Unexplored Territory

Thursday, April 12, 2007

TT #34

This morning is one of those mornings. I have been having a hard time getting up to work, so I am PAINFULLY behind on that. I also have two girls who don't know the concept of sleeping in after they have had a really rowdy night the night before. Add to that a child who decides that it is her duty to wake up her sleeping brother (Thank you SOOO much for that, Monkey), it has already been a great morning, and I have only been awake for 10 minutes. But my mind is going ...

1. When did it get to be the middle of April already? Seriously. Soon it will be May, and then *shudder* June and summer break. Wow.

2. This weekend. WHY does EVERYthing have to happen in one day? Saturday, Queen has soccer pics. Then she has a game at 9:30. I have to be at the church for Kinder Choir rehearsal with the Monkey and the Man from 9 to 10, and the Queen needs to be there from 10 to noon. I can't let her miss the rehearsal because she has a substantial speaking part, and she needs to be there to practice. I'm with Robin. Praying for rain.

3. Speaking of soccer, I have a bone to pick with our soccer association. While I appreciate the fact that they want the kids to look uniform, WHY in the HELL do they have to wear the skimpiest of NASTY polyester jerseys? AND let me tell you ... that little "emblem" will crack and fade with subsequent washings. And some kids will look like crap out there. You should have let us keep up with the tradition of hte hand-me-down soccer shirts. They will look better over time.

4. I have to write a quiz for my one student-class tonight. I also have a speaker coming in to talk to her, along with a few others. Did you know that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month? Now you do.

5. CKU: I HAVE to prepare. I had a dream that we left and I had NOTHING with me.... no tools, no pictures, no clothes, no NOTHING!

6. My inlaws are coming in this weekend. Yep. Enough said.

7. My family is going to Great Wolf Lodge next weekend while I am away. So I have to get them prepared, meaning I need to get the Queen a new suit. So meant to order one from J Crew. Never got around to it. Bad Mom. Bad, bad Mom. And the only place that I have seen bathing suits is the Walton Trust Fund. Great.

8. Did I mention that I am PAINFULLY behind in work? Yeah. I think I did. And all I want to do is knit and do what I want to do. But I have been down that road so many times I have lost count. Oh yeah... did I mention that I didn't get that job? Nope. Got the email File 13 letter last Friday. But I was going to tell them no anyway. Seriously. I was. Honestly.<9>We have to finish the cars for the youngers production this Sunday. But let me tell you ... Sunday at 12:30 will be a GOOD time of the day, because both performances will be O.V.E.R.

10. I need to get some pictures taken of my knitting, my yarn, me knitting my yarn, and then 3 1" black and white pictures for a CKU class. I guess the first thing to do is see where I can get that done.

11. I have to make a decision about the Monkey's preschool situation next year. While the little school is wonderful where she goes now, they have no room in their 4 and 5 year old class. And the teacher suggested that I *hold her back* in the 3 YO class, no matter the fact that she will be turning four in June. So she will be FOUR in a THREE year old class. No thanks. I appreciate that you don't want to lose my money, but I won't hold my kid back just because the 4 and 5 YO class filled up quickly. Montessori is a huge consideration right now. I think she would fare wonderfully there, plus her little friend, Abby, will be there.

12. My mother, sister, and I need to decide if we are going to go out on the craft show "circuit" this summer. I have applied for a vendor's license, but haven't heard anything back about that. And my mother asks me about it, every time she sees me. EVERY time. I'm about ready to send her to Columbus with a note in her hand...

13. Need to finish a pair of shorts for a customer before we leave next week. Yes, BEFORE we leave. That means I need to get four days worth of work done in these next two days.... HA! That should be a sight to behold. My suggestion, people ... stay away from my house for the next seven days. After that, it's all fair game.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Labels: meme, Thursday Thirteen

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

TT # 33

Yes. It is true. I am of the legal profession. Although I don't talk about it much, I must come forth and admit it all here...

