4.30.2012

Photo Fun Mondays 4.30.12

It's that time again...

Here's what's one my phone this week:

 Little Man snuggling with his Mario and Luigi plushies

He found his old, scratched up pair of sunglasses and we stuck em on his head and he was walking around the house, looking all Mr. Cool Dude, lol...

We went to the Discovery Center (our city's children's museum) and Jay had some fun up in the Tot Spot.

Playing with the train table with Thomas trains - he spotted this 1st and didn't want to leave!

 


Then we discovered the water table area, so I put a smock on him and let him go to town!


Ball Maze area

Then we met up downstairs with my friend and her 2 kids and they played around for a bit before Jay got fussy and it was time for us to go.


 This one cracks me up because the 2 boys are going about their business while she gets upset, as her bro pushed her away when she was "helping" wrong, lol... still funny though!

Hubby got Famous Daves last week and has been working on the leftovers during the evening. Tiger smelled it and came running, getting right in his face at one point, lol...


 Tiger was playing hide and seek with Jay via the pillow - she'd hide her face behind it, then pop up from out behind it and he'd crack up every time, lol...

I found Battle Royale at Barnes and Noble and decided to put it on the Hunger Games table for funniness, cuz ya know, they're essentially the same plot/idea, only one came out like 10 years before the other.

We went out for dinner but it was getting kinda late and Jay just wanted to sleep. While finishing my dessert, hubby fell asleep holding Jay, lol...

Jay is always trying to figure out how to get Rock n Roll Elmo to rock out and use his drums as he doesn't quite get that you have to put Elmo's right foot on top of the drum pedal and then press a button on his left foot (yeah, it's a bit complicated for a little kid). Once we got Elmo started though Jay kept him going by making him sing along with the Cookie Monster keyboard.

4.29.2012

What I Bought at Work This Week 04.29.12

This week... I didn't buy much.

I seriously think I've bought everything in the store that Jay could possibly wear for summer that is just too cute. I keep saying I'm done buying him summer clothes, but then we get something else super cute in and of course I just have to get it for him (see last week's items), but this time, I really think I'm done. Until we get our fall line in a month or so.

What I did buy was this bib:


Friday night we were out at the mall before going out to dinner and we no sooner left the house and I realized I forgot to bring a bib for Jay. And we were having pasta for dinner. Which can get messy with a toddler. I remembered we had some bibs that recently got put in a clearance bin so since we were already out at the mall I stopped in and grabbed one of the more boyish bibs we had left.

It ended up being $3 after the clearance discount, plus my discount. I paid just under $2.50 after tax. Score! Right now there's lots of cute bibs for your little one that are 50% off the lowest price (some are already marked down too, so it's 50% off that!). I figure, you can never have too many bibs!

4.27.2012

Nike Unveils Some Awesome-Looking NFL Sneakers

This week Nike unveiled some really neat sneakers for the NFL, featuring a shoe for each NFL team!

A lot of them are pretty cool, others... kinda meh. And they are pretty expensive too, but still cool! I don't really know where or when or how often I would wear them aside from on Game Days if I were to get the Cowboys one (which happens to be one of the more expensive styles, grrrrr!), but I do think they look pretty awesome!

Here's my favorites:

 
 
 

 

The last one I moreso like the color scheme rather than overall style, unlike the 1st two I posted where I like both the color schemes and styles!

You can see all the shoes, categorized by AFC/NFC division, here.

4.25.2012

Bullying. It NEEDS to stop!

I was bullied in junior high and high school. And if you've been reading for awhile, you know I went to a private Christian school from kindergarten all throughout high school.

http://idahoagenda.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/stop-bullying-sign-k-7052.gifJr. High... there was no one incident that particularly comes to mind but I do remember crying. A lot. Kids were mean to each other left and right for no apparent reason. If you weren't popular you got picked on just because. Either you weren't wearing the right name brand. You had glasses. You didn't know how to correctly apply your make-up (I got teased for make-up lines quite a bit, so much so I didn't wear make-up for years). Anything kids could make fun of you for, they did. It got so bad I did think of suicide at times, even trying to suffocate myself with a pillow once. I often prayed at night for God to just take me in my sleep.

