand, no matter how hard I try. He has full comprehension of what I say to him but not vise-versa. It was a tough day for us. He was very cranky and quite insistent too.

He has a new habit of wanting to climb into his own carseat all by himself. I am all for him doing things on his own but not when we are in a crowded parking lot and someone is waiting for our parking spot and it takes him a few minutes to accomplish his task. He would take no help from me to speed up the process. I have learned to pick my battles, either let him get in his carseat all on his own or put him in his carseat and listen to him have a fit for 15 minutes while I am driving. I swear I am going to end up in a car accident one of these days because Pirate has me so twisted and stressed while driving.

I cut my errand list in half today because I just couldn't see myself having to deal with Mr.Cranky getting in and out of the car each time. We did have one errand that we had to do. The Sonoma County Humane Society called us last night and said they finally had room for our two little kittens. Pirate and I had the task of taking them there. I know they will be just fine and find great homes but it was sad to say goodbye. We had grown attached to the little guys. Pirate came into good use at the Humane Society. He had me running all around and talking my ear off, that I didn't even have a moment to cry (which I would have if I were alone). Also, he allowed me no time to look at all the animals that were up for adoption. That would have made me cry even harder.

If anyone has room in their home for a sweet cat or dog, please go to the Humane Society and adopt one. There are so many animals there that need a home.

Another sad story...

Our 21-year old nephew has just buried his second friend in the past two years, who has died as a result of driving a street bike. We knew both of the kids. They had been in our home over the years . One of them we had taken camping with us a few times when he was twelve or so. The other worked for Dear Husband for a period of time.

It makes me very sad for the mothers of these boys. They have to live with the horror for the rest of their lives because their sons thought that they were invisible and never thought it would happen to them. I keep on playing it over and over in my head. What will I do if and when the day comes that Pirate buys a street bike? He's only 2 but it has got to be a mother's worst nightmare when their baby (a young man who has only legally been driving for a few years) buys a street bike. I have years to prepare for this but are you ever really ready for that day?

My hearts and prayers go out to these two mothers. I can't even imagine their pain.

Girl Power!

Princess & I caught the kittens. They are cute and we are mighty proud of ourselves.

First, the details on the twins... They are 7 weeks old if I tracked the gestation cycle of their Mama Cat correctly. Two boys. They are identical to the kitten we kept (Sake) earlier this summer from the last batch. It is deja vu. They litter boxed trained within minutes and love to play with the kitty toys Princess gave them. Currently they are shacking up in our downstairs bathroom [aka... the kitten room]. In case you think we are crazy.. we are not keeping them! We are hoping that the Humane Society has room in their adoption area for them. We will find out tomorrow. If not, we will be having to find these two little guys homes ourselves.

We have been trying to find these kittens for weeks but finally began seeing them in our yard this past week. Unfortunately we have a small gap in one section of our double-layer fence that we had never noticed. Well, the little kitties did and they used it as their hideout. We couldn't close up the gap because we never knew if the kittens were in between the fence boards or not. Dear Husband made an attempt earlier in the week to try pull a board off the fence. He wasn't much into the task and, as I was watching, about to destroy a board in the process. Minor issue but I knew I would have to be the one to go get another board cut to fix the fence. Also, we wanted to be able to close the fence up right away in case we didn't catch them.

I racked my brain for days trying to come up with some creative way to block the gap as soon as I saw the kittens in our yard. Each time I went outside, they ran into the gap in the fence. It was starting to stress me out. Dear Husband wasn't helping matters by telling me I was get obsessed. He was starting to bug me. We have such a feral cat problem and no one is doing anything about it other than me. If I didn't catch these little guys, that would be two more male cats to impregnate the one feral female I have not been able to catch and spay. Princess was the only one that seemed interested in my pursuits and tried to help me.

So, Dear Husband went to work on Saturday morning and I began my methodical process of catching them without the 'peanut gallery' criticizing me. I saw them playing in the yard and I went out outside to see them. They ran into the fence as usual. This time I got down and took a little twig and starting poking in the boards and realized they were right there behind a board. I got our my trusty screwdriver and hammer and slowly started trying to lift the nails delicately out of a fence board without damaging the board . It was damn hot! I picked the hottest day of the year in Santa Rosa to do this. Princess came outside to offer me encouragement and also confirmed that she could see the kittens between the fence boards. Finally I was able to pull a board off and, sure enough, the two little kitties were sitting on top of each other. I realized that I hadn't planned very well because they weren't cuddly little guys just yet and didn't want me messing with them. Princess came to the rescue and held the board for me while got the cat carrier and garden gloves.

