Monday, March 30, 2009

one date does NOT a boyfriend make

To reiterate my opening title, just because a girl goes out with a boy on a date, that does NOT make him her boyfriend. There, got that little issue cleared up. So, Angel #2 wants this boy who is NOT her boyfriend to come over tomorrow and hang out. This was just between her and me, until Angel #4 became suspicious when her older sister was telling her that she'd have a much better time at a friends house than at home tomorrow. Usually her big sister isn't that concerned for her happiness. While this was going on in #2's bedroom, WE was outside working, apparently within earshot of the conversation. He yells from outside, she wants you gone because Josh is coming over. I asked him if he was eavesdropping and he shot me this shocked look. "You mean he IS coming over?" He'd just had a lucky guess. Word spread like wildfire through the Angel hierarchy, much to #2's displeasure. But WE knows how to make his sister feel good. He told her, "don't worry, once he meets me, he'll be sure to marry you." Oh, if we all only had that kid's self-confidence.

Pit just isn't really his game

We had a family game of Pit this evening. Winner was the first to hit 300 and I took the game with a final score of 330. As usual, WE came in dead last with a score of -60. WE REALLY is a bad Pit player. In his usual attempts to scam people, it all turns around to bite him in the butt. In one game he was holding both negative cards with plans to trade them off at the last second of the game so someone else would loose all the points. Of course, this backfired and he ended that round with a -40. He just doesn't have mad Pit skilz like his mother.

A writer friend has run into hard times. Both she and her husband have lost their jobs and their house was just foreclosed on. Right now they're living with relatives while attempting to get back on their feet. In response, some of us have donated books to be auctioned off, the proceeds going to Lucinda and her family. If you'd like to help someone in need while getting some great books (signed by the authors) check this out.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Live long and prosper

Afton isn't the only one with an inner dork. I can't remember what exactly the conversation was about, something to do with Angel #1 saying his dad is a bit geeky. #1 then flashed the Vulcan salute from Star Trek and, completely with no hesitation or thought on his behalf, hubby flashed it back. #1 announced that that totally supported his claim, since, only a geek would respond like that instinctively. (I wonder what Afton would do?)

The whole family (except maybe me) was disappointed to find out that we don't actually have a wild cow on the property. Turns out our neighbors bull has gone AWOL and is still MIA. So, if we do catch it, it looks like we'll have to give it back. All together now: AWWWW! :(

Shelley, I'll pass on your quote to WE. It fits him to a "T"

Here's a special treat for Jeanie C, who caught a pun when I didn't even realized I'd punned. I think it's cut the way you like it.

Angel #2's painting party finally got underway this afternoon around 2. She was going to have 2 friends over yesterday and they were going to do it then, but only one friend could make it and she didn't get here until almost 4. So, after sleeping in this morning they got underway this afternoon and proceeded to paint themselves more than the walls and got a grand total of 1 1/2 walls done. Well, it's a start.

WE spent a lot of time today telling me of his plans for world domination. I can't reveal them here but I'll just leave you with this warning: invest in dinosaur-proof houses

Friday, March 27, 2009

a day of renegade cows and too many children

Spring break is in full swing. I somehow ended up with three extra children today, two of which are vegetarians, which makes feeding them a bit of a challenge. I made Angel #2 and her friend make vegetarian enchiladas and they turned out pretty good and everyone could eat without worries of tarnishing their stomachs with meat.

This morning, Angel #1 went out to his car and came back to report that there was a huge pile of poop next to his car. Of course, this got the younger kids excited and they all had to go out and investigate. Since it looks like a cow pie, and we don't actually HAVE a cow, the logical deduction is that there is a wild cow running around our property. Now, if you had a wild cow on your property, what would you do? Why, make plans to trap and tame it of course. I'm not sure how this is going to go down, but I DO know that I'm planning on steering clear of the whole cow catching operation.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Touch of ol' Ireland

I just got back from the library. Kona Celtic Connection, the Celtic band that Angel #4's violin teacher plays in did a program at the library and invited the angel to play a song along with the band during the program. Angel was pretty nervous, but she thrives on attention, so she had a good time. She made a few mistakes, but I don't think anyone noticed besides her.

