Sunday, June 28, 2009

End to the Weekend

Sunday night; I'm watching a good show on the Discovery Channel called "Pre-Historic New York." Very cool. The graphics are neat. They talk about the Palisades Cliffs and how they were "Ground Zero" when North America broke away from Africa during eons and eons ago. That's not far from where I grew up and we used to go hiking thru there.

Yesterday we spent hours and hours cleaning KJ's room. It started off by me cleaning her bathroom and everything just snowballed from there. Bottom line is she's a slob but part of it is my fault. I never follwed up when I thought she was cleaning her room. It got a little ugly but I was able to maintain my composure MOST of the day.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Saturday Silliness



We were supposed to be in Atlanta today for a girls lacrosse tournament but the BamaLax team didn't have enough girls to field a team today (you know how these Southern girls are, too busy w/ other stuff: mission trips, vacation bible school, choir trips, camp, etc.). So, we now have a nice, unexpectedly free weekend. Unfortunately, Chris has to spend the day up at the lax store because all of the kids are either on their way to or on their way home from one lax camp or another. I have a lot I need to get done in the house. I've been busy this week w/ various "stuff" -- driving kids to/from dance camp, volleyball camp, my mammogram on Friday, etc. and let a few things go in the house.



Thursday was the last day of KJ's volleyball camp at the high school. She had a great time and really, really liked volleyball. I think she's going to sign up for the little girls team at our church in the fall. She had a couple of girls over for a hot dog/pool party after volleyball camp. The girls were really good and had a lot of fun. They played very nice together.


Last night was T's last day of her dance intensive at the studio and she had a couple of girls over to hang out at the pool. These girls don't go to the same high school but they have a lot of friends in common and it was interesting to listen to them talk about certain people. Some things I had already heard, some of the gossip was new to me (old news to them). It's interesting too, how some kids, girls particularly, are perceived one way by adults (i.e., she's a good church-going girl), but act another way when they are with their friends.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Fat Lady @ the Pool

So this really fat lady was at the pool today and hogged all the lounge chairs AND all the umbrellas. The thing that aggravates me the most is that she doesn't even belong to the pool. She's a nanny to a family here in the neighborhood and brings the kids to the pool in the summer. I'm not sure what these people are paying her but she sits in a lounge chair the whole time she's at the pool and talks on the phone. The other day I heard all about her daughter's travel softball team and today she was on the phone w/ a psychiatrist regarding someone who's on medication and has been irritated by someone named "Mike."

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day / Just some stuff

Nice end to a busy week. T had the first week of her 2-week dance intensive @ the studio. She was exhausted but loved every minute of it (except tap; not too crazy about the tap class and she wasn't very happy with me the night I made her go to lax practice after dancing all day). Yesterday and today she's been dancing w/ Colby Shinn.

KJ had vacation bible school all week and had a lot of fun with her friends. Each year the end the week with a big musical extravaganza and pizza party. After the pizza party I kind of caught her off guard and told her I was taking her to the mall to get her ears re-pierced (she had them done when she was 3 or 4 but screamed and cried every time I tried to change her earrings so we just let the holes close up). She asked for some moral support and made Maggie & Evvy come with her. There were 2 girls in front of us @ Claires -- a 9-year old Asian girl (who giggled when her ears were pierced) and a very large, 14-year black girl (who screamed "Lord Jesus Christ help me!" when her ears were pierced. Not very helpful). Evvy & Maggie grabbed a bunch of silly stuff (sunglasses, hats, feather boas, etc) to make KJ laugh and take her mind off the piercings. After the earrings they had ice cream cones from the food court.

Friday night Chris had men's lax practice and we met him for dinner afterward. We have to dine "al fresco" after lax practice because he's quite stinky.
Saturday was not a great day (I'm not going to get into it) but after I dropped T off @ the studio, I took a long, long walk to clear my head. I also ran to Lowes (in the car, not actually "RAN") to buy supplies to paint the vanity in our master bath. I've been wanting/fixin' to paint it a glossy black instead of the boring basic builder's grade ivory that it currently is).

Saturday night T & I went to Sips 'N Strokes to paint masterpieces. Um. Yeah. Not so much. We had fun but both of us were disappointed in our Eiffel Towers. I like my trees, just wish my Eiffel Tower didn't look like a Japanese pagoda. T's picture turned out great and she's already hung it in her bathroom. Chris felt the need to critique our paintings and said my "perspective" of the bridge is off. Whatever. There's not even a bridge running thru the Eiffel Tower so there!!!

My Painting



T's Painting

So the creative juices are flowing in our house today. Chris had to run up to the store for a little while today and on the way back he & KJ stopped at the craft store and purchased a table-top easel. some canvasses, and a starter set of acrylics. She googled some art work, printed it out and tried to copy it. As you can see, she did a great job!!!




