Progress... or, A Tour of My House

I thought I would take some pictures to show what I've been up to the last few days. I'll start with my big project for the day - our mudroom. Of course, being a mudroom, it will never be spotless, but we won't even discuss how bad it had gotten. I spent a bunch of time in there today cleaning and straightening. The room isn't heated with the rest of the house because it was an addition, so that's where the space heater comes in. The other things you see in the room are my old bench (with boots on it that will go under it once I've had a chance to vacuum in there tomorrow), the clothing rack where we hang Surfer Pirate's uniforms and jackets, his hamper for dirty uniforms, some boxes (mostly hidden behind the other stuff) containing paperwork that I don't dare let get lost in my basement, a bag of dog food, Pirate Munchkin's snow boots and Surfer Pirate's work boots. I'm not sure why our pickup outside is reflecting lights that make it look like it has eyes.


Next up, the dining room.
The piano and the table are the biggest improvements. They were both piled with papers and random stuff. I'm the 4th generation owner of that piano. It's a player piano, but the player part doesn't currently work. The blanket chest to the left of the piano was my sister's. It contains... what else? Blankets. On it is Pirate Baby's car seat (yes, at 14 months old, he's still little enough to fit in an infant seat), his coat, the box of hats and gloves for Pirate Munchkin, and my diaper bag. To the right of the piano is my quilt rack with two quilts my sister made on it. The one on the left will be going on the guest bed. The one on the right is going to eventually hang in my stairwell where it can be displayed and will help cut down on the echo in there. Next to that is the rocking chair my mother used to rock me in when I was a baby. (Between them is a photo sorting project I'm working on.) To the right of that, but not in the picture is my long table where my Dragon has his big bay window view. (I need to take a picture of that one of these days so you can see how spoiled he is.) On the table is a puzzle Pirate Munchkin is working on and Surfer Pirate's western hat that I need to clean. On the chairs are my coat, Pirate Munchkin's coat and snowpants and my in-process filing project.

To the right of the last picture, OH LOOK! Another project! (Some sewing things I'm working on.) The cabinet in front of the window used to belong to my grandparents. It was a stereo cabinet, but my grandfather modified it. Grandma used to keep magazines in it. Next to that is the DVD rack that I designed and built. (Yes, we love movies at our house.) On top of that is a tea cup and tea pot that were my sister's and a porcelain doll that my dad bought me this year for Christmas (don't ask).

On the other side of the room is Surfer Pirate's desk. It's a one of a kind piece that came with our house, and I love it. On top of the desk (left to right) is the tank where our tarantula lives, the computer tower (obviously) and my old printer/copier/scanner/fax machine that I might manage to get hooked up one of these days (needed for the photo project), and the VW bus that I gave Surfer Pirate as a wedding gift.

I also have to show off a little of Surfer Pirate's collection. Obviously, he's a Packers fan. (The Unicorn will please keep her opinion to herself on this subject.)


My foyer is next.
(Darn puppies are camera hogs.) In the background there is a hand-painted piece made by one of my mom's friends. It has gorgeous tiny flowers painted in each of the letters. Please admire the pretty woodwork on my stairs and my beautiful bench. (Cielo means Heaven in Spanish.)


My living room.
(Hey look! Dogs again!) Our couch, complete with my sister's "Nap Quilt", comfy recliner, one of my pretty stained glass windows, a tub full of clothes that Pirate Baby has outgrown (one of these days, I'll get that back to my surrogate sister who was kind enough to let me borrow them - although I've recently discovered it makes a great footstool, so maybe later rather than sooner), and my antique stereo cabinet (actually works!) with the tv on it.

This is the center of my world. My Ikea chair (aka: My Throne) with my football pillow (and hey! More project stuff!), my laptop desk, sewing basket and Pirate Baby's rocking ship, all in front of my gorgeous fireplace, complete with lots of gargoyles. This is where the magic happens - where I come up with brilliant blog posts, search for Stupid Criminal stories, and spend way too much time on Facebook and Pinterest.


Since I've spent so much of the last few days deep cleaning the dining room and mudroom, my kitchen has gotten a little more neglected. I'll get pictures of it after I get it cleaned up. I also need to show you pictures of the upstairs. There are a couple of... um... interesting features on the house that can be best seen from up there. But right now, everyone else is sleeping. I don't think they'd appreciate it if I woke them up to turn on lights and take pictures.