As soon as we got them settled in our bathroom. Rylan came up to me, gave me a high five and said, "Mom, we did it! Daddy said we couldn't! Girl power!"

As a mother, there is nothing like sharing an experience like this with your daughter when someone had doubted you. She and I were so proud of ourselves and hopefully she will always remember that if something is important to you and you set your mind to it, you will achieve your goal.

Anybody interested in a really cute little kitten?

The Hampster Wheel called "Mommyhood"

When I became a mom four years ago, I dreamed of how life would be if I didn't have to work and could be a stay-at-home mom. I used to envy my friends that had the 'luxury'. I used to think, "how stressful can their lives be?" I envisioned going to Mommy & Me groups, long walks with my child in their stroller, time to invest in my friendships, being skinny, cooking wonderful dinners, not having to pay a housekeeper to clean my house, not being stressed, etc.

How does the saying go?... 'The grass isn't always greener next door'

I am going to stop for one second and put in my disclaimer. By no means am I not thankful for my life at this very moment. I actually am loving being a stay-at-home mom! It just isn't not what a working mom might dream about.

Okay back to my point... My life is crazier now that it ever was when I work full-time in a very highly stressful job. I am more disorganized and have even less time for myself. Stress just shifted from one stress to a completely new type.

I have been off work for 8 months now and am finally getting myself on some type of schedule. My husband suggested that perhaps we might need to bring our housekeeper back at least once a month. I don't cook dinners. I really don't have the time. I have less time for 'me' than I ever did before. I don't get a 15 minute break nor a 1/2 hour lunch. I am lucky to go to the bathroom by myself these days. I can not have any type of phone conversation while the children are awake because I will be constantly interrupted. My chores take longer now. Maybe it's because I don't feel the intense pressure of time to get them all done in the evening or over the weekend or maybe it's because I have children following me around all day long.

My current daily schedule is broken into four different segments: Morning consists of getting the kids up, fed & clothed, dropping Princess at school and then running to a dr. appt, errands, chores, KinderGym, or my gym if Pirate thinks it will work for him. The next segment begins around 11am when Pirate takes is nap. I do chores that can't be done with Pirate underfoot (most all these days), I take a shower, return a phone call when needed, check email, look for a job, etc. The third segment beings when Pirate wakes form his nap. I feed him and then run back up to preschool to pick up Princess, feed her a snack and begin carousing the fridge for ideas for dinner. The fourth and final segment begins when Dear Husband comes home from work. We prepare dinner, get the kiddos bathed and to bed, and then watch an hour of reality television and hit the sack to start our day all over again the next morning.

My days are so regimented now that I am finding there is no beginning and ending. Everything just runs together. I am going 24/7 still - just like when I worked full-time yet now I don't have a 'hard' beginning and ending to segments in my day. Before, I would change hats as I went through my day depending on what role I was in. I am always wearing the same hat now.

Dear friends that are full-time employees along with being moms, please know that life isn't easier when you stay home. Life isn't less stressful. It's just different. It has it's pros & cons just like everything in life. I wouldn't change the life I have right now yet I would love a few perks and benefits I had when I was a working girl. BTW... I didn't even mention the closet full of clothes and shoes I don't get to wear now.

Back to School Night

Tonight I went to Back to School Night at Princess' preschool. I couldn't figure out why exactly the Preschool needed to have back to School Night since I am at the school two times a day for pick-up and drop-off.

As I assume you know, I can't just drop Princess in the parking lot each morning, give her a kiss good-bye and tell her to have a nice day and eat all her lunch. Nope, I have to get out of the car (looking hideous since I haven't showered yet, I might add), get Pirate out of his car seat, get Princess out of her car seat, put Princess' jacket on because she refuses to wear it while sitting in her car seat (it sucks big-time for me when it is pouring rain outside - she takes no mercy on me!). Then I have to gather lunchbox, kids and any misc. items and walk into preschool and directly into the classroom, along the way greeting all the teachers and other parents. Oh.. and I don't dare put Pirate down because he will take off on me and get comfortable in some classroom and then I have one screaming child who wants to stay and can't.

