Candy Covered 56 Cake

  My parent's had their 56th anniversary recently (Holy Cow!!!) And this is their colorful cake:

In case you're wondering, those little colorful balls are Sixlets. Tasty little chocolate 'flavored' treats. A little strange, but tasty.

Quack!

I Don't Want Any More Details! How Did We Get on This Topic Anyway?

  When kids get to a certain age it's a good idea to have 'the talk' with them. There are certain things they need to know and I don't want to leave it all up to the schools, or gods forbid, their friends, to fill them in. Well, Sweet Pea got the preliminary talk several years ago. And while she was incredulous and thoroughly grossed out by some of the details, she was also very curious and it was definately time for her to know some of this.

Snickers on the other hand was a little different. Lately he's been asking a few questions, mostly in an offhand way, but I knew he was curious and we decided it was time to at least offer some explanation and fill him in a little bit. So, one day it was just me and him and the time seemed right. He asked a few questions. I offered some preliminary information. I got into a few details - nothing too graphic. And as things started to progress he decided he had enough!

Snickers: "OK, that's it. I don't want any more details! I've heard enough."
Mom: [laughing]. "Ok, but . . . "
Snickers: "No more. I don't want to know. How did we get on this topic anyway?"

He stopped short of plugging his ears and singing, "La la la la la la." but it was close. I knew it was time to stop. I think he has just enough details for now to satisfy his curiousity.

Quack!

To the Moon Pac Man!

  The boys love Pac Man. Santa even brought them some plush Pac Man and Ghost toys. Here they are in their very own 'vehicles' Pac Man is ready to rocket to the moon and Blinky is ready for a trip across the ocean.

Quack!

What is Best in Life? Or Slurp Them Down With Gusto

  One of the Hubster's favorite movies is Conan the Barbarian. And of course, one of his favorite lines from the movie is this gem:

Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.

He even has the kids trained to answer it. Nice.

But I have a better alternative. How about:

To crush your cookies, to see them sprinked in your milkshake and to slurp them down with gusto.

Much better in my opinion.

Quack!

For your Valentine's Day viewing pleasure, here are some hearts:

Delicious heart-shaped sandwich cookies:

Delicious 'heart-shaped' breakfast cookies (Cookie Crisp)

A heart charm

 A heart rock

Hearts

 

And some delicious chocolate hearts

Quack!

That Otis Guy

Have you ever heard the song "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes? It's very catchy. I like it. Every time I hear it I start bopping to the music. But I suppose it's one of those things that upon first hearing it I probably said, "Holy crap! What the heck is this? It's terrible!" But over time, it's grown on me and now I really like it. I actually spent $0.69 to download the mp3 to my iPod. And as I was doing so, Sweet Pea was in the room. She said, "Mom! What are you listening to? That's terrible!"

And now, whenever she gets the chance, she mentions "that terrible song that Mommy likes by that Otis guy."

"That Otis guy?" Yes, that same day I was listening to "That's how strong my love is" by Otis Redding on youtube and she thought it was terrible. So all this 'terrible music' is now joined in her mind as 'that Otis guy'.

And, in regards to said 'Otis guy' I decided against purchasing any Otis Redding music. While I like it, it's a little too, oh, I don't know, old fashioned maybe? Too twangy? I don't know. Something about it I just don't like enough to purchase. But, I did discover that one of my many favorite bands, Seven Mary Three, did a cover of "That's How Strong My Love Is" on their Backbooth album - an awesome live acoustic album. So I got that and downloaded it to my iPod. I love it! The lead singer has a great voice and I really like the music.

I'm sure Sweet Pea would not agree. What I listen too is by no stretch of the imagination 'boy band music' or 'pop' which is what Sweet Pea enjoys. Too each their own, right?

Quack!

