You Are Temperance

So I'm tooling around Bedtime Stories tonight, and I came across this quiz entitled What tarot card are you? I'm not really into all the whole tarot card thingy, but I decided to try the link and give it a try (since I am curious about stuff). Anyway, according to the quiz, I am Temperance.

You are Temperance
Time. Ages. Transformation. Involuntary change

Temperance is another card of aspiration, but also of much change. It often represents complex situations. Positively, you can harmonize contrary forces.
Temperance is, on a surface level, about "tempering." The original pouring from cup to cup might have been about cutting wine with water. So this is a card about moderation. There is, however, another angle to the card, that of merging seemingly impossible opposites. Sagittarius, the centaur, merges beast and man into a unique creature. And then there is the bow and arrow, one moving, one stationary, working together to point the way. Temperance may be, at first glance, a warning for you to "temper" your behavior, to cut your wine with water. But it may also be a reminder to that seemingly irreconcilable opposites may not be irreconcilable at all. Belief that fiery red and watery blue cannot be merged may be the only thing standing in the way of blending the two. Change the belief, measure out each with care, and you can create otherworldly violet.

What Tarot Card are You?

Take the Test to Find Out.

I'm sure if I took the quiz again and gave different answers, I'd get something entirely different. But you do have to admit, things like this are kinda fun, aren't they?

Look at Them Lashes!

One of the things I love the most about my EmmyBug is her amazing eyelashes. Adam has the same long, lush, luxurious dark brown lashes. When people meet Emmy for the first time, they usually comment on her big beautiful eyes, her multitude of lashes, or a combination of the two.

Emmy had rehearsal for her ballet recital today, so she did have on a little bit of make-up. As we were standing at the check-in table, I overheard a couple of mothers talking about the little girl "over there" that was wearing the false eyelashes. I looked over at the moms just in time to catch both of them quite openly staring - almost gawking - at EmmyBug.

I caught their eyes, and smiled politely. I didn't say anything to either of the two women, but I did have a few things that ran through my brain...

Are you crazy? My daughter doesn't need false eyelashes!

Take that, you Barbie-wanna-be-bleach-bottle hussy!

My daughter has better eyelashes than you AND your spaghetti-thin, over protected weakling!

Try getting those babies from an over-priced plastic surgeon! Not gonna happen!

It's Here! It's Here!

I finally saw both trailers for Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix. If the trailer is only a smidgen of what we can expect from the movie, then hold onto your broom sticks! It's going to be a fantastic ride.

http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/

I've Had It!!!

I am at the point that I need a serious intervention. You know that show on A&E that follows an addict and ends with the addict's family and an interventionist telling the addict that they either accept help or accept the consequences of using drugs? For me it's not a drug addiction, it's the inability to clean. Are there interventionists for my disease?

I don't know if "Clean Sweep" is accepting applicants for any new episode, but if they are, I'm ready and willing for them to come sweep my house!

You Have GOT to be Kidding Me!

I'm tooling around on a few of my favorites, and I come across something very disturbing - think the Cialis commercial, but more terrifying. The movie-turned-Broadway-production-turned-movie-again Hairspray is being released this summer, and I just came from the website. John Travolta and Christopher Walken are portraying Edna and Wilber Turnblad, parents of the film's main character, Tracy Turnblad.

I am sorry to say that although the movie looks promising, I don't think that I am going to like it because of Travolta in a fat suit. For the life of me, I can't see anybody in that role other than Harvey Firestein (he made the Broadway production sizzle). I will have to say that the movie's saving grace will more than likely be Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle. She totally rocks!

Check out the trailer at http://www.hairsprymovie.com/.

My Side of the Story

I just finished reading my hubby's blog, and I am very disturbed by his most recent posting (Adam's Blog is linked at right). What he conveniently leaves out of his story is the fact that this happens EVERY MORNING, not just today!

