Can I Get A Brita Rep?

Call me genius, or highly intuitive, but I believe that this is NOT how this thing should work. I can also tell you all that this has been going on for about a week and a half. And, apparently, I am the only one that has taken notice of it.

Apparently.

My Hiatus Has Ended

Is anybody out there?






y'all. I waved my white flag, I threw in the towel, I all but bent over and mooned blog365 - and maybe that would have made me feel bettter, but I feel guilt now. Heavy, heavy guilt.

And it's not so bad. I didn't come here with anything on my mind to blog about, so I thought I'd do a list of random, need-to-do/should-have-already-done/wanna-do-but-probably won't

• I need to fill out my nursing school application and turn it in. Because I believe nursing school doesn't let you in if you don't apply. And the deadline is March 1st.




• I should have already done laundry. But I didn't. No surprise there.




• I wanna clean out the garage, but I probably won't get on that horse til the summer.




• I need to get my butt in the gym. Because Sebi says I have a big booty.




• I should have written my paper for my speech class last night, but I had margaritas with the girls from my nursing skills class. I believe I made the right decision.




• I wanna drop my speech class, but I probably won't.




• I need to throw out the bathroom trash and should have already done that, but I probably won't- because I got this passive-aggressive trash idea awhile back, and I decided to try it.

I placed the can of mousse there for height reference.

This Bandwagon Can't Hold Me.

I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about the elephant in the room.

You know. The fact that my posting is not "technically" posted on the day it should post, and posts that have posted and then been removed, and stealing other people's posts, and (if none of the aforementioned happens), posting crap.

I only have so much in me. So I will now re-interpret the blog 365 as was originally planned.

I will keep you guessing as to how I shall re-interpret. Or not. These days, I'm not so reliable. However, in my defense, I did make the sensible decision to come home from class and listen to the Democratic debate rather than jump right on the computer. Not that I get home and do that. ever.

Ever.

**in the spirit of politics, nothing said in this post can be either confirmed or denied**

Nursing "Skills"

o.k. everyone, now I may have referenced once or twice that the nursing skills class that I am taking is sordof......a brainless activity. I mean, ooohhhh! We made beds! and, ahhhhhh! We gave bed baths!

(o.k., we stressed a bit ((a lot)) for our check-offs)

But tonight, they dangled nursing opportunities in our faces that had us all giddy and excited. Well, the giddy part comes later. I'll explain.

blood pressures, y'all. We were taking blood pressures. And anyone seeking health care in about 3 years should be worried about my class. Because we're a bunch of yo-yo's. Oh, it seems so simple to find a pulse and take a blood pressure....right?

wrong. because we're a bunch of yo-yo's.

At one point, I was trying to find a pulse on my partner's foot and I believe I came to the rational that the fault of not finding one could not be mine. I asked if she ate brains. And then I diagnosed her as zombie.

I don't know if anyone has ever noticed the cuffs and valves and meters involved with blood pressure taking. oh, it sounds so technical now. And it was. I was paired with Marjana who was a nurse in another country before she moved here. She's got this all down. I don't. So, she went first and took my pulse and what not and breezed through my blood pressure and 10 seconds later it was my turn. Get comfortable, Marjana. Get comfortable. This is gonna be a long, hard ride.

And it was.

My first attempt went smooth until I stretched with my itty bitty thumb attached to my itty bitty hand to turn the valve on the pump and release the air in the cuff. The valve that Marjana had tightened just before my turn.

y'all.

I am now looking into her former carreer. Because heavy weight/body building nursing may have been it. I don't know for sure. I do know that I couldn't release that valve to save my life. Or hers.

Marjana released the valve for me. I don't think it was pity so much but that her hand was about to fall off.

Take Two.

I had it down. I had the cuff on nice and snug. I had felt the brachial artery and had placed my stethoscope atop of it. I had pumped up that bad boy and was releasing the pressure oh. so. slowly.

It was sweet Carolina. or whatever you want to call it. The needle on my meter was dropping steadily. Not too fast, not too slow. It was THE perfect blood pressure taking of my LIFE.

And then I realized that the ear pieces to my stethoscope were still wrapped around my neck.



Take three went all right. But I believe that Marjana probably went home and curled up into the fetal position. She was a great sport. And I'm sure she is quite happy that we were not cannulating veins tonight.

