You on Bossy's map??

Do you read Bossy? Are you on her map..I'm sure we'll find out soon what cities Bossy is invading. Hope mine is one of them!

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UPDATE: Bossy is coming to St Louis..there are 10 of us in the general area and we're going to be set loose on the Greater Metropolitan Area..With Bossy!
This will be around April 21st..thank goodness I'll be back from Aruba!

Happy Leap Year!

How exciting for those folks born on Feb 29th. They said today on the radio there are only like 200,000 people in the US born on Feb 29th. Interesting.

I was so slammed yesterday I didn't even make it through my list of blogs to read. It's a good thing but I've been pulling my hair out lately. Sometimes I really think people should just do things my way.

You are going to get bullets today.

• American Idol was a little shocking. I would have liked to have seen that little 17 year old girl stick around a little longer but other than that I was OK w/ the people that were knocked off. Robbie creaped me out although J kinda liked him. My favorite American Idol blog to read is Dave. A teacher in Florida who is very witty.
• Survivor was good...LOVE the surprise endings. Love Ozzy..doesn't everyone. Cutie little put him in my pocket and take him home..
• My stomach is doing flip flops..I've been eating like crap lately.
• Drew has a "Blue and Gold" dinner on Friday. Anyone ever been to one of these? It's not like Up With People for Scouts, is it?
• Pumpkin's back from Scotland. I really didn't do a great job guest blogging.
• Spring Training is in full swing. One of our players, Spezio, is wanted for the cops. Let's see we've had the coach fall asleep at the stoplight, a drunk player slam in to a disabled car and now a DUI assult..Not good. I think we have more to worry about than enhancement drugs.
• It's Friday. We're going to watch a movie tonight I think. Not quite sure what. Last week we watched Michael Clayton...WOW. That was good.

OK..I'm off to play catch up on my million things to do today. Note to self: Take more pictures this weekend while it's nice outside..and make sure I do weekly winners on Sunday!

• 
  

TV Time

Which Jericho Character Are You?

More on Jericho. Created by BuddyTV

OK..I am SO into TV. Right now before the regular shows come back on I am into the following:

Jericho. I love this show and am so excited every Tuesday. This show has everything. It has great characters and many different sub plots. It takes place in Kansas..so I get it. The premise is wild..half of the country is gone due to nuclear attacks and we are rebuilding. Wow. I am so glad that brought it back but am so bummed that the ratings are failing again. I guess NO Jericho fans are Neilson families.

American Idol. Wow I'm loving this season so much more than last season. Boys did really good last night. The only one that REALLY bugs me is Danny.. I'm not 100% sure that he isn't a girl. Brooke is my favorite white girl and I heard she is singing MY song tonight. Carly Simon, Your So Vain...that is my kareoke song!

Survivor..I'm back after missing a couple seasons. I like it alot..I don't know all the "favorites" but that's OK.

Anthony Bourdain/No Reservations...awesome. Romania, England, New Orleans..this new season is awesome.

Medium..Love Patricia Arquette and I love the premise of her being a psychic..and her daughter too. Great show.

I've kind of given up on Big Brother.. I don't like these people and I don't care what happens to them. This is the FIRST season that I'm jumping ship.

What am I looking forward to in April: NCIS, The Unit, Criminal Minds, Without A Trace, Cold Case, CSI, CSI NY. I'm recording alot of the Law and Order shows too.
There are tons of other shows I watch...like Bobby Flay and Mystery Diagnosis..Hi my name is MP and I'm addicted to TV.

What are your TV favorites??

Pumpkin Post up

Head on over to Pumpkins..for my guest post..featuring travel tips for Romania and Sexy men in Hollywood!

how old do you look

Is it just me or does that couple from Georgia look a lot older than 47?

Is it a worked hard look? I am going to be 42 this year and my husband 41..I can't think that when we're 47 we'll look that old.

I know that gravity is taking it's toll on my face a little and I don't look 25 anymore...

Are you looking older?

Lenten Friday Mishap

OK..my city is a bit Catholic...we're named after a Saint for crying out loud. Now of course not everyone is Catholic and not everyone abids but the lenten rule to not eat meat on Friday..but many do. We have more fish fries to choose from than you can even imagine.

Personally I have a baked potato and a pack of tuna for lunch. I will have fish fry from someone for dinner.

Here is the what happened at my office:

Coworker goes to McDonalds and gets a Fish Meal. (fish sandwhich, fries and soda). He drives back to the office, sits in the lunchroom with some others and this is what happens.

S opens his sandwhich, adds more tarter sauce and takes a bite. OMG, it's CHICKEN. They put a chicken sandwhich in a fish sandwhich box!

