self centered

“at the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.” ~lao tzu

I have had this quote posted as my desktop background for the last 3 weeks. I have seriously contemplated it on occasion, mostly avoided any serious thought. It hits that nerve, the one that tells you to trust your gut and accept the truth. What is the truth, what is that thing that I bury at the back of my sub-conscious waiting to break out? Do I have the answer?

I am one of those people that have many passions. I am artistic and creative, I love to write, read and take on new things. I always start shit and I hardly ever finish it. Here are a couple of examples;

• Green Bay Packer blanket I began crocheting in 1998 is about 10 stripes in and 30 inches long. The DH says he expects to be cremated w/ it at the very least.
• 2 novels started, well into, never finished.
• Baby blanket for my nephew’s 1^st Christmas last December and his 1^st birthday is in 2 days.
• An article for a friends business.

The list goes on. ..

I know who I am and what I want; and dammit I do have the answer! You may wonder why I don’t share it with you. I don’t even share it with myself. It requires that I get past a couple of things first. I need to get off my lazy ass on a regular basis and stop doing everything but what I need to do. I need to admit that I sabotage myself. I need to eliminate the fear.

This is not at all how I expected this post to go. I expected to expound on my new city, Halloween costumes, the rigors of moving, etc. It’s all the same thing though…a giant fear of failure and the fear of success. So soon I promise I will regale you with stories of my babies, my new home, my community and anything else you care not to know. Right now I need to get what I want by being who I am because I do have the answer.

Bea's Adventures in Amblyopia

Another guest post at Amblyopia Kids dot com...

Check it out...

Check out my Guest Blog at Amblyopia Kids :)

I have always relied on the kindness of strangers...

Ok, so that is not the slightest bit true and I am definitely not Blanche Dubois. I am however relying on a little help from my friends. As a 30-something grownup I admit I am not the best friend sorta of friend. I prefer to keep them long distance and have self admittedly fallen victim to facebook. I find in the long run, as with most things, it is the quality not the quantity that counts.

Good grief I am a walking talking cliche slinging terror tonight. You can just tell grammar to take one up the a$ right now, because I am not in the mood. Anyway, back to the point at hand... As you know We have recently moved our family (1 cat, 2 kids, 2 adults) to California from NM. We do not have a place to call our own just yet but we do have friends. I have known Buckeye for the same 16 years I have known my husband and his wife Fargo for half of that. In friend terms that calculates to a long fucking time. I have not always been the best of friends but we all do what we can.

We are now living in buckeye and fargo's house. Graciously, tumultuously, wonderfully, fabulously, easy! WTF, wtf!! I mean I am scared shitless that I may step on a toe or two. I am freaked out that I am relying on people whom I have occasionally managed to blow off. The amazing thing is that everything is just fine. It is working out with a modicum of ease. Shit man, the 21 hours of driving must be making me delirious.

I truly feel like I am at a 24 hour slumber party. Okay, so maybe not 24 hours, because I have to sleep and be a wife and mom in there somewhere. All in all it is a pretty fucking awesome gig. So back to the beginning...

I guess what I am trying to say to B & F is THANKS, and I told y'all I would say it so many times it would make you sick. However this blog is dedicated to YOU! Here is me, in all of my obscurity on the Internet saying YOU EFFIN ROCK. (p.s. i think I have dropped enough sailor talk for 1 post) I Love Y'all, we could not do it without you.

Peace, Love and Tacos! PL&T families on the move & the friends that help them along the way.

a picture is worth a thousand words...

aka...why i haven't blogged latley.

on the way to Barstow day 1

on the way to the East Bay day 2

PLGC (peace love & green Chile) all my New Mexi-peeps

And PL&T (peace love and tacos) all my soon to be Bay area Peeps!

thanks to my brother-in-law who...

reminds me to Keep it Positive.

Looking back over my last few posts I think they have taken on more of a negative tone than I like. I seem to be manifesting the mediocre as of late. Well, that just won't do.

I don't find myself to be an overly mystical sort of gal but I do have the inherent belief that thoughts are things. I loved The Secret because it pointed out to me how often I tend to think of things in the wrong way. I really do focus my efforts on what is not happening in my life. Here is what IS happening & what I have to be grateful for;

• we are moving to NorCal East Bay area in 2 weeks.
• my husband has a job to transfer with, which lends a sense of stability to our lives.
• we have a pair of very lovely friends who are allowing us to share their living space while we search out one of our own.
• we are spending less than we are saving right now, which may not be much, but I have faith in the mama & papa dollar theory from "It's a Wonderful Life".
• our family unit has a unique strength and sense of love & togetherness.
• we have two lovely little beings in our life that give us the motivation to make this work.
• my DH is going back to school for his masters in a field he is passionate about.
• I Love my husband with all of my heart & soul, he is my best friend. (a bit old fashioned but there it is)
• we have reconnected with family in a remarkable way.
• we have been blessed with a support network of family and friends.
• we have our health.

I know that I do not stop and take the time to be grateful for the good things in my life. It is so easy to get caught up in what is going wrong and to stray into more negativity. It is hard for me to take a closer look at my faults but when I do I find that there is not anything there that I cannot overcome.

This post is not overly witty. There is no hidden snark and I haven't even dropped the F-bomb once. I know that there are those of you who look forward to that type of post. Do not be discouraged, I have plenty of the funny and downright ridiculous left in me yet. Today, however, I want to focus on Keeping it Positive. That's all that you can do in the end.

I took a silly FaceBook quiz 2 days a go that I didn't publish because as I said, it was silly. It was something like; "what is your life quote?". At the time I thought, are you kidding me that is so overused & so generic. In retrospect, I kinda like it.

"When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade" ~Dale Carnegie

PLGC- to everyone keeping it positive.

confessions of a serial procrastinator...

My goodness, I swear I wasn't drinking when I took the photo in my previous post. I will leave it up however as a testament to my temporary insanity. The truth is that I have to straighten up now, fly right so to speak. It is crunch time and if I am completely honest with you internet and myself, then...