Her, and me.

disclaimer**when I mention the bunch of yo-yo's in my class, I am looking in one of those 3-view mirrors**

He's gonna kick MY ass?

Tuesday Video time guys. This one isn't mine, but it is REALLY funny.

Hey! That's Not My Post!

After much searching, the archives of blogs of note led me to this blog. If I'm understanding the man, he basically takes pictures of dogs around California and includes commentaries. Kindof weird, but I liked his last post with the dog and the balloons.


I

Weekly Sunday Post

What a week. My parents surprised me by announcing mid-week that they would be coming to visit! I COULD NOT wait until Friday. (If y'all don't know this. I look forward to every single time that my parents come up.) They got here right after nap time. Oh, and they watched Sebi for us Friday night after we put the babies to bed so that we could go out and have "date-night". Fun.


And can I just say that if anyone out there goes to Friday's, you HAVE. NOT. LIVED. until you have tried the ahi tuna ciabatta burger. I know tuna, y'all. Trust me. And it was

G - O -O - D.



I told my mother when I got home that she has not lived until she has tried this delicacy. And by Saturday night, my mom had lived. She lived her ahi tuna ciabatta burger, and then mine. (in her defense they are like two little mini burgers that fit in the palm of your hand) I gave it up since there were like 17 appetizers that we ordered along with salads. It doesn't take much to distract me in the food department. and she bought us like 300+ dollars worth of groceries at Sam's. I believe she deserved the ahi tuna. And can I just say that every woman out there does also. And I love tuna.



Oh, and another plus of the parents coming into town to visit- it's the only time that you will find 3-4 Good bottles of wine opened for sampling in my kitchen. Nice.

On to the pics...

Usually when I get home from a late night of class, the first thing I want to do is go and peek on all the kids. Here is how I found them on Monday night.

This is bath time. They LOVE bath time. And I love watching them have fun. Notice all the "fun" (water splish-splashes that they are making)

Saturday morning was french toast time. Homer loved it. Gabriel interrogated his eggs. It was really funny. Especially when he decided that the eggs wouldn't come clean and he tossed them over his highchair and onto the floor.

Oh, this one is good. Sebastian and I have had this running joke about how Gabriel does not know that we have a dog. He is often in his own world. Sebi loves Oso. Homer feeds Oso. Gabriel, well, he never payed any mind to Oso.

But, I swear this weekend, he turned around and looked down at Oso with this "where did you come from face"

And then he chased him for a good 10 minutes.

What Does Your Car Say About You?

I'll tell you what mine says now- Soccer mom. Or just plain and simply, mom. Not that there is ANYthing plain or simple about being a mom. But y'all, I have an announcement to make.

I am officially driving a mini-van. Yes. I am. Be scared, people. Be very, very scared. because I am. There is so much vehicle behind me. With kids.

Here is the "family truckster".

And also,

here are my husband and my father being "men" and looking under the hood. I guarantee, neither one knew what the heck they were looking at. They only needed to be holding a couple of beers to make this photo more authentic.

*no beers were drank during the purchase of this vehicle. only after.*

I'm Not Here

I am here. And I'm going to bed.

I'm not going to bed.

I'm going to watch t.v. with my husband. but this is a post. a really, bad post. but it counts.

see y'all tomorrow, internets!

How To Boil Water

I keep telling Sebastian that we need to go back to our old neighborhood and take a picture of the duplex that we used to live in.
Upside of that place- HUGE master bedroom with walk-in closets on either end for him and her.
Downside- crack house 3 doors down. We thought it was the bomb when we moved in.


And then we came to our senses, and moved in here.
Downside of this place- the guest bath hot water is set to scorching, and there is nothing that we can do about it. It literally smokes when the water hits the sink.
Upside- whenever I need to boil water, I head to that bathroom and fill up my pot. After I set it on the stove, I get to a rolling boil within 3 minutes.

Don't get me wrong, y'all. When we move to our next place (Godwilling in the next year or two) I will certainly take a picture of this place too. It's all about baby steps.

And we're happy.

Law & Order

I don't have much rhyme or reason when it comes to my choice of placement of certain household items. Why do I keep my deodorant in the kitchen junk drawer? I don't know. My keys don't get hung on the ever-so-convenient key ring right by the front door. No. They are placed at a whim wherever I may drop them. It's the thrill of the hunt, (I guess) with me.

