killjoy elementary

We were coming home from Brianna's school yesterday and we were talking about her day. She was telling me what she'd had for lunch and causually added, "Oh, and we can't wear costumes to school tomorrow". What?!?! No costumes? At an elementary school? That's full of little kids? WTF? I sort of didn't believe it because we hadn't received a memo or anything (and this school send memos for EVERYTHING). I called and sure enough, no costumes allowed. Absolutely NO treats allowed. Students who show up in a costume will be send home. Hmm. How odd and unfestive. Oh well, there's still trick or treating tonight. I'm only sad that Brianna won't be able to show off her hair combs she loves so much. She is going to be wearing a "Forest Fairy" costume and I made her some hair combs out of glittery Christmas leaves. Anyway, have a safe and happy Halloween, all!



feeling: bummed out
listening to: The Shins (New Slang)

ornery yvett

Every now and then, I get a pain in my right wrist. It'll hurt for about a week and then just goes away. This has been happening for years but I haven't had it checked out for fear of the dreaded carpal tunnel. I've heard that some doctors are quick to label you as such. Anyway, it started hurting again I think on Saturday. Yesterday was worse and today it is still there. Not as bad as yesterday, but still there. This gets me in a really foul mood. I'm not walking around angry but I get really frustrated since I am not able to do things that I normally do without being in pain. It hurts to type, I am not able to open jars, iron, style my hair, put on make-up, just anything really. SUCK! I am really ornery this time because it is right before the start of the whole November writing thing. Ugh. Anyway, since I'm in an unpleasant mood, I thought I'd share with you a list of things I dislike ("hate" is closer to the truth).

Music
- The Killers <-- trite, trite lyrics and an unoriginal sound
- Nickelback <-- same as above but with lyrics that a 5 year old could write
- Evanescense <-- wah, wah, wah. nothing but whining
- The Pussycat Dolls <-- way to objectify women. plus they're trannies and have bad grammar

Celebrities
- Rush Limbaugh <-- every now and then he opens his big mouth and says something to remind me to hate him even more
- Catherine Zeta Jones <-- she lives in her own little world where she is queen of the world and married to her grandfather
- Jennifer Lopez <-- I never understood what the big deal was. I had blogged about her before here.
- Jessica Simpson <-- I had also blogged a bit about here here
- Bruce Willis <-- I don't know why he bothers me so much. I've disliked him since I was a little girl and he was on Moonlighting.

Random
- avocadoes. <-- I HATE them!
- the sound of clinking silverware against each other or against teeth
- bad customer service
- painful wrists.

I'm sure there are a whole lot more things that I can't stand. I just can't think of them all at once. Help me stop feeling like a grinch and tell me some of the things that you don't like.

feeling: you already know
listening to: Incubus Podcast

NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo

I'd been thinking about doing NaNoWriMo this year. I signed up again but it just sounds so impossible to do. I mean, I have a lot of things to do. How can I be a good mom and still write 50,000 words. Hmm.... I have a lot of things to think about. I'm thinking more seriously this year because I actually have some sort of writing theme in mind. Plus, 50,000 words really isn't a full novel. I'd say it's more like a novella and might just be feasible. -sigh- We'll see what happens next week.

Another thing I saw is NaBloBoMo. National Blog Posting Month. By signing up, you agree to post in your blog every day in the whole month. Quite clever. I haven't signed up in the official participant list yet. If I do decide to do NaNoWriMo, I won't be blogging much. Also, we're leaving town for Thanksgiving. I thought about Audioblogger and just found out that they are discontinuing service as of November 1st. Suck. I might blog through the cell phone. I mean, we could always take the laptop but MY MOM DOES NOT HAVE INTERNET SERVICE. Oh well, I have one last weekend to consider all these things.

Jess, I know you said you thought about NaNoWriMo. Have you done it before? Has anyone? Realistically, would I have to be at the computer all day?

Ok, enough of that. Have a great weekend! Ours: Halloween carnivals, football games, shopping. . . . .

feeling: I *LOVE* this Butter Rum coffee
listening to: Halloween music playlist

going postal

So, I'd won Jenn's cookie contest and I was looking out for the package. Then she left a comment saying that she hoped the cookies weren't too stale so I knew that she had mailed them already. I kept looking out for them. Nothing. All sorts of things came in into my brain. . . . . "They were probably sent to the wrong address". "There must be some sort of mail delay". "Maybe Jenn has just been too busy with the huge pirate party". So Monday night I was dreaming that I was walking home from Brianna's school and then I saw our mailman sitting in his truck eating bat shaped cookies. I woke up sooooo mad and thought "If they don't deliver that package today, I'm cracking skulls". I checked the mail yesterday afternoon. Nothing. I was mad and finally called the post office. Of course this is not verbatim, but this is what I remember. . . . .

