Technical difficulties??

I am having trouble posting comments on all blogs that use Word Press as a host. I cannot figure out why but they just don't show up. I have tried three different browsers and still nothing. Of course I am only currently using my one laptop because I haven't had a chance to try it on a different one, but I was wondering if anyone else out there was having this same problem? Maybe its the way my computer is configured?? In any case, I wanted to leave a message to all of my Word Press blogger friends who I tried to post a comment to from the past few days. Just know that I was not ignoring you but I was unable to comment. This includes Stacy, Kim, and Sarcastic Mom as well as many others whom I have visited but couldn't post. I hope to get this fixed soon cause its really annoying! If anyone has any clue as to why I am having this issue, please leave me a note. Thanks.

Jury duty and best shots.

That's right, I was picked for jury duty. Got my notice a few weeks back and sent in the answers to the questions that I am not in fact part of some secret militia while I hold onto my instructions to call the magic number after Friday at 4:30 to see if I have to report. I am group 21 and it says on the paper that most likely 1-10 will get called Monday and the rest maybe sometime later in the week. That's what happened the last time I got this letter, I called twice and was let off the hook. WHEW. So, being as I was dead tired Friday night and forgot to call, I dial up that magic number first thing Sat morning. The recording goes on to say..."For Monday Jan 28 and the District Court of Blah Blah Blah...I hearby summons the following groups to report Monday at 1:00 PM". Ok, so hubby and I look at each other and think 1:00 PM, that's a odd time to report to jury duty. We cross our fingers and hope for the best as the mystery man continues..."Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (He is listing them all out individually?!?!), 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21". FRICK! I'm, 21. What's the odds??? So, I get to spend a 1/2 day at my office and then report to the court house at 1:00. I am both nervous and a little apprehensive that I will be stuck there all evening and most of the week. Hopefully not.

On an unrelated note, I love taking pictures during the day at my house with the natural light spilling in from the windows. So since that only leaves the weekend for this kind of torture fun, the nights come so early, here are some of my best shots.

Haiku Friday - Back to School

It's about that time
I am going back to school
First class was Wednesday

I am half way through
My MBA degree
finish what I start

I really hope that
this class is not too hard
ease back in slowly

I thought I would join back into the Haiku this Friday to talk about heading back to college. I am still working on my MBA but took a break after Miss V was born last May. I wanted to start back up last fall but the college wasn't offering any classes that I needed so I waited till this Spring. I signed up for two electives that I needed in December to start one class in Jan and one in March. The January class was full so I was wait-listed. As luck would have it, I got a call from the Dean at noon Wed to tell me that they were letting me in and I needed to attend class THAT NIGHT! So I scrambled getting everything ready that afternoon, filling out Tuition forms and buying the book and wound up with a terrible migraine (on top of my cold). I agonized through the class but I made it through. However, it looks as though this class may be quite interesting. Lets just hope its not too tough cause with everything else going on in my life right now, I am not sure adding a class is the best idea. Wish me luck!

Bye-bye Hard Drive

Well, the writing was on the wall with my laptop. It was acting real slow and locking up. I got scared about a week ago and backed up the whole system (which I don't do enough). Today is the day it decided to shut down and fail to boot. Luckily it was still under our 3 year warranty so HP is shipping me a new HD, but of course it will take some time to get her back up to speed. I will try to keep blog posting while she is down and out (borrowing my work laptop for the night) but I may not have everything working properly for a little while. I'm pretty sad. I have never had a HD crash on me yet.

A Spider in the Projection TV?!?

About two months ago, hubby and I were chillin' downstairs watching our big screen (as we do every night after the kids to go bed) and we noticed the biggest creepy crawler we've seen in a while going across the screen. Hubby immediately jumps up and grabs a wad of tissues and attempts to swat at the TV to crush large man-eating spider. Just as he gets to the TV, it crawls off the screen and out of sight. We look on the floor and behind the TV for a while with no luck. But of course we were both freaked out by the size of this monster spider that we hesitantly sit back down and continue to watch. Mr. Spidey didn't return. The next night, Mr. Enormous Hairy spider reappears to interrupt our TV time once again. The wad of tissues still by the recliner, Hubby jumps up again to fight with eight legs that look like they could swallow him whole. Running up to the TV, careful not to totally knock it off the stand, the spider manages to crawl out of sight once again. We scratch our heads and wonder how we could have missed such a large spider vanishing into thin air, until it hits us. Mr. Home Invader is INSIDE our TV! What a sly and cunning spider to be sitting there, mocking us making us look like the idiots. Acting like a dog chasing around a pen light trying to bite it or a cat following the cursor on a computer screen, hubby and I look like crazy people trying to chase this large, crawling spider across the glass wondering why we cannot catch him.