Adam also left out the fact that when he woke me up at 5:45 AM, he asked if his jeans were in the dryer or if I (meaning his still half-slumbering wife) needed to put them in the dryer. When I told him that they needed to be put in the dryer, he then asks me to "help" him get his breakfast and lunch ready for work today. I'll do the dryer, but I'm not traipsing downstairs to fix his food for him. The sun's still down, for cryin' out loud!!! He should be happy that I set the coffee machine for this morning.

Isn't it amazing how certain details are omitted when different people tell the same story? Shocking!

Caught Red Handed!

The Soda Thief strikes again! Don't you just love the look on Jilly's face? It's like she's saying "What do you mean I have to ask first?" She's just too cute for her own good.

Daddy's on His Own Today

Like most weekends, I had to work, so Adam was on his own to take the girls to a birthday party at The Andersons' today. Emily (on her own) and Jillian (with a little help from Mommy) picked out their outfits and carefully set them out the night before so that everything would be ready. I sent Adam an e-mail with a couple of things in case I forgot to tell him the next morning as he was coming in from the Shop and I was on the way out the door to the pharmacy.

Anyway, the party started at 1:00, so I told Adam that if he wanted me to fix Emmy's hair to bring her by on the way out and I would do it. He didn't, but did pull her hair back into one big pony tail. I'm sure it looked very nice, but by the time I got home from work, it looked like she'd slept in it (if you've had the privilege of sleeping with her, then you understand what I'm talking about).

I'm almost glad it's time for Emmy's ballet recital. After that, she gets her summer hair cut - hooray!

I've Peed in My Pants

Figuratively, that is. It's the middle of the night, and I know I should be counting some type of mammal, but I've just visited Blue Girl's Blog (http://bluegirlredstate.typepad.com) , and found a thread entitled Just Having Fun With Bush. Scroll down and find the post entitled Expert Advice From Our Nation's Leading Speechalist. Check it out if you have a free couple of minutes. It's good for a laugh or two.

The Soda Thief & The Princess

It is understood in our house that if Adam has a diet soda, then it is fair game for everyone. We've tried giving the girls their own cups, but everybody ends up drinking from Daddy's cup - the abandoned cups sitting on the coffee table in puddles of water condensed on the outside from the melting ice. Here's tonight's prime example of The Soda Thief...




Emily likes to dress up, but not in the normal way most kids like to play dress up - she likes to dress up like several things at once. Tonight, she is a Ballerina Princess Kitty Cat Butterfly (although the order of her title is likely to change at any given moment). Here she is posing for the camera.

Day Two for Adam

It's Day Two of NutriSystem for Adam. So far, so good. He's alredy lost 7.5 pounds (so he reported after getting off the scale).

Keep up the good work! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Sisterly Love

I think I may have opened a can of worms with breakfast this morning. Since most of the breakfast items we have in the house are quick and easy, I decided to do something a little bit fun - I asked Emmy if she wanted to help make 1, 2, 3 Biscuits this morning. Of course, she was all into baking, so we turned on the oven and got a can of biscuits out of the fridge.

Each biscuit had to be rolled out. Emmy carefully chose which number cookie cutter to use. She (with a little help from Mommy and Jilly) cut out the buscuits and placed them carefully on the cookie sheet. The cookie sheets were put into the oven until they were just slightly golden.

While we waited for the buscuits to cook, Emmy showed Jilly the proper way to cut numbers out of playdough. The dough had to be rolled out just right, and the cookie cutter had to be positioned just right on the playdough. In the end, this is what Sisterly Love looks like...

Let's Get Walking

Kimmie suggested that we start walking together. I'm all for it. The more folks we can get to walk with our group, the more accountable we all will be. How about tonight???

Hooray - Part 2

Today is Adam's first day on NutriSystem. I could tell - before he even got to work - it was going to be a rough day. We both got up about 5:30 AM - him to shower, me to get his meals together for breakfast and lunch. Adam doesn't really like dairy, so adding this into his diet is a little more difficult (I guess I'm going to have to add a lot of calcium rich vegetables). Anyway, I jumped in the shower. When I got out, I could hear his truck pulling out of the drive way. I threw on my robe and headed downstairs to fix my morning cup o' joe. Before I could even take the first sip, Adam walked back in the door.

