[ oh want fun it is to... ]

sooooooo...i've got to admit it's only been the second day of yoda, our 'elf on the shelf' & it's so much fun!! my boys are so excited especially when they go look for him & he's in a different place! the best time to move him is when we get in the car & i'll pretend to forget something & have to run back in... i do get a kick out of it & have caught myself doing a sneaky laugh!!

today was flynn's turn to open the star wars advent calendar ~ which he very excitedly reminded me of at 6am this morning...

i'm really not up on star wars at all... i remember when i told my husband the only star wars film i'd every seen was the new one... he face was the same one i pulled when i discovered our dog, lennon, had chewed up my drivers license...

i had no idea who the figure was behind door number 2 ... after some research i find it's nute gunray... of course!! he doesn't look very happy... probably similar to my look when i'm woken up really early. i definitely wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator with him!

nute

the flynnster

[ december... december... ]

sooooooo... december is here already!!! so much excitement today ~ we started the STAR WARS advent calendar that the boy's wonderful godparents got them ~ VERY COOL!! & also YODA is back!! [ my elf on the shelf!! ] please read here

YODA!!!

STAR WARS ADVENT CALENDAR!!!!

[ ouchy ]

sooooooo... i pick up my boys from school, & i don't do this often but they love it, i brought them a lollipop to eat in the car. when i say i don't do that often don't go thinking i'm a meanie!! i usually try & give candy nearer a time they are going to clean their teeth...

we arrive home, it was pouring with rain, my phone starts ringing & i drop my keys in a puddle. i'm desperately trying to keep the kids from jumping in there too with arm actions so the person on the phone doesn't have an inkling of the chaos going on. i'm rubbish at doing that though because even though i try really hard i know my voice changes a bit & i can't actually listen properly to whats being said either!!

somewhere between the car, steering the boys, trying to get flynn to put down the muddy sticks he's collecting, carrying 2 backpacks, a closed umbrella, my phone held to my ear with my shoulder & unlocking the door i managed to knock the skin completely off my knuckle :( it was bleeding quite a lot & at first i stuck some kitchen towel on a la cut yourself shaving... but it looked gross & wasn't very functional!!

flynn, my 4 year old, has a very caring nature, came over & wanted to see, then before i could stop him he kisses it... but we're not talking a light peck... we're talking big sticky lollipop smooch... then shouts for his brother & says 'look mum's got a boo boo' & didn't steer his point so well & pushes his muddy finger in... so i now have a skinless knuckle covered in a mixture of cherry slobber & dirt!! but it was nothing a spiderman band aid couldn't fix!

flynn the photographer!

[ religion... ]

sooooooo... i was raised catholic, went to a catholic school but we seldom went as a family to church, in fact i can probably count the number of times we did on one hand... my dad would tuck us in at night & listen to our prayers...

when i emigrated, with my parents (my mum [mom] is 100% italian) to a very small village in italy at the age of 15 & it was a whole other story... everything revolved around the church, religion is in everything...

after i returned to the uk i didn't continue going to church ~ except christmas & for the usual activities that my dad likes to call 'hatching, matching & dispatching...'

then i found myself living in the states & engaged to an agnostic ~ it didn't cross my mind for a moment that we would marry in a church.

on a visit to my mum we were exploring the amalfi coast & as i ran up the 64 steps to this gorgeous cathedral i said now this is a church to get married in!! 6 seconds later my mum emerges from the church saying you can!!! what! nooooooo we can't, but apparently we can & could!! it involved me registering at my local parish, lots of paperwork & my now husband being a really great sport about the whole thing!! from meeting with the priest, at our local parish, for all the paperwork i got to know & really like this guy!! & felt compelled to go on sundays & i have to say i started to enjoy going... sometimes i'd sit there listening to the sermon & think ??? no way... but for the most part there was a nice message & a feeling of community...

believe it or not i even started being a lector...

everything was good until... i went, heavily pregnant with my first son, to the baptism classes & this woman (running the class) said something unforgivable about hurricane katrina... it took every ounce of my husbands being to not walk out & i'm surprised we could see across the room from steam that his nostrils were generating!

then there was the fact that we had very carefully picked out the god parents ~ we chose the most amazing couple & we would want only them to take over from us... but no we weren't allowed by this church... & were told that they would pick out people for us...

needless to say the actual god parents are the only ones we adore (we got around it) & i started backing away from my religious love affair...

which leads me to today... we were in one of my most favorite places on earth... dragonfly farms :) i'm perusing the beautiful christmas ornaments... when my son oscar shouts out 'mummy... that's kevin...' intrigued by what he meant... i go over to where he's standing & say 'where darling?' oscar points & i follow his finger to a beautiful wooden carved nativity... he's pointing at joseph!!! seriously?! i started laughing... mostly because i found it funny (where did he get kevin from!!!) & the slightly nervously because i should be having a religious conversation...

wish me luck!!

kevin...