So this game goes on for a while, spider appears we say, "Hey, it looks like he is on the outside this time", only to jump up and be fooled, yet again by our oh-so-smart TV guest. Mr. Spidey is probably a very tiny sole but since he is being projected on the face of our TV screen he of course looks like he is the size of our dogs.

Then it becomes a game. Odds have it that when spidey appears, my camera would be way upstairs.
Hubby: "Look there he is right in the middle of the screen".
Me: "Crap, my camera is upstairs, think he will sit there while I go get it?"
Hubby:"Dunno" and goes back to reading his computer.
I consider running up and down the stairs to grab my camera while I try to judge how fast he is moving and usually say, "Ah, screw it, be right back". When I get back downstairs, out of breath and ready to pass out (need to start exercising again) I say to hubby, "Well, he still there?"
To which he usually replies, "You just missed him".
Me: "Crap!"

Until last night. He reappeared while we were all comfy on the couch. I played the above scenario and ran to get my camera. Of course he was gone when I returned but 10 min later, he decided to show off and sit on the screen long enough for me to snap this first shot of him while watching "Brothers and Sisters on our TiVo". This unimpressive shot makes Mr. S look real tiny since he seemed to be walking on the glass of the TV instead of being projected 5x's its size.

We often wonder how long he can live in there. What's he eating? Has he spun tons of webs? What about babies...ugh.

Does anyone know how to get a spider out of a TV??

Oh where oh where has my memory gone...

Oh where oh where could it be? I swear old age is setting in sooner that I'd hoped. Its pretty scary how much stuff I seem to forget over the course of a day, not to mention a week. I used to be so on top of my game. I never forgot anything. I was able to focus on conversations and recall them hours/days/years later. However, not so much now. I realize I am getting older and have lots on my plate with work, kids, school (when the stupid college offers classes each semester that I still need to take - separate rant), home, but when will it start to get better and I will feel in control again? When I get more sleep? When my kids get older? Never?? Take yesterday for example. We knew we had to go to Z's Hebrew school class for parent's day. We lined up babysitters (grandma) to watch the girls so we can devote 2 hours just to Z. We get there on time and proceed to take our seats in the back of the room and observe. Other kids/parents started bringing in non-perishable foods to donate for Thanksgiving to the local nursing homes in the area. The light bulb goes off....Hubby and I look at each other and whisper "SHIT" and "Whoops" and "oh well". Man how bad do we look now sitting in the classroom with nothing to offer. I search back through the spiderweb covered memory banks and vaguely recall seeing some sort of note...wait email...wait was it a discussion, about bringing in food this week. Crap I cannot remember where I read or heard that, man it was a whole week ago for goodness sake! But this isn't new. I forget Z's snack at school at least once a week. I forget to send back his library books or poems to school (among all of the other mounds of paperwork I need to sign and retain that gets sent home every day). I forget to send in food for E's party at her day care for Thanksgiving, even though we signed up for rice crispy treats, bought them and then proceed to leave them in our pantry cause we didn't remember which day the party was. We forgot to go to parent's day at the Elem school or know which day is Pizza and PJs day at the day care. We haven't remembered to give V her acid reflux meds in- I don't know how long, luckily she seems as though she is growing out of needing them. Not to mention all the personal stuff I want to remember, bring lunch to work, bring pictures for my desk, why did I walk into the basement, did I reply to my friend's email, walking out of the store with nothing from my list cause I left it at home and why I am standing in the family room surrounded by talking kids wondering what they are asking me to do. And don't even get me started or remembering all the goings on at work (like where we ate the last time we traveled or who works for whom or what pieces of equipment are called). Does it get better or worse from here? Should I start taking those memory enhancing supplements? Go see a Dr and get evaluated for Alzheimer's? I don't want to remember everything, all the time, but it would be nice to get through my day and not wonder what I forgot to do. Maybe it all comes down to more sleep - the answer to everything, more.sleep.

Two More School Annoyances

I am sure as a mom of a child only in K, there will be tons more of these little annoyances and maybe by the time V is 5 I will have chilled out. But until then, these little issues will continue to annoy.