"What did you forget? My good-bye kiss this morning?" Adam looks very sheepish.

"No," he replied. "I forgot my bag."

Good to know that he remembered his breakfast and lunch when he was pulling out of the drive way instead of half-way to work. I also got an extra kiss, so that wasn't too bad.

Good luck to my hubby today!! We Love You!!!

Hooray for Adam!

A couple of weeks ago, Adam told me that he wanted to check out the NutriSystem program to see what it was all about. I told him that I thought it was a good program, and reminded him that I had been on the NutriSystem program in the late 1990's and I had done really well. At the time, I was about 250. By the time I finished the program, I was about 175. With the exception on putting on a few pounds here and there, I was able to keep a good amount of the weight off. When we got married, I think I was about 190. For me that was great!

Tomorrow will be a new beginning for Adam. We ordered the NutriSystem program towards the end of last week and it arrived today via UPS. I sorted everything out and arranged "Adam's cabinet" with all of his goodies. Tonight, he will have his "last meal" and then the roughest part - he's got to get on the scale.

It's going to be tough, but I'm with him 100%.

Growing Up and Growing Older

I got a call earlier this morning to remind me that the girls both have appointments with the pediatrician on Thursday morning - Jilly has her 15 month and Emmy has her 4 year old Well Visit. This got me thinking that it won't be much longer until both girls are only having Well Visits - not the every 3 to 6 months they do when they're babies.

Adam and I often talk about having another baby, but I'm torn. My pregnancy with Emmy was rather uneventful, except for the fact that I gained almost 100 pounds. I really liked being pregnant with Jilly. You couldn't even tell that I was pregnant until I turned to the side. All total, I think I gained 35 pounds during my second pregnancy - that included the baby!

I'm not going to think about another baby right now. Things are too screwy with school. If we did have another one, where would that baby sleep, and would the two older ones really want to share a bedroom? I'll think about it later...

In Prayer

Dear God, I sit in reflection on the events that have transpired today on the campus of Virginia Technical Institute. Lord, Hear my prayers.

Be with those on campus as they battle this tragedy they were thrust into this morning.

Be with the parents of those students and faculty members that were killed.

Be with the students and school personnel that were injured. Speed them recovery, mentally and physically.

Be with the families of those that are injured.

Be with the family of the young man accused of this horrendous action.

Be with the health care professionals - emergency personnel, nurses, doctors - as they care for those that were injured. Grant them knowledge so that they may speed healing to the injured and comfort to the families.

Be with the school Administrators as they work to improve security through out campus.

Be with our country as we try to understand why this happened, the wounds that this has inflicted, and the anguish this has imposed upon our well being.

Lord, Hear Our Prayers. Grant peace and serenity to those 32 souls that have entered Your Kingdom today. May they dwell in Your love forever.

Amen

Disturbing Thought

I woke up last night from a very disturbing dream. It's several years in the future, and both the girls are grown. I'm at the mall with some friends having lunch, and I overhear some young guys talking about this "hot babe" they saw at some strip club the weekend before. It didn't mean much to me, but it did get me thinking... If your child is a stripper, what do they list as their occupation on their income tax returns? Do they list "Exotic Dancer" or "Pole Maven"? What about "Femme Fatal"?

It really had nothing to do with my dream, but it is something to think about...

Bedtime Stories

One of the links that I have on my page is to another blog entitled Bedtime Stories. I have no idea who the guys is, but his profile states he's a 30-something doctor living in Malaysia. I stumbled onto his page whilst reading an entry on another favorite page, Puntabulous. The author, one of my fabulous brothers-in-law, lists several links for other blogs. One day while recovering from a rather side splitting episode of Super Viagra, I checked out the other pages that Craig had linked, and the name caught my eye. Interesting, thought I.

