Girl Time

I have been so horrible with the camera lately. I went to SA with it half charged and it died halfway thru, went to a bachelorette party completely forgetting it altogether (in my car, which I was in someone else's car, so there was no going back). Took it on a girls night out at the Domain on Thursday, but completely forgot to use it. Went on a girls movie night last night. Again forgot to use it. Maybe I'm becoming so good at living in the moment, preserving it doesn't occur to me. Either way it's driving me NUTS after the fact!! I guess I'll write about them instead. Ugh. That never seems as exciting to me.

The bachelorette party was AH-mazing. We went for pedicures first. I brought Riesling and strawberries to start the party. Genie, Linz, and I each got our toes done, cracking up and laughing the whole time. Linz ended up with dark blue, Genie with bright red and a big "F and U" on her each of her big toes. Hilarious. Mine are a pretty Hawaiian oasis that I want to dive into. I really didn't ask for it, but once she started I couldn't ask her to stop.

Afterwards we met up for dinner at Buca Di Beppo with about eleven other girls. We had a blast opening bachelorette presents at a "family" restaurant, until the waiter asked her to take down the large dildo from the middle of the table. Hey! There weren't even any kids around. She loved the sexy pink and black bra and panties I got her. I also got her a framed picture that Brando took of her and Ry and had all the girls sign the mat before I gave it to her. She cried.

Later, we headed downtown to the Velveeta Room for inexpensive, funny comedy. The best part of the night was when Genie went out for a light sword and came back and swashbuckled the comedian at the knees with it. His comeback was, the funny thing is if I was to pin you down right now, I would be the one who got in trouble. It was shocking, hilarious, and I'm still not sure what she was thinking. I wouldn't expect anything less.

We made it to Jack-a-lope after that, but a Hell Dorado and a Petron tequila shot later and she was on the floor. A friend and I had to carry her home.

Thursday night was the boys cub scout Blue & Gold banquet night. Shawners got presented with his Tiger badge, and Justinbustin did a little skit. On the way home, Li texted to see if I was joining M, Ambs, and her at the Domain for a make-up girls night as M and her were out of town Monday. So I went home, changed, and went back out for a late night Thursday rendezvous at Kona Grill. Later, Li and I hit up Scooters while M took Ambs home.

Friday night Jen and I met up with a few girls I haven't seen since I was going to Sunday school regularly and we went and watched He's Not That Into You. The movie was depressing as sh*t, but  Joni, Jen, and I went for gelatto afterwards. It was fun to see Joni, we've tried to get together a few times but it never seems to work out. Jen and I hadn't seen each other for a few weeks when the previous 8 months since she moved we've somehow managed to get together and go out once a week. She's so sweet, she gave me a little care package for Hawaii.

That pretty much sums up my week. Oh, and the people I nanny for sold their house and will be moving to a location that changes up how smoothly everything goes. We'll work it out and make it a well-oiled machine again, especially since we only have two months left for this.

Learning How to Discipline

We're in the middle of transferring responsibility to Justinbustin for his homework and book reports. With all the homeschooling and part time schooling we've done with him he's gotten so used to having his teacher at home that he has grown to lean on us to get done what he needs to get done. Now he's learning to be responsible for knowing what he needs to get done and accomplishing that on his own. It's a tough battle, but he's doing great.

On a somewhat related note, the lady he carpools with drives me nuts. On one hand she's fabulous because she has totally helped me figure out this whole public school thing and that homework needs to be a priority and he needs to treat it with priority just as if he were homeschooling or in part time school. My neighbor was the one who helped me figure out it's best to have him do it immediately after school so he can have the rest of the afternoon to play. On the other hand, the lady we carpool with is accusing my son of lying a LOT. I haven't figured out yet if she's opening my eyes or judging my kid. First of all, Justinbustin is a sneaker. Always has been. Not in a malicious way. He's too smart for his own good and will try to pull a fast one on you if you let him, i.e. my mom doesn't let me eat [insert whatever you want here]. You always have to be one step ahead of him. Well, this lady has boiled it down to him lying.

It could be it's hard for me to hear. And in the case of homework it's been true. At least in the sense he hasn't thought through his answer before he gives it to us. "Is your homework done?" "Yes." "Okay, reading, mad minutes, math homework...?" "Oh. I forgot math homework." That had to stop, which is why we're working on it now. I don't know if what is bothering me is that I can't handle the fact that my angel baby might be doing something wrong thus making him a bad person. Of course! he's not a bad person if he lies or tries to pull fast ones on us, it's something we need to PARENT him on, not get angry with him for. Still I can't help being angry with him or SOMEbody, I'm still not sure who.

