Vampires, Zombies, and Austen... oh, my!

In honor of Halloween and all things spooky, I wanted to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for this month's "Everything Austen" challenge.

I say "wanted to read"... because I still haven't finished the book.

I tried, I really did. But I can't get past Chapter 3.

As much as I am a fan of Jane Austen, I personally find her works very difficult to read. And this book is written in the language and style of Austen. I have yet to decide whether to trudge on through with P&P&Z... or just forget it.

The book I did read for the challenge this month was Mr. Darcy, Vampyre.

I'm already a fan of Amanda Grange... and her latest work did not disappoint. The story is fast-paced and captivating.

Darcy (who is a vampire... just in case you didn't get that from the book title) and Lizzy have just been married and are about to embark on their honeymoon. The newlyweds plan on visiting the Peak District, but Darcy abruptly changes their plans. Instead, they're on their way to Paris... and also travel to Switzerland and Italy. But during what should be a happy time for the couple, a dark mood comes over Darcy and he becomes distant, causing Lizzy to wonder what secrets her new husband is hiding...

Overall, this was a great book... very intriguing story; one that I enjoyed very much!

Comment Junkies Unite.

SITScation '09 was so much fun! My only regret was that the weekend went by way too fast.

Obviously, I survived flying over the big bad Rockies. I did, however, have to warn the guy sitting next to me:


"Dude, if we hit any bad turbulence or if I freak out for any reason, I will need to grab a hold of your hand."


Thankfully, the guy was a good sport about it! And luckily (for him?) it was a fairly smooth flight out to Vegas (so no, I didn't even have to grab the poor guy's hand once!)



Friday night's party was a blast... hanging out with Kat and Elena (whom I finally got to meet "in real life"!)

The three of us had fun taking pictures with Lula's camera while she was out shimmying on the dance floor...

And, yes... that is a crown on my head.

Jen, Lolli and I all share the same birthday (October 15th), which was the day before SITScation began. We like to think the Friday night party was really held in our honor.

I think we look rather regal in our "Birthday Princess" crowns, don't you?



Another highlight of my weekend was finally getting to meet Heather and Tiffany!

I wish my stay in Vegas could have been longer! I really wasn't there long enough to see much... but I did get a chance to see some of the sights.

I also went to a show with Kat and her husband, Michael. We saw Anthony Cools, who is a "naughty hypnotist". His show is uncensored, bawdy... and oh my stars, it was hilarious!


So now I've been to Vegas... and Shane has been once... maybe next time the two of us can visit Vegas together!


Have you ever been to Vegas? What's your favorite thing to do there?

Monday Musings

• How did the end of October get here already?! I cannot believe Halloween is Saturday. I am so unprepared this year... I still don't have costumes for the girls! (oops.)

• My kids are geniuses. Just sayin'.

• Because my kids are geniuses, I (jokingly) told Shane I should go back to work so we can afford private school tuition for the girls. He thought I was serious about going back to work, so I had to tell him I was, in fact, just kidding. (Sort of. Maybe. I don't know.)

• The combination of Calamine lotion and Benadryl spray seems to be working on my poison ivy/poison oak/ or whatever the heck it is. Thank goodness. The rash is looking better, but at times it still itches like a son of a gun.

• No new episode of "Glee" this week because of the World Series. Stupid baseball. I guess I'll just have to rely on this twitpic to fulfill my Matthew Morrison fix:

(I know, right?! Best. Twitpic. Ever.)

Sooooo... whatchya got going on this week? Any plans for Halloween? Any random thoughts you'd like to share?

Scratching my head over this one (and that's not all)...

I've got (what appears to be) a wicked case of poison ivy/poison oak... and have had it for over a week now. This baffles me for several reasons:

1. I hardly ever go outside.
2. When I do go outside, it's usually just to the backyard to take the dog out.
3. The area where the rash is located, is the backside of my right knee. For the life of me, I cannot recall rubbing just the backside of my leg against any thing that would have poison ivy/ poison oak on it.
4. I've worn pants or jeans every day for the last 2 weeks... so again, I don't know how my bare leg could've come into contact with poison ivy/ poison oak.

Oh. Em. Gee, the itching. And the scratching. The calamine lotion is not helping. I foresee a visit to the doctor in my near future...

I'm Downright Terrifying

According to Jill, a "Scary Mommy" is one who may forget to shower daily because she's too busy doing laundry, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, paying bills, etc. One who doesn't feel she has to be in full makeup just to walk to the mailbox or who drives her kids to school still wearing her pajamas. Even a mommy who admits she sometimes wants to wring the necks of her precious little hellions angels.

A mom like me.

What makes me a "Scary Mommy"?

• I once forgot to feed my kids dinner.

• When my girls ask me to tuck them in for the umpteenth time at night, I usually don't do it... I sit on my duff and hope they'll just forget and fall asleep so I can watch my TV show in peace.

• It took me TWO WEEKS to get Michaela to the doctor when she broke her arm.

• I try to make sure my girls have at least one serving of fruit each day. But there are times were that "one serving" is a pack of Sunkist fruit snacks.

