So maybe yuppies don't have a smell

I spent my Saturday a few weeks ago at a wedding for the Not-better-half's best friend. It was an interesting affair to say the least. First of all who wears all black to a July wedding. Apparently lots of people thats who! Well and me, but I can explain. I went shopping very last minute for a dress, and when I did finally find one it ended up black, but not all black! It had red and white flowers on it. I was feeling a little awkward about it until I saw that it was the color of choice for the day. Okay so here is the weirdness. These people have apparently been friends for 20 years or so, yet it seemed like a company picnic for people who don't really talk much. It was pretty awkard, I missed the ceremony when Phoenix turned into Satan spawn, and spent much time off by myself trying to get signal to my cell phone. Yes I know very rude to be on the phone at a wedding, but who am I kidding, I was miserable. Out in the middle of the freak sunshine with 35 plus of Mike's once-upon-a-time good buddies. Or so he says. They all do the fingertip hugs and weird uncomfortable-english lady smiles. It was all together very different from the way that my friends act when they get together after a long seperation.

Botpah and Dah

So I've been in California for roughly a week and it's been interesting. It's also been fun, and tiring, and exciting. Phoenix has decided that my dad's name is Botpah, and my dad's best friend Wayne has become Dah as far as his grandson is concerned. Grandpas are something else aren't they. My dad has a good memory except for when it comes to not giving baby soda, or coffee, or tee, or too much sugar. His chihuahua also manages to be a little less spoiled when the boy is around. This trip it seems that their relationship is really starting to develop. Phoenix is getting better at communication in an intelligible manner, and dad is excited that it's him that he wants to do most of his talking to. He loves my dad, he follows him around and talks constantly to the back of his knees. It is good to be home. It seems the grandkids are making them both a little younger.

But what does that mean?

A couple of nights ago A. and I were on the phone and the conversation turned to sayings and where they come from. So I thought I would do some research and share some of their origins. Some of these I already knew through various forms of trivia, others from people I know, and some from the good old interweb. Here goes

1. "Off his rocker" : From best I can gather it started in the early steam engine days. The beam engine in particular, it rocked back and forth and if it came off of its pivot/rocker it would go nuts and flail around and destroy everything around it. This was the particular phrase that began the whole conversation in the first place.

2. "Fly off the handle" : From the early days of axe handles. Before there were any real mass merchandised, or assembly line type axes being made a lot of the time the craftsmanship wasn't always up to par. A person could be chopping away and mid stroke the axe head would come flying off with unpredictable and often bloody results.

3. "Balls to the walls" : Strangely enough I learned this one from Jay Leno a few weeks ago when he was describing his steam engine. The governor on the engine is basically two balls on iether side of a bar of some kind, held together by pins into the tops and bottoms of the rubber balls. (At least they looked rubber) Anyway they would push out toward the sides when the engine picked up speed. When they were as far out as the pins would allow them to get the governor kicked in, thus the term. It sort of resembled one of those "egg beater" windmills only with a ball halfway up on either side.

4. "Stool Pigeon" : This one is rather brutal. In early hunting days the hunters would catch a carrier pigeon and nail him to a tree stump. The poor bird would cry out, and others would flock to him to see what the alarm was about. The hunters would shoot them down by the dozen. They are now extinct.

5. "Wild goose chase"
It was a game sort of like follow the leader, on horseback. It was played in Elizabethan England. This is the way they thought that geese behaved.


Hope it was entertaining!

Woudn't you know

I have been having trouble sleeping for quite some time now. Every night it's the same thing tossing and turning, never getting to sleep before 4:00 a.m. But last night was a little different. Don't get me wrong, I still got pretty much no sleep, things just happened in a different order this time. So there I am for the first time in months totally asleep by 12:30. If I were awake I'd have been really exited about that. Anyway at 3:13 Mike decides he is going to come to bed and pretty much land on me, insuring no more sleeping for me. I have been up pretty much since then. Well I take that back, fell asleep briefly after that, but he managed to knee me in is sleep. On reflection I think that I would have rather just had the usual insomnia routine. As now I am beyond pissed off at the Not-Better-Half, because this is so not the first f-ing time. And it will probably not get better when he rolls out of bed at 11:00 and wants his coffee. So needless to say I have been sobbing off and on all damn night. And you know what, I am starting to believe that tired crying is sometimes worse than other crying because it exacerbates all the other emotions that may be floating through you. I hate the tired cries. And sometimes I can't help but feel pathetic and damaged for blubbering over sleep. But like I said, fatigue magnifies emotion.

