Boo!

Happy Halloween!

What a night! It rained most of the day and it has been pissing rain since 5pm. Stephen took the kids out and they got drenched. Cars gave up after four houses. The other two wanted to come home after hitting about 10 homes. It was just too wet. We only had about 30 kids total tonight so the few trick'r'treaters who came after 7:30pm got handfuls of candy from us.

We decided to skip the Microsoft Halloween gig because I did not want to ge stuck in traffic for an hour getting home, especially in the rain. I was able to get Cars to wear a costume once he realized he would get CANDY if he wore one. I could see the lightbulb go on so he agreed to put on the Yoda costume, but he would wear the mask only on top of his head rather than over his face. But it worked out. I hemmed Dex's Yoda costume (Halloween '03) so Cars would not trip over it and then my Star Wars troop set out:



And here is Jax's pumpkin (can you see the face, complete with eyebrows(!) and the word BOO!! on the bottom? - actually, you cannot see the B in BOO):



The best part about tonight is that the kids agreed to keep only 10 pieces of candy and the rest they are trading for "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" which Stephen will buy tomorrow. Stephen will take the rest of the candy to work tomorrow. Especially the peanut stuff.

The scariest part of the night was when I went to take the jack'o'lanterns into the garage (so we don't have them smashed on our car in the morning) and there was a big, FAT, THICK, DISGUSTING slug on one of them. And I accidentally touched it. ~swoon~ They make me sick to look at sometimes. They are about as thick and as long as my fingers. I wish I had some salt to pour on it but I used all of the salt in the house making that damn play-doh last night.

Geez my arms are tired. Why oh why did I say I would make play-doh for Jax's "Harvest Party". Actually, I tried to volunteer for the sugar cookies but some other mom was baking them. So the Room Mom told me to make play-doh. I have never made it in my life. I have never had the URGE to make it in my life. I could not find more than one recipe that was the same as another. I finally found one that looked like it would make a lot. A lot! My KitchenAid had problems handling it. Then it was too dry so I had to break it down into smaller batches, add a little water and knead it and add a little water and knead it and add a little water and knead it and add a little water and knead it. Then I coloured the batches and kneaded and kneaded and kneaded. And now my arms hurt. And the play-doh sucks! But my arms hurt too much to keep kneading. :( Never again!

Today I took Dex to a birthday party to the indoor soccer arena. He had a good time but got a little weepy when no one would pass him the ball. I have a feeling he is on the verge of getting sick because he has beeen so weepy the past three days. Or maybe being 5.5 years old is just hard. :(

Cars has been a little pip these days. He screams for fun, won't eat dinner, smacks Dex every chance he gets. Welcome, Terrible Twos.

edited to add that I found a blouse on overstock.com that is similar to the one I bought for Ramona's wedding. It is like this one except the blouse I bought is sleeveless. I am wearing it with a long black satin skirt.

I had my hair cut today. First time in 3 months! Anyway, the stylist did a lovely job and I wish I could have her style my hair everyday. Here's a picture because it will never look this nice again:



We carved pumpkins with the kids today too. Jax decided he wanted to do it all himself. I thought for sure he was going to cut off his finger! He made a jack'o'lantern face and then carved out the word "BOO!!". I am so proud of him although it looks like, well, like a seven year old did it. I forgot to take a picture of his pumpkin. I should make sure I take a picture of it with the candle glowing inside.


Ramona's wedding is less than two weeks away! I am so excited! She is going to be the most beautiful bride.

DVR

Ok, the DVR is installed and I am recording the first programme - "Go, Diego, go!". Cars will be in seventh heaven. I will also be recording "Drake and Josh" for Jax and Dex and of course "Survivor" for me tonight since I am taking a well-deserved night out with Nosey Neighbour and her next-door neighbour. Ash was supposed to go too but her dh had to go out of town.

I am thoroughly enjoying "Goodnight Nobody". I swear that it was written about my city and I am the narrator. Although it seems she is a little more together and I am.

