Merry Christmas

Muppet Labs Experiment 2Q975: Carve-O-Matic

The Muppets: Cårven Der Pümpkîn

The Muppets: Stars & Stripes FOREVER!

Tomorrow is not so Random

1. I miss Erin.
2. I want her back.
3. I miss Erin.
4. I want her back.
5. I am tired of doing this.
6. 10 years is impossible to fathom.
7. This isn't the way it was supposed to be.
8. I love Erin.
9. I miss Erin.
   
10. I want her back.

A more thoughtful post tomorrow maybe. But this is 100% where my brain is tonight.

10 Random Things for a Friday

1. I want to learn to play the ukulele. This is solely so I can play "Love Shack".
2. I spent most of Wednesday sitting at my desk crying off and on. I wonder if days like that will ever stop.
   
3. The Babe is going to be gone all next week. Is she really old enough to be staying with someone else for an entire week?
   
4. I have no idea what I am going to do with myself for a whole week with no Babe.
   
5. While not always G or PG rated this blog makes me LAUGH!! It did however about give my husband a coronary when I left it on on his computer and he came home to the sex words on his screen.
   
6. Fritz the Cat is in the animation category on Netflix. I about died when the Babe turned it on. Yes, my 4 year old can run Netflix on the TV. That said, did you know there are no parental controls on Netflix?
7. My sister and her family just came back from a cruise. I am WAY jealous. I need a cruise.
8. I bought a powerball ticket for Wednesday's drawing. I haven't checked it yet. I should probably do that. Maybe I can afford a cruise!
9. I have been looking at a lot of pictures of fireflies this week. Did you know there aren't many drawings of fireflies other than ones that are just lights?
10. I have to go drive to Des Moines. I hate driving to Des Moines. But I figured out that I have made the Omaha - Cedar Rapids or Omaha - Des Moines trip nearly 80 times in the last 9 years. That's pretty nuts. Does explain why I hate driving that way though.

OK Kids. We are off to the zoo week. Emotional week. The one where I often crack. Let's see how much Ativan it takes to get through it this year. Anybody want to start the bidding?

Teenage Runaways -- Someone Safe To Talk To

I'm sure I am going to take heat for this one but I really don't care.

Kids run away. Every day. Most of the families I have talked to over the years had kids that were missing because they ran away. Kids have problems. Sometimes HUGE ones. Sometimes little ones. What may seem insignificant or minor to us as adults may be seen by a teenager as life ending or insurmountable. Their parents "don't understand". And honestly? we often don't. Not from a 15 year old perspective. As hard as we try, we don't really remember all of the disaster that we and/or other teenagers felt when we were teenagers.

Please make sure that your teenagers have someone safe to talk to. Someone that you trust and that they trust. Someone that you both agree is someone they can go to no matter what. As much as we want to always be that person in their life, we won't always be.

There will always be something that you can't tell your mom or dad. Think about it. You had them too. You probably still do. Things you still feel like you can't tell anyone. Your kids, they feel that way more often than we would like them to. So that person that you and your kid both trust? Your child needs to know that there is a "safe" adult in their life. And you need to be OK with the fact that they will tell them things that they don't want you to know about. Not now. And maybe not ever. And you need to be OK with that. It is REALLY hard but it is essential.

I firmly and undeniably believe that Erin did NOT run away. I've know that with my heart since day 1. But I used to wish that that was the reason she was gone. It seemed so much better than the alternative. At least if she had run away this whole thing would have been her decision. That she could pick up the phone and call and say "come get me." or "I'm OK." I'd give anything for that phone call even today. I'd love to be proven wrong. But most missing kids are runaways. The statistics are undeniable. Please don't let one of them be yours.

National Missing Children's Day 2011

Today is National Missing Children’s Day.

I’ve been trying to figure out all morning what to say about about it on Facebook. I can't seem to figure out the condensed into a "however many characters fit in my status" message.

• Please take the opportunities today to hug the children in your life.
• Take a few minutes to talk to them about safety.
• Make sure you know what your kids are doing on the internet. Help them know what is safe and what is NOT. Learn for yourself what is safe and what is NOT.
  
