Conversations in our house

There is a girl up the street named Kenzie. She is the bully of the neighborhood. She is loud, obnoxious and a spoiled brat. She isn't always cruel... she just needs a lot of attention. (I think she has extremely LOW self esteem)

My kids have big hearts though and are always nice to her. They'll play at her house until she pisses them off and they come home. But they always give her another chance.

Bug and Carl tease J-man about liking her. If we are going somewhere and see her in front of her house, Carl always says "there's your girl, J-man!". To which J-man promptly pretends like he is going to puke.

Anyhoo...

The other night Carl asked J-man, "So. What's it like to kiss Kenzie?"

J-man, "I don't know. Bug? What is it like?"

Bug, "EWWWWW, J-man! I'm not a lesbian!"

My little girl... knowing the word lesbian... and what it means...

Mindblowing.

CRAZY IVAN

Saw this video on another blog and thought it was hilarious! I have always loved Donny Osmond and this makes it even more so. It is a side I thought I would never see!

Missed opportunity

Carl, the kids, and I went to the mall yesterday to finish up our shopping. We didn't have a whole lot to do so we wound up window shopping and people watching.

At one point we were on the escalator heading up to the second level. Carl turned around and said, "Uh oh... we didn't go in the bookstore. Do you want to head back down and go?"

I said, "Nah. I don't need any new books now. I've got plenty."

I swear I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head. And I thought he would never turn back around to watch where he was going. I just knew he was going to fall on his butt when we got to the top of the escalator.

He said, "WHAT? YOU don't want to go to the bookstore?"

I said, "No. I've got plenty to read. Plus I need to read the next book for my book club, but I wouldn't mind going in."

We didn't go back. It's the time of year to think of others.

But good grief I want a new book. BAD.

Reassigned

My company may be going through a process that involves signs and people walking in circles holding those signs while yelling about equal something or other. My group isn't directly involved but everyone in the company is being "reassigned" to another area so the company can keep running.

I received my assignment this morning.

I will be traveling to Eufaula, OK and doing something; the description on the matrix doesn't give me any details. I guess I'll find out exactly what I'll be doing when I take the 86 hours of web-based training and the 52 hours of instructor led. Yes, that is 138 hours of training... and travel to a city for possibly more than a month.

My boss is trying to get us deemed "essential" so we won't have to participate. In the mean time I have to figure out how I can continue to meet my deadlines in January while working in another state doing a job I know NOTHING about.

Love it.

Conversations in my house

While Carl was home for dinner last night, J-man sat at the table to talk to him while he ate. I was attempting to navigate the mess that is in our living room floor (it's not that bad I promise) and I told J-man that he needed to pick up his skis.

He asked what that meant and Carl said, "You've got big feet, dude! Your shoes look like skis"...

and the conversation then went downhill...

C: You know what they say about big feet?

J: No what?

C: Means you have a big... you know.

J: Cool!!!

Me: That isn't true!!! That is an old wives tale. I have been told a theory that seems to work better. You look at a guy's fingers! If they are long and skinny then.... you know. If they are short and stubby, then... mmm hmmm.

J: Well, I've got long fingers...

C: Yeah, man! Your fingers are longer than mine!

J: (begins to chant) I've got a bigger penis!! I've got a bigger penis!!

OMG!!!! I have not laughed that hard in FOREVER.

Yes... we have these kinds of conversations all. the. time.

Boys...

Double digits

My baby girl turns 10 today. Where has the time gone? When did she grow up?

And when did I become the mom of a tween and an almost teenager (in less than three weeks)?!!! Lord, please slow time down.

Happy birthday, Bug. I hope your day is as special and wonderful as YOU are. I love you.

Another 24 hours

We are heading out. J-man's surgery is at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning so we are going today to settle in the hotel. Bug and I are staying there while Carl stays with J-man at the hospital.

I am taking my laptop so I'll post updates. Send up your prayers or think good thoughts. I'm worried about my sweet baby. But he is in good hands... the doctors are wonderful.

Thank you for all your emails and phone calls. They mean a lot to me. I think J-man is handling all of this better than I am. And Carl? He's worse than me!!!

Hugs to you all.

Tracey Arm Fjord

You have waited patiently. It is time to show you the next stage of our trip - a cruise up Tracey Arm Fjord to Sawyer Glacier. A fjord is pass made as a glacier melts; as it moves back, the rocks and mountains reveal themselves. It was COLD outside... luckily we didn't have to get off the boat. It was amazing.

I hope you enjoy all of these landscape pics!!

Mom and my step-dad bundled up against the cold weather. The coffee got cold FAST.


This looks like an avalanche came sliding down the mountain and took out most of the trees.

I was sitting in our cabin warming up... I took this picture of Carl while he was outside. Can you believe how close we were to the cliffs?

We got word from our captain that our sister ship - the Star Princess - was up at the glacier and heading back. We were going to pull over and wait for her to pass. She is the exact replica of our ship, so to see her is like looking in a mirror at ourselves.

While waiting on her to appear I took some pictures from the top of the ship. We only stayed out there long enough to see the ship pass.

This looks like another avalanche site...

I called this Boob Mountain. Can you see why?

Here she comes out of the mist. Look how tiny she is compared to the mountains surrounding her!

Closer...

