Sibling love

Did you people see LOST last night? OMG!

**If you haven't watched it yet and don't want a spoiler then move on**

It was a fabulous episode. Great way to kick off the 2nd part of the season!

I lvoed the fact that they focused on Eko last night. He's such a quiet character. But you can see there was turmoil behind those big eyes of his. NOW we know why! I can't believe that he saved his brother (aka sibling love) from being forced to murder that old man. I'm just amazed that stuff like THAT actually happens. That those bad guys felt it was okay for them to do that in front of all those people. That there was no repercussions for their act. Blows my mind!

And the fact that Eko's sacrifice led him to a life of violence. A life he didn't want. But ended up being immersed in it. The fact that his sacrifice also led his brother to go into the priesthood. Amazing how one event can create a channel for person's entire life. Makes you just contemplate every decisions....

What FREAKED me out was when Charlie was up in the tree and everything started to blow up. Why? Because that big bad black smoke was coming through the jungle. OH BOY! And the fact that Eko just stood there and stared it down? That man is such a bad ass!

"I am not afraid of it."

Good golly! He's got some brass ones. Or maybe he is so settled with his past and his present. So resolved in what he is that he's not afraid of anything. You think?

But I have to tell you that the Hubs and I were cracking up at Charlie.

"What're you going to do? Hit me with your Jesus stick?"

You just HAVE to love that Charlie with his comments. He's got a bunch of faults, but he's funny. Did you catch it though when he blamed his brother for his addiction to heroin? When Charlie was saying that I kept thinking to myself "...so if everyone else was jumping off a cliff...would you?"

But again. It's showing us the parallels about how siblings treat each other. How these two men and their relationships with their siblings have affected their lives. That one moment in Eko's life resulted in a life of violence, but then turned into a religious one (so a good end). Charlie's relationship with his brother resulted in a life of addiction (a bad end).

Did you also catch the googly eyes that Hurley was making at Libby? He-he-he....looks like we're seeing a possible blossoming relationship there! But Hurley is such a good guy. He deserves some love!

I can't wait for next week!!!!!

Move it over...move it over...

The Bear has moved to another class at daycare.

He is now in the transition class.

TRANSITION?

Yes. It's the group of older 2 and young 3 year olds that are still getting the hang of doing their business in the toilet. (Nice tie-in with my other post, eh?)

As of yesterday, we're sending him to daycare in underpants. UNDERPANTS!

They told me about 2 weeks ago that they'd be moving him to this new class. So to get prepared I found the coolest looking underpants. I got him a 3-pack of Batman briefs. AND I got him a 3-pack of Buzz Lightyear briefs. I also stocked up on cheap sweatpants. This is all he's going to wear while he's learning to live in underpants. This way he can pull them down easily on his own. No jeans. No khakis. Not for a while!


He looks too adorable for words in his little underpants too!


Anyway, his most favorite teacher at the daycare moved over with this group of 8 kids to this new class. So he's loving life.

On his first day in undies, he had no accidents. They put a pull-up on him at naptime and he was a little itty-bitty bit wet when he woke up 1 1/2 hours later. But he stayed totally dry the rest of the day. No accidents!

But of course, he's saving his poopies for me. He'll do a bit sometime after breakfast but before we leave for school. Then he does a bit sometime between coming home from school and dinner. So yeah...I'm still having to deal with those stinky poopy diapers but hey....he's in underpants!

Log jam situation

**If you don’t want to read about bodily functions or are easily grossed out then you should skip this one**


I have been absolutely busy with work. After I drop the kids off, I sit at my desk and I work. I drink from my jumbo coffee cup and tap away on my computer. Endlessly, until I suddenly realize that it’s time to pick up the kids. I forget to do things.

The last thing I thought I would forget is going to the bathroom. Yes. The bathroom.

I sat down recently on the 'seat of honor' when I realized that I hadn’t visited that room to do my ‘business’ in a few days. A FEW DAYS! I am usually a daily kind of girl. But a few days?

I pushed and pushed for about 5 minutes. Nothing. No movement. I realized that I was in trouble.

So I sat. And sat. Relaxing as I sat. I got to read a chapter in a book that’s been in rotation for quite a bit. I don’t know how long I was there. My inner workings were working! I felt that something was happening. I pushed and there was movement. It kept coming and coming. Until sweet relief. I was done.

I fixed myself up and turned to flush. OMG! What I saw in the toilet was not a pretty sight. A HUGE LOG. As I flushed, I thought “I HOPE it goes down!”

But I knew it wasn’t going to happen.

In this age of low flow toilets that thing didn’t move. I don’t think that even the toilets in the malls would have worked. Not even the high and mighty SWOOSH of those airline toilets would have moved that log of mine.

The log was jammed. I had to fix it. Somehow. Break it? YES! That’s right folks. I had to break up the log so that it would disappear. Down the mechanism and off into the pipes away from the house. And no. I didn't use my hands. EWW!! I found an old stick in the kitchen that was from a flower arrangement. It took 3 flushes to get that log clear.

It was gross. It was disgusting. But MAN! I can't imagine having to deal with a backlog (ha-ha) on a regular basis. Those people who are constantly constipated. E-gads!