• Say a prayer for those who can’t do the same today -- those who have missing children. Those who have children that have been abducted and murdered.
• Take a look at the pictures of the missing kids in your area on Missing Kids.com -- Kids come HOME because of people that see their picture and recognize them and get involved.
  
• Take a "mugshot" kind of picture of your child. Do you know how long it took me to find a good full front picture of Erin? We hadn't bought school pictures that year. We didn't have the money. The one we ended up using for all of the posters was a picture the school took for her school ID.
• Go read this about runaways and one BIG thing you can do to help prevent it with your own kids.
  
• Hug the kids in your life again.
  

But most of all..... Please pray, send positive energy, send angels (whatever it is that you do or believe) for all of the kids that are still missing. The ones that are with people that are supposed to love them and keep them safe but that are keeping them from the parents or guardians that they are legally supposed to be with. The kids that are out there and are being held against their will. The ones that think will never be able to go home. The ones that are stuck in a human trafficking situation. The ones that are being abused. The teenagers that thought that running away was their only option and now they don't know what to do. Please pray for the kids that just want to GO HOME.

Now how do I summarize the above into a status update?

10 Random Things for a Friday

we won't talk about how long it has been. OK? OK. thanks.

1. Tomorrow the Babe graduates from preschool. This is going by too fast.
2. I have been craving lemon bars. But I'm the only one in my house that likes them so I haven't made them. It wouldn't be good. But man, do I want these lemon bars.
3. Golf. I was guilted into taking up golf again. Went to the driving range for the first time in something like 9 years. I still suck but I had fun!
4. I bought a new pair of shoes today at the Goodwill. But then I started thinking about the fact that someone else had their feet in these shoes. And now I'm not so sure. But they are Josef Seibel shoes. So I need to get over the temporary icks and just wear them. They are cute for heaven's sake.
5. We've eaten WAY too many clementines in the last month. the Babe loves that she can peel them by herself.
   
6. The Babe wants a fairy party for her birthday in July. I'm now obsessed with looking up fairy stuff on Etsy.
7. Calvin and Hobbes: Hobbes originally had pads on his hands and feet but Bill Waterson (the creator) found them too distracting and removed them.
8. I got up too early today.
   
9. Picking out tomato plants will be the highlight of my day today. Yeah me! No really. I am excited about it!
10. I'm going to walk around tomorrow singing "It's the End of the World As We Know It."

There it is. A random 10. YEAH!!!

The Muppets: Ode To Joy

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

A Peek Inside My Brain -- DNA

So today they found 2 bags of bones inside a warehouse in Dows, Iowa. I read it online on KETV.com. My head immediately goes to the idea that it could be Erin in those bags. I mean, really? What are the chances of that being true? Slim to less than none. But that is where my brain goes. To Erin. to the possibility that she is somewhere. even in Dows, Iowa. You know this is going to bother me until they identify the remains. Better hope that happens soon. DNA match if it is just bones.

When Erin disappeared, no one told us we should keep her toothbrush or her hairbrush. She was just a teenage run away you know. We wouldn't need to identify remains a decade later or anything like that. So we didn't save anything.

So instead, about a month ago, the county sheriff came and took a DNA sample from Jim (Erin's dad) and Amber (Erin's sister). The can use that DNA to reconstruct a DNA match in the database. The DNA database is in Ft Worth, Texas. They are working on matching DNA in missing persons' cases to known DNA samples.

I'm not holding out hope for a match. Because that would mean I no longer have any "hope" that Erin will be home.

And I'm not ready for that yet.

Remember Me?

Hello. It is me. The one that you thought had abandoned you. I didn't. I was just on a hiatus. Can't remember exactly why now. I'd still be there except I have something I need to b**ch about for a minute. And that is what the blog you are reading was started for. A way to bi**h/whine/moan/complain/rant/yell/vent or otherwise deflate my overwhelming sense of whatever the h3ll this is. That said: Top 10 things I "want to post on Facebook but people would not understand it out of context and would elicit a string of comments that I really don't want to deal with right now".

