There was a wasp in Thing One's room today.... And I'm a HUGE wuss when it comes to flying, stinging insects.
First I was just afraid because it was a wasp. I was stung several times by a single yellow jacket last summer. It wasn't an event I wanted to relive. Before I went to attack I was planning on donning long sleeves, long pants and sneakers. Do you think I did though? Of course not.
I stood at the door with the swatter in hand read to attack.... Or to run and slam the door shut. One time the wasp flew in my direction, and I hit it with the swatter. After that, I was afraid because while I *did* hit it with the swatter, I didn't kill it. I just (I'm sure) ticked it off. Then I couldn't find it. Heh, at one point I screamed loud enough to wake the dead because I saw a shadow behind me that I thought was the wasp. It wasn't. I'm just a chicken.
Finally I saw it. It had crawled up on the window over Thing One's bed. It went under the top part of the blinds, and I couldn't get to it. I knew that it was baiting me, and waiting for me to walk far enough into the room so it could sting me. I'm no dummy though. I wasn't walking in there! Instead I threw things at it... And the glass window that's over the bed. The custom window that's already been replaced once in the past 12 months... I'm no dummy. I wasn't going near that wasp! Ha!
When I ran out of things to throw (I thought about throwing the hard plastic back scrubber, but at least had the sense not to do so) I went and got a fishing pole we had downstairs, and I got the wasp spray. (Why do we have a fishing pole and wasp spray downstairs? Wouldn't you like to know? Okay... Thing One won it in fishing tournament a few weeks ago. Thing Two won one too. The spray was outside.) I stood as close to the door as possible -good thing the door is right across from the window, and pushed the pole up under the blinds. The wasp peeked out. He peered at me. He was planning his attack. "Just a little closer, sucker!" I could hear him saying... Or so I thought. But "not-uh" was my answer! I poked a little more, and, it finally came out. It was then that I realized that I must've broken it's wings when I hit it. And of course I felt bad. Not bad enough to stop going after it though!
I couldn't get a good shot with the swatter, so (after moving Thing One's bed out from the wall) I sprayed it with the poison. The wasp shook a little, waved it's arms and legs in an effort to try to get the foam off of it, lost it's grip on the blind string, fell, hit the window ledge on it's way down, landed on the floor, shook some more and died. I felt bad again. :-(
I went to work cleaning the spray foam poison off Thing One's window. When I was done, I picked up the paper on which the wasp had fallen. (Thank goodness for not cleaning under his bed often enough!) I started examining it when Thing One came in the room. We both looked at the wasp together, and then Thing One jumped and yelled "It's still alive" when the wasp's leg moved. I told him no, it was dead. It was moving only because I was messing it with (with the wipe). We went back to examining it, and it started moving MORE. I told Thing One to get out of his room.
He went running, and I put the wasp on the paper on the floor. I covered it with the wipe and smacked it with the hard plastic back scrubber. I picked up the wipe, and it was still alive. Covered it again, smacked a few times, check it, and it was STILL alive. Went through the process again, and it was STILL ALIVE!! Finally I put in in the toilet, but didn't flush it. (I didn't want to waste the water, but *I'M* certainly not going to be the one to use the potty with a wasp in there!) I'm over my not wanting to waste water, and getting ready to flush it now. Hoping that there won't be a surprise waiting under the lid for me. ACK!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Sharing a giveaway
I have a love of crazy socks. I hate white socks, but LOVE anything else. The funkier the pattern, the better! Of course I had to carry that love of socks over onto my little dress up doll, Thing Two.
However, with Thing Two, it's not just socks. No. Since she's my dress up doll (and that's why I had to have a daughter -so I could "decorate" her) I take it further with tights. Unfortunately, for her little hands, tights are hard to get up and down, and sometimes result in potty accidents. :-( They were also a pain in the rear end (not literally -I don't think) with diapers. But they just look so darn cute!
Then we stumbled into Jacquelynnies leggies. We (Thing Two and I both) LOVE them. They're basically a pair of BabyLegs, but with feet attached to them. Yes, call them leg warmers with feet. Yes, call them thigh highs. Yes, call them "really long socks." It doesn't matter what you call them -they're awesome! You have the look of tights, but the convenience of leg warmers -with a matching foot attached, so you don't have to have a mix-matched sock-with-leg-warmers look. And for those of you who know me, know just how anal I am when it comes to things matching.