Smartass S picks up his cell phone and calls McDonalds.
Ring rign ring
McD: Hello, McDonalds
S: "our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name....".. Then he says, "Oh please forgive me I was praying" "There was a chicken sandwhich in my fish box and it's LENT"..
McD: Oh Jesus, I am SO SO sorry.
...by this time everyone in the lunch room is in tears....
McD: Can you come back we'll give you a fish sandwhich...
S: It's too late, I already ate the chicken. You can send me a coupon for a free fish sandwhich for next week.
McD: Of course I will....
Hang Up....
S to the lunchroom crowd: I'm telling my wife since I already screwed up I want a quarter pounder for dinner!

OK..I find this all hysterical...but you kinda had to be there..and know S and his smartassedness.

I'm a Monster

Get Your Monster Name

ice and sleet and snow..Oh My!

I'm sitting at home..waiting for work emails to pop up and reading blogs.
We're having an ice storm. I picked up my friend/coworker at 6:50...we got to work at 8:50..the storm was 5 hours early. It is STILL sleeting and we're supposed to get snow tomorrow..who knows if we'll have work tomorrow. I had the Jeep which was good..made me feel safe. I also only go 30 MPH in this shit.

34 days til Aruba...

I'm guest blogging today

Go on over to Pumpkin's place..you can catch my Valentine Day post, complete w/ You Tube video's and my post of the day!.

Pumpkin is in Scotland right now.. it would be really awesome if it didn't involve a funeral :-( Check some of her old posts while your there if you have never read Pumpkin before, she's a hoot!

Quiz

This was fun!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

This was one of those where the links aren't working...THANK YOU MELISSA...
Go to this website...

What Day Is It?

What a crazy weekend. So much really happened I think the best is to highlight by bullets..cause I like bullets.

• Thursday night we had a funeral planning dinner at J's aunt's house. Way more laughter than tears.
• At the dinner we watched the preacher shamlessly flirt w/ my MIL..and she flirted back.
• The wake was Friday..my step-sister-in-law gave my MIL shit about the flirting and how excited she was going to "get a new daddy".
• Grandma look strange in the casket cause she wasn't laughing.
• They had Grandma's "grandchildren" charm bracelet on. Her youngest daughter spent the day rotating the bracelet so different grandchildren's names would be on the top.
• I got mom's wheelchair and brought mom and dad out there...they were sad.
• The funeral was beautiful. J did awesome as a paulbearer..how do you spell that? Drew behaved very good.
• The lunch following in the church basement was very nice.
• We drove over an hour for the burial..there was a 10 minute service then we drove an hour home. The cemetary was in the middle of a corn field.
• That evening we went to J's mom's. I met cousins I never met before. Judy and Jose. Jose was from Spain and recalled the facist making them do the Hitler salute in his Spanish Cathlolic grade school..how many things are wrong with that?
• I gave up alcohol for lent..OMG the girls were VERY tipsy and hysterical.
• Sunday..Yeah I guess that was yesterday. Drew and I went to mass..on the way back from communion Drew says. "I thought you gave up wine for Lent"...to which I replied.."that doesn't count"
• We went to see The Spiderwick Chronicals. AWESOME movie. Great for kids 7 and older...and women 41..I loved it!
• We purchased RockBand. Drew played guitar, J drums and I sang. WOW..that was WAY too much fun but sure was difficult. J said the drums kicked his booty..Songs were not that easy to sign either, you REALLY have to stay on pitch.
• Back to work today...hit or miss when it comes to how busy we are..major spurts.
• I totally missed my Weekly Winners yesterday..I didn't really take many photos. I would have taken some at the cemetary but it was cold out in the country and I just wanted to get in the warm car. J finally used the camera for the first time, he loves it!

Weekend Update

Feels like Sunday. Today was J's Grandma's wake. It went well. I even got mom's wheelchair out and brought them out there later.

J and I were in charge of food and everything went smooth. I kept wondering why grandma looked different, it wasn't as if she had been ill. Then I realized! Her mouth was closed! She normally is laughing or talking...and now she was silent. That was the strange part.

Tomorrow morning we have to be at church early. They do a visitation at church, the funeral, a lunch and then we drive to Addieville for the buriel.

J and Drew are out at his mom's..I came home to..take my parents home, be with Jack and do some laundry..you should see it down there...

On the right column I have a reading list/blogroll. Go there and click on Pumpkin..I did a guest blog for her the other day and did cute sappy You Tube videos for you to smile..puppies, kitties and babies!!

Ode to my Valentine

How do I love thee, let me count the ways! OK, that doesn't sound right but it's close isn't it?

Here are some bullet points about my guy and why I continue to love him more every day.

