Teepee'd: Wear a Native American headdress with warpaint and wrap yourself in toilet paper. What? It's original!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Halloween Countdown!
It's beginning to look a lot like the Nightmare Before Christmas! I love this time of year when the smell of pumpkin spice lattes wake me in the morning. Yeah, it doesn't take much more than a strong cup of coffee to get me excited, however, there is a certain thrill to this time of year. Halloween is the kickoff holiday for end of the year festivities.
What makes it more exciting than the candy, the decorations, the trick-or-treating and parties?! Why, the COSTUMES of course! I'm a sucker for an original costume idea and for three years in a row in some form of social media I have posted a list. This year I am going to do things a little differently. Instead of posting the 20+ costume ideas I am going to add a new idea each day to count down to Halloween. Since today is already October 2nd here are the first two:
Just sayin...
What makes it more exciting than the candy, the decorations, the trick-or-treating and parties?! Why, the COSTUMES of course! I'm a sucker for an original costume idea and for three years in a row in some form of social media I have posted a list. This year I am going to do things a little differently. Instead of posting the 20+ costume ideas I am going to add a new idea each day to count down to Halloween. Since today is already October 2nd here are the first two:
- English Muffin: Wear a size too small jeans so you have a muffin top, get a plain t-shirt and use a paint pen to color a British flag on it, and talk with a British accent.
- Afro-American: A classic (and once worn by moi), wear an Indian outfit with an afro.
Just sayin...
Monday, September 12, 2011
Things My Toddler Teaches Me: Pumpkin Wax and Wood Floors
To know me is to know my life never slows down, my house never goes completely quiet, and my boys NEVER stop teaching me how to raise them.
The latest lesson begins with a pumpkin spice candle and my wood floors. In the spirit of fall and the fast approaching festivities of the holidays I grabbed some yummy smelling candles for the house. My favorite being pumpkin spice, there were two large glass jar candles and three mini ones. They were burning for a good half hour to an hour so the top layer of wax had liquefied.
I soon discovered just how tall our three-year-old had gotten. The candles were sitting on the kitchen bar which is over 4 feet tall. His lanky arm reached up and grabbed one of the mini glass jars then dropped it onto the wood floor in the living room when he realized it was HOT.
In true Bam fashion he bolted from the scene of the crime screaming "Sorry!" Hubs tried to wipe it up, but as most of us know hot wax and paper towels are not a good combination. It splattered all over the walls too.
Let it cool. I let it sit overnight, driving Hubs' OCD into overdrive. After I dropped Bam off at daycare, where he could do the least damage, I swung by my favorite coffee shop for a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Sipping on the yummy goodness, I grabbed a spoon, a broom, and the dust pan.
Thirty minutes of scraping and sweeping got the majority of the wax off of the wood floor, but there was still a waxy film. What to do, what to use? Magic Eraser.
The latest lesson begins with a pumpkin spice candle and my wood floors. In the spirit of fall and the fast approaching festivities of the holidays I grabbed some yummy smelling candles for the house. My favorite being pumpkin spice, there were two large glass jar candles and three mini ones. They were burning for a good half hour to an hour so the top layer of wax had liquefied.
I soon discovered just how tall our three-year-old had gotten. The candles were sitting on the kitchen bar which is over 4 feet tall. His lanky arm reached up and grabbed one of the mini glass jars then dropped it onto the wood floor in the living room when he realized it was HOT.
In true Bam fashion he bolted from the scene of the crime screaming "Sorry!" Hubs tried to wipe it up, but as most of us know hot wax and paper towels are not a good combination. It splattered all over the walls too.
Let it cool. I let it sit overnight, driving Hubs' OCD into overdrive. After I dropped Bam off at daycare, where he could do the least damage, I swung by my favorite coffee shop for a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Sipping on the yummy goodness, I grabbed a spoon, a broom, and the dust pan.
Thirty minutes of scraping and sweeping got the majority of the wax off of the wood floor, but there was still a waxy film. What to do, what to use? Magic Eraser. Now there's the problem of scraping the wax off of the semi-gloss painted walls. The spoon was too harsh, leaving silver scrape marks, the magic eraser wasn't able to penetrate the wax nor get rid of the spoon marks. My only alternative (or just an excuse), PAINT.
Guess what color I picked? NOT PUMPKIN ORANGE!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The Spider Chronicles...or a funny story at least
It was late, kids were getting settled for bed, and Hubs and I were picking up the remnants of the daily mess. All of a sudden we hear, "Aughhhhhhh!" Bam screamed as he bolted through he metal baby gate to his room and ran down the hallway. The gate clinked back and forth until it came to a rest. Bam stood in his superhero pose, staring down the hallway to his room.