One of these days, I'll get caught up on all my projects so they quit taking up little corners of my house. But for now, this is basically the standard of what my house looks like from day to day now that I'm back in my regular cleaning system.

I'm the Queen...

The Queen of AWESOME, that is!!

I had a super productive day, and I kind of amazed myself. This morning, my mommy group met, so I didn't even get started until the afternoon. Add to that the fact that Surfer Pirate came home from work this morning with the flu. Usually, when he's home, I get nothing done.

We'd had a really long weekend, and I had slacked off most of the time. My house had gotten scary, and I just needed to push my sleeves up and tackle it. So I turned on some good music and went to work.

First, the living room. It wasn't too bad. Mostly just some clutter and a few dirty dishes. I straightened up the room, making it all sparkly and pretty.

Second, I tackled the dining room. This was an intimidating challenge. That room has been my dumping ground over the last week, and my dining room table was literally buried under papers and random things. I put all the papers that need to be sorted into a box to go through on another day, and put away everything else. I've had a few trouble issues that I fixed today. The main one being Pirate Munchkin's winter gloves and hats. She has several different ones, and she likes to trade them out. But they end up being left on the table or the chairs, cluttering up a room I already struggle with. I put out a box for them so they have a designated spot (not on the table). Then, the really big improvement. I cleaned off my piano! I have not touched the piano in over a year, and it had gotten scary! The room looks MUCH better now.

And then the kitchen. I did some rearranging in order to make space for my wheat grinder and big bucket of wheat that my mom got for me. (Thanks Mom!!) The counter where I keep those looks much better now. Then I got to work cleaning dishes. I didn't finish them yet, but it won't take too long tomorrow to get them done. I also made my family a yummy supper.

I also got all of Surfer Pirate's work uniforms put together for him to take to work to be cleaned, as well as some other things he needs to take to work.


Last summer, I had put together a chore list for myself. I designated certain days that I did certain things around the house. I did really well with it for a few weeks, but I was over-doing it a little. Having a constant list of things I had to do triggered postpartum depression. I gave myself some slack and my moods calmed back down eventually. But I think I'm ready. I'm no longer nursing Pirate Baby, I'm not pregnant, I'm trying to get my energy level back up so I can start taking some weight off. This is a good time to get back into a routine of household items.

So tomorrow, I'll get my list going again. One of my regular jobs has become Pirate Munchkin's job now. In place of doing that 3x a week, I can substitute going through the boxes in my storage room. It will be nice to start getting some organization going in my basement - tackling all the STUFF I have hiding down there.

I'm excited!

Stupid Criminal Sunday, February 19th Edition

Okay, so I know it's Sunday and not Saturday, but I saw this today and couldn't pass it up.

There are certain cars that many people find absolutely beautiful and desirable that I think are hideous and annoying. Lamborghinis and Porches are at the top of that list. I remember driving in traffic one day in my 1981 Chevy Blazer TANK and being stuck behind a Porche. Traffic was annoying me, as was the driver, and I thought to myself "I could just drive right over the top of that guy."

Add to that, I also can't stand people who think the rules don't apply to them - especially if that sense of entitlement comes from them having money.

So when I saw this particular article today, I gave out an involuntary maniacal laugh.

Porsche stuck in wet cement: Proof karma exists?

On Thursday, the driver of a Porsche 911 decided he'd take a shortcut around some construction cones and drove straight into wet concrete near Marina Green on Marina Blvd. in San Francisco.

"It was coned off," according to Bobswire, a user of the Paceline bike forums. "He was just trying to sneak in from a side street. [The] concrete looked solid." Bobswire reports that the hapless driver remained stuck in his car. "He didn't want to open the door and have concrete get in; the whole undercarriage and brakes will need to [be] cleaned or replaced."Whether the uncured pavement was concrete, asphaltic concrete, or just plain cement is up for debate. What's unquestionable, however, is that this is the best Lightning McQueen impression we've seen since Cars.

This makes me happier than I can even express. Nothing like destroying at $100,000 (at least) car just to get a shortcut through traffic. Dumbass.

My Spiky Little Baby

When Surfer Pirate and I were first married, we let our love of animals get a little (okay, a LOT) out of control. At one point, we had 3 big dogs, 3 cats, a snake, several mice (we were breeding them for snake food, but our breeding pair got to just be pets), a tarantula, and this adorable little guy.

