Happy Halloween!

We were supposed to go to a friend's house for Halloween tonight, but I am still recuperating from an awful case of food poisoning. I spent all of the overnight hours yakking and sleeping while hugging the toilet. It was pretty horrendous. So, I've been a homebody today. Army of Dad and Pickle (i.e. Link from the Legend of Zelda) took Mario and Tinkerbell trick-or-treating tonight. I sat on the couch with a book and my witch's hat and doled out candy to the few trick-or-treaters who came by. All in all, not a bad evening. Kids cleaned up on the candy. Me? Still feeling poorly, but at least I feel human today. Sunday? Army of Dad scored tickets to the Cowboys game at JerryWorld. I can't wait. Feeling puny or not ... I'm going with my Romo jersey on. Can't wait!

What's that glow? Oh, AoM's blushing

I knew it would probably happen at some point this coming UNT Mean Green men's basketball season, but the dreaded moment came Thursday night. Yep, I had to come face-to-face with the smokin' hot Collin Mangrum (whom I've watched lustily) since he was a freshman. First time Army of Dad saw Collin warming up, he elbowed me and smiled. Then, with my face flushing, he said "you're welcome." I just grinned and asked him how he knew I'd appreciate that view and he just chuckled with a response indicating that he knows what I like to look at. He was right.

So, for the past few years, I've been drooling over the poor Mangrum boy. Well, I got busted. Someone alerted his momma that I was lusting after her sweet boy via the blog. So, obviously Collin now knows that I sit a few rows up in the Super Pit with a nice warm fuzzy feeling in my chest every time he's warming up. Or sitting down. Or ... well, you get the point.

*sigh*

Well, it isn't often that I blush, but when I found out his mom was reading the blog and Collin learned of my (now, not-so-secret) crush ... well, then the blushing started in full force. Fortunately, his mom was good-natured about it and not offended. Even knowing that, I was horribly embarrassed at every game after that. His mom invited us to go down to meet Collin and talk with his family after the last few games of the season, but I was so mortified, I couldn't do it. I was just too embarrassed to face Collin.

Last night, however, there was no way to avoid talking to him. He had this look on his face that is hard to explain. He recognized us. That alone was enough to make me want to crawl under a table. The only real explanation I can think of to describe his expression was amusement. I think he knew I was totally flustered and he was trying not to laugh. He was very polite and asked if we planned to go to the games this season. Told him we planned to get season tickets and he asked where we'd be sitting. Told him we'd be in our regular seats in the corner near the players because we liked to razz the officials. And, he said Army of Dad's taunts cracked him up. So, we were glad to know the guys were amused and not irritated by it.

So, I finally had to face him and I didn't die. But, a day later I'm still flustered and blushing.
But, I dealed. Even got a pic of the kids with (L to R) Eric Tramiel, George Odufuwa, Dominque Johnson, Collin Mangrum and Josh White. Go Mean Green!

A treasured gift

I got an offer from Keepsakes Etc., an e-commerce site that features throw blankets and wall tapestries. The offer was a free holiday blanket in exchange for a few plugs for the business.

Easy enough. Shhh, don't tell, but Little Bit is going to get a personalized Nutcracker throw blanket. It is quite lovely and she's going to be so excited. What a really neat Christmas gift under the tree on Christmas Day. I know it will be a treasured gift.

Simply Bags has some neat purses, laptop bags, etc. that can be personalized for a nice gift, too. There are a wide variety of specialized blankets from collegiate fleece to military themes among many others at Keepsakes Etc. main page. The Christmas throws page has many holiday themes including the Nutcracker one that we got for Little Bit.

I'm really excited about it. A great gift idea for the hard-to-buy-for person in your life. And maybe even the easy ones. A good gift for a college student for sure!

Art?

Is it me or is this the ugliest sculpture you've ever seen? This is titled "Pegafish" and is in one of the posh downtown Dallas office buildings. It just made my eyes hurt looking at it. And to think someone got paid to create that AND it is on display.

C'mon Angels

In my best "Bench Warmers" voice: Not a fan!

The Angels are about third or fourth down on my list of most liked baseball teams, so I don't mind rooting for them. I had some fondness for them when I lived in Midland and the Midland Angels were their AA affiliate.

So, c'mon Halos! Beat down the Wankers!

I'm on a Boat

Ok, so I'm not on a boat anymore ... but I was thinking I ought to keep on sharing these pics. And, after bailing water out of my backyard tonight (for about 90 minutes, I pushed water out the gate with the help of AoD and Hot Rod) ... it reminded me of all the water while I was on the boat.