High school... it seemed a lot of the jerks left and went elsewhere by the time Jr. High was over, but the school still had its cliques. While our class got smaller, so did my ally of friends as many when off to other schools. My freshman year, I really only had one friend close friend at school and even she wasn't that great of a friend at times. We had been mutual friends in junior high - my best friend was also her best friend so when our best friend went else where for the 1st half of high school, we were kind of left with each other. She was also the shortest person in our class so obviously she got teased a lot for that.

There were 2 boys in particular that bullied and harassed us the most during our freshman year. She had a crush on one of them (why I'll never know, as he was always a jerk to us), so they teased her about that too. And since I was her friend, when she wasn't around for them to torment, they would torment me instead. And what sucked is that her and them all had last names starting with 'W' and mine a 'Y' so since assigning seats alphabetically was easier for the teachers, we always got stuck sitting in the same area of the room together. An entire semester went by with me constantly pulling spit wads and boogers out of my hair among other crap they'd throw in it while sitting behind me, constantly have them whispering mean comments to me during class, constantly kicking the underneath of my chair during class, distracting me or purposely knocking my books and papers onto the floor. They would steal pens and other supplies and personal items out of our backpacks.

Granted, my friend got it worse than me, although most of this would happen during class and the teachers would be completely oblivious to it, only saying when one of us would scream or yell out at them to stop, and even then, we'd get in trouble for disrupting class and the boys would laugh and continue to torment us when the teacher wasn't looking.

We eventually got sick of it and I had the brilliant idea to wrote an anonymous note to the school administrator addressing everything that had been happening to us with these 2 boys and we signed it "2 concerned students". Why anonymous? Simple logic really - if they knew it was us that tattled on them, they'd harass us and bully us even more.

The administrator got our letter and addressed the issue, suspending both boys with an ISS (in school suspension) and made them write us apology letters saying it would stop. I was relieved. My friend though, having a crush on one of them (again, I still have no idea why), felt bad that they got in so much trouble and wrote him and apology letter back, sticking it in his locker so he'd get it at the end of the day.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EZQtOiVM-1E/TTGyk8q_GsI/AAAAAAAAADM/plE0b-WC1gI/s1600/cover.jpgThe next morning we were called into the office and questioned about her letter. I had told her not to do it, but what do I know. The administrator felt he was taken for a fool by her. And he had branded me a liar as when it came up where my mother was (as we were neighbors with the man and my family had known him for years) I told him she was at Bible Study that morning. It was a Wednesday, Bible Study is on Thursday, but what he failed to realize, ask or bother to let me explain is that my mom was on the leadership team, which has meetings on Wednesday morning to go over the lesson plan for the next day. But again, he didn't bother to ask me to clarify, he just thought I was lying. And sent us both to ISS, violating his own policy handbook for the school he had written which states a student's parents would be called before a student was suspended. And we were forced to write apology letters to our tormentors AND their families. I completely half-assed my letters, as I didn't even know why I was there or what I was apologizing for. At one point I was tempted to apologized that their sons were such horrible rotten kids but I knew that wouldn't help my case any.

Needless to say, mom picked me up from school, I told her everything in the car, she called the school as soon as we got home, furious with them for what happened and them not notifying her and we had a meeting with the administrator the next morning before school. He admitted he overreacted and should have let me explain. It got scratched off my record and THANK GOD for the rest of high school those boys never talked to me again. The next 3 years our lockers weren't next to each other, I wasn't in the same room with them... the rest of the semester the teachers finally got a clue and moved our desks to opposite sides of the room. It stopped with them.

The rest of high school was pretty easy, aside from the occasional girl drama among friends, by the time I was a senior I had a solid group of friends to hang with so ignoring the people that were mean was easier, and I was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper and people were kissing up to me just to get their name or picture into it. I was quite amused!