• I'm actually thinking about telling my girls, who still believe in Santa, that he isn't real.

There are plenty of days where my kids have watched too much TV or have eaten too much junk food. There are certainly plenty of days where I've yelled too much. I'm not a perfect mother... but I've never claimed to be one.

What I do claim, however, is that I love my girls unconditionally and more than anything else in this world. And what's even better than me just saying I love them, is that my girls know how much I do.

---

I think it's pretty awesome that I'm not the only "Scary Mommy" out there.

But if you think I make a great "Scary Mommy", go tell Jill you think so... she may just give me a prize.

It's that time of year...

Time for my girls to start thinking about what they want to ask Santa to bring them for Christmas.

Yes... my almost-7-year-old and almost-9-year-old still believe in Santa (and his elves).

Hannah seems to think she'll find this waiting for her under the tree:

And Michaela is under the impression that Santa will bring her not one, but TWO, American Girl dolls... as well as this:

(I hate to be the bearer of bad news... but "Santa" is on a strict budget this year.)

Just how horrible would it really be if I let slip that the jolly man in the red suit isn't real?

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm the big 3-3 today! And I've been celebrating my birthday pretty much all week.

As it should be, people. As it should be.

Sunday was also my Aunt Suzy's birthday, so the family gathered here at my house for dinner and cake. I have no photos of the event, though. Not sure what happened to the pics but I know I didn't delete them off my camera...

Tuesday night, Shane's mom took us out to eat at our favorite local Chinese restaurant. And I may or may not have eaten the leftovers for breakfast the next morning...

Yesterday, Angie treated me to a yummy lunch at The English Rose Tearoom. It's an authentic English tearoom (uh, in case you didn't get that from the name of the place)... they serve traditional British fare (think Bangers and Mash, Shepherd's Pie, etc) as well as soups, salads, finger sandwiches... and tea, of course!

And, as you already know, tomorrow I'm heading to Vegas, baby!

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One of the prompts for this week's Writer's Workshop over at Mama Kat's is "tell your birth story". How apropos since today is my birthday!

Let me give you a little back story, first:

My mom always had very heavy, very painful menstrual cycles. When she was 22 or 23, she had exploratory surgery to find out why... and it was discovered she had a double set of female organs (I kid. you. not.) They theorized my mom should have had a twin but the other fetus didn't develop and Mom got blessed with double the lady bidness organs. So when my parents decided to have a baby, it was a difficult process just getting pregnant.

The night before I was born, Mom had begun to have cramps. She remembers craving a Coca-Cola float, but thought she'd better not risk eating with all the cramps she had been having. Around midnight, her cramping stopped and she immediately thought, "Oh, goody! I can have my float now!" Mom had her snack and went to bed.

The next morning she had slept in... by the time she got up, my dad had already left for work. After she got up and showered, my mom went to watch a little TV... she sat down on the sofa, coughed... and her water broke. She called my dad and the doctor, Dr. Lord, and was soon on her way to the hospital.

My mom knew she'd be having a C-section, 1). I was breech, and 2). the doctor wasn't sure she'd be able to deliver a baby with the way her internal organs were wacky. My mom says all she remembers is Dr. Lord being surprised she was in labor since he had figured she had at least another two weeks to go... and she also remembers a nurse apologizing for the coldness of the solution they had to scrub her belly with. After that, she was knocked out...

When she came out of the anesthesia, my mom remembers that the first thing the doctor did was apologize for cutting my leg. Yep, when he sliced into my mom's uterus, the scalpel went a little too far and it nicked my leg. And yep, I still have the scar on my thigh!

I was a cute little bugger... all 8 lbs, 8oz of me!

So, there you have it... the story of my birth. I think it's a pretty good one!

My girl's not the only one with a new 'do.

I got my hair did yesterday! A sassy new 'do, just in time for SITScation.

But before I do the big reveal, I have a request:

If you don't like the haircut, kindly lie and say I look fabulous.

But whatever you do, I beg you... please don't say it "looks exactly like Kate Gosselin's hair".

a. The back part of my hair does NOT stand up like a peacock's tail.

b. My hair is NOT six shades of crazy blonde.

c. The front of my hair is NOT resemble the asymmetrical styles sported by any member of Flock of Seagulls.

So, keeping those points in mind... let me know what you think of my new 'do:

I really hated to do it.

No, that's not true. I'd been wanting to do it for awhile now.

Take Hannah to get a haircut, that is.

(Contrary to what she may tell you, I did not make her get a haircut out of spite or because I'm mean)

Hannah has been cursed blessed with thick hair, just like her mama. She wants her hair long, but she doesn't take care of it like she should. Her hair care habits (or lack thereof) are one of the battles we've been having lately. I may be partly to blame for this, seeing as how I hardly ever did anything with her hair when she was younger (in my defense, the child was practically bald until she was two... so there was no hair to do anything with). Maybe if I had done her hair in pigtails and ponytails, or braids and barrettes, she'd be more apt to do something with her hair other than just letting it fall in her face.

Anyway... school pictures are coming up, so I thought this was the perfect time for Hannah to get a "trim".

