Monday, June 29, 2009

Weekend Recap

Hey! Nothing happened! Life was pretty simple all weekend and that's a good thing.

The following was relayed to me by my child, Nicole... spoken with no commas, proper punctuation or breath:

I (Nicole) did kiss Jacob, but he has a girlfriend and it would be wrong to be kissing on a boy with a girlfriend because she knows what it feels like to be cheated on but she doesn't treat him right and had actually cheated on Jacob previously so it shouldn't matter that she's in the picture but she is in the picture and she's (Nicole's) not going down that path however she is telling Jacob that he deserves someone who won't cheat on him ( this is where she breathes for one second and I say: "Jacob is cheating on his girlfriend by kissing you.") and she continues that THAT is completely differently because he was cheated on which kind of opens the door for a new relationship but she (Nicole) is not going to get involved with someone who still has a girlfriend because it's still wrong and she's been hurt before by boys that go back to the ex.

Whew

Jerry and I ate hot dogs and watched Monty Python's, "The Meaning of Life."

Amen.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Friday Five Favs: Flowers

Friday already? Yeah! Let's share our favorite flowers, shall we? Good!

1. Daffodils - I just think they're "happy" flowers... sunny, bright, simple, but beautiful.
2. Peonies - we can't grow them here in Houston (too hot), but aren't they just gorgeous?
3. Bluebonnets - what Texas girl could leave them off her list. The bluest of blues!
4. Roses - so many varieties, so many colors... it's hard to choose a favorite, but I lean toward the peace roses - yellow with pink edges.

and finally,

5. Hyacinths - for the smell alone! Heaven.

What are your favorite flowers??

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Running Behind!

Geez!

I forgot to post today... well, except for this one....which doesn't count...

I'll be back tomorrow - it's one of those days... seems I am going to have play GPS lady for my daughter and "talk her in" to downtown Houston where someone's mother is paying Nicole to set up the woman's iPod.

I have no idea how much that brings. Hope it's worth the gas and trouble to go downtown at rush hour.

Sheesh!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Twitter Fun

I received the following messages via Twitter that still have me laughing:


"My fancy pants have a meeting in the morning. I basically go along to make sure nothing spills on them."

"The heat index is high enough to enjoy Roy Schneider movies."

"Nine out of ten Iranian dentists have their gum recommendations overruled."

and my current favorite:

"I am going to ride a snowman home. If things get real bad, I can always slice him open and climb inside."






Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Related

This is a small post, but I truly believe that I am a direct descendant of the first person who decided naps were a good thing.

I took a nap last night when I got home, got up, did some stuff around the house, and went to sleep.

A nap sounds good right now.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Daddy Day and a New Target

Jerry had a very nice Father's Day yesterday... his wife and daughter cooked breakfast and lunch (big shock! The females in our house prefer NOT to cook) and they had fun doing it :)

Nicole gave Jerry a nice gift certificate for car washes - his car was reallllllly dirty. Of course, he ran to the store before she gave him her gift and, naturally, he decided to run through the car wash before he came home! Isn't that how things go?? Oh well, still a nice gift and he will definitely use it.

So, we all spent the first half of the day together and it was pleasant and fun. It's always good when that happens!

The new target? Oh, Nicole now has her sites on a new boyfriend interest, Jacob. I haven't met him yet. Sounds like a good kid.

This child is a heat-seeking missile for boys.

Here we go!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Five Friday Favorites - Material Possession

Friday Five Favs - So, tell me.....

What are your five favorite material possessions?

These are mine:

  1. Family photos
  2. A small bust of a Dutch girl reading a book (it was my great-grandmother's)
  3. A gold anchor bracelet my husband gave me years and years ago (I never take it off)
  4. The first piece of jewelry my grandfather gave my grandmother on her 16th birthday (also a bracelet)
  5. Treasured books.

How about you??

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Maturity

So, Nicole decided to be "mature" about everything.

She and Justin (April's recently dumped boyfriend) took everything April left in Nicole's car or at our house (this means tons of clothing) to April's job at the grocery store. April is a cashier.

Along with the mass quantities of clothing, a four page handwritten letter was delivered as well.

