my gullible son

If infomercials and those exaggerated commercials are going for a demographic of 5 year old kids, they got one here. Alec LOVES those commercials and thinks they're all absolutely true. The best part is that he repeats them to me.

- Alec: growing tomatoes is hard, back-breaking work. We should get the revolutionary topsy turvy for Dada. That way we can enjoy delicious tomatoes all season long.

- Alec: For my birthday I want the amazing bendable building sticks . . . Bendaroos!

He also wants something to stop snoring for Grandpa (my dad). For me, he wants an ab roller thingy, some thing to place hangers on and make more room in the closet and the chop thing that the sham wow guy promotes. I just can't remember what exactly he told me about these things.
I suppose I should be happy that he's really good at memorizing things. He's also a walking promo for shows he likes.

- Alec: (a couple of weeks ago. I caught him on video) I'm excited because this Saturday is the long awaited premiere of the new Disney Channel original series, Jonas.

It's hilarious to hear him say these things, yet I have to stand there with a straight face and not laugh at him. Aww, my baby.

feeling: sleepy
listening to: nothing once again. sleeping kids.

Gwalgreenz

I just noticed that I never told you all about my recent visit to Walgreen's. Here is exactly what I posted on yelp . . . .

There's really no point in reviewing a Walgreen's other than the fact that I HAVE to tell you this story . . . .
So, I'm paying at Walgreen's and there's a sign at the register stating something like "if we don't offer you the special, you get a free water bottle". Something like that. Here I have to say that I know that it is completely trivial of me, but I love seeing signs like that. I don't care about the $1 water that I could win, I just like seeing if the employees actually do it, and well, I like to win something . . . anything. Anyway, the person before me was offered Orbitz gum or something else that were each 2 for $1 and told that that was the special. He said no. My turn. The cashier says hi, I say hi and she proceeds to scan my purchases. No offer of gum or anything else. I'm about to leave but I stop and ask if that sign was still valid.

her: uh, no
me: no?
her: well, yes but no
me: yes? no?
her: yeah, I guess
so: so, I get the free water?
her: I suppose you do. It's just sometimes it doesn't count
me: I'm sorry?
her: I didn't think you spoke English
me: Excuse me?!?!?
her: I didn't think you'd understand, so I didn't offer
me: so that sign is conditional? it only applies to certain people?
her: let me get your water
me: no thank you. I don't need your free water

I left there confused. Why would she assume I didn't speak English? I hadn't talked to anyone and even if I had, it would have been in English. Even if I didn't speak English, no free water unless I did? WTF? I should've just kept my mouth shut about that water because now I'm going to feel weird going there and I go there a lot. I'll only go now wearing a "Yo hablo Eenglich" shirt or something.


Mmm, hmm. I've been there since too but avoid her like the plague, or uh, swine flu.

feeling: dreading the heat this afternoon
listening to: Incubus (Black Heart Inertia)

TV Talk

Let's talk about what I'm watching, yes?

- The Amazing Race: Good. I'm really going for the brother & sister team. I'd have been disappointed if they weren't in the final.

- The Celebrity Apprentice: I was pretty mad. It's obvious that the two finalists were picked for ratings. That way every one will watch to see if there' a fight. I wasn't a Jesse James fan before. Well, I didn't know much about him. I think he's smart and should have been in the top two. I don't care who wins now.

- House: I haven't seen this last one so don't tell me what happened.

- Dancing With The Stars: Yes I watch this. Yes, I'm totally uncool. I pretty much watch this season for the French guy. If he doesn't win, I'll eat my foot or something.

- American Idol: I LOVE Adam. Rodrigo hates him. Rodrigo's all-time favorite band is Led Zeppelin so now he hates him even more. As much as I love Adam, I'm OK with any of the guys left over being the winner. I like them all.

- The Biggest Loser: This is the first season I've watched this and I don't think I'll watch any more (OK, I absolutely know I will). I end up crying almost each episode. How I wish I could have Bob & Jillian for just a couple of weeks.

- The Office: I'm barely going to watch tonight episode. I'm glad Michael's back in the office.

-30 Rock: Again, I haven't watched tonight. This show makes me laugh out loud more than any other one. I LOVE it!

- Parks & Recreation: I really like that intern. Her character is hilarious. I'm actually on a committee at the moment, so when I talk about the progress I say we're on our way to turning that pit into a park.

- The Fashion Show: I just watched the first episode. It's basically Project Runway without Tim, Heidi, Michael & Nina. Eh. I miss them. I'll probably watch the rest of the episodes, I just really miss the others.

So that's what I watch. What do you watch? If you watch anything I mentioned, what do you think?

feeling: I love my DVR
listening to: nothing . . . .shh . . . .the kids are asleep

do i look?

