I'm in sync!

I leave for New York a week from tomorrow, and I am trying to get everything in order that I need to take with me. There are a few things that I needed to buy – like a couple new dresses, a new suitcase, and an iPod Nano.

Yes, I think it’s a necessity for the trip. Dude! It’s a 3-hour plane ride. If I’m not busy doing something, I’m going to end up talking to the people next to me, and nobody wants that. Because yes, I’m a talker. When I flew to Chicago by myself a few years ago to meet up with Eric who was on a business trip, I think I got to know everyone on the plane. And it was only an hour and a half flight. I’ll never forget the look on Eric’s face when I got off the plane, and several people came up to say “Bye, Neila! It was so nice meeting you,” and gave me hugs. Eric said, “That must have been one hell of a flight.” I’m friendly, what can I say?

Anyway, I’ve been having fun the last couple of days loading songs onto my iPod. I think I have 336 songs on there right now – 100 of which are Goo Goo Dolls. Now, I am trying to figure out how to put video on there. So, here is my question to those of you who are more iPod savvy than I am. I know you can put video on your iPod, but can you rip DVDs to your iPod. I know you can load video that you buy from iTunes, but if I just have a DVD that has music videos on it, how can I get those videos on my iPod? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Eric was sweet enough not to complain (too much) when I bought the iPod. However, I don’t think he realized that with an iPod, you need iPod accessories! That opens up a whole new realm of ideas for Christmas present, right?

13 Reasons I'm Late Posting My TT

1. My computer and I have been having a love/hate relationship the last couple of days.

2. Yesterday afternoon was spent watching a hot British guy from Home Depot install my new front door.

3. He thought the fact that he was hot and British excused him from screwing up.

4. It didn’t.

5. I’m way too freaking good at procrastination.

6. I just downloaded AIM (big mistake). BTW, I’m WikiNeila.

7. I have been trying really hard to work more hours.

8. I keep getting interrupted because I have to stop Georgia from jumping on the cats.

9. I’m working on writing my new romance novel.

10. I couldn’t freaking think of anything to write about.

11. I was too busy helping Georgia make aliens in the Martian Matter Alien Maker.

12. I am downloading every song I have to my new iPod Nano.

13. I need to clean the house. I didn’t do it. I just sat here and thought about how I needed to do it. (See #5.)

Green Works Dish Soap Blog Tour

You would think with the majority of households having dishwashers, that dish soap wouldn’t be in such high demand, but it still is. At my household, it’s amazing how many dishes and pans I’ve collected that aren’t dishwasher safe, plus I use my dish soap daily to scrub down all the sticky messes off of my countertops.

With two kids who are constantly climbing up on the counters, it is important for me to have a dish soap that cleans effectively, as well as kills germs. Gone are the days when we could just buy any cleaner that was on sale, and not worry about where all those soap bubbles went when we washed them down the drain. Now, we are conscious enough to know that everything we put down the drain has a direct effect on the environment.

A few months ago, I did a blog tour on some of the new Green Works products including their all-purpose cleaner and glass cleaner. When I got the opportunity to try the new Green Works Natural Dishwashing Liquid, I was very excited. Mom Central teamed up with Clorox for a new blog tour and sent me a bottle of the new dish soap to try. As much as I loved my previous Green Works products (and have been buying them ever since), I was very excited to try the dish soap.

Green Works Natural Dishwashing Liquid uses all-natural plant-based ingredients such as coconuts and lemon oil, making it effective and biodegradable. Plus, it has an awesome smell! In fact, the EPA recently recognized Green Works Natural Dishwashing Liquid for its environmentally preferred chemistry.

I used it immediately when I got it in the mail. I filled up a sink full of sudsy water and was immediately struck by the scent. We received the original scent, which smells very clean and citrusy. Green Works Dish Soap also comes in Water Lily, Tangerine, Free & Clear, and Simply Lemon.

I began cleaning the dishes I had in the sink, and I was pleased at how well the dish soap cut through the grease in the pans. Overall, it was a success! The only complaint I had about the dish soap was that after washing a few pans, I looked down and saw that the bubbles had dissipated. When I wash dishes (or the car, or my hair for that matter), I really enjoy lots of suds and bubbles. Green Works Dish Soap is very effective, but it definitely is not big on the suds-o-meter.