• I love that you love me.
• I love that you make me coffee every morning.
• I love how you keep the tank full of gas so I don't have to pump myself.
• I love how you are so devoted to your son and are such an awesome dad.
• I love watching you play with the puppy.
• I love your hugs, no one gives better ones.
• I love when you talk about what we're going to be doing and what we'll be like when we're old.
• I love that we're best friends.
• I love that you give me shit and tease me and that you can also take it.
• I love that we can fininsh each others sentences.
• I love that you honestly critique my photographs.
• I love your freckles.
• I love your booty.
• I love how seriously you take the yard and the appearance of the house since you know I don't care.
• I love when you ooo and ahhh over my cooking.
• I love making you laugh.
• I love laughing with you.
• I love hanging out with you.
• I love watching sports with you.
• I love talking silly with you.

eyez luvs mai j

American Idol

So, Jean left me a comment about the Irish Girl. A record label spent millions of dollars on her back a few years ago and she was touring Europe but was a major flop. Looks like they changed her last name and are giving her another shot. You can read all about her by googling her old name. Carly Hennessy.

Personally I could care less, I think she's awesome. She's not my favorite but top 12 for sure!

A little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

Hi... I'm working today and have been fairly busy but I've also been trying to catch up on my reading.

Look at that. You Make My Day Award. I received that from my friend Melissa!

Melissa gave the award in the spirit of the commentors. I have been over thinking who to give this too and it's really driving me nuts. I've added, deleted..I'm such a people pleaser I had like 25 names down and I thought this is CRAZY...I'm stressing out over giving a blog award. Really SO many people make my day, every day..especially when you comment. Here are 11 awards to bloggie friends that have recently left a comment on my blog. This is random cause I love EVERY commentor.

• Sandy
• Pumpkin (I'll be guest blogging soon while she goes to Scotland for a funeral)
• Biddy
• Mama Bird
• Kim
• LuLu
• Sarah Good Squad
• Marilyn
• Dawn
• Jean
• Linda

Next up: J's family is a little crazy. I'm just saying. I'm not going to blog the specifics..it's just taken Grandma's death a little out of context..

TV: Did you hear, the writers strike is over. I keep singing in my head The Stife is 'Ore..you know that church song?

American Idol: My favorites are the 16 year old cutie boy, the Aussie guy, the Irish girl, the black/white girl from Joplin and the blond Carly Simon girl. Top 24 are annouced tonight.

Big Brother: Hmmm I don't know what to think about this one. It was OK. I know I'll be suckered in. I wanted to like the old gal but I didn't..and I'm bummed that they split the couple up and the homeless guy creeps me out.

You reading the Women's Murder Club by James Patterson? 7th Heaven came out. I picked it up the other night at Target and finished it last night. Great story, quick read!

OK..back to work. You'll find me tomorrow at Pumpkin's. ♥

Wanna learn how to make the heart? I found out at Skittles Place . She knows how to do EVERYTHING!

type out : & hearts ; Just squish those three things together and you get a heart ♥

Grandma

Grandma
Originally uploaded by mpkillmer

This cracked me up..this was from the purse party fundraiser at Drew's school..Grandma had a little somthin in her tooth.

Grandma's favorite saying was that you were a shit ass.
Yes, you read correctly. The woman was a hoot.. We'll miss her.

Back to work tomorrow..and Thursday then the wake is Friday and the funeral Saturday followed by a drive to Southern Ill for the burial.

:-(
Grandma's Funeral Notice is Up.

Grandma Passed Away

:-(

Very selfish..she died before we got to see her tonight. She had another heart attack.

A BOOK Meme

Kim tagged me for a book meme...Books and a meme.. can that be anymore up my alley?

Here are the rules:


1. Pick up the nearest book. (of at least 123 pages)
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people

So I'm sitting in my office which is the unofficial library at my office so have have a bajillion books to choose from.

1. The first book I picked up didn't have any writing and skipped over page 123.. The next book I picked up was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

2. OK..I did

3. .I see it...

4. "I have nightmares about rats nibbling at the ends of my hair".

Ruth liked the comfort she felt next to my sister-the heat their bodies created.

"Are you in love with Samuel?"

Have you read this book? WOW!! I highly recommend this book.

Tagging 5 people that should have a book near then.
1. Dolce
2. Melissa
3. Jean
4. Emily
5.Sarah

Grandma Update

Grandma is 89. She is J's mom's mom. She lives in town here...her husband passed away around 8 years ago. He was her buddy. They went to a one room school house in Illinois. They didn't speak English, only German. They grew up together and feel in love. They moved to St Louis and had 3 girls. Grandpa was in construction and Grandma taught preschool, raised her daughters and was always very involved in their church..and until this heart attack still was.

Grandma is a HOOT. It is a shame she's become mean in her older age. Mostly mean toward the people that are closest to her..like her daughters and J's cousins. When we see her she always talks about how she's going to die soon, she's been saying this for years..and she reminds us not to forget her.