Anyway, it's been a couple of days since I last checked in on the adventures of Dr. Bedtime Stories. The last posting was about running into a guy in a bakery that recognized him, but he couldn't figure out who in the blue-blazes this kid was. Long story short, the kid was the baby brother of a friend from high school, and the last time The Good Doctor saw him, the kid was kindergarten age, chubby and naked (so states the kid).

Where am I going with this? I really have no idea, but it did get me thinking about something... If you ran into someone that knew you, but you couldn't remember them to save your life, would you pretend to remember the person to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation, or would you admit to a total brain fart?

Think about it...

From The Mouths of Babes...

I'm making potato salad to take to a friend's house for dinner tonight. Jillian is taking a much needed nap, and Emily is having art time. I hear Emily stomping on the ground.

"An ant! Mommy, IT'S AN ANT!" Continuous foot stomping accompanied by some chuckling.

"Where? Show me." I ask, looking for this minute creature my eldest is apparently afraid of.

"THERE!!!" More continuous foot stomping.

"Honey, I don't see anything."

"Don't worry, Mom. I think it's dead. Oh, well back to work."

Fire the Bastard - Part 2

CBS finally did the right thing and fires Don Imus. If it was up to me, he would have been fired that day. On the spot. No questions asked, and no two weeks paid vacation.

Women need to rule the world. If that was the case, he would never be heard from again. That's my two cents.

A Moment of Reverence, Please

I learned today that Kurt Vonnegut died last night at his home in New York at the age of 84. Vonnegut is an individual that has had such an impact on everyday life in American Society that his absence will be felt as a gaping whole.

So in memory of his amazing, and often controversial, life, we bid you a fond farewell, Mr. Vonnegut. As a result of your works of literary prose, our lives are that much richer. Thank you for your contributions.

"I One The Ice Cream Truck..."

Adam and Emily have this game they play called "I One The Ice Cream Truck". The first time I heard them doing this exchange, I thought it was the corniest thing in the world. Emily absolutely loves it. You can, of course, substitute anything for the ice cream truck. It generally goes something like this:

Emily: I one the ice cream truck.
Adam: I two the ice cream truck.
Emily: I three the ice cream truck.
Adam: I four the ice cream truck.
Emily: I five the ice cream truck.
Adam: I six the ice cream truck.
Emily: I seven the ice cream truck.
Adam: I eight the ice cream truck.
Emily: You ate the ice cream truck! Daddy, you can't eat an ice cream truck!

Adam feigns hysterical laughter and Emily shrieks to break glass.

Ah, the joys of childhood.

Frustratingly Bad Turns Good

I finally got pulled off the wait list for the AHS 104 class, and I'm officially in. Last night was the first class, and it looks like this is going to be the most boring class I have taken. This class was originally supposed to be 15 students. In talking with the instructor last night after class, she told me that some how the schedule got screwed up and of the 4 sections that were being offered, this was the only one at night. Clear as mud, huh?

Fire the Bastard!

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about Shrub in this posting. I'm referring to Don Imus.

It's been on the talk shows today, and one of the lead stories on the nightly news, so I'm sure that everyone is quickly getting tired of the half-hearted appologies that Imus has issued. I feel for the Women of Rutgers, the Women of America, the Women of this Amazing Planet. It is a case of "open mouth - swallow entire body".

Hopefully, somebody will quickly realize this man does not belong on the public airwaves.

Not So Frustratingly Bad News - Part 2

So the frustratingly bad news has been upgraded to the "Crap!" classification. I talked to the Admissions Office today, and I have to retake the Biology course. CRAP! However, the upside to this is that I get to take it on-line, so I decide when I get to go to class and what I wear.

I'm still waiting on the AHS 104 thingy. I'm wait listed for the evening class, but I got into the Tuesday - Thursday morning class. Again, I say CRAP!

Blue Girl Rocks!!

This is the most recent posting from one of my favorite blogs. You go, Blue Girl (http://bluegirlredstate.typepad.com/)!!!!