So the main question here is – would I buy it again? Absolutely! I really do love all the Green Works products. They clean effectively, they smell great, and they are environmentally friendly. Look in a store near you today for Green Works Natural Dishwashing Liquid and the full line of all-natural Green Works cleaning products, and visit Clorox Green Works Website for more information.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

I'm still so excited that Georgia is using the potty that I can't seem to stop myself from taking pictures of her.

Whether it's at home . . .


Or at K-mart . . .

The Friendly Waiter

Okay, I have just come back from a girls’ night out, and I am here to tell you that the friendly waiter is not a good thing! I only get a night out with Stacey and Andrea every 2-3 weeks, so when we get together, we have a lot to discuss before it is time to get back home to the hubby and kids.

So here we were sitting outside at Old Chicago embroiled in a very graphic sexual discussion, when our waiter saunters over. We all shut up as the waiter approached. The waiter stood there making idle chit chat, and we were all hoping he would leave because we really wanted to get back to our discussion.

So what does the waiter do? Dude! He pulls out a chair and sits down! I am not kidding. The guy sat down at our table, and proceeded to tell us about his high school experience with his mom’s boyfriend who moved in with them and tried to act like his father. I wish I were kidding, but I am not. This guy obviously had some deep-seeded psychological issues.

Now I am all for friendly waiters, but when I am out with my friends, please do NOT sit down at my freaking table! I was just wondering if this ever happens to anyone else? And once the waiter is sitting down, then what do you do? It’s not like you can just say, “Dude! Get your ass out of that chair and bring me some nachos.” Well, okay, maybe some people can say that, but I can’t. I just sat there and gave lots of “yeah,” “oh really” “mmmm” “oh, that’s too bad,” until he FINALLY left us alone!

Needless to say, we totally forgot what we were even specifically talking about in our sex discussion. Grrrr. . . I don’t like it when someone ruins my train of thought. So, my question to you is this: How in the hell do you get rid of the overly friendly waiter?

The Bra!

Scroll down for Manic Monday.

After my post on Friday, I had several people ask what the bra was that lifted the girls so much that I was getting whistles when I walked down the street (yes, I've now embellished it from 'a whistle' to 'whistles' - work with me.)

Anyway, I bought the bra from Lane Bryant. The brand is Cacique, and it's the Balconette bra. I bought three, and they are awesome! They come in tons of different colors.

Here is the link to purchase them online:

http://www.lanebryant.com/pagebuilder/cacique_thumbnails?cgid1=79&PAGEID=1604

If you have a C cup or larger, this is the way to go. And they're currently having a sale - buy one, get one 1/2 off!!

Manic Monday - Club

This week’s Manic Monday word is Club, so I thought this would be the perfect time to tell you about our Friday date night. Eric and I went to see Kathy Griffin while Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids.

I know I’ve talked about Kathy Griffin before. I am a big, big fan!! She was at Starlight Amphitheatre here in Kansas City, which is one of my favorite venues. About a week before the show, Eric got an email from Starlight giving him the chance to buy tickets to their VIP club for the show. Apparently, if you have VIP club tickets, you get to enjoy dinner and drinks in their nice little club at Starlight before the show. It was only $45 per person. I really wanted to do it since Eric and I don’t get many date nights.

Eric thought an extra $90 was way too much especially since it didn’t include VIP parking. *sigh* So we went to Mr. Goodcents to eat before going to the show. Dude! That is sooo not the same thing. Speaking of parking, I did wonder how that works as we walked into the venue. They park everyone out in a field and you walk up to Starlight. However, there are a lucky few who get to park in the up-close parking lot. I would seriously like to know what club you have to join or whose d*ck you have to suck to get a good parking spot. Seriously, I’m curious.

Anyway, back to Kathy Griffin. Even though we were not VIP club members, we still had an awesome freaking time, and she was on for two hours! I was very impressed. She was very funny, and when she talked about Paula Abdul and Nancy Grace, I thought I was going to pee my pants. I literally laughed so hard that I cried. Here is just a little snippet of Kathy Griffin talking about Paula Abdul and American Idol. Freaking hilarious! If you ever get a chance to go see her live, GO!!!