[ toilet paper... ]

sooooooo... i walk into the bathroom... errrr... does anyone know what happened to the toilet paper??
 
no-one saw a thing...

[ HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! ]

sooooooo... i walked my son, oscar (6), to school ~ it was a lovely morning, a bit misty. My other son, flynn (4), trotted along happily with our old husky, lennon 11. lennon seemed really happy & enjoying the walk, his back legs seemed much better today, the arthritis not effecting him so much & i'm happy to say there were a few times that his tail even managed a curl, not seen that in a while.

oscar was asked to bring in a fruit today, to make a thanksgiving fruit salad with his class. we looked at all the fruit in the store & decided on a pineapple... then found a pineapple with 3 sprouty top bits instead of the usual one. so we had this pineapple in tow & i'd put in a brown paper shopping bag.

we reached school & said our goodbyes ~ i glanced behind me, as i walked away, to see oscar proudly showing off his pineapple to the kids in line, one of the handles had ripped off the bag & i knew it would only be a matter of time till that pineapple busted out!!

flynn & i continued home ~ the leaves seemed so much brighter today, beautiful colors as we high kicked through them... flynn asked me to carry his toy jet plane so he could hold my hand & he clung tight... i suddenly got butterflies in my stomach, the eve of a holiday my kids super excited, i was filled with childhood memories. we have a lot to be thankful for & i truly am.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all you wonderful friends & family x

flynn's center piece ~ gobble gobble

[ flu shot ]

sooooooo... i have to get this off my chest ~ as i've said before this blog is part of my therapy...

last week i called up my pediatrician's office & made appointments for the boys & me to have flu shots. flynn, 4, must have overheard & asked was it just oscar going. i replied no ~ all of us... he asked 'for flu shots?' & i couldn't lie...

this was not how i wanted to handle this ~ i wanted to take them to the appointment & they'd realized what was happening minutes before.

so for the last few days flynn must have been agonizing about this... i gently explained that we all need to have our flu shot, that it doesn't hurt at all & if you got the flu you'd be very sick etc etc etc (actually if he doesn't have the shot he would have to withdraw from pre-school). but this wasn't helping... so i then starting answering 'ok' to his statements ~ 'i'm not having the shot. tell the dr i don't want it. i'll get it next month. i won't get the flu.'

oscar, 5, on the other hand was behaving very bravely. 'mum, i'll go first ~ get it over with.'

i was reading stories to them as we waited our turn... when we were called into our room i looked at oscar ~ he had gone very pale & decided not to go first. flynn stood by the door. i pulled up my sleeve ~ confirmed it didn't hurt. next oscar sat on my knee. i told him to take a deep breath & when i saw the needle was about to go in told him to let it out. he also confirmed it didn't hurt. flynn started rapidly saying over  'i don't want it...' i tried to talk to him but he got hysterical, screaming & crying as loudly as he could... really screaming & slamming into the door. i really had to struggle to get hold of him, i fought trying to get his leg out (i think shots in kids thighs must hurt less...) it took all my strength & was horrible. i wanted to just pick him up & run ~ it hurt me so much... my insides ached & i felt sick. the shot was over in an instant but 6 hours later i still feel pains...

then i kept getting these awful thoughts ~ what if he was kidnapped or someone terrible tried to do something to him ~ he'd put up that kind of fight... that's want kids do... i'm making myself crazier!

we went to wegmans to watch the movie & eat pizza... flynn wanted to sit on my lap ~ i was really surprised, i thought he'd be really fed up with me, but instead his hugs felt tighter & when daddy met us he proudly showed off his plaster [band-aid], there are no words to describe this love

[ uh-oh ]

sooooooo...our 11 year old husky, lennon, has taken a shine to paper in the last couple of months :(

i have come home on numerous occasions to find shredded envelopes, kids drawings & greeting cards either in the house or out on