1. They sent home a permission slip for the first field trip. Its to a local farm that is doing a presentation and tour about Native Americans. I am all for it, sounds like a good time. Until I read the part that it costs $11.00. Does that seem high to anyone? $11.00 for a bus ride that I calculated the miles on - 5.8 - and admission to this farm that costs $7.00 (or $7.50 if they included the corn maze which wasn't mentioned). You know, I hate to be one of THOSE parents who think everything is too expensive and refuse to send my child, but c'mon. It seems as though all I am doing is sending money to that school for fund-raisers, a headset for media use (which is OK cause I am not fond of sharing between kids), lunches, snacks, PTA fees....its endless. Now another $11.00? I realize that this is a Public school (yes, yes I send my child to the public schools because we specifically live in this high-rent county because of the good schools) and I pay tons of taxes (which I am not naive enough to think that our taxes alone are enough to keep the school system afloat) but really - we bought everything for this child in the way of school supplies and yes he does bring home some materials that we didn't buy for him each and every day (this school spends way too much money on printed crap material) its just the principal. The bottom line is, I will pay the $11.00 cause I think Z will have fun but I just wanted to vent about how much money I have sunk into this school in the short 2 months he has already been there! I am sure its just the tip of the iceberg.

#2. In Z's K class, I am allowed to send a snack for afternoon time that they get to eat in their class. This snack must be nut free and not messy. OK, so for a child who is as picky as him, I have troubles coming up with good ideas. Yesterday I sent Doritos (I know, not a very healthy choice but again, this child will NOT eat fruit). The bag was untouched. I needed to find out from my 5 year old that Doritos is too messy. There will be crumbs therefore he was not allowed to eat them. WTH? Doritos, really? Why can't the teacher send something home for me spelling out what is considered good and what is too messy for her? I shouldn't have to find out from my kid. Today, its Cheese Its. Well see if those are too crumby for her.

WW - Replacement Key

Anyone know a good plumber?

I was working in the laundry room when my hubby ran out of the power room yelling:

L - "OMG, I think I just flushed the van keys down the toilet!"
Me - jaw dropping to the floor, "Uhh what did you say?"
L - "Yup, something splashed as I was flushing and I saw a black object head down."
Me - "Are you kidding me?? You sure it went down? Can we get it back?"
L - "It definitely went down and unless you want to go swimming in the septic tank, no we cannot get them back."
Me - "Oh. Well. I am shocked the toilet works that well."

I guess I need to figure out how much replacement keys cost.

What's safe anymore?

I am getting pretty tired of hearing about this product and that recall that poses serious health risks to the gen pop. We all know about the massive and on going toy recalls dealing with lead. I already picked through the kids toys and removed anything I thought could be suspect. Now I have to do it again. But be assured that China has agreed to stop making toys with lead paint in them from now on.....Go China! (what ever happened to toys made in the USA? Did that ever happen and why was this not an issue when the manufactures went overseas to get cheap labor? Wouldn't specifications about not using lead be communicated then?)

Then there is the plastics issues. I have heard everything from all plastics are unsafe and stop using them to putting them in the dishwasher or microwave is unsafe cause of the toxins they release to all of it is hogwash and they are just fine. What about baby bottles or in this article Bottles of Death? What do you believe? Throw it all away and use glass and boil them to sterilize or continue on with the status quo? With so much conflicting information I don't even know where to start if I wanted to rid my house of so-called toxic toys.

Then there is the milk issue. To go organic or not? Do the hormones that are found in non-organic milk really harm growing kids and cause them to develop faster? What about cancer? I am not disputing organic may taste better but if I decide not to buy organic or hormone-free milk one week will my girls get their boobs faster and what about the extra antibiotics cows get? Do they get passed onto their milk as well?

Here is the latest fear, air fresheners. Of course the risk here...cancer, again due to something called Phthalates. Just one of those little pleasures that I partake in (I love those plug in kind from Bath and Body Works) and my whole house smells like pumpkin.

I am not even going into the artificial sweetener debate. It shows up in so many foods and I have heard it all.

What does this all mean for me? Worry...worry and more worry. I am a constant worrier anyway and I really don't need more things to keep me up at night. Especially ones that are not yet proven to be unsafe and those that are so controversial that when you do an Internet search all you find are peoples slants one way or another. I am scared when I buy milk that doesn't say no hormones. I am scared to buy a new teether for my infant when it says Made in China or may contain plastic toxins. I am now worried about removing all the air fresheners in my house and just let it smell like three kids, food and dogs and worried when I heat up plastic ware and put bottles in the dishwasher.