So Grandma started not feeling well and called J's aunt. She of course called 911 right away and gave her 4 aspirin asap. They found 90% blockage. The first night she was confused and thought her daughers put her in a home. She pulled out the catheter and IV's. She was restrained for a while and has a 24 hour watch. VERY stubborn German woman. So now they are trying to get her blood pressure up, she is very tired and still a little confused.

J's going this afternoon and I'm going to go see her after work. Hopefully her body will decide to go on..I know her mind wants to go on..stubborn..



Thanks for all your well wishes in the previous post..and click the garbage can..OMG..I feel so blond.

Jacks going to my parents tonight..J's going to the hospital then take Drew to soccer..I'll go to the hospital then get the dog. We have Big Brother and American Idol recording..I also have Jericho recording in the bedroom. I have GOT to get to bed earlier tonight. We ran to Target to get some stuff in the ice last night..and to Blockbuster. So we came home and J talked to his mom; I started 7th Heaven..the new James Patterson novel..then we watched The Kingdom which was AWESOME!.

Note: Poptart now makes whole grain poptarts.. Bummer..not in the double chocolate fudge, but they do in Strawberry.

happy monday

Let's see..it's sleeting outside. It looks like Dippin Dots and it's VERY slippy. I'm hoping we get to go home early but I kind of doubt it. Drive home is going to SUCK!
This weekend I saw some movies.MP Review:Little Miss SunshineIt was worth my time for sure. It was a cute movie and very funny at times. Snarky. I'd give it 3 out of 4 stars.
The Hunting Party. 4 out of 4. This got bad reviews but I loved it. It's with Richard Gere and Terrence Howard. They are journalists that cover war. It's based on a true story about the wars in Bosnia. Very good movie..unreal..little snarky humor in just the right parts.
Did you watch the Grammy's? I did. I thought the show and entertainment was awesome..but the awards themselves..WTF?I am thinking that they went a bit overboard on Amy Winehouse.Tina Turner? Damn that woman looks good for her age!
There were Hip Hop awards but no Pop Music awards..discriminating? I think so. I would have liked to have seen Michael Buble get his award.
Big Brother starts tomorrow...so does Jericho! Wooo hoo!Hollywood week on American Idol AND the writers strike is almost over. Yeah! I love TV :-)
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Update:
If you left a comment here it was deleted since a friend hand some information that she wanted me to delete from comments and believe it or not I had no idea how to delete comments...So I just copied and pasted and redid the post..not very good either..

It took over an hour to get home tonight..a little slippy.
J's Grandma who is 89 had a heart attack. 90% blockage, she is very week but hanging on. Due to the ice we're not going to go out to see her tonight.

Weekly Winners!!!

Yes I got on the floor with him :-)





They really do love each other..the sleep with me in the bed all the time!





If you want to see more head on over to Sarcastic Mom!!

Crazed Gunman

Did you see the story? I was watching Survivor and "breaking news" broke into my show. I knew it wasn't a weather issue so I figured it would be a big deal. Boy was it.
First off..if anyone can explain to me why Johnny Fairplay is gone that would be nice..I thought it was going to be Eliza or the Pavaratti check.

You can read the official story of what happened here and here and here and here.
Here is my version from what I watched on TV for 4 hours.

Kirkwood is a municipality in St Louis County. It's about 10 miles from my house right down the highway. All these little areas have their own police department. If you live in a place like Kirkwood and you meet someone from out of town you just say that you live in St Louis...for a local you tell us Kirkwood and it means something. It is high on the lists of neighborhoods I would consider living.