The Finished Product!!!

Friday, June 19, 2009

More John & Kate Crap

Apparently Kate has been photographed and videotaped spanking one of her children outside their home in PA. Some reports say that she called the police to complain about paparazzi outside their home. Other reports are saying that the paparazzi called the police to report the spanking incident. In any event, apparently Leah was loudly blowing on a whistle outside while Kate was on her cell phone and told Leah not to do it again. Hence the spanking.

The woman has clearly lost control. I'm not about to get into a spanking debate on my blog but if anyone in that family is going to get spanked, it should be bratty Maddy. Kate's recent behavior only supports my theory that this woman should not be writing books or giving parenting advice as a living.


Check out the "before & after" pics above. You can NOT tell me this woman has not enjoyed the fame and publicity the show has brought her. She has had a total and complete makeover -- tummy tuck, recent breast implants, teeth whitening, etc. and she seems to spend an awful lot of time on her cell phone in the last several episodes I've watched -- the one where she takes bratty Maddy to San Diego, the OCC episode(s), etc.

Having said all this, I am still "hooked" on the show. One part of me enjoys watching the trainwreck that is the Gosselin family. The other part of me really likes the little kids and it has been nice watching them grow-up. I actually feel that the show doesn't show the kids as much as it should. The show, the last couple of seasons, seems to be all about the 2 moronic parents and has become one great big commercial for various TLC shows and products and sponsors (Oprah, Seaworld, American Girl, LegoLand, etc.). This family has gotten more free trips and perks and has become fairly unrealistic. I also LOVE it when Kate goes on talk shows and says she has no help with the children. I remember a few episodes when the kids were younger and they had a day nurse, a night nurse and some old lady sat on their couch and folded all their laundry. She's also had several "nannies" or "mother's helpers" on the show who have travelled with them on their various trips but their faces are blurred out on the show so they must not count. And since when does she need a body guard?
Listed below is a list of freebies and perks that the family has rec'd over the years (I found it on another blog so I cannot guarantee it's accuracy):
- Free beds
- Front-loader washing machines
- New furniture
- Free solar panels for “Going Green” episode
- Clothes from Gymboree and Gap
- Mady & Cara birthday at American Girl Place (2 dolls and birthday package for 2 adults & 2 kids): $710
- Trip to Florida Key’s for Jon’s 30th birthday
-Tickets to Dutch Wonderland amusement park: $309.50
-1/2 an organic cow from Natural Acres Farm: $1,395.00
-Tickets to Philadelphia Zoo: $104.00
-Tickets to Walt Disney World: $654.00 per day
- Utah house rental (estimate: $5,000), ski lift tickets $72 for six days), ski school lessons ($140 per child)
- Upright piano, which they got rid of when they moved into their new $1.1 million home : $5,550-$6,350
- Violin: $100-$300
- Old house re-carperted
-Crayola Factory Tour: $90.00
-Teeth Whitening (for Jon & Kate): $1,310 (average price for 2 adults)
-Hair plugs (Jon): $5,200 (average cost)
-Sesame Street Place tickets: $509.50
-Day with Thomas the Tank Engine: $180.00
-Beach trip to North Carolina, house rental, Jeep tour
-Sight & Sound Christian theatre tickets: $236.00
-SkyBox at Phillies game
-San Diego Zoo tickets: $278.00
-Grand Wailea Resort (Hawaii) for 2008 vow renewal: Suites range from $725-$1,080 per night.
-2 purebred German Shepherd puppies: $1,000-$3,000 per dog
- Please Touch Museum tickets: $150.00
- Giants grocery store: $5,000 in gift cards and a year’s supply of diapers
This list does not include Emeril's recent vist to their house to cook for them, their one-on-one with the Harlem Globtrotters, John's custom OCC chopper AND her pink scooter, and her birthday show with Duff from Ace of Cakes.
So, now the world waits for Monday's show and John & Kate's big "announcement" that TLC has been teasing us with the last few days. Hmmm....what could it be? A divorce? A comment regarding the spanking incident? End of the show?

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Good Weekend

Let's see, where should I start?

Wednesday night at lax practice T twisted her ankle pretty bad so we've been icing her and doing lots of advil. She had a game Saturday and Kenny the trainer taped her up pretty good. Thursday we met Chris @ Mama Goldberg's in Homewood for lunch and from there bought T a new pair of jazz shoes and tap shoes to get her ready for her two-week dance intensive starting Monday. I'm so excited about her taking a tap class. I've been bugging her for a while now to try tap; I think it will make her a more well rounded dancer (and I also think tap is a lost art). I luv, luv, luv watching KJ do tap! She looks so darn cute!!! Anyway, I hope T's ankle doesn't bother her too much tomorrow -- especially on pointe.