me: I was wondering if there is some sort of mail delay because I've been expecting a package since last week and it still hasn't gotten here

post office lady: uh, do you have a tracking number

me: no but it came from California and it shouldn't take this long to arrive

post office lady: well, without a tracking number I can't do much for you. there are many things that can happen to delay a package. (here she goes on and on and on explaining all the things that can happen)

me: you know, it's always something here. first it took almost a month to get my mail keys, then the mail comes at odd hours all the time and now this. I've seen the mail carrier at our box, the whole thing is open, I go check the mail, there's nothing there then just out of curiosity I check later at night and there's mail.

post office lady: that's because our mail carriers have so much work, they've been delivering mail up until 7:30 at night

me: really? so they come to the same box twice? like I said, I saw him there at about 3:30 and there was no mail left. later I saw him in a minivan putting things in the boxes and there was my mail. Also, he left his key in my mailbox. I've left it there for him for several days now and he hasn't taken it.

post office lady: you have a key in there? is it a spare key for your box?

me: no, it doesn't fit. it's just a random key

post office lady: that's a parcel key. it means you have a parcel and you need to use that key to open the parcel locker.

me: (thinking WTF?!?!?!) WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME? HE COULD'VE LEFT A NOTE OR SOMETHING.

post office lady: we take it for granted that everyone knows what those keys are for

me: I'm not from here. I'd never heard of that.

post office lady: (sounding like she thinks I'm a total moron) Well, that's a national thing, that's why we don't assume that someone doesn't know about that

me: I'd NEVER heard of that. where I come from, if you have a parcel, the mailman actually gets out of the vehicle and rings the doorbell. if no one answers, they leave a note. besides, didn't he see that the key was still there and the mail was gone? (I was LIVID!)

post office lady: well, go get your parcel then, the key will become stuck and you just leave it there.

By this time her tone was just sooooo sarcastic, I was feeling like an idiot, and I wanted the cookies, so I just quickly thanked her and hung up. Long story short, the cookies were really good. The kids expecially loved eating bats.


Thanks, Jenn! The cookies were delicious! Sorry about Brianna's bow. :P Don't hate me!

feeling: like an idiot but I still think that mailman is shady
listening to: The Whitest Boy Alive (Burning)

linky time!

Have you contributed to the Yahoo Time Capsule yet? There's still time. I LOVED this idea! My babies are on there. The message is pretty personal (and by personal I mean sappy), so I won't post the link, but I won't mind a bit if you find it.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? I've toyed with the idea for three years now and I just haven't been, well, inspired. I'll let you guys know if I do it or not.

I still want one of these.

Wow! People don't waste any time! It isn't even a for sure thing and look at all this merchandise already. These two are my favorite so far.

Oh, come on. I thought playing tag was just part of growing up.

Toast with Trader Joe's almond butter and raspberry preserves is the best tasting thing I've had in a while. I'm addicted.

We heard coyotes behind our house last night. I'm serious. Towards the middle of that page you can get a sample of what we heard. Only we heard it louder, longer and it made me jump up in bed.

feeling: I should stop making crazy noises with my lips
listening to: Rodrigo talk about some networking thing that I don't understand.

alyssa!

Everyone say hello to my new niece Alyssa Nicole!



feeling: I can't wait to meet her
listening to: Mat Kearney (Nothing Left to Lose)

yay Jeffrey!

YAY!!!! I KNEW IT! I am sooooooo happy that Jeffrey won! So, so, so, sooooooo happy! I'm super sleepy but before I go to bed, I'm heading over to Jeff's site to read the messages. If you get a chance, check out his band. He is the guitarist and they are called Lifter. I'll post a link tomorrow. Congratulations, Jeffrey! ! ! !

Just received. . . .

this is one of the best days of my life, and certainly the most rewarding as a designer. I wanted to make some of my clothes available to you all at wholesale prices since I get so much love from you all. check out my last two collections, and alot more to come on www.cosanostrainc.com THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!

feeling: THRILLED
listening to: Lifter (9 Lives)

wonder pets

Usually all the morning shows that Alec likes to watch make me want to bang my head until I become unconscious. Either that or "point my fingers and do the twist". You know what I'm talking about, right? They're full of awful songs that stick in your head and make you totally uncool. I used to have songs by artists like Pearl Jam stuck in my head and now I'm singing "fruit salad, yummy, yummy" to myself. Well, for the past few months this has no longer been the case. There is a show that the kids both like and I absolutely LOVE! (note: we've all really liked Jake Long for the longest time as well but since this is not one of those annoying morning shows, it doesn't count) This show is Wonder Pets! Oh. My. God. I LOVE this show. It is ADORABLE! I especially love Ming-Ming the little duckling. So, this show is about these three classroom pets. After the kids leave there is always an animal in trouble and they call the Wonder Pets for help. After they rescue the animal (and a tree in one case) they have some celery. This has made my kids want celery like crazy! I've been buying celery much more than before and the peanut butter has been running out like if we were living at Leslie's house.
Yes, this show also has its share of catchy songs. . . . "The phone, the phone is ringning, the phone, we'll be right there....". I can overlook this though since this show is just soooooo cute. Check it out if you get a chance. Here is a pretty cool interview with the show's creators. On the Nick Jr. page, click on "nick jr playtime", click on videos, and you can watch a couple of episodes there.