1. Get over yourself. I don't care. Neither does anyone else.
2. Cryptic? Yes, you are. But that's OK with me. Just don't get pissed when people start asking you invasive questions afterwards.
3. If you post a link to it with no comment to the contrary, people are going to assume that you agree with it. If you don't? You should probably re-think the general idea of your link/post/tag.
4. Quit taking pictures of yourself in the mirror. No one looks good that way. Especially when we can still see the camera IN THE PHOTO!!
5. No. I didn't get a nap today. What is your point?
6. I don't care what animal pooped in the garden in your Country Farm Town Life today. Can you please shut off those postings? Yeah. Thanks.
7. I don't play Country Farm Town Life. You can send me ALL of the requests you want. I still won't play.
8. I didn't see your post/invite/cause request. It isn't personal. It was just buried in my "Country Farm Town Life" requests. It will only hold 99 of them you know.
9. No. I wasn't on here all day. My computer just thought I was because I forgot to close the tab. That said... how would you think that I was on her all day if you hadn't been on here all day to SEE that I was ON HERE all day?
10. I didn't want to talk to you before we graduated High School. Why would I want to talk to you now?

Facebook sucks by the way. The fact that I am on it daily does not take away from that. I just now feel obligated to get sucked on more inch into the virtual world. I'll let you know when my last toe is replaced by nano-prob-y things. I'll beep at you in morse code at least.

...- - - ...

-.-. .- .-. --- .-.. -.-- -.

Atomic Tom - Don't You Want Me

I wonder how many of these I can find on Netflix. Which, by the way, I am addicted to. That and Hulu. Which explains the lack of blogging. Ok. Not really. Nothing really explains it.

I'm going to go to bed now. Before I use the excuse that "it is past midnight" to say something stupid. Aww. Who am I kidding. I need no excuse to say something stupid.

Peace and Love dears. Peace and Love.

Laughing Baby Ripping Paper

I needed a good laugh. This worked. : )

10 Random Things for a Friday

Has it really been since December since I posted a Friday post? I am so sorry. I am a bad and inconsistent blogger. Here we go with the first random 10 of 2011. Wow. That is pitiful. This edition by the way is sponsored by margaritas at the Pusher's house. So you can't hold it against me later. Or I suppose you could but really, what would be the point. I mean, really? What would either of us gain? nevermind. On with the 10.

1. Margaritas (in the Pusher's world) are enhanced with a splash of beer.
2. If it is "liquor before beer, you're in the clear. Beer before Liquor never sicker quicker." what happens if you drink liquor and beer at the same time?
3. Dos Equis and Jose Cuervo only sound like a good idea with Mexican food. If the Mexican food is from the Target take out deli section it really makes no difference.
4. It has taken me a 1/2 hour to get this far because I have no attention span.
5. Purses right now are ugly. seriously ugly. buckles and ruffles and flowers oh my.
6. There really is no reason to have cable anymore. Netflix and Hulu are really all you need to waste a few good hours a day.
7. Yoga is supposedly good for hangovers. Pusher will test this theory in the morning.
8. Shanghai is the largest city in the world. Wikipedia told us so.
9. Why is it that men can get completely engrossed in a TV show and tell you all of the details of the hour long show but can't remember 10 seconds worth of a 5 minute long serious conversation?
10. When you spill Red Kool Aid on the Pusher's kitchen table she just laughs.

Did I ever tell you about the time I dyed my hair with Kool-Aid powder? huh. I should probably come back to that later.

Happy Weekend! We are going to the Matinee tomorrow. Leftover from the night before movie popcorn. yum. whatever. You KNOW you are jealous.

Things I've Been Doing on the Internet

The last few hours have been wasted on the internet. I really should have stuck to reading a book. When was the last time I read a book anyway? And what was it? Other than the kids' books. or Winnie the Pooh novels that I've been reading to said kids. huh. And does reading on a Nook or Kindle take away from the feeling you get when you are reading an actual turn the page kind of book? Do you see how I got sucked into this thought? Well, that's exactly how I've gotten sucked into the internet for the last 3 hours and accomplished absolutely zero.