So... what's the point of me sharing my story?

Well, this week a young girl at my former high school killed herself.

My sister knew her - they had done trampoline at one of the local gyms together for at least 4 years and my sis considered her to be like a younger sister back then. While they were in high school together last year, there's a 3 grade difference between them so they didn't interact a whole lot, aside from a "hi how are you?" here and there in the hallway. Sadly, my sis does recall there were some nasty, mean rumors going around the school about the girl last year.

My sis herself was the victim of some nasty, mean rumors as well and was labeled a slut and a whore by various popular girls and boys all because some of her friends were guys - it only escalated last year when she befriended a student who was homeschooled but attended the school for 2 classes so he could play football. They were nothing more than friends - my sis was seeing her now-husband by then - but she wasn't popular and he was a football player and yeah... how dare that be allowed! Kids were spreading rumors that she was selling herself down on 7th Street (the known area in town where the hookers are) for lunch money too - I remember my sis staying home from school the rest of the week waiting for that rumor to stop.

And we're not the only ones to have been bullied and tormented there in a "Christian" school. Honestly, all the alumni I'm in touch with still, all look back and talk about how much they hated their time there. How it was the worst time they ever experienced. Some had it worse than others, some I had no idea went through similar torments like I did - it just goes to show, you never fully known what's going on with those around you - it's easy to put on a happy face and fake how you really feel when you have to.

The problem is, the school fails to acknowledge and accept there's a problem. That this crap happens there, in their Christian school. And it's been going on for years. I know I'm not the 1st kid to get bullied and tormented while there. I know there were plenty others. The administrator that was there that somewhat dealt with my problem, that was his last year. The current administrator, until this week, has flat out said this stuff doesn't happen there - I know this for a fact as I know parents and alumni (I myself have expressed concerns to various current staff members and even written emails) and even faculty have tried to bring this to his attention, with him refusing to accept, acknowledge or believe it! I know for a fact he was told a year ago that mean, vicious rumors were being spread about students, that good Christian students were being bullied in his Christian school for simply trying to be good Christian kids and that it was only a matter of time until something tragic happened if wasn't taken more seriously. Sadly, that something tragic happened this week. And I really hope to God it's an eye-opener to him as this could have been prevented had he listened instead of being ignorant.

I mean no disrespect for the girl's family and true friends (and I honestly wonder how many of her tormentors are now playing the sympathy card rather than acknowledge that they were part of what drove her to do what she did) - if anything I'm upset and furious FOR them at the school's lack of preventing it, as I said, the bullying problem is something that's been ongoing there for years but was refused to be dealt with when parents and others brought it to attention. I was told on Facebook tonight I was out of line and disrespectful for blaming the school the way I did. But the truth is, as others that backed me up have said, it needs to be addressed. If not now, when? We don't want or need more kids killing themselves while the school continues to deny the fact that there is a problem.


Yes, I'm aware that private Christian schools really are no different than public school aside from the uniforms, Bible classes and weekly chapel services. However when you're spending thousands of dollars a year on tuition to send your child there, you're expecting them to have a better, safer experience than they would in the public schools. You're expecting they wouldn't have to deal with the crap and be exposed to certain things on the same level as you would in a public school. When you pay that much money, you expect to get your money's worth.

And when you have Christian kids being bullied in a Christian school for trying to be good Christian kids, there's obviously a problem. And it needs to be addressed. And it's just sad that this had to happen.

 http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p132R38Fvjs/TykgPLPfIoI/AAAAAAAAAhk/GCIMXRTuUbI/s1600/Stop_Bullying.jpg

I hugged Jay extra tight tonight. And while he's too little to understand and not quite used to concepts of "play nice" and "sharing" yet, I told him that if anyone is ever mean to him that he can always come to mommy and daddy and we'll find a way to take care of it. And if he ever is a bully, well, you can bet your buttons there will be action taken to put a stop to it.