He's a Bearded Dragon. And he's my baby.

First of all, just the idea of owning a DRAGON is a cool enough thing. But how can you look at one of these little guys as a baby and NOT fall in love with them??

First, a collection of photos of him so you can see just how sweet my little baby is.

Aww! Sweepy widdle baby!

Hungry boy.
(As time passed, I learned that wood chips for bedding and lettuce for eating are not good things for bearded dragons.)

Daredevil Dragon

First Bath - Mmmmm... water...

Big Scary Dragon!
He loves to go outside and be in the sunshine. He will sometimes try to run, so he has to have a leash if he's going to be outside. Just like a little kid, when he wants to be outside playing, the last thing he wants to hear is "Time to go inside." This is him trying to be big and scary so I won't want to pick him up and take him in the house.

Most bearded dragons will brumate in the winter. I had read enough after I got him so I've been prepared for it to happen. Babies don't usually have a brumation period, but as they mature, wintertime means dragons hiding and sleeping - especially when they have regular access to a window so they can see what the weather is like outside.

My boy is very spoiled with his own spot in our big bay window.

Last winter, he slept for a week or two at a time off and on. But I suspected that this year he would probably do a full brumation. Yep. Sure enough, around November, he started sleeping and hiding. It took him a few weeks to get fully settled, but then he settled in under his little fake plant and went to sleep. Loud noises would cause him to open his eyes for a minute, but mostly when I checked on him, he was sound asleep.

This morning, I had a wonderful surprise! He was awake, standing on his basking rock (a flat rock in his tank where he can soak up the rays) spread out and soaking up the sun!

Our little grocery store doesn't carry much in the way of specialty produce. Mustard greens are one of the best kinds of greens for beardies to eat on a daily basis, but I can't buy them for him here. So I've been growing some in a big pot on my windowsill. The plant has gotten big and beautiful while he was sleeping. He also really likes apples. So I made him up a bowl of mustard greens, Braeburn apples, "Dragon Chow" (my dad's term for the food pellets made especially for beardies) and a little dusting of calcium for his bones.


He's now just happily hanging out in his tank, enjoying the sunshine. I need to clean his tank tomorrow. It's full of dust and kitty hair (Brave Bonny thinks his tank looks like the best place for a nap).

I'm just so happy my baby is awake again! I've missed him!

Hi Mom!

Stupid Criminal Saturday, February 4th Edition

Man Allegedly Knifes Brother Over Fast-Food Brownie: Erik Cain Arrested

Article and picture found here.

I'm lovin' it! And I'm not sharin' it.

A Pennsylvania man was arrested on Wednesday night after he allegedly stabbed his brother several times over a McDonald's brownie, The Times-Tribune reported.

Cops said that Erik "Eggs" Cain and his brother Gene Cain got into an argument when Gene cut the treat in half. The share tactic was apparently enough to enrage Erik, because he picked up three steak knives and allegedly slashed and stabbed Gene in the left forearm, left shoulder and right wrist.

"[Gene] thought his brother was going to kill him," so he responded by throwing a television at Erik, police Sgt. Joseph Laguzzi wrote in a report obtained by the newspaper.

Erik fled, but was later collared and charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, harassment and disorderly conduct.

But it wasn't Erik's first run-in with cops. At the time of the alleged stabbing incident, Erik had been out on bail after being charged with slashing his girlfriend last month, The Associated Press reported.

So obviously this guy has anger issues. He's on bail for "slashing his girlfriend" only a month ago, and now he's flipped out on his brother.

But I think the biggest question I have about this article is MCDONALDS HAS BROWNIES??? Why hasn't anyone told me this before???

Mmmmmm... brownies....

Another Year

Happy Birthday to the best big sister a girl could ever have.

I think my way of dealing with your birthday this year was to ignore it. I've kept myself distracted with going through boxes of paperwork and working on my budget for the year. Busy work.

And it helped.

But I did have to hold back the tears as I made your birthday cake. And I had to hold them back again as I ate my piece of that cake.

This year was low key and I don't have anything especially poignant to say, but do know that I love you dearly. And I miss you more than I can ever express.


No more holding the tears back now.