Book Review – Dangerous Days of Daniel X

I have read several books by James Patterson, so when I had an opportunity to review the first book in his new Daniel X series, I jumped at the chance. I had no idea what the book was about when I agreed to do this, and when I found out it was a Sci-Fi book, I was a little hesitant. I don’t read a lot of Sci-Fi books, so it was a little out of my comfort zone. I was pleased to find that it had a similar “voice” as other James Patterson novels I have enjoyed, even though I’m guessing there was A LOT of input from Michael Ledwidge.

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X begins with Daniel’s parents being brutally murdered in front of him when he is three years old. The book flashes forward to Daniel at age 15, who is on a mission to avenge the death of his parents by going after The Prayer – the most dangerous alien in the world, and the murderer of young Daniel’s parents. Daniel has been able to survive with the help of his special skills such as shape-shifting and manipulating objects, animals and people with his mind.

It’s obvious from the start that Daniel is not a regular boy. In addition to his special skills, he is an Alien Hunter, as his father was, and has taken it upon himself to rid the Earth of those dangerous aliens intent on destroying it.

I definitely found the book interesting, but it was obviously meant for teen readers. I can see where the alien action, and the adventures of Daniel would really draw in readers in the 13-16 age range. The book definitely has some intense situations, including alien violence and the murder of Daniel’s parents, so I would fully evaluate your child’s ability to deal with these types of situations before letting him read the book.

You definitely find yourself rooting for Daniel. As a mother, I immediately felt sorry for this young boy who was so lonely that he creates his own friends in his mind. That evokes emotion in the reader, so right from the beginning you want Daniel to be happy and triumph over the demons in his life – internal and external alike.

Overall, I would recommend this book, depending on the what type of books you like to read. If you like Sci-Fi books, I would definitely suggest reading The Dangerous Days of Daniel X. If you like James Patterson, I would also suggest giving the book a shot. Even if you normally don’t read Sci-Fi, the character development make this a book worth reading. I didn’t know if I would like the book, and now I know I will be buying the next Daniel X adventure which comes out in Summer 2009.

For more information about The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, visit Amazon, where you can read more user reviews, or visit the book’s official Web site.

The Girls Get A Whistle

Last Friday, I made the best purchase I think I have made in years – an underwire bra. Usually I don’t wear an underwire bra because . . . I mean really, what’s the point? Two kids just ruined my boobs.

I was out shopping for new clothes when the sales woman said, “That dress would look so much better if you had a bra that pushed you up.” I told her I seriously doubted they carried bras in my cup size. Well guess what? They had three bras in my size. So I tried one on. Dude! The way these girls were lifted and pointing out, I was afraid I was going to take somebody's eye out.

The sales woman and Eric thought the new bra did amazing things for me. And I have to admit, they were right. With my boobs up, you can actually tell I have a shape.

So, I was already feeling good about myself when school started this week. Not to mention, about 5 people have commented on the weight I have lost (this bra freaking rocks)!

The first couple days this week, we decided to walk Eli to and from school because we wanted to observe the whole car line. And by the way, after four days, I still don’t know how the hell that works.

When we were walking home from school the other day, Eric and the kids were walking a few feet in front of me, and I was just cruising along behind them at my own pace. Then all of a sudden, a truck drives by, and a guy hangs out and whistles at me! Seriously!! Dude! I haven’t been whistled at since college!!

And every woman loves to be whistled at! Even the ones who lie and say they don’t. I just kind of stood there in a very pleasant shock when Eric whipped around and said, “Did someone just whistle at you?!”

“Yes! They DID!!” That’s right! Not only did I get whistled at, but my husband heard it!! It has been a great week! And I feel so validated!