Here is a still of an episode where they save a dolphin in Hawaii. Oh yeah, they also go to a different part of the world for each rescue.



feeling: loving this cool weather!
listening to: We Are Scientists (Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt)

update of sorts

- Monday: I hadn't told anyone about this except for Rodrigo. Last Monday I won a "win it before you can buy it" deal on a local radio station. I won the new Incubus c.d. Light Grenades and was signed up to win a trip for two to San Francisco for a secret show they're having there this weekend. Well, I didn't want to tell anyone so as not to spoil my chances. I didn't win the trip. BOO!!!!!!HISS!!!!! Oh well, I won the c.d. and will have a chance to wear it out before it is even available in stores. I rock.

- Wednesday: Jill held a story contest. I sent mine, made her laugh and won a goodie! I love all the things she makes so I can't wait. I rock. Jill rocks.

- Friday: Jenn held a contest for a bag of tasty looking bat cookies. I won. I'll be eating tasty cookies and you won't. Well, you won't be eating these at least. I rock. Also on Friday I received Jenn's O.G. book in the mail complete with O.G.'s autograph. Jenn and her O.G. rock.

- More Friday: When Bono says "go buy a (red) shirt, the next thing I do is go buy a (red) shirt. We went to the Gap on Friday evening to pick up our (red) gear and there was only ONE women's shirt left. That's right, ONE. Luckily it was in the size I wanted and the word I wanted. I got the desi(red) one. I wanted that one because of the U2 song. Rodrigo got the bo(red) one. Get yours here. I rock. Bono really rocks.

- Saturday: I couldn't wait to wear my (red) shirt and so I wore it to the game where Brianna was cheering at. This was also the day when they were going to take their team and individual pictures. I thought I was all cool with my shirt and took the girls to get their pictures taken. Unfortunately, I was not told that coaches would also be part of the team picture. I guess I should have assumed but I just didn't. You should know that uniforms are black and white and there I was in a bright red shirt. Luckily I'm short and the girls cover me up well. Hopefully. I still rock.

- More Saturday: Rodrigo's parents came to visit. I was glad since they've never come to visit us in Arizona. We had lunch, visited some and showed them the model for the house we're getting. I was worried Rodrigo's mom wouldn't be too keen on the model but she liked it. A lot. Because Rodrigo and I rock.

- Sunday: We did nothing special. Went to the grocery store and Target. Target rocks. Lazy Sundays rock.

- Today: I've been going CRAZY trying to make up moves for some new cheers. I can't believe I'm so into this whole cheering thing. Knowing that Brianna likes it so much and that the girls are doing soooooo well motivates me. I rock.

-I was also going to crazy trying to come up with a middle name for my neice who is scheduled to be arriving on Thursday. Her first name is going to be Alyssa. Any suggestions? My neice rocks. My little nephew who is now going to be a big brother rocks too.

feeling: incredibly tired
listeing to: LOUD, LOUD crazy kids

zoo and project runway

Do you remember that movie Backdraft? Well, when we first moved to Arizona, I felt like when they opened the door and got blown away each time I opened the door and walked out somewhere. It was HOT! Now the weather is amazing! We are reaching the high 80's and low 90's for highs of the day. Beautiful. I can totally understand why October is the busiest wedding month here.
Brianna is on her last week of fall break and frankly, the kids are getting antsy now. So yesterday, I packed up a picnic lunch and took them over to the zoo. They got to feed the giraffes and loved that.
The zoo here is great. It is big enough to have a variety of animals but not so big that you get bored or tired. The kids loved it, of course.

Ok, so about Project Runway. . . . . Oh. My. God. I couldn't stand Laura last night. I've always liked her. Always, but yesterday she came off looking like she just couldn't stand any competition. Plus Jeffrey looked so hurt when she told him she didn't think he completed that collection himself. ARGH! I would've thrown a shoe at her. You know, I'd always liked her because of her designs but now that I think about it, she's badmmouthed so many people. She talked about Keith, Angela, Vincent, Kayne, Uli, Jeffrey. Yes, I know she speaks her mind, but she just seemed jealous. I mean, of course Jeffrey can sew. That's what he does! Doesn't she remember the couture challenge. Of course it's going to be much better if he has more time. That's what he does! Oh, I just can't wait for next week. I hated that preview where Jeffrey was seen crying. I know he showed his collection, I've seen the pictures, but is he still in the competition? Ah, man. Next Wednesday can't get here soon enough. Team Jeffrey.

feeling: anticipation
listening to: The Fray (How to Save a Life)

searches

Do you ever wonder what people are searching for and end up on your page? Here are a few of the searches that have led people here.