My stress is a monster of my own creation. I am a class act procrastinator. I don't set out to Not get things done. I am a master of self distraction. I will just read one more chapter, which turns into devouring a novel in one go. I will just watch this one re-run episode, only to discover it's a 4 hour marathon, 4 hours later. Hey kids you want to do an art project? These are just the tip of the iceberg.

I know that I have touched on this topic before, but I feel that I need to say it out loud again. I need to be held responsible for my lack of action. I have asked DH to kick my ass about it but that hasn't worked at all. It turns out that I become a total bitch when he points out my lack. This must be totally confusing to him too as I asked him to point such out. So I turn to you dear readers. I know that you are there and you may be few in number but I want your silently judging thoughts to be just that.

I do not have an uncharmed life but if I do not find a way to motivate my ass I fear it will become one. I try to understand how I could work a corporate job for 40++ hours per week and give it may all and then give my Real life shit. Here you go dear husband and kids an giant pile of steaming crap.

I can see that the DH is beyond stressed at this point. We move to Cali in little over 2 weeks and we are not ready. Everything takes longer than you think, so at this point it looks like we will not be ready (especially with my track record). That, it turns out, is just not acceptable. Not now, not ever again.

Something inside of me has to click and it has to be today. There are no more free passes, no more tomorrows, no more I'll get to that in 15 more minutes. I swear to all that is, if I come back here and write one more post about my own procrastination that I will kick my own ass. It'll be like that scene in fight club and my only excuse then is that I will be bloody and broken.

Thank you for sitting through that & since you were kind enough to read through to the end I will give you the immeasurable treat of this picture of my lovely children.

lovely in Chicago.

PLGC- faithful lurkers everywhere.

and so on and so forth...

Apparently moving to a whole new state gives 6 year olds freaking panic attacks. Thank the effing gods for bach's White Chestnut flower essences . I myself, yes me, am a fan of the Rescue Remedy mixture. It also works for pets, more specifically cats.

To even suggest that stress may play a factor in our 4 & 6 year old childrens' current behavior is ludicrous. No I don't mean the rapper you fools! oF COURSE IT FUCKING DOES (play a part I mean). Those caps were an accident but I am gonna leave them because it has been the most aesthetically pleasing thing I have seen all week.

Anyway, this blog tarries and waxes and all that liturgical shit. I am too fucking freaked myself to even comprehend. Rescue remedy, really biatches, really..really.

PLGC- if you don't know you better ask (ax) sombody.




Cuh-raz-ay...me

the one where she goes on a bit too long...

It has been a week or so since I have stopped by. I apologize dear blogosphere for my fickle demeanor. To say that life has been hectic would be an injustice to the circus-state fair-esque bit that has been my world as of late. I am not sure where even to begin. I believe I left off with a pretty scene at the home of my in-laws in IL, so that may be a start.

Suburbia in Northern Illinois was great. We headed further North to the land of Cheese and went on a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory, ahh Wisconsin. My S-I-L phrased it best "Lame-skie" (said in a long drawn out sing songy sorta way). It was like watching How it's Made while riding in a golf cart disguised as a train. The booty to be had at the end of the tour --aka enough jelly belly's to kill a horse--, made it well worth the tour, I think...

There was also the Mars Cheese Castle, that my dear Internet was like heaven made of cheese but here on Earth. I could live there forever and ever and ever. The most awesome Father-in-law ever stocked us up on quite the nice assortment of sausage and cheese. Oh-oh-oh and there was beer too.

Alas the Cheese bliss was not to last. Before we were through there were other states to be traversed. There were meet and greets with strangers, some of whom I had heard and some I had not. There were bloodied lips (my own by my son) and broken limbs (my M-I-L, the biggest trooper Evah!!) There was the electric slide and hotels with swimming pools. Booze in copious amounts and Family.

Family. I mean like woah! I felt my place in the ranks and I felt I belonged. It was a really good time for myself, my spouse and my children. The kids were the key. They seemed to erase any unease that may have occurred and rambunctiously worked their way into the hearts of everyone, I mean Everyone, present. To be a part of something as such was amazing and I am well pleased by the experience on the whole.

Now here we are. Here, now. 3 weeks from the move to Northern Cali, $1400 in car repairs, no moving budget to speak of and Love. So much love that I am awed and frightened all at the same time. Where did it come from and will it last? There is the fact that my eldest has now started 1st grade, which I will pull her from shortly. She will be the new kid but I don't know when.

I am officially freaking at how behind schedule I am with the packing. I am psyched that in this time of stress I have taken up running (even if it is only 1-2 miles at a go). I am falling more madly in love with my spouse than I ever thought possible and am whole heartedly looking forward to our 13th anniversary. Did you know the traditional gift for 13 years is lace and lingerie? CS is certainly looking forward to that.

All in all I am trying to fit a time warps worth of information into a few brief paragraphs. If you are still reading then I should say thank you. If not, then I really DGAF. So that being said, I hope that you too have felt the strange ebb and flow of time this summer and that your lives are moving forward in a positive way. Good night dear readers. I promise to wax less poetic & wordy our next go round.

Peace Love & Green Chile. -all

Vacation Bliss

So our first family trip on a plane was relatively painless. Security in the Sunport moved along at a quick pace and the plane ride itself was smooth. EmBea said she had butterflies in her tummy and on her shirt. It was amazing to be re-amazed. Watching my children revel in the joys of jetting above our planet and hanging out in the atmosphere became just that, a joy. CS & CB sat across the aisle and seemed equally enthralled.

The trek through O'Hare to get to my MIL seemed a marathon but in a good way. EmBea was patching so it was a bit of chore to make sure that she wasn't running into people. There was much more hustle and bustle than either of the kids had ever been exposed to before. I cannot wait to take them into Chi-town proper.