13 Yo Mama Jokes

1. Yo mama's mouth so big, she speaks in surround sound!

2. Yo mama's so short you can see her feet on her drivers licence!

3. Yo mama's so poor she can't afford to pay attention!

4. Yo mama's so bald that she took a shower and got brain-washed!

5. Yo mama's so fat she fell in love and broke it!

6. Yo mama's so stupid it took her 2 hours to watch 60 Minutes!

7. Yo mama's so old she was a waitress at the Last Supper!

8. Your Mamma is so ugly, she went to the bathroom and scared the sh!t out of the toilet.

9. Your momma's so dirty that when she went swimming at the beach, she left a ring around the ocean!

10. Your momma's like a hockey puck everyone gets a whack!

11. Yo Mama's so dumb she got hit by a parked car.

12. Yo Mama's so fat she took her chin as carry on

13. Yo mama's so lazy she thinks a two-income family is where yo daddy has two jobs!

Wordless Wednesday - Michael Phelps

Dude! Can you believe he's only 23?!


Even though I'm old, I can still appreciate this! Yowza!

Kindergarten - Day One

Today was the day I have been dreading for the last six years – Eli’s first day of kindergarten. I really thought I would be fine, but all last night, the only thing I could think of was the day he was born. And now he is six years old and going to school.

Even then, I thought I would be fine . . . until we dropped him off at school this morning. When we walked in, there was another mom walking out, sobbing. Dude! I about lost it right then. As if that weren’t bad enough, there were PTA members in the kindergarten room, offering you Kleenex and saying things like, “Are you okay? I know it’s hard. I’ve been through it, too.” Okay, that just about broke me. I would have been fine if everyone would have just left me alone!!!

After we finally dropped Eli off and got home, we made it in the door before Eric broke down in tears. Dammit! Everyone was determined to make me cry this morning.

After an emotional start to the day, I thought we recovered pretty well. Until the school called around 10:30. That freaked me out. Eli had only been there 2 hours, what could he have possibly done in that amount of time?! It turns out that it was the school nurse calling, and Eli had a lot of mosquito bites on his neck and arms. They wanted to make sure it was okay to give him calamine lotion. Then, she asked if he had the mosquito bites when he came to school. Well, I certainly didn’t notice them. She said, “Well, if he got them here, I would think there would be other kids who also got mosquito bites.” So on day one, I am already concerned that the school thinks I am neglecting my child.

Then when it was time to pick him up, we walked to the side of the school where they let out the kids. I watched all the kindergarten classes come out, and Eli was not there. I really began to freak out. They lost my kid on the first day of school?! I tracked down a teacher who told me that the “walkers” were brought to a different door of the building. Okay, no one told me that before. So we walked around the building, and sure enough, there was Eli.

Then, the kids stopped to play on the swings, and we were quickly approached by a teacher who informed us that kids couldn’t play on the equipment until after 4:00. They had to make sure all of the kids were off school property first. Eric couldn’t believe that we got chastised.

All in all, I think everything went well. As far as I could tell anyway. Eli was gone for seven hours (the most time I think he has ever been away from me), and when I asked him what he did today at school, he said, “Oh. Nothing.”

Manic Monday - Wax

This week’s Manic Monday word is Wax. I wanted to post the scene from The 40-Year-Old Virgin. You know the one – where Steve Carell got his chest waxed. For real! That scene is freaking hilarious! Anyway, I couldn’t find it on YouTube. Grrr . . . YouTube failed me!

That got me thinking about my own waxing woes. Thank God I have never needed to have my chest waxed. Yowie! And I thought eyebrows were painful. I put off getting the eyebrows done as long as possible because even though my stylist thinks she’s being stealth (pulling the tape off on the count of 2 instead of 3), I am on to her! And it still f*cking hurts!

But let me tell you, nothing will ever be as painful as the Epilady. Does anyone remember that? It rips the hair out of your legs by the roots. Dude! Who EVER thought that was a good idea? I’m guessing it was invented by a man. I can’t fathom that a woman would inflict that kind of pain on another woman. Seriously.

Another thing I have never had done is the bikini wax. I’m sorry, but I would rather shave. There is no way it hell I am letting anyone down there with a strip of wax. When I was still doing Passion Parties, I had one group of ladies who was trying to convince me of the joys of laser hair removal. They all went in for so many laser hair removal treatments so the hair down there was permanently gone because there husbands just loved the no-hair look. Dude! If my husband preferred that my vajayjay looked like that of a pre-pubescent girl, I would have some serious concerns. Plus, if I am not letting anyone down there with a strip of wax, I sure as HELL am not letting anyone come near me with a freaking laser!! Are you kidding me?!