Poking, Prodding, Drilling, Pushing, Poking, Picking, Pushing, Drilling, Filing, Poking and Prodding

 Oh my god! I thought the root canal saga was almost over. You know, finally, after a month of extreme sensitivity to heat and cold, I thought I would get this darn thing fixed and move on with my life. Yeah, right. OK. So, I went in last Tuesday for the root canal. Novicaine first - in my cheek and in the roof of my mouth. Ouch! Then after almost two hours of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking and prodding the dentist has to stop. He can't find the last canal. Great. OK, come back tomorrow.

So Wednesday, I went back. Another round of novicaine - needles in my cheek and in the roof of the mouth. Then another hour and a half of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking, prodding - ouch! Enough already. The novicaine numbs the tooth but all that pushing and prodding and poking gave me wicked jaw, tooth, sinus and head pain. This sucks! And to top it off, he thinks he found the canal, but he can't get into it to clean it out. Guess what. You have to see someone else. Wheee!

So, Thursday, off to the Endoscopic specialist. What does he do? You got it, Another round of novicaine - needles in my cheek and in the roof of the mouth. Then, after an hour of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking and prodding, he states that yes, the canal has some calcification. You'll have to come back again. WTF?!?!? My options are to 'just fill it already and hope it works'. (hmmm, not too sure on the 'cross your fingers and hope it works' thing). Have surgery to get to the canals another way. Or have the tooth yanked. Super. Just great. After three days of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking, prodding, I'm inclined to say yank it. Just get the darn thing out of there. It hurts! But as soon as my Tylenol kicks in I may be able to think more clearly.

From all my research it's worth saving the tooth if I can. But I don't know how many more hours of poking, prodding, drilling, pushing, poking, picking, pushing, drilling, filing, poking, prodding I can take. Not to mention the pain between appointments. And of course I've maxed out my dental insurance for the year (and it's only February!) so whatever I do, it comes out of my quickly emptying pocket. That may alter my decision too.

This sucks!

Quack!

Possibly It's the Sweet Sweet Smell of Old Lunches and Sneakers

  Imagine that you have a house. And in that house you have cozy sofas and nice beds and squashy arm chairs. You also have fluffy pillows and warm blankets. You have carpeting. You have laundry baskets full of laundry. You have kids, which invariably means clothing and nice thick warm winter coats on the floor. You also have a nice warm lap.

Imagine too that you have a cat. A cat who loves soft warm places to sleep, sunshine and heat vents, cushions and warm laps.

Now, picture a rough, scratchy canvas backpack covered in zippers and velcro flaps. It's lumpy. It's not soft. It's not warm. And whenever said backpack is on the floor, you also cannot see anything of it except the edges. Why? Because, if said backpack is on the floor, it is guaranteed to be covered with a long haired black and white cat.

Why?!?!? What is the allure of the backpack? Is it the smell of pencil shavings? The smell of road salt and school dirt? Maybe it's the smell of old lunches and sneakers. Or maybe it's just to keep us on our toes by doing yet another unexplainable thing. You know, like staring at the invisible beings in the room and following them around with your eyes.

Cats don't seem particularly intelligent, but they do know how to mess with their people.

Quack!

Lambs on the Grid

  So, there I am sleeping. It's the middle of the night. Snickers comes in to my room and stands by my bed. A minute later he is in my bed, snuggled up under the blankets. His nose is whistling. I know that hubster hates it when stray children and pets find their way into the bed and I'm thinking that the whistling nose might wake him up. There's nothing worse than a grumpy bed-mate! But OK, how loud can it be? It sounds loud to me because it's practically right in my ear, but it's surely not loud enough to wake the hubbster right?

Then, the next thing I know Snickers is giggling. "Are you laughing??" I asked him. He nodded and giggled again.

OK, that's sure to wake up the sleeping bear! So, we both get up and move to his room where we snuggled up under his blankets. He giggled a few more times then dropped off to sleep.

So much for the theory that he was awakened by a nightmare and came to get me because he was scared! Apparently, any dream, even a funny one, is an excuse to snuggle up with Mommy.

In the morning he told me he was dreaming about lambs and Tron. Apparently lambs on the grid are very funny.

PS Happy Groundhog Day!!

Quack!