Ok, I was a little giddy one morning and enjoyed my reflection in the table.

The sunset was beautiful.
We bought one picture, but damn, they're so expensive. I just decided to snap a quick pic when I saw 'em. And, I saw this one and couldn't stop giggling. All that dude needs is a biscuit to sop up that smelly pirate hooker.

And, the mariachi trying to get the little girl to smile is hilarious, too.

Not to be left out of the fun, Army of Dad was ready with his goofy pose, too.

And, these just made me giggle. Check out the little mariachi at the bottom of the pictures. On me: wow, check out the size of that gringa's ass! And, on AoD: check out the size of that dude's junk! *snickering* AoD noticed that the mariachi has a bigger smile in my picture than in the one with him. I would certainly hope so.

The Working World

After more than five years of working outside the home, I'm getting back in the swing of the working thing. Fortunately, I can work around the kids' schedules some. But, it is taking some getting used to again.

I'm having some success in making contacts, but this is going to be hard. But, then again, anything worth having is difficult. I know when I first transitioned to working from home, it took me a while to get into a rhythm. So, I'm sure it will get easier with time.

The whole blogging thing is getting shoved to the backburner for a while unfortunately. This is pretty time consuming and I want to do a good job.

I got the job!!!

I don't have a lot of details right now, but I got the job!

*doing the dance of love*

I got the job! I got the job! I got the job!

Blogger in absentia

Yeah, Yeah, I know ... I said I'd start blogging more.

I lied.

Sorry about that. I have had a most eventful week. As a freelancer, I have two regular steady gigs that pay me a set amount of money each month that I can count on. The other jobs all fluctuate and can't be depended upon. Some months, I may pick up $2000 in extra gigs, other months it may be only $250. So, my steady jobs are something I depend on.

Well, the writing has been on the wall for a while. One of them - I marked four years writing for them this month - has been cutting staff for the past year. In that time, they reduced from about 18 full-time staff and a dozen freelancers to two editors and three freelance writers. I managed to make the cut each time.

Then, the other shoe fell and I got word that they would be closing shop at the end of this month. And yeah, I got the news on Tuesday. *sigh*

So, I madly started emailing editors asking for more work to supplement this loss in income. Told the school that I'd start subbing more, too. SO, I have three subbing jobs lined up at the end of this month and more assignments than you can shake a laptop at.

On Tuesday when I got the news about the magazine closing, I was devastated and dumbfounded. I was trying not to panic and think logically about the next steps I should take. Then, less than an hour later, I get a call out of the blue asking me if I'd be interested in launching a new online publication in the Dallas area. I would have to cover events and people, but I could still do it all from home without having to set up shop somewhere and make the 8-5 mad commute.

Would I be interested? Uh, yeah. Full-time pay with benefits, too. So, I've been giddy with excitement at the prospect. Today, I have an audition and if I pass, I'll get a one-month provisional hire. If I pass that, then I will be hired.

What a concept to have a regular paycheck and not have to rob Peter to pay Paul. I'll keep you informed. My blog posting couldn't be any less sporadic even if I take on a full-time job. Heck, I might blog more. :)

Happy Birthday Little Bit!

Today, my little sweetheart turns 7. We had a party at the park for her today with just a small group of friends and she had a ball.

She had daddy swinging her and struck a pose with the girls.

Whacked a pinata.

And whacked it again.

Gathered pinata innards.

With great emotion.

Decorated goody bags.

And, played with bubbles. How much better could it get? Oh yeah, a sleepover with her best friend. What a great night. Today? We're going to the zoo.

Happy Anniversary

If you come to the blog enough, you'll occasionally see comments from Blessed-with-3. That's my sister-in-law and she's one of my bestest friends in the world. It may be a good thing she lives in Indiana or I'd be a bad influence on her. :) She's one of the most incredible women I've ever met. So, just by association, her husband must be pretty damn incredible, too. They are celebrating their 20th anniversary today. Yep, she was a child bride apparently. In an email exchange last night, she told me "Our little hometown of 2,000 had some nice guys but I still can't believe I am lucky enough to have caught (dear husband's) eye. :)" How sweet is that?

Congratulations to both of you. The world is a better place because of you and your three children are the ones who are blessed. Have a great day!