And what exactly is the joy of the no hair down there anyway. I’m sorry, but I have tried that, and sex with a hairless cooch HURTS! You need the hair for a little padding!

Okay, this train has become seriously off-track. I will shut the hell up now. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

School Supply Lists - WTF?!

Alright dammit, this is like a whole new club that I never knew existed – the club of parents scouring the Wal-Marts and Targets of the city in search of non-existent school supplies. I had no idea this was a problem for every other parent out there.

My biggest challenge has been the 16-pack of Crayola crayons. Now, I get people who tell me, “Oh, I found those at Wal-Mart.” Well, I went to Wal-Mart. They carry an 8-box of crayons, a 24-box of crayons, a 64-box of crayons, and like a 712-box of crayons, but no freaking 16-box of crayons. I looked at Target, Office Max, K-Mart, and finally found them at Staples.

I know, I know. I should have just bought the 24-box of crayons at Wal-Mart, but the supply list specifically says, “16-count box of Crayola crayons – NOT 24-count or 48-count.” Well, f*ck me. I have decided that this is the teachers’ test for the parents. They want to see which parents pay attention and which parents care enough to scour the entire damn city for a box of crayons. My fear? That if I broke down and bought the 24-pack of crayons, it would reflect badly on my son. I didn’t want Eli beginning his school career with scathing looks from his teacher because his mom can’t follow simple instructions, which means he probably wouldn’t be able to either. No, I wasn’t going to put that blemish on his permanent school record.

Next on the list – a 3-pack of dry erase markers. A 3-pack. Dude! They sell 2-packs and 4-packs, but they do NOT sell 3-packs. I swear to God, I looked everywhere for this one. Our solution for this? Eric “borrowed” three dry erase markers from work. Maybe it’s not a 3-pack, but I am really hoping this is close enough.

Today is the big day where we meet Eli’s teacher for the first time. We have all the school supplies ready to bring in, and I have myself in check. I will try hard not to ask stupid questions, be overly sarcastic or use any curse words. The meeting only lasts an hour, so I think I can do it. It will be hard, but I can do it.

Then, the kindergarten teacher can go back to her little club where she sits with the other elementary school teachers making up non-existent school supply items for us to buy next – like a 13-inch ruler or a 7-count pack of all purple Crayola markers.

13 Interesting Tidbits About My Week

1. Everyone in our house is now wearing regular underwear. Holla!!

2. When I tell my daughter to be sure and wipe after she goes potty, I really need to specify that she do it with toilet paper and not the kitchen towel.

3. After four years of using a flashlight when I went up in the attic, my husband today informed me that there was a light in the attic. It took him four freaking years to tell me that.

4. Don’t leave a library book sitting on the same desk as a pen. At least don’t do it when you have a 3-year-old in the house.

5. When you lose the library’s copy of the Meet Blue’s Baby Brother, you have to pay them $16.99.

6. A 16-count box of crayons is damn near impossible to find. I’ve decided that teachers are f*cking with us when they make the supply lists.

7. My husband sending me to the store to buy any garage item is the same as me sending him to the store to buy maxi pads. It shouldn’t be done.

8. When PMSing, I can justify eating a tub of cookie dough.

9. Eli and I had a long conversation about how the toothfairy knows she has a tooth to pick up. We decided she is either notified by email or she has a watch that beeps.

10. I’m looking for business attire to wear on my New York trip next month, and I realized that things have changed a little bit in the last six years (the last time I needed business attire).

11. I discovered that it doesn't matter if you haven't seen someone for two years - they're still going to invite you to their Mary Kay party.

12. I have realized that the more my daughter’s little attitude increases, the more I start channeling my mother. I can’t tell you how many times I have recently said, “Watch your tone, young lady!”

13. If promised sexual favors, my husband can put up an entire wallpaper boarder in one hour.

Wordless Wednesday - Sisters

Andrea and Stacey

My two best friends in the world!!

Water Sports

Okay, I have to ask, who else thinks Michael Phelps freaking rocks out loud!!! I am really enjoying the Olympics. Eli is not. Today, he came in whining, “Isn’t this almost over?” When I said, “No, it’s on for two whole weeks,” I thought his eyes were going to bug out of his head.

