Too Much Perfection?

This morning the wutz decided he wanted to fix his own hair. This isn't particularly unusual and I don't consider it a big deal, so I left him alone in the bathroom so he could do what he wanted. Now, you might expect this to be where I begin in on the horrid things he did to his hair - in normal posts from me it would be - but not today. Today he used just enough water to flatten out the rat's nest in the back of his hair and he brushed it out nice and flat. It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, but I was too busy then to notice anything other than it wasn't spiked with gel or suddenly green or something like that.

So off to school we went. Upon arrival we got out and as I was walking him to his class, I looked down and realized his hair did, indeed, look rather nice. Of course I took the opportunity to compliment him on his hair and a job well done. With a small hand he smoothed back the coif and said, "Thank you, Mommy, I wanted it to look good like this today." I queried him as to why and he replied, "Because I am going to take you on a date today, Mommy!" Shocked, I asked where were we going on this date. He looked at me and smiled sweetly and said, "Wendy's!"

Oh. Yay.

Alright, I'm feeling kinda like shit, so the blogging well is still dry. I have managed to blog every day for a month, though I've cheated much of it. Whatever.

Today I'm going to fess up to something very few know about me.

My favorite movies!

Here goes. But dammit, don't judge me.

1. Lost Boys
Vampires. Comedy. Coreys. Need I say more?

2. The Princess Bride
Seriously. Does this need an explanation?

3. Labyrinth
Jareth. *drool*

4. The American President
Honestly, I have no explanation other than I just enjoy this movie. It's my go-to movie if I'm sick or bored out of my skull.

5. Save the Last Dance
I'm slightly addicted to dance movies and this one is a fave.

6. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Kate and Matthew? Yum. And it is just fun as hell and funny.

7. Dirty Dancing
I can't be female and not have it on my list. Sorry.

8. Terminator 2
One of the few movies that is better than the original.


Okay enough for now.


And stop judging me, I said!

I spent the day shopping for a new laptop. Mine has been overheating and I'm pretty sure it is the heat sink. It is out of warranty and I think I'd go into DTs if I had to send mine off and be without a computer! So I wandered for store to store until I settled on a new Asus laptop. I have always preferred Toshiba, but this last one is the third to have the heat sink go out in it. Time to try a new brand!

I spent more than I'd hoped, but so far I like this computer. The screen is bigger and I still haven't adjusted to the keypad on the side that causes the keyboard to be shifted to the left. That is strange. But the graphics on this computer are a-mazing. And it really sings.

I'll spend tomorrow transferring files and backing up, but so far, so good!

I love me some new tech stuff!

Just a few random things...

1. The wutz survived school today. And apparently so did all of his classmates. *whew* The teacher made a point to make sure I was notified that he was very good today. So the kiddo lives to see another day. We're all kinda grateful.

2. I am thrilled that my DH is working. I'm also kind of thrilled that the work he does has him working from home 4 days a week. He's very awesome about getting up first, getting dressed, making my coffee, then waking me so I can get dressed while he dresses the wutz and even brushes his teeth. How awesome is that? So I can hardly complain, when at the end of his day he kicks back in his recliner, remote in hand, and states "Okay. Leave me alone. I'm done with work and officially driving home."

3. My Nook came today! I'm so excited. I've got that sucker unboxed and on charge. I know I won't have cell service at the house to download books tonight, but tomorrow I'm going to give it a go from work. I'll report back how I like it soon!

4. I got my hair cut Tuesday. No. I don't have a picture. But it is short. I mean pixie short. And I think I kinda love it. It's different for me, kind of edgy, but very easy to fix in the morning. Suh-weet.


5. Tomorrow is Friday. Hot. Damn.

Well, it only took a decade or so, but I have finally entered the 20th Century! (I know, I know, I'l start working on the 21st someday!)

Yesterday we finally got DSL installed at our home. This is huge. Up until this week, our only options were dial-up *gasp!* or satellite *cha-ching!* or cellphone tethering. I've been using my cell phone to tether to my laptop for quite awhile now. It has worked so much better than dial-up and the speeds were similar to DSL, but the consistancy sucked. I'd drop connection on a regular basis, which is simply maddening.

But now! Now we have wireless DSL. Suh-weet.

I'm a happy happy girl.

Yay me.

Yeah, yeah, I know... but I'm still playing catch up.