I was reading on one of my forums a post that asked "What is your style and where do you shop?". Are clothes from the Fred Meyer clearance racks even considered a style?

Well off to do some laundry and maybe sneak a piece of halloween candy. I have lost 2.5 pounds so I think it is time to celebrate with some chocolate. :)

I actually finished a knitting project today. I knit a hat for Jax but he didn't like it so I gave it to Dex. I made it with Noro Kureyon wool (color 116 which is grey/black) - similar to the one I made for him last year but that fit Cars instead. Jax wants a solid black one. *sigh*

We had a wicked windstorm here earlier this evening and the power went off for a very short time. Of course it happened while Dex was in the shower and he screamed like Janet Leigh in "Psycho". The power came back on before I was able to find a flashlight and stumble up the stairs.

I finally ordered DVR from Comcast and it will be installed on Thursday. Fortuntately I did NOT have the annoying radio announcer guy when I called this time. I've also canceled HBO so Stephen will have to suffer without "The Sopranos" when the new season starts in the spring.

Just another manic Monday. Back to the crazy doctor today. I have been going every three weeks and it is about right. I did not need to go every other week anymore. Maybe by Christmas I can cut it out completely. That will also mark two years that I have been going to see her. It seems like a lifetime ago when I realized I was crazy and overwhelmed and completely stressed out. And I scoff when I remember telling people that going from two to three kids was a breeze. And it was for the first three months but then...

I have been thinking of giving up Nanny too - although maybe I will wait until spring or maybe never.

I was so productive this weekend. Tons'o'laundry, baked cookies, made a burrito pie (one for us for the freezer and one for the baby shower I went to yesterday), I sewed some burp cloths and repaired a pair of Jax's pants. Today I have already planned out dinner and have made a cole slaw. What has gotten into me?!

We are getting closer to arranging the babysitting for the boys while we go off for our weekend in Las Vegas for Ramona's wedding. Whew! Now I can eliminate that stress from my life.

I have decided to get the new tires for my car from Costco because I will get a dividend back (executive membership) and the price was the same as at the discount tire place. Of course the tires I need are not in stock (who knew that my minivan was considered a "sport" model and needed high performance tires?!) but they should arrive in 5-7 days.

After not getting tires on my car yesterday, I did shop at Costco and it was a good time to be there (lunchtime!) so all of the sample ladies were out. They were handing out sushi so I had three rolls (had to try each type!) and it was so yummy! Then I tried a little salad and a pastry "blossom" for dessert. Nice, free lunch!

I desperately need to get my hair cut. It has been nearly 3 months! I don't think I have gone this long without a cut since high school! Even when we were at our poorest when we were first married, I would go the beauty school up the street for my $7 haircuts every 6-7 weeks. It is not cost right now that is keeping me away, just finding the time to go.

And speaking of time, it's time to make some halloween cookies for my boos.

Citizen Dex

I received a letter on Saturday stating that Dex had won an award at school and it was to be presented at the school during an assembly at 9AM this morning. Problem is, Dex goes to PM kindergarten. Oh, and the award was a secret so I could not tell him. I dragged him to the school this morning when all he really wanted to do was make Halloween decorations. We watched all of the classes file in and I told him when he was in 1st grade he would sit in the 1st grade section.

He was so bored and complained that he did not want to be there. We sat through the awards for Academic Achievement and Life Skills (2-4 kids per class x 30 classes = a lot of names to be read!). Then the principal said it was time to award the "Citizenship Award" which was the most "prestigious" award in the school. One child per class receives it. She started with the 6th graders and worked there way down to the PM kindergarten class. When she called his name, Dex jumped up worked his way through the throngs to the front of the gymnasium. While he was doing this, I noticed a commotion at the front and the OTHER Dex in one of the full-day kindergarten classes had walked up to the front to receive the award. The principal looked confused and the other Dex's teacher was trying to guide him back to where he sits but he said "My name was called!". Poor kid!