I follow the same routine in the afternoon. The only difference is that I have showered and put some type of coordinated outfit on (my summer uniform: double layer of tank tops and knee-high shorts & flip flops) I swear parents who see me in the AM and then in the PM, don't know I am the same person. Typically, the afternoon pickup take three times as long because all the preschool kids want to 'high-five' me and the teachers get chatty with me. Typically, I end up having to put Pirate down and he takes off to play in one of the classrooms and then Princess and I have to peel him away from some play kitchen or train table.

Tonight I went to Back to School night very curious as to what I would learn or see that I already don't know or don't see on a twice-daily basis. Dear Husband backed out on me at the last minute, using the excuse that it would be easier if Pirate stayed home. He also didn't get the concept of the event and wasn't one bit curious. It was important to me to go, no matter what. I have made a promise to myself that I will be as involved and interested in the kids' school, as humanly possible. My mom didn't make much of an effort in that regard when I was a kid. She worked in San Francisco and used the excuse that she was too tired after work to go. It really sucked as a kid to have to tag along with the next-door neighbors to Open House. I will not do that to Princess and Pirate.

So Princess and I headed to school this evening and got there a few minutes early. I was shocked to see that most parents were already there. It was a packed house. Maybe they were as curious as me or had also made a commitment as a parent to be involved every step of the way.

It was a nice evening. We learned about the policies, the two upcoming field trips, the swine-flu issue and precautions (I am sure that will be a future blog for me) from the Owner and then we met within the classroom with the teacher and parents of the kids in the class. It wasn't a waste of time and it was nice to know that all the parents cared enough to come. Princess thought it was sooo cool that we were at the school in the evening. I can also see the point now. The Owner and Director had the opportunity to pull all the parents together and facilitate a group meeting with the parents, outlining all that was expected from us as parents. We can't say that they didn't tell us or warn us, when an issue does arise.

Oh Man... More Kittens

So my little Pirate has learned a new phrase that I just have to share. He walks around the house and when somethings tips, spills, or doesn't go quite his way.. he says "Oh Man!" It is the cutest thing. He always says it perfectly in context. He doesn't say a lot of multi-word phrases yet so we giggle every time he says it. We are now trying to figure out who is it in our family that says it so often that Pirate has picked up on the phrase. I never realized how often I say "God Dammit" until Princess started saying the phrase in perfect context a few years ago. I was shocked the first time she said it and then began observing how many times a day I actually said it. I had no clue.

We have another batch of kittens in our yard. They are from the same mother cat that our sweet little Sake is from (See Sept. 10th blog entry). I think there are two kittens and they run so fast, I can't tell what colors they are exactly. Every time I go into the backyard they run into a small hole under our fence and up between the double layer of fence boards. We don't want to block off the hole because we can't tell if the kittens are in there or not. Tonight, I am hoping, Dear Husband is going to take apart the fence a bit to see exactly where they are going. I will post their cute little photos once I finally capture them. Anyone interested in a cute little kitten?Just one more thing to add to the craziness of our lives.

Trying to get my groove back

I have been home from my New Hampshire trip for 5 days now and I am still trying to get catch up. 5 days on my trip and 5 days to recover. It seems that when I am not home... nothing gets done. So on top of getting home very jet-lagged, I had a house that need cleaning, baskets full of laundry, kids that needed extra hugs & kisses, doctor appts., wild kittens running around the backyard (still trying to catch them) and a long list of emails to respond to.

I am trying to get back in my daily groove writing the blog but am struggling to find the time. My goal is to be back on schedule by Friday. I have a long to-do list this week but slowly am checking off my tasks. Stick with me and I'll get my groove back.

Home Sweet Home

Back home from my whirlwind trip to New Hampshire. It was a good trip minus the plane part and the time change. The family all got along (thanks to separate hotel rooms) and it was a nice trip down memory lane. My favorite part of the trip was on the last day. We took my Grandfather's ashes to a little town called Piermont, NH where he wanted them to be buried alongside my grandmother and relatives from generations ago. (My great-great grandparents and older) It was a gorgeous day. The cemetery was very old, dating back to the Revolutionary War. The weather was warm, the leaves were turning their autumn colors and horses were galloping in a neighboring pasture.