Georgia seems to be getting into it a little bit more. She really seems to enjoy the gymnastics and the diving – anything where people are flipping and twisting. This evening, she was watching the diving and just said, “Ohhhh Mama, I don’t want to do that.”

The kids have been enjoying water sports of their own. We went to a birthday party yesterday. My best friend Stacey’s daughter turned 5. They had a big water slide set up in the backyard. I tried desperately to get a decent picture of Eli coming down the slide. I think I am just cursed. This is the shot I got of my son:

This is the shot I got of my friend’s son:

Dude! What the hell? How come I can get great shots of other people’s kids, but never my own? I just don’t get it.

After the water slide, all the kids went in to play dress-up. All the girls dressed up like princesses. Now, here is something I didn’t really notice until we lined the kids up for the picture. There were a couple of little boys there who were two and younger, but here is a picture of all of the non-baby children in attendance.

Yes, that is my son on the end. Stacey seemed to feel bad that he was the only boy, but let me tell you. Eli was LOVING it. Is it wrong that he’s only 6, and he’s already such a player?

Manic Monday - Boil

We decided to take the kids to the zoo this weekend because it was Member’s Day, which meant free doughnuts! Holla! Plus, it wasn’t boiling hot. Unfortunately, it started pouring down rain while we were there. I think if I had to choose between boiling hot and pouring rain, I will choose rain. Less crowded.

Aside from the weather, we did have a good time. Eric got attacked by an army of really freaky looking spiders. Last time we were at the zoo, he was attacked by bats. He gets annoyed with me for laughing at his terror. I’m sorry, but it’s always fun to hear him scream like a girl!

Eli was chasing the peacocks, which was scaring the hell out of me. I just knew at any moment they were going to turn on him and start clawing. (At least that seems to be the reaction of our cats when Eli chases them.)

I kept taking pictures of signs. I can’t help it. Signs make me laugh. Does anyone else find it amusing that there’s a camel attendant? Maybe I’m just entertained easily.

We stayed at the zoo until Georgia’s temper started to boil over. She always gets to the point where she refuses to walk and has to be carried or she will scream. That’s about the time we head to the car. At least this time, she lasted longer than last time. Progress! I did get a great picture of Eric holding her. I think I may print it out and frame it:

Double Time

Some days I feel like the kids haven’t been out of the house enough, so I try to be a good mom and take them out. Then I remember why we don’t go anywhere. We had three simple stops to make: we had to check on a friend’s house because they’re out of town, we had to get gas, and we had to make a (in theory) quick stop at the grocery store. We were gone two freaking hours. I don’t know why everything has to take twice as long as I think it’s going to.

First, we stopped at my friend’s house. All we needed to do was a quick walk-through. The kids, however, found it necessary to play with every toy they saw in the house. That caused me to run in a panic to put things away only to catch them going through a closet. I got Eli out of the closet, and by the time I drug Georgia out, Eli had discovered the piano. Crap. That stop took much longer than it should have.

Then, we stopped to get gas. Eli can’t just sit in the car. He has to “help” by washing the windows with that damn window cleaner. The problem is that he doesn’t use the squeegee part, so I end up with dirty water all over my windows and dripping down my car. Plus it takes him way longer to “clean” the windows than it does for me to get gas, so we have to sit there and wait on him to get done.

After that, we made our last stop at HyVee where I only had five items on the list. I chose to go to HyVee because they have those shopping carts that look like cars, and the kids will actually ride in them. Well, today when we walked in, there was only one “car” left, and a woman was already situating her five kids in it. Dude! She needed it more than I did. Georgia didn’t see it that way. She stood right in front of them and screamed, “NOOO! THAT’S MINE! I WANT IN THAT ONE!” I had to drag her away from them. It’s always fun when you’re child starts the screaming in the entrance way in front of all the cash registers.

The screaming finally subsided, but since the kids weren’t riding in the cart, they ran around like crazy people. There were tons of samples out today, and the kids went nuts over them, which I find really interesting considering they won’t eat at home. Maybe I should start putting all their food in those little sample cups. Hmmm . . .

