It's Raining Zombies!

Right now we are in the middle of an epic rain storm in Colorado. It is raining buckets and has been for days.  Many of the neighboring towns have been evacuated or displaced due to flooding and road washout. This is highly unusual for my state as we are a usually arid climate. We have been lucky to escape any sort of damage...until today. Our window wells have filled and are starting to take on water in the basement.  The current state of events has the water in the streets up to our grass line and rising.  Our neighbor has a lake in her yard, and the playground across the street is under water. All from just today.

In the meantime, my son has decided it is high time to get ready for a zombie attack!  Out of the blue he started pulling medical supplies from the cabinet - you know, for those that get infected during the attack.  He also got the guns ready (nerf of course) and blankets and pillows. The kicker is that zombies apparently love the rain so there is no keeping them at bay in this weather! They just keep poking their nasty green faces up a the window which leaves us no choice but to take. them. down.

 

I, for one, am really happy he is planning to take the Nyquil...if anything, I'll be able to sleep in the middle of the apocalypse. Nighty night!

 

C.

 

Tooth Fairy - real or FAKE?

"You'll have to put your tooth under you pillow tonight so that the tooth fairy can take it and leave you some money!"
"Nah - I want to keep my tooth.  I'd rather just have allowance."
-several minutes pass-
"Is the tooth fairy real"?
"Do you think she is real?"
"No.  I don't.  I mean - where does she even LIVE?"
"Maybe she lives in a fairy tree with all her little fairy friends..."
"*blank stare* She isn't real. I don't believe in her."
"Well, if you don't believe, then she isn't real.  Do you still believe in Santa?"
"Oh yeah! Santa is real.  And the Easter bunny is totally real.  But the tooth fairy? Nope."

Crisis averted with Santa! I'm not ready to field that little lie yet. I've had a lot of learning to do with these mythical 'people' since they never visited my house growing up. My mom didn't think she should fill our fragile little minds with such nonsense.  On one hand - thank you, Mom!  On the other - it has made it really that much more difficult to pull off this lie to my offspring! I don't have the right answers.  I don't know the fees involved. To wrap or not to wrap...UHG!

I'm really torn on my feeling about the imaginary people.  We teach our kids to always tell the truth and discourage telling "stories" that could sound real but really aren't.  And here we are, as adults, telling our children maybe the biggest lies of their lives! And perpetuate the lie for years on end. The justification?  It makes holidays and occasions "magical".  Somehow telling a complete stranger a child's wishes and dreams and then having a mystery man sneaking into one's home (which is a really creepy notion) is like magic. And as I think about it we are not only being hypocritical about truth telling but we are telling our children it is OK (in this instance) to tell a stranger their name, sit on their lap, and tell them what they want the most at this moment in their lives! WHAAAAAAAT?!

So I wonder what is wrong with thinking your parents are the real heroes and fulfilling your gift wishes? Why does some fat guy who "sees you when you're sleeping and knows when you're awake" get the credit? That guy isn't there for the temper tantrums.  He isn't there for the victories. He isn't there to make lunch and he isn't there to kiss boo-boos.  So why do we allow him to be there during one of the annual events when we show our loved ones how much we care by giving them presents?! The topic makes me a little bitter but I play along because I guess I have to.

Now back to fielding the lie - I've heard stories of when children found out the truth.  They were destroyed! I have a feeling it will be heartbreaking for my boy. Santa and his elves have done some pretty awesome things over the years. And while it will become a reality that there was never a Santa Claus I hope that he will realize we only wanted things to be special and magical for him.  And in the end, we were the awesome ones!! :)

C.

Parenting Win - #1

Wow! It's been a long time since I wrote down my thoughts about anything...well, besides what you count on the Facebook. It is time....

 

Once upon a time, I had a baby.  He has since grown up a little and is now a 7-year-old in the 2nd grade.  I've said a few times that 7 isn't my favorite age.  When my darling little prince turned 7, his sass and sarcasm was turned WAY up!  On one hand, I'm proud.  After all, there is no lack of sarcasm in our house so he only "...learned it by watching you!" I can't be mad about that...he's doing a good job! On the other hand, I don't really like that he is fighting fire with fire. He's too young for this! Where did my little sweetie pie go? I know where he went...to elementary school! Bah!