I LOVE these things. (That's one of the reasons you see them advertised down my sidebar.)
I love them so much, that today as I was putting shorter socks and undies in Thing Two's drawer, I took out not one, not three, not five pairs of leggies, but TWENTY-FOUR. Yes, that's right. 24. I think I have a problem... This count didn't even include the mismatched ones, or the ones that didn't make it to her drawer yet. :-P
And, okay. Some of them were traditional leg warmers, yes. But they're only used as arm warmers so that Thing Two has matching arms and legs. I told you, I'm anal. (And some were like these chickey leg warmers that *I* sometimes swipe and wear on my arms. :-) too cute! )
And no, they're not just for the cooler months. They're still great in the summer for cool mornings or nights. They're easy to take off when in the heat of the day, and they're easy to throw in a pocketbook or in the bottom of the stroller for chilly nights. -I love leggies!
Thing Two is getting a bit too tall now for them to have the complete look of tights, but they're still awesome as over-the-knee socks.... Or sometimes slouch socks.... When it gets too warm for them, but she doesn't want to take them off, she pushes them down. Sooooo cute!
Need Coffee Please is hosting a giveaway for these awesome leggies. (Just click the Need Coffee link.) It ends on Friday, June 3rd, and it has LOW entries, and there are lots of ways to gain bonus entries. If you enter, you could very easily snag a $15 dollar credit towards anything in Jacquelynnies on Etsy. You could apply that towards your own leggies, regular leg warmers WITHOUT feet (especially if you want matching arms and legs!), necklaces, hooded towels or whatever else is in the store. Fun, fun. :-)
If you win let me know! Good luck!
However, with Thing Two, it's not just socks. No. Since she's my dress up doll (and that's why I had to have a daughter -so I could "decorate" her) I take it further with tights. Unfortunately, for her little hands, tights are hard to get up and down, and sometimes result in potty accidents. :-( They were also a pain in the rear end (not literally -I don't think) with diapers. But they just look so darn cute!
Then we stumbled into Jacquelynnies leggies. We (Thing Two and I both) LOVE them. They're basically a pair of BabyLegs, but with feet attached to them. Yes, call them leg warmers with feet. Yes, call them thigh highs. Yes, call them "really long socks." It doesn't matter what you call them -they're awesome! You have the look of tights, but the convenience of leg warmers -with a matching foot attached, so you don't have to have a mix-matched sock-with-leg-warmers look. And for those of you who know me, know just how anal I am when it comes to things matching.
I LOVE these things. (That's one of the reasons you see them advertised down my sidebar.)
I love them so much, that today as I was putting shorter socks and undies in Thing Two's drawer, I took out not one, not three, not five pairs of leggies, but TWENTY-FOUR. Yes, that's right. 24. I think I have a problem... This count didn't even include the mismatched ones, or the ones that didn't make it to her drawer yet. :-P
And, okay. Some of them were traditional leg warmers, yes. But they're only used as arm warmers so that Thing Two has matching arms and legs. I told you, I'm anal. (And some were like these chickey leg warmers that *I* sometimes swipe and wear on my arms. :-) too cute! )
And no, they're not just for the cooler months. They're still great in the summer for cool mornings or nights. They're easy to take off when in the heat of the day, and they're easy to throw in a pocketbook or in the bottom of the stroller for chilly nights. -I love leggies!
Thing Two is getting a bit too tall now for them to have the complete look of tights, but they're still awesome as over-the-knee socks.... Or sometimes slouch socks.... When it gets too warm for them, but she doesn't want to take them off, she pushes them down. Sooooo cute!
Need Coffee Please is hosting a giveaway for these awesome leggies. (Just click the Need Coffee link.) It ends on Friday, June 3rd, and it has LOW entries, and there are lots of ways to gain bonus entries. If you enter, you could very easily snag a $15 dollar credit towards anything in Jacquelynnies on Etsy. You could apply that towards your own leggies, regular leg warmers WITHOUT feet (especially if you want matching arms and legs!), necklaces, hooded towels or whatever else is in the store. Fun, fun. :-)
If you win let me know! Good luck!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
What are schools thinking??
Just a little mini-rant here...
My kids have "Oven baked ham with pineapple sauce" for school lunch today. They both love ham. (Really, who doesn't?!) They're both buying their "Oven baked ham with pineapple sauce;" the slice of ham that comes with globs of gooey, supposed-to-be-but-not-really-sure-what-it-is pineapple sauce plopped on top of it.