One of the things we loved to do in law school was listen to bad lawyer jokes ... you know the ones ... why don't sharks eat lawyers? professional courtesy. But the best ones were hearing about the awful lawsuits that were brought, or the questions that have been asked that should never have even been put on ANY record.

In honor of my profession, I bring you

Thirteen Funny Things In Which the Lawyers Looked Like Idiots!

1. Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn't know anything about it until the next morning?

2. Q: What happened then?
A: He told me, he says, "I have to kill you because you can identify me."
Q: Did he kill you?

3. Was it you or your brother that was killed in the war?

4. The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?

5. Q: She had three children, right?
A: Yes.
Q: How many were boys?
A: None.
Q: Were there any girls?

6. Were you alone or by yourself?

7.Q: I show you Exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture?
A: That's me.
Q: Were you present when that picture was taken?

8. Q: You say that the stairs went down to the basement?
A: Yes.
Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?

9. Q: Do you know how far pregnant you are now?
A: I'll be three months on March 12th.
Q: Apparently then, the date of conception was around January 12th?
A: Yes.
Q: What were you doing at that time?

10. Do you have any children or anything of that kind?

11. Was that the same nose you broke as a child?

12. Q: Mrs. Jones, do you believe you are emotionally stable?
A: I used to be.
Q: How many times have you committed suicide?

13.You don't know what it was, and you didn't know what it looked like, but can you describe it?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Labels: Thursday Thirteen

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

TT # 32

Just today, Ace and I were talking about how the Monkey has totally gotten into a LOT of stuff ... and that she never STOPS! No matter how many times we tell her to stop doing something, she just keeps on a truckin' and we know where she gets it ... her big sis.

I thought that a Thursday Thirteen about the three kids would be a fun thing to do ... so here are

Thirteen Things about My Three Yahoos

1. The Monkey doesn't sleep well at night. She never has. She will cry out in the middle of the night for the most assinine reasons ... she needs some water, she needs a bandaid, her knee is hurting her, she's tired ... you name it, she has an excuse for it.

2. When the Door Man was a baby, he didn't sleep well, either. In fact, there was a point in time when I didn't think he would EVER sleep through the night. Until I finally clued in that maybe he was just hungry, and that was it. I felt like such a rotten mother after that.

3. Queen Bee really surprised me this year with basketball. I think she will make a really good little player if she gets the basics down ... like not standing behind your defender when you are on offense with your hand raised saying "pass the ball to me!!!"

4. The Monkey weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces when she was born. She was a PEANUT, but she had the wail of an airhorn. The nurses commented in the NICU that she was the loudest baby they had heard in a long time.

5. The Door Man has announced that he wants to work at two local ice cream establishments, as well as be a construction worker and work with his Dad at Ace.

6. When I was pregnant with the Queen, I grabbed her foot and told Ace that she was going to have very large feet. He didn't believe that the length I was showing him with my fingers really represented the size of her foot. He was wrong; I was right. She had huge feet, and she still does. She wears a size 3 1/2 Youth, 5 1/2 women. But it is long and skinny.

7. I remember the DAY that Queen slept all the way through the night.... January 1, 1999. Ace and I woke up, realized that she hadn't cried during the night, and said "Happy New Year to US!" She was (and still is) a beautiful sleeper.

8. The Man is the sweetest, most caring little boy. He will tell his sisters that they are pretty, and that they are the best sisters in the world. Such a little man....

9. Instead of crawling a lot, the Monkey scooted around on her back a lot. I remember being at Jacque's for Bible study, and we all watched as the Monkey scooted all over her living room in record time.

10. Queen has seen just about every single bathroom in every single restaurant we have been to ... and that is a LOT of restaurants.