Again, she is so small... and there are thousands of people on her. Makes you feel a little insignificant doesn't it?

What was fun was as she passed by, we saw camera flashes going off like crazy. They were taking pictures of us and we were taking pictures of them. We were all yelling "hey!!!" at each other and could hear hundreds of voices.

One of the coolest experiences I have ever had. Another one I will never forget.

After the Star Princess passed us, we headed on up to the glacier. The entire trip up took about 4 hours.

Our first look at the ice field in front of the glacier. The Star only went this far. Our captain decided to be more bold and headed INTO the ice field. They don't call him "Ice Man" for nuttin'.

I loved this waterfall next to our ship. It came down the mountain and then spread out over this rock formation. We were told that if you were to stick your hand in the waterfall, your hand would be flash frozen. Now THAT is cold.

Up we go into the ice field. If you look to the left of the picture you will see the cracks our ship is making in the field. It kept getting larger and larger. Mom - who doesn't swim - was trying hard not to freak out.

This is a look behind the ship. You can see just how far we have gone into the ice field. Remember, our cabins were on the back of the ship!

And the glacier... it looks like a huge waterfall. It is a mile and a half wide and 250 miles long. It goes into Canada.

Me and my hubby. I had on a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and TWO coats. I don't think I have ever been so cold in my life.

And one last story. At dinner one night, Carl and I were talking to a couple from Australia. We were discussing Tracey Arm and John (the man of the couple - duh) got all excited. He told us that as we were leaving the area, he and a bunch of folks were in the dining room eating dinner. All of a sudden they saw movement on the cliffs. It was a bear chasing a mountain goat down the side of the mountain!

Can you imagine? I would have loved to have seen that, but our cabin was on the other side of the ship. Bummer.

I took so many more pictures, but I don't want to bore you too much. I thought these were the best of the bunch. Next? Ketchican.

Grades and whips

Sorry I didn't post any pictures from Skagway yesterday. We were out celebrating the fact that J-man passed the sixth grade!!!

YAY!!!!

Bug has a sleep over to attend tonight and Carl has to work so J-man and I have a date. We are going to dinner and then to see Indiana Jones. I love date nights with him; we have a blast.

And I get to see Harrison Ford to boot.

Renaissance Festival

Last weekend we went to the Georgia Renasisance Festival. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast. Here are some pictures... YES, I uploaded pictures!!! WOOT!!!

Here are King Henry VIII, Anne Bolyen and their court.

And an Ogre... sorry, but I think he is WAAAAY cuter than Shrek.

Remember the dude with the pet log? Here he is with J-man and Bug.

Carl got kissed by a kissing wench. She called this a "smiley" because when he lifted his eyebrows it looks like it is smiling. See?

And J-man got a kiss, too.

Think he enjoyed it?

Where else will you see jousting?

And pirates?

J-man and Bug both got painted...



And I got my arm done.



Both kids made wax copies of their hands... yes, that is Coffeypot watching every move they made. And if you look real close you will see horns on the kids' heads... they ARE little devils. I've been trying to tell people that for ages.

If there are horses around, Bug is going to try and get to them. This big beauty was in the petting zoo and it was killing Bug that it wouldn't acknowledge her.

So she got Coffeypot to help her climb on a fence to look over the stall wall. I think the horse was surprised to see her because he lifted his head and she got to pet it. (You can see J-man's horns really well in this one!)

I have more pictures, but I've bored you enough. We had a great time...

Tres females

It's all Bug's fault.

We went to PetsMart for dog food and walked out with this...

The minute Bug saw her being put in the cage for adoption she was in love. I thought Bug was going to cry. After much arguing and yammering, I gave in. I mean, look at that face!

The lady that was working the adoption table told us when she found her she was a day away from being put down. The kitten had started sneezing at the humane society so they decided she was sick and didn't need to infect the other cats. Luckily, the lady rescued her and took her for an exam -- she is fine. Negative for all those nasty diseases. She's been fixed and is up-to-date on all her shots... we don't have to take her for any boosters until next year! Score!

Once the decision was made we went about getting everything this little kitty would need; litter box, litter, food, a poop scoop, bowls, collar, a carrier, etc. And guess what?! It is ALL in pink. You can see her pink carrier in the picture above. I think the cat would poop pink if Bug had her way.

On the way home we were trying to figure out a name. We ran the gamut but decided that she was some sort of princess. I mean, after all, there are only three girls (now) in our family; me, Bug and this one. And everything the cat has is princess pink, so what princess is she?

Because of her black hair we decided it was Princess Jasmine.

Once we got Jasmine home we discovered she is the epitome of a "scaredy cat"... she hides under everything. (As I type this she is behind the couch -- and we just chased her out from behind the hot water heater) I tried to tell her about the big, dumb boys that live here, but she didn't believe me until the goofballs came downstairs to meet her.

Here is Grimmy trying to make friends with her...

Yeah - not so much. She swiped at Dozer at one point and I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He just bowed down to her as she growled. Then she ran off and went into hiding.

If anyone has a scaredy cat, do you think she'll grow out of it? Will she get used to us and the dogs? She is only 12 weeks old, so I'm hoping we are introducing her to them at a good time. I'm hoping she'll be the cat Bug wants her to be...

I just want her to stop hiding.