Right now I am sitting in the serenity of my in-laws lovely home. We are surrounded by flowers, greenery, lakes and local wildlife. Well there was serenity until my oldest decided that everything was too quiet and stomped through the house like a herd of wild elephants. Damn I sounded like my own mother just then, no wonder she used to get so cranky when we did stuff like that. CB just went a round with the OJ and the OJ won. Citrus in the eye, not pretty.

I am very thankful to be here. It is a good warm up for the impending move. It also happens to be quite nice to be on an actual vacation for once. My little family is coming along quite nicely and it bodes well for things to come. Sometimes it is very easy to get caught up in the mom-ness (being mom). I think it is good to look at it through the eyes of a grandparent or aunt or uncle. They have so much more patience for letting them just be kids.

Well I have rambled on a bit and sucked away some of my vacation time into the internet vortex. I bid you all farewell and hope that you find the bliss in your family today as I have found in mine.

PLGC- family

the best laid plans (not what you think)

Sorry that I have been lax on posting lately. Even though we do not have a definitive plan for this west coast move it seems to occupy most of my time. My life is fraught with sporadic packing, children induced anxiety and pure avoidance. The latter being my nemesis.

Me: "Oh there's a marathon of such and such on TNT, must sit on my ass and watch...Oh you brought home beer and Jim Beam, well we can't let that go to waist...Oh I haven't read the umpteenth update from the too many tweeps I follow...Oh wait did Momversation post something new (check out the one on procrastination, it's my fave)...oh..oh..oh.."

The Dear husband has noticed this, lets call it, laziness. He hesitates to bring it up to me for fear that I might get all hormonal and rant some illogical crap at him for a couple of hours. Which I probably would, so that makes him right, which pisses me straight off! Really why does he have to call me out on something I am beating myself up over. What's that you say? Yes I call him out for every little idiosyncrasy. Huh? I deserve to get what I dish out? Oh allright. Dammit internet Now You are pissing me off.

I have so much shit to get done and we are flying out to IL on Wednesday for a family shindig. I am totally happy for the impromptu vacation but all of my above said crap has made it more panic filled. I need the big flashing DON'T PANIC sign from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy right now. Why do I do this to myself? If I had the answer y'all I wouldn't be posing the question here. By the time we return it will be exactly 4 weeks til the move, 4 freaking weeks. Damn.

Man this whole post is sliding into some mighty whiny territory. That irks me too and now I am pissing myself off, WTF! Maybe that's the problem, I am apparently too effing pissed off to get anything done. Well I just can't accept that. Henceforth I give you permission dear readers to flip me the bird and tell me to stop the nonsense! I am moving to beautiful Northern Cali and I have fabu friends in the area. In the end it doesn't matter how we get there, just that we DO get there.

I am going to butcher this quote, mainly because I can't remember who wrote it and it is one CS uses all the time. I don't even know if I've ever seen it in print but I love it. "Planning is like looking for your lost wallet under a lamppost when you didn't lose it there in the first place" That pretty sums it up for me right now.

Move along, there is nothing to see here...

PLGC- movers & shakers

adventures in babysitting...

I am constantly amazed and appalled by my children. They are such amazing little beings but they have the uncanny ability to go from 0-brat in 1.5 seconds. This summer has entailed an interesting change in my kiddos’ dynamic due to addition of CiCi. She is 6 and a kindergarten classmate to EmBea. The three of them get on pretty well but there are the inevitable personality/emotional/I’m 6 & your 4/we’re both 6 and moody clashes.

I often times wonder if I am too straight forward in my parenting tactics. If I am it is too late to turn back now. I am that mom who simply tells it like it is. Both of my kids are used to this. EmBea is on the gifted track and it is best not to sugar coat anything with her since she’ll just bug you until she gets it. The she says, matter-of-factly, “I get that.” CB is 4 and he can take things one of two ways; screaming crying fit mode or the classic sad sack “okay mom”. CiCi has been known to look at me cross eyed and sideways.

These are the things I can’t and won’t tolerate;

• Rudeness in any form or fashion. This includes face making and snarky remarks. 4 & 6 year olds have a surprisingly wide array of snarky remarks.
• Hitting is NEVER EVER ok.
• Whining. Okay so I tolerate it somewhat but I really wish I didn’t have to.
• Lying. I have a built in lie detector, which always amazes the child telling the lie, which I utilize often.
• Refusing to eat something “because I don’t like it”. The rule in this house is that you try it & if you still don’t like it then at least you tried it. This one works surprisingly well with picky CiCi and CB. (One bite often times leads to eating the whole meal before they realize they have eaten it.)

Those are the basics. There will always be that unexpected mediation that you play off the cuff but those are few and far between. Being in charge of a child who is not my own definitely gives me more patience. I am learning when to let something go and when to step in.

One of the other issues that I deal with is Brain Food. I am blessed with two wonderfully articulate and bright children. EmBea, as stated above, is gifted, so I have to make sure I am keeping her challenged while matching the learning level of the other two. Stimulation via arts and crafts is excellent. One of my favorite things to do is grab the laptop and pick a documentary on Netflix. Then I will coordinate an art project around the theme of the documentary. It works surprisingly well and the kids love it.

We also have plenty of outings. Kids go stir crazy too. Stir crazy kids + stir crazy mami = one bad day. I try to mix it up with the zoo, aquarium, library, parks. This is the usual rigmarole and they are always pleasantly surprised. I think the key thing to remember is that kids just want to have fun. They don’t want to be in trouble. I have to remind myself of that pretty much daily, but when I do the results are splendiferous.

Lest you think this post makes me sound like a saint…I have my bad days too. Yesterday I let forth a string of expletives that no child ears should hear. In my defense that fucking asshole driver in the big truck ran the stop sign and I had kids in the car!! I already let CiCi’s mom know, you know just in case. I have days were the “mommy voice” sounds more like a mommy yell and days when I just plain stick them in front of a movie with a bowl of popcorn. That’s okay too. I think I am doing a darn fine job raising interesting little kids and solidifying a childhood babysitter memory for another. I had an amazing babysitter when I was 6 so if I am in any way emulating her then I am on the right track.

