Don't let the door hit you in the....

I'm a little nervous to see what 2012 will bring me.

 I'm always one for change, yet this year I feel hesitant, and slightly - well, afraid.

 Is it age? 

 No,that can't be it.... I have that shit every year.

That surely can't be it.

I guess I can sit back and see what happens, but honestly, my type A personality is not super patient or one to relax and "just see".

I haven't thought much of goals because last year ,

if you look, I did not complete any of those.

I did not learn a new language while getting laid with my thin new hips.

Damn those resolutions.

This year….

Maybe I'll go for speaking Pig Latin while eating Ho-Hos off my big belly while laying in bed.

I think I may be able to make that happen.

That's a resolution I get get behind….or better yet

on top of.

May you ring in the New Year the way you hope it to be.

I'll see ya tomorrow, bright  and early…

ready to take this bad bitch on.

xo 

m

merry christmas!!!!

I hope your day was beyond relaxing…tomorrow we get back into the swing of things!
I got an iPad, so I'm looking for cool magazines and such.  Let me know if you have and suggestions.
I will get to start writing again!!! yes!

later gators!
m

Enjoy some Beezlebub Glee Juice

Cookies and Olive

Look how much fun you can have with Olive, cookies and Picnik photo editing  

heehee

Alopecia Sucks

Well we just got back from the check up with the Dr.  After going to a worthless Dermatologist we are back to no answers and I guess that is where it will stand.

It's getting worse.

It just falls out by the root.

He has started on Steroid Cream, and I made sure to tell him not to put the cream in his nether regions, even if he is trying to grow hair.

Dr said his puberty will be delayed until he gains weight…so to keep trying…try to eat, more, eat, more...

It's kind of ironic how as moms we always want to keep are kids babies, or at that perfect age, now I just want him to eat, grow and get past this crap.

The school has been allowing the hats…amazingly enough.

If he was a girl we could do fancy scarves or groovy afro wigs, but that won't fly for a 14 yr old boy...

 top front of head…right in the front!   

 top crown…I think Ronco would help with this.

back…but just one side, the other side is the same…smooth as a babies ass.

The Dr. gave us great hope….50% chance it will grow back…50% chance every bit will fall out…

hmphfff.

glass half full, of steroid foam….i guess

12 weeks then we head to Children's hospital for a little bit of help.

On a good note they ran every lab possible and they were all good…even his vit. B.

I know, many kids have it way worse…you know his sister had Leukemia…maybe that is why he is underwhelmed at the fact he may loose his hair.  

Maybe he is so awesome he just figures….

What the hell….high school sucks all ready, what else could happen.

Unless they pull that hat off his head in the hall.

right?

at least he is breathing…that I am thankful for.

later

xo

m

Santa Tea and Deer Run

It's Saturday, and it snowed.  Its divine, yet oh so cold.

It made me think about the Holidays we shared years ago.  The entire family on Deer Run.  Together, divorced, shunned and loved.  It didn't matter, we were all there.

The kids played like no other day.

The house had a rope swing from the top of the basement stairs which swung directly into the laundry area, and if you did it just right... you wouldn't hit the pole directly in the middle of the basement.

A trampoline which could apparently hold 50+ kids.

I don't remember ever getting hurt, and even if you did, the "adults" were drinking "eggnog and Hot Toddies" and were never to be disturbed unless a limb was missing.

We played kick the can…and hide and seek.

We slid down the stairs on old quilts and cardboard boxes piled 3 kids high.

(we did often get hurt doing this, but never said anything)

We never watched TV…

we didn't play video games

We looked at the "corkboard wall of pictures" on the second floor.

We peeked into adult rooms and sometimes used the potty that wasn't for kids.

We tried to read Babaar and Madeline in French 

(always convienently placed on the bottom shelf of the never ending book shelf)

we sometimes read MAD magazine, while warming up…

then headed right back out for snowball fights and hikes in the woods.

I have a fond memory of the boys building a sledding ramp which hopped the street until a semi sober adult realized it wasn't the best idea.

