Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.The Randomizer

December 1st, 2006 — 9:13pm

Day 31
Mood: Relaxed

So with the pressure off to blog every day I took some time this evening to play with the randomizer–a cool little tool created by Lane to assist your tour through the participants of NaBloPoMo.

While there were some blogs that just weren’t up my alley–though I’m sure they were good–I did find a few that I think I will be checking back on over time. See what you think…

The Island
Miss Allycat
Don’t Try This At Home (you have to love any family that poses for pictures in groucho glasses)

I’m going to keep going…I have no idea how long it would take to check in on every one of the participants, but I don’t have much to do this weekend other than clean my house, shop for Christmas, do some work and spend time with my family.

PS–We’ve taken to keeping a cooler on our deck always filled with drinks and ice. The cold front we’ve been expecting is moving in. You know what that means??? No more need for ice. Cold drinks all the time and no need for a cooler. I think White Trash Mom would be proud.

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.We Hardly Knew Ye

November 30th, 2006 — 9:15pm

Day 30!!!!!
Mood: Victorious

I suffer two losses today. The end of NaBloPoMo AND the discovery that my hairdresser upped and moved back to Chicago–damn him (not really, I LOVE him)!! While feeling the satisfaction of having accomplished posting 30 days in a row–yet wistful that I’m now losing my excuse to snuggle up with my laptop each night–I am faced with the devastation of losing the man I trusted to give me some sense of hipness. He was a great conversationalist, he shared stories about his wacky family and I always left with a hair style that was cool but required no products. Now, can you understand my grief?

The last time I saw him he gave no indication that he was moving. I feel like my boyfriend just moved out without telling me. And I had just had a conversation at my last visit that reinforced how much I loved him.

Me: Hi Tim
Me: I’m going on trip in two weeks. I need to look 10 years younger and 20 lbs lighter.
Tim: [patting his pockets] Okay, let me get my tools. [mock seriousness]

But you know what? I did feel younger when I walked out.

Tim, I’ll miss ya’.

As for NaBloPoMo, it’s been great. I know my posts haven’t been that exciting…I don’t write ahead of time. It’s all just whatever comes out when I sit down at the computer (like you couldn’t tell). But, I’ve really liked getting to know other bloggers. I think folks shared stuff they wouldn’t ordinarily because they were desperate for material. I also like the structure it gave me. I won’t mind the relief from the stress of feeling like I needed to post before midnight, but I will miss the motivation.

I do think someone needs to create a web sticker for those who completed it. I survived NaBloPoMo. I’d do it, but I wouldn’t have a clue where to begin–as you can tell from my completely non-modified Blogger template. Really, I’d love a great looking blog, but I don’t know how! So you just get my random thoughts and whatever images I can scrape up from Google images search.

I do think I’ll keep up my count of days posting in a row and the mood indicator. What do you think?

And as for today’s photo…I was looking for something about “the end” and the end of a rainbow popped into my head. But then when I saw this lovely. How perfect could it be? The end of the rainbow…no shit!

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.Hold Up!

November 29th, 2006 — 9:56pm

Day 29
Mood: Anxious

I have an addiction. It involves men and women and money. I’ve been given a new Blackberry for work–and it has Texas Hold ‘Em on it.

And I can’t stop playing!!!!!!!!

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.Penos Envy

November 28th, 2006 — 9:27pm

Day 28
Mood: Disheartened (should never try on clothes at the end of a long day)

I live with three small boys and one big boy. I am surrounded by penises.

This is not how I grew up. There were mostly girls in my house. Frankly, penises were always a bit intimidating until I had children of my own and saw how small they really start out. ANYWAY, let’s just say that in a house with four boys there’s a lot of attention paid to male genitalia. And here I am just a lone Mamma in the midst of it all.

First there’s Shakey and his “super sperm”–or so he’s named it since he can’t sneeze in my direction without getting me pregnant. When his mom teasingly raised her eyebrows by how quickly I got pregnant for the third time, the man actually uttered these words TO HIS OWN MOTHER (imagine Shakey standing tall with hands on hips like Superman) “I’m the Sniper. Don’t mess with my super sperm.” Now I figure he said it to his own mom, so it’s fair game for blogging.

Next we have Mr. 2. Mr. 2 does not yet show much interest in using the potty, however he does think it’s quite funny in between diapers to chase his brothers around, hold out his penis and yell “I gonna pee on you” and then make a hissing noise. I’m happy to report, so far, that he hasn’t actually gone through with the threat, but I’m betting that’s just a matter of time.

I reported earlier in the fall that we have a plethora of acorns in our yard and apparently all the rounds of the Let’s Pick Up the Acorns game we play with the boys to keep them from spreading out the raked leaves has left an impression on Mr. 2. As I was changing his diaper the other day, he reached down to grab his penis (is that genetic?) and while holding it looked down and then said to me, “Woolk Mommy woolk, it woolks like a acorn.” He was right. It sort of did.