11. The Door Man was born with cataracts. I have mentioned this on the blog a few times. But I don't think I mention enough how much this little man amazes me on a daily basis. I know the struggles he has ahead of him, and he just meets everything with gusto and a passion for learning ... it is amazing

12. Did I ever mention that the Monkey loves lip gloss?

13. These kids are changing on a daily basis and I feel like I blink and someone has grown an inch or two. The other day, the Man's old preschool teacher said that he is going to be taller than me soon ... and he is. He is up to my chest already. The Monkey will always be a petite little thing, but she packs a mighty punch (sorry that she made Abby cry tonight, Robin... I felt so bad for Abby!) and the Queen will always be the over-achiever. So many things to love about these three people I brought into this world... and so many things to look for as they grow up.

Labels: meme, Thursday Thirteen

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

TT # 31

In honor of my Scotch/Irish heritage, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss some spirits that I have partaken .... you know ... because I'm Scotch/Irish. What better reason to talk about alcohol, I ask you?

Thirteen Spirits In Which I Have Imbibed

1. Fosters. On tap. In the barrel. You name it, I've had it. I LOVE the stuff, and it just totally reminds me of sitting in a pub in England.

2. Some dark draught at some pub in London. That is about as non-descript as I possibly can get. I inherited my father's love (who is of English heritage, mind you ... so I am an oppressor and the oppressed at the same time ... what a combo ... no wonder I need therapy) for dark beer that you can chew. Had it; loved it.

3. Lemonade and beer. Our German exchange student's mother, Helga, tried to talk me into this drink. I had it; I HATED it. It was just .... bleah.

4. Lots and lots of German beer when I visited our German exchange student, Gernot. He was raised on the stuff. I loved the ceramic tops on the bottles. I remember a story about how his mother would only send him off on his bike if she knew he would be drinking too much. Sure enough, there were many stories of him coming home drunk and passing out somewhere on his bike. Helga is a SMART woman.

5. Tequila. Bleck. Can't stand the stuff. Can't stand the smell. Can't stand the taste. But I like margaritas. Go fig.

6. Jack Daniels. Yet another in the "bleck" category.

7. Ok .. I have to admit this one ... this was all in the same night: one shot of Jagermeister, one shot of tequila, one shot of Jim Beam, and one shot of rum. It was after my oral arguments in my first year of law school. All of this was then chased with the bottomless pit of bottled beer. Some guy kept pouring beer into my bottle and I kept drinking. And drinking. And drinking. And passed out on the table. And then threw up outside.

8. Long Island Iced Tea. And not just ANY LIIT. It was a 24 ounce drink from this bar off of Cedar Point. They were horrid things, but man .... they were cheap.

9. Manhattan. YUM!

10. Sloe Gin Fizz. YUM-O!

11. Never met a margarita I didn't like. Jose makes an excellent already made, in the bottle margarita. YUMMY!

12. Breitenbach Black Raspberry Wine. This is HEAVEN in a bottle, people. Heaven. Did I ever tell you about the time when I thought I saw a UFO? Ok. That is for another time.

13. Breitenbach First Crush. Another yummy wine. These are wines that are kind of local to the area. They are SOOOOO good.

I promise I am not a lush. Really, I used to drink a lot in college and at Cedar Point. But I really don't do that much anymore. It is the occasional margarita here and there, and wine at home. Nothing like my wild days of long ago.... but the Irish part of me always needs something.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Labels: Thursday Thirteen

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

TT # 30

I haven't moved around a lot in my life to an exciting location. Mostly back and forth from school to work to school to work to law school, etc. So I thought it would be cool to tell you about the Thirteen Places I Have Lived (the might be the same ones ... this is just the chronological order of it all)

1. Ok.. I am giving up a lot here ... Findlay, OH. Born and raised. Still live here. You realize, this doesn't go hand in hand with the anonymity that I want to keep, so ... don't tell my inlaws where I am, ok?

