Butt Loaf Meat Cramps

What's that you say? Butt loaf meat cramps?! That sounds disgusting! What are you talking about??

I'm talking about butt loaf meat cramps, that's what!

The kids like to watch iCarly. I think all kids like iCarly. It's a very popular show, and quite good. Have you ever watched it? I won't go out of my way to watch it, but if the kids have it on I don't mind stopping and watching. But anyway, back to the topic - butt loaf meat cramps.

It's a funny thing to say, isn't it?

Well, there was an episode of iCarly where one of the characters had to sit on various food-stuffs and try to guess what they were sitting on. I think that was the gist of it. Well, Spencer sat on meat loaf. And at one point he said something about a meat loaf butt cramp. (I would probably get a butt cramp from sitting on meat loaf too.)

And the kids were telling me about this episode (which I missed) and I thought meat loaf butt cramps sounded funny. So I tried to say it. But didn't get it quite right and out came 'butt loaf meat cramps'. Which sounds even funnier. And even more gross.

So we all laughed at Mommy's silliness and tongue-twisted ways. And then spent the rest of the day saying "Butt loaf meat cramps!"

Quack!

Snailerbiggius

So the snails had babies. And the babies grew. And in some cases, they grew and grew and grew and grew until they were as big as a house. OK, slight exaggeration, but for a snail, one in particular is huge! Sweet Pea named him Snailerbiggius. The perfect name! I think he may even have outgrown Frisky, who is no small potato. She's quite a monster in the snail world as well.

And for a snail, he's fast. He zooms around the tank like you wouldn't believe, scraping algae off the sides and terrorizing the other snails. Well, OK, only if you consider occasionally climbing over them terrorizing. Maybe they terrorize him now that I think of it. I've seen two of the smaller ones on his shell at the same time before. None of them seem to mind though. I suppose it's like monkeys picking fleas from each other's fur except in this case it's eating algae off each other's shells. Mmmmm. Supper.

But everyone (everysnail? everyfish?) seems to like Snailerbiggius. The other snails will cluster around (for warmth??) and even the guppies will cluster around - poking themselves into the spaces between the snails, right up at the waterline. They are all good friends. What a peaceful, loving tank.

Quack!

Floating Over the Country Side

Mouse is having a grand old time just floating over the country side, checking out the sights.

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Buried Under a Huge Pile of Lids

Each year, toward the end of the school year, the kindergarten at the kids' school works on their counting skills. They do this by having all the kids bring in lids. Old milk jug lids, juice lids, that sort of thing. They did it when Sweet Pea was in Kindergarten and they did it when Snickers was in Kindergarten. And, they are doing it this year with Doodlebug. Cool.

But what's really cool is that we knew this was coming. (We're pretty smart that way). And for the last three years, ever since Snickers finished Kindergarten, we have been saving up our lids. Yes. We're weird as well as smart. For three years we have saved every single milk jug lid, juice bottle lid, orange juice carton screw-on cap, shampoo cover, soda bottle cover and every lid that seemed to fit the bill. I would bag them up when they became cumbersome and stick them in a corner. (And I wonder why my house is so cluttered and messy all the time - it's things like this!)

And now it's time.

The official letter came home from Kindergarten. It's time to bring in the lids. If only they knew! They will soon enough!

The other day we pulled them all out. And last night I dumped them out onto the living room rug. Sweet Pea and I stayed up (much too late) and counted them all. We split them up into piles of ten, then into piles of one hundred. And finally, into piles of one thousand.

And the grand total? 2365! How's that Kindergarteners! Count that!! Er, I mean, here you go children, have at it!

Doodlebug is very excited about bringing them all in. He has a good sense of humor and recognizes the pure and utter silliness of saving these darn things for THREE YEARS! and bringing them in all at once. The class has been bringing them in for the last week or so and they are up about 190. Pretty good haul. But. Well. That number is about to increase! Twelve-fold! Hold onto your milk Kindergarteners!

I bagged them up into three bags. I was pretty sure Doodlebug couldn't carry the whole thing himself, so between him, Snickers and Sweet Pea, they are going to bring the whole pile of them in in three bags. (Three very large bags!)

At this point I'm not sure I can stop saving lids. I'm used to just tossing all lids into the little pan on the corner of the counter. I've been doing it for three years! Maybe I should continue. You know, save them up for the grandkids. Can you imagine how many I could save up in the next 25 years?!?! You'll be reading about me in the newspaper. No. Not for saving up such a huge amount of lids to send in to school with my grandchildren. But for being one of those poor old people who dies a terrible death under mountains of garbage I just couldn't bear to throw away. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just get used to tossing them away after all.

Quack!

What the Heck IS That in That Box?

Doodlebug loves kittens. He has quite a collection of them. Among the collection is a little round box with a cat face on the cover. That's "Box Kitty". Then there's "Bouncy Kitty". Bouncy kitty was like a fur-covered slinky with a cat's head on one end and a tail on the other. Unfortunately, through regular wear and tear, poor little Bouncy Kitty's head became detached.

And, as we soon discovered, the head was just the right size to fit into Box Kitty. How convenient.

And yet, how creepy:




Let's just say Doodlebug's dentist was somewhat surpised when he opened Box Kitty for her:

Dentist: What do you have there, Doodlebug?
Doodlebug opens his cute little kitten box.
Dentist: Oh! Oh  my!


