Houston Is No Longer Home

I took Solin home this weekend. We drove all the way to Houston which is about 800 miles or so. Houston was my home for 8 years before moving to Kansas City. I had my third child there, got my bachelor's degree from the University of Houston-ClearLake and made numerous friends that I still hold dear to my heart. However, I didn't really enjoy being back or even being in the state of Texas. I miss the restaurants and the Astros but other than that, the I10 was enough for me to stay away for good. If you try to travel westbound on the Katy freeway, you should grow wings because you aren't going to move. EVEN ON A SATURDAY!!!! I ended up taking Memorial because the freeway was so backed up. MY EZ Tag still worked but why I paid to drive on a tollroad that was bumper to bumper is beyond me. I just didn't get those warm fuzzies that one gets when they go home. That is when it hit me that I really didn't consider Houston my home. I lived there once but it isn't home.

Out of all the cities I have seen in Texas, Houston is still my favorite. Dallas has got to be one of the worst cities in America. U-G-L-Y!!! Sorry Dallas fans but really, take down about 100,000 billboard signs, close about 600 adult cabaret businesses and do something about the roads. It is too late to worry about the horrid building designs or the tacky green lights they emit at night but alot of cities have weird buildings. It works for Las Vegas so maybe there is hope. Texans are still the friendliest people in America but if it weren't for the Astros and the lovely people that live in the state, I would say give Texas back to Mexico. Just kidding. God it is good to be back in KC. I wonder if I will ever get the warm fuzzies for this place.

Back On Monday

I am off to Houston. mmmmm......tamales.......chick-fil-a........pappasitos........AND of course the famous Houston weather. See you monday!

Reading But Not Writing

I am currently working through a bit of "blog burnout". It is much more than blog burnout and more like mild depression since it has carried over to other portions of my life. I kind of have this attitude of "why bother?" and I am not sure where or why I have developed it. Just know I am reading your blogs but just not commenting like I usually do. I am sure in a week or so I will be back to my normal self. Sorry. This is the moody part of me that escapes every now and then.

Playtime and A Movie Recommendation

Little Man cracked me up today. I was working at my desk when he jumped on my bed and said "Hi!" I could barely see him out of the corner of my eye. This is how our brief conversation went:

Me: hey there Little Man, watcha up to?
Little Man: see for yourself!
(I pause my typing then look toward the bed. He is dressed in scrubs and a white coat)
Me: Oh, I see. You are dressing up like a doctor.
Little Man: Not just a doctor, I am dressed up like the Surgeon General!

Where did he even hear about the Surgeon General? Maybe he has been smoking some cigarettes behind my back.

Has anyone ever watched the movie Whale Rider? It is a few years old but such a GREAT movie. I know I have probably mentioned this film before but I watched it again. Seriously, if you haven't ever seen it, rent it tonight and watch it. It is a great "girl power" flick AND suitable for the entire family.

Happy Birthday Mouse

My baby is fifteen years old today! I was going to put 15 pictures up, one for each year but decided that 5 would suffice in the humiliation realm.

The manga freak part of Mouse

the teenager part

the ADD part (without ritalin of course)

the mature part

the "you will always be our baby girl" part

Happy Birthday Baby! You are turning into a lovely young woman more and more with each passing day.

Whiney

It's hot. I'm hungry and don't want to work today.

The Cell Phone Crisis

My family has one of those family plans with Verizon. We aren't real "phone users". We mostly call each other with our cell phones but that doesn't count towards minutes. Only once did we use over 800 minutes in one month between the 4 lines. It was the month we moved up to KC. So if we are not bigtime phone users, why do I feel so lost without my cell phone? Mr. Daphnewood was helping a nurse roll a patient to a different floor when his cell phone became dislodged from his belt and fell inbetween the cracks of the elevator and plummeted 6 floors down. Bye-bye phone. He was eligible for a free upgrade anyway so I ordered it online ( that way he can keep his same Houston area code and number ) but it hasn't arrived yet. He needs a cell phone at work so he is using mine. Whaaaah!

I feel so primitive having such territorial feelings about my cell phone. Like I decided I wanted to call Leslie but couldn't since he had my phone. I guess I could have used the house phone but that would long distance. I wanted to call my father but couldn't (his number is programmed into my phone). I wanted to call my friend Brinda in Houston. Again, long distance AND her number is in my phone. Why this sudden urge to use the cell phone? Also, my cell phone is my watch. I have the kind with a clock on the face. Yesterday I was at the hospital ALL DAY and didn't have a watch to see just how freakin long the doctor was making me and poor M-Boy wait. Of course the time seemed doubled without having a clock. I sure hope Mr. Daphnewood's new phone arrives today. It was shipped FEDEX on monday. It better be here or some heads are going to roll.