Were you ever bullied as a kid or teenager? 
Have you personally been affect by something like this?

4.24.2012

"Hurt" - NIN or Cash, who did it better?

Last night hubby and I were watching TV and a commercial for some new console game (Prototype 2...?) came on TV and the song used in the background was Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt." I'm more partial to NiN's original version, hubby likes Cash's better. Hubby took it to Facebook, which the majority (so far) is in favor of Cash's cover.

I'll admit, both version are good and very moving, however I see NiN's version as more being about the present pain Trent Reznor was in when he wrote it back in 1994, whereas Cash's is clearly a reflection on the life he lived. Cash's seems more hopeful, whereas as the minor chords in NiNs are more creepy and makes the song feel dark and sad. I think having seen/heard Trent Reznor perform it live as the last song NiN ever played in Chicago also sways my vote a tad too - I was there, I felt the emotion that he put into it and what a personal song it is to him.

What do you think? Which version do you prefer?

(forgive the NIN video - the only "official" videos they have of the original are live versions - this was the only clear audio quality one I could find, straight from The Downward Spiral album)



4.23.2012

Phone Photo Fun Mondays 04.23.12

 
First off, lemme just say, Blogger has switched over to "new" Blogger and... it's definitely something to get used to! I liked the old look/feel and format better, but whatever... companies these days seem to not care about what the user wants and would rather just do what they think is best *coughfacebookcough*

Anyways, here's this past week in photos!

This week, Jay played with his Thomas trains:
 
 

And he passed on the floor...
 
 

Played with daddy's work badges for UPS while daddy was at his day job:
(he's been missing his daddy a lot when he leaves for work these days)

Passed out on the floor again...

I learned that this was now open to the public:
That's Pottermore - the Harry Potter online game. The closed Beta started last summer/fall and unlike some of you, there was no way I was getting my butt up at 7am to try and score an invite - considering I don't usually go to bed til 3/4am most nights and I have a little one who can wake up whenever... yeah I wasn't passing up my sleep for that, lol... I played through the 1st book in 2 sittings though and sadly, none of the others are "unlocked" (aka finished) so that kinda sucks. I was having a lot of fun working my way through it too! I got sorted into Hufflepuff (go go Honeybadger!) as you can see and my wand is made of Dragon and Elm! It's a pretty neat game though - like I said, you play through each book, finding and unlocking content as you go. There's mini-game type features where you can make potions and cast spells and you can also duel other players to win points for your house. The content you unlock is pretty neat too as JK Rowling added in exclusive game content that gives more detail and backstory about places and characters - the Prof. McGonagall backstory was really cool to read!

I also learned that this had a free trial this weekend!
 That's Star Wars: The Old Republic - the Star Wars MMO game. Hubby and I have been wanting to check it out since before it was released, however since it's pay-to-play like WoW and we don't even have the time/energy/drive to play that one enough to make the monthly fee worth while it just wasn't worth spending the money on it, despite having several friends that play it. So of course when someone retweeted a post on Twitter saying it was free trial weekend, I jumped on that baby! Took a few hours to download and install so I didn't really get to play until Saturday. I made a cyborg Imperial Agent (part of the Sith Alliance) on a server that my college roommate plays on, just in case I end up playing long-term later. Having only really WoW to compare the game to (I only played Guild Wars for a few hours before getting bored and switching back to WoW and I didn't get very in City of Villians), as far as MMOs go... um, it's nearly identical only taking place in the Star Wars universe instead of Azeroth. The interface is very similar, only it's like they included all the minor details that everyone was always using add-ons on for (that Blizzard later included in various patches). At first I was a bit concerned that I didn't know the controls as I downloaded it and didn't have a manual... however I quickly learned that all the keybinds were EXACTLY the same as the ones in WoW! LOL... so despite being very similar to WoW, it was a nice change of pace and setting!