After we buried my grandfather we headed up the road to Whitefield, NH located within the White Mountains. My maternal great-grandmother had a house there from the 1920's to the mid-1970's that we

wanted to go see. My grandmother, my mom, and myself all were at this house as children. The house was built in 1834. There is a date sign over the formal front door. When my mom visited the house as a child, they had to use chamber pots since there was no plumbing. My great-grandmother had plumbing installed in the later years. The home doesn't look like much now. It has been abandoned and actually we all were a bit on edge standing in front of it. It was located down a dirt road and was very overgrown and there was an odd echo when you spoke. There was furniture in the house though we don't think anyone lives there. My brother walked up to the door on the porch and the door was slightly ajar. He lost his nerve and quickly returned to the dirt road. We were waiting for a squatter to burst out the door with a firearm in hand (guns are legal to carry in NH). I do think the curtains in the upper windows date back to my great-grandmother's time. I would have killed to walk in the house. If there was no furniture in the house, I would have gotten up the nerve to walk through the door.

The house has been on my mind ever since we visited on Wednesday. I have always dreamed of fixing up an old house (this one is 175 years old) and how perfect this would be since it was our family's house. Logistically and financially- I don't see how I ever could but it fun to dream.

The irony of the day was that we had items that had been my grandmother's in our rental car since we didn't feel safe leaving at the hotel. The crazy thing is that many of these items in the trunk of the rental car were items right out of this house. Talk about a full-circle experience for them.

On the way back, we stopped in the neighboring town of Littleton, NH. I bought a fabulous apron (yes, I wear aprons. Something my grandmother got me started doing). The folks that own the cute little shop are from Larkspur, CA in Marin County (I went to high school in Larkspur) Very small world! Anyways, I felt that this apron was a delightful memento for our day of going down memory lane.

Greetings from New Hampshire!

I am half-way through my trip to New Hampshire and am ready to come home. Missing every bit of my day-to-day life. I have to say though, I would move to New Hampshire is a quick minute, If Dear Husband was open to the idea. (He's not, so Santa Rosa is where we stay). I have known that Santa Rosa is congested but never realized how bad it affects me on a daily basis. There is no congestion here. No honking, no traffic jams, just simple peaceful driving. It makes a big difference in how you feel. I dream to own one of the houses here. We have nothing like it in Santa Rosa, except perhaps McDonald Ave. Not all the homes here are not groomed and pristine but still are fabulous. There are no massive tract home developments. People leave their bikes on the front porch, without any fear of it being stolen.While I am very familiar with the East Coast from years of commuting between parents as a child, I now see as an adult how California has evolved into such different way of life compared to the rest of the country.

Today we went through all my grandfather's belongings. It is amazing how a person interprets what is important and what to hang on to. I promises my children now that I will not 'packrat' as I age. Tomorrow we go to the rural cemetary that my grandparents had chosed to have their ashes put. There is an old family plot that dates back at least 100 years. It should be a beautiful drive. On Thursday, we head home. While I have enjoyed this trip and am glad I joined my mom and brother, I long to be with my own family and be sharing these experiences with the kids and my Dear Husband.

Japanese, Japanese, pleaaasse Mom!!

We took the kids out to dinner tonight at our family's favorite restaurant, a local Japanese restaurant called Sakura. With Pirate being the age he is at now, a family dinner out is a rare occurrence and always to Sakura.

There is no other restaurant we have found to be as family friendly as they are. We always leave our table with the biggest mess and Hansel & Gretal trail of rice out the door. The owners and staff are just terrific. The kids are brought special plastic plates and the straw color of their choice in their water. Pirate is brought bowl after bowl of tofu. Basically all you can eat for him! I have never seen a human being eat as much tofu as my little guy.

Tonight, as soon as we sat down, he tried a new word on us, "eat", and kept on repeating it until his tofu was brought. Princess and I always share a Teriyaki Chicken dinner while Dear Husband gets to eat his dinner of choice all to himself. Just for that, I always order myself a nice glass of wine and pass the bill to him.