PLGC- babysitters and the kids they care for

Family Picture...rare

because somebody has to hold the camera...

us at the Metamusings Art Opening Reception to
See the artwork Of RS at The Talking Fountain in the "Burque!

PLGC- ((Peace, Love and Green Chile))- Art Lovers, Artists and Dred-locked Peeps in NM.

a day in the life...

So far, despite the previous posted finger mishap, the week has gone surprisingly well. I even managed to plan five meals out and shop within 10 bucks of my allotted budget, hooray me! So what are we having for this weeks nosh?

Last night was... Pork Chops (pan fried), duchess potatoes and broccoli & cauliflower florets in butter. The duchess potatoes (recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook) turned out delish!

Tonight I am trying a crock pot recipe called 3 beans & Sausage. It has red kidney beans, black beans and great northern beans with smoked sausage. This will be served over wild grain rice with corn cakes.

the rest of the week will play it by ear with these dishes;

• Pulled BBQ Chicken sandwiches with pomme frites (ok just french fries).
  
• Spaghetti Pie, a family fave, but I am substituting whole grain whole wheat noodles. This will be served with garlic toast.
• What week would be complete without Pizza? It is a must in the Novus house. Italian Sausage & Pineapple (the grown ups are throwing on some green chile too).

Can't wait for leftover night :)

I even managed to sqeeze in some crafting with the kids. They each made grandma a fimo picture fram with a pic of themselves. See the completed project below. I think it is starting to sink in that we won't be seeing grandma everyday come September. I really want them to enjoy this time with family because the adventure is just around the corner. If you have any moving tips to lessen the stress on the kiddos feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.

CB's soccer '09 pic in his handmade fimo frame.


EmBea's soccer '09 pic in her handmade fimo frame.

Tonight is looking promising. We are going to an art opening reception to see a friends work. Any outing with art and friends is sure to be a winner. We also have friends in town from Sacremento. I can't wait to meet their scrumdidlyumptious daughter! Life seems to be moving right along and quite nicely I must add. For added kicks I have thrown in the picture of my kids dancing crazily to the JoJo's Circus theme song. Yes it's supposed to be blurry they were really rocking it out.

"hey hey it's JoJo's Circus" (p.s. this link is in Italian)

PLGC- pizza lovers

it's Bad and I don't mean MJ folks...

"It's bad, like bad badbadbadbadbad, might need stitches but think I cut it off so stitches won't work bad." that is pretty much an exact quote.

It started as a nice quiet marinated sesame crusted roast. I decided to add carrots and didn't even get to the potatoes. The knife was a new addition, very sharp. I looked away, being reckless and carrot slipped... There goes the tip of my left index finger and above said quote is born.

Luckily my mom is trained for this sort of thing and I went around with the I'm #1 finger for a few hours. (say it with me, I'm #1 I'm #1 I'm #1) here is the milder version which held its own turmoil that culminated in my mom telling me to "sit your ass down". I am 34 years old and that shit still works.

I'm #1 and I sliced the tip of my finger off.

...needless to say there was a lot of blood and I am officially a wuss. On a lighter note check out this hand puppet my daughter (the progeny of two creative entrepreneurs, aka artists) made.

hangin' wit my dawg...

PLGC- fellow dumb asses of the world

the popo post...

Well hello there, did you miss me? It was nice to take a small hiatus from the blogosphere but I did miss you internet. Turns out that I have a slight addiction to this whole writing thing. I suffered some sleep related anxiety because I kept thinking I was forgetting to do something. So here I am at the usual hour typing away.

It has been an uneventful few days with some cold beer and fireworks thrown in for good measure. I hope that you and yours had a dazzling 4th. I was a bit cheap on the firework front but the neighbor spent a bundle and made up for my lack. It was kind of funny watching how nervous they got whenever a car turned onto our street. I believe his exact quote was "Oh shit is that the popo?" Nice!

The stand that I got our works from was run by this really nice MMA fighter who was helping his dad survive the struggling WY economy. He comes to the Burque every year to support his fighting with the cash he makes from fireworks sales. Ahh, the American dream. He did ask me if I lived in the city. This made me wonder if he would have sold me something that had me saying "Oh shit is that the popo?" Sorry folks couldn't resist using the word popo as many times as possible in this post. All in all it was a nice 4th and I got to educate the kiddos on the declaration of independence by reading them an essay I found on Kaboose.

Just finished watching Hitchcock's To Catch a Theif, loved it! I can't resist Cary Grant though, ever. Mix in Grace Kelly and the French Riviera, ooh la la. I love that CS enjoys a classic movie as much as I do. The witty dialogue had us both cracking up and the clothes were amazing! If you enjoy Hitchcock and haven't had the opportunity to see it you should definitley check it out. Seriously made me want to watch The Trouble with Harry again. Hitchcock has a delightfully dark sense of humor.

Other occurrences of merit this week... My son's appropriate use of the words dumbass and fuckers. (I swear I try to watch my mouth but it is already too late) Besides he tells me he's old enough to listen to grown up words. It's the ease at which he uses them that has me slightly troubled. I hope that he can refrain at my husband's grandfather's 90th this summer. EB has finished over 200+ hours of patching since she was first diagnosed with Amblyopia. I am expecting good news at her next Opthamologist visit on the 20th. I am so proud of my little patching princess.

Well it has been real dear internet, photos soon.

PLGC (Peace, Love & Green Chile) -internet

fine.

• watch this new Edie Brickell video
  

• make this mascarpone

• read this blog; trendland

• check this out

• watch educational shit with your kids

• and have your man check out Club Trill

• Listen to Kelis
  

Because I'm the mami and I said so...

PLGC - bossy mamas

just another...

Manic Monday, oh-oh. They are always so strange. CS is up at 4am to be at work by 5. I find myself awake too though I usually fall back to sleep as he zooms off in his Camaro. The sound of that car driving off is like a little lullaby that says, he got it all together you can get 2 more hours of sleep now. The kids usually pounce me by 7:00 except that I have been letting them stay up way to late these days. Tonight they were in bed by 8:30 (not sleeping but it's an improvement).