From what I gather, Nicole carried the letter and Justin carried the clothes. They walked through her line, dropped everything on the conveyor belt and informed April they were "through" and to "never speak to us again."

Off they went to a mutual friend's house and enjoyed the evening.

She came home in a good mood. Works for me.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

It Changes and Continues

...so, last night... Nicole gets a call from her "other" ex (whom she will always love, forever and ever, because he was her first true love), Dorkface. Well, Dorkface is best friends with one if Nicole's good friends, Justin, who, by the way, fell madly in love with Nicole's OTHER best friend, April. They dated for, oh my goodness, a week. Well, everyone could tell that April was flirting with Dorkface.

With that possibility looming, my child took it upon herself to call April and tell her if she was thinking about liking Dorkface, their friendship could be in jeopardy as April KNOWS that Nicole will always have feelings for Dorkface. April assured her that would not be an issue.... okay, that was BEFORE last night... let me flash forward again:

Last night, Dorkface calls Nicole and says, "Why can't you just let April and I be happy," and a host of other things. Nicole texted April. April texted back, "If you were my friend and loved me, you would want me to be happy." Happy?? This is all-out betrayal of all that is holy in friendships.

Of course, Courtney HAD to be drawn in to offer opinions, send various texts, and commiserate.

Nicole wants to "run them both over." I, naturally, do not support that choice.

Talking reason to the kid is futile.

I try and tell her to let it go. She is not in charge of either or them and nor can she dictate if they can like each other or not. It hurts, it is a betrayal, but LET IT GO.

She won't.

And this is why you should have children when you are very young, because at fifty, it wears your hiney out.

Good grief!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Sob Story

Oh yes, there is a lot of crying going on in our house right now.

Brandon, the perfect boyfriend, told Miss Priss he needed a "break" a week or so ago. Nicole has tried to handle it, but just doesn't understand how he could tell her he loves her, promise to never, ever hurt her, and then need a break.

She went on his MySpace and his ex-girlfriend is now in his "top" pics. Devastation.

All guys are the same. They all lie. They all hurt you. No one will ever be "true."

Tears, tears, and more tears. Pillowcases need replacing. Kleenex is extremely valuable.

Bless her heart - there's not a lot to do but listen and bite your tongue.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Responsibilities and Face It

A combo post! Almost like being in a Chinese restaurant, isn't it?

So, about responsibilities... I had a loooooooooooooooooooooooong discussion with Nicole on Saturday night about responsibilities. She thinks I micro-manage her too much and don't give her an opportunity to show me how responsible she truly is.

That went on to what we expect from her as a member of our family and a resident in our house. We are VERY easy on the kid. Keep your room neat. I don't want to walk in your room and see dirty clothes on the floor when the hamper is THREE FEET away.

Make your bed.

I don't want to see shoes all over the house.

Keep the bathroom neat. Don't take your clothes off and leave them there for God and everyone to see.

Do your laundry and put it away.

And CALL HOME at the appointed times. Quit saying, "Sorry, I forgot."

After this, she says I don't give her enough time to do these things before I tell her to do them again. My point: Do them and there won't be any discussion about it.

I had to act like my child rides the little bus: These things must be done FIRST and DAILY (except the laundry, of course). Not pick up your clothes and shoes once a week, or at 11pm.

The big point: You want extra privileges? Privileges require responsibility. If you can't show us responsibility right in front of our faces, how are we to believe you are being responsible the rest of the time? Sheesh!

Give me two toddlers for one teen - please!

Face It? I snagged my own name on Facebook... I felt like I won the lottery. Of course, Lynda isn't as popular as it was 30/40 years ago. I imagine if my name was Brittany or Courtney it wouldn't be so easy.

There you go... almost as good as sausage on a stick!

Friday, June 12, 2009

EDITED: Five Friday Favorites - Rockin' Chicks!

Made ya look twice, didn't it? No, you didn't read that wrong. My pal, Gary, says we should do an FFF with Five Rockin' Chicks, so this is for him.... and you!