On Christmas eve, the wutz woke up to the last visit from Jingle (original name, I know). Jingle is our Elf on a Shelf. He'd been causing trouble every night for weeks, but on his last night in our home he brought a little present that was left hanging on the bedroom door. The present was a ton of party favors that the wutz is absolutely in love with. Fortunately, they weren't noisemakers. Yay Jingle!


After we got home from the Santa Fly In, the wutz was allowed to open his Christmas Eve present. He had been eyeing this shiny green package that his Granny wrapped for well over a month. When he finally tore into it, he discovered a light up music box with an animated train.


And I couldn't wrap up Christmas eve without displaying the cute sweater that the wutz was forced to wear. He looks just thrilled with it, doesn't he?

Since I am still playing catch-up, I would kick myself if I failed to post about the annual Santa Fly In, since I've posted about it every year!

This year we got the opportunity to fly in the plane with Santa and Mrs. Claus. We did it when the wutz was a baby but he had a cold last year so we declined the offer. The wutz was so excited to fly with Santa. He loves Santa, of course, but he reeeeaaaaalllllyyyy loves planes. Typical boy. You may remember pictures from last year's Fly In of him in Santa's lap, pointing toward the plane when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Yeah. That's my boy.

So this year he was excited to fly! At first he didn't want to sit near Santa, but after about 60 seconds he changed his mind and parked himself directly in front of Santa. They proceeded to converse for the entire 30 or 45 minute flight. It was great and the weather was perfect for flying!








It was very cool to see all the people waiting for Santa as we did our fly-by!

One of the things we did while we were at Disney in November was visit all of the deluxe resorts that we'd never seen before. We rode the boat to the Wilderness Lodge, we took the monorail to the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian. Loved the meal at the Polynesian, as I've already blogged...

Anyways, here are more photos from the trip...

We took the water taxi to Downtown Disney. I did love the view from the boat as we traveled through Port Orleans - Riverside.

For weeks now, the wutz's school has been practicing for the Christmas program. Over and over. Bless them, they have worked so hard for this program. The wutz has been singing the songs nonstop. He'll be playing, then suddenly he'll burst out in song - a Christmas song, of course. You likely saw the video I posted of him singing "The Chubby Little Snowman" which is one of the songs they have been practicing.

During practice, my dear child was the loudest and the most boisterous of the entire school, according to the teachers. So that's why I was so surprised when Friday, after waiting for over an hour to make sure I had a good seat, as the Christmas program began, my child came down the aisle with his face as bright as his red pajamas he was wearing. Tears of pure terror streaked his cherub cheeks.

Ut oh.

As soon as he saw me, he ran up to me and I kissed his cheek and whispered he'd be okay. I gave him a loving shove down the aisle, then he suddenly collapsed to the ground. Face first. So there my crying child was. In the aisle as if he'd been struck down and laid out in the Spirit or something, until the teacher ran and picked him up and carried to his seat, where I could hear him crying that he wanted his Mommy.

Awwwwww.

Finally it was his class' turn for their two songs. I waited eagerly to see if he had calmed. But, alas, I did not see my dear child. I looked over each child standing there on the risers. No wutz. Then I leaaaaannnnned over in the pew so I could see down the aisle to the front of the church and what I saw, I shall never forget:

My child, my dear, darling child... was army crawling down the center aisle searching desperately for me. He would raise up at each pew looking for me. Then he finally found me and he scrambled on my lap. Where he proceeded to whisper/sing each and every song in my ear as we watched the rest of the Christmas program from the pew.

*sigh*

Yesterday, we took the wutz to Granny and PopPop's house so we could sneak off and make our annual Christmas toy run. The wutz, as always, was delighted to be able to spend some time with my parents. He adores them, of course, as they do him. So while he got to eat way too much sugar, we trekked to Tallahassee to enter the bowels of hell, otherwise known as Toys R Us.

On approach to the parking lot there were cars lined up waiting for vacant parking spots. Not a good sign. We bypassed as much of the traffic as possible by veering straight to the back of the parking lot because it is easier to hoof it than wait for some idiot to back up and depart.

Upon entrance to purgatory, we were greeted by a line of customers that literally wound around the inside of the store. Damn. After a few moments' panic, we realized that said crazies were in line for Zhu Zhu pets. Hahaha! I already have three of those suckers! So we marched into the frey and began our shopping. We impatiently waited for people blocking us left and right to decide on their purchases and continue on so we could get the things we needed and get the hell outta there. Finally we did. But not before I passed an employee clutching extra Zhu Zhu pet tickets. So I asked him for one, he handed it to me, and I purchased it for $9. No waiting in line required. Take that, suckers!