Tomorrow is packing and organizing. I really need to get my shit together for this move. CS and I are pros at the whole moving thing, only we are in our 30's now with kids. That being said I don't think it's gonna be okay if we just stuff a bunch of crap haphazardly into a box and onto a truck the same day that we drive outta town. Damn I hate being the mature adult sometimes.

The one thing that is totally new to me and FREAKING me out are schools. Specifically pre-school but public school too. Em will be starting the 1st grade and it looks like she may be here a couple of weeks before we move and you can't just sign up for school in CA without having an address first. Pre-school is a whole other issue. It seems that most of the good ones have had kids on a waiting list since they were in utero (the kids not the schools). I am definitely going with a referral agency, I think. If any of you have any advice on the topic please feel free to share. I know I have at least a few lurkers out there who still read this thing.

I have asked you dear internet in the past for advice and you have not come through. I promise I won't cry when blogger tells me there are no comments to moderate. I have been your fickle mommy blogger and still have a few flaky days left in my bag of tricks. At least my lovely counter tells me that you are there even if you were just searching for porn. I always feel bad that some guy out there wanted to get his Hot Mami on and he ends up here. Though I always hope they link into one of my posts on poop or puke, take that perv-o.

Wow I am sorta rambling tonight. Sorry about that, truly. It has been a strange day filled with nausea and one too many reruns on TNT. I really hate when I turn my brain down to the moron level. A vegetative state is not exactly what I need to kick start the moving preparation.

Well internet I will bid you goodnight.

PLGC- lurkers & porn addicts

tears start falling...

Well Sunday has certainly dragged on. CS and EmBea let CB and I sleep in. Then it was on to cinnamon rolls and preparing pulled pork. I totally cut into the tip of my left hand ring finger after a dire warning of how dangerously I was holding the knife, by CS. Thus ending in my daughter saying to me; "Mom it's not that I am blind in 1 eye it's just that I have a problem and it's clumsy". You know I think she gets that from me.

Really though, life is moving on way to fast. I have a hella load of packing to do. That is not to mention all of the research on the new homestead but also learning how to pull money out of my ass. I take that back, lets leave that visualization for the people who are not going to receive checks in the mail. So mote it be.

Anywayt its 4 in the morning for me.

PLGC- parents of children who lost there teeth

A good day.

First off I'd like to say that CS totally ruined my Shia LeBeouf fantasy. Why does he have to bring up Holes, which then makes me think of Even Stevens and ewww. The potential cougar in me just walks away and begs me to forget she was ever there. So on that note we took the kiddos to see Transformers 2 today. CS and myself are a transformered out, but in a good like my head is vibrating with this sound, sorta way.

In other news; I am on day 2 of the Nutra Nail 5-7 Day Growth Calcium Formula. I have high hopes based on a reveiew from a friend. I am still recovering from a bad fake nail incedent a couple of months ago. Incedentally I think that would be a great name for a crazy chick rock band. I'd listen to that.

So here is the wind up to my day. Barbie Hollywood Hair Salon. My daughter and I were casting Barbie in film and musical; so they had to look just right. Below are the acheived results, enjoy.

isn't she beautiful!

PLGC-Barbie mama's everywhere.

a Photo Friday CB turns 4 edition...

Details tomorrow on all of the birthday action. For now this mami is pooped. So enjoy the boy & his cake.

Birthday Boy- CB age 4

the Optimus Prime cake;
yellow cake, wilton vanilla frosting, all mamacita!

Crafty Toothless.

Well today was a very successful crafting with kids sorta day. We made coffee filter rainbow fish from here. One addition that really was a happy accident; wax paper. Tape wax paper to the table and have the kids follow the instructions from there. Spray the water while the coffee filter is still on the wax paper and dry both. Later when you are ready to glue your fish to the blue paper; cut a circle out of the wax paper where the color bled through to make a bubbly background. Here are the results.

ly's rainbow fish

CB's rainbow fish

EmBea's rainbow fish

My eldest has lost another tooth. When I say lost I actually mean; "she pulled the damn thing herself! Again!" direct quote from me to you. She is a cutie though.

Whistling a pirates tune.

PLGC- the smurfs (blame CS not me, this is what happens when i have him help me blog.)

which phrase have i overused this week?

My mind has been so many other places today that I almost went straight to bed. I would have kicked myself right in the ass if I ended my 24 day posting streak because I was distracted and tired. June is almost at an end and then you won't be bored silly with my off the cuff writing everyday. I might actually sit down and put a little thought into it. What?!? I might.

Obviously my brain is addled tonight. I have hit delete too many times to count and I can't seem to piece together a grammatically correct sentence to save my life. I did look at a lot of rentals on craigslist today and contacted a preschool referral agency for CB. Every little piece of the puzzle is falling into place.

Well tomorrow is birthday prep for the boy, who will be 4 on Friday. Tonight it's a quick stint as the tooth fairy (whom my daughter totally knows is me).

PLGC -families

seeing red...

is sometimes very important to moving forward. Pissing yourself off enough to get things done, well, priceless. So here we are my love and i. Are you seeing red? Do you feel the urge to get off your ass and do that thing you always said you would? Well I am moving to a whole new effing state, i am freaked as all hell, but sometimes you just gotta take that leap.

the love of my life...

and me...

Sometimes you have to see red before anything gets accomplished. Once you're past that, things should start going your way. Put it out there for the world to see, don't be afraid to conquer your fears and keep on moving on. That's all I got tonight peeps. Love y'all and will have some funny anecdotal crap tomorrow.

PLGC- haters

i bring the fire...

Black Eyed Peas, Fifty Cent, Ludacris, TI, Kottonmouth Kings, Nina Simone, 311, Chemical Brothers, Immortal Technique, Eminem, Kanye West, The Grouch, Lil Wayne, Jay Z, Fergie, the Crystal Method, Wale, Kevin Rudolph, etc...the music on CS' iPod. not my off the cuff taste but damn I can sure do some dishes quick when i got a bass line goin on!