Pirate Baby Photo Shoot

Pirate Baby was having so much fun with his boat yesterday I had to grab the camera and just start clicking away.

This one is my favorite.

Where did the hat go?

There it is!

...oh wait, maybe this one is my favorite.

Ooh! Sword!

Tasty!

...or this one.

...what can I say? The kid is just so darn cute I can't pick a favorite picture.

Then Pirate Munchkin came home and put her hat on him.

Why do you do this to me?

Pirate Baby has an adorable new thing that he does. He leans his head against the people (and animals) he loves to express his affection. Last night, he spent probably 20 minutes snuggling with Brave Bonny, leaning his head against him* over and over while I would say "Awww... loves for kitty cat." I need to try to get video of it one of these days.


*Oh yeah. By the way, Brave Bonny turns out to be a boy. Let's just say it took him some time to... uh... develop.

Challenges and Opportunities

This picture of my daughter is from her Christmas concert. My grandmother would be very proud of the lady-like way she's sitting. Grandma always sat like that.

My dad and his friends were having a discussion once about how if you look deep enough into someone's life, ANYONE can look like they live in a soap opera. They then proceeded to swap stories from their own lives, each trying to one-up each other with their personal life dramas. My dad sat quietly and listened (as he often does) and then eventually said "I have a nephew that used to be my niece."

He won.

Him telling me this story stunned me as well because I had apparently missed that important bit of family news. It seems one of my cousins had had a sex change since the last time I'd seen her him.


Up until 2007, my life was pretty even keeled on the surface. I was struggling with a pretty major issue, but it was the same consistent issue I'd been dealing with for 6 years. It was something I kept very private, so all people saw of me was this stable, strong woman. And I WAS that stable, strong woman for the most part. While my personal challenge was, honestly huge, it was just something I dealt with. I had learned how to be strong and to be a supportive source to those around me.

And then my life fell apart.

Since then, chaos has become a constant part of my life.

I have had repeatedly MASSIVE and varied issues that have occurred over and over. The vast majority of my friends that I talk to on a regular basis came into my life after 2007 and never knew me as that stable, even-keeled person with the calm life. They know the one who has dealt with the death of her sister and her step-father, the loss of now two babies, a traumatic birth experience with her son, major financial trials, major family health issues, and even the death of many beloved pets.

I only hope that I still manage to show that I am the stable, strong woman I used to be - even amid all the chaos.

I have had to accept that people do view my life as a soap opera. It drives me absolutely insane because I know what I have thought about people in my past who had chaotic lives. Most of them were drama queens who blew small things out of proportion. I really hope that I have managed to go the opposite direction - downplaying rather than over-dramatizing the major issues and showing that I can cope.

Because honestly, through it all, I still feel an immense amount of joy and the feeling that I have been greatly blessed.

I have a wonderful husband who loves me dearly and is an amazing father to our children. I have an incredible mother who is my best friend that I can talk to about literally everything. I have two beautiful children who overwhelm me with love and pride. I have great friends who cry with me and laugh with me. I live in a wonderful little community where I feel welcome and included. I have a beautiful old home full of great historical features and some interesting quirks.


And I have my faith.

That is the thing that has gotten me through all my trials with a smile on my face and strength in my heart.

I've never come right out and said on my blog before that I'm a Mormon. I have kept it out mostly out of a sense of anonymity, but I always hoped that I said enough that people wouldn't be surprised to hear me say that. My faith and my beliefs are my guiding force in my life. They are the reason I can even get out of bed on those days when the trials in my life overwhelm me.


Like I said, I live in a small community. My little town is in a state with a very low population of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the full name of our church. "Mormon" is a nickname based on our added scripture The Book of Mormon). What that means is that the majority of the people in my town are Lutheran or Catholic. My children and I are the only Mormons here (Surfer Pirate isn't a member). We drive an hour away to get to church on Sundays.

It's a challenge. But it's worth it.

Meanwhile, it's led to some difficult challenges for Pirate Munchkin. The vast majority of her friends all attend a religion-based activity on Wednesday nights. I have allowed her to attend with her friends a couple of times. I looked through the book for the lessons they teach there with an open mind. I wasn't surprised to discover that there are some differences between the teachings in their book and the things I believe. (We Mormons are admittedly different in what we believe.) Some people would say the differences are minor and I should let her go anyway because that's where her friends are. But to me, the few difference there are are pretty major, and I believe 7 is too young to have to try and sort through what's being taught on Wednesdays versus what she's learning at church and at home.