I decided to be silly and use this bag for my sis's birthday presents:
(her birthday was Wednesday but we just celebrated it with family last night)
 We got her a $20 Amazon/Kindle gift card (which I had to get online as apparently they don't sell Amazon gift cards in Illinois anymore - wtf??) since she got a Kindle for Christmas and is actually reading stuff on it (unless it was reading for school she wouldn't read more than a chapter or 2 of a book on her own) as well as 2 scent wax thingys for her various warmers.

My parents found an old plastic kiddie chair in storage that they brought out for Jay:
 He promptly turned to sit sideways in it as soon as we sat him in... something that had me on edge the whole time. He keeps doing this in his high chair as he eats and I keep telling him to sit forward, not sideways, but yeah... Jay's gonna do what Jay's gonna do, lol...

Tiger stole hubby's seat at the kitchen table when he got up after eating, lol...

And something on TV caught Jay's attention:
And yes, my 14 month knows how to work the TV remote. He knows the difference between the "real" remote and the one with no batteries we bought him for his birthday. He knows how to flip the channels, turn it on and off and mute it (something he has a habit of doing often!). He even turned the volume up super loud one morning when he woke super early and I brought him in our room to snuggle and watch TV with mommy while daddy slept some more... lol... so much for that, with the TV super loud!

What I Bought at Work This Week 04.22.12

Just when I say I am all done with buying Jay clothes for summer, something new that's super cute arrives in our shipment and I *have* to buy it for him!

This week I bought him these:


We got yet another Sesame Street licensed tee in at work, this time one with multiple characters (The only one on this shirt Jay doesn't seem too interested in is Big Bird - go figure, he was my favorite when I was a kid watching the show, lol...). And we also got some super cute onesie shorts outfits in the "newborn" department (which goes up to 24months now). I thought this one was cute and would again be great for hot summer days when he needs to wear something when out but something light and simple =)

These are newer items - the tee wasn't on sale, however the onesie was $10 instead of the original $12.95. With my discount and tax the total ended up being $17 even - one of my more "expensive" purchases considering I only got 2 items, but they were too cute!

4.20.2012

The Nail Files #2

The Nail Files 
Linking up again this week for The Nail Files as I'm quite pleased with my AWESOME nails from this past week!



I did part glitter for a unique look - I'm liking how it turned out! Although my nails look a bit more blue than how they are showing up in the picture...

I used "First Class Only" by Spoiled (from Wet n Wild) as my basecoat which I picked up on a whim at CVS, Revlon's "Radiant" glitter polish as the accent and of course my go-to top coat of Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri.

4.18.2012

What I've Learn About Myself in Regards to Politics

If the political talk of the past few months has made me realize anything it's this:

1) The Right and the Left are one in the same - they're just as bad as the other and rather than work together they'd rather bicker and fight and slam each other, accomplishing nothing. The extremists on the Right, while they get more publicity these days, really are just as crazy as the extremists on the Left.

2) I'm a conservative moderate.

Growing up, I was raised in a conservative home. I was brought up Christian, attending youth group Wednesday night, Sunday school and service on Sunday mornings and small group in high school on Sunday nights, I also went to a smaller private Christian school from kindergarten through high school. Democrats were "the bad guys" and the Independent party was a joke. I always considered myself Republican by default, but I did lean more towards the middle of the political spectrum.

You know things have gone crazy in the GOP when Ron Paul is the only candidate that seems to make any sense. And he's not even really a Republican - he's a Libertarian.

And yes, this time around, I'm supporting Ron Paul.

Call me crazy, but he's the only candidate I feel that really seems to get it.

The "real" Right is too busy fighting gay marriage (which, regardless your feelings on the topic, I think it's a lost battle - whether you like it or not, it's going to happen) and now this ridiculous "War on Women" (being anti-abortion in most cases, I get the reasoning behind the mandatory ultrasound, however the rest of what I've read, especially in regards to birth control... are they trying to piss off most women? Even the conservative ones?)

http://www.ronpaullosangeles.com/user/529356/members/469E9DBC-01B7-49E4-B802-997DC491830D/big_201110152126374.jpg
Yes, some people have issues with his policies - mostly his foreign policy ideas - but being that there's 3 branches of government that are supposed to keep each other in line via checks and balances, I don't see it being a huge issue to worry about.