I'll work on my list when I get to work, but imagine it will look something like this:Fridays rock, that's for sure!
Addendum:
Five Rockin' Chicks? These are five of my favs:
1. Aretha (do you really need the last name?)
2. Stevie Nicks
3. Lisa Loeb
4. Linda Rondstadt (back in the day)
5. Katie Pierson (love those B-52's)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

I'm Not Sleepy

....So, yesterday morning my phone rings at 6:30am. It's my daughter... she spent the night at her friend's house, and this is how the conversation goes (Miss Priss is in green):

"Hi!"
"Are you okay?" (wondering why in the heck my phone is ringing at 6:30AM)
"Yeah! We stayed up all night! We stayed in the backyard, and we had a citronella candle to keep the mosquitos away, we're not tired at all and we've had a WHOLE LOT of coffee."
"You need to get some sleep."
"No! We're not tired at all. We're about to go to Starbucks! Did I leave my money on the table?"
"You don't need any coffee - you need some sleep. Did you ever take your contacts out?"
"Mom! We HAVEN'T gone to sleep - why would I take my contacts out?"
"So, when are you going to get some sleep?"
"We are still talking and we need more coffee, so we're going to Starbucks!"

All of her sentences were at caffeine-induced lightning speed.

Okay, so the whole day goes by - no sleep - they need to spend time with their friends.

We need to shop for Jerry's birthday (Friday) and I told her I would pick her up after work. When I pulled up to the house, she walked out like a living zombie. Of course, she was extremely tired. We shopped - I told her to go home and get in bed.

"Bed??? I need to spend time with my friends!"

I could've fought it, but I didn't, so off she went with her friends. She came home at 10pm and went straight to her room and watched a movie... STILL not asleep.

About 11pm, she was zonked. Still sleeping when I left for work this morning.

Sheesh!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Frustration!

We have a rep that does independent contract work in our behalf. He must be a complete idiot.

You've just never heard anything like it! I can hear him over the speaker phone talking to a co-worker. I think I might hit him when I see him.

Good thing he's in Georgia.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Face It

Yes, I caved... I joined Facebook and am having big fun!

In less than 24 hours, I have reconnected with a LOT of people.

If, as I suspect, I get completely swallowed up here, please cast all blame on my friend, Gary. It's all his fault. My sister will think she is responsible, but truth be told, that's not the case.

The funny part is I have been actively online since 1997 and some of my friends are commenting something like this, "Lynda! You're online? On Facebook? *Faint*"

See? I have been very stealth in my activities... *wink*

Monday, June 8, 2009

When A Whole Weekend Passes

...and you don't even LOOK at your blog or the blogs of your friends, you miss so much!

I just peeked over at Gary's and it feels like I missed 6 months of stuff! My whole work morning might be just reading his blog. Plus, everyone I know is saying, "You should be on Facebook." I have resisted for an incredibly long amount of time, but I am almost ready to cave in.

Problem with that is... no one in my family has seen THIS blog and I like it that way. They're all on Facebook, so I will have to have a dual identity. We'll see. Still thinking about it.

No drama from Miss Priss this weekend. In fact, she stayed home for the entire day yesterday. If you have a teen you know what a strange thing that is.

And, this is good stuff... her report card arrived in the mail. Check this out:

Math - A
Theater - A
Spanish - B
English - B
US History - C (this one had to be pure laziness!)
Chemistry - C

Math is the biggest shocker! We are very proud of the grades.

Can't believe she will be a senior in a few months.

Oh, and we booked a cruise for August. We're letting Nicole bring her friend, Courtney, with us. Can you imagine being trapped on a boat with a teen? This way, they get their own cabin and are in a contained environment. Plus, we can have drinks and won't be driving. This sounds like a win-win.

Happy Monday!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday Five Favs: Birds

It's that time again - Friday! Where does the week go? For Friday Five Favs today, it's birds:


My favorite of all the bird - the mockingbird. Havoc on a garden, but the songs they sing while sitting on your chimney, or the top of a tree, are exquisite!
This fellow, the puffin, is who is planning all my vacations. I want to visit all the places I can find these creatures....is that face too cute, or what??
We all have these little sparrows, don't we? Sometimes we forget to see how adorable "plain" can be. Those dust baths they take are just too cute :-)
Pelicans. They have been a part of my life forever. Mostly, I see these brown ones, but there are plenty of white ones in the area as well. Just love them!
We have a HUGE owl that comes out late at night and sits on the neighbors house and hoots up a storm - beautiful bird. And humongous. Plus, owls always remind of that scene in My Cousin Vinnie.... you know the one (go on, click the link and see for yourself).
Oh, and I have a special bird I only show in traffic.
What about you??