Because Etchen Asked

*asked from previous post

Etchen asked what a Monte Cristo sandwich is so I am going to explain. First of all, if there were such things as a perfectly evil food, designed to kill the human race without them knowing it doughnuts and Monte Cristo sandwiches would be it. Doughnuts are deep fried sugar. Where is the nutrition in that? We keep going back for more though, don't we? Monte Cristo is a slightly upgraded doughnut.

It is a sandwich that sounds like it would taste horrible but it is really really good. It is a sandwich with ham, turkey and cheese in triple decker mode. Then the sandwich is dipped in a batter and deep fried until hot and the cheese is all melted and bubbly. After it comes out of the oil, it is dusted with powdered sugar and served with raspberry preserves. I spread a bit of the preserves on each bit, just a hint of raspberry that way. Like I said, it sounds gross but it is so good if you like deep fried food. Unfortunately, I do. Bennigans sells it but it is kind of greasy there. Disneyland has the best I have ever tasted. There is a restaurant within the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and that is called the Blue Bayou. Go there for the best Monte Cristo in the country.

Tagged By Leslie

It comes in threes

3 things that scare me
swimming with fish, marine animals, any non-human life
glass elevators
grasshoppers

3 people that make me laugh
Mr. Daphnewood
Jay Leno
Adam Sandler when he sings his "songs"

3 things that I love
my family
chocolate
baseball

3 things that I hate
most television shows (especially reality tv)
pop-ups that sneak by the pop-up blocker
cantaloupe (with a passion)

3 things I don't understand
physics
any language other than english :(
parents that give their toddlers mohawk haircuts

3 things on my desk
my digital camera
a stack of baseball cards
a hershey bar wrapper (somehow the chocolate is missing)

3 things I am doing right now
wondering why the Astros lost tonight to the Marlins of all teams
chewing on ice
rocking in my desk chair

3 things I want to do before I die
have a great big party with my blogger buddies
buy a house
get smaller boobs

3 things I can do
drive long distances
adapt to almost any city to live in
keep a secret

3 ways to describe my personality
prone to mood swings
boring
content

3 things I can't do
reach items on the top shelf without assistance
make coffee
stop biting my nails

3 things I think you should listen to
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Iz
your elders who have your best interests at heart
cops directing traffic

3 things you should never listen to
(c)rap music
whiners
the national anthem sung by Rosanne Barr/Arnold

3 absolute favorite foods
monte cristo sandwich (especially from Blue Bayou restaurant at Disneyland)
See's candies
In & Out Burgers

3 things I'd like to learn
Italian
how to keep score at baseball games
to dance

3 beverages I drink regularly
diet Dr. Pepper/coke/pepsi
cold water from the cooler
iced tea

3 shows I watched as a kid
Twilight Zone
Land of the Lost
H.R. Puff n stuff

3 people I am tagging
Etchen
Rowan
Jayleigh
and James but only if you want to!

Little Man and Music

I love my son. He is smart, energetic and just so darn cute! But even he can sometimes surprise me. Little Man loves music. I think it is healthy for children to immerse themselves in different sounds and I have given him lots of types of music to listen to. When he was just an infant he would not go to sleep unless he had Tom Petty playing. Not a typical bedtime lullaby but it worked like a charm. I had Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" playing and he knew the song immediately. They had taught him at school and I was very pleased.

Lately, he has been hearing Baba O' Riley by The Who everywhere. Of course he calls it "the CSI:NY song". He asked me if I had the song on my computer (I did) then asked me to play it while he bounced on my bed. If you are not familiar with the song, it starts out slow. He scrunched up his face and said "Is this it?" I told him yes, just listen, it will get faster. As the song progressed he told me EXACTLY what he heard "the piano thingy that plugs in" (keyboard), "the piano and now electric guitar" ( I nodded that he was right) "oh now drums!" then his eyes got real big "and cymbals!" My gosh, this kid knew them all. When did he learn his instruments? Am I to believe that PUBLIC EDUCATION taught him this? the ARTS instead of sports? Wow, maybe I will not mind so much when I write that check this year.

oh, one more thing. Little Man asked me to print out the lyrics so he could learn the whole song. Now I have this 8 year old singing about teenage wasteland. Maybe not such a good lesson but sometimes parents have to give in a bit.

Rain

I worked all day long while my mother had spaghetti sauce cooking on the stove. Have you ever been tempted by the smells of homemade sauce ALL DAY LONG? Let's just say that my dinner was excellent. Then as I came upstairs, the heavens opened up and dumped tons of water outside. It is raining but it is lovely rain. A soothing sound with only tiny rumbles of thunder. What a perfect way to end the day.