People aren't crazy about his saying to cut military funding... but yet the military backs him up and is in favor of him...? If the military doesn't have an issue with it then why should we?

And I'm obviously pro-Israel, but I do agree that we should pull out and let her take care of herself for a bit, only stepping in if needed. And same goes for everywhere else we have troops that we really shouldn't. Help our allies when they need it, but let them do their own thing in the meantime.

He's against SOPA and all the other SOPA-like bills congress keeps trying to sneak past people when it comes to internet censorship.

I love how he's for state's rights and letting the state's decide what's best for them... kinda like how things were once upon a time! 

And I know people are all "but he's for marijuana legalization, prostitution, gay marriage!" Read people. He said he feels those issues should be determined at the state level, meaning let the states decide for themselves. Gay marriage, like I said, it's a losing battle to try and fight it when you really get down to it. And I honestly don't have a problem with the legalization of marijuana - I've never used it, but I see it being like alcohol when it was once again legalized after prohibition. Crime regarding it went down and we didn't have the jails crowded with people who were in them solely because of it, and hello - they can tax the hell out of it, helping the debt a little bit! Sure, some people will try it because it's legalized, but not everyone's going to start toking up just because it's legal - there's lots of people that don't smoke cigarettes because of the health risks and not everyone drinks either.

And personally, I love how when it comes to the topic of abortion, he's an OB/GYN. His account of a late term abortion he witnessed by an instructor during his residency is quite sad and puts late term abortions a bit more in perspective - at that late in a pregnancy the fetus (a term I hate to use) is clearly a baby. While he does believe legalizing or banning abortion should also be up to the states to decide for themselves, I get the impression he has the same view as I do (abortion only allowed in the cases of rape or life/death situation with the mother, such as South Dakota's proposed Measure 11 back in 2008).

Romney seems to flip-flop too much, depending on what crowd he's trying to draw support from, and the Rick's... they're just too extreme. And while I understand where them and even Bachmann are coming from with their ideas and stances, pissing off everyone except the super conservative right is NOT going to win you an election. And Newt... I'm sorry but he if his personal life speaks anything about his character, the guy's a jerk with no morals.

http://postamericana.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/ron-paul-support.jpgRon Paul is really the only candidate that has a chance against Obama - the Right will get behind him because he's not Obama while the moderates like myself like what he stands for and he can possibly sway those on the Left or the indifferent who aren't Obama fans either without feeling like they're voting for someone they can't agree with on the issues. Plus, it's no secret, he's the only candidate that seems to know what's in the constitution - if you've seen any clips from the debates, all the other candidates turn to Ron Paul when a constitution question is asked.

And honestly, at this point, I can't bring myself to vote for any of the other candidates - I'll write him in (if he's not the 3rd party candidate) if I have to.

While Romney seems to be the current front-runner, really, there's no telling at this point as none of the candidates have nearly enough delegates to get the bid - we're still more than 4 months away from the convention. I'm really like the idea of a Brokered Convention... it is a bit suspicious how Ron Paul seems to have the biggest turn outs and following and "likes" around the internet, yet the media keeps throwing the likes of Romney down our throats.

And reading up on Brokered Conventions, I came across this post which quite nicely puts what I've been saying all along:
"Of the four candidates [Romney, Santorum, Paul and Gingrich], only Ron Paul balances the budget, only Ron Paul wants to stop the war-mongering, only Ron Paul does not alienate the majority of women, only Ron Paul can ignite a fire in independents, and independents (not the radical right), are the key to this election.
Republicans are not going to vote for Obama so appealing to the far right makes little sense in terms of an overall strategy. Moreover, independents are likely horrified by the war-mongering and misguided statements on religious and social issues of all the candidates but Paul.
If Republicans lose this election, it will be because they all outdid each other in foolish attempts to appeal to the far right on issues where a huge majority of the population of the US is in the middle."