So, anyway, two hours later, we walked back in the door, and I was exhausted. I think tomorrow, we’ll just stay home.

13 Things I'm Addicted to on Facebook

Okay, dammit, Facebook is about the biggest distraction I have when I’m trying to work. They’re evil, I tell you! Evil! Here are a few of the things that suck me in.

1. Scrabble – Scrabulous is gone, so now it’s just Scrabble. And Morgen continuously kicks my ass, but I’ll sit there and look at that damn board for 20 minutes when I should be working.

2. WordTwist – It’s some bad ju ju, baby! This is the most addictive thing I have found since coffee. I have one friend with a higher score than me in ladder mode, and I just can’t let it go! I must beat her!

3. Food Fling – It took one damn person to fling chocolate mousse at me, and now I can’t stop.

4. Scramble – I’m not as addicted to this as WordTwist, but it’s right up there.

5. Name it! – This one really tests your knowledge. And it's addictive. Damn my friends for inviting me to play these games.

6. The Quizzes – Because I kick ass on anything related to 80’s movies!

7. Flair – I spent about 30 minutes yesterday organizing my flair board. It’s pathetic.

8. Greenpatch – I swear to God, sending and receiving Greenpatch plants is about half of what I do. And I’ve still only saved like 4 feet of rain forest.

9. Send Coffee – I don’t really Superpoke anymore, I just send people fun coffee. It’s much more satisfying.

10. Music – I recently discovered you could add music to your page. If you want to listen to some classic Goo, check my page out!

11. Groups – I love the groups that I am in – you can find something for whatever you’re interested in. My favorite group is entitled, “I judge you when you use poor grammar.”

12. Friend Updates – I really enjoy the friends who update this every day. Either I’m really a voyeur, or I’m just really freaking nosy!

13. Bumper Stickers – Oh, dude! It’s almost as bad as the flair.

Wordless Wednesday - Waterbug

An Exciting Day

Today was such an eventful day. I received a phone call early this morning from the company I work for (WikiAnswers), and they asked me to attend the Supervisors Conference next month in New York City. All expenses paid. Holla!! I can’t tell you how excited I am! I have never been to NYC before, and I am thrilled. This will be the first time I have left the kids, and the first time I have traveled by myself, so I am way out of my comfort zone on this one. All the more reason for me to go. Yippee!!

In my excitement, I noticed that the kids were incredibly bored this morning. It was over 100 here today, and the kids were feeling like caged animals since it was too hot to do anything. I packed them up and we headed to Wonderscope Children’s Museum for a couple of hours, where Georgia proceeded to find several boys in the age range of 8-10 to follow around and play with. Dude! She’s falling for the older guys already? Some days, visions of the teenage years just scare the hell out of me.

After Wonderscope, we hit McDonald’s on the way home, where Eli desperately wanted an apple pie. I got apple pies for everyone since it had been so long since I’ve had one. They’re so different now! What happened to the McDonald’s apple pies of yesteryear? You know the ones I’m talking about! The ones that were deep-fried into a hard crunchy shell, and they were so freaking hot that you blistered your mouth when you bit into it and the boiling filling oozed out all over you. Damn, those were good! Is that sad that I prefer the deep-fried, hot-ass apple pies as opposed to the new mouth-friendly version?

Here is the old-school apple pie:

And here is the new one. They're baked now! WTF?!

Manic Monday - Big

This week’s Manic Monday word is big, and I think it’s just Morgen’s personal test to see if I can control my dirty mind and actually write about something clean. I think I can do it, although it’s going to be hard. Big and hard. (Stop that!)

I can just tell you about the big weekend we’ve had around here. I was invited to a jewelry party last night, and I told myself before I went that I was not going to spend a big amount of money. I was only going to buy two pairs of earrings, and that was it! Well, out came the alcohol. The hostess had one of those big buckets of slushy margaritas. Yum! She seemed to know how to market it. With the big bucket of margaritas and the big box of wine, everyone at the party ended up making some big purchases. I ended up getting four items (Bad Neila), but at least I had fun!