Friday I had an appointment at the orthopedics's office. My left heel has been bothering me for a long time now. I can barely put any weight on it and it's very painful. After 2 x-rays, turns out I have something called "plantar fasciitis" and I have a heel spur. They gave me a shot of cortisone in my heel and I'll have to do some physical therapy. I stopped at Lowe's on the way home and bought a new umbrella for the patio. Whoop-de-doo!


Friday night we took the kids to the drive-in movie way down in Harpersville. We had a lot of fun despite the gale-force winds, the thunder & lightening and the torrential downpour. We saw "Up" and the first few minutes of Hannah Montana (couldn't take the rain any longer by the time Hannah started). Poor Austin. T never told him what movies were playing until we actually pulled into the drive-in. He and Chris had to suffer thru Up and Hannah. hahaha

Saturday was a long lacrosse day. Chris had the Copperheads come over from GA to play some of the BamaLax teams. Thank God his buddy @ BSC let him use the turf -- the rain was so bad here in the morning! The U15 game was a heart-breaker (BamaLax lost by 1) and things went sort of downhill from there. The Varsity Boys lost, the Varsity Girls lost (badly) and then the BamaLax Varsity Boys played Chris's men's team (the old man, or "Big 'un" as he's also known) scored 6 for the men. I think, but please don't quote me on this, that the BamaLax girls had 3 shots on goal the entire game and T had 2 of them. Not bad for a kid running around on a bum ankle.

Kendall got to hang with some of her little lax buddies at the game(s) yesterday and I over-heard her telling one of her friends that Austin spends so much time w/ us, he's like a step-brother to her. It was really cute.
So today we are celebrating Father's Day a week early with Chris. Next weekend he'll be busy w/ the Alabama Games and Saturday & Sunday T is dancing w/ Colby Shinn, a famous choreographer. We had a big breakfast of bacon and eggs and for lunch we had Caribbean jerk shrimp skewers, scallops, steak and baked potatoes. Strawberry shortcake for dessert. The girls bought Chris Metallica's Guitar Hero for Wii and I bought him a NY Jets flag to hang in the garden during football season. It's been a very, very nice day having Chris home and just relaxing for a change.



Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Jon & Kate --- Who really gives a SH%T Anymore???

I caught up on my TiVo last night and had a Jon & Kate episode I needed to watch. I used to really like this show before they were famous and were "normal." Last week's show they went to Duff's place in Baltimore (AKA "Ace of Cakes") to celebrate Kate's b-day, this week Emeril came to the house and cooked for them and next week the guys from Orange County Choppers will be on the show. Hellllooooowww??? This is not NORMAL!! This "reality" show is so far removed from reality it's not even funny anymore.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday!!!!

Took T to Princess Camp today at the dance studio. She was Cinderella on Monday and had a great time w/ the little girls. Today Cinderella's friends -- Belle, Ariel, and Aurora -- will be joining her for a big Princess Party! OK. Enough about that. I sound like a moron when I talk like that. In actuality, Cinderella was a little tired this morning and need to run thru the drive-thru @ Starbucks for a Grande white chocolate latte.

T is SOOOO good w/ little kids. All the little kids at the pool (Colin & Lydia, Cameron & Linley and some other kids I don't even know) luv, luv, luv her. They're constantly calling her name, hey, watch me T, catch me T. Lydia was there the other day w/ her babysitter and saw T get out of the pool and dry off. Lydia ran out of the pool and told her babysitter, "I have to go home now." The babysitter asked her why and she pointed at T and said, "cuz she's going home." T loves the kids to pieces and she'd be a great kindergarten or 1st grade teacher. Unfortunately, a teacher's pay is not going to keep her in the lifestyle she's become accustomed to.









Trying to think what we've done this week......Wednesday Austin came over and we sat at the pool for a while and T had All-star lax practice after that. Chris met us up at the fields and afterwards we went out for Mexican food. Thursday was kind of a gray, icky day so we stayed in and did some laundry and straightened up. Chris had his boy's all-star practice last night so the girls & I ran some errands and grabbed a bite to eat at Zaxby's. I like Zaxby's and so does KJ. T, however, does not. I get the Zen-Salad and really like it. We ran to the mall and I found two bathing suits I liked at Belk. It was relatively painless -- ran in, ran out. I never even went into the rest of the mall.
Yesterday Trixie went to the groomer's and KJ swears they gave us back the wrong dog. She looks totally different!!! They gave her a puppy cut and now you can see her eyes and her little face. Her fur pattern looks different, too. She's very spotted, kind of like a dalmation!
Today all 3 of us have dentist appointments. Tomorrow T is getting her pointe shoes. I'm very, very proud of her. She's worked so hard to get on pointe. She's super-duper excited!!

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