4.17.2012

Random Ramblings

I finally finished "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making" by Catherynne M. Valente. I originally won the book last summer in a giveaway on @amy_geek's blog and while I did enjoy it, it just took me awhile to get around to finishing it as I had a bunch of other books I wanted to get through and kinda worked on it in between them. Since the new Sookie Stackhouse book doesn't come out til May 1st, after finishing the Hunger Games Trilogy I decided to finish young Miss September's adventure in Fairyland! And it was a really cute book! It has a bit of an Oz feel to it, as September is a young girl who is one day whisked off to the magical Fairyland! Upon there, she loses her shadow, meets a witch and accepts a quest to get back the witch's magic spoon from the mean Marquess who currently rules Fairyland. She also makes friends with a friendly Wyvern and a blue Marid named Saturday. Her Key follows her, but is always a few steps behind and her green smoking jacket keeps her company as well. This book is full of adventure and a pretty easy read (just under 250 pages) and most of all - it's fun and whimsical! It also pays homage to both Alice in Wonderland and The Chronicles of Narnia. If you like fantasy novels, this is a great little gem to pick up! And I'm so excited that a sequel is in the works too!

So, as I wait for the next Sookie Stackhouse book to come out, I am currently reading the rough draft/1st edit of hubby's novel he's currently working on as he put the 1st 9 chapters on my Kindle app - he's hoping to have it up for sale on Kindle later this summer and you bet your bottom dollar I will be plugging it! He calls it a "gunpowder fantasy" as it is a medieval fantasy but there's gunpowder involved instead of just swordplay (or so I gather). Feel free to check out his blog/site for more details!

We recently rented "In Time" from Redbox. It stars Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde and the guy that plays douchey Pete on Mad Men. Hubby wanted to see this one in theaters, but since having Jay... seeing movies in the theater anymore has become a rarity (which is kinda hard to believe as there was once a time when we would go multiple times a week! LOL). The premise is interesting - in a futuristic world, time is the currency, kept track of by a digital clock on your arm that starts counting down the day you turn 25 and you get 1 year. How you spend that year is entirely up to you - you can earn more time by working, having generous friends and family members, and by winning at gambling, or you can waste away your time on drinking and other vices. Once your clock stops though, you die by what looks like an instant fatal heart attack. Oh and you stop aging once you turn 25 too, so there's no telling who is really 26 and who is 50 or even 100! In the ghetto people are used to living day by day while the rich have acquired years and years of time. JT's and Amanda's characters become like a Bonnie and Clyde futuristic Robin Hoods as they set out to tip the economic scales, giving the poor a chance by taking years from the rich. It was pretty good! Was a little weird seeing Amanda Seyfried with a shorter, red bob though - used to her having long blonde hair!

My BFF from college called off her wedding this past weekend (it was supposed to be in August). It's sad, but she said it was mutual as after talking, they both agreed that neither of them were really feeling it much anymore. I guess it's for the best though and I totally understand.

Jay just gets smarter and smarter... he knows how to work plugs! He unplugged the computer cords and promptly looked to see if it turned the TV off. When it didn't, he eventually went over to the outlet strip that the TV is hooked up to and started turning the big orange button off and on. Off and on... now he knows he's not supposed to be playing with the cords - when he unplugged the computer ones, he tried hiding in the corner when hubby went over to pull him out, lol... he also knows how to work the garage door button, wanting to press it whenever we come and go via the garage so we let him. And the other day he was trying to stack empty boxes from our groceries to climb! He also came up with a new "game" while we were shopping last week, where he grabs either my thumbs or my pinkies or pointer fingers and "makes" me clap my hands, lol... it's pretty funny and he's been doing it quite often when we're together, cracking up hysterically because he thinks he's controlling me, lol...