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, we have Mr. 10. Mr. 10 was five and half when our middle son was born. I expected the questions all along. Surprisingly, his first concern was how the baby was going to get out (believe it or not he was relieved when I told him how–that’s because it wasn’t happening to him), but sure enough about a month before I was due he skipped into my room one day and asked how that baby got in there anyway. So I started at the beginning… I told him every baby begins with a sperm and an egg. I explained that mommies have the egg and the daddies have the sperm. At this point he stopped me.

Mr. 10: “Wait daddies have sperm?”
Me: “Yep, all men have sperm.”
Mr. 10: “ALL men have sperm?!”
Me: “Yep”
Mr. 10: “Do I have sperm?”
Me: “You will.”
Mr. 10: “Where?!”
Me: “Well you know your testicles there underneath your penis?”
Mr. 10: interrupting me, pulling down his pants and stretching his penis up (I swear) over his shoulder “I HAVE SPERM RIGHT HERE?!”

It was like Christmas in April! He never asked how the sperm and egg got together. He was just so psyched to find out he was going to have sperm.

Finally there’s Mr. 4. Mr. 4 is my golden retriever–all full of love and extra smart. He’s the detail guy. Mr. 4 spoke the earliest too. He could name all of his body parts but for some reason pronounced penis like peenos–like his was greek.

One day in the shower Mr. 4 was telling me once again that I did not have a penos. And as had become the habit, I nodded my head and agreed. Then he proceeded to tick off a list of everyone he knew and whether or not they indeed had a penos. “P has a penos, M doesn’t have a penos, Uncle C has a penos, Grandma doesn’t have a penos.” And on and on this went until he thought he categorized everyone he knew. But he had forgotten one person. So I asked him, “what about Daddy? Does Daddy have a penos (I had to say it that way, how could I resist?)?” Very quickly he replied with large eyes, “Oh yeah, Daddy has a BIIIG penos.”

Ahh, life with four penoses boys!

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.Little Birds, Company and a Crowd

November 27th, 2006 — 7:46pm

Day 27
Mood: Feelin’ Good

I feel bad about this, but I’m taking a bit of an easy way out tonight.

There’s a meme going around…Three Things…maybe you’ll learn a little more about Mamma.

1. 3 Things that scare me: Something happening to my family, leaving my children without a mother, haunted houses

2. 3 People who make me laugh: My kids, Shakey, PFunky

3. 3 Things I love: Diet coke, massages, laughing until I cry (I didn’t include people b/c they’re not things)
4. 3 Things I hate: rudeness, meanness, when the Red Sox win

5. 3 Things I don’t understand: how electricity works (you just flip a switch and it’s there), higher math, football

6. 3 Things on my desk: a pig finger puppet, a clay snake and a clay snail (both with googley eyes)

7. 3 Things I’m doing right now: Blogging, craving Sugar Babies and thinking about the upcoming cookie exchange

8. 3 Things I want to do before I die: Go on a photo safari in Africa, See the Grand Canyon in person and learn to be truly happy with myself (thighs and all)

9. 3 Things I can do: Bake, talk to complete strangers and drive in the snow

10. 3 Things I can’t do: Play golf, add quickly in my head, keep a clean house

11. 3 Things I think you should listen to: NPR, a young child’s opinion (I second these opinions of Mom aka) and your mother

12. 3 Things you should never listen to: The doubts in your head, Paris Hilton or Ann Coulter
13.3 things I would like to learn: to love exercise, to paint and to sing well

14. 3 Favorite foods: Italian, Southern and Ethiopian

15. 3 Beverages I drink regularly: Diet Coke, Diet Coke and Iced Tea

16. 3 Shows I watched as a kid: Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street and The Electric Company

17. 3 People I’m tagging (to do this meme): Jill, Oh, The Joys and Jay

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.Spice Up Your Holiday!

November 26th, 2006 — 4:16pm

Day 26
Mood: Rested and Ready

Just when you thought it was going to be another boring holiday with the family…the fine folks on the web bring you a terrific idea to transform your gathering from Ho Hum to HO HO!

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.I DID Get The Worm

November 25th, 2006 — 7:18am

Day 25–The Home Stretch
Mood: Pissed off then Happy

I woke up very early this morning considering I had every opportunity to sleep in, after all it’s Saturday, my entire family is still asleep and I have no where to be. I tried to deny my wakefulness by rolling over and closing my eyes again, but I was too consumed by the thoughts of my dreams to go back to sleep. Does that ever happen to you?

My original draft of this post included some background on my dream and a description of it, but no amount of writing about it exorcised my mood.

Then my mom called. She was right there by me when all the history of my dream happened–supporting me the whole time. So I told her about it, and she truly understood why I woke up in a bad mood. She’s probably the only one who would have.

After we hung up the phone I felt so much better. I got the story off my chest, she listened patiently and validated my feelings, and I thought “jeez I was pretty stupid.” “Why didn’t I just call her in the first place?” See like I’ve said in earlier posts, my mom knows almost everything about me. She’s the kind of mom I’ve always been able to talk to–no matter what. Sometimes I take that forgranted…but today I didn’t. After our call, I went outside and stood in the sun and basked in the warmth of the unseasonably warm day and my mother’s love.