After we left purgatory, we drove to the outskirts of the city to a restaurant I'd been dying to try. Once we arrived at Z Bardhi's, we realized they didn't open until 5pm. It was 4. But the owner saw us approaching and he quickly unlocked the door and ushered us inside. The waiter asked if we minded waiting about 10 minutes over drinks while they got everything fired up so they could serve us. Of course we didn't mind a bit. We didn't even have to wait that long and we had the entire place to ourselves. The house salad was delicious and the lasagna was even better. But the bread was the best ever, soft and crispy all at the same time. Heaven. I can't speak highly enough of the place and I cannot wait to dine there again.

After leaving a substantial tip, we departed and made our way back to the parents' house to pick up the wutz. But once we got there he refused to leave. R e f u s e d. Why? Because his cousin Michael was there! He wanted to stay and play with his cool cousin. After trying for way too long to persuade him to come home with us, we finally caved and told him he could stay. It was to be his first night away and I was fully prepared for a 3am phone call from a crying kiddo to come pick him up. I am happy to report the call never came! He finally called at 8:30am to tell me he was ready to come home. And by the time we arrived, he'd changed his mind!

So, we all survived not only a harrowing shopping experience, but also the wutz's first night away from home!

Last week I was nagged, poked, prodded, and cajoled into snapping a picture of my tatas for Twitter's Boobie Wednesday or whatever the hell they call it. The purpose is, of course, to promote breast cancer awareness. Since i hate the color pink, snapping the pic was a helluva lot easier to swallow then wearing their pink swag.

Today my tatas were featured on the the Boob Emancipation Project!

Check me out:

I've been Emancipated. Okay, well my boobs have been at least.

Tuesday night I met up with a friend of mine and her two kids to take them all to the county fair and the Demolition Derby that was also being held there that night. The wutz was looking forward to the Derby and was already bellowing, "Derby!" back from his carseat as we traveled to the fairgrounds.


However, when we got there all was forgotten once we wove our way through the building where all the booths of vendors hawking their cheap wares were set up and we then arrived at the threshhold to the fair itself. Once the kids saw the lights and the rides the Derby was all but forgotten. So we gleefully tanked the Demolition Derby plans in exchange for $20 armbands for each child in attendance.


My friend and I followed the small tugging hands of each child, first to the flying Dumbo knockoffs. Then we made our way to the race cars that looked much like the vehicles I could hear being destroyed mid-Derby.




After the race cars we stood for about 15 minutes outside of a funhouse that had a plexiglass maze. We laughed so hard our sides hurt from watching each of our oh-so-graceful children bonk their heads repeatedly on the SAME pane of plexiglass each and every time they attempted to wander through the maze.






It was a grand time.

Until little dudes and the diva started getting tired around 10pm. Then we knew it was time to depart. So as we wandered back out the fair we then had to retrace oursteps through the gauntlet of vendors.

While trying to make our escape my friend's son kicked over a fairly large potted plant, sending it toppling onto its side. My friend and I both turned around and looked down at it and then each other, both faces mirroring the "I'm not bending over in these jeans to pick that up." So we all just walked past it and acted like nothing happened.



But then...


A little further down the gauntlet, so close to the end I could see the exit, the wutz walked up to a giant stuffed dog, stared at it for a moment then head butted it so that it went tumbling backward onto the floor. Fortunately a booth worker was there to retrieve it, because I can assure you none of us planned on it. Too much effort, you know.


On we continued toward the grand exit when a small group of teenagers stopped us and one said, "We just have to tell you, you two have the coolest kids EVER. They are awesome!" It was then that we cracked up and laughed all the way back to our cars.


Yes. Our own personal Demolition Derby. We were so very proud.

Last month, while on vacation, I made my way to the mainland to Apalachicola. I love the little town, with its quaint clothing shoppes, amazing restaurants, and neat little stores that stock some of the craziest things you've ever seen. If you've never been, then I highly recommend you pay the town a visit.


But I digress. While there, I meandered into a little bookshop that carried next-to-nothing. I was in search of an easy beach read because I'd already sped through all five of the currently available House of Night novels. In five days.


Instead of finding a read for myself, a children's book caught my eye. It was the cover (as is always the case with children's books) that caught my eye. On the cover was the spitting image of Harley, the newest addition to our family.






Even though the wutz was eyeballing a book with a cool dump truck emblazoned on the cover, I managed in my oh-so-persuasive manner to convince him that he absolutely had to have the book I clutched excitedly in my hand.