There is a "black" area of Kirkwood. Most of it was very low income housing that happened to be lived in by African Americans/Afro Americans.. fill in the PC word. Most of this area was torn down a few years ago to build the Kirkwood Commons. There is a White Castle, O'Charley's, Walmart, Lowes, Target etc. They did rebuild more low income housing but it just wasn't the same. There has been some racial tension in this area for a while. Not everyone that is poor in Kirkwood is black, don't get me wrong. Remember Michael Devlin? He was white.
Anyway. In the 1970's Cookie was a high school then college athlete. He was loved by everyone. White and Black. Cookie was a popular guy. His family was born and raised and stayed in Kirkwood. Cookie married, had a daughter and opened his own business. From what I heard last night around 10 years ago Cookie started having "authority" issues. For instance all around here you are not allowed to park a "company van/truck" overnight in front of a residence. Everyone knows that. Cookie felt that rule didn't apply to him. He started getting fined when he broke the rules. Cookie through out the race card saying he was being unfairly percecuted. Cookie started throwing around law suites in the city and federal levels. Everything was denyed, he didn't have a leg to stand on. Cookie was pissed. He would go to cousel meetings demanding to be heard. He was dismissed. He started becoming very vocal and was removed by the police. (cursing, shouting jack ass and other not very nice things). This all started around 2001. Last week one of his law suites was thrown out again. Something in Cookie snaped. This smiling man who was friendly to others in the community grabbed his/a gun. He parked his car on the street near a hobby house. He made his way behind the buildings to a parking lot. There was a policeman getting pizza for the station...Cookie shot and killed him. He walked into the city hall and killed the next policeman that he saw. He walked into the coucil meeting ..right after they said the pledge of alligence and shot the mayor who is now in critical condition. He continued to scream about killing the mayor. Cookie killed 3 more city officials and wounded 2 people. The city hall is next store to the police station. The police came in and killed Cookie.
It just so happens a Kirkwood policeman was killed a while back. His killer was just sentenced to death. This community really needs some healing that is for sure.
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Updates: Cookie's family has been on TV and in the news stating that they support him and that it's the governments fault they were killed..they should have helped a brother out.
What I've found out from "inside" information ... (basically from a black gansta guy that is a baby daddy to one of the girls in the office)..he said that Cookie's family is all crooked/gansta/bad guys..and that they have been paying the cops off for years in order to be left alone to do what they will and that Cookie wouldn't pay the man he wanted to go by the rules. Well obviously that didn't work since this college educated man didn't realize that he couldn't speak at meetings without blowing his top, he should have had some type of representative. I don't know...

books books and more books

Thanks to reading around I have come upon this great Good Reads that I have added to the sidebar.. Join if you read and add me as a friend. What a great way to see what books are out there that your friends have enjoyed.

It will for SURE take me a while to get all my books added!

Mary Pat Interview at Pocket Aces

Robyn at Pocket Aces had the honor (snicker) of interviewing me!

Click at one of the million links on this post and go read it!

Interview of Lisa

How exciting! Here is my interview of Lisa. (this is ME asking Lisa questions, I'm in the bold)