The other thing that bothers me about the lady he carpools with is I hate, hate, hate (yes, that's a strong word and I've chosen to use it) how her own son is with her. He's whiny and avoidy and doesn't make eye contact with her and "slithers" (it's the best way to put it) around when she asks him to do something. If it was me? I'd be all like, "Boy you better do what I asked you to do right now or you are in the naug*ty chair a-sap (thanks Super Nanny)." He totally drives me NUTS!! That says something of her interaction with him right? So now that my son is spending four hours of his week with her is he starting to act the same way with her? And when he comes home trying to pull it off with me? Or is this more of me blaming someone else for something that was there already and I need to deal with?

I take this boy's sister to school and pick her up and take her home afterwards with Shawners as part of our carpool. When I first had the two of them in the car together they would bicker and fight, talk ugly to each other and be mean. The girl would irritate Shawners on purpose and Shawners would react by doing it back. At first we worked on having games and books to occupy them on the drive which worked okay as long as they were playing by the rules of the game. Finally the other day I got sick of it and belted out a little speech, "Shawners and Girl it is YOUR responsibility to be kind to each other when you are together. Shawners when Girl says stop it is YOUR responsibility to stop the first time, and Girl when Shawners asks you not to do something it is YOUR responsibility not to do it. Girl, when you want to ask Shawners something it is YOUR responsibility to ask in a nice manner, and Shawners it is YOUR responsibility to respond in a nice manner." I've had to repeat the speech once or twice but now they are working on writing a story together, with all of us carpool people in it, beautifully and cooperatively.

Not to pat my own back, but isn't that how the tune should go back at where Justinbustin's staying? Is he so bad that I have to step in and come down hard on my end and ground him for the last two weeks from playing, like I have, so he'll get his homework and book report done there? Put my kid on a freakin' time out for all I care. Sit him down and tell him homework is what you are doing and if you do any different you won't be allowed the privilege of playing while you're at my house. Tell him it's not my responsibility to know your homework, when you come here you get your homework done, that's what you do, and I'm not the one that needs to be telling you to do that.

Conversations with little men

I was put on the spot this morning by Shawners who asked if Santa was real. He says, "Is he really real or is it you? And you can't lie to me!!" I totally launched into an explanation of the constitution and amendments and the fifth one, and then pleaded the fifth amendment. He says, "I know how I'll find out! When I'm a parent I won't leave anything and then see if Santa brings presents." Then I handed him a book on Hawaii that he was promptly fascinated with until I dropped him off at school. Whew.

Oscars in Twitter Time

First time I've really twittered more than once per six months. It was kind of fun. Oh, it helps to read up from the bottom.

pinksundrops

make that 13 out of 18. And 4 out of 18 for B. Slumdog sure took the cake. Was that 8 awards?

less than 10 seconds ago from web

  

got 12 out of 17. B was a far second with 3 out of 17. We started afterB the first five.

3 minutes ago from web

  

can't believe slumdog has hit 7 oscars already

29 minutes ago from web

  

i sure hope heath ledger has a tribute all his own

38 minutes ago from web

  

hubby is being a sore loser

about 1 hour ago from web

  

is it just me or are these jcpenney ads horrible? style, what style?

about 1 hour ago from web

  

is 7 for 9 (we started late). I should place some bets on this sh*t!

about 1 hour ago from web

  

so far I'm ahead three

about 2 hours ago from web

  

is playing a game guessing the winners of the oscars as the nominees come up

about 2 hours ago from web

We interrupt our regularly scheduled broadcast for a *Pity Party*

You know you saw it coming with that last post.

I am so miserably bored right now. Bored with my hair, bored with my wardrobe, bored with my makeup, bored with having no money, bored with having no time to relax (even though I get much more bored with staying home if I do that), bored with my resume, bored with my responsibilities. So freakin' bored of everything in my life right now. I've fought so long for things to stay the same. Same house, same school, same schedule, that now that it is I'm aching for change.

It might mostly be the money thing. If I could actually have money, money to get the haircut I desperately need, money to get the clothes and jewelry to refresh my boring wardrobe, money to refill my quickly running out makeup and money to go out I might not be so bored : ) . Then, when I do have money it disappears like Houdini's bunny.