Deer Run…

the street memories were made of.

I wish I could have grown to experience it as an adult…

with my kids playing in the yard with family galore.

dream a little dream

NLC "next level challenge"….

Its been almost a month since I began the NLC challenge.  Trying to eat clean and get rid of this doughy chub.  I started a little bit later than some of the ladies, But It's helping me stay motivated.  

Working nights is the one thing which slows down my schedule.   I just really can't do anything the day before or after.  I've herad it's quite common.  

Here are a few accomplishments I have made:

Joined the rec center, and am using free weights along with home videos and cardio.

quit drinking,…..as much.

Eating clean, 90% of the time.  I did have an ice cream sunday pop tart washed down with a beer the other day…but I was having my period!

I don't have any good pics to post.  maybe soon.
added….here I took one of the Egg Cups from a Clean Eating Recipie
The shrinking lady

My Other Boyfriend, Scott

My Other boyfriend….Scott…pulling off a Bing Xmas song

xoxoxoxox

listen and smile, see some humor

the vacation Homey week

We did some cooking of Vegetarian Stroganoff

 ( I hate that word)

Tday we went to the Bart's and for some reason I have no pics of the women or me…

It was quiet and good and the kids kept entertained.

The boys went snowboarding a few times…and we even got the Xmas lights and tree up, thanks to the 65 degree weather!

It's a boring post but it was a non eventful week (good)

Now I have to get working on Christmas ! 

conversation while making dinner

O: "Bubba, Mamoo picked a white hair outta her bump under her chin!!! you should have seen it, REALLY!"

B:"Wow, so Mom…you are growing a beard, now?"

M:"Well, I'm not trying to…jeesus"

a few seconds later….

O:"yes she is, I can tell"

Bitch Post # 4151

Yea, blogs are passe. 

yet I still read them and write.  Although I haven't written much of any worth in quite a while.

I have noticed how small the blog community is.  I also have noticed how many people use your, meaning mine, lesser read blog post for ideas and then write the same post a few days later on their very "well read" blog.  I guess I should be flattered.  All I would like is a touchdown.  Maybe a " I saw this blog post over at  2 smart Girls" and thought I would touch on the subject.   

It would be nice.  Because lately, it is becoming quite apparent.

:)

v8

Unremarkable

Bubba's lab results came back unremarkable, unremarkable.  

It sucks not having an answer.  As with life, there are often NO answers to what appears to be a simple problem.  So, if any of you fellow blog readers have lost your hair in big clumps, can you let us know what to do.  They gave him some steroid cream to help regrowth, but in the interim he is bitchy and depressed…and I can't say that I blame him.

On a more remarkable note.   I have been starting my holiday gifts.  I still have a few I need to send out for a FB challenge of homemade in one year.  That was started at the beginning of the year and I have of course waited til the end!

I am making PJ's for the household.  Easy Lounge Pants for the guys and a Nightey for O.  I'll post when done.

I have made the commitment to buy homemade and USA.  As much as I LOOOOVE Target, just look at every tag: Made in China.   I just can't do it.   I want to buy USA, so that is what I'm doing.

from: Your Destiny is Stone Golden

I'm off to workout…then to make PJS and shop Etsy….and hopefully get some Knitting in

Let me know what you are buying for the holidays!

teen angst gone awry

Here it is:

That is just part of it.  You can see all the spots through his hair.  The Dr. had a bunch of blood drawn and we will be checking Thyroid, Sugars, Iron and autoimmune.  Until then we are being sent to the dermatologist to see if it could be anything else.  We figured out it wasn't from the hair dye because his hair has about a 1/2" of new growth and his hair is still faliing out from the root. 

Now if you didn't think High School was mean enough…Try having Alopecia.  You can't even pull off Punk rock with that title, unless it ALL falls out.  

The kid is a trooper at home.  Told his lil sister he went to bed and this is what happened, must have been from all the Halloween Candy.  

She was terrified.