On Sunday, I woke up to find Eric shopping online for a big flat screen TV. We have a continuous argument about how big is too big. I think if we’re going to get a new TV, we need to get a big one. Eric doesn’t think a super big TV is necessary. Well, of course it’s not necessary! It’s a TV! Is that really even an argument? Since all the TV’s still seem to have big price tags, we are trying to comparison shop and get the best deal. Because once you buy a big TV, you need a new TV stand, and that leads to redecorating the family room, and then you’re just screwed. So we need to be frugal.

After that, we went to pick up pictures of the kids from my friend Nicole who is a photographer. You should check out her blog - she is uber-talented! Anyway, I ordered a 16x20, which was too big for her to mail. Honestly, it was a little bigger than I thought it was going to be, so I’m not quite sure where I’m going to hang a big ass poster size photo of my kids. But since they rarely take great photos together, I couldn’t resist getting it. It was just too perfect:

Simply Chic Eye Candy

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the most organized person in the world. However, I do try. I try really hard actually – organization just is not one of my strong suits. So, anytime a new product line comes along to help me get myself in order, my interest is definitely peaked.

Although I embrace electronic technology, I still prefer to use an actual planner, sticky notes, journals and folders. You know, the things you have to actually write in a pen with! Call me old fashioned. I would hazard a guess that even if you are one who is more electronically organized, you still churn out a lot of paper.

Since getting organized is not something we usually enjoy, Carolina Pad and Paper and Jacqueline Savage McFee have introduced two new lines of products to make getting organized fun, cool and chic with organizational tools that reflect your personality!! Mom Central teamed up with Jackie and Carolina Pad and Paper for this blog tour to help women get organized in style.

They sent me a box of several new Simply Chic and Eye Candy products, which my daughter is already trying to steal from me, including a note pad, datebook, magnets, journal, and organizational folders – all in fun and sassy colors and designs. I love the fun new designs! You should see the desk in my home office now. I’m organized, and it looks bright and fun!

These new lines of products specially designed for women and teens are available at Wal-Mart, so you can find these two beautiful lines at great prices! These stylish organizational tools are perfect for all women whether you work at home, at the office, at a power lunch, or if you’re just trying to keep your kids and family organized!

In addition, the team is currently running a “Glam Your Office Makeover Contest.” To help women and teens get organized in style, submit your best organizational tip by visiting http://www.carolinapad.com/. The 10 most original and creative entries will be featured on the Carolina Pad and Paper Web site’s “Get Organized” page, and the winners will receive:

Complete Eye Candy or Simply Chic office system
$100 gift card
1000 Best Quick and Easy Organizing Secrets by Jamie Novak

Visit http://www.carolinapad.com/ today, and good luck!!

Mommy needs a break!

It has been a very long day. Just to give you an indication, here are a few comments I made today:

“Georgia! Be careful with that magic wand! It’s sharp!”

“Eli, stop screaming!”

“Georgia! Quit casting spells on your brother.”

“Don’t hug the cats so hard!”

“Did you poop in the sandbox?”

And there are so many more. The children were in rare form today. At first, I thought it was a good thing that they were going to play outside this afternoon because then I could concentrate on work. Ha!

Eli came in about 10 times, and I noticed that he is really becoming quite the tattle tail. ‘Georgia is throwing sand on the slide.’ ‘Georgia got in the mud.’ ‘Georgia pooped.’ ‘Georgia threw sand in my hair.’

At the last one, I asked, “Did you tell her to stop?”

Eli: “Um, well, no.”

Me: “Well, tell her to stop.”

Moments later, I heard Georgia screaming, so out I went to see Eli repeatedly kissing the top of her head while she was crying. I asked what happened and Eli said, “I hit her in the head to get her to stop throwing sand.” I just stood there and blinked at him. I didn’t even know what to say to that. Then Eli said, “But it’s okay, because I’m kissing it.”

I said, “Eli, it is NOT okay to hit your sister in the head!” He answered, “But she was throwing sand! And I thought it was okay to hit her in the head as long as I kissed it after.”

Okay, I never thought that me kissing their owies would actually end up having a negative effect on them. Before I know it, Eli’s gonna smack her upside the head and give her a concussion. A kiss won’t fix that.

I tried to explain to him that it is NEVER okay to hit your sister in the head.

His response? “Can I hit her on the arm?”

Gaaaaa!