 

Other children are bad news! Sure they help build character, make your child learn how to deal with little jerks, invite them to their birthday parties, and encourage taking risks but they also help develop that annoying little habit of lying to their parents and talking back.  We all learned dirty little tricks from our friends. As a parent, you can only hope that you have instilled enough of the good to overcome the trickery of peers.

 

Cue the parenting win....remember how I said my little prince was getting extra sassy?  That is still true but I got reminded of his giant heart and compassionate spirit.  I am lucky that my boy hasn't outgrown me yet.  He still tells me he loves me.  Still hugs and kisses me in front of his friends.  I ask him frequently if he will still love me when he's 13.  He promises me yes.  I got this darling, heartwarming, amazing little letter yesterday with a cinnamon apple treat...

 

He is the greatest little man I could have ever hoped for! Everyday I thank my lucky stars he is mine. I think about him so often it is ridiculous.  I wish that I had more time with him but alas working fulltime is a must.

 

The thing I wish most for my boy is this: that he grows up healthy, happy, and achieves every goal he sets out to achieve.  I suppose that is more than one wish. And to all his future girlfriends - I will not approve of you...at least not at first and it will take a long time for you to prove yourself to me.  Yep, I'm gonna be THAT mom.

C.

 

Pranksters

Chuckles, aka Mandy, was at it again!

I took some time off work to spend spring break with my boy and husband. It was much needed time off as working full time doesn't lend itself to a high quantity of time with the family. It does, however, force our time together to be more quality. We had grand plans to go to Mexico but that came to a quick halt once we went to buy airfare. The bloody tickets were about 3x what we had budgeted!  So we scrapped that. Real quick like. Instead we dorked around town/were lazy at home. It was good R&R for sure. As the staycation came to a close, it was time to face the reality that we needed to go back to work 'tomorrow'. This is the little gem that greeted me!

1000 sticky notes. O-N-E T-H-O-U-S-A-N-D. This happened a few weeks ago and I swear I'm still finding these things! I didn't dispose of all of them.  I saved plus donated them around the office. I cube looked like the Easter Bunny threw up in a coordinated fashion.

Well played, Mandy.  Well played.

Post Dessert "Dessert"

It has been a while since I made an entry and today was certainly one for the "books". After lunch with the girls which concluded with a trip to Maggie Moo's for ice cream, we were not yet ready to go back to the office...plus we still had 15 minutes on the clock. We rounded the building to visit the patio where I knew a couple of my buddies were enjoying their lunch.

J happens to be Jewish and he had been threatening Sunny and I with gefilte fish.  "I want to see you guys try this!" What is it?  Well, in short, it is minced up fishes - meaning more than one variety - mushed up in a ball of sorts and stored in jelly. Mmmmm...sounds good already.  Earlier today, J plunked down the jar in front of me and said, "Have lunch with me and Sunny..." Oooo, while I'd love to, I have plans. Shucks.  But like I said, we had some time and I knew where those two were.  After arriving on scene, I asked S if she tried it..."Yes..." Nuts. Now I gotta.

Fish balls. Grey, slimy, fish balls.

I'm a food smeller.  If I don't know what it is, I smell it first to make my decision on eating it.  Mistake.  This "food" smelled atrocious. Sunny said it smelled like canned cat food.  Agreed. But I upped the anty and said that it smelled like cat food...in a nasty, stinky, pond. Wretched. Now eat it.  Yeah. Right.

Nothing good comes from eating non-descript, off-colored items. I've seen countless episodes of "Bizarre Foods". I know how this usually goes down...or up.

As the caption suggests, if my son was present, he would be laughing his ass off! The smell alone was making me gag.  I attempted to turn this little food challenge down based on the fact that I had a delicious taste on my tongue of cake batter ice cream and it would be a shame to ruin that. I should also mention that I had a bit of a smell barrier because of the stupid, rotten cold I have.  Angie didn't stick too close by - she was clear across the patio!

OMG. I actually put this horrific mess in my mouth. I chewed. Once.  Then I was just trying not to it touch my tongue. I must have looked pretty desperate because Sunny gave me permission to spit it out. Thank Baby Jesus!

I had nothing to drink. And after the many dry heaves, I had nothing to change the taste in my mouth...or so I thought. I had some little gems in my handbag from a party I will share about soon (once I work up the gumption) that I decided was the right thing to use. 

Jacob, thank you for sharing a cultural dish with me.  Please never do that again.

Mandy, thank you for helping me capture this one film.

C.

Today, I'm Purple.

This could easily go under "Girl Problems" but I decided not to put it there. Nails....more specifically nail art. There is some crazy stuff out there that girls have done/will do to their fingernails in regards to art. It runs the gamut of a 'natual' nail with no polish or anything to a very long acrylic nail with a skyline painted on. That one website I loff, Pinterest, has countless pins on nails.

I have seen some cute ideas but nothing that I would feel comfortable wearing on my hands. Everyone sees your hands. There is no hiding them.  And if you do something atrocious to them, voluntarily, you will be hard pressed sneaking it by everyone you meet.  My BFF Sunny and I have had discussions about nail color in the past - what we would and would not do on our hands. We came to the consensus that hands are better left on the conservative side - particularly in the professional world. A plain, non-ridiculous color, a nice french manicure...leave the neon and butterfly designs to the teenagers.  Toes, on the other hand, are fair game to get cRaZy!

I'm a pink and white french manicure girl. It is one of the things that have helped earn me the title of "high maintenance" from my husband and mother. I like my manicure...it makes me feel a little more put together when, quite frankly, I'm rarely ever "put together".  Recently, I have added a little something. Color.  What's that? Yes, a touch of color.  The first time I did glittery silver. The last time, a glittery blue on the request of my boy.  And this time, I'm purple.

Now this is one kind of nail art I can handle!  It is really growing on me.  The touch of color infuses a little personality into the standard manicure.  If I ever feel so brazen as to try holograms and tiger stripes on my nails, you'll be the second to know... :)

C.

It Could Have Been Avoided

One of my besties, Christina, and I decided it would be a fun idea to take our kids (who happen to be only 2 weeks apart in age) for a fun day at the Natural History Museum. After all, it is spring break  We had this planned well in advance (because that's how she rolls).  But much to our dismay, the day unraveled quickly.

We met and drove a caravan to the museum but got separated a little along the way.  Upon entering the parking lot, I sent this text, "It's packed!" Onward to the underground parking.  I got super lucky and snagged a spot that someone was backing out of.  Christina, on the other hand, was not so lucky.  After circling all possibilities, she was skunked out. Meanwhile, I was inside waiting for her and it was pretty much elbow-to-elbow in there. I don't do well with crowds. I'd be curious what my actual heart rate does in the midst of seas of other humans. I suggested we try something else and she agreed.

After returning to the parking garage, it took some time to get out. As I not-so-quickly learned, they had since put up a sign that the garage was full.  No doy! It was a complete shit show! We met at McD's and planned to check out a new place, Jump City.  I was pretty certain it was open. We go to there...

Closed. *%^) REALLY?! Strike 2. Now what? Jumpin Jordy's...even though the last time this place was spoken of, it was because a child my son knows broke his arm. GRRRRREAT! We are now about and hour and a half into the trip but we go to place #3.  Jumping castle place is open...and ready to steal your money! In addition to the 6-yo's, we also had the baby (15 months) in tow. $5 to get that little monkey in. Um, ok. Their idea of a $5 admission for a tiny toddler is a crappy little area with squishy junk they don't know what else to do with. Not fun and even the baby knew that! He just wanted to run his mom rampant! The older kids had a good time until....

Kaylin fell on her rump. Sloan got a raspberry on his forearm. Kaylin got a raspberry on her leg. Sloan was told to spit out the gum he found (it wasn't ABC thank GOODNESS). Sloan had a collision with another child which leveled them both. Death. Destruction. Armageddon stuff.

The kids had a fun time but all the hurt could have been avoided if not everyone in Denver and the surrounding areas planned a trip to the museum...Uhg. Oh and I taught the baby the joys of dipping.  Fries. Ketchup. Just the things aunties are supposed to do. WUAHAHAHAH!

C.