This one is for Syd....

Boo has the most terrific aides at school. All of them, quite honestly, are the best of the best. She has transitioned to as new staff come on board. She has not had one bad aide yet.

Today she is missing one of them though. Syd has been out of school for almost a month. She is one of the nicest, funniest and caring people we know. She recently told me that reading the blog makes her day since she cannot see her kids every day.

So, Syd this is for you!

Here is wishing Syd a speedy recovery and get well sooner rather than later. Your Boo needs you :)

Oh and this once again proves I am not crafty, right? But I am still going to ask you to vote for me. It is super easy. All you have to do is hit the link below and then click "like" with Facebook.  If you have already "liked" me, thanks. Sadly, you can only like me once.

http://www.babble.com/mom/a-letter-to-new-special-moms/

Yard work sucks, wine is better

I hate yard work. Not hate as in wow I really would rather sit with a book kind of hate. But H-A-T-E yard work. If I had my way I would have either woods or a concrete yard. Since when they were putting in our septic they took our woods I have a yard.

I hate the yard.

First there is grass. Okay, not grass. Weeds that are green and look like grass. Except when you mow and then you kick up dust and rocks. Oh and lets not forget the dandelions, that Allie swears are fairy flowers and please stop killing them MOM!

Why am I mowing, you ask? Because Hubs is on another triple and the grass weeds are high enough that I might need to borrow the neighbor's goats over for dinner. I hear dandelions are good for goats.

Back to my point, yes I have a point. And yes, I have a neighbor with goats. As in plural. She also has sheep and a sheep dog that is afraid of the stairs and the sheep. But I digress.

My point is I hate, HATE, yard work. But there I was on the first hot day of Spring (or in New England summer that began after the last frost) mowing the weeds. Since it is a hot and humid 75 degrees I am wearing the least amount of clothes possible. Much to my neighbor's dismay.

Why did I choose this day to mow the lawn what passes for our lawn? Because I live on a small road with perfect lawns. Well, perfect except for ours, and I was having a moment of lawn insecurity. Truthfully I have another neighbor, but her lawn is hidden behind the best sledding hill in the state. So I wasn't feeling inferior there, but the other two?

Not a freaking weed on theirs!

I put the girls in front of the TV, well Boo with her IPAD that is only now used for Austin & Allie at home (she uses it for the real purposes at therapy and school I SWEAR) and did yard work. Freaking yard work.

One neighbor drives by, the one with the hidden yard, we wave and say hi. We chuckle over the fact that our husbands are always "working" so we get stuck with the manly-jobs. Then another neighbor stops and comments on how the beast from hell yard is coming along. Then she says: Don't you just love yard work? I love being in the garden. She of the perfect lawn, garden and flower yard. If she wasn't so freaking nice I might hate her. Instead I just envy her lawn.

Me? Nope, I would rather relax with a nice glass of wine.

Instead I am hot, sweaty, dirty, dear God is that a tick on me???? With snot hanging down my nose because hello pollen. Holy crap that was a spider crawling on my arm. Why do there have to be all these bugs? What was God thinking when he created the slug?

But I carried on. I put in the effort. Tried to make something out of weeds then just covered it in mulch. Mulch is good, right? This is what I ended up with: a mowed weed, I mean lawn and some replanted trees in a 2x2 area.

Yes, that is Bailey. The crazy now destructive toddler, no longer a puppy, who is defecating on all my hard work. I gave up at that point and took a shower with a glass of wine.

Yes, I took the glass of wine with me. Because I hate yard work.

You might be a stalker if....

Have you seen the very inappropriate, non-politically correct, 80's movie I'm Gonna Git You Sucka? In that movie we learn a true hero brings his own theme music, he also wears platform shoes with goldfish in them.

Apologies, Friday's favorite movies are still on my mind.
they should probably do a list of the worst movies of all time

Just as any hero should bring his own theme music, so should a stalker. If I was stalking you this is what might be playing...

Rockwell's Somebody's watching me because, well I would be watching you.

Little Monsters' Little Talks not only is that song kind of creepy it makes me think of Patrick Swayze in Ghost stalking Demi Moore. Since I want Demi's hair and a side of Patrick back then wouldn't be a bad thing, I would definitely stalk you with Little Talks.

Miranda Lambert's Crazy Ex Girlfriend. You leave me, I stalk you. If that doesn't work...I wouldn't give it a second thought to being thrown in jail. Because to a hammer everything looks like a nail.

Skid Row's 18 and Life because once I was arrested for any of the above that might be what I am looking at.


Stalker songs: You might think I am a stalker but you just don't know how much you love me. A Twisted Mix-Tuesday brought to you by two lovely stalkers, Jen and Kristi. Be sure to visit them and share the twistedness.

Oh and when you go over to check them out you will see that I once again chose the wrong week to comment about. Yes, I am a blog-hop idiot.  So I posted about yard work instead. Then I contacted Kristi to tell her I wrote this awesome post but couldn't use it. Especially since it was a topic from about 10 weeks ago.

But she gave me the blessing to post it anyway. Not so much a blessing but a demand. So here I am and now...


Now summer has officially arrived, I am going for a Twisted Lemonade.

Semper Fidelis

Diane at On the Border recently gifted me with the Semper Fidelis Award.