My next life... I am coming back as a cat

We have a colony of feral cats in our neighborhood. It all started around about 5 years ago when our former white-trash neighbors moved and abandoned their pregnant black, female cat. After she had a few litters one summer, we finally caught her last batch of kittens and got her spayed. She had to recoup for about a week in a dog crate after her surgery. When the day came to set her free, she wouldn't leave. Can't say that I blame her!

Her name is KitKat and she is now our outdoor, microchipped, black cat. We believe a few of her kittens became what we now call "The Backyardigans" - four feral cats that show up at our house twice a day for food. We have named them for our own convenience since they all look alike (Blue, Biege, Beauty & China - There is also Bart & Bear but they aren't backyard regulars) We refuse to take ownership of them but we have spayed and neutered all but one. The elusive one, Beauty, was caught once in the cat trap but Dear Husband moved her to the dog crate without realizing he had to get he back in the trap to take her to be spayed. Needless to say, she freaked and Dear Husband ended up at Urgent Care getting a tetanus shot. She will not get anywhere near the cat trap now.

So far this summer, Beauty has had two litters of kittens. We found and caught the first batch of three kittens. Since they were so small when we found them, we kept them for a few weeks to allow them to be adoptable. BIG MISTAKE! Don't let a cat-loving family with two small children bond with a kitten and then plan to give it away. Long story short... we fell in love with the tiger-striped male but knew in our hearts our house was too crazy for another cat. We found a home for him and were very sad to see him leave. A week later, his new adopted mom couldn't keep him due to her living situation. We jumped at the chance to get him back.

His name is Sake Beau (Sake:because our family LOVES Japanese food) (Beau:because Princess for some reason wanted to name him that). He is now 5 months old and is living the life of luxury as an indoor cat. We got suckered in, our house is now overflowing even more with chaos, but it was the best decision. Princess and Pirate just love their kitten and he is sooooo patient with them and I love that he is the biggest cuddle cat in the whole-wide world. I am happy to share my pillow with him each night. Neka, our other indoor cat tolerates Sake though she sure seems to enjoy it when he cleans her. She doesn't want to let on but we know she loves him too.

The morale to my story... please spay & neuter your animals but also sometimes there is just a bit more room for one more. (I'll keep you posted when I finally find the current batch of kittens in the yard, just in case you have room in your home & heart)

Little toes and big memories

I just couldn't resist to post these pictures of Princess' & Pirate's little feet. I think the pictures say so much, other than that they just have clean feet. The photos remind me of innocence, summer days, and just being carefree. Summer is now beginning to wind down and I have to say that I have had the best summer of my life. We didn't go on any fancy vacation. Shoot, we never even left town yet we had so much fun in our yard and at the pool and just hanging out. I cherish the memories from this summer. Sometimes it's the simplest things that make for the best of times.

I'm on a roll

I have made it to the gym so many times this past week, I actually have lost count. My little adorable Pirate is no longer holding me hostage on a daily basis. He went through a 8-month phase of freaking out when I left with him with someone he didn't know - so the gym has been out of the question up until now. He also refuses to ride in a stroller (How did we get so lucky with 2 kids that hate strollers?) so long walks have been and still are out of the question but at least I can go to the gym.

It is so cute how he gets so excited when we pull into the gym parking lot and struts his stuff walking into the gym. We are making it a routine each morning and he is becoming a 'regular'. When you add up the expense of his Kids Gym fee each day, it's not cheap, which is even more incentive for me to pedal away for longer on the elliptical trainer so I can get my money's worth each day. I have been timing it perfectly to coincide with my two favorite morning shows which keeps me entertained.

Since I stopped working, I have wanted to start taking care of myself yet having a young one below the age of 2 with me constantly, that has been tough. Now that Pirate is venturing out on his own, I am getting an hour plus of time just for me. It is just what the therapist ordered and I am feeling great! Thanks Pirate!

The Fruits of My Labor (day)

Princess turned 4 today on Labor Day!

Princess & her idol - Sleeping Beauty

It is Princess' 4th birthday today! She wasn't actually born on Labor Day but this year it happen to fall the holiday. She was so nervous and restless last night. She didn't want to go to bed. I think she didn't know what to expect during the transition between 3 & 4 overnight. She did everything in her power not to go to sleep. When she woke this morning. She was at peace and seemed content that nothing seemed to change except the number of fingers she holds up when she is asked how old she is. She did declare though that this is her "birthday week" and we would be celebrating all week long. You go girl!