Just another day in the life of a mom…and an odd teen….and a sassy ass youth,

where is my liquor…

I think my hair is now falling out

All Gone Hair, it must be contagious

Until we figure out an answer to the bald spots…the hat is gone and so is most of the hair.  He is quite handsome, first time I've seen him with short hair since 4th grade.

household teen emergency

Poor Poor Bubba.

High school and hair dye are killing him.

He has yet to realize I tell him things out of experience, not because I want to hear my own high pitched voice.  I had told him previously his tender pasty white scalp will not handle black hair dye, especially if one of his ding dong friends dyes it for him.  

But did he listen?  

guess….just go ahead and guess what has happened….

His hair has fallen out in big chunks.

I feel bad, yet I want to say, " Seeeeeee, I told you so."  But as a mature parent I am not allowed to do that.

Today we will be cutting all his hair off.  So the big bald spots won't show as much.

Hair is a big deal in 8th grade, so not sure if he will actually survive this ordeal.  

I wish I could take a picture of his bald spots.  maybe I can sneek in while he is sleeping?

He is home in bed "sick"

I wish I had something funny to say about this.

but I dont

xo,

m

locks of love…12 inches of pure love

Olive finally did it...

 12 Inches of pure love to Locks of Love…Thanks to Tina Garcia @ Station 336 Longmont

 so fricken cute!

Love in the form of a sassy smile!

Bubba and short haired Olive!

Daddoo, is not happy, but as a dear friend m Kris said…"do it now, it will be grown out by middle school"

heehee, I think it is beyind adorable.

Powpuff Girl…Bubbles, Halloween

The head was finished with about 6 layers of plain ol paper mache, then left to dry for a few days.

We primed it with tacky primer (grey).

I then got acrylic paints to start the painting.

The "flesh color" (who's flesh, huh?)

was not right, so I had to go out and get some diferent colors.

 Painted...

 and painted

 then got Daddoo to do some painting ….

 oooh now whe is looking like something….

 I thiught we should do the angry Bubbles, but the smile was cute!

 Mommy got the ears on…they are flat, but worked perfect.  (held on with Popscicle sticks)

Let's try it on!!!

(we drilled little holes then put screen over it and painted it for the eyes)

Worked ok… should have done the eyes first.

lookie!

heehee.

Go Olive…errr I mean Bubbles!

And as our frined Chris said, Hopefully she won't stand to close to any kid who might think she is a Pinata.

happy halloween!

Cooking to make my liver happy

My liver is killing me.  

Seriously.  I even copped out of riding the Motorcyle to Denver to do more drinking with friends this afternoon just to give it a rest. 

 I hope it thanks me.  

I started my weekend hanging out with my friend Kris.  We began knitting at 9 am, which did not include drinking, although at that point I wished it had.  Later in the day we ended up at Oskar Blues to do more knitting and let the girls hang out in the play area, while we did some more drinking.  Then the men joined us which meant more drinking and food…then home, only to start all over the next mid morning.  We headed to Grimm Brothers Brewery, drank and knit…the men talked motorcycles, then when we were done there we headed to Kris's house to sit outside with the fire pit, let the girls play and do, yes you got it, more drinking.   Today we were to go to Denver to see some friends and drink some more, but I stayed home to cook.  Sheeeewwwww.   I had to, I just couldn't drink another drop, until later at least.

I cooked today.  I made stew for Bobby, enough to eat and one batch to freeze.

I made these divine Apple Muffins from the website "the girl who ate everything"

 the batter was so thick!  then Olive sprinkled the brown sugar on top

 Kid's ate the leftover batter, gross

 Wilma enjoyed them

Ilin gave them the thumbs up

so go check out that recipe.

Now I'm making veggie pot pies, gonna do my p90x and knit some more

have a great fall day!

x

m

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Last night I finally cut into the big bag of onions we picked at Miller Farms.

I apparently have never used a truely fresh onion, because these onions were full of moisture, not super eye killing and so tasty.