I love it when i hijack the iPod for the evening. CS takes on the bedtime business and i get shit done. i'd love to say that i can tackle housework all day long but that would be a lie. housework plays a secondhand biatch to my kiddos. they Rock and they come first. if i am in the middle of scrubbing the sink, i stop, sanitize and participate. i think it is so important that they get my undivided attention. i want them to know that they are important and so is what they have to say.

it might tack an extra 20 minutes onto an usually simple task but i do not mind. you know "i'm ballin' throwin mami 'round..." i'm always ready for the craziness that they can throw my way. these kids are gonna be freaking teenagers someday. y'all can bet i am gonna soak up the little kid vibe while i can. i just don't see the purpose in working myself up over something they will forget in ten seconds.

on that note i'd like to go soak up the snuggle time with papi cuz he got the kids to sleep and we are hott like that.

PLGC- lovers

even orangel fastwalker loves some CS snuggle time!
(p.s. the kids named the cat)

Bewitched with the Bay Area

Elizabeth Montgomery is my official Mamacita Caliente idol. She was totally hott! as Samantha Stevens; She had magical powers at her fingertips, yet insisted upon keeping house the oldfashioned way. Faux-wood walls, brand new dishwasher and cocktails in the early evening. What is not to love? I am sure by now you have ascertained that i have had me an episode or two of bewitched recently.

Well I haven't fully developed my magical powers as of yet but I am working on it. So father's day huh? Not much of a segue but it's what I got. The kids woke me up bright and early for follow through on a plan that we hatched the previous day. We made all of dad's faves: pancakes, bacon, eggs, toast and a hot cup of coffee. All of this was delivered on a Cars tray completed with handmade Father's Day cards. It was absolutely sweet as pie! Dad then had to travel off to the Sunday grind. Life is funny like that.

The kids were over the moon and loving up daddy every chance they got. It is in the moments like this that I stop and take stock of my little family. I see the love and the joy and the way that we all roll with the punches. I am starting to realize that the kids are a little stressed out about our impending move. I don't think they fully understand the full chaos that will ensue, but they get one thing, change.

Life is rushing up on us and changing fast. It is more intense than that impulsive move to Baltimore ten years ago. I felt something today that I almost mistook for anxiety, it was urgency. I love a good sense of urgency. I got shit to do and I need to do it fast. So on that note I am going to sign out dear internet. I hope you continue to tune in and vicariously come along for the ride.

PLGC- families picking up and moving on.

B-O-R-I-N-G

Boring post tonight.... So just to pre-warn y'all I made a commitment to myself to blog everyday this month. I have not failed, though I am beginning to realize why blogging every day is not so easy. It is difficult to call upon that sarcastic wit at a moments notice. I am however nothing if not committed.

So today was:

• making father's day cards with the kids
• washing dishes
• applying for jobs in the bay area 1) to fulfill my NMdeptoflabor requirements and 2) because i am going to need a job.
• drinking dos quis cerveza with salt and lime (the key to the whole day really)
• referee, slave, housekeeper, confidant aka...mom

I warned you that it was boring but you insisted on being one of my few lurkers and reading anyway.

PLGC & a SHOUT OUT to my lurkers, -i love you guys

freaky friday

sometimes even i think i am a mean mom. but i am not really. i just can't stand fits and crying. i really don't think that i am being unreasonable. i have never and i mean never (contrary to popular belief) given into the demands of a screaming child o'mine. i may have eased it back when they realized i wasn't budging. i may have even dropped it when i realized it wasn't worth the fight. i did not give in, i follow through.

embea had me at my wits end today. there was no consequence big enough for the back talk she was dishing in between her dime sized tears. i still to this late hour have no clue as to what her effing problem was (i should get used to this feeling, right?). there were moments of sweet beauteous clarity, very few and very far between. she is sleeping now, man i love that kid!

cb on the otherhand was quite unlike his usual self today. he was all charm (of course we had a swim date audience) and articulation. i am seriously thinking that maybe the children had some sort of freaky friday experience where they switched bodies and hatched some crazy scheme to not tell me. yea i know they're 3 & 6 but i am totally buying into my own conspiracy.

it was a cuh-razy day. so i will leave you with this lovely photo that said children forced asked me to take of their play dough sculptures. i guess they were just too beautiful to not have a memento. i have no freaking clue what they were but i am leaning toward voodoo.

voodoo playdough dolls

yes mom i am still awake!

this one will Not go to sleep, so...

no big blog, just photo luv. PLGC blogiverse and send thoughts of 4 years olds going to bed :)

the one where AS posts her to-do list...

Things to do...

• pack, sort, purge, repeat...
• research schools for the kids.
• get massive amounts of money in my mail, or however; i'm easy like that.
• study maps and other area-centric information.
• pick an official move date.
• get more money, here i am almighty dollar you know where to find me.
• work on article about Chroma Gallery
• connect with the peeps before we blow this popstand.
  
• get an accountant to sort out all the money.
• make more lists about what i need to do.

PLGC- internet

West Coast chillin'

I have just had the best day evah!!!

• my babysitting gig called off for the day.

• i had a free sushi lunch with the hubs, em n' cal and a fellow artist (who treated btw). hooray sushi!

• the hubs got into grad school in berkeley. we are movin' to the bay, yeah; we are movin' to the bay, yeah!! i am a bit hyphy.
  

• chatted w/a friend from b-town. (I was gonna do a baltimore link here, but i typed in b-town on google and got berkeley) i get it cosmos!!
  

• em is about to lose a second tooth in a month.

• cb is still whining.
  

• things are downright wonky and i couldn't be giddier.
  

• oh AND...spiderman came over for a visit.