Happy Birthday BabyGirl. You truly have made all my dreams come true. Thanks for being the best daughter a mom could ask for. I love you. xoxo

R.I.P

This morning I got the call that my grandfather, Pops, passed away last night. He was a grand 94 years old.

What a life he had. He fought in WWII. Worked on the dry docks repairing submarines. He was an accomplished architect and went on to mentoring Yale students after he retired. He loved to sail. He was a stable man that provided for his family. He was quiet and conservative yet there were times that my grandmother and I got him to laugh so hard he shed a tear at the dinner table.

I had not seen him for several years. He lived in New Hampshire and since I have had children - I haven't made it across the country to visit and with his increasing age and my grandmother's passing two and half years ago, he hadn't made it to California recently. He never had the opportunity to meet his two great-grandchildren. He would have thought they were terrific.

Thank you Pops for being such a part of my life growing up. I have wonderful memories of my visits I shared with you and Gamee. Rest In Peace......

OMG! I am not the only crazy, OCD mom

My dear friend, Angela ,was nice enough to share a long list of her favorite blogs with me so I could check them out. The very first blog I looked at, I happened across this blog entry below. I had to do a double take to make sure I hadn't written it in my sleep, under some alias name. Here's the entry below:
You Didn't Have to Be There http://suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-09-01T12%3A51%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=4
Posted 8/28/2009 8:32 PM CDT
"I spent about an hour yesterday cleaning up our playroom. I hadn't cleaned it in about a week and in that time, it seemed like Bruiser had managed to get every single toy out and spread it all over the floor. I'm one of those moms who can't stand to lose a single piece of a toy. I will hunt for MONTHS until I find the missing Polly Pocket shoe. I will obsess for YEARS about the one missing wooden block in our alphabet set (true story). In fact, I was certain it went missing after my eldest stepdaughter babysat my daughter three years ago. It was totally on my mind as I cleaned out my stepdaughter's room last week. I was just sure it was under her bed (along with about 5,000 other things). It totally.... WASN'T. I was wrong, N. I thought you had the block and you didn't. Sorry 'bout that.Um. Anyway.You will understand why I was frustrated yesterday when one flashcard turned up missing from a set of alphabet flash cards that had been scattered all over the floor. Scattered and colored on. They were from the Dollar Tree, so it wasn't like it mattered that much, but still. A MISSING ALPHABET CARD. Dread and despair.For some reason, I decided to organize our DVD shelves and lo and behold, I found the missing alphabet card among our movies! It was like a miracle!"I found it!" I shrieked to my children, who were playing in the room. "I found my V card!"They didn't even look up. Immediately, I realized what I had said and thought it was really too bad that my audience was too naive to snicker appropriately.Which is why I'm telling you now.Snicker away. "

Back to me....It is so nice to know there are other moms out there just like me. I don't obsess when the kids clothes get dirty (and yes, I do let them get dirty). I have the magic cure for all stains. Bring a stain to me and I'll get it out. I don't obsess about most things. It's all the little pieces to their toys that brings me to a full OCD moment. I still have hopes of someday finding a rubber sheep toy that went missing shortly after Princess got it for her first birthday. I think the housekeeper threw it out by mistake.


The kids and I have a saying when something is missing. The person that realizes something is missing says.."there is an reward out for ......" Just by saying the phrase everyone in the house knows to be on the lookout. We don't obsessively run around looking for the piece (well, at least most of the time). It always shows up in a day or two. There really is no reward. The finder gets special recognition. Typically, Princess or dear Husband finds it. He is still wondering when he is going to get his reward. Sorry Charlie... no real rewards are handed out!

Mistaken Identity

Yesterday I was a victim of a mistaken identity: a she-said, he said situation. It was a crazy accusation that I had truly nothing to do with and I am absolutely horrified by it. I am actually blown away that it happened. It stopped me in my tracks, literally.

I won't retell the story here for many reasons, one being I don't want to add any fuel to this fire. I want out of the situation as quickly as I got put into it.