Quack!

Meet Joe

This is Joe. Joe is a baby bird. I don't know what he's doing in the cup, and neither does his daddy. But there he is.

My cup of Joe for the day.

Quack!

Ginormous is a Huge Word!

Ginormous is such a real word! It really is. And even if it isn't, it is to me. So there!

But lots of people know that it's a real word. Merriam Webster says so. 

According to this article, Merriam-Webster traces ginormous back to 1948, when it appeared in a British dictionary of military slang.

So it's been around for a long time. And everyone uses it:

From the movie "Elf":
Have you seen these toilets? They're GINORMOUS!

Even Simon Cowell once said: "I think it was the best performance of the night so far. Where with Crystal we're used to consistency, the difference with you from week to week has been ginormous. It was your stamp on the song . . ."

So it must be real!

Quack!

Crazy, Body-Twisting, Limbs-in-the-Air, Jumping Kind of Push-Ups

Holy cow! I forgot what a real workout is like. I was into karate many years ago. But then I stopped for about 13 years (to get married and have babies and do family stuff). I continued to work out on my own on and off, mostly using exercise videos and working out with my own punching bag.

And now that I'm back into karate it's all coming back. The grueling, long, muscle-trembling, sucking in breath, holy-crap-is-this-ever-going-to-end moments. The endless repetitions of sit-ups/leg lifts/ab work. The endless sets of push-ups of all varieties from regular ol' push-ups right through crazy, body-twisting, limbs-in-the-air, jumping kind of push-ups. The endless sets of punch, jab, punch, jab, punch, jab. The lunges and squats of all varieties, the bag punching, bag kicking, bag holding, can-I-catch-my-breath-now moments.

You never push your self that hard when it's just you. You just don't. It's too easy to get lazy. Even when you don't think you do, you do. I would and did work out until I felt all muscle-trembly. Until my muscles were sore and I felt like I did a good workout. I knew I was not doing enough cardio, but I worked on the strength and flexibility stuff.

But not like this. I had forgotten it. The rivulets of sweat dripping down my temples. The soggy t-shirt and gi top. The oh-my-god-is-that-me hair - wild and crazy and sweaty, the red face and reddened knuckles from bag-punching.

Oh yes. It's all coming back now.

It's so good to be back! 

And since I don't have a picture of sweat, or crazy hair, or reddened knuckles, I'll leave you with this. Because sometimes this is how I feel when I'm done.

Quack!

My Soup is Too Hot

I've always liked haiku, those little Japanese poems. Traditionally they are 3 lines, the first being 5 syllables, the second 7, the last 5. If you read what they have to say on Wikipedia though it's pretty flexible as to the number of syllables, but the traditional rules involve a bit more than I usually adhere to. I prefer to stick to the 5-7-5 format because that's what I originally learned and I usually write them about whatever random thought is crossing my mind at the time.

I have a habit of making haiku about everything from little boys in Spiderman pajamas, to supper, flowers, pets, holidays, you name it. Sometimes silly, sometimes serious, but always fun.

Here's one for a previous post.

Snailerina small
Twirling across the surface
Gliding twirling swan

And here are some of my favorites.

He looks very cute
in Spiderman pajamas
My sweet little boy

Little naked boy
Let's get pajamas on you
Quickly, quickly now

Or how about these food related haiku:

Supper is yummy
I really like chicken legs
The kids won't eat them

Waffles for breakfast
Crispy, tasty, steaming hot
Butter and syrup

Pork and fries tonight
Pork wrapped in juicy bacon
Crispy, crunchy fries

Cool milk in my mouth
Soothing treat for a burned tongue
My soup is too hot

And hubby came up with this one:

Mommy is a dork.
She makes haiku about meals.
I think she is silly.


And finally dessert:

Mint cake is yummy
I will make some this weekend
And blog about it

Let's see what you come up with. Post a haiku in the comments!
 
 
Quack!

Gerbily Sounds

clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita clinkita.

The sound of tiny little nails on tiny little paws, rapidly pawing on porcelein. Over and over and over. Cute for the first 2 minutes, then irritating for the next 45 until you leave the room with your hands clasped over your ears.

---

squeak, squeak

Very very soft tiny squeaks when they are snuggled up in their nest. You have to be very quiet to hear them. So so sweet!

---

Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta Thumpitta

Little feet running madly around and around and around, but getting nowhere.

---

Rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle rustle

Little bodies twisting, turning, squirming, poking noses out, pulling noses in, rearranging, squirming, digging, turning, nose out, whiskers quivering, nose in, wiggle, wiggle

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Crunch crunch crunch crunch tear Crunch crunch crunch crunch tear Crunch crunch crunch crunch tear Crunch crunch crunch crunch tear Crunch crunch crunch crunch tear Crunch crunch crunch crunch tear

The pouncing on and continuous gnawing of a cardboard tube until it's nothing but tiny shredded flakes.

---

Gerbils are so cute!


Quack!

Reminder

Now that spring is here, I thought you might like a reminder of what winter was like. (Or maybe not!) It makes you really appreciate spring even more!

Now this is more like it:

Quack!

Elephant Behind Bars

“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.”

- Groucho Marx

“My roommate got a pet elephant. Then it got lost. It's in the apartment somewhere.”

- Stephen Wright 

 
Quack!