Blog questions! Why did you start blogging? Do you have any real life friends that blog? Do your friends and family read your blog? What does your husband think? When do you take time to blog?
My cousin Karen and her husband moved to Japan a little over a year and a half ago. In order to stay in touch with family and friends back here in the US, she started a blog (http://www.kimonokaren.blogspot.com/). I started reading and then began exploring other sites and became addicted immediately. So I figured - why not give this a shot on my own in order to stay in touch with my out of state relatives. So many times I was left telling stories about the kids over and over again or intending to update the family on something happening in our lives and for one reason or another not get around to sharing it. Blogging just took care of that for me.
Although my friends and family read the blog, I get the impression that they aren't quite up to speed on the "etiquette" if you will, as the comments left behind on it are few and far between. It's obvious who understand the whole blogging thing and who doesn't. In all honesty, I think my hubby thought that starting the blog was a little absurd (although he never said so). But now that I've been at it for a while, I know that he enjoys it and is constantly checking for updates. I've offered him the password to help out with posts but I still can't get him to take me up on that offer. Maybe if I give him free reign to post about the Red Sox or Notre Dame... Anyhow, although I have a long way to go before I'm anywhere near as good at blogging as some of my favorite reads are, I have definitely evolved over the past year. Now if I could just find more time...
How did Uncle Kevin AKA Uncle Fat Kid get his name? What does he think about this nick name?
Ah, poor Kevin. (He's gonna strangle me for this one. He'll get over it.) Kevin has put on quite a bit of weight over the years. I'm told and from pictures that I've seen, he used to be an average sized 5'9" guy. Lot's of good food and numerous Bud Lights later...well let's just say he's not as svelte as he used to be! But he definitely has maintained his sense of humor about it all as he dubbed himself "Uncle Fat Kid" and continues to roll with it to this day.
What in the heck happened with your house? It was built on a barite mine? How did you find this out? Is the barite worth anything? Does this effect the entire neighborhood?
Wow! I had forgotten that I had ever written about this issue. I could go on and on for quite a while on this one but I'll spare you the smaller details and will try to keep it to the point. When my husband and bought our first house together back in 2001, although we wanted a niece sized piece of land, we really couldn't afford it. So we settled on a fantastic neighborhood, beautiful home - on a lot the size of a postage stamp.
Four years later, the housing market went through the roof and prices were almost double what they were before. We could finally afford that larger piece of land and so we went looking for our ideal home to raise the kids in. What we found was a little of 3/4 of an acre in the next town over. The house was ok, but definitely required some updating which I was looking forward to doing - starting with the kitchen and baths.
A month and half after we moved in, the Northeast was hit by some pretty severe rain storms that lasted for about a week and caused some major flood damage. We were lucky enough to have avoided any flooded but on the last day of the rain, we woke up to find a large gaping hole in our backyard that turned out to be a shaft to the barite mines. It was 10' off the back of my house, 15' in diameter and 35' deep!!!! I almost threw up the first time I approached the edge and looked down inside.
After much research we discovered that the town had mined for barite (a mineral that was used in white paint...unfortunately not worth anything today) back in the 1800's, shut down in the late 1800's but never closed the mines properly. They then proceeded to allow neighborhoods to be developed on this land.
We calculate that over 200 homes are affected by this along with some commercial property but the town of course denies having any part of it. We've tried so many different paths to get this resolved and continue to come up empty handed. So now we are caught up in a lovely little lawsuit with the town and the previous owners (who knew but still sold - no disclosure) that might not see the inside of a court room for another 2 years.
In the mean time, we've sunk $15,000 into closing the hole and are told that in order to fill the tunnels that run under our home and throughout our property, we're looking at around $500,000!!! (I don't know about anyone else's funds but that $15k blew out any thoughts of beginning renovations there and we certainly don't have access to $500k to fix the remaining issue.) And the ironic part of it all...we bought this place because of the LAND!!
If you had it all over to do again would you go through the whole ear piercing thing with your daughter again? When did you get your ears pierced? How old were you? Who took you?
Oddly enough, although Megan gave us quite a ride that day, I would do it again in heart beat. The drama that she piles on to the every day thing can be very over the top. (Proven by the way that she cut off the dramatics less than a minute after walking out of the store after we completed ear #2.)
I on the other hand was not allowed to get my ears pierced until I was almost 16 years old. Just a silly old rule that was put into effect for my older sisters that still remained when it was my turn. I remember the year that I was finally permitted to get them pierced...one of my sisters was getting married that October (1990 to be exact!) and I begged and pleaded with my parents to let me get them pierced so I could wear real earrings for the wedding and not the crazy clip ons. They of course refused. However, just two months later, my Mom surprised me on a trip to the mall by telling me I was getting an early Christmas present and had them done then. What difference the extra two months made is beyond me.
Have you noticed anything regarding Robert only having one kidney? Is he just as crazy as the other kids?
We found out that Robert had only one kidney during a routine ultrasound at my OBGYN office. We then began monthly visits to Yale so that they could monitor the development and begin testing for any other potential issues. Apparently having one kidney can be completely normal and even hereditary. Or it can be just one of numerous indications that there is something much more complex happening to the developing child. Although we don't know for sure if it's hereditary (I have both of my kidneys but my hubby hasn't been tested) it was determined that there were no underlying issues and the remaining kidney is fully functioning. And on the day that he was born, within two minutes, he had urinated twice - one time drenching the nurse. Although we had been told prior to his birth that everything was fine, after seeing firsthand that everything was in working order, I think I finally released the breath that I had been unaware I was holding for the last few months.
There are no outward signs of the issue and in all actuality, he's an enormous child. Off the charts in fact. So it's not like it has affected his growth or eating in any way. His personality is not quite as nutty as the older kids and so far he seems very laid back and calm. He's still young though and I'm sure he'll be picking up some good stuff from Matt as he gets older and they begin playing together more often. So anything could change!!
You have an entire week without family responsibilities. What do you do? Where do you go? Who do you take with you? (husband not allowed)
Hhhhmmm...no family, no husband...no worries, right? I would take my Mom and 3 sisters someplace warm. Someplace where we could just sit our rear ends on the beach, drink some fruity cocktails and let the sun soak into our bodies. And I'm not particular - it can be any beach. But it must be warm! (Can you tell that I'm tired of winter already?)
You have won the lottery. It's an obscene amount of money. You have paid off all your debt, your families debt and secured trusts for your children and grandchildren. You still have a boatload of money left over? What do you do with it to indulge yourself?
The first thing I would do is get the F*%K out of the mine pit that we call home today. We've talked about moving south so we'd probably head to the Carolina's somewhere. I'd then take the entire family, mine and my husbands, on a vacation. Nothing over the top. In fact maybe we'd start out with Disney, for the kids who have never been, then head off to a mutually agreed upon spot that we would all enjoy. We'd probably head back to reality for a few months but then I'd make sure that my husband and I were able to take our dream vacation to Tahiti, Bora Bora, Morea and what the heck - we'd head to Fiji too. I'd also make sure that we were able to pick a vacation spot every year that would be traveled to with our kids and another every year for just he and I.
Beyond my grand vacation and home buying plans, as long as everything else was taken care of financially, I would just want to live a casual, laid back life where we could come and go however and whenever we wanted.
I'm going to assume you have an iPod. If you don't then just play with me here. What is on your playlist? What are the top Lisa songs that mean something to you. Name as many as you like. Highlight one that is kind of a Lisa theme song.
My playlist depends on my mood. I can listen to any kind of music - except rap. I'm currently stuck on Michael Buble, some random jazz music and the soundtrack to A Lot Like Love. But that could change next month when I get into a country music kick. (Although that never lasts too long - just enough to get a fix.) Anything can trigger the change; the mood I'm in, the weather that day, an upcoming concert that I'm anticipating going to (went through that phase with Billy Joel and Rod Stewart). I have a habit of playing my favorites over and over to the point where I still love them but can't stand listening to them anymore and have to take a much needed break.
Theme song? I've never really thought about that before. And the more I think of it now, I keep going back to the little ditty that Jack Black creates in the movie The Holiday for the Arthur Abbott character. Now I can't think of anything else except the piano music and the old man scaling the stairs at the end of the movie.
Do you read other people's blogs? If so what is your favorite blog?
Like I said above, I've become addicted to blogs. My first real addiction was Amalah, which lead to MamaPop. From those spots I've expanded to: Silly Little Girl, All & Sundry, Not That You Asked, Whoorl, The Shape of a Mother and most recently, Autismville (over on Parents.com). I peruse others sporadically but I try to not get into them too much or my day would be spent reading blogs instead of working!
What question were you hoping that I would ask that I didn't? Ask and answer please!
I can't say that I was anticipating anything in particular and in fact was wondering how anyone would be able to pull anything interesting out of my blog to ask about. However, you've asked some great questions and I've had a lot of fun answering them!
But if I have to add on to here, how about blogging pet peeves? My two biggest pet peeves would be cyber trolls. It irritates me to no end how someone feels that they have to post negative comments and/or attack a blogger. It eats me up even further when it then turns into an attack on fellow commenters who defend the blogger or when it just continually gets hashed out over and over. Let's all stop feeding the troller egos and simply delete their inappropriate comments!
The second pet peeve would be lurkers. If you're kind enough to read the blog - leave an occasional comment. It gets a little lonely out here without knowing if anyone else is living on (or should I say visiting) the same island!!
Answer..email back to me and I'll create a post. Did you want to proof it before I post?
No need to proof it - I trust you! Thanks again!!!!