And so we both brought home our first introduction to SkippyJon Jones, the Siamese cat that thinks he is a Chihuahua.




The next few evenings at our beach house ended with repeated readings of SkippyJon Jones and I confess I loved every word. But I didn't realize how much until our exhausted drive home as I clutched my phone and occupied myself with Twitter, as I'm oft to do.

For whatever reason I went to tickity-type in the exclamation "Holy Fuck" over something I'd seen, but instead it came out, "Holy Fuckitos" and since that day the phrase has seemed to spread like wildfire. Okay, okay, a small brush fire. Very small.

But still.

It is a phrase that has slowly creeped into my real life vocabulary. Much to the chagrin of those in my company. I just can't help but smile and laugh every time the phrase chirps across my twitter feed, as I imagine a masked Siamese cat exclaming, "Holy Frijoles" and I realize that "Holy Fuckitos" is so much more amusing and satisfying, even if I can't read it to my three year old.

My eyes are open wide, by the way
I made it through the day.
I watch the world outside, by the way
I'm leaving out today.
I just saw Hailey's Comet she waved
Said, "why are you always running in place?
Even the man in the moon disappeared
somewhere in the stratosphere."

Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life
I hope they understand.
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance.

Please don't cry one tear for me
I'm not afraid of what I have to say.
This is my one and only voice
so listen close, it's only for today.
I just saw Hailey's Comet she waved,
Said, "why are you always running in place?
Even the man in the moon disappeared
somewhere in the stratosphere."

Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life
I hope they understand.
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance.

Here is my chance
This is my chance!

Tell my mother, tell my father
I've done the best I can
To make them realize this is my life
I hope they understand.
I'm not angry, I'm just saying
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance,
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance,
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance.

Here are a few photos of the wutz from the beach trip last week. Once I recover I'll post more and go into further detail, but I'm going to be a lazy ass until I feel I'm back to normal, which could be... uhhhh... never.

I think I may be starting a Sunday trend for myself by posting Sunday Songs!

I've been meaning to feature this fabulous artist for awhile. His name is Curvine. He and his wife are wonderful people and I totally respect his work and their own ministry. Not to mention his songs are awesome.

My personal favorite of his is Pop Culture, though there are others that are just as fabulous. So today I'll tease you with this one and I promise to share more later as YouTube allows.

The wutz flew is first kite this evening. The sun was beginning to set and there was a little breeze, therefore he decided that he must fly his new kite. Because there was so little breeze, getting the kite off the ground required effort and lots of running. So I ran and he jogged after me holding the plastic spool with yards and yards of white string wound around it. As the kite flew higher and higher he struggled to get it unwound but he managed after a little practice. He ran and ran and ran to keep that kite afloat. Finally he looked at me mid-stride and said, "I'm tired." Which was enough to make me put the brakes on (gratefully, I might add) and reel in the rainbow colored kite.

It was exhausting. And awesome.

I decided I wanted a new look to celebrate an upcoming beach trip* that I've been looking forward to for quite some time.

I realized I hadn't changed the look of my blog since like the first of the year, so why the hell not now?

It's a little fun and a bit more goofy than I usually go for, but I figured since I'd planned to fully enjoy the last little bit of summer, why the hell shouldn't my blog?

So, there ya have it.







*For those lowlifes that just troll my blog waiting to know when I'm going out of town so you can come over and steal all my cool stuff, including my collection of Statler Brothers 8-track tapes, just know that I have a live-in house-sitter and some really fucking HUGE dogs. That are hungry. Very hungry.

The other day, while driving to the store to buy some seriously overpriced cat food, I happened to glance up toward the sign on the road in front of one of the liquor stores in town. On that sign I saw a word that I know oh-so-well. The word of my most favorite alcoholic drink in the world. The word of the one drink that I covet that I have not previously been able to find here.



That single word caused me to attempt and perfect a U-turn in busy lunch time traffic in effort to return to the store to race in and frantically search the shelves. It didn't take long. I honed in on it faster than the clerk could say, "Can I..." and I had the object of my desire in hand and headed to the counter.

Moments later, I had my darling prize nestled in the seat beside me, cradled lovingly as we traveled home so I could enjoy the spoils of my conquest.



MMMMmmmmmm...

Wow. It is hard to believe that we're entering another school year. The wutz is now in the wee-3 class and he is going half-days, five days a week. He's growing so fast!

Here are a few pictures from his first day:





And a trip down memory lane -- last year's picture from the first day of school: