Thursday, May 25, 2006

Memorial Day - The Camping Season has Begun

So we're camping at Wells State Park this weekend. It's right in Sturbridge so if any of you want to come up and visit, please feel free to give me a call. Blixx headed out a little while ago. He took all of our stuff so he's planning on setting up the tent, screenhouse and everything, then chill this evening with Toad. Cass & I will join them tomorrow at some point and stay thru Monday. The Weather looks pretty good, with the possible exception of thunderstorms tomorrow evening, which we can certainly work around. It will be in the 80's Sunday and Monday - woo hoo! I can't wait to see Cass in her little bikini on the beach.
I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures of our adventures when we return.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Mother's Day Weekend

This was a pretty good weekend for the most part. Saturday I spent the day cleaning & organizing the house for the Mother's visit. Not only did I vaccum everywhere, but dusting and actually picking stuff up and putting it where it goes. Well, putting it upstairs in the 'office' to rot. I also caught up on GH (holy crap! Anna & Holly & Robert Scorpio are back....and old!)and Alias, as well as listening to music entirely too loud. You see, we let Blixx sleep in until almost noon, sent him & Cass into the shower then off with Grips & Vic to the Worcester Ecotarium. It's been raining for what seems like forever and Cass definately needed to run her little self out. They all had a great time, & Blixx brought home pizza for dinner so it was all good.
I get tense around my mother. That's an understatement really, but you get the idea. Add Blixx's mother to the mix and I've got palpitations, so you can imagine me runnign around the house making sure the cats stop shedding, keeping Cass's ponytails in...snapping at my husband. Oh ya, it was classic. So I'm all freaking out because they are on their way - then 11 comes & goes and I'm freaking out because they aren't there yet. Grrrr.
Anyway, we all went to the Post Office Pub and met Grip's family (grandmothers, sisters...there was 15 of us) to have a nice breakfast buffet. The food was wonderful, as was the company. Our moms came back to the house and we looked at pictures from Blixx's mom's trip to New Zealand & Australia. Wow she saw some wonderful sights and had a great time. They were all out of the house by around 4pm, at which time I promptly ditched the pantyhose and went right for the sweatpants & fleece look. Cass went upstairs for some rest (NOT a nap, cuz she's a big girl and don't you forget it)and Blixx went out to do some errands. He came home & we were both on the couch watching Stealth. OMG what a piece of drek. And since when do USNavy fighter pilots get to wear belly shirts as their uniforms? Anyway, I decided to really milk the Mother's Day thing and lay around as much as possible so Blixx sure had his hands full with Cass. She helped him make shepards pie for dinner even.
Grips came by later on & we watched the Survivor finale and I drank too much wine.
Yesterday was so rainy and miserable, I didn't get out of my pajamas until almost 2pm. I just didn't see the need to. Cass & I stayed in and read some books and watched the movie Valiant (ok I dozed, I admit it)and took a day of rest. I've got to say, I'm feeling pretty good right now for it. Cass slept until after 8 this mornign so that might have something to do with it too. Or its just the coffee talking. Mmmmm talking coffee.
Today we're heading to B&N story hour, which I assume will be packed due to the weather, then going to the health food store to do some grocery shopping. I can not stress enough how cool Trader Joe's is as a market. You MUST go there, especially for snacks. Not everything there is good for you, but it's less sugar and less preservatives and less sodium. I think I'll grab their crispy orange chicken for dinner tonight. Nice & easy. We'll go to the pet store next door so Cass can see the fish & birds & ferrets. Later this evening I'm going out with friends to my favorite seedy bar to watch the Red Sox cream Baltimore. Tomorrow I watch Q & I think I'll grab that Ecotarium pass and take them up there again to run around. I don't think Q has ever been so Cass can show him around. Thursday we have a fun playgroup at a local church, then Blixx has the day off so we'll come home & wake him up. By that time camping will be only a week away so we've got to get our gear together. I imagine there will be a big trip to EMS or REI in our near future. I think we're heading to the library on Friday for some animal or train show. I don't remember what they had scheduled, but whatever...free entertainment for my kid is hard to find.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

US Citizenship Quiz - Looks like I'm getting deported

You Failed the US Citizenship Test

Oops, you only got 5 out of 10 right!

Holy Crap - I Passed 8th Grade Math

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 7/10 correct!