• Craigslist. I need a set of bunk beds. I found the "I think will be a good choice ones." I messaged the seller yesterday and asked to come and look at them. He messaged back. I messaged him my cell phone number. But he must not have thought I was serious. Because he never called me. And he re-posted the beds today. hmmph.
• Penny Pinchin Mom and other coupon and grocery ad sites/blogs. You see, I spent $122 at the grocery store tonight and I came home with way less bags than a person should come home with when they just spent $122 at the grocery store. and I found this one lady who was bragging about buying $78 of grocery and supplies at CVS for $17. And now I am stuck on finding better ways to spend my next $122.
• The IRS website. It seems to be down. And I need information off of it to finish a return for someone. This bites by the way.
• facebook. I've refreshed it about 100 times. I think I may have a problem. nah. I refuse to get a twitter account by the way.
• Expedia.com -- I am once again planning a vacation I do not have the money to take.
• ConsumerReports and Good Housekeeping websites. I need to buy a new vacuum. And I don't want to waste money on another crappy and doesn't suck sweeper.
• And I got sucked (punny huh?) into Amazon.com because they reportedly have the best price on the vacuum Consumer Reports says I should get.
• Amazon.com again. Looking for a book to read next time so I don't get sucked into the internet.
• Verizon's cellphone website. I need a new phone. But I can't bring myself to buy a data plan. So my choices are limited. And I apparently think that if I keep looking on the site some cool new "feature phone" will magically appear.
• cnet.com -- so they can tell me what kind of cell phone to get if I can bring myself to get a data plan phone.

See how I got lost for 3 (now 4) hours?

31 days and no blog. Here's My Kiss and Make Up

I'm awful. I know. Good thing this isn't a paying gig.

Things that made me laugh pretty darn hard tonight. It's late. Keep that in mind.

You know Virgin, the brand, like the one that has an airline and cell phone? Well they have a wine club. Virgin Wine Club It could be the fact that it is late, but the whole idea that Virgin has a wine club just made me laugh. And my husband is looking at me funny so it might not be as funny as I first thought.

Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off. Yes I know. I'm a little behind in the country music world. I'd never heard it before today.

G-Spot: Pornos and Pretzels

The Fan Falls for the Hoff I just watched like 12 of these videos. My side hurts.

This 5 year old that is bound and determined to have a career before marriage.

Furry Happy Monsters on Sesame Street. REM on Sesame Street? How did I miss this before?

And as long as I am on Sesame Street -- Neil Patrick Harris will always have a piece of my heart. Please note that he is dressed as a fairy. : )

Whose Line is it Anyway? with Richard Simmons. As the props. I've laughed at this numerous times before so we had to dig it up tonight.

$#*! My Dad Says - Lullaby of Root Beer Love this show. I really want an English Bulldog.

I'd find a number 10. But nine seems good for today. We'll tackle 10 tomorrow.

Take an Almost 3 Yr Old Bowling

This is Lucas. He's my oldest grandson (in case you haven't been following along. He'll be 3 at the end of January. We took him bowling.

The balls were as big as his head.

He was none too excited about waiting his turn. The other goofball is my niece Ella. Isn't she cute? LOL

"Please? Can I have my turn?"

And he "DID IT!!" First ball. First try. No help at all. Have you ever tried to help an almost 3 year old bowl with a ball as big as his head? Yeah. Then you understand. You can't really help much.

Many Faces

This is my niece Gracie. I love her more than any aunt could love a niece. Being there the day she was born was an incredible experience. Emotional. In HUGE ways. And now she is six. And I can hardly believe it. Because I remember that day like it was last week.

She is a dork though.

And a good big sister.

And moody.

Snowy Day Pics

Three Grandsons Including The One with the Mohawk

This is the 2 1/2 year old that has a mohawk. In December. Right before we were supposed to have pictures taken. I really should go get the pictures taken though. Document this winter. So that when the pregnancy hormones all wear off, BAM's mommy will be able to laugh. At the fact that she gave the 2 1/2 year old a mohawk. In December. Right before the photo opportunities of Christmas.

Both Baby and Mommy are sleeping well. This nap was on the love seat in my living room. With 10 other people in the house. Most of them in the living room.

I had the BRILLIANT idea to take a picture of all 3 of my grandsons together. Took about a dozen. This one was the best of all of them. Go ahead. Laugh. But you try and take a picture of two grandsons that have better things to do and one of them that can't hold a 2 week old baby without his mother having an anxiety attack next to me.

But we did get a good one of the brothers together. He really does love him.

Christmas 2010 Babe Style

Anybody could have read the Grinch to her. But she only wanted Eric. And Eric, who doesn't particularly like reading out loud, read the book to the Babe. More animated than I've ever seen him be. It was an awesome Christmas present for the Babe. And for me.

Who would have thought that shoes would get such a reaction. But they are somewhere between bedazzled and Twinkle Toes without the light ups. They are pretty cool. : )

Candice made these special order. They match her coat wonderfully. And don't look too bad with the pajamas either.

Babe has an obsession with lip gloss lately. Especially the ones from the dollar bin at Target.

Preschool Christmas Party

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way with a bell hung around my neck. They were way more interested in ringing the bells than in singing the song. But there is actually a story that goes with this one.

This was the 2nd of 3 songs. I don't have pictures of song number one. It was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. They had hand gestures for it and everything. The teacher got them all together on the oval carpet. The teacher in the rocking chair. Just like they did in practice. They all stood up and sang the song and did the gestures. All while facing the teacher. Leaving all of the parents and friends standing in the back of the room, watching the backs of the preschoolers singing Rudolph and doing cute gestures.

So at the beginning of song 2, the teacher got the kids to turn around so "parents can take pictures." She started out singing behind them standing in front of the chair. They kept trying to turn around and look at her. So she moved to the side of them. They just kept watching her. And as they sang and rang their bells, they watched it. And turned a little towards her. And sang, and turned some more. By the time the song was over, they were all facing the teacher, standing sideways from the parents. All of the parents laughing to ourselves and each other. Song number 3, the teacher just gave up and went back to the chair. I couldn't tell you what the 3rd song was. The other parents and myself were still laughing.

Decorating cookies with sprinkles. Or more accurately sprinkles with a cookie underneath it.

The best part of this ornament she made? The picture in the middle is of her on the first day of preschool.

Pretend it is Friday

Random. Random. Random.

1. We got 9 inches of snow in about 18 hours. Stopped this morning. It was a "light snow". So shoveling it wasn't too bad. Took Hubby and I about 90 minutes to get it all off the drive. We really need to buy a snow blower.
2. Babe has been running around in nothing but her underwear for about 2 hours. It is 3 degrees out. I'm in slippers and sweatshirts and she is naked. Warm blooded maybe?
3. We went to Secretariat at the cheap theater. As we left the theater, Babe started galloping down the hall and yelling, "Ride me Daddy!" The people leaving our movie started laughing. We may or may not have gotten a few of "those" looks from people coming out of another movie.
4. Aldi had fresh pineapple for 99 cents yesterday. Babe and I ate so much pineapple yesterday that we gave our tongues acid burns.
5. We have mice. several. I set 12 traps one night last week. We caught 5 mice in the first 2 days. Which reminds me. I need to go check the traps downstairs.
6. This week at preschool, Show and Tell has to start with the letter 'K'.
7. Baby Josh is doing wonderfully. He did have a 2 day stint in the hospital a couple of weeks ago for a spiking fever of unknown origin. But he is doing great now. And GROWING!!
   
8. I have a craving for corn on the cob. and tomatoes that don't taste like water. This could be why this is the time of year when the seed catalogs start arriving. Bring on the catalogs!
9. BAM's mommy gave him a mohawk. Gave a 2 year old a mohawk. In December. We are going to write it off to pregnancy hormones. I'll see if I can find a picture to post.
10. I turned the oven on a little while ago. I can't remember why. I'm sure I was going to make something. But I got sidetracked and now I don't know what it was. I really should get off of here and go find something to put in it. Supper maybe?
    

Something Nice

You know that whole thing about "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."? I had several times this month where I was going to bring my hiatus from blogging to an end. I had all kinds of things to say. Or more accurately, rant about. I even started to write a couple of them. But then I had to stop. It occurred to me, at several points, that this here being a public blog anybody could stumble across it. And if said anybody was someone that was a real live friend or family or employer, that I might just find myself in a little more than a little hot water. Or in jail. Or in the custody of the state mental facility.

So I didn't post.

But now I can think of nice (and non-end up in the looney bin) things to say. So I am making a reappearance.

Did ya miss me? oh. alrighty then. I'm back anyway.

Happy 2011

because it seems to be what everybody else is doing.....
2010 wrap up:

Survived it.

2011 goals:

Survive 2011 and make it better than 2011.

More to follow.