I made some divine 

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

 Olive oil and or butter (Whichever you prefer, I added both)

5-7 large Onions

1 clove garlic

mustard powder or brown sandwich mustard

1/2 T. sugar

Thyme to taste

S&P to taste

1-2 boxes Veggie Broth (I used Organic boxed)

splash of soy sauce (optional)

for the Top:

Baguette 

Grueyerre cheese or Swiss  ( Swiss is easier to find)

Thinly slice all the onions.

Chop one clove of garlic

Use a large, heavy bottomed pot and heat the oil and butter

Add the onions.

It seems like a lot, but the will cook down.

Stir the onions and at this point I add the sugar, mustard, and Thyme.

let cook, but stir occasionally…it will make quite a bit of liquid but it will cook out.

As the onions start to brown turn down the heat, [ut the lid on and let them cook for about an hour, stirring eery 10-15 minutes.  They will begin to turn brown.

After about an hour, and the onions all look cooked, there may be a bit of browness stuck to the bottom of your pan, slowly add the broth and soy sauce while stirring and scraping the brown off the bottom.

Add as much broth to make it soupy.

When all done, taste and add seasoning.

put in bowl add crouton/sliced french bread, and cheese,

put under broiler in oven at 500 for 1 minute until Cheese is melted.

Eat it…yummmmmmm

xo 

m

Baaaa

We went to Miller Farms yesterday.

I fell in love with her

xo

m

P90x…did one day..or day one

how I hate and love this man at the same time.

He is over 50…he's sexy, and he's bad ass…and I'm pretty sure he dates a 20 year old.

But today I got my Jillian Michael's DVD out and said, "Girl, I love you, but today you won't cut it…I need Bad Ass"

So P90x it was

Now my arms are like piece of spaghetti…

The costumes are started

As you may or may not remember, last year I threw together the Deadmau5 head for Ilin Blue.  Since Ilin is getting a bit older, this year, he is in charge of his own and Olive gets the creation. ( Although I feel the Princess Lea was pretty good last year too.)

I definitely lack in the parenting department…but for what I lack there, I like to think I make up in Halloween costumes and Xmas decor…and cursing.

I started last night on the Power Puff Girl Bubbles.

Step 1: go to neighbors and get all recycled Newspaper, you will need a lot

Step 2: Rip, or cut, into strips.

step 3:  make paste….1 C. white flour, 2 cups water (or until right consistency)

I had a hard time finding a beach ball…so Ilin had the idea to use a big balloon.

it must be bigger than the kid's head.

start the process.  You want to stabilize the balloon on a big bowl.  make sure you have an area where you can clean up easily.  It's messy.   This is the first layer.  You have to let the layers dry of you will have a nasty mess.  It always takes longer for it to dry then you think, especially if it is a bit chilly.

Layer one done…about 10 more layers to do.

I'll keep ya posted.

I'm praying it works…because there is nothing like a a Halloween costume which goes awry 3 days before the big day

xo,

m

Monday's walk 365 days

dog and me, originally uploaded by v8grrl.

I got out of bed….

it was a feat, considering I couldn't sleep until 2:45 am

Life is hard, but

You just keep on going.  Well, that is the game plan anyways.  The past few months I have had a hard time coming to the realization that I work.  It seems odd doesn't it?  I went to school to become a nurse and couldn't wait to get started.   Now, I'm exhausted and my little pea brain can't wrap itself around the fact I MUST go to work 3-12 hour shifts a week to keep myself employed and the family with benefits.  It's not much to ask, so what is wrong with me?  Before I got this coveted full time benefited position I worked halftime and I was happy and functioning, although a bit guilt ridden.  You see, I worked 3 shifts a pay period (in 2 weeks).  The money was less, the benefits not as good, but I was happy....and I could pick up extra shifts for "golden time" if I wanted.  

Is it me?  Just never satisfied?  possibly...

Is it working the 12 hour night shifts and being a crappy sleeper?  maybe

Or is it the fact I just want to be a stay at home mom and go to knitting group in the morning and volunteer for the kids field trips?

( go check out Monster By Mail...so cool)

this picture actually looks like me :)

You see, if I could just figure out how to function I'm sure it would be better.  How can I incorporate real life and 12 hour night shifts?  How can I work out?  How can I grocery shop or garden when I am so tired...or better yet zombiefied?  3-12's, a lot of people would die for that!...Even I'm not sure I could go back to 5-8's.