But that's really hard for her. She feels like she's missing out not doing the same things that her friends are.

Yesterday, the subject came up again. In the process of how things went, I was feeling very discouraged and like I was the Mean Mom in town.

As I usually do when I'm frustrated and need to vent, I called my very wise mom. She helped me come up with a Plan! Starting next week, on Wednesday afternoons, we're going to start having our own religion based activities. She will get to play fun games on our church website, we'll do crafts and we'll have lessons teaching her more about the beliefs I hold so dearly. The focus will be making learning about our faith a fun and enjoyable thing.

That way, she won't feel so bad about missing out on what her friends are doing, and in the process, she will learn more about the beliefs that have been such a strength in my life.

Now I just need a fun name for it. Any ideas?

...or not

Guess Pirate Baby isn't going to be a big brother anytime soon.


:(

Ouch

This is one of my absolute favorite pictures of my daughter.

You'll have to excuse me. This is going to be a long one.


Once upon a time, I was in a fairly unhappy marriage, trying desperately to get pregnant. After 7 years of infertility, we got a phone call that would change our lives (well, more specifically, MY life).

This beautiful little girl became mine when she was 18 months old. Her background had been very challenging and rather sad. She'd been in and out of several different homes while her birth parents tried to get their lives straightened out so they could get her back. Eventually, they had eliminated all their options and were about to lose their rights to her.

That's where we came in.

Shortly after this gorgeous child entered our lives, we found out her birth parents were expecting another child. Long story short, the day we finalized the adoption of Pirate Munchkin, we picked up her baby sister who was only supposed to be our foster child for 3 months. The birth mother had started a sort of rehabilitation program that was supposed to be really good.

She dropped out after a few weeks.

Unfortunately, in the time it took for her to enter and drop out of the program, the wonderful social worker who had Pirate Munchkin's case had too many cases on her desk. The care of our little foster baby was given to a different social worker.

Which started the biggest emotional roller coaster of my life. (Not to mention my sweet daughter.)

The birth parents went back and forth between trying to make the right choices to making really bad choices. The little baby girl who was supposed to be with us for just a few months continued to grow and develop into a delightful baby. She stole my heart. As the parents did poorly, I couldn't imagine my life without BOTH of my sweet girls. The happiest moments of my life were listening to those precious little girls playing together. The social worker started implying that we should probably start thinking about adopting her as well.

Meanwhile, my marriage fell apart.

The social worker asked me what my plans were for the baby once the divorce was final. She seemed pleased that I planned on adopting her on my own.

Then just days before my divorce proceedings, she dropped the bomb on me. In two weeks, the birth parents would be getting the baby back. This was literally just weeks after she'd told me they were doing badly, and that I should plan on her being a part of my life forever.

This was all terribly, terribly wrong. If we'd had the previous social worker, this nightmare would have been over 6 months after she was placed with us. But for some reason, this social worker was NOT doing her job - doing what was best for the child. She chose to favor the parents who had a record of YEARS of unstable behavior. (I firmly believe the social worker will have some major things to answer for when she meets her Maker.)

So picture a 16 month old little girl. She'd joined our family when she was only 2 months old. I was the only mother she knew. She had regular visits with her birth mother, but only 4 hours a week. She was taken from the only home she knew, the only mother she knew, and her sister - who she adored. Worse yet, the birth parents and the social worker voted against my wishes and kept her in the same daycare she'd been in. So every single day when I went to pick up Pirate Munchkin, she would see me and reach for me (there was no way I could ignore her and not hold her). I would pick her up, hug her, tell her I loved her. And then I would have to put her down and leave with Pirate Munchkin while she screamed. It ripped my heart out every single day. Who KNOWS how horrible that was for HER!

The entire situation was heartbreaking. For her. For me. For Pirate Munchkin.

To this day, Pirate Munchkin has a large picture of the two of them, hanging on the wall in her room.

Years have passed. Eventually, both families left the daycare (horrible place). We had some contact back and forth. Birthday parties have been attended for each girl. Then contact was lost. We moved here. Life has gone on. But Pirate Munchkin and I often talk of her sister and how much we miss her.