Even Rebels Have to Tuck Sometimes

"Do I have to tuck?"
"Yes. You have to tuck."
"Why?!"
"Blue Kid, don't start. Just tuck!"
The Skimmer yells from another room, "C'mon, Blue Kid. We only ask you to tuck twice a year. Now tuck!"
"Why? Who cares? I hate the country club. It's so stuffy."
"Don't think of it as the country club. Think of it as free food. Now, tuck your shirt in."
We get to the club my parents belong to and are standing in the coat check line when Blue Kid leans over to me and says, "Nothing but old, rich white guys. It's like a Halliburton convention in this place."
I just love Blue Kid.

God, I just love Blue Girl!

Chocolate High

You might or might not know that I gave up chocolate for Lent. Since the Season is over now, I'm devouring anything that remotely resembles, smells or looks like this wonderful delight. I sure am glad that research says a small bit of dark chocolate is good for your health.

Bad thing is I think I gained back those 10 pounds already... That stinks.

Another Speed Bump in My Education - I Think...

OK, so I have good news, some better news, and some frustratingly bad news about the whole nursing school thing...

GOOD NEWS - I got accepted into the Lanier Tech Practical Nursing program, and if everything goes according to plan, I should start this summer quarter. It's a good thing in that classes are Monday and Tuesday nights and Clinicals are Saturday from 7AM to 7PM.

BETTER NEWS - I got approved for a HOPE Grant, so my tuition is covered, and I get an extra $100 per quarter to cover my books. Down side to that is that some of the nursing books can cost upwards of $200 EACH! Guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, huh?

BAD NEWS - My advisor and the Dirctor of Admissions are both on Jury Duty this week, and I can't get an answer from anybody about the really frustratingly bad news (see below).

FRUSTRATINGLY BAD NEWS - I have been told that credits that are more than 2 years old will not be accepted, and those classes will have to be retaken. This means that unless I can get a waver, then I'm going to have to RETAKE ENG 101, MAT 101, PSY 101, and AHS 101. Yes, it's been more than 2 years since I took these classes, but looking back at my transcript, it really pisses my off that I made an A, a B, an A, and a B, respectfully, in each one of those classes (side note: AHS stands for Allied Health Science). Please keep fingers and toes crossed and hope that I don't have to take these stupid classes again.

A Day at the Aquarium

Today, we took Mother to the Georgia Aquarium . My original plan was to be out and about this morning by 10AM so that we wouldn't be rushed and stuck in Atlanta rush-hour traffic going home. Well, even the best laid plans get FUBARed. I got logged onto the GA website around 8:45, and there were plenty of tickets available for the 10AM, 11AM and noon slots. By the time Mother got her act into gear, the next available tickets were for the 2PM time slot. Great, just what I wanted to do - take 2 tired girls into a packed, noisy environment.

Anyway, we got to the GA a little before 2PM, and everything went fine getting through the line. Since it's Spring Break, the place was packed to the rafters! Emmy had to go to the potty as soon as we made it into the atrium, so we went. Unfortunately, so did everybody else in the fricken place. We eventually made it in - me with Jilly, Mother with Emmy. Quite funny, let me tell you what.

We made our way through, and I noticed that the doors were open to the Grand Ballroom. I was not going to miss this, so we went in, and it was wonderful! I guess somebody finally got it through their thick skull that it would be a good idea to have the ballroom open for more seating during normal hours. It was quiet, and the views into the whale shark and beluga tanks were fantastic. Even though there were other people there, it wasn't elbow to elbow, and the girls had great views of the many schools of fish. Thankfully, Jilly finally fell asleep (hooray for quiet!).

We wandered through several of the exhibits for the next hour or so, and it was funny to watch Mother with Emily - the elder generation trying to point things out and tell a story or relate a point, and the younger generation flying by with only the slightest glance at an object. I guess that's probably commentary on today's society, in general.

Anyway, we made it through almost the entire GA, when Emily hit the wall and her tantrum button flipped into the "ON" position. Needless to say, we didn't make it through the tunnel and to the Big Tank. I really wanted to go so that Mother could see Jilly's reaction to the fish going everywhere. Oh, well... I guess we'll save that for another trip.