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Cricket

I'm going to learn all about cricket... long story, but am finding this to be a fascinating sport...



The bowling (pitching) alone is wicked!

"Norti" Thoughts


So, my question to you is....



Do you have a "To Do" list?



If so, who's on it?


Pastelitos


Mmmmm....breakfast!



Sorry, vegans, but they are soooo good!

And thank you to the doughnut shop that decided to add these to the menu.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Peace and Flowers

Well, what do you know? My friend brought me flowers this morning... beautiful peonies. They look similar to these and look beautiful in my office.

She brought ALL of us flowers... so you can imagine how happy we all are. Gals like flowers - it's in the genes ;-)

So, there are the flowers.

Peace? In my house? Yes, it was peaceful yesterday. Nicole still can't understand why Brandon "needs a break" from her. They live so far apart, a break from WHAT?

Of course, we adults know the "break" means there's another girl close by.

She actually seemed to be handling this devastating crisis quite well.

There must be another boy nearby also.

Updates as they occur.

Peace and Flowers... groovy!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Total Eclipse

Okay, I stole this right from Minnesota Matron (whom I highly suggest as a fantastic blog read!), but I can't help it... it's too darned funny not to share... I have never cared for Bonnie Tyler, but I enjoyed this spoof of Total Eclipse of the Heart more than I can tell you... hope you do, too!

It Doesn't End

Oh no, it doesn't.

Guess who got a ticket for "Failure to come to complete stop?"

Guess who's boyfriend needs to "take a break?"

Guess who is waiting for EIGHTEEN to get here?

Monday, June 1, 2009

And This Is How It Went Down...

...Friday night, Nicole brings home her friend, April, and then proceeds to tell me that April's boyfriend, Caleb, has been hitting her. In fact, he hit her at Walgreen's and my child, delicate flower that she is, punched him in the face.

Okay... so, by this time it's after midnight. I have a loooooooooooong talk with April about how she is not to accept this kind of behavior and she is beautiful, intelligent, and valuable. Her goal in a boyfriend should be someone who supports her dreams and is her greatest cheerleader, not an abuser... blah, blah, blah.... crying ensued and all was right with the world. Both girls got a lecture on not accepting this behavior and if it ever happened again, you don't punch people in the face...or take beatings... you CALL THE COPS.

Everyone sleeps. Saturday arrives and the girls eventually wake up and hit the streets. April had to work at 3pm, so at precisely 3pm, I called April's mom to inform her of what has been happening. She was shocked and dismayed. Caleb was very deceptive... no one knew... except the girls and their friends who didn't feel compelled to tell anyone.

April's mom asked me to divert Nicole that evening so she could get to her alone. I agreed and took Nicole to dinner - just she and I. While at dinner, she says to me, "So, why are you taking me to dinner alone?" I told her I wanted to tell her alone that I had told April's mom everything... she says, "Good! I am glad you told her." Whew.

I also said April's mom was going to pick her up from work and talk to her... Nicole says, "No she isn't - Courtney is picking her up." Great. So, I had her call April's mom and tell her. Evidently, it was too late... Courtney picked her up and all the gang (including Caleb) were at a friend's house around the corner from April.

Nicole and I were driving home when Courtney called and said Caleb pushed April down in the driveway and also pushed Courtney. My child wants to call 9-1-1, but I explain to her she can't call about something she didn't see, so we drove straight to April's house, got her mom, and took her to the friend's house. Caleb had fled the scene. April had to confess all to her mother. We took April, Courtney, and Nicole back to Angel's and her mom called the police.

A case was filed. It was hard to get April to tell the cops anything - she didn't want Caleb to "get in trouble." He's a good person when he's not angry. Ugh.

He ran. Can't be found.

He texted everyone. Including my child... telling her things like, "I knew YOU would be the end of us." "This is all your fault."

God, I need a no-drama life for a while.

Weekend Teen Drama

Oh, this will be a long story... will post in a few....Happy Monday!

 
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