Anyway, by this time Dex had made his way to the front. He received his award and climbed on the bleachers with the other winners. Afterwards, while they took individual pictures of the Citizenship Award winners, the principal told me it was so confusing for that other boy and she was going to say that Dex was such an uncommon name that it was easy for kindergarteners to get confused but she decided not to make a comment about the name (I think she was worried that we might be offended).

So Dex will have his picture posted with the other winners outside of the office for the whole school year (they will add additional winners three more times throughout the year).

And on top of all of this, Dex has no idea why he won this award. I mentioned all of the things that make a good citizen but he says that is not really him. LOL


Citizen Dex

I taught Art in Dex's class today. I cannot believe how nervous I get speaking to grade-school kids! It was fun making the art project (white crayon on a huge coffee filter then dyed with food dye - similar to the Yoruda Adire Cloths. Anyway, I played Nigerian music in the background (thank you Olu <--my Nigerian friend, not Olu as in God). Olu gave me a Nigerian Drum CD for my birthday one year while we were living in Minnesota. The kids had a great time drawing on the coffee filters, creating patterns then seeing their patterns come alive after they used eyedroppers to drip food dye on them. Tomorrow I plan to go back to the school and hang them up in the cubbie-area for the kindergarten classes.

I have been trying to get Cars to go to sleep in his own bed each night rather than fall asleep downstairs with us (well mostly wtih Stephen while I am out walking from 9=10). I had a couple of successful evneings but tonight was a disaster. He cried hysterically for 45 minutes. Even foregoing his pacified to which he he is still very much attached. Finally I had to give up and take him into our bedroom and he fell asleep on my bed. I am such a suck when it comes to my children crying. :(

Ghostly Trick'r'Treater directions can be found here.

I had to bring my trick'r'treater in the house because he kept keeling over. He is a little tippy and the slightest gust of wind topples him right over. :( I guess he will just scare us until Halloween night and I will put him outside again then. Cars is terrified of it though and cries whenever he walks near the front door where the trick'r'treater is now stationed.

The article I wrote is here for those who are interested.

Busy Bee

We still haven't resolved the IE problem. I backed up the computer last night as I believe we may be looking at a new install of XP. It is amazing what one can accomplish when one's computer is acting up.

I have been busy doing stuff that I normally would not do if the computer was working properly. I finished off another book and am getting ready to start the next one for book club. I completed one Halloween craft and am working on another. This is the one I finished:

(Jax insisted on the "evil" eyes...the eyes were going to just be ovals).
And this is the one I am working on:

It is a mummy hand. I made it because I was determined to make at least one thing from the book I borrowed from the library without buying any supplies since my house rivals Michaels with all the crafting items I have that I buy but never use. Anyway, once the fabric stiffener is completely dry I just need to wrap more fabric and glue it in place.

The kids are so excited about Halloween. They have a party to go to on Friday and I think we will be going to the Evil Empire for the huge Halloween party they always have. Traffic is always a mess coming home so I will have to leave the candy out for early trick'r'treaters so the mummy hand and my ghost will have to guard the (non-chocolate) candy (kids complain at our house because I do not give out chocolates since they are not safe for Jax).

I wrote an article for the PTSA newsletter about food allergies. It is supposed to be accompanied by an article by the (useless)school nurse. We'll see what happens. I was late getting it in because Stephen kept telling the things I was writing were inflammatory and I needed to tone it down. We ended up (re)writing mostly together and he allowed me the use of "life-threatening allergy" in place of "severe allergy" a few times.

My next project is to pick up my knitting again. I never did finish the sweater for Denise's baby (who was born three weeks ago). I want to knit a hat for Jax and maybe one for Dex since the one I knit him last year was too small and fit Cars. I have swap ornaments to make and I want to make a tree skirt for our Christmas tree.

Wow - that is a lot of things. Perhaps I should not be in any hurry to fix this computer.

Tonight was book club and I was happy to know that I wasn't the only one who hated "The Red Tent".