Since Pirate Munchkin was a toddler, I've been teaching her periodically about addictions. I've taught her that when someone has an addiction, they are no longer in control of themselves. The addiction will take control of everything in their lives, even to the point that they can't take care of themselves or the people they love. Preparing her for one day when we would have the inevitable discussion about who her birth parents were and why she's with me and not them.


That time came last night.


It started so randomly. We were playing around like we always were. Joking with each other. She called me a weirdo. I said I was going to put her in a box and send her back where she came from. She said she WANTED to be put in a box and sent to Mexico. I said "but you're not from Mexico. You're from Montana." That led to a discussion about how she'd come from someone else's tummy, and she couldn't understand how she could have been born in a hospital that she was familiar with. Her birth was such a foreign concept to her. Before I knew it, we were right there. The time had come. She wanted to know who her birth parents were and why they had given her up.

I pulled her onto my lap and told her the story. I was as honest as I could be, while keeping it at a level a 7 year old can understand. I told her how much they had loved her, but that their addictions had made them make bad decisions. They had tried to do what they could to keep her, but the addictions won. I explained that her birth parents were the same people who were her sister's parents. I explained how they were getting their lives back on track when they got her little sister because they didn't want to lose another child.

We cried together.

We talked about how much we miss her sister and how that wasn't fair that she wasn't with us.

It was really hard. But it was time for us to talk about it.



What I didn't tell her is that I'm still really worried about her sister. I've found out some things about her birth parents choices lately that scare me. I didn't tell her that I am constantly worried sick about her and really wish I could know that she's okay. I didn't tell her that I recently found out that social worker who made a mess of our lives without appropriate reasons no longer works at that office. I didn't tell her that I would to anything to have her little sister back.

I didn't tell her that my heart is broken.

Pirate Baby's 1st Birthday!

I figured it was about time I got Pirate Baby's birthday pictures posted. Here he is checking out the awesome pirate ship my mom got him as a combined Christmas/Birthday present. (Don't mind the mess behind him. I was working on a sewing project.)

He likes to eat his sword that came with it.

The birthday cupcake was obviously a hit.

Major Stede is hoping for cupcake droppings.

Check out my great frosting beard, Mom!

As fast as he was eating the cupcake, I decided I'd better switch to video mode before the whole thing was gone! Here you get the privilege of hearing the voices of all our family members. Enjoy!

Oh, and for the record, he DID eat the entire cupcake!

Challenge Accepted!

Aunt Becky wrote a meme, and of course, I have to respond!

1) What does Meme mean?

It's the sound Beaker makes, of course!

2) 2011 – Was it all you’d hoped it would be?

Sort of? I had lots of time with my cute little man - watching him learn and grow. But I had hoped to be a little more financially stable by now.

3) Did you watch the Royal Wedding?

I set my DVR and watched it later in the day so I could fast forward through the boring parts.

4) Where are your pants?

Wearing my favorite gray pants right now. They're soft and almost as comfy as jammies.

5) Is Justin Bieber human or some sort of robot?

Definitely a robot.

6) If you had only one thing to wish for this coming year, what would it be?

To have my house paid off.

7) Would you call yourself a “social media maven?”

BAHaha! That's funny. While I do know my way around some social medias, I'm not a maven of anything.

8 ) If you had to take three things to a desert island (let’s assume you have ample food and water), what would they be?

My husband (yay for alone time on the beach with my man!!)
Books
My pirate flag - so I can make friends with passing pirates.

9) If you had the ability to banish certain offenses to an island where they would be rehabilitated into being okay again, what would those offenses be?

Anything relating to Twilight
Anyone who uses Facebook like it's Twitter. I really don't need to know what you're doing every 5 minutes.
People who are famous for being talented when they actually suck (I'm looking at YOU, John Mayer!)

10) How do YOU think the air conditioner works?

Little trolls constantly fighting cause a breeze.

11) Do you ACTUALLY think you can make money blogging?

That's funny.

12) There’s a lot of talk in the blog world about microblogging (The Tumblr, The Twitter, The Facebook) taking over traditional blogs. Do you think that’s the case?

I doubt it. There will always be people who want to do that kind, but I know I'm not the only one who prefers to have my own thoughts in my own space.

13) If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

Don't sacrifice fun out of paranoia. It IS okay to play a little. Go have some fun.