And the mystery sauce isn't my problem. My problem is this:
How are they supposed to cut and eat the slice of ham?
Even if my Pre-Kindergartner or my first grader could successfully wield a knife to cut their food, knives are not allowed in school. Heck! I don't even know if they have actual forks anymore. I think that they're all "Sporks" now. I don't remember seeing any forks when I've been there. (Not that I was looking for them though.)
I'm sure that by now everyone's heard about the grade schooler who was expelled for his mother packing a plastic knife in his lunch bag. (Yes, school officials acted quickly on that one. They successfully disarmed the disgruntle 4th grader before he jumped up on the table, and yelled at his chicken patty, "I'll bleed you, M-effer!" And you thought suburban America was boring! (No, this child was not actually planning on doing that. He was actually just trying to eat his food. And no, this (surprisingly enough) didn't happen at our school.)
It's just, yanno, if you want these kids to eat their food, you want them to eat all of their food, well, just how do you supposed they're supposed to do that if you -quite literally don't give them the tools to do so? And then chastise them when they pick up their whole ham steak with their hands and eat it that way because they A.) Can't cut it, and B.) Can't pick it up with their spork.
Anyone else see anything wrong with this picture, or am I just moving on to PMS?
My kids have "Oven baked ham with pineapple sauce" for school lunch today. They both love ham. (Really, who doesn't?!) They're both buying their "Oven baked ham with pineapple sauce;" the slice of ham that comes with globs of gooey, supposed-to-be-but-not-really-sure-what-it-is pineapple sauce plopped on top of it.
And the mystery sauce isn't my problem. My problem is this:
How are they supposed to cut and eat the slice of ham?
Even if my Pre-Kindergartner or my first grader could successfully wield a knife to cut their food, knives are not allowed in school. Heck! I don't even know if they have actual forks anymore. I think that they're all "Sporks" now. I don't remember seeing any forks when I've been there. (Not that I was looking for them though.)
I'm sure that by now everyone's heard about the grade schooler who was expelled for his mother packing a plastic knife in his lunch bag. (Yes, school officials acted quickly on that one. They successfully disarmed the disgruntle 4th grader before he jumped up on the table, and yelled at his chicken patty, "I'll bleed you, M-effer!" And you thought suburban America was boring! (No, this child was not actually planning on doing that. He was actually just trying to eat his food. And no, this (surprisingly enough) didn't happen at our school.)
It's just, yanno, if you want these kids to eat their food, you want them to eat all of their food, well, just how do you supposed they're supposed to do that if you -quite literally don't give them the tools to do so? And then chastise them when they pick up their whole ham steak with their hands and eat it that way because they A.) Can't cut it, and B.) Can't pick it up with their spork.
Anyone else see anything wrong with this picture, or am I just moving on to PMS?
Friday, April 15, 2011
ACK! Two weeks!
I'm a Marcher for Babies. I do the March of Dimes March for Babies walk every year for the past few years. This will be my fourth year marching. I love it! It's great exercise, I meet great people, and I get to raise funds and awareness for a very important cause. I'll march for babies for as long as I'm able to do so.
Unfortunately, I realized today that the walk is just over two weeks away. I'm sooooo out of shape! It's a five mile walk, but it's along the river bank, over the bridge that goes over the river (they actually close down the bridge to traffic for the morning, and it's one of the major bridges into one of the major cities on the East Coast). Then it's back over the bridge, back to the ball field (where we start) and then home. It's a quick, neat, fun walk. But I'm out of shape!
I walked from my house, three blocks to the kiddo's school, from the school another 7 blocks to the post office, and then another 4 blocks from the Post Office home. Later on that night I walked the three blocks from school back home again. My legs and feet hurt at the end of the night. Oh no! I'm usually in much better shape by the time the walk comes around, as it's usually about three weeks later in the year. (It seems everything is out of whack on the calendar this year!) I really hope that I make it for the whole MOD walk!
Even if I don't finish (which I've never not done -even the one year in the 90 degree weather with my jeans and heeled shoes, and pulling the kiddos in the wagon behind me) I'll have already raised funds and awareness. That's the most important part. It doesn't matter if I finish or not -well, it does to me personally, but not so much as far as fundraising goes.
I just hope I make it!!!