PLGC-blogiverse -out

why i have a newfound love for facebook.

so i face book. i do not want to gel with the internet society at whole. i am really looking for the peeps i know, the ones that i shelter some long lost whimsy for, the ones i love... tonight i truly connected with a couple that we felt an affinity with. we are sending them a couple of CS's paintings via USPS tomorrow. that is how strong the love...

the hot-daddy-CS tweeted about my ass tonight. even if i do love shakin' to some nelly, it was not nessecary, lol.

i am taking out the recycling and the trash.
i have been categorized, ( by3-6 year olds), as a mean mom today. i interrupted a my little pony face off and made 40+ animal shaped miniature sugar cookies.

p.s. this pic is sooo me looking aged 34

all in all i think.. i rock.. (PLGC blogiverse. -out)

It has been a very productive day. The house is clean, the kids are chill and so is the HD (hot-daddy aka CS Novus)! I seems like yesterday's shenanigans and today's housebound activities left everyone feelin' a-ok. so while i am not in the mood to be all jibber-jawed about it...i thought i'd leave a pic of the kids at our outing yesterday. PLGC blogiverse -out

Butterfly Pavillion at the Botanical Gardens

Saturday

It takes 21 days to build a habit. i am hoping that blogging everyday in June will help me build the habit of writing daily. i don't necessarily mean here on this blog, but for myself. i think it is important to quit talking about what i want to do and do it. i hope to teach my children through my examples not just by my words. ironic.

we had a wonderful day today. i got up with CS at 5:30 to help him get ready to go white water rafting. i was psyched that he got to go & it was totally free. beautiful northern NM, a river and a raft. a perfect sort of day for my guy. the kids and i hit the aquarium & botanical gardens around 1pm. the fish are always a plus, but the gardens were in full bloom and looking lovely.

we did the whole bit, butterfly pavillion, heritage farm and japanese garden. we just took a slow pace and brought lots of water and healthy snacks. for some reason on outings like this i can really get the little buggers to go for the fruit instead of the fruit rollup. it was a nice way to spend the day.

so here i am 10:13 and ready to wrap it up. i remember saturday nights of years past when i was just getting ready to start the night. ahh but those days are much fewer and far between. i'd way rather say goodnight to you dear internet. i am off to snuggle up with that hot daddy of mine and some netflix. PLGC -out

p.s. go take a peak at your sleeping children (if you have kids :) and relish in how fricking cute they look when they are sleeping.

i been afraid of changin"

This is an under painting that I am working on. It is not an enjoyable witty blog. Sometimes you get what you get and you don't throw a fit. This is me knowing that committing to a daily blog is not for me; sometimes you have to just roll.

Forgot to add this last night, I am a fan over on FB of this > With Women Doula Cooperativa < so check it out & become a fan.

Tonight...

I find myself really starting to think about the flow of my childrens' day. I can definitely see that EmBea requires a bit more structure and stimulation. I am trying a few new things and as I come across them I will let y'all know the result.

I stumbled onto an awesome site last night, neoK12. It has a ton of videos that have been screened by teachers to ensure value and appropriateness for your child. The videos seem to mostly come from youtube, but are really great. The kids watched the Earth section today. Each vid is between 2-7 minutes so it holds their attention. Boy was EmBea excited about plate tectonics. Who knew? Anyway, give the site a look-see.

CB is just the cutest little boy alive for about 90 minutes of the day. The rest of the time it seems he is either whining, crying, screaming or all three. What is it with this age that makes a kid just go ape shit? I have tried it all. The big one that has worked for me is follow through on consequences. If they take an action that is not correct, then that action has a consequence. Which is usually the loss of a priveledge related to the crime. I used to be such a sucker and bad at follow through. This time I might actually pull it off.

I shouldn't like you to think that it is all bad, there are just moments that I spend more time on now. I realize that it is not always important to be their friend; sometimes you just have to be their mom. I think I am starting to grow up quite nicely.

Well folks, this post seems slightly lacking. I promise to regale you with something more exciting, very soon. Maybe a recipe for slime or a madcap outing. Who knows people there are days when this blog practically writes itself. Then there are days like this.

Blue-Blah

This is me feeling blue or is it blah. It hasn't been a bad day, not really. There was the brief incident at the post office, but I took a survey and sent an email so I pretty much handled that. The kids definitely seemed to be in bicker mode today; more often than not. Other than that here I am at 10:35 pm and just blah-bity. I wish I could make it more exciting than that, but there ya go. So internet rather than wax on I think I'll wax off. PLGC -out

a wiggly jiggly loose tooth.

Embea's got no tooth.

I would like to start this blog with a shout out to my daughter's k-2 teachers! 3 more amazing ladies, you will never meet. I owe the title to them. I stole it from an end of the day song that serenaded those children lucky enough to loose a tooth in the confines of public school.

to preface..Embea has had this loose tooth for some time, (since late March, i think). She wanted so very badly to lose it in school. She has been eating apples and wiggling like crazy.

Tonight was crazy appetizer night.

We had a lovely family day watching the Isotopes play the OKC Redhawks. While I did take my first, (and many others), breath in Oklahoma, I WAS NOT in any way, shape or form rooting for them. I am a 'topes girl through & through.

sidetrack & long story short. That tooth was clearly coming out today. I turned to Mr. Novus and said, in fact; "That tooth is coming out today."

So, one requested course for our appetizer night was, in fact, an apple. Said half of apple was bitten into aproximately 2 times. Crazy, long-rooted tooth proceeds to fall out of my 6 year old's mouth.

I am verklimpt.

PLGC internet

-out

Gak (also known as Goop)

My kids are playing with Gak! "What is Gak?" you ask. I found the recipe here. They are in absolute lala land. I added blue food coloring (1 drop) to his and red (to make pink) to hers. Try this with your little ones. The final mix should harden when you initially grab it and dissolve the tighter you hold it.

for this recipe you will need cornstarch, water and food coloring (optional)
4 parts cornstarch (see baking supplies dept. of supermarket)
1 part water
(Can add coloring.)

Add water gradually to cornstarch. Stir with fingers.

Thanks to Earthskids for this recipe, visit their site for other fun recipes & things to do with your kids!

EmBea & CB playing w/ Gak.