There are few things worse, I think, than being accused of something you said, when you weren't even there or have any idea what was said. I have spent hours and hours trying to get to the bottom of this false statement and trying to have my reputation restored. There is such a feeling of helplessness because you are put into such a defensive mode that is truly ugly and not who I am. It takes me back to the days of being a school kid and the rumors that would get spread on the playground that could ruin your whole school year.

Please always validate your facts before you publish them.

A picture is worth a 1,000 words....

Or at least a $1,000.

I entered my first photo contest today. I thought why not?! What the heck? It didn't cost anything to enter and the Grand Prize would be nice to have. I love taking pictures, especially with the new camera I got earlier this year. It's the camera that takes great photos. I can't take the credit.

I am not a big fan of portrait pictures, especially of kids. I believe you need to take pictures of kids in their natural state of play. You can get great shots that blow the portraits away.

Somehow, someway I would love to make a little career out of this hobby.

Are we really that interesting?

Why is it that when I am with the kids out in public I feel like I am with someone famous, with the amount of people that stare and comment? Lately it has become really obvious to me and is starting to bug me. Maybe I just notice it more because I am not working and am with the kids a lot more, out and about doing our day-to-day activities. I know my kids are cute but that's not it. My kids act up but not real bad or very often, so it's not that either. Maybe I look totally under qualified to be caring for the kids, who knows!

We went to Costco the other day and it seemed that everyone in the Food Court area had a comment for us or just watched up eat our hot dogs. I felt like we were the center of attention and it was a bit unnerving. One person even noticed that we needed more catsup and offered to get it for us. I know the person was just trying to be helpful and I appreciate that.

It is a very odd feeling to know that people are watching you as if you aren't there. Something is so interesting about us and I just don't know what it is. I can truly understand what it must feel like to be in the company of someone famous. At least we don't have the paparazzi trailing us with their cameras too.

The 'rash' saga continues...

Today I went back to the doctor for my never-ending rash. If you haven't seen me in the last 6 weeks, you don't know my saga. Let me bring you up to speed.

The third week of July I came down with a horrible rash that ran up my right arm. After a grueling hot weekend of itching and the husband stressing that I was going to spread the rash to him (oh..and the kids), I called the doctor and had the rash checked out. The doctor said I had poison oak. What the heck!! I live in the concrete jungle. I take care of two small children all day long. We are not going on wild nature hikes or exploring the wilderness. Shoot, even our two cats are indoor cats. Where in the world would I get poison oak? I was not a believer of this theory but I let them treat me as such.

I was given a prescription of prednisone and sent on my way. I have never been on prednisone nor did the doctor tell me a couple of little facts that would have been helpful. I popped my three pills as prescribed for the first day at 4pm. I was in heaven by 5pm. No itching! Whoo hoo! Then I discovered the side effects. I was wired like a power pole. I was awake watching the clock at 12am, 1am.... I don't know if I even feel asleep. My brain was going a mile a minute. My neighbor mentioned to me that you are supposed to take the prednisone in the morning for that very reason. Wish someone had told me that before I popped 3 pills at 4pm!! Holy moly!!

Next came side effect #2. The medication make you hungry all the time! I was a bottomless pit. I couldn't get enough food in me. For someone wanting to lose weight, this wasn't a good situation. The 10 days I was on the medication, I gained 2 pounds.

I took the medication for the duration and then the rash traveled to other areas of my body. I still didn't believe it was poison oak. I went back to the doctor and got another 10 days of the medication. At least I had relief from the itch, no matter the side effects. The second round of medication ran out this past weekend and the rash persists. [BTW, no one in my family has come down with any symptoms... just lucky me]. Instead of going to my primary care doctor again I went to see a dermatologist today, figuring they might be a bit more familiar with rashes.

This was the first time I had met this one particular doctor and let me tell you that I wish I had put some makeup on and brushed my hair a bit more before the appt. He was so nice and super cute. Then I had to get in a gown and show him my yucky rash. He said that my body had some allergic reaction to something (doesn't think poison oak) and now my body is short-circuiting. The initial allergen is gone and I am suffering through the reaction. He compared it to a computer that needs to reboot. He put me back on the Prednisone and also prescribed a steroid ointment (It is in a 1lb vat) that I need to cover my whole body in before bed each night. I also need to take a Benedryl .

He said that all combined should battle the rash but to be prepared for it to take awhile, possibly up to a year!

BTW, I am not contagious, dear Husband!