Cue the Jeopardy Music

I'm waiting... Robyn is interviewing me; she left me a comment that her interview is ready and she needed my email. Silly girl I left it on her blog yesterday.
In the mean time I sent my interview to Lisa..I'm waiting for all the answers and then I'll be posting that.

Have you done this? Go do it.. All the cool kids are. Nice way to meet new bloggers too.

Did you vote yesterday? I did, it was Super Tuesday here. My vote counted. I voted against Hillary. She didn't win Missouri. My work for the democratic party is now done. Speaking of politics, today is President Regan's birthday.. I miss him. To be honest with you I'm not really thrilled with anyone from any of the parties this year. I have a hard time picturing any of them as president. This is the first time in my voting life that I don't feel strongly about it one way or the other..well I was all for keeping the Clintons in Arkansas..New York...just out of DC.

Today is Ash Wednesday. I've eaten my first 2 meals of the day. My 3rd will be at Cunetto's tonight. J's dad is in town for a board meeting from AZ..he's taking us to dinner. I've already read the menu on line. I think I'm going to go for the Filet of Sole...maybe or the linguini and clams..the fish may be better for me though. I don't know. No eating between meals today. I make sure I eat smart. I had some tuna on these jewish cracker things and a baked potato w/ spray butter for lunch. It's a rock in my belly right now.

We had a doozy of a storm yesterday. Nothing of course like the tornados that ripped through the south. Wild system. I would have preferred it to be in snow and not rain.

I'm going to kill the dog. He was in his crate sleeping too much yesterday and stayed up almost ALL night last night. Little shit.

Hopefully the interviews will be up later today!

Melissa did her Rockstar MEME...hers turned out REALLY cool. Makes me want to do more!

MP Book Review

Except for the one time in Amsterdam when I picked a "coffee house" experience over the long line at Anne Franke's...I have ALWAYS jumped and being educated about WWII...especailly Nazi Germany. The entire story of the war in Europe facinated me. I read books, watch movies..I've been to the Holocaust museum in DC.. I'm not sure what excatly draws me. Maybe it's that I actually have German blood.. at least that's what the papers say.

Anyway.. I just read Those Who Save Us this weekend. WOW.. This novel is so unique. Everything about it blew me away. You meet Anna who is a German girl during WWII..and Trudy her daughter who is born before the war is over. You follow them both in Germany and in real time in Minnesota. You see everyone...the SS officers, hookers, crooks, children, soldiers, jews. You see every type of emotion. Hope, Fear, Desparation, Love, Loathing...
This is so different from the Ken Follet books that I read but I loved it equally.

Caught Up On My Reading! WHEW

It took me an entire week to get caught up on my blog reading. On top of that there were 53 blogs to read from the Weekly Winners this week...That is 53...minus me = 52..then there were three Sarah's that wouldn't open + one www.sacrcasticmom.com and that equals...a buttload of blogs to read!