I believe I had a conversation much like this with my husband:

"why do you keep your toothbrush in the sink?"

"because Gabi gets into the bathroom drawers and pulls it out and then I can't find it"


That one, I thought, had a bit of sense to it. And then I woke at 3:00am to use the bathroom.
Guess what was in the sink right next to my toothbrush.

cockroach.

Oh, Murphey. You do rule with a strong arm of the law in my world.

T.V.

Yes. It's Tuesday Video time. I know we are all looking forward to this new addition. And if you're not, you should. This is quality video, y'all. I can't stage this stuff. Take notice that Homer says "adehh (again)" after repeatedly being locked into the cabinets. It was all very cute until I noticed the white latches on the inside cabinet door that I envisioned poking out one of his eyes. Because it's all fun and games until someone gets their eye poked out.

What Are The Odds?

Today during nap time, I was doing some serious business which entailed studying for my master checkoff tonight in my nursing skills class while watching "It's So Over: 50 Biggest Celebrity Break-ups". You really have to work hard to earn a grade point average of my caliber.

Well, my mind went a wandering- because I tend to lose focus when studying is involved, and I completely forgot that at one point in time Angelina Jolie was married to Billy Bob Thornton. This seemed like a good time for a sugar rush, so I headed out to my car to get one of my emergency stashes. A bag of starburst candies.

As I was walking back inside, I reached in the bag and pulled out FOUR red starbursts. FOUR. RED. starbursts. Now really, what are the odds? Important things are going to happen to me today. I can feel it.

Hey! That's Not My Post!

I know.

This gets better every week. And I'm glad that I found Can of Worms, because it was just the inspirational blog I needed to save my butt from posting. That came out wrong.

But, seriously. Check out this guy's latest post and take the happy challenge along with me. I'm sure we can all find something to be a bit more thankful & appreciative for.

Weekly Sunday Post

It's back. It's fresh. It's not on the sidebar. Plus it gives me yet another way to get a "post" in. and to remind y'all that I have kids.

And on that note,

This Week In Kids:

Yes. This is (one of) my 18 month old. He apparantly has the computer thing figured out.

Here is Pudge calling his triangle a square.

Here is Sebi building his first robot. I had a lot of fun and he had A BLAST.

That's Pudge's butt.

Gabriel is eating!!!!!! This doesn't happen much.

Homer, he doesn't have this problem.

To Mom

I absolutely love this picture of my mother and I. I don't remember it, but I do remember that I adored her throughout my childhood years. And the gaps are often filled by stories that she told me of our times together, which are my memories now.

I hope to do the same for my boys and to fill their lives with happy times, help them along with the gaps that may come, and remind them of the wonderful moments that went on in between.

love you, mom.

Introduction To Communication

Last night we were learning about abstract conversations and concrete conversations and how we prefer one over the other. Really? blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah is what I was thinking.

We had nice examples like:

He's an athlete. (abstract)

What kind of athlete?

A professional athlete.

What sport?

He's a professional football player. (concrete)

yada, yada, yada.

But there is nothing like living a lesson being learned- like this conversation I had with Sebi today.

"mommy will be right back."

"mommy, where are you going?"

"mommy is going to go potty, and I will be right back."

"mommy?"

"yes?"

"are you going to go toot-toots, or wee-wees?"

I'll spare y'all my answer. I did oblige him since he apparently still cares. And I suppose we do prefer concrete conversations.

Candid Camera

I gave Homer a little piece of chocolate. because he woke up early from his nap and caught mommy eating chocolate and said he'd keep his mouth shut if I handed over the goods. I think the dirty hands and face did us both in, though.


Yes, its snack time. Which happened to come right after learning our shapes time. That's how we roll.

He's not quite sure who that person is staring back at him. But notice how he is gripping his sippy-cup just in case the random "other" guy has his eyes on it. And I think he does.

Well, that just makes perfect sense.

These aren't my boys. It's Henry (top) and Anthony (bottom). Mark my words, my little guys will be perf0rming this trick soon, because they watch and learn. It WAS these two rascals who taught them how to turn the t.v. off. and on again. and off again. you see where I'm going.

T.V.

That's Tuesday Video y'all. I'm taking the whole writer's stike into my own hands.