8th Grade Science

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 7/8 correct!

8th Grade Geography

You Failed 8th Grade Geography

Sorry, you only got 6/10 correct!

Deadly Sins

Your Deadly Sins
Greed: 60%
Sloth: 60%
Gluttony: 40%
Pride: 40%
Envy: 20%
Lust: 20%
Wrath: 20%
Chance You'll Go to Hell: 37%
You will die love and feared by many. And you'll be buried in a tomb.

Monday, May 08, 2006

The Weekend

Greetings readers.My weekend started on Thursday when Grips decided to go on an evening kayak trip and that he wanted some company. Blixx had been up since 4am for work, then had gone biking with Toad, so he was DONE so I got the pass. We went to Buffumville and had a some margaritas as we floated around in the quiet. Ok, the peepers were out of control so it wasn't that quiet but still really relaxing. Neither of us needed a lot of conversation and that was fine with me to just chill and float with a nice drink in hand. Ahhhhhhh.
Friday Cass & I stuck around the house for a while, playing outside in the yard, then went & ran some errands. I finally returned the library books - man, I don't know what my problem is with that! I got paid by the radio station. We then stopped by our friend Tree's house and let the girls play for a while so I could listen to her bitch about mother's day and mothers in general. It was quite the rant. Blixx worked a little late on Friday so Cass requested hash & eggs for dinner - out of the blue, so I was obliged to give in. Besides, I love a good breakfast any time of the day.
Blixx had to work Saturday at Northeastern's graduation, so after being very very very lazy in our pj's all morning, I finally hauled her into the car and we went to the Apple Blossom Festival at Tougas Farm. After threatening to rain all day I finally got sick of waiting and dontcha know, it POURS on the drive over there, to the point where I almost turned around. Glad I stuck it out though because it ended up being beautiful & sunny.


She's a sucker for the petting zoo.

Funny Face! All hopped up on strawberry donuts.

Yesterday Cass & I went to church in the morning, then collected Blixx and headed to Rutland State Park for a family kayak with Grips & the gang. It was a beautiful sunny but cool day, the girls were well behaved. Toad even joined us! It was positively lovely! I took Cass in my boat for the first half, then Blixx had her for the second so I could just sort of drift back to shore. We saw turtles and a water snake so Cass was psyched. Vic even paddled her own boat most of the way & did a great job. Cass wants to be in her own boat so we're thinking that Memorial Day we'll put her in the little boat and tow her behind us & see what happens. My baby is growing up. Now if she'd only shit in the toilet life would be grand.

We went to Ronnie's for fried seafood & ice cream after and it was just about as close to a perfect family day as I can remember.

So I should hold on to that feeling because today Blixx starts a 9 day job where he's got to drive to Manchester NH every day for a 8am start so he's leaving the house at 6:30 which means he'll be up at 5:30 every morning. It's a cooking shoot so the perks should be great, and I'm sending him with a cooler every day to bring me leftovers, but it will be a long hard couple of days.

This week - hmmm, let me see. Today Cass & I are going to do some yard work and I should probably clean out my car - it has exceeded even my expectations for yucky. Oh, and laundry. Lots of laundry. Tomorrow we're meeting some friends to see Mission Impossible 3 at the Mommie movie. Cass won't be interested in the flick, but she'll have her little friend Livvie with her, as well as my buddy BabyGeorge. Cass told me to go to the store and get a BabyGeirge for myself just the other day. It was classic. Almost as good as when I was changing Q and points and yells PEEEEEENIS, then tries to take her own pants off to show him her 'gina. Wednesday I've got Q again for a few hours at least, and I think I'll have my mom come up if she NEEDS to this week. Thursday we have playgroup in the morning then weather permitting, I want to get some friends to take a walk in the woods with us or something in the afternoon. I'm not exactly sure as to what next weekend holds for us, other than Mother's Day.
I can't even think about that right now.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Stay at Home Mom Salary

Check out this article in regard to a recent study.

This seemed particularly intriquing:

"To reach the projected pay figures, the survey calculated the earning power of the 10 jobs respondents said most closely comprise a mother's role -- housekeeper, day-care teacher, cook, computer operator, laundry machine operator, janitor, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive and psychologist."

Sounds about right.

Gotta talk to the boss about a raise.