Thank you so much, Diane. It means a lot to receive notice from another blogger. Especially one who can tell stories much more eloquently than I ever could!



Of course, there are rules.

1. Add the award logo to my blog (done, it took some work, but it's done)

2. Thank the blogger who nominated/gifted me and link back to their blog. Done but again, thanks Diane oh and go check her out at On the Border!

3.  Nominate five bloggers whose loyalty and friendship you value and who you consider being part of your 'wolf pack'.
 
4.  Post something special for each one of your nominees and dedicate it to them such as a quote, picture, poem, saying etc....something you think pertains to that person.
 
5.  Let your nominees know that they are nominated.

And drum roll, please.....

Semper Fidelis, in Latin, means "always faithful". I count on the following ladies below who I not only faithfully read, but the ones I feel a connection. In addition, their blogs are what get me through the day. I can count on them for their honest opinions, support and friendship.

1. Kristi at Finding Ninee. Kristi is the first person who reached out on a personal level through the blogging world. She made me feel a part of this 'wolf pack'. But not the type of wolf pack from the Hangover. I do not think she would leave me on top of the hotel roof. However I do think she would get me drunk and let me marry a stripper.

2. Joy at I can say Momma. Another compatriot in the world of an undiagnosed child. Where I feel frustration and snarky humor, Joy finds the beauty in every moment. What amazes me about my friendship with Joy is that when we take on a 5-minute challenge our brains usually have the same take on the word.

3. Dana @Kiss My List. When Allie is a teenager I am sending her to Dana's house. Dana has the best stories. From kitchen remodeling to traveling to shopping. Oh and shoes. She did a whole vacation from the viewpoint of her shoes! More importantly she will never let Allie leave the house looking like a hooker.

4. Bron at Big Brother, Little Sister and the Baby. I want to be Bron when I mature. Notice I did NOT say grow up as I am a older than Bron. Where I make excuses of why I cannot do things, Bron lives life to the fullest. She doesn't seem to fluster. She travels, does triathlons, is a mum to three great kids and still remembers to be a wife. Frankly I don't know how she does it. Which is why I want to be her when I mature.

5. Rachel at Tao of Poop. Rachel is peace. Seriously, even her husband agrees. She is mom to Claire and it navigating the world of the two-year old. Not the easiest time when your child is still a baby but testing you in a bid for independence. Rachel sees the utter beauty in the moment. I tend to see the tantrums.

There are many, many more of you out there. But I had to limit the list to 5. Thanks, again, to Diane. Keep giving us your family stories, they are not only important they are inspiring!

 

First impressions

I admit it, I am totally one for first impressions.  In random order here is what I tend to notice:

1. Their hair. Only because mine looks like this:



            When I really want it to look like this:

Okay, if I looked like Katie Holmes'
I would be super happy too.

2. If I am in "the" Wal-Mart I notice that people do not have my issues with self-esteem. They will leave the house wearing anything and sometimes not enough anythings.

Am I the only one concerned that this woman

seems to have posed for this picture?

3. Piercings, now don't tell me I am all stuff. I used to have a belly piercing myself. Until I had Allie and two things happened. One, I didn't want a toddler pulling it out and two, my belly is no near back into shape to show it off! I just don't get how we went from the 80's with two piercings in our ears to, well, this...

If Allie comes home with this guy

hubs might have an issue. Forget might

he will probably need bail money

4. Their feet. Pre-children I wore the best shoes, had the prettiest pedicure. Now I am either in sneakers or flip flops. Nail polish might be on the toes but it might be hard to find. And no, I am not going to gross you out with feet pictures. The piercing picture was enough, don't you think?

5. Their children. I am in awe of the families in Mass whose children sit so quietly in the pew. Mine? Boo is usually snorting or screaming "hi" at people. Allie is usually drawing, while laying across the pew so no one can see her. She does, however, stand and kneel when appropriate. I think the perfect families must use some witchcraft to make their kids behave.

6. Their hair. yes, it is so important to me I must count it twice.

7. Their ability to coordinate their outfits. I am usually a wrinkled mess that may probably not have been current this season. I know it is possible though to look like you stepped out of a Ralph Lauren Catalog. I have this great friend and she (and her daughters) are always perfectly dressed. Oh how I envy them. I want to leave the house looking like this...

and end up like this..

I wasn't kidding about the hair...

8. Their accent. You maybe thinking, how can their accent be the FIRST thing you notice about some one? I ask you to think of the last telemarketer or help-hot-line number you called. Enough said.

9. Their spouse. I always wonder how did she/he end up with him/her. Oh come on, you have wondered the same thing!

How on Earth did a TV reporter end up with the guy from the Federal Reserve? I bet it was E-harmony.

And last but not least (remember no particular order)...

10. That the woman on the airplane is reading 50 Shades of Grey in hardcover, without the jacket removed. Didn't she realize that if it was on her Kindle no one would know that she is reading lady-porn?


This list of first impressions has been brought to you by the Good Life.

 

Happy Monday Everyone!

Blast from the past

Today one of my older posts was chosen to promote awareness of Mental Health issues...please go check me out
http://thoughtsfromparis.com/blog/on-display-bandbacktogether-blogathon/