Here's to finding entertaining free stuff to do! I think I'll allow myself the rest of the day to pity party and then find something free and fun to rock the boat.

Ever feel like you can't help enough?

With no time and even less money, sometimes I feel like I can't help the way I would really, really love to with events and special occasions. So when Genie asked me to go with her to help pick out shoes for her wedding I was all over it. We hit up Steve Madden, Aldos, Nordstrom, Dillards, and Macy's in that order and finally found what she wanted at Macy's. Figures. I love Macy's. Anything cute I own is from there. My pat answer to, "Where'd you get that?" is "Macy's in Californ*a." Afterwards, we met up with Brando who'd already driven half an hour home, then had to drive half an hour back to pick up the keys from me, and drive home again. Hey, I was carless and didn't deserve the earful I got so pretty much didn't care by the time he got there and I handed over the house keys. Anywho, Chuy's and two margaritas later, I was a happy camper : ) . I always feel completely comfortable in where I'm at in life with Genie and Ry around.

Groceries on a Budget without Coupons

So somehow we have managed to grocery shop with $110 for two weeks at a time by shopping ad items only. The first time we tried it we had a couple fill-in items from before, and the $110 lasted us the whole two weeks. This time around I spent $110 again by saving $50 with ad items and in-store coupons. I am so too lazy to use coupons I actually have to bring.

When the ads for our two local grocery stores come in the mail on Wednesdays I go through and write down all the things I might possibly buy along with their prices. Then, I go through those items with Brando (thanks, honey, for being a coworker on this) and we cull out any unnecessary items like the three desserts I'll more than likely have on there, or the tons of meat that somehow ends up on the list. After my list is pared down I create meals out of the items that are left and throw a few of the basics on the list.

When that's done I total up what the items we're buying is going to cost us and make sure the total cost doesn't equal more than $10 per each individual dinner. If we have lunches, snacks, breakfasts, and other items in there as has been the case the last two times, score!

Flying High * Flying Low

Flying High

*Applying for my FAFSA and being told by the financial aid office they don't need any verification and she can tell by the code on my acceptance that I will be getting some of the P*LL grant

*Brando leading in the top two for sales in his district

*Doing Ry & Genie's engagement portraits in downtown Aust*n and seeing Genie clap with glee upon seeing them

*Having a full day of leisurely pleasure for Valentine's Day with Brando and I

*Grocery shopping on ad and spending $110 for two weeks worth of breakfast, lunches, and dinners for four

Flying Low

*My car freaking out this morning by beeping at me and then, my trunk not opening. Then, this evening my gas cover not opening when I have only 40 miles of gas left (enough to get it to the shop).

*Brando being told he's being moved to another branch. Just as busy, but still, some normalcy and consistency would be nice.

*Brando coming down with whatever bug Shawners has had the last few days.

The Thing about Girl's Nights is....

*it's a perfect start to the week.
*more thought and care goes into that meal than any other meal I eat all week. It is, after all, made by five girls.
*it's a perfectly harmless but equally relieving gossip fest regarding the Bachel*r, and Goss*p G*rl.
*all my venting and all my joys get expressed and told in one five hour session.
*I get to hear all the girls venting and joys, too, in one five hour session.
*cooking and clean up with girls while doing said venting has never been more enjoyable.
*wine.
*chocolate and strawberries.
*new recipes.
*always avocado.
*fast forwarding commercials thanks to satellite TV.
*rehashing weekend events.
*showing off new pictures, clothes, or other new things.
*taking our shoes off and kicking back.
*dinner around a coffee table, perfect for five.
*girl hugs, chatter, and laughter to start off the week.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Countdown:

420 minutes my nephew watched the boys

60 minutes we worked out together

18 dollars we spent on painting pottery tiles at Ceramic Bayou

11 times we mentioned how much we love the wine bar and coffeehouse of the restaurant we ate at afterwards, The Grove, while we enjoyed their spinach, goat cheese, roasted pepper, and bacon pizza

8 chocolate covered strawberries we ate afterwards at the Austin skyline overlook

3 tv shows we watched once we got home and crawled into bed whilst eating the rest of the chocolate covered strawberries

2 times we had awesome, mind-blowing s*x

1 bottle of champagne we drank while watching said tv shows

and

1 perfect Valentine's holiday

So NOT Suzy Homemaker

Gah. I'm baking cookies for Justinbustin's Valentine's party at his school and have discovered that store bought sugar cookie dough is not the key to making perfectly shaped sugar cookies. In fact they make for more like heart blobs instead of heart cookies. Two tries later and we have perfect heart cookies. Unfortunately that was the only one that was absolutely perfect. The rest came out okay, some look more like heart butts than others, but it will work. Next time this suzy homemaker is going to HEB for pre-made cookies. Or going the recommended (after the fact) route of making my own sugar cookie dough recipe. Remind me not to sign up for the cookie decorating table next go around : ) .