Let's just celebrate tomorrow...

It's 9:15pm my friends.

And I have JUST turned off my work computer.

That's right. I took a small break to make dinner and cuddle with the kids before we carted them off to bed. And I continued to work.

HECTIC day today.

What's pathetic? Today was the Bear's 3rd birthday. And we did nothing to commemorate the day.

The Hubs and I both knew that Mondays are a bad, bad day to do anything. We're both swamped. We're both dead tired.

So we're celebrating the Bear's birthday tomorrow.

He doesn't know the difference.

I'm going to bring cupcakes & take-home bags & balloons for the kids at his preschool.

I'm going to buy a small chocolate cake from the grocery store tomorrow.

I am also going to go to TOYSRUS or Target to get some toy. I don't know what yet. But I'm going shopping!

But I'm tired. I'll write about the joy my little guy brings to my life tomorrow. Or the next day.

We're inheriting a monster...

I mentioned to you all that my BIL is moving away, right?

He's moving himself and he's trying to lighten his load.

My ILs are purchasing my BILs leather couches that're in the family room.

My BIL has offered his big screen tv to us for a mere $300. It's a big tv for our standards. We've currently got a 32-inch tv that we've had for about 10 years. Not the greatest clarity. The speakers are not so hot. But it works. And that's why we still use it. We've got one other tv in the house. a 15-inch tv that I've had for 12 years. That's right people. We have only 2 tvs in our house.

Anyway, my BIL gave us the dimensions of the tv. The Hubs just measured the back of his truck bed. And it turns out it'll fit. The Hubs wants to buy the tv. And he wants to drive up and get it next weekend. OKAY....

Now, we won't need to put away money to buy that HDTV that we were planning on getting this summer. Whew!

But we'll have one HUGE tv in our family room. It'll just fit into the niche we've got. The tv? It's 53 inches tall. 22 inches deep. And 43 inches across. I don't know the diagonal measurement. HUGE, right?

What kind of tv do you have in your main room? How big is it? And how many tvs do you have in your house????

You're doing what?

Y'all know I've got a tense relationship with my ILs. Actually, I adore my FIL. It's my MIL that I usually have issue with.

Remember when I told you that they accepted an offer on their house last week? Well, my MIL and my husband had an interesting conversation when she called him with that news.

She asked my husband to come up there (2 hours away) to help them move.

What? HUH?

Wait. Wasn't this the woman who balked when my husband asked my FIL to come down here to help us move our stuff to our new house? Mind you. We just moved in April 2005. And we have two children underfoot.

My MIL and my FILs reaction to our question puzzled us to no end. They acted like we'd requested them to cut off their hand or something. That's why we ended up hiring movers.

My husband? He is actually going to drive up there on a Thursday after work. Spend the night. And help them move on a Friday. He didn't seem to remember the reason we ended up with professional help last year. He seems to have blocked it out.

Well, he blocked it out until I mentioned it to him in great detail. He shrugged. And made a funny face.

He is SUCH the good son. I would have called out any family member of mine on their bad behavior. But none of my family would have acted like that...so....

I just have to say that my MIL is such a BEE-OTCH!!!!

I'm chating

You know how every year you send out cards. Then a day or so before the holiday...SOMEONE who you didn't send a card to that year happens to send you one?

OY!

This year I tried to lighten our list. I decided to NOT send cards to a number of folks we hadn't heard from since we moved to this new city.

Invariably? THOSE PEOPLE all sent us a card!

Quite a dilemma, right?

Well, I'm cheating! All those people happen to know each other. And I am sending them all....NEW YEAR'S cards!

AHA! I'm going to act like I didn't send out any holiday cards. I'm going to act like I opted to wish everyone a happy 2006 instead. I'm even using the same photo that I used for our holiday cards.

[he-he-he-he]

Sneaky you say? Hey...I'm just trying to dig myself out of the ditch I created for myself. PLUS, all those folks need our new address.

Problem? Solved. Drama? No drama. Just HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A most heartfelt thanks

That is what I received today when I picked the Princess up from school.

I entered the kindergarten play area and waved to all the kids.

The teacher pulled me aside as the Princess began gathering her stuff.

"I wanted to THANK you for your gift."

"Oh....it was nothing."

"No really. I was so surprised to receive it."

"Well. My Prin really loves school and you're a big part of it. It's the least I could do."

"In my 20 years of teaching, I've never received cash."

"Well, I know that the Princess makes a lot of stuff for us at home. I can imagine all the gifts that you get FROM the kids. We wanted to give you something so that you could get yourself something."

"I did too!"

"You did? GREAT!"

"After we left the field trip, I went straight over to the pharmacy and got some Omega vitamins. I got the BIGGEST jar they had."

"I'm so glad you got something you wanted."

"With my high cholesterol...and those pills are pricey...that $20 was a blessing. Now I'll be sure to stay strong for the Princess and for the other kids."

My heart totally melted. I was so glad that she was able to get the pills that she needed. She didn't have to worry about whether she'd have enough. She didn't have to just settle for the little jar. Kind of tells you something about a teacher's salary too, eh?

Now you parents out there....do YOU give the teachers in your kids lives a monetary gift?