We had such a great time tonight talking and eating. Laurie prepared tons'o'food and it was delicious. I made some chocolate chip meringues and they were yummy too. Laurie is allergic to wheat so I always try to provide something that she can eat. I love this bunch of women and we always have a great time and a good laugh.

Tomorrow is the first day back to getting supplies for Dex's Sunday school. I was not going to volunteer this year but I thought it would help buy me points towards getting Cars into the new presschool at our church (I will have to enroll him in January or February). Then grocery shopping because I haven't been in ages and even the kids are complaining.

Oh, I had two margaritas tonight so I think I need to head to bed.

I taught my first art class today and I was so excited. The kids seemed to enjoy it and Jax wasn't too embarrassed to see his mom in class. We studied "I and the Village" by Marc Chagall and the kids did a watercolour wash then drew on the paper after the paints dried. Next week I am teaching Dex's class. I haven't reviewed the curriculum yet for his class to see what I will be teaching.

Stephen deleted and then reinstalled IE to the computer today but we are still experiencing the same problem. It is completely driving me mad!

I am on the upswing and Stephen is on antibiotics for a sinus infection. What a day to start off the rainy season.

Since I had been sick and did not much of anything but sit around, this was the week of the guilty pleasure movies! I watched Dirty Dancing tonight - "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!". This past weekend, Grease was on too and the boys and I watched a bit of it. I especially love the dance competition part (and Dex loved where the guys mooned the tv cameras of course!). Last week I watched Footloose!

Some of the other movies that I love to watch over and over again (they are not all dancing or musical movies!) are:

Love Actually <- this movie is funny, touching and the soundtrack is great!
The Cutting Edge Two words - "Toe pick!"
Serendipity How can a movie about a happy accident be anything but a pleasure?!

Ugh - still sick. Stephen and I have been sucking on zinc lozenges all day trying to help get better quicker. I guess we'll find out tomorrow if they work.

We still haven't been able to figure out why I can only open one IE window at a time. It is driving me crazy and makes being on the computer so tedious (too much copy/pasting URL's into Wordpad. Time to back up the machine and try reinstalling a bunch of things, I guess. It is so maddening!

Ian passed away yesterday. He was the youngest son of one of one my mom's good friends (and the youngest brother of my grade 12 boyfriend!). He had systemic scleroderma which he was diagnosed with when he was 7 years old. His parents were told that he would not live past age 12. He was 34 when he died and ironically, he died from cancer and not from the disease that ravaged his body all these years.

I finally finished "The Red Tent" and let me tell you I am glad to be done with it. Although I did pull out my bible to read a little Genesis to see how much detail is given in the bible vs the book. Anyway, I am looking forward to Book Club on Thursday only for the food because I really have no desire to discuss the book. Not interested.

I have been sick for a couple of days. Just a bad cold I guess but I feel miserable. My whole body ached yesterday and I was oh so tired. I went to bed at 8:15 last night and did not get up until 9 this morning. I can hear Stephen sniffling this evening so no doubt he has come down with the same thing. Oh, and Cars also has a cold and I think I got it from him. I fell off the roof on top of it all and have just about the worst cramps that I have ever had!

Ok, off for a quick walk (I haven't walked in days and days!) then bedtime.

I have a problem with my pc and it will let me only open one IE window at a time. This is driving me nuts! I just ran virus scan and it is not a virus (at least not a known virus). Aaargh!

I called the cable company today to ask about DVR and the idiot on the telephone was using his "radio personality voice" (his words). Then he asked if it were annoying. I said slightly. He proceded to continue to talk to me like he was a cheesy radio announcer and it pissed me off so much I told him I would rather speak to The Disk Network people than deal with people like him at Comcast. Asshole!

I haven't walked in two days and it is making me grumpy and fat.

And I am going to fall off the roof any day now. Joy to be me.