Valentine Soiree

My life has been a go-go-go of friends, family, school, and work, with hardly a break in between any of it lately. So when an opportunity came up to have champagne, sushi, and strawberries at a local clothing boutique as part of a free Valentine soiree I was all over it. With a friend. Well, when the three friends I invited couldn't make it for one reason or another after the previous invitee couldn't make it I decided I'd just stay home. As the boys got ready to head that direction this evening for cub scouts I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to go with them so I could drop them off and go all by my lonesome.

I had a fabulous time!! Drinking Brut Rose, eating chocolate covered strawberries drizzled with white chocolate, and california rolls, and shopping fabulous clothing including Voom, MM Couture, and Susana Monaco. I got asked if I was a student (thank you people who mention when you think people look young), and a homeless guy on the way out asked how I could look so pretty. I wanted to take him and his guitar for a drink. What made it even better was on the way home Li called to see if I wanted to come over for a soothe the nerves beer after a confrontation I had to have earlier today, and when I told her what I was up to she called shotgun on the next soiree. I'm all over that. I love life, and I love my friends. I'm also a little relieved and loving that I can still have such a good girlie time all by myself even after having so much girlie time.

Totally Obsessed

Oh my gosh I am totally obsessed with Twitter and Asht*n K*tcher and D*mi Mo*re's twitter. Yes!! They are REALLY on Twitter, or the wool has been pulled over my eyes so far I'm not sure I'll ever get out. They post adorable pictures with their iphone all the time, chat with each other, and mess with the pap*razzi. It's adorable to see a couple behind all the wool the med*a pulls over our heads. To see them real, living, and adorable. I'm totally in love, I think I have a couple crush. Is that possible?!

I heard about Twitter from one of the dj's on our most awesomest ever local morning show this morning and how his wife is obsessed with L*nce Armstr*ng's Twitter and wasn't afraid to admit it. Then the dj's and his co-dj mentioned Twittering L*nce when they were in a bar and saw a signed jersey by him and L*nce Twittered back shortly thereafter.

It's global texting people and I'm coming clean. I haven't actually twittered much myself, just following, but I'm trying it. Oh and I don't want to put their names here because I don't want to contribute to ruining the preciousness of it. Hopefully it'll stay pure because it DOES come straight from them. It would suck if it got convoluted and I'm staying out of that!

This was only a test

Sorry for the interruption in blog feed. I never went away, but I'm back now : ) . Just had to make sure my blog stayed private. I can't stand people looking over my shoulder when I'm writing or reading, I can't imagine how much any random person I know in real life reading my blog posts would make me cringe! Some people can post just fine that way. I would be presented with a huge case of writer's block.

Weekend Getaway

River Walk Cruise

Arneson River Theatre where Sandra Bullock filmed a scene in Miss Congeniality

Cafe by the River Walk

Along the River Walk

Hotel where Jennifer Lopez stayed while filming Selena,

including a scene on a pedestrian bridge right in front of the hotel

Our fresh guacomole made table-side and our view at Boudro's on the River

Streets of San Antonio above the river

Yes it is.

Toes! By the river!

La Villita, historic first neighborhood of San Antonio, rebuilt in 1819

Rubiks Cube Man hanging out at a shop in La Villita. He deserved a kiss.

Bolavar Cafe in La Villita.

The Alamo

Inside the Alamo in the room that kept the women and children who survived safe.

The breath-taking Japanese Tea Gardens.

Ahhh, a weekend in San Antonio. Not much is better right about now! KT and I had a blast even with my camera's battery dying halfway thru. Fortunately even though the screen on her camera leaves something to be desired the pictures came out beautifully!