I had a good time with my writers group today. We did critiques of each others work, which was nice since it was the first time I'd read anything they'd written before. It's amazing how different all of our writing styles are and how different our topics were, yet all were enjoyable.

Angel #4's friend is overnight again tonight. She's the same girl I de-loused last week. I'm going to give her a head check again tonight to make sure I got them all last time. I don't want those suckers bouncing around my house if I can help it.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Don't worry, he says

The boys have decided to go pig hunting. They're both in camouflage, armed and, in Angel #1's case, in real live army boots obtained from the leftovers stash at JrROTC headquarters. The hunting thing lasted about half an hour, then they got hot and decided to go swimming...fully clothed. I tried to tell them no, but was stopped by hubby who said, "don't worry". That's it, just don't worry, like THAT'S going to take care of the wet drippy clothes that will soon be invading my laundry room much like the wild pigs under our mango tree (which no one managed to see/shoot/capture during this hunting expedition). I'm sure it will only be a matter of minutes before two drippy, naked, former pig hunters will come traipsing through my house in search of a hot shower and dry clothes.

Debbie got to go out on her inaugural drive today, but once again, I wasn't the driver. Angel #1 got the honors of taking her downtown for errands today. Hubby got to take her home last night after we bought her, so I've yet to actually get behind the wheel. Hopefully tomorrow morning we can go cruising when I go to meet my writing posse at Borders. We got a good look at her interior today and have decided that she's in desperate need of a steam cleaning, poor girl's seats are positively filthy. I don't know what those people were doing with her, but it sure was nasty.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Let's give a big Daydreamer Blog welcome to Debbie!

We bought a car today, its name is Debbie. Debbie is a 2001 Toyota Echo and gets MUCH better gas mileage than my mini-van. The mini-van keeps having problems and is slowly falling apart and we've also realized that we usually only go someplace as an entire family on Sundays to church and Wednesdays to bible study, otherwise it's just me in the van with a kid or two, so I don't really need a big vehicle for my daily running. Hubby also has a full sized service van for work that he really doesn't need to drive all the time, so whoever has the most driving to do for the day will get custody of Debbie. We figure she'll pay for herself in gas savings in about a year.

Monday is the first official day of spring break. The Angels have the next 2 weeks off from school. Uh...yay? Well, they're happy about it anyway. I'm still fighting off a cold. I was pretty sick on Wednesday, but downed a bunch of Emergen-C and felt better by Friday. But Saturday I was back to sneezing and nose blowing, which stinks. I've better today and hopefully the cold is gone for good, because being sick is no fun.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

just your typical Daydreamer family shopping trip

Both the girls had sleepovers tonight, both going in the same general area. So we decided that after dropping them off, we'd stop by Costco for some shopping. Hubby talked the boys into coming along with us. You'd think that by now he'd know better. I guess not.

The adventure started shortly after we got out of the driveway and WE found one of those plastic zip ties- you know the ones that zip shut and you can't get open again. You may remember that about a year ago he zipped one on his finger on the way to church one Sunday morning and we had to stop at a convenience store for a scissors to get it off before all the circulation was cut off and his finger fell off. You'd think that by now he'd know better. I guess not. Are you seeing a dominant family trait coming through here? So there he is, in the back seat of the van trying to Houdini his hands out of the zip tie but only making it tighter. Sadly enough, I was sitting next to him (the penalty of being the last person to get into the van is that they have to sit next to WE for the trip), I was ignoring him the best I could and when we dropped off one of the girls, I moved up to the middle seat, leaving WE in the back by himself. Somehow, in the two miles or so between the two girls houses, he managed to get the seatbelt stuck in the zip tie along with his hands. And it wasn't even the seatbelt for the spot he was originally sitting in. I don't know how he managed it and frankly, I didn't even want to ask. When we dropped off Angel #2, her friend got a scissors for us and cut WE free.