Pictures At Last!

"You get what you pay for"

We had the cheap seats

Little Man was obsessed with this fountain

Little Man felt the game was boring (so did his father he he he)

M-Boy and Me. M-Boy went for the hotdogs but lost interest after the second inning

Mouse (in the hat) and Solin looking like seasoned KC Royals fans. They really got into the game. Way to go, girls!

I Was Surrounded By Jerks

Last night I took the family to a baseball game. We watched the KC Royals play the Toronto Blue Jays. Mr. Daphnewood and I had so much fun at the Houston game a few weeks back when we went to Minute Maid Park so we wanted to show the kids how fun it could be. It was awful. Did I care that the Royals lost? No. Did I care that the stadium was an outdoor stadium and it was 90 degrees? No. The game experience was terrible because of the fans! I could not believe how rude these people were. I thought I was in NYC for a moment.

Here are some things that fans screamed:

You do know where the strike zone is, don't you Elarton? (this was said on the very first pitch of the game)

Berroa, lay off of the Canadian beer!

You lazy bum! You could have got that ball! Hustle next time!

Hey ump, this is America. Quit calling that Candian strike zone.

Sanders you idiot! Stay down for a play like that. How could you drop the ball? (this was yelled after a player smashed into the wall and hurt himself)

Hit him again! Bean him harder next time!

All of these, except for the umpire comment were directed at the home team. The team that these fans supposedly supported. There were other obnoxious things yelled like "retreat!" instead of "charge!" and instead of "Let's go Royals!" they yelled "We want Donuts!" Just really lame immature stuff that I was shocked by. I had to lecture my children after the game about poor sportsmanship and how fans like that ruin the baseball experience. When the crowd cheered after someone got hurt, I knew I was with a different breed of baseball fans. I don't care which team a player is on, it is a game and no one should be happy when someone gets hurt. However, the fact that the fans cheered when their player crashed into the wall somehow seems worse in my eyes. This city doesn't deserve a winning team. I will try to watch again someday but never on dollar hotdog night again.

I will post pictures later. M-Boy had the play of the game when my totally un-athletic child was smart enough to stand up and get out of the way when a foul ball headed up into the stands.

Laughter

Sometimes you just need a new perspective. I have been down in the dumps lately. Here a few reasons why: I am feeling really fat. My stomach looks huge but I lack the desire and will to diet. I don't have enough money to do all the fun things that I wanted to do with the kids this summer. My mothering energy is being stifled by it too. My hair has not been cut for an entire year but I have no clue what do with it. Cut it, yes, but how? A certain blogger that I love dearly stopped blogging last week. How could I miss someone so much when I haven't technically met them? I had to get my car tags renewed but the lienholder (Chase Manhattan) was supposed to fax a copy of my title to the state. Guess what? They didn't. So when we called to find out WHY they didn't, they said "well we're sorry but somehow we have LOST your title". Can you see how these minor things can add up and make life seem dreary?

So today I have a new perspective. I just started laughing. Laughing laughing and more laughing. The laughing gave me a totally new perspective. I have almost had a Ziggy life going these past weeks but no more. Here is why: As fat as I am, a good looking man with beautiful blue eyes flirted with me and sent appreciative nods my way this morning. I still got it!

I still don't have enough money but I am able to take the kids to a baseball game on saturday and to the movies on wednesday. Two outings in one week! That is pretty special and we can still have fun doing the free stuff on the other days. Supermom is unleashed!

My hair: I cut my bangs and pulled the rest back with a clip. Hey, it looks like a new hair cut without actually getting it cut while I decide what to do for the long run. At least I can see and people can see my eyes.

Sangroncito has started a new blog. Hooray! I was so happy to read his familiar sentence structure and see his passion come out in his posts. I have to ask if it is okay that I link it first then I will share with everyone but only if he says so.

The DMV renewed my tags for a year without the title. It was called a "courtesy renewal". They gave me an ENTIRE YEAR to fix things with the title. How awesome!

Sometimes, you just need to laugh about life. It is never as you imagine it but it is always a gift. There has to be a bright spot somewhere. Thank you God for giving us laughter.

Happy 4th!

I will be busy this week so I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Independence Day. Be safe and tell me about any pretty fireworks that you see. I LOVE fireworks. I don't know why but they just look cool and colorful. I'll talk to you all on thursday.


Along the lines of Patriotism, has anyone seen the move trailer for World Trade Center? I bawled just watching the preview, can you imagine what I will be like during the whole movie? I am torn whether or not to watch it because I know it is about the last two guys they pulled out alive from the rubble. They survive and that might make me feel a little hope. Do you think you will go see the movie?