To blog or not to blog

I haven't got a chance to post in a few days. Sometimes because I'm lazy, more because my hand really hurts, but mostly because Mike is a COMPUTER HOG! So I spend most of the day thinking about one of any given 20 topics that I am thinking about posting on, and trying to be in the right position to pounce on the computer chair when Mike is off to the bathroom. Unfortunately it's hard to stalk the computer when you are also cleaning the house and chasing a toddler. Most of the time by the time I am in the vicinity of a vacant computer, I am too tired and all my thoughts are nice and muddled together. Today we are going to a wedding and I am freaked out. I have worn a t-shirt since Phoenix was born, and I do not like this dress. I always manage to forget at least one angle on the dress when I'm in the damn dressing room. Unfortunately for me, this is always the angle that the dress looks horrible in. I feel like a cow, and I've got enough war paint on for the entire Apache Nation. Funny how that works out, I never wear make up any more for the sake of blue eye shadow. I wear it now, when I am feeling bad, scared, awkward, fat, or something to that affect. I can't wait to go home. I miss A. and I can't wait to meet her daughter and husband. I miss my mom. My brain is obviously still mixing the subjects together, but at least I touched on a couple of things that I want to write on in the future. The next few weeks may be a little sparse as I am going to California on sabbatical. But I am trying to get a few stored up! I'll just have to borrow some time on someones p.c. while I'm there. Thanks for tuning in!

Fireworks and barbecue

My parents came to visit us for the holiday weekend before heading up to Alaska for a vacation. It was an all around interesting time. Mike and my dad blew things up to their hearts content on the 3rd and 4th. I suffered a mild heart attack on the 3rd as I was unaware that they were going to set off a mortar while I was doing the dishes. Some time on the third I must have been way too excited as I bashed my hand into the entertainment center so hard, and in such a way that I am almost positive I broke one or two of the little bones. Needless to say, this may be a short post. My neighbors must have had a few drinks as they kept blowing up mortars in their back yard. I was lucky enough to get the first one of these explosions on video. I figure they must have been feeling good when blowing up half a stick of dynamite, ten feet away is funny. Especially on the fourth go round. I tried to let Phoenix stay up to watch the fireworks but he collapsed at about 9:00 pm and slept through both nights festivities.
On Saturday my parents took Phoenix and I to get him some shoes. My son spots a little blonde girl. And then another, he walks square up to the girl and says "I love you". Her mom thought it was the cutest thing ever. So did mine. I however am baffled at him. Usually when you tell him I love you, his reply is "mmm-hmmm". He has now said the actual phrase "I love you" 3 times. First to my mother on the phone, (grrr). Second to our good friend Jenny before she left, ( blonde). And third, to the little girl in the shoe store. But not mommy or daddy. Little butthead.
My parents left early yesterday, and I have been asleep or cleaning ever since. Apparently yesterday after I woke up when Phoenix's nap was over I fell back asleep. So soundly, I am told, that Phoenix used me for a jungle gym and I slept right on through to dinner. The rest is a bit hazy and delirious, sometime last night we said prayers and put baby to bed, and I found my way right back to sleep.

Women and their one flaw

I don't usually post things that I got in forwards, but in this case I think I should share.

Women have strengths that amaze men.

They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they hold happiness, love and joy.

They smile when they want to scream.

They sing when they want to cry.

They cry when they are happy and laugh when they are nervous.

They fight for what they believe in.

They stand up to injustice.

They don't take 'no' for an answer when they believe there is a better solution.

They go without so their family can have.

They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.

They love unconditionally

They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.

They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.

Their hearts break when a friend dies.

They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they think there is no strength left.

They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.

Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about you.

The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.

They bring joy, hope and love.

They have the compassion and ideas.

They give moral support to their family and friends.

Women have vital things to say and everything to give.

HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN, IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

3 things

AROUND HERE

This writing prompt is to list 10 things starting with around here that are true about your house...

1. Around here dinner is between 4:00 and 4:30 pm...unless daddy is cooking.

2. Around here there is always coffee on.

3. Around here there are always at least 8 pairs of shoes by the door, no matter how many times I put them back, and there are only 3 people here.

4. Around here if the phone isn't occupied at 7:01 pm, it just seems weird.

5. Around here the rain sucks...until the sun comes out.

6. Around here the word no means, "yes but faster. so mommy can't catch me"

7. Around here "I'll be to bed in a minute", translates to "I'll be drooling on the couch at 1:00 am

8. Around here just isn't like mom and dad's house.

9. Around here the color crayons are like land mines.

10. Around here the magic kitchen fairy has the dishes done and the coffee ready when daddy wakes up.

TODAY

This writing prompt is for you to list three things about your day today and explain why they are randomly important.

1. I called my aunt on the phone to say hello. She asked me if I called my God father, of course I didn't because I am a half wit who misplaced her calendar. So I hung up and called my uncle, wished him a happy birthday, and all was right with the world. *smiles*

2. My neighbor found a weird bug. We live in a duplex. The weird bugs are termites. The end.

3. Last nights plan to pretend to like the product of his kitchen experiment backfired. He asked me if I wanted another veggie burger for lunch. I had to come clean.

Senses Questions

This one asks you to answer the following 4 questions...

1. What is your favorite smell? The ocean.

2. What is your favorite feeling? highlighter yellow

3. What is your favorite sound? Phoenix

4. What is your favorite sight? These days the inside of my eyelids is my favorite, haven't got much sleep!