You'd think that would be enough adventure for one night, but you forget, we haven't even got to Costco yet. WE hops into the cart and Angel #1 pushed him around the store. Hubby and I walked faster and faster in an attempt to distance ourselves, but they kept finding us. We ditched them a while in the refrigerator section, long enough for WE to see someone he knew, which prompted the obvious response to his brother: "Hey look, there's that hot girl from my school. Drive me past her and I'll pretend I'm mentally challenged." You can see why he's such a success with the ladies. I just looked at Hubby and reminded him that bringing the boys was HIS idea and we could have had a normal shopping trip with just the two of us. He claimed that he thought they'd act normal...as if that's ever going to happen. You'd think he'd know better by now. I guess not.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

cooties cooties everywhere

This weekend, Angel #4's friend called to find out how to get rid of lice...I found a way that really worked well last time #4 had them. The friend came over to our house today and her mother hadn't done a thing! That poor little girl had ukos (they're so common here that the Hawaiians have their own word for them) so bad you could see them crawling around her hair by just looking at her. Can you imagine a parent that supposedly cares about her child letting something like that happen? The girls dad gets so frustrated because he'll deal with them when she's at his house, but they just come back again when she's with her mother. Well, I did the olive oil treatment on her head while she was here and combed all the nits out that I could find. I gave the nit comb to her dad when he came to pick her up and hopefully, he'll get rid of the problem. I hate to tell the angel not to play with someone, but dang, getting rid of ukos is such a pain in the butt there's no way I want her hanging around someone who's just crawling with the buggers.

I forgot to do Book Review Tuesday yesterday, so I'll do it today instead. The Amazing Mackerel Pudding Plan; classic diet recipe cards from the 1970's by Wendy McClure The author was helping her mother clean out their basement when she found a stack of Weight Watchers recipe cards from the 70's. The book contains pictures of these cards, along with the author's hilarious commentary. The food looks hideous and the props vary from silly to downright scary looking. Angel #2 and I giggled our way through the entire book.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

suspicious no more

I no longer have to wonder. Today while driving #4 home from school, we passed WE walking down the road with a cute little girl. Of course, being his mother, I proceeded to blow the horn and wave at him. I've got to get my fun somehow. :P

I got proactive on the whole abandoned car situation tonight. First, I dug around in the car and found a paper with a name, phone number and address on it, so I called the number. There was no answer, but I left a call back number, but didn't expect results. So, then I called the police to see what I could do to get it officially abandoned and they told me that since it wasn't on public property, they couldn't do anything. But they said if I called a tow truck, the driver would take it and get paid from the owner when he tried to claim it. So, I call a tow company and they said they'd be right over. While I was on my way to the bottom of the drive to deal with the tow truck driver, henceforth referred to as TTD, I get a phone call. It's the guy who owned the car. He had this massive Mexican accent and I could barely understand what he was saying. I told him the car was getting towed and he'd have to deal with the tow company. (bear with me here, this story DOES have a point)

I hang up with Mexican Accent Guy (now referred to as MAG) and go deal with TTD. TTD tells me that unless the police are there to officialize the cars abandonment, he's going to have to charge me $50. I tell him about MAG and TTD calls MAG on his cell. Now, this was interesting because MAG had the previously mentioned Mexican accent and TTD spoke heavy pidgin. I only here TTD's side of the convo, and it sounded like this: This is T&T Towing. I'm here fo' take your car. Where you like fo' me to take it? ...Your broke car, bra, where you like it go?....Da lady don' want da broke car at her place. She want for me to take it. Where you like fo' it to go?...Da broke car at da ladies place. He finally hangs up, rolling his eyes at me from the obvious stupidity of the guy who didn't know what he was talking about. TTD said he was going to get MAG and bring him back to the car so MAG could pay him and get the car out of my driveway. I'm good with that and go back into the house. But wait! The story's not over yet!

TTD calls me again about 5 minutes later and needs me to open the gate at the end of the driveway so he can get the tow truck in for the hook-up. We've been having problems keeping the gate to stay opened, so I figured it would be best for me to go down there with the clicker to make sure it stays open. So, I'm boogying down the drive as fast as I can. And when I get near the bottom of the hill where the tow truck was, I slip on some rocks, land on my butt and slide a foot or so down the hill, right in front of the stupid truck. While I'm down there, I click the gate open then get up and brush off my butt while the TTD is busting a gut at my performance. Well, the good part is that the car is finally out of our driveway and MAG even apologized for leaving it there so long, which is good. Now we don't have to worry about a bunch of illegal immigrants coming back and seeking revenge on us for getting their car/home towed away.