My calves are killing me! All of this walking for "Walk to School Week" is killing me. Actually, it is the walk home, pushing the stroller up the gigantic hill is what's killing me. Ouch. :(

The kids are really enjoying the walking though. They think it is a big treat so hey, I will keep it up for now. Besides, I don't remember the last time I had this much exercise. Yesterday I walked *7* miles. Four miles were to school and back, to school and back, then the three mile walk with my neighbour at night.

I took Dex back to the doctor today to start his third round of antibiotics because he *still* has a sinus infection. I asked her for Flonase as well (the allergist suggested I ask for it if his infection was not cleared up. Allergist did not prescribe it because Dex is not officially her patient) and the ped also told us to put him back on Zyrtec. If it is not cleared up in a week we need to go back. This might hurry up our plan to actually have him tested for allergies. I cannot even remember how many sinus infections he has had. Poor kid has his father's sinus problems and I hope he never needs the surgery that Stephen had a few years ago.

I booked my flight and hotel to go to Ramona's wedding next month. Wow - only 5 more weeks! We still do not have the child-care situation worked out for sure but I won't worry about that for now.

I walked 4 miles so far today (may walk another 3 miles tonight on our nightly walk if my calves stop burning). Walking up that hill by the school is killer, especially when I push the stroller. This week is "Walk To School Week". Yesterday it started pouring rain 10 miunutes into our walk (20 minute walk, then 20 mins home). Today was cold but lovely! It was still sunny at pick-up time so I walked to pick the kids up. Poor Dex is getting such a work out because he gets to walk Jax to school then come home (he later takes the bus to school).

I *finally* coloured my hair for the first time in 10 weeks. I chose Andie-MacDowell brown (aka Medium Golden Brown). It is so dark! I am so used to the highlights in my hair that just plain all over colour seems so weird. ANyway, I am sure it will fade in the next few days so my resemblence to Andie MacDowell will disappear. One thing to note - the grey coverage is GREAT!

I just had a cute argument with Cars. I asked him how his bath was and he said "wash butt" and I said "OH, you washed your bum?" and he said "NO! BUTT!" and I said "Bum?". "NO, BUTT!" he shouted, shaking his little fist at me like he does when he is mad.

I just cannot get into "The Red Tent". I find it too slow or something and now I am panicking that I will not get through it before next Thursday (Bookclub!).

I am watching "Breaking Bonaduce" and I am stunned and shocked. I cannot believe first that his life is like that and that he let it air!! OMG! I feel so sorry for him, really.

Tomorrow is my first Crazy Doctor appointment in three weeks. I had decided I did not need to go every two weeks so we are trying for three but I am not sure how it is working out...

The Saab dealership had a free diagnostics clinic today (included a free oil change too) so we took advantage of it and limped in with our decade-old car. They said it would take about 45 mins but it took much longer. The list of things "wrong" with the car is astronomical. If we added up everything they said we needed to do the cost would be about $6200 plus tax! I checked KBB and the car is worth about $4,125 (probably less because of all of the problems with it!). Stephen did get new tires on the car today (which was listed as a problem but not part of the $6200 estimate). They did say we needed a new battery but the tire place said we did not (I think there is an electrical problem rather than a battery problem). The fixes that we will get done is a burnt-out brake light and replace the cracking belts. Otherwise, Stephen is just going to keep driving that car until it dies.

I think I mentioned before that we got the car (used) from a leasing company that was purchased by the leasing company that FIL worked for. They had a fleet of 25 to get rid of (all mgrs in the acquired leasing company drove Saabs for company cars - nice eh?). We got it for about $7k off retail price for a 1 year old used Saab but it has been a complete lemon. Less than a year after we had it we had to have the transmission replaced (it was still under warranty) while on vacation in Toronto. Of course it took one week for the part to come up from the States. We have had several engine problems with misfiring spark plugs (or something). One problem took 1 month to diagnose and fix so we had a lender car (a newer Saab!) for that whole month. Once the car went out of warranty though the perks of the Saabs as lenders went bye-bye.

Anyway, time to start saving our pennies to buy a new car in a year or so. I hope our car lasts that long!