Life is hard, but it seems to me its even harder when you can't grasp the reality it hands you.  There are no classes for this, or really good pieces of advice.  You just keep doing what you need to do.

My friendships, at this point in my life, are non existent which makes life non escapable.

There is no Friday Afternoon Club to attend or couples family fun night.

It's an abyss.  

Its life.

It's time to figure it out.

You guys have a great weekend

Somehow my schedule got all put at the end of one week and the beginning of another so I have 3-12's on one night off the 3 more 12's

basically 6/12 hour shifts in a row.

Thats basically an 80 hour work week in 6 days….at night.

xo

m

ps: and people wonder why I'm such a crotch

What a Good Day, knit, run, falldown

Today was late start at school, which I forgot so I was screaming at 730,  " Get Up!!! GEt UP!!!!"

Only to hear Olive go, "Mom, Its late start."

Oh, ok go back to sleep

 which I did, but apparently they could not, so they were up clanking around the house.

I got a workout in, went out to walk all the kids to school and there was a MOM!!!!  Joan, from Joan and Bill, who live a few blocks over.  She said, "hey, I'll ride with the kids this morning since I never get to."  

Well OK...sweet.  

You see, it's kind of a thing in our neighborhood since they took our crossing guard away.  We take turns walking the kids to the big intersection, crossing the street, then letting them go.  Whichever parent has the most guilt or most free time is the one who does it.  Which puts me in the lead in both categories.  But not today, I got a break !

I tld you guys about falling while running a few days ago right?  The picture does not capture the purple on my chicken sticks

lovely...now they really look like 12 year old's legs.

Man they hurt.  I didn't even put my flipping hands down....Although I did try to do a shoulder roll, but the train tracks were not condusive to a roll, so it was a smack and a skid.

I am still working on this great knitting shawl called Vlad.  I'm hoping to finish it this century, then I can get my friend Kris B to help me block it.

Here's what I got:

here's what it should look like when done:

calliopeknits at flikr

I'm starting to have my doubts.

Well, I'm on a roll, so I better keep it moving and try to stay away from crawling back into bed, since that has been my MO lately

miss you guys...

xo

m

Nursing report Telemetry

I'm trying something for my friends at Allnurses.  seeing if I can figure out a way to upload a report for them to copy.  If you are an RN and want a report, feel free to copy this one.  I think if you click the picture you can save it and print it full size.

I do what I have to do...

Right?

Right....

Here's what I did today.

I came home from work at 8 am, slept...then thought

I thought long and hard, and made a decision that I thought I would have liked to have happened when I was 15.

So, when Blue came home from school.  I took him to Floyds to get a haircut, which one I don't know, because for 25 dollars they really didn't cut much of anything...but whatever

Then to Target....

then I took this kid:

To Planned Parenthood....unbeknownst (sp?)

 to him.

He didn't act freaked or surprised, really.

We walked around the glass to the counter, where there was this adorable 20 something girl working.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yup, I'm bringing my son in here so he knows where his options are...if need be"

"Oh cool...well, right there to your left are condoms...free or donation....we can help with anything that you need...and there are a bunch of pamphlets on the wall...and there are some pamphlets about how to talk to your teens about sex....but I think you might have that one covered"  (big grin from her).

"yeah, Thank you   .....Blue, here are the condoms, not that you need these or will need them EVER, but if one of your "friends" may need one, or you guys have an issue you can come here, and they will help you, you know, if you are a bit confused...or whatever.   Buying condoms at the Walgreens is sometimes nerve wracking...so here, please be safe when you need to be."

He didn't get any, but he looked at the lady and said thanks...looked around, got his bearings and I could tell he was taking mental notes.

We got in the car and I said,"Just so you know there is another place to go, if you can't talk to me...but you can always talk to me.

"Thanks mom, it's cool"

I wish to God, my parents had given me more than trial and error when I was his age.