Monday, March 16, 2009

it's been awhile

I've just been too lazy to post lately. Sorry The highlights of my life that you've missed since I've neglected to post are:

Some guys car died and he coasted it into the end of our driveway on Saturday and it's still there. I'm guessing he abandoned it and we're going to get stuck paying a tow truck to get it out of here all because people aren't willing to deal with their own messes. We could call the cops and report it abandoned, but all they do is tag it as an abandoned vehicle and leave it there for a week or so for the owner to claim it. That week it sits there gives the thieves and vandals all kinds of time to steal the tires, break the windows, etc and not only would we have a stupid car in our way, but we'd have a stupid, totaled car sitting at the end of our driveway. Since the guy who left it there looked like an illegal immigrant whose car doubled as home sweet home, chances of finding him are nil. People suck

WE keeps coming home from school late. I suspect he's walking a girl home from the bus stop every night, and since he turns bright red whenever we bring it up, I think I'm right.

Yesterday afternoon, we headed downtown. In an attempt to get people to shop local, the city has started to close down the main street on the 3rd Sunday of every month and allow locals to set up booths in the middle of the street. Since most of the stuff they sell is stuff I'm totally not interested in (artwork, locally made jewelry, etc) I didn't actually buy anything. The reason we went is that they also have live music and Angel #4's violin teacher's Celtic band was playing and we wanted to watch them perform. They're always so much fun to listen to.

This morning I had to go in to get blood drawn for testing. Since I'm becoming that age I need to get baseline readings on my cholesterol and that kind of stuff so they can tell if something is going wonky in the future. This aft, I go in for my mammogram. Oh happy day, will the joy never stop? I've really been slacking in the mammo department the last 3 years, so I'm long overdue....but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Friday, March 13, 2009

It's probably already tomorrow and I haven't gotten there yet

I was late for everything today. Angel #1 was having car problems and needed me to take everyone to school this morning. The main problem was that they were already running late and I was still sitting here in my pajamas. I got dressed and did the tooth brushing, hair combing thing, having the presence of mind to remember to throw Angel #4's violin into the back of the van as we dashed out the door. I got the kids to school (#4 was 15 mins late) and was then late meeting a friend for coffee because of my unexpected detours to 2 different schools 10 miles apart. After coffee, I went to do some bookkeeping and left at 1:30, thinking I'd have plenty of time to stop by and pick up the mail on my way to getting #4 at school - I needed to get there around 1:45. I would have made it, except there was a check in the mail that needed to get deposited, then some money transferred to a different account. SO, I stood in line at the bank, then got the teller who's very sweet, but acts like she's never seen a deposit slip before. It's the same thing every time I get her, you'd think she'd have the deposit routine down by now, but apparently not. Anyhoo, I got to the school at 2:05, and no Angel. I drove around looking for her and was getting really ticked when she called me from the school office. We'd just missed each other. I got her loaded into the van and off to her violin lesson...which we were about 20 minutes late for. Ordinarily that wouldn't be such a big deal, but since I had to get the older kids at school, the schedule change screwed that up, making me 20 minutes late picking them up. It was just one of those days, I guess.

Tanya, now you have me singing Conjunction junction, what's your function? Thanks SO much. :P

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Take a ride on the Nostalgia Train

What is wrong with you people? First it's Alaine making me spend inordinate amounts of time looking Fisher Price Little People up online. Now it's the Sid and Marty Krofft thread over at Romance Divas. In the last few days, I've listened to the theme song from Wonderbug, Land of the Lost and Dr. Shrinker, among other things, courtesy of YouTube. Anybody else remember those Saturday morning shows? The girl Angels were watching them opening credits of those shows with me, and after watching the beginnings of Lidsville and H.R. Pufinstuf, #2 has determined that everyone in the 1970's were strung out on drugs. Well, I don't know about everybody, but Sid and Marty Krofft were definitely smoking something illegal...or, as one of the Romance Diva's said, they did drugs so the rest of us didn't have to. I mean, seriously, a town populated by living hats? A bad guy named Witchy Poo? It's amazing the kids of Generation X grew up normal.