I have a two story house. My loft is on the second floor. This is where we have our desk, computer, bookcase and a loveseat. This is where I am now. I'm in here often. To the left of me is a window. In the morning, I open the blinds and the window. If I look out, I can see into my neighbors' yards. It's not that I stand there and look out . . . but. I have a neighbor lady that hangs out in her backyard to smoke and talk on the phone. She pretty much does that every day. The times that I'm at the computer and she's on the phone usually coincide. I think nothing of it. Now she's doing this topless. That's right, topless. I was opening the blinds and you know when you kind of get a glimpse of something then realize what you saw and do a double-take. That was me. I feel like an idiot because I think she saw me. She had to have seen the blinds open at the very least. Now, I'm not a smoker, but is that something that should be done topless? She's not a young lady, either, so I wonder why she cares so much about having a nice tan. Or why she's outside topless in the first place. Now, I know I should just shrug this off, but I kept thinking about it and it started bothering me. Part of what was bothering me was the fact that it was bothering me. My mind starts going off.
-What if she needs some sort of phototherapy and has to be out there?
-But what if Alec was up here, why should my child be exposed to her naked chest?
-She's in the privacy of her own home and probably expects privacy.
-Wait, she's not inside.
-She's still on her property, though.
-But she knows she can be seen from my house as well as another two-story neighbor.
-WTF? That other house has a boy Brianna's age. Inappropriate.
-Maybe she wants attention. She knows men live in these houses too.

I don't know. I feel like I'm being mega unsophisticated. Then again, we live in the middle of the freaking desert not on some European beach. -sigh- But, really, there's nothing to do. If she wants to be out there like that, she will be. It's up to the rest of the us to not look and/or shield or children if we want to. All I can do is completely forget what I was going to blog about and write about her instead. -insert evil grin and a cackle here-

feeling: missing Rodrigo (he's in the northeast again for business)
listening to: Muse (Starlight)

I got my tickets, did you?

Granted, they're in the nosebleeds, but I'm still going! I absolutely can not wait. You know, they had some tickets on sale for $250 each. Now, U2 has been my favorite band since I was in 6th grade, but come on. For that money, I'd expect a chair right up on the stage. Or a private serenade with songs chosen by me and a lengthy conversation. Plus, I've been to U2 concerts before and really, you get a pretty good view anywhere.

5 months
2 weeks and
6 days to go!

feeling: I can't wait!
listening to: U2 (Heartland) <-- aww, it's too bad I can't pick out their playlist. I'd like to hear this live.

weekend breakfast

We have breakfast everyday. Correction, my family has breakfast everyday, I make it. It's true that with all the running around, on weekdays, I usually only have coffee. I make sure they eat, though. Weekends are different. We're usually not in a rush to get anywhere and have more time to make something yummy.
Now, my kids really like routine. It used to be that they loved having some gross-out eggs every weekend. Now they like having the gross-out eggs in Sundays and this on Saturdays. . . .

I originally found the recipe here. I just changed it up a bit. I found it too dry. We use 4 eggs instead of 1, 5 tablespoons of milk instead of two, six slices of bacon instead of the whole package (I don't use the pre-cooked kind either), omit the chives but pour maple syrup on it once it's done. I make it for the four of us, but we always have some left over. Anyway, I thought I'd share because it's super easy, super fast and really tasty. Yeah, yeah, I know it's refrigerated dough, but the reason I was looking on their website in the first place, is because I'd gotten a bunch of those Grands on sale.
Yum, I can almost taste it all nice and warm with some good coffee . . . . . -drool-.

feeling: apparently hungry
listening to: Silversun Pickups (Panic Switch)

books, books, books

There's no point in telling you what I've been up to. It's always the same thing . . . . the kids. Right now I want to tell you that it finally happened. I want to read the books that Brianna reads. Ugh, I feel so old. I thought some of the collections she's read and told me about are cute, like this one. Then she read this book. I seriously had to ask her to stop telling about it, because it sounded so interesting, I didn't want to know the end. Now, she's onto
this series and it sounds alright too. She's currently reading Alicia. This isn't a series I would've picked, but she and all her friends are into it, so you know how that goes.
Here's the thing, she asked if she could borrow my Twilight series and also wants to read The Uglies series. I think she's a bit too young for those, though. I haven't read any of The Uglies. Are they good? I definitely have to read them now to see if they're appropriate for her to read. As for Twilight, well a lot of her friends have older brothers and sisters and know all about the story. The kids are "playing" Twilight at recess. They pick an Edward and argue about who will be Bella. -sigh-.
Seriously, didn't Brianna just start kindergarten? How is she 10 years old so fast? I'm not ready.

feeling: old
listening to: Smashing Pumpkins (Cherub Rock)