But do these things really pose health risks or is the media partly to blame here? I try hard not to watch too much news on TV or read too many articles because I often feel that they are part of the problem in this country and not the solution, "Coming up at 11, how everything in your life can kill you - details at after the sports and weather". Are we living in fear because of potential Neilson ratings, lobbyists and other radical groups or are these new (and daily) reports supposed to really help us be healthier people? Will we ever really know the truth? But I am getting sicker and sicker of the constant reminder that I always have something new to worry about.

Fun at the Hibachi....not!

We took the kids out for dinner Friday night cause 1. we're stupid, 2. we were lazy and 3. we had a coupon for the local Japanese steak house that the kids really love. We got out of work late and picked up the kids later than normal so we were hitting prime time dinner hour. So we call ahead and make a reservation. We get to the restaurant exactly on time and get seated right away at a table with a couple that were clearly perturbed by our presence. We take our place across the large section of the table in our 4 seats with the two older kids in the middle and the baby in her seat in a high chair. That leaves a seat in the corner between me and the woman. Then comes the next couple who sits next to L and on their short side and again leaves a seat empty. So all in all, a good start cause we are not crowded. The kids are excited about being there and Z was asking me over and over and over where the 'cooker' was. Meanwhile the woman to my right, clearly not friendly, kept moving the empty chair in between us, which she felt she was entitled to cause she piled all her crap on it, and was hitting me in the leg over and over again. So I move toward Z and start to crowd him and start to get annoyed. We order and get our soup. E loves soup and starts to tear into her obviously piping-hot bowl and proceeds to spill it over her...typical. Meanwhile, Z is still asking where the 'cooker' is cause he refused to eat any of the soup or salad and wants his kid's chopsticks which the waitress clearly had forgotten along with my sweetener for my tea, the Sprite that Z ordered (she brought him milk) and refills for the Diet Coke. More annoyed. L and I start snapping at each other which makes the couple to my right clearly unhappy. While the kids were annoying us, they were actually fairly well behaved and sat in their seats and were not very loud throughout the whole meal. Because I was worried about bothering the engaged couple to my right who has never even played with a child and can never imagine ever having one (the DINKs) and the elderly grandparents to our left (the DORKs), I started getting self conscience about their behavior. However, that went out the window after I saw how the DINKs and the DORKs acted; "This salad is slimy, send it back", "I want my noodles cooked real well and served to me during not before the meal", "I want different dressing on my salad" and so on...
By this point Z was real excited when the 'cooker' came and it was time for the show. Now, he's terrified of the large fire during the meal and based on the looks I was getting from Mrs-to-be DINK we were hesitant but we asked the 'cooker' to tone down the fire. Well I could have just pissed in her food based on the look she gave us. I realize I brought my kids to a somewhat adult restaurant but they were not bothering them..much..so I thought it would be OK to ask for a 'favor' of the adult patrions. This was the first time someone had a problem with a scared child in all the time we have been going to the Hibachi. More whispering from the DINKs going in and they are clearly unhappy with our ruining their fine Hibachi dining experience. So I kick it into high gear cause at this point I want to see how many more ugly faces she can give us. Baby starts screaming from the noise so I sit her on my lap in view of Mrs DINK. I cuddle Z and make a big stink about how even if there is fire that he shouldn't be scared and I was here for him the whole time. I totally, by accident, dump the entire bowl of the kids rice onto the floor and scream and rant about it and L and I start bickering even more. Both the DINKs and the DORKs are starting to be the ones feeling uncomfortable and whisper to one another while I try to talk cryptically about what is going on to L cause he was clearly missing much of the looks we were getting. The 'cooker' is done with his display and Mrs. DORK is totally unhappy with the way her food was cooked and asked for it to be put back on for a few minutes while Mrs. DINK who hated her salad refused to eat any veggies and only wanted to slurp up the seafood sauce which she lathered onto everything and needed more.
OK, so we are all done and the kids ate fairly well. Of course this is the time of every meal (when we eat out) where Z has to go potty. So L sets off with both Z and E to the potty while I get the check. With the kids gone I wanted so much to ask WTF the DINKs problem was with my kids. They were not noisy, they were not all that fidgety and they ate well. But I refrained. Instead I scooped up the rice I dumped on the floor to show good graces. The DINKs get up to leave first..yay..and we are left with the DORKs who were still complaining that their shrimp was underdone and that this was the WORST experience ever.
I have never been with two couples clearly disturbed by the fact that we brought our kids out to a restaurant and they acted like we did so specifically to ruin their night. My kids have just as much right to be there as they do, as paying customers (kinda), but I know clearly that they felt that we were the worst parents in the world. What a night. I guess we will be laying off the Hibachi for a while.