A few years ago, I wrote a biography on an actor for the Bonanza World website. Seriously, I DO mean years ago. Well, the actor, Med Florey, didn't have a whole lot of personal information available online, though I found out that he is a talented musician, which is his first love, not acting...which is good, since he only had small guest roles on tv shows for the most part. Anyway, like I said, this was years ago. But twice now in the last 6 months or so, I've been contacted by people who found the biography online and offered me more info on Med. One was a college professor in Texas and, this weekend, a woman who's related to Med's deceased wife and found the bio while doing a family history thing. How weird is that? Who woulda thunk a measly biography (and it was measly, since I couldn't find much information on him) would attract peoples attention like that?

Book Review Tuesday: You Slay Me, Katie MacAlister I've read this one before, but just about all Katie Mac books are the kind that are just as good the 2nd (or 3rd) time around. Aisling Grey is hired to deliver a precious artifact to a buyer in France. She isn't in the country for more than an hour before she's accused of murder, searching for her stolen artifact and getting schmoochy with a dragon. Yeah, a dragon, but he's in human form and, trust me, it's sexy. This is the first book of the Aisling Grey series and, for some reason, I don't own book #2, though I've got the rest of the series. So, tomorrow, I'm going in search of Fire Me Up and hope I can find a copy somewhere in town.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Thanks for the comments everyone, I appreciate you all. Today, they took Matt's ashes out to the ocean and spread them out in the water. Hubby went out on the boat, I stayed home, having experienced enough grief for one weekend. After they dumped the ashes, there was a lot of singing, just like there was last night at the memorial. Matt comes from a very musical background and his father associated with many big names in the music industry, especially heavy metal bands (his dad makes high-end electric guitars). Hubby said the music was just unbelievable tonight on the boat. Getting a big group of professional musicians together to just jam is really something, and what a mixed group. Members of Pantera (heavy metal) and the Oak Ridge Boys (country) mixed in with some local Hawaiian musicians all played together like they had it planned. Funerals sure are different here than they are in Wisconsin.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

I hate this

We just got back from Matt's funeral. 31 years old is too young to die. Seeing his little boy standing there by the casket was just awful. Matt tried so hard to overcome his addiction. He had no idea the first time he did drugs that the end result would be that he'd never see his little boy grow up. Nobody plans to be an addict, but it happens. If only people would think of the possibility of addiction BEFORE they did drugs the first time, things would be so much better in this world. We're trying to use Matt's story to help our kids make the right choices in their lives. But I wish we only had generic examples to choose from and not someone we knew personally.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Bugs in the Microwave

I got sick Wednesday night and felt icky all day yesterday. Just about the whole family was feeling sick Wed, right after supper. I would say it was food poisoning, but can't figure out how that happened. I made hamburger helper, I fried the meat up while it was still partially frozen and bought the box of HH an hour earlier at Walmart. Maybe it was the can of green beans... Anyway, everyone's bellies are fine now, but most of the kids are sniffing, snorting and fighting off a cold that's been making its rounds in the area. Since Angel #2's kinda/sorta boyfriend also has the cold, we suspect she got it from him. Since they've only been associating via MySpace, it must be a computer virus. :P

This morning, there was a bug in the microwave. Not in the cooking part, but inside the mechanical part, crawling around under the glass by the glowing numbers. It was driving WE nuts, so he stood by the microwave, waving his arms like wings and clucking like a chicken in an attempt to scare it off. It didn't work very well, so he suggested we hire a real chicken to do the job. Anyone know of a chicken rental agency?

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

This is all Alaine's fault

After reading Alaine's (The Girl Laughs) last couple blog entries, I started thinking about the toys I had when I was a kid....mainly Fisher Price Little People. We had a lot of those sets-the schoolhouse, the A-Frame, 2 different kinds of campers, the yacht and the farm, to just name a few. Turns out you can get a lot of money on E-bay for some of that stuff. (Dad, Mary, if you're reading this, do not, I repeat DO NOT throw out the castle, those suckers are selling for $250! The pink dragon alone is going for $45) We spent HOURS playing with those little wooden people. I bought sets for my kids at yard sales when they were little, because by that time, they'd come out with the new, chunky sized people, and it just wasn't the same, I wanted the real, live, chokeable sized people for MY kids. Sadly, my kids didn't get the same enjoyment out of them that me and my siblings did, so I ended up just getting rid of them all. I'm resisting the urge to go to a vintage Barbie website, or I'll end up spending way too much time online examining little tiny shoes and accessories and wondering whatever happened to my Malibu Skipper.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

sad day

It was kind of a day of death here today. It started this morning when I read the obits from the paper back in Wisconsin. A family friend died. When I was really little, her parents were like another set of grandparents to us and we used to go there to visit them when we were little. They both died many years ago, and now their daughter has died at 80 years old.