- foo fighters arizona
- ride vapour trail
- tejocote recipe
- pull-ups poop OR poopy OR poopies OR pooping OR pooped OR #2 OR stinky OR diaper OR pull-ups
- celebrity baby names
- Jared Leto
- Incubus Anna Molly
- twinkie and starburst hot dog recipe
- The Fray Over my Heard
- trike a thon pictures
- wearing pull-ups
- preemie hands
- swoozie kurt pics
- iTune: Tequila
- hello
- listening to soaps

Those were copied exactly as they were. Any misspellings are not my typos (such as "over my heard" and "kurt"). Oh, and someone has been coming here for months doing a search for a picture of "crepas". It's weird.

feeling: coffee jitters
listening to: morning talk radio

crazy busy

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog again. It's been crazy busy around here. I've been making lots of accesories for the cheer girls I'm coaching. This past Saturday was their first scrimmage game and I wanted to have most everything done by then. I made 75 million shoe/hair poms. . .

a whole bunch of bracelets with jingles . . .

and about a trillion bows which unfortunately were not finished in time. I still have five to make. We had other hair accesories, so I didn't feel bad about not completing those. Anyway, I have to get back to work on these. I have some more things I have to finish by tomorrow (snack schedules, game schedules, picture schedules, trophy orders, etc.)so I better get going. I just wanted to pop in and say a quick hi. Hi!

** update: hairbows completed!




feeling: BUSY!
listening to: something by Hannah Montana

name your car day

I just heard on the radio that today is Name Your Car Day. I looked it up, though and everything I find says that it is on October 2nd. Hmm.....

So, does your car have a name? My poor car doesn't have a name. I just call it The Civic. I should think of a name. A car of mine that had the best name? Jean-Claude Grand Am.

Share.


feeling: hot
listening to: some morning radio show.

edgefest

This past Saturday, Rodrigo, about 20,000 of our closest friends and I attended Edgefest 2006. It was amazing! My parents and nephew came into town this weekend, so my parents took the kids that day. We drove over to Phoenix and were looking forward to an In 'n Out burger as soon as we got there. Unfortunately, a football game was just letting out of Arizona State and the traffic was horrid. We decided to just go elsewhere. Anyway, back to Edgefest. . . . here is the lineup: A Change of Pace, Sparta, Jack's Mannequin, She Wants Revenge, Authority Zero, 30 Seconds to Mars, Rise Against and (drum roll please) **Incubus**. Incubus was really the only reason why we went in the first place.

So, I wore a light cotton sleeveless top and I was still super hot (as in temperature). There were girls in bikini tops and shorts. I can't believe it's already autumn. Arizona. Is. Hot.

I learned a few things:
1. I'm old. When Rise Against started playing I was thinking, "Man, this is really loud". I also wondered if the singer often gets sore throats with the way he sings.
2. Even back when I could've gotten away with it, I never went out to someplace other than a beach or pool in a bikini top. I doubt that I would ever go to a concert in one.
3. I've seen Incubus three times. 2002, 2004, 2006.
4. Every time I see them, I love them more. They're just sooooo impressive. They're one of those bands that sound even better live.
5. I can't wait for their new album which will be released next month. They played a couple of new songs and I really liked one. I thought it was call anomaly or animal-y but I found it online as Anna Molly. Hmm...
6. Crocs are the most amazingly comfortable shoes ever. Ever. When I first saw them, I thought they were the most hideous looking things and wondered why anyone would wear them. After wearing mine for an entire day of walking and standing (some slight jumping and dancing), I know.
7. Friday, I admitted to Tommy that I was almost looking forward to spending a kid-free day more than I was looking forward to the concert. Having no kids with us was a rare and nice treat. Still, we weren't even in Phoenix yet when I was already missing them and feeling guilty. I felt better since my parents took them to the park, the zoo, McDonald's and a play area in the mall.
8. If I were to get a tattoo each time I consider getting one, I'd be covered in tattoos. I have one small one, but am always thinking like a 19 year old and want to get "Incubus" or "U2" or other designs. Especially at concerts.
9. I liked Jared Leto a whole lot more back when he was on My So-Called Life.

feeling: mad at Alec
listening to: Incubus (Anna Molly) <-- I wonder if this is really the name