Unfortunately, I realized today that the walk is just over two weeks away. I'm sooooo out of shape! It's a five mile walk, but it's along the river bank, over the bridge that goes over the river (they actually close down the bridge to traffic for the morning, and it's one of the major bridges into one of the major cities on the East Coast). Then it's back over the bridge, back to the ball field (where we start) and then home. It's a quick, neat, fun walk. But I'm out of shape!
I walked from my house, three blocks to the kiddo's school, from the school another 7 blocks to the post office, and then another 4 blocks from the Post Office home. Later on that night I walked the three blocks from school back home again. My legs and feet hurt at the end of the night. Oh no! I'm usually in much better shape by the time the walk comes around, as it's usually about three weeks later in the year. (It seems everything is out of whack on the calendar this year!) I really hope that I make it for the whole MOD walk!
Even if I don't finish (which I've never not done -even the one year in the 90 degree weather with my jeans and heeled shoes, and pulling the kiddos in the wagon behind me) I'll have already raised funds and awareness. That's the most important part. It doesn't matter if I finish or not -well, it does to me personally, but not so much as far as fundraising goes.
I just hope I make it!!!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Hey there!
I just wanted to stop in and say a quick "Hello!" I know that my three followers have missed me TERRIBLY! Lots and lots of exciting stuff has been going on over here. Unfortunately, none of it has been good. Bah! We'll get through it and get over it though. And if not, I'll stick my dragonfly friends on the problem! :-D It's finally warming up here. I'm so glad. I truly abhor the cold. It was almost 80 degrees here yesterday, and I still had the fire going. Needless to say, the hubs wasn't too pleased with that (as he came inside in his muscle shirt, sweat pouring down his face. Poor guy!) Today saw lots of heavy downpours. And that's okay because what do April showers bring? May flowers! Thing 2 is having a BALL asking me this, and shouting the answer EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. She thinks it's wonderful. She, however, does NOT get the part when I ask, "And what do Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims!!" In time. In time.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday, Dad. I know that you're looking down on us (and laughing your backside off) all the time. I see you in the rays of sunshine. I hear you in the soft breezes. I feel you all around me, and I miss you every single day.
I love you.
I love you.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Mumbo Jumbo...
So, remember all that mumbo jumbo about "winter's only redeeming quality is the snow" yesterday? Well, after shoveling my 12.5 inches of it from the walk, from the street to get my car out, from the bottom of the driveway after I moved the car into it, and the plow trucks (my hubby one of them) plowed me back in and from of course, the front steps and front walk (which the kids were sledding down) I'm done with the fluffy stuff!
The kids had a ball sledding down the steps. I know. You think I'm crazy for letting not just my kids, but the neighbors' kids as well sled down my steps, don't you? Well, I promise they were safe. There well more than enough snow to cover my three steps, front walk, the step down, the bottom part of the walk and the outside walk way. They had so much fun, and I was able to shovel.... And shovel.... And shovel.... Of course, I took a few turns sledding too. I had forgotten how much fun it is!
HOWEVER, after sledding on it for a few hours, 12.5 inches of snow packs down to about four inches.... And it's near impossible to get up. I've been inside for an hour and a half now, and my limbs are REALLY starting to turn to jello. Truthfully, it's getting difficult to type this. :-P
And we're supposed to get more tomorrow.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it!
The kids had a ball sledding down the steps. I know. You think I'm crazy for letting not just my kids, but the neighbors' kids as well sled down my steps, don't you? Well, I promise they were safe. There well more than enough snow to cover my three steps, front walk, the step down, the bottom part of the walk and the outside walk way. They had so much fun, and I was able to shovel.... And shovel.... And shovel.... Of course, I took a few turns sledding too. I had forgotten how much fun it is!
HOWEVER, after sledding on it for a few hours, 12.5 inches of snow packs down to about four inches.... And it's near impossible to get up. I've been inside for an hour and a half now, and my limbs are REALLY starting to turn to jello. Truthfully, it's getting difficult to type this. :-P
And we're supposed to get more tomorrow.
I'm exhausted just thinking about it!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
And the weather is...
Snow! We've got MORE snow... I know I shouldn't complain. Snow is winter's only redeeming quality. I hate the cold. I hate the gray. I hate the dark. I LOVE the snow -even if everyone else is well beyond tired of it.
Did you ever notice how winter, and all of it's bleakness just sneaks up on us. Let's start from August, shall we?