We then heard news that a friend of mine and hubby's for over 20 years suffered a massive heart attack. He survived, but has refused further treatment. We gave him a call today and were very comforted by his attitude and willingness to accept death when it comes. He's only in his 50's, so is very young yet, but he feels he's ready to go. His prognosis isn't good and chances are, he won't make it much more than another 6 months.

Shortly after getting off the phone with him, hubby received another phone call. A friend of ours (mostly hubby's) we'd met down here lost his battle with drug addiction. Matt had been battling drugs for most of his short 31 years. He's been in and out of rehab numerous times, but kept getting snared back into drugs. His parents, also friends of ours, did what they could to help him, but sometimes you can never do enough. Now they've lost their only child and a little boy has lost his father. I just thought of the contrast between Dan's calm acceptance of death and Matt's abrupt end to a sad, tormented life. Just goes to show that we always have to be ready. It can come when we're old, like Loraine, middle aged like Dan or young like Matt. You never know.

They always say death comes in threes - I sure didn't expect it all in one day.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Test time

I'm helping WE study for his social studies test. I just started asking him some of the questions on the study guide the teacher sent home. First question was "What is the Hamakua Ditch?" He said it was something about the evolution of shrimp. I have no idea what the right answer was and assumed he knew what he was talking about. Then, I asked when did Lili'uokalani take office? He said, WAIT. What class is this for? He thought I was quizzing him on his science test and since I have no idea what class Mr. Nahuina teaches, I really didn't know what he was studying for either. Turns out the Hamakua Ditch has nothing to do with evolving shrimp and everything to do with sugar cane irrigation. But, he still had science on the brain apparently, since his answer to the next question: Who did President Cleveland send to investigate the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government? His answer was Charles Darwin. I think we need to spend a little more time studying.

Angel #2 came home from school just a tad bit worked up. She found out that Snarf has a crush on her. Snarf is exactly what you'd imagine a boy nicknamed Snarf would be like, hence her distress. She's hoping he gets over it real soon.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

We've got a prize for the lady!



Jeannie, since AD got me a prize, it's only right that you get one from me now.
You can use these to save wear and tear on your poor hurtin' jaw

We had Special Meeting for church today. There were visiting minsters from Canada, Oregon and Utah - as well as friends from other islands and various tourists who were on the island. So we got to meet some new people and see friends. I also wore my new shoes, which my friend Renell, the shoe lover, noticed immediately.

The town where we went is always windy and chilly, so during the lunch break, hubby and I made an emergency cappicino run. I was sure glad I brought my sweater and, even though I TOLD them to take something warm along with them, WE decided he was to tough to need a sweatshirt, so he spent the day cuddling up to me trying to get my body heat. Durn kid, he just doesn't listen. Before you start rolling your eyes, it really does get cold in Hawaii. When you consider the fact that 99% of the buildings have no type of heating system and the temps frequently drop to the middle 50's, that's cold, no matter who you are.

got my batteries recharged

We decided to let #2 do the Relay until 11pm last night. It was being held in the high school football field and they had bands playing and food booths set up, so it was basically a big party to raise money to fight cancer. She had a good time, but was disappointed she had to leave when she did, since the headlining band was just starting when we got her. But, she got to to see her friend's band perform, which, in her opinion was better than the headliners anyway.

I met with some of my Nanowrimo writing friends this morning and we ended up having a 5 hour gab marathon at Borders Books and didn't get any writing done. But, we talked about writing, which is just as good, and now I'm ready to get writing again. I've been pretty sluggy in that department lately and it's time to get back on that horse. Neigh