We're coming, Spankees

My happy Twins fans back in July 2006 at the Metrodome. They were sick last night, but still watching a great ballgame with the desired outcome. In between hacking coughs, there was a combination of cheering and yelling. What a great game. Can't wait to take on the Spankees. Git 'er done!

I don't like spiders & snakes

That old Jim Stafford song was a favorite of mine growing up. My daddy used to sing it to me. Of course, my children love spiders, snakes, frogs and toads. The kids were checking out the live exhibits at the Travertine Nature Center at Chickasaw National Recreation Area when a park ranger came over and pulled out critters to show them.

Hot Rod got to wear this little frog. It started out on his arm and climbed up and around his back.

This toad liked to have its head rubbed, as the park ranger demonstrated. It would close its eyes and look all relaxed.

Pickle even got in on the action. He's never been much of a frog-handler like his brother and sister.

The king snake was the hit of the handling, though. Little Bit was in heaven. The snake even tried to slither up her sleeve to hide. I jumped about three inches when I saw it trying to go up her shirt. Still have a house full of sickies. Little Bit seems to have escaped it and I just have a mild case of bronchitis, I think. Army of Dad has something that seems like the flu (he didn't get a flu shot this year either). Pickle seems to be on the mend, but he's been sick since Saturday. Hot Rod may have peaked his sickness. No fever in the kids today, thankfully. Not the same can be said for Army of Dad.

Officially Oinking

Well, looks like the H1N1 (swine) flu has hit the AoM household. Pickle started feeling puny on Saturday. Then, this morning Hot Rod woke up feeling sick. AoD and I started feeling a bit achy with hacking coughs this morning and this afternoon Little Bit started coughing some.

Took the boys in and the doctor said he didn't see any reason to test to confirm, he felt they have the flu. Good news was that were not dehydrated (a big deal with Pickle's CAH) and it was not in their chests (good news with Hot Rod's asthma). But, because Pickle is high risk (and we're all in the family), he wanted to be aggressive and treat it with Tamiflu. He said if Little Bit started exhibiting symptoms (which she just has since we got home this evening with a small cough and 99.9 temp) ... to call him and he'll call in the Tamiflu for her.

On a bright note, Pickle's sensei said if he worked hard, Pickle could test for his brown belt this fall. That is a GIANT step for him as it is a three-hour comprehensive test in American karate. Met with Hot Rod's teacher today and he has tested at an 11th grade reading level. She said he wasn't just reading the words, but comprehending them, too! Amazing. Little Bit's teacher said she had mastered most of the first-grade things that they're expected to know by the middle of the first grade, so she's doing well, too. She said the music teacher told her today that she is one of only four first-graders selected to sing solos in the first grade performance in February, too.

So, there is some good with the bad. I was very excited to get an unexpected paycheck (had a magazine fold and leave me hanging for $1000 worth of work, but managed to sell one of my stories for $350), so I was planning to put some of that up for Christmas and some bills, but it will go toward the $160 worth of doctor's visits and Rx. I think I'll be calling in Tamiflu for Little Bit tomorrow. At least we had the money for all of this. That is a blessing. Go Vikings! Gotta hope they'll win tonight or AoD will REALLY be sick. :)

Oink Oink

Well, this appears to be the classic case of H1N1 for my Pickle.

What are the signs and symptoms of this virus in people?
The symptoms of 2009 H1N1 flu virus in people include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. People may be infected with the flu, including 2009 H1N1 and have respiratory symptoms without a fever. Severe illnesses and death has occurred as a result of illness associated with this virus

For more information on flu symptoms, the CDC has this site

As the World Turns

Well, this weekend would have been completely lovely, but the crud has finally arrived in the AoM household. Poor Pickle, my eldest (who has an immunodeficiency because of his birth defect, CAH) now has caught it. First symptoms were Saturday when we had a day trip to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. He started with a sore, scratchy throat, headache and coughing. By Saturday night, he was achy. Sunday morning brought the fever. And, yep, bright and early this morning brought the squirts from both ends. Poor fella. I keep holding my breath that it will pass by the little kids and us adults, too, for that matter. But, we were in a confined car with the kiddo for about four hours on Saturday, so I'm not holding my breath. Just going to work hard for the next few days in case I'm down with it. I promise to blog more about the park visit, because it was a lot of fun and a national treasure, for sure.

I had a big writing project last week and substituted two days, so I apologize for the lack of blogging. I have a feeling this week may be equally bad - especially with the crud lingering. Cross your fingers, say a prayer and/or do a dance for me, please.