"What is it, sweetie!?" I asked as I ran to his rescue. Hubs came running in from the garage with an armful of blankets from the dryer.
"It's a HUGE spider!" Bam yelled in his exasperated three-year-old voice. "It's freakin huge and on my wall, come see!!"
A lot less excited than Bam, Hubs and I peered into his room with all eyes on the walls. Nothing.
"Bam, where did you see it?" Hubs asked.
Bam pushed his way into the room and pointed to the baseboard behind his table and plastic bin. "There!"
Sure enough, a medium-sized brown housekeeper spider sat perched on the baseboard...staring at us. Hubs asked for the Raid. I run out of the room to the kitchen to get it. Apparently I wasn't obvious in my response that I would get it by saying, "I'll get it". Next thing I hear is Hubs coming out of the room telling Bam, "Stay there and watch it! Don't let it out of your sight. I'll be right back." (Really?! He's 3 for crying out loud!)
I grabbed the Raid and tossed it to Hubs. He's now armed with potpourri smelling bug killer and a hand full of paper towels. A safer alternative to hairspray and a lighter...maybe. I get back to the room to see hubs chasing the now highly mobile spider scurrying across the wall behind Bam's bed. Hubs left a trail of potpourri Raid running down the wall, all the while MISSING the spider. Paper towels still in hand he pulls the bed out to see the spider perched on the baseboard again...staring at us.
Round Two. Hubs attacks with the potpourri Raid again. "I GOT HIM!" Hubs yelled with a victory smile.
"No you didn't!" I hummed back sarcastically when the spider flexed, shook off the potpourri Raid, and scurried out of sight.
"Dammit! Where did he go?!"
Round Three. Bam is sitting in my lap by the door as we watch the events unfold. I'm tempted to pop some popcorn at this point, but afraid I'll miss the confrontation between Hubs and spider. Just then Bam points and says, "He's on the wall! There he is! Save me, Daddy!!" Sure enough we look up and the spider is poised in the corner of the wall above the couch next to Bam's bed.
I am staged with a shoe just in case, but for some reason couldn't open my mouth to offer it as I watched Hubs 'stealthily' climb on the cushions to try and reach the spider. He abandons the can of potpourri Raid (since it's nothing more than cologne for the damn thing at this point) and with his left hand full of paper towels goes in for the grab. He covers it! But wait...what's that? The spider runs out from underneath, startling hubs to retreat and yell a few expletives before manning up and going after it again.
The spider bows up as Hubs stands on the couch. Paper towels at the ready, spider in the corner by the ceiling, Bam and I are now off to the side by the closet to thwart any attempts of the spider hiding in the toys. Hubs lunges...the spider falters!!...Then the spider escapes his grasp again, scaring the shit out of hubs who loses his balance, falls backwards off of the couch, and rolls into the metal baby gate knocking it open. The dogs (barking frantically at all the yelling an commotion) rush into the chaos causing us to lose sight of the spider that is now somewhere behind or under the couch.
Round Four. Hubs kisses us goodnight and leaves Bam and I to fend for ourselves.
**I'm awake writing as Bammers is crashed on the couch next to me. Somewhere lurking in the darkness is the medium-sized housekeeper plotting his revenge. My only hope is that the potpourri smell will give away his location and we will have a running start!
"What is it, sweetie!?" I asked as I ran to his rescue. Hubs came running in from the garage with an armful of blankets from the dryer.
"It's a HUGE spider!" Bam yelled in his exasperated three-year-old voice. "It's freakin huge and on my wall, come see!!"
A lot less excited than Bam, Hubs and I peered into his room with all eyes on the walls. Nothing.
"Bam, where did you see it?" Hubs asked.
Bam pushed his way into the room and pointed to the baseboard behind his table and plastic bin. "There!"
Sure enough, a medium-sized brown housekeeper spider sat perched on the baseboard...staring at us. Hubs asked for the Raid. I run out of the room to the kitchen to get it. Apparently I wasn't obvious in my response that I would get it by saying, "I'll get it". Next thing I hear is Hubs coming out of the room telling Bam, "Stay there and watch it! Don't let it out of your sight. I'll be right back." (Really?! He's 3 for crying out loud!)
I grabbed the Raid and tossed it to Hubs. He's now armed with potpourri smelling bug killer and a hand full of paper towels. A safer alternative to hairspray and a lighter...maybe. I get back to the room to see hubs chasing the now highly mobile spider scurrying across the wall behind Bam's bed. Hubs left a trail of potpourri Raid running down the wall, all the while MISSING the spider. Paper towels still in hand he pulls the bed out to see the spider perched on the baseboard again...staring at us.