PLGC -out

those moments.

As a parent there are those moments. That sort of Wow and holy poop moment all wrapped into one. Below is a picture drawn by my son, he will be 4 this month. If you look closely near the bottom of the page is what looks like a a male uhm part. I say to my son is that a "tinky" ? (sorry it's what we taught him to call it, I think it originated from grandma, but I'm not sure) He smirks and says yes. Then he says:

CB: Mom did you know that a tinky is called a penis?
Me: Uhm, yes. Who told you it was called that?
CB: Embea. (his sister)
Me: Okay, well she's right.

I really didn't know how to respond to that. I am pretty sure EmBea picked that one up at school, she is on the playground with 5th graders.

This is CB Novus under an umbrella


CB Novus-bourgening controversial artist.

Since I am showcasing the art of CB, I should give you a look at EmBea's too. She was watching Mirrormask today, at her own behest. As a patching activity she decided to create her own world, like the one the girl draws in the movie. Here is her world below and I am quite impressed.

My little fairy watching Mirrormask.

EB Novus and her family in her world.

So there you have it. My day as Mom with all of the good parts and none of the bad.

PLGC Blogiverse -out

All images in this post are the express copywrite of NovusArts and may not be reproduced in any way.

Mom..Referee...Social Network Therapy

Today I totally slept in...translation; I slept until my kid woke me up at 7:30, turned on cartoons, made breakfast & laid back down. Then I got up 50 times to cater to my children's whims. Which in the end negated the laying back down as it was more like exercise.

That being said, I totally know better than to try to lay back down. It really is better to get up and start the intravenous drip of coffee directly into my veins. No, really I have a prescription. Okay so that's a lie, but I drink a lot of effing coffee! Once the neurons started firing I managed to grab a bite for myself in between playing referee to a death match between my kids.

There are days that I think that is all that I do. I was never good at letting them self sooth and thus I have difficulty allowing them to sort it out on their own. I am working on it. We have added another 6 year old girl into our world this summer Mon-Fri. It is definitely making things more interesting. While they keep each other entertained, there are "the spats". Often it is the 2 girls against the boy. So I do tend to try to let them resolve their own conflict. Of course I am covertly watching them through the open window ready to sprint outside at the slightest sign of trouble. And then....I get sidetracked.

I lay out these fabulous plans for my day. It was so much easier with my calendars, inbox and task lists when I still worked my corporate job. Maybe if I could plug the kiddos stats into a spreadsheet I could make a smoother transition. All in all I don't think I am doing a half bad job but I'd like to do a half good job, ya know?

I find many a moment where I am the one in time out, counting to ten, breathing in through my nose and out through the perfect shaped oo of my mouth. Breath AS, that's good, in and out... Then I quickly log into facebook or twitter for a little social network therapy (but only for 5 minutes of course) read about things going on in other peoples universe, hit the stumble task bar, find sites like this and all is well with the world.

PLGC blogiverse. -out

Photo Friday, just because.

they are so cute when they are actually getting along!

just beautiful!

being a kid is hard work, time to refuel.

Pg WTF EVER!!

So I have been trying to keep this blog totally, at least PG. But... that was before a couple of shots of Jim Beam and a miller highlife and maybe something called Elephant Malt liquor by Carlsberg.

But what the Fuck? nobody ever told me about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and her fabulous film Cross Creek. I mean really, I have been married to DH for 12 almost 13 years and he tells me, just now that it is one of his mom's fave movies? Well I have added it to netflix and that is all she wrote.

too much of the kids are sleeping-and no chance of broken bones-liquor in me to quit now.

PLGC Bitches!

P.s. I hope you will forgive me in the morning.

Girls and Boy...

The children were very challenging today, especially Bre. He is not handling the 6 year old dynamic girl duo. Every 5 minutes it is Mawwwwm. I can hear this call from inside the house. I psychically sense the outburst before it occurs. He wants to play their games but is rather obnoxiously annoying; as any almost 4 year old boy would be to two 6 year old girls. His sister is too much for him to handle most of the time, throw another in the mix and it is literally Fit City. Not that the girls don't provide a little drama of their own. Their drama is appeasable. A quick talk, a little humor, throw in some gummy bears or a popsicle and you are good to go.

I can't say it is all bad it just really forces me to look at how I handle the situation at hand. I have to be the rational and calm adult. Sometimes I just want to throw a fit too, dammit! There I'm done with that. I am learning that there are just points when you let things go.

On a high note, Bea started gymnastics today. It is so perfect for her. Just enough structure for her to stay focused. When she did spring soccer it just wasn't engaging enough. During practice she would notice a random leaf floating through the air and gaze at it in wonder. Soccer ball be damned she was lost in that leaf and the daydream it represented. Gymnastics is engaging and fun.

I was worried that her amblyopia (see previous post here.) would be a hindrance but the tumbling is so intuitive that it didn't seem to be a factor at all. Her patching is going really well and we have a second followup in July. I am crossing my fingers for some positive results.

Well it is getting late and I fear that soon I will be all mumbo and no jumbo. So peace, love and green chile to all. -out

Date Night...

I should preface this post by letting y'all know i have had 3 anchor steam drafts on tap and a simpler times lager in hand. Truly none of them have hit me yet thanks to a hearty dinner of tacos and corn cakes, homemade of course :)

That being said; tonight was an impromptu date night due to the fact that CS scored free promo tickets to away we go. Almost a chic flic, but not quite. I LOVED it, but it was more a coming of age gen x sorta flick. There was one girl sobbing but I am not really gonna say it deserved that. There were points that I was laughing my ass off and points that were slow. I loved Maggie Gyllenhaal's character LN. The ending left me wanting and was slightly predictable, but who is gonna argue when it is FREE. not me.

It was a great end to a day filled with cutting up apples and making chicken nuggets. Sometimes I feel like I am always making something for someone to eat. It's my own fault really 'cause I roll like that.

Well I haven't got much more to say because I'd like to finish up my date night with the DH. So PLGC -out.