And this was just too cute to not show. I just can't get enough of the dancing.

If you'd like more cute video, head over to Megan's blog.

If you'd like AWESOME video/pictures, check this blog out.

Hey! That's Not My Post!

I know.

And I'm loving my idea even more this week as I sit here and sip on my strawberi daiquiri (it's date night for Sebastian & I) with the knowledge that I don't have to use any brain cells in this one. I feel I made that quite apparent with the strawberi spelling..

AWEsome!

Once again, this was a one hit wonder. I literally googled blogs of note, found this blog, and the title just sordof sucked me in. So, without further ado, and with much ado about (literally) nothing. May I present to you,

Who's In Charge Here?

Because really. Don't we all ask ourselves that very same question every day?

**although ZingZang does sound quite snazzy, it was not used in the making of my strawberry daiquri this evening. This establishment can neither endorse or reject said product. It does, however, appreciate the also snazzy photo displayed. And yes. This is an establishment. of sorts.**

Way Back Wednesday. Or Sunday.

O.k. How cute were they? And I have no idea why Gabriel's shirt was all wet. I have no recollection of when I took this photo. And I'm glad I took this photo, now. Just wish I would have documented what was going on right before.

I also love how Sebi is exposing his Nipple.

I Better Knock On Wood

Oh boy.

I've got nothing. And I've said it before, but really, THIS time- I've got nothing.

Except for maybe a confession. You see, usually when I've got nothing- I've got a little something. because some days I'm just a bit more bloggable than others. so i draft multiple posts. I usually start with a one sentence intro and just save whatever thought was on my mind that day. So then, I can go back at some point later (usually another day) and remember that thought and go with it.

But I have no drafts saved. I have many posts. Many posts. And nothing.

So here I am all confessed and humbled and what not about to share my day.

We were going to go to the duck pond, but Sebastian opted to just play in our front yard. I do use "front yard" loosely, but the kids seemed to enjoy themselves and that's what matters. It was great fun. I believe there was a point where all three of the boys were sitting in some sort of car and waiting to be pushed. They waited quite a while. I was impressed.

Oh, the breaks in my car are probably about to go out. I know this because I moved my car to the end of the driveway so that the boys could have more room to play outside. After we went back inside, I moved it back up and had to slam the break all the way to the floorboard, nearly ran into the garage, and actually ended up using the emergency break.

That, and I'd noticed they were getting worse for about the last year and a half. Especially when stopped at an incline and the emergency break was a necessity.

I bought break fluid in a last hope/ futile attempt that some miracle would rain down on me and my car. and my car's breaks. and every sign I have ignored for the last year and a half. Apparently, I'm the kind requiring lightning strikes for clarity.

Anyhoo, now Sebastian and I are going to watch War. or Wars. I have no idea. I know Jet Li is in it. And I know he strikes- much like lightning.

Friday Nights Should Be Like This

O.k. This post is gonna suck. because I just got home a bit ago from the grocery store, and my husband is rushing me so that we can watch "Best Week Ever" on VH1. so I have like 2 minutes before he loses his patience with me and complains about my blogging....AGAIN.

And, I'm off. If you could speed read, it would make me feel like this all happened more quickly. And then I wouldn't be the sucky wife who has to blog before spending time with her husband on Friday night... If you could.

My friend Angela and I decided that we would meet up at H.E.B. and do our weekend grocery shopping, because it's SuperBowl weekend and noone wants to be at the store tomorrow or Sunday.

So we met up at her store. I didn't know where a thing was, y'all. I believe a 40 minute trip cost poor Angela an additional 55 minutes. Because I wasn't focused. And I tend to talk a lot when we're together. She loves me, or she wouldn't put up with it. And I'm probably pretty funny to listen to. or go home and laugh at with her husband....

anyway. after walking from one end of the store to the other and back again. and then visiting the front of the store and then the back and then the front again- I began to question her rational in grocery store shopping. Remember, y'all. I didn't know the layout of this particular store.

But, then I remembered that I was the one remembering something that I needed from way over THERE.

She brought a list. Now that's just silly.

I winged it. And cost us an additional 45 minutes of shopping.

And by the way, I also cost her an additional $1.99, because I insisited that she buy the Viva papertowels that were a dollar off with the coupon. But the coupon was for the 8-pack. not the single roll we got.

I'm THAT good of a friend.