Round Two. Hubs attacks with the potpourri Raid again. "I GOT HIM!" Hubs yelled with a victory smile.
"No you didn't!" I hummed back sarcastically when the spider flexed, shook off the potpourri Raid, and scurried out of sight.
"Dammit! Where did he go?!"
Round Three. Bam is sitting in my lap by the door as we watch the events unfold. I'm tempted to pop some popcorn at this point, but afraid I'll miss the confrontation between Hubs and spider. Just then Bam points and says, "He's on the wall! There he is! Save me, Daddy!!" Sure enough we look up and the spider is poised in the corner of the wall above the couch next to Bam's bed.
I am staged with a shoe just in case, but for some reason couldn't open my mouth to offer it as I watched Hubs 'stealthily' climb on the cushions to try and reach the spider. He abandons the can of potpourri Raid (since it's nothing more than cologne for the damn thing at this point) and with his left hand full of paper towels goes in for the grab. He covers it! But wait...what's that? The spider runs out from underneath, startling hubs to retreat and yell a few expletives before manning up and going after it again.
The spider bows up as Hubs stands on the couch. Paper towels at the ready, spider in the corner by the ceiling, Bam and I are now off to the side by the closet to thwart any attempts of the spider hiding in the toys. Hubs lunges...the spider falters!!...Then the spider escapes his grasp again, scaring the shit out of hubs who loses his balance, falls backwards off of the couch, and rolls into the metal baby gate knocking it open. The dogs (barking frantically at all the yelling an commotion) rush into the chaos causing us to lose sight of the spider that is now somewhere behind or under the couch.
Round Four. Hubs kisses us goodnight and leaves Bam and I to fend for ourselves.
**I'm awake writing as Bammers is crashed on the couch next to me. Somewhere lurking in the darkness is the medium-sized housekeeper plotting his revenge. My only hope is that the potpourri smell will give away his location and we will have a running start!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Boots that BUST!
It was a hot summer day, the sun shining, cars speeding by and me melting as I prayed for a breeze to cool my last bead of sweat. Standing on hot pavement at the scene of the latest chaos often made me wonder if the soles of my boots would melt. Then it happened.
My boots felt a little weird on the heels, almost as if they were dragging even though I was picking up my feet. I may be a rookie on the beat, but I had worn combat boots for years in the service. The brand, BATES. I wore out a pair in a year easily, but they lasted through 15 mile hikes, climbed waterfalls and ridge lines, jumped out of perfectly good helicopters and KC130's to land on solid ground, and even stepped into chemicals and fluids mankind should never be exposed to. The point? They lasted.
A month ago I had to replace and old pair that lasted approximately 18 months. Nine months worth of training and another nine on the job. They were Magnums, a brand of BATES. Good boots. So I hit Sears as it was the only place open in my dire need of replacement boots. I was happy to see they had BATES though only in men's, I found a pair that fit.
It's been hot out. Upwards of 110 heat index and easily 95 degrees on a cloudy day. The rain, the heat, and on the job treks through God-only-knows what chemicals and fluids apparently got the best of the new boots. They failed me today. After only a month of breaking them in too!
I was thankful I had packed a pair of black Sketchers in my duty bag. They didn't hold up to what I needed on the job so I made a detour later to the Army Navy Supply store and found a pair of 511s. Let's see if they hold up to the hype...and my expectations!
My boots felt a little weird on the heels, almost as if they were dragging even though I was picking up my feet. I may be a rookie on the beat, but I had worn combat boots for years in the service. The brand, BATES. I wore out a pair in a year easily, but they lasted through 15 mile hikes, climbed waterfalls and ridge lines, jumped out of perfectly good helicopters and KC130's to land on solid ground, and even stepped into chemicals and fluids mankind should never be exposed to. The point? They lasted.
A month ago I had to replace and old pair that lasted approximately 18 months. Nine months worth of training and another nine on the job. They were Magnums, a brand of BATES. Good boots. So I hit Sears as it was the only place open in my dire need of replacement boots. I was happy to see they had BATES though only in men's, I found a pair that fit.
It's been hot out. Upwards of 110 heat index and easily 95 degrees on a cloudy day. The rain, the heat, and on the job treks through God-only-knows what chemicals and fluids apparently got the best of the new boots. They failed me today. After only a month of breaking them in too!
I was thankful I had packed a pair of black Sketchers in my duty bag. They didn't hold up to what I needed on the job so I made a detour later to the Army Navy Supply store and found a pair of 511s. Let's see if they hold up to the hype...and my expectations!
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