This all became back logged because I started watching TV a little more..AND I didn't feel like sitting in front of the computer cause I felt like ass.

So I'm all caught up. I signed up to do that interview thingy..I don't have a confirmation yet on my victim..I mean guest.. I think that sounds like fun! This means someone will interview ME too..

So..let's see, first we'll talk about the weather. You saw that we got snow..and boy did we get snow. 9inches!! Driving to work Friday really wasn't that bad..and it was SO pretty! Saturday we attempted to make a snowman but I was just so durn sicky all weekend I didn't have the energy to stay outside very long.
So guess what?
Come on, guess??
You know what the temperature is RIGHT NOW!~!?? IT's 74 degrees. I have no idea what that is in Canadian...but it's Warm... So this morning there was this thick fog all over the place...and it was humid..I wore a turtleneck and a coat..I thought they said it was 28 at 6am..it was 48. So now I'm sitting here in my office when it's sunny and like springtime outside. Well it's not going to last.. Thunderstorms tonight (to get rid of the rest of the snow) and then maybe rain tomorrow and snow on Wednesday.

Speaking of Wednesday..did you know that it is already Ash Wednesday? I don't go to church anymore since I don't get off work early enough and church is too far to run at lunch. Tomorrow is voting... The cadidate that I was going to vote for dropped out..so did another one. I have to decide if I am going to go in and vote AGAINST the person that I don't want to ever ever be president...or do I go in and actually vote for the person that I hope to be voting for in November. Hmmm

I will let you know what I decide :-)

It's Weekly Winners Time!

I missed last week, but I really didn't take many shots..These are the ones that I have decided to share this week!











For MORE...please go see Lotus at Sarcastic Mom!! If you take pictures please join every Sunday!

ready for my closeup

ready for my closeup
Originally uploaded by mpkillmer

Self portrait...It's so...I don't know. I was messing around last week and took a bunch of pictures of myself.

I need my brows waxed..and I'm thinking I HATE that my nose is always so red..I can tell where my glasses were...

Oh well...

My "illness" is pretty gone..but now I have a KILLER cold...head and chest cold. Just as I was feeling better.

Damn!

ROCKSTAR MEME

THIS...is my album cover!!

My band is Othmarisngen.. Kind of a cool name..and the name of the album is "fact they do so"... I added the Live..just for the hell of it.

The picture is curtosy of FREEBIRD

(when doing this MEME..make sure that all rights aren't reserved on the image and make SURE to credit the person that takes the image..you may have to click the link a few times to find one that is under creative commons..I'm PRETTY sure that is how it works)

Oh..and I stole this MEME from Jean.. She likes meme's too!

Want to be a rockstar, too? Follow these steps:

1. Click this link The first title on this page is the name of your band. (this means the title of the wiki entry...mine happend to be a city in Switzerland..but before this I had clicked a movie title cause I didn't know what i was doing..so it's the top of the page basically)

2. Now click this link The last four words of the very last quote is the name of your album. If it doesn't work at all, click the "New Random Quotations" button for more.

3. And finally, click this link. The third picture on this page will be your album cover. Add your band name and album title, and you're done! (Please remember to give credit for the original picture.)

Please do this meme and let me know, cause we all need to have a little rock in our life. SO I think everyone needs to do this if you wanna have some fun!

It's like a blind date

Well..some of you may have joined the Valentine Day thingy... (click on the link)

Well I have my match, JEAN. And as she put it on my comment it's like a blind date. I only briefly visited her blog last night.. Well that is because I was busy watching it snow and watching The Good Witch on the Hallmark Channel.
So go visit Jean and give her some love... I need to go visit more today too.

I'm really just now getting caught up...I still don't feel 100%.. But I really want to go sled riding. I am SO excited about all the snow! Read here if you are interested about MY snow!
I want to get the saucer out and go to Art Hill. When I was little dad, my friend Patty and I all landed in the half frozen pond at the bottom... Man was I wet and crying. The charcoal they had at the bottom of the hill didn't stop the red flyer that we were riding and we went flying off... I landed in the pond/lake, Patty landed on the charcoal and dad landed on the snow. Nice people picked me up..they were ice skating.. Poor dad was freaked out..

OK..back to work. We're a national company so those other folks don't care about our snow.. :-)

For the Love of All Things Decent - Save The 4400!!

Please go sign this petition. Thanks to lots of people Jericho was saved! I am so happy since that is one of my shows.

I look forward to my Sunday shows though too durning the summer. I have The 4400 and Dead Zone. I can't even image not having The 4400 on. Do you people watch that show? As far as I'm concerned this is one of the best Sci-Fi shows on TV..better than Lost or Heroes.

Go sign the petition...even if you've never seen the show, do it for me!