We spent the better part of the morning and afternoon on the River Walk. We cruised the river on a boat tour, walked the River Walk, and  toured the historic village of La Villita near the Arneson River Theatre where Sandra Bullock filmed the bathing suit scene in Miss Congeniality. La Villita has historic buildings from 1819 and is the first neighborhood of San Antonio. The historic buildings were built after the flood of 1819 and have been preserved since. It was an absolutely amazing and beautiful sense of history there. Then, we ate at Boudro's by the river where we had our guacamole made by our table. Yum!

We also met up with a good friend of mine that I haven't seen since last year, Kristy. Yay! She is having a baby boy with a midwife. So exciting! We met her and her hubby (who was so sad Brando wasn't there) at the Japanese Tea Gardens. WOW!! Talk about gorgeous!! I had no idea something so incredibly breath-taking was sitting right next to a place we have visited a million times, the San Antonio Zoo. Crazy!! I'm so glad I experienced it for the first time with KT, though, because she was equally as in awe as I was as we described it like a dream similar to a popular chocolate movie only with serenity instead of candy, a mini Hawaii, peaceful, could lay there forever, and read a book all day, etc. Definitely a must-see if you are headed to San Antonio anytime soon! Here are some fun pictures from the day!

Productive Saturday

So this is what a productive Saturday feels like. The next few weekends are so packed, but we don't have anything planned until this evening so Brando decided to sit down and do taxes. I decided to implement weekly chores that the boys get paid for, but have to do regardless. So far my porch and verandah has been swept, living room, kitchen, and boys room vacuumed, and my kitchen is about to be mopped. I'm out a few bucks, but they deserve it. They get a pay scale that ranges from .25 for an okay job to .75 for an excellent job. I started charging them for leaving their toys and clothes all over the house and living room. I charge from .25 for not flushing the toilet to .50 for toys and clothes left in the living room. It's totally effective, but I decided I better give them a regular way to earn money, besides the every other month windfalls of money from doing something simple for Grandma and Grandpa.

Coffee Shop S'mores

Fabulous date with the hubby last night! He suggested driving downtown and having coffee with live music. Mmmm, my kind of date. We ended up at Halcyons, a cozy little coffee and full bar. They had plenty of couches and small tables, dark lit, with vases full of black rocks and tealight candles. We sat at a high table for two and toasted our marshmallows over a small fire, lit by the little green man building the fire underneath. We talked and laughed, and tried out Brando's new camera lens. Then walked the streets of Austin, taking pictures as we went. When it got too cold we drove through the new parts of town where they are building sky rise condos. I'm excited to see a little shopping area of downtown going up!! They've always had South Congress which is a lot of eclectic shops, but here they have more boutique, upscale, modern type shops with new sidewalk cafes. Can't wait to walk it one Saturday morning! Cozy coffee, intimate settings, treats for two, late night walks, and discovering new places - totally my kind of date.

Being goofy in Brando's hoody - it was cold!

Halcyons

Reflection of the Frost building

Our own s'more toaster

Mmm s'mores

Black tealights

Trying out Brando's new lens before we purchased it

In Love

I have a girlfriend, KT, who is so much on the same brain wave as me it's ridiculous. Every time I pick up the phone to text or call her, she is either already calling me or just sent me a text. Any time that doesn't happen, her text back to me always starts out, "OMG I was just going to text/call you!" We've coined a special brand of esp that's all ours. Even with our ideas, financial situations, time pressures, we are always on the same wavelength. Half the time she is letting me know she was just going to suggest what I suggested or vice versa. I.e., just now, I have been all stressed out about our girlie weekend coming up. It's her birthday weekend and I agreed to spend the weekend road tripping with her. I didn't want to be stingy even though finances are hitting us hard right now, so I was going to make it work. I just got a facebook from her saying that her finances are tighter than expected but we can still go for the day and make it a blast. Exactly what I've been thinking but didn't want to spoil her fun! Any way, sooooo much financial stress relieved and I was totally already on the same page! Love the esp and can't wait for our weekend!! Whoohoo!!

Reasons Not to Drink Any Time It's Offered

1. I will have pointful conversations.

2. I will have conversations with people I will more than likely see again.

3. I will not tell my life story to a person whose name I don't remember.

4. I will go to bed that night without getting upset.

5. I will wake up the next morning without a headache.

6. I will sleep through the night without waking up with dry mouth.

7. I won't beat myself up the next day for killing my liver.

8. Realizing these, I will continue to be more selective about the times I drink.

PS Sorry about the fonts on my site! They're all screwy and I haven't figured out how to fix it!