Jay is also the screaming kid in the nursery at church now - 2 weeks running! I don't know why he does it - he's been there before... we pulled into the parking lot though and he started whining a little (he's getting good about recognizing places we go to). Then I took him into the early toddler room and instead of handing him off to one of the childcare workers I walked him in and tried to get him occupied with some toys. He wasn't having it. He cried as soon as we got through the gate and got even more worked up whenever I put him down. Eventually one of the workers came over and tried to help and took over so I could go meet up with hubby in the lobby. We went to pick him up after and he was sobbing, although they said one of the other workers got him to calm down for a little bit. Poor guy - I don't know what to do... he knows I always come get him. Separation anxiety sucks and he's been extra clingy and snuggly to me this week too (he learned he can latch onto mommy's leg). He's also been getting upset when hubby leaves for work - both in the morning and at night.

Keurig - Van Houtte French Vanilla Coffee K-Cups (108-Pack) 89095-108I drank 2 cups of coffee today - the Van Houtte French Vanilla light roast. I learned that if I put enough of Coffeemate's French Vanilla Caramel creamer in it and enough sugar it hides the icky coffee taste I hate! I was still super tired though and ended up taking a half hour nap - wtf?? I thought coffee was supposed to keep you awake... O.o

Hubby got quite drunk Sunday night, if you couldn't tell by my tweets or Facebook posts. He had (what we thought was) a little bit of Tennessee Whiskey left and he brought home some other type of alcohol the other night. He keeps piling his bottles of alcohol up on the kitchen counter though, despite us having a bar downstairs, and I told him he needed to finish the whiskey up soon as it was taking up too much space. I figured he'd make several mixed drinks out of it over the course of the next few days... I didn't expect him to chug it! By the time Game of Thrones was over Sunday night he was acting a bit... goofy. And kept drinking. It was amusing but annoying at the same time... and omg he has no filter when he's been drinking that much as I learned some TMI stuff about family members I would rather erase from my mind! We did have a nice conversation and some snuggle time as he started to come down from his goofiness.

I finally made an appointment to get the massive moles on my back checked-out and possibly removed. The other night, my bra was just rubbing against one of them soooo bad it still hurt for a good bit after taking it off! I should have had them looked at and removed awhile back, but I never got around to making the call. And sadly, the soonest they can get me in, since I'm a new patient, is July 5th! Nearly 3 months away! Ugh... I was hoping to get them off much sooner than that... I have 2 really big ones on my back that I've had forever and all my doctors know about them and have taken note of them, keeping an eye on them at my check-ups, however I never really noticed just how big and ugly they were until last fall when I noticed them in the mirror. Seriously, I'm not just wanting those 2 removed for cosmetic reasons - they're dangerous, being all big and one is raised too. I also have one on the right side of my head, along my hairline by my ear... okay that one is more cosmetic, as I hate it and always bump or notice it when I'm doing something with my hair or putting my glasses on - I 1st noticed it in Jr. High and for awhile thought it was a zit so I would try popping it before I came to the conclusion it was indeed a mole. Hopefully these 3 are easily able to be removed (the one in my hairline might not be though, as I would prefer not to have my hair cut or shaved in that spot to remove it) and none of them are cancerous!

Speaking of mini surgeries... my father-in-law is having surgery on the 26th to have his dialysis tube moved from his neck to his arm - apparently only 50% of those that have it in their neck survive more than a year so when the opportunity to have it moved to a "safer" spot was made available he decided to go for it! Everything should go fine, but keep him in your thoughts and prayers regardless that day!

And I think that's pretty much all the random catch-up ness for now!

4.16.2012

Hilarious GIF of Jay

Maybe it's only funny cuz it's our kid, but hubby took some photos of Jay "reading" and well, flipping through em on Facebook, the progression of these 2 were cracking us up, so I found a free, online GIF generator and put this little gem together:


*giggle*