Here's Hannah before:

And here she is after getting a good 6 or 7 inches cut off:

She may not be quick to admit it, but Hannah really does love her new 'do!

Best. Mom Date. EVER.

Angie and I always have a fabulous time together on our "mom dates". Always. But the Kings of Leon concert last Friday night will be hard to beat. Even with all the pot smoke in the air, we had the best time! (seriously... I could have done without the weed... my eyes were still burning the next morning)

Not to sound like an old fuddy duddy, but I could have also done without the multiple offers of alcohol from the already-three-sheets-to-the-wind couple who stood to my left. You'd think after we had politely declined their offer the first three times, they would have taken the hint...

And speaking of the drunk couple standing next to me, I thought for sure the blonde chick was going to slosh her beer (?) all over me, with all the spastic dancing she was doing. I'm glad she was having a great time and all... but there's a little thing called "personal space". As in, please don't invade mine.

Then, at some point during the concert, blonde chick left (to go to the bathroom or get a refill, I don't know)... meaning her drunk boyfriend was next to me while she was gone. This time I was fearing for the safety of my nose. I'm surprised I didn't get clocked in the face by his flailing elbows from all his "air drumming" going on.

From this it sounds like I didn't have fun... but really, I did! Kings of Leon rocked. the. house. (or arena, whatever) for a good two hours. Those boys seriously put on a great show. I'd love to see them again!

P.S... The last concert I attended at the Philips Arena was back in 2007... my mom, sister, sis-in-law and I went to see Josh Groban. I think it's a safe bet to say no one in the arena was blazin' up a doobie during that show.

Supposedly, it's safer than driving a car...

In one week, I will be flying out to Las Vegas. While I have flown several times, it's been roughly 10 years since the last time I've been on a plane. And I think the furthest west I've flown has been to Memphis.

So I'm a little nervous about flying over these bad boys:

Did I mention I have a window seat?

Someone hold me.

I don't need to worry about getting a haircut. Because at this rate, I'll be bald in a week.

"You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance." ~ Franklin P. Jones

Patience is not one of my strong points. In fact, more often than not, I get annoyed at the smallest thing... but I am trying to be better about this flaw of mine.

However, I am at my wits' end with my oldest daughter.

Hannah and I butt heads constantly. Constantly. I'm so tired of her sulky attitude when she doesn't get her way... the backtalk every. single. time. she's asked to do something... and that she's unable to keep her hands off her sister.

And it's like she's a totally different child when she's not around me.

Because I'm always hearing from other people how well-behaved Hannah is... of course from my family, but also from the parents of her friends. From her teachers and people at church. They all rave how sweet she is, how friendly and hard-working she is, and that she never causes any trouble.

Yet when she's around me, it's like she knows exactly what to do to push my buttons. The whining. The backtalk. The hitting and pinching her sister.

I've spanked her, I've grounded her, I've yelled at her (more times than I care to admit)... I just don't know what to do anymore.

I know Hannah is a good kid. She's a bright, smart, funny girl. I love my daughter. I LOVE her. Unconditionally and more than she'll ever know.

But lately, I don't like her very much.

There's no need to pack your toothbrush. But you may want to bring along a snack.

'Cause we're going on a little field for today's "Table Topics" question!

I'm guest posting for Sarah while she's on vacation in the Bahamas (lucky girl!) So do me a solid... go here to play along with today's question!

I can't think of a witty post title for this one.

Playing along today with Jen's "Monday Mentions!

YouTube is a huge time suck. But you can find some funny stuff there... and I wanted to share a few videos that never fail to make me laugh!

I recently found The Washington Post's series called "Twits"... where professional actors read the tweets of (so-called) celebrities like Miley Cyrus and Barbara Walters.

I just love how Babs ends her tweets by promoting "The View", don't you?

Can you imagine "Raiders of the Lost Ark" as one of those campy films from the 1950s?

This "pre-make" is made up from clips of old movies, such as "The 10 Commandments" and "Casablanca". And there are also ones for "Ghostbusters" and "Forrest Gump"!

And this is an old one... but it makes me giggle every time I watch it!

SUH-KUR-ITY!

What funny videos have you found on YouTube?

A few more reasons I'm glad fall is finally here...

Because it means I'm that much closer to the following:

1. My partner in crime, Angie, and I will be headed to Atlanta next Friday to see Kings of Leon in concert...

Can. Not. Wait.

2. The very next weekend... I'm off to Vegas, baby!

SITScation, here I come! This will be my first trip to Vegas... and I'm sooo looking forward to meeting the SITStas who are going. To say I'm excited is an understatement!

3. The week after SITScation, my girls are out of school for Fall Break... we're going to take an overnight trip to Asheville, NC. This will be Hannah and Michaela's first trip to Biltmore Estate. Then, on the way home, we plan on driving through the Cherohala Skyway... Shane hopes to get some pics of the fall foliage.

4. Then in November, I'm getting away for a weekend with some of my favorite girls. Some I've already met, others I can't wait to meet. A fabulous cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains will be the location of our Estrogen Extravaganza!

Now don't those sound like fabulous reasons to be glad fall is finally here?!