"I Do Myself" - Part Two

For Christmas, Mother gave me something called a Shark. It's like a DustBuster, but a million times better. Anyway, I had it out this morning and Jilly started shrieking. I thought it was because she didn't like the noise. Nope. She wanted to clean the floor.

I guess she got my Meme's cleaning gene.

Your Source for Silly

My wonderful brother-in-law has a blog that is hysterical. He illustrates "The Adventures of Super Viagra", and it's quite entertaining.

That's my two cents.

"I Told You So!" and "I Do It Myself"

As the mother of two wonderful girls, I marvel at their abilities. Every time I turn around, one or both of them is doing something that either sends my blood pressure through the roof or dissolves me to a puddle on the floor. Here are examples of both instances that happened within about 10 minutes of each other.

Dee Dee, my Mother, is coming into town this evening for a visit. If you know Mother, then you know that she usually spend more time cleaning my house when she is here than she does actually enjoying her time with her granddaughters. Anyway, I'm picking up the books in Emily's room, and the next thing I heard was the patter of little bare feet in the kitchen. I step out of Emily's room and immediately fly into panic mode as I see that the gate to the stairs is wide-the-F&$# OPEN!!!!! In the .00000001 seconds it took me to get down the 15 steps, Jillian comes around the corner of the dining room with the "I'm so proud or myself" look on her face. The little monkey had gone down the steps BY HERSELF!!!!! I remember the first time that Emily went down the stairs by herself - Adam at the bottom of the stairs, and me about a step behind. After I got over the shock, I was in a puddle on the floor. My baby isn't a baby anymore.

On the other hand, there is Emily. She's too smart for her own good sometimes, but other times, I don't think she has a lick of sense in her head. For lunch today, she went into the garage to get a diet orange soda out of Adam's "beer fridge". She brought me the can and told me that "Daddy lets me drink it with a straw all by myself". OK, I thought, maybe she's big enough to not make a mess. She took it to the table with the requisite "Mommy's upon pain of death" speech. No sooner did I turn my back when I hear "Mommy, I need a towel". I think my BP shot up about 50 points.

I gave up alcohol and chocolate for Lent this year. Damned if I'll give up either of them again! I'll be glad when Sunday gets here. After today, I really need a drink.

Rocky Top?

When I was growing up, the big question was "Alabama or Auburn?". Since I started my existence on this glorious planet on the Left Coast, I threw folks by responding "UCLA". As I got older and understood what the Alabama - Auburn rivalry meant, I became aware that there was also the Alabama - Tennessee rivalry. Last night I shocked myself.

I was channel surfing during a commercial - as I always do - and remembered that the NCAA Women's Semi-finals were being broadcast on ESPN. I flipped over, and discovered that the UNC - Tennessee game has just started. I decided I was going to watch, just because I have this thing about dynasties in sports that interest me. Case in point - Coach Pat Summitt (www.coachsummitt.com).

One of the ESPN commentators made the remark that Pat Summitt would most probably reach 1000 wins before she reaches 200 losses. I checked her website, and after last night's win versus UNC, she now has a record of 913 wins and 177 losses - that's 83.8 %! This does not include her international W-L record (63-4). Add this in, and she's 976-181. Amazing when you consider the winningest coach in NCAA history was UNC's men's basketball coach Dean Smith (879-254 when he retired in 1997). Damn, it makes me proud to be a woman!!!

Anyway, I watched the game as silently as I could, so not to wake my slumbering spouse, realizing that every tick of the clock was another milestone in Coach Summitt's history making career. When the final buzzer sounded, I found myself doing something my Alabama friends would find insulting... I was singing "Rocky Top".

As I patiently await the women's National Championship game on Tueasday night (CBS @ 8:30 PM EST), I'll remember it's OK to root for Tennessee against Rutgers. It would be nice to see Pat Summitt raise Championship Banner #7.

Until August, that is. My blood does run Crimson and White, ya' know.