2. Rio Grande, OH. Went there for my first two years of college. Nothing too exciting. It is, however, the home of the Bob Evans Farm. When Bob was alive, he OWNED that town. I remember the age-old story of when a police officer pulled Bob over for speeding (Rio was known as the big speed trap along the way), and Bob looked at the officer and said "son, do you know who I am?" and the officer replied "no. Should I?" Bob read him the riot act. That officer learned ALL about Bob then.

3. Lexington, KY. Went from Rio Grande to Lexington to attend the University of Kentucky. Lived in a dorm with an RA. Hated EVERY minute of that, and so did my RA because one of the deals with being an RA was the fact that they didn't have to have roommates. Never liked her.

4. Sandusky, OH. Went to work at Cedar Point in between my jr. and sr. year in college. My first year there, and it was a BLAST!

5.Back to Lexington, but wisened up this time around and lived in university sponsored apartments. MUCH better deal than the last one.

6. BACK to Sandusky. Spent the summer there with Ace. What a magical summer it was....

7. BACK to Lexington for my final semester at UK.

8. Home to my parents. What a bummer this was. I remember being the surliest, nastiest person on the face of the planet. Which led me to take a job in the

9. marketing department at Cedar Point in February. Living on Lake Erie in the winter ... you KNEW I had to be desperate.

10. Ada, OH where I went to law school. Lived there for my first year. My mother insisted on it.

11. Findlay for my last two years of law school. Ace and I were married between my first and second year. There was a point in time when I moved in with my parents because Ace went down to

12. Lexington, KY. We moved down there after I graduated from law school, and had Queen Bee down there. Then we moved back to

13. Findlay, where we have been since 1999.

Labels: meme, Thursday Thirteen

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

TT # 28

Thirteen Things About Starting Weight Watchers Again

1. Water. Drink it. Do it or retain salt. End of sentence.

2. Those Asian Dumplings at Ruby Tuesday's ... really can't have the whole plate anymore, dork.

3. WW makes a yummy little lemon snack cake. That I could eat the whole box of. In one sitting. Note to self: don't buy those again.

4. Exercise... really need to do it.

5. My children ask me about EVERYthing that I am doing ... Mommy, are you on Weight Watchers? What are you eating? Where is your black case? Why aren't you writing anything down? There should be points given to a person when they have to deal with that many questions just the first day on program.

6. My body hasn't been miraculously replaced with Barbie's yet ... I was expecting that on my first day back OP.

7. Although I think the points I have are a lot, the things I like to eat consume a LOT of those points.

8. Really... no more bacon and egg breafasts for me anymore. No more. That is a splurge. Read that, Ace? NO more.

9. Afer a while, a tangerine looks like chocolate.

10. Never again will I start this program on Valentine's Day.

10. # 2 ... I almost didn't record the sheer amount of points I consumed tonight for dinner. Then I realized that I needed to... for my own sake.

11. No matter how many times I hear it, this isn't a DIET. I have to tell myself that it isn't a diet. It is a change of life. Right? Right. I think so.

12. 10 points should be given, per child, per day, who have been in my house due to school closings .. so that should give me ... oh... 80 points.

13. I WILL do this. I WILL do it. I WILL I WILL I WILL!!!

Labels: diet, Thursday Thirteen, Weight Watchers

I'm a mom of three peeps ... Queen Bee, The Door Man, and the Chandelier Monkey, and wife to Ace, the Helpful Hardware Man. I created this space to get away from the people known as my inlaws, and because life with three kids and a hubby is all Unexplored Territory.

The nine-year-old who seems to be growing older every minute, has an opinion and a comment for everything, and has a true servant's heart.

The seven-year-old who loves the organization of things, will someday be someone's therapist because of his kind soul, and will more than likely be living with us until he is 40 years old.

The five-year-old with the 13-year-old attitude, who has a dictator's personality, asks you to watch her all the time and say "hold on" to keep your attention, and will someday come home on the back of some dude's motorcycle with 10 tatts and a body piercing or two.

The man of the house, the fixer of things, the winner of prizes, and the only person in his family to escape the South.