how could i have forgotten

i'm getting ready for bed and thinking about the delights of the day. mainly because the 7-month-old has learned to play "toss the toys". this is an apparently humorous (for him) and wildly entertaining game where he pulls up in his crib, finds anything that isn't nailed down & tosses it as if he's trying out for the Yankees. but, Stroman & Cydney share a room, so this activity means that she responds by yelling a play-by-play into the monitor...the last one "MOMMY - he's making noises and he threw his paci...and i can't sleep when he's making noises and he's making noises."



thanks, honey. i'll get right on it. but to get to the crib to give his paci back to him, i have to wade through the crib debris that clutters the ground. too much pressure. let him cry it out.



back to the delights of the day -- i always make an attempt to greet, chat with, etc. the other children at cyd's school. today, when i picked Cydney up from school, one of the boys yelled "BYE, LADY!" to me.



Cyd promptly turned around and corrected him: "She's not a lady. She's my mother!"



oh, child. you don't know how right you are...

i might have an addiction

to strange tv shows.

now, i don't think i need to explain the natural appeal of "Rock of Love w/ Bret Michaels" - who wouldn't want to fight for the chance to date an aging rock star who likes to wear as much eyeliner as you do? do they sell kohl liner in bulk at Sam's? and why wouldn't i want to watch some crazy cats fight it out. currently, it's down to the last two women...one is an exotic dancer and the other is a hair dresser (quite classy and v. beautiful).

but today, i was brought to tears by my afternoon norm - Shalom in the Home on TLC. this show rocks. a rabbi comes into a home and usually ends up fixing some major problem. today, he got a man who had cheated on his wife to come back into the home and take control of his 16-year-old daughter's sex life & her disrespectful boyfriend. Kick ass Shmuley!

i love it when someone has the guts to call out a slacker. they are everywhere and too often, we are likely to look the other way.

the mysterious lamb fetus in the freezer

raised on a ranch, i've been exposed to things some women my age might not ever imagine. in honor of Sarah Beth's birth, i'm sharing the lamb fetus story - ok, maybe it's not in honor, but rather because i told new mom Emily that i would share the story as soon as baby arrived.

we raise cattle but for a few years, my father - Butch - decided to diversify by raising sheep. wild adventure. sheep are literally born looking for a place to die and some of the dumbest creatures i've ever been exposed to.

we had this unusual hired worker named Felix who was quite helpful with the lambs, but didn't speak a bit of English. also, i am near professional in my ability to procrastinate & had a science fair coming up at school. i must have been in 7th or 8th grade.

one morning Butch and Felix found a ewe that died prior to giving birth....HOLD IT - this isn't how it happened...

i talked to Dad to see if i had gotten my memories confused because somehow it didn't seem right...and in fact, my perfect memory is fallible.

i was remembering a time when Felix created a sling/swing to help a lamb with weak legs learn to walk. another interesting story for another day.

back to the science project - butch had a cow that sloughed a calf. now, don't be alarmed this is something animals do naturally when conditions aren't right for the birth to happen - could be genetic, environmental, unknown - it just happens.

well, butch brought the calf to the barn and we wrapped it up in several layers of plastic while negotiating with mom for square footage in the freezer. a few weeks later, i took my frozen calf out of the freezer and headed to the science fair with a report on the gestational age of the calf based on development of body parts, etc.

take that baking soda volcanoes and solar systems of many colors. the procrastinator wins again!

thankfully, there are no photos.

what a way to start down the road to becoming president of Kappa Kappa Gamma, eh?

delightful

recently, i was hired to take photos of a wedding here in alpine. kyle & keith. thought i'd share a few of my favorite photos from them...kyle & keith are examples of true love.

they didn't want any formal shots but rather something to capture the event without being stuffy. i am pleased with the results.

this weekend, i'm headed to another wedding at cibilo. i'm not the head photog, but serving in another capacity. the place looks incredible from the site.

if you are busy, i advise not answering

news alert - if i don't answer the phone, i'm busy.

therefore, immediately calling back over and over and over, won't make me less busy. it will just force my head to spin right off of my body and slam into a wall. do we really want the kiddos to have to witness that?

want a visual - baby screaming & stiff-backed because apparently today's poop contains poison ivy derivatives and it begins to eat his flesh as soon as it hits his diaper. i prioritize that over washing the spaghetti off of the older one. suddenly, i'm at the changing table - mom mode all out and ignoring the pull on my white pants. when i remember the vile sauce o' spaghetti that she had tried to bathe in. well, shit.

right about then, the phone rings. and rings and rings. you know who you are. you do this crap to me every day.

and if things aren't hectic, HEAVEN FREAKIN' FORBID, everyone is sleeping and the house is quiet & i've opted for a nap of 25 minutes tops - but no, you evil genius - somehow you know! you call to wake me to tell me the sky is blue where you are too! thanks for the update. please enjoy the view as my brain oozes out my ear from my resentment/boredom.

thanks for letting me vent.

on a lighter, happier note, new photos of the children and a steaming shot of my husband. photos that relate zero% to the post. but they do give the post a happier feel. in fact, you might not have noticed that i have some hang ups about phones.

defending my honor

okay, so maybe i've had more jobs than the average person, but i'd like to say that being a fragrance model was one of the more lucrative adventures i've taken on...during college i could work for companies and make a minimum of $15/hour. sure, some people hate those of us who have the audacity to ask you to try a new fragrance and then SPRAY the product on a strip of paper, with hopes that you'll come back and buy out the stock.

i did go home smelling like i'd spent the afternoon at a strip club - but at least it smelled like an expensive strip club.