And to pay homage to this wonderful woman I promptly went inside, and before breakfast, taught my boys how to spray whipped cream on the tips of their fingers in the shape of little flowers and enjoy it without having to bother with some silly vehicle like pie.

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.Movies and Mischief

November 24th, 2006 — 3:56pm

Day 24
Mood: Relaxin’

Just finished watching Thank You For Smoking. Aaron Eckhart is a babe (though he’s no Patrick Dempsey–don’t worry Patrick I haven’t given up on you)! Do you think Katie Holmes thought her role in the movie would be an omen for her decision to ride Tom Cruise’s wave to stardom? I mean I know I’m supposed to support my fellow woman…and I usually do…but seriously?! Tom Cruise?

I gotta say if any guy I was dating started jumping up and down on couches–even if it was on the Oprah Winfrey show–I’d have to end the relationship right there. There’s no place you can go but down when a guy is that crazy about you. The pressure to be that perfect would be too much. You couldn’t burp, you couldn’t floss your teeth in front of him, shoot forget getting a wrinkle or swearing during labor. What if you gnashed teeth during sex or bonked heads when he went in for a kiss? Without a full time director choreographing your every lovemaking scene there’d be a strong chance that his rose-colored lenses would get dirty.

The pressure! I have a hard enough time remembering to wear matching panties and bra on date night. Then add shaving your legs and maybe getting your nails done? Better schedule all of my big events in the same week, because I’m not going to be able to keep up that look for too long.

Oh and along the same lines…here’s another fun product that found its way across my screen. Yet another step in ever-lengthening process to be beautiful. I think I’m going to go for the pink, if only for the reaction. Though with my luck the timing of the process would probably coincide with the need for some emergency gynecological exam. I know my esthetician’s seen it all before, but my ob/gyn? I blush just seeing him if I’ve recently had a bikini wax. I mean I know he’s delivered two of my children…but does he need to know I have sex too?

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.Mmm, Turkey

November 23rd, 2006 — 10:32pm

Day 23
Mood: FULL

Oh! I ate too much today! The food is so delicious, the buffet is just sitting there…I put myself into gastric distress. I could just eat those candied sweet potatoes forever! And the deep-fried turkey? They added a marinade this year that made it even better! I never thought the idea of a deep-fried turkey sounded all that appetizing until I had one. Now, I can’t imagine having it any other way.

I do still miss my mom’s stuffing! We haven’t had Thanksgiving together for a few years now in exchange for great Christmases together, but I’m hoping next year…there’s just nothing like your own mom’s stuffing.

Hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving! Hope to have something a bit wittier to share tomorrow once the tryptophan wears off.

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Cache directory "/home7/mammalov/public_html/wp-content/plugins/ttftitles/cache" is not writable.Oh Crap!

November 22nd, 2006 — 10:45pm

Day 22
Mood: Rested

It’s day 22 and I almost forgot to post tonight. How many days do “they” say it takes to form a habit? 28? Great, just when I get used to this whole post a day thing it will be time to stop. Well, I guess I don’t have to stop posting every day once December rolls around…but I’m really not sure I’d have something to say every day for another thirty days. And I know there are a number of you out there saying “you haven’t had much to say for these last 22 days.” I appreciate you hanging with me. I have to say thanks to my favorite new Google tool–Analytics–I can obsess all day about how many readers I have and where they’re coming from.

It was a rainy, cold day here in VA. In a way, it’s perfect weather for the Thanksgiving holiday. We’re supposed to sit in the house, eat food and watch football right? You wouldn’t want it to be gorgeous outside, then you’d just feel like a sloth for lounging on the couch. This way–with the sucky weather–we have an excuse. In an early nod to tomorrow’s theme, I’m grateful that we have family close by and that I didn’t have to brave the highways or airports this weekend. I’m all about the no traveling around the holidays excuse we now have because we have three kids. Though if someone was going to offer me an all expenses paid trip back down to The Breakers, I’d be at the airport in a flash. I’m still missing that twice a day maid service. I can’t quite get my boys convinced that this would be a good habit to start.

Oh, I noticed a weird thing when I was at my parent’s house. Wouldn’t you think you’d get your preference for how the toilet paper goes on the holder from your parents? I did. But APPARENTLY I was wrong. I was using my parent’s guest bathroom when I noticed that the paper hung down off the back of the roll–not over the front! Now I still have to check with mom. It’s entirely possible that this was the doing of dear ole dad, but let’s be real…that would mean he actually thought about putting the paper on the holder. Don’t know about your house, but in ours…I’m not really sure what my boys (all of them) think that little bar next to the toilet is for (other than balance for our newest potty-trained friends). I just find it hard to believe that I grew up with a paper down the back mom and somehow transformed to an adament over the top kind of girl. Sheesh, you think you know someone!

End Note: I titled this post before I ever even thought about writing about the toilet paper. That was just a funny coincidence I realized once I saw the photo near the title. Made me giggle.

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