14) If you could’ve told yourself this time last year one thing, what would it be?

That thing you're really worried about? It's going to get better this year!

15) If you could have one Super Power, what would it be?

Flying. Definitely flying.

16) If you could do one thing you can’t currently do, and do it well, what would it be?

Playing the piano. I wish things had gone better all those years I took lessons. I would like to still be able to play.

17) What surprises you about yourself?

I'm still surprised by how strong I am. Just when I think I can't go on dealing with a problem, I find the strength to keep going.

18) What was your favorite blog post/tweet of the past year?

Of mine? Hmmm.. There were a lot of them that I enjoyed writing (and rereading later). So I'll just pick one semi-randomly. This one because it brought up some interesting discussions.

19) Do you REALLY think “Purple Should Be A Flavor?”

It is!! I have tasted purple. There used to be an ice cream we loved in our family that was a vanilla ice cream with some sort of berry swirl. Our friend referred to it as "Purples and Cream". It was really yummy & I wish it was still around.

20) If you could make one outlandish wish for 2012, what would it be?

To have all my bills paid off, my garage and greenhouse built, my garden planted and growing, and a 1967 GTO in the garage to work on and make all pretty.

Is It Tomorrow Yet?

I was going to post a funny Lolcat picture, but it wasn't working. So enjoy this picture of the ever yummy Tony Gonzalez instead.

School starts back up tomorrow. Let me tell you, it can't come soon enough!

Pirate Munchkin got a Nintendo DS for Christmas, but I don't want her doing nothing but staring at a computer screen all day, so she's got a time limit on it. I also limit her TV watching for the same reason. The plan is in the afternoons, she is supposed to be reading or playing with the MANY toys, games, puzzles, etc in her room.

She's got plenty of options to choose from, but it seems like a big chunk of her day is spent asking me the same question over and over, and pointing out the obvious (over and over).

It gives me a big headache.

Add to it, the fact that I'm also pregnant. I hadn't planned on making a big announcement this early, but I just can't seem to avoid the subject lately. (If you're friends with me on facebook, please don't say anything on there. I'm not ready for THAT many people to know yet. I'm not going to be linking to this entry over there.)

When I am pregnant, I become super-testy and impatient. Especially with things like people who talk a lot, having to repeat myself, and people who point out the obvious all the time.

Which unfortunately for my daughter, means I'm annoyed with her a good part of the time.

I'm trying to be better about it this time. When I was pregnant with Pirate Baby, I was flat out mean to Pirate Munchkin. I was really stressed getting ready for our big move, plus Surfer Pirate was gone for a full month of that time, and I was pretty sick. I feel horrible about it, and I don't want her memories of this pregnancy to be like the last one. So I'm doing my best to keep my temper in check, letting her know when I need quiet or space, and just forcing myself to remember she's only 7. She's not trying to irritate me, she just wants love and attention.

The 12 days that she's been home for Christmas break have been a challenge. At least when she's at school, I have lots of quiet time (well, as quiet as it can be with a very "talkative" 1 year old) to rest up and prepare for the chatter that is to come. But when she's home all day, I can rarely escape it.

So I'm ready for school to start back up again. I need a break.

Stupid Criminal for the New Year

Not the actual bill used in the story. Picture found here.

What better way to start out the new year than with a new Stupid Criminal story?

Cops: Man tried to use $1,000,000 bill at Walmart

LEXINGTON, N.C. - Do you have change for a million-dollar bill?

Police say a North Carolina man insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was buying $476 worth of items at a Walmart.

Investigators told the Winston-Salem Journal that 53-year-old Michael Fuller tried to buy a vacuum cleaner, a microwave oven and other items. Store employees called police after his insistence that the bill was legit, and Fuller was arrested.

The largest bill in circulation is $100. The government stopped making bills of up to $10,000 in 1969.

Fuller was charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense and uttering a forged instrument. He is in jail on a $17,500 bond, and it isn't clear if he has an attorney. He is scheduled to be in court Tuesday.

Story found here.

I just love that this guy thought he could get away with this. Is he even aware of how much a million dollars is? Did he really think a Walmart store would have change for a million dollar bill? And why stop at only $476 worth of merchandise? I could have bought a LOT more stuff if I was trying to pass off that kind of money. At least buy a better vacuum, or something!