August is still hot and wonderful. The days are slowly getting shorter, but sunblock still abounds.
September comes, and school starts. The days are a bit shorter, and we fall back in to familiar routines. Shorts are traded in for light jackets, and everywhere you look are fantastic colors of red, yellow orange, brown and maroon. September into October are such a sight to be seen!
October comes, and brings with it more colors, fun costumes and decorations, and a few cold snaps. The days are even shorter still, but that just means that all of the fun of Halloween is even closer.
There's a business to November that even the kidlets feel. There's a charge to the air. Everyone is busy planning, baking, shopping, making. A house here and a house there will start to put up Christmas lights, and the excitement builds.
December brings with it cold, Arctic blasts and days with shortened light. BUT it also brings twinkling of Christmas lights on almost every street. It brings rosy cheeks and excited faces. It has rushing here and rushing there. And even though the daylight is getting sparse, it doesn't matter because of all of the wonderful, beautiful, exciting Christmas lights!
In January, Christmas is done and over, and New Year's is over. It's just cold. And dark. And dreary. And cold.
We're in the throws of winter, and no one noticed it creeping up. Everything else kept it's arrival hidden until it was too late. (Not that it could be stopped.) The colors are gone. The lights are gone. The SUN is gone. It's just cold. And dark. And dreary. And cold.
Then something magical happens. It snows. The snow coats the world in an amazing blanket of clean, shimmering white, and when the light hits it, it casts millions of glittering rainbows everywhere. Everything is bright, and fresh, and new again.
And then the kids romp through the snow. And the plow trucks come through. And the salt trucks come through and dump their precious, ice melting commodity on the roads and the walks, and anything within 8 feet of the edge of their trucks. And the cars splash the slush up on what's left of the clean, white, rainbow-casting snow. And the world turns brown, and gray and dirty and cold.
And when the snow finally does melt, everything is still covered in salt, so everything is gray. It's the same color gray as the winter sky. The dirty streets blend in with the cold, dark sky. The salty cars blend in with the dirty, salty streets. Everything looks the same, and it's all blah.
And then there's that little bit of magic again. It snows again, and the world is fresh and new again.
Did you ever notice how winter, and all of it's bleakness just sneaks up on us. Let's start from August, shall we?
August is still hot and wonderful. The days are slowly getting shorter, but sunblock still abounds.
September comes, and school starts. The days are a bit shorter, and we fall back in to familiar routines. Shorts are traded in for light jackets, and everywhere you look are fantastic colors of red, yellow orange, brown and maroon. September into October are such a sight to be seen!
October comes, and brings with it more colors, fun costumes and decorations, and a few cold snaps. The days are even shorter still, but that just means that all of the fun of Halloween is even closer.
There's a business to November that even the kidlets feel. There's a charge to the air. Everyone is busy planning, baking, shopping, making. A house here and a house there will start to put up Christmas lights, and the excitement builds.
December brings with it cold, Arctic blasts and days with shortened light. BUT it also brings twinkling of Christmas lights on almost every street. It brings rosy cheeks and excited faces. It has rushing here and rushing there. And even though the daylight is getting sparse, it doesn't matter because of all of the wonderful, beautiful, exciting Christmas lights!
In January, Christmas is done and over, and New Year's is over. It's just cold. And dark. And dreary. And cold.
We're in the throws of winter, and no one noticed it creeping up. Everything else kept it's arrival hidden until it was too late. (Not that it could be stopped.) The colors are gone. The lights are gone. The SUN is gone. It's just cold. And dark. And dreary. And cold.
Then something magical happens. It snows. The snow coats the world in an amazing blanket of clean, shimmering white, and when the light hits it, it casts millions of glittering rainbows everywhere. Everything is bright, and fresh, and new again.
And then the kids romp through the snow. And the plow trucks come through. And the salt trucks come through and dump their precious, ice melting commodity on the roads and the walks, and anything within 8 feet of the edge of their trucks. And the cars splash the slush up on what's left of the clean, white, rainbow-casting snow. And the world turns brown, and gray and dirty and cold.
And when the snow finally does melt, everything is still covered in salt, so everything is gray. It's the same color gray as the winter sky. The dirty streets blend in with the cold, dark sky. The salty cars blend in with the dirty, salty streets. Everything looks the same, and it's all blah.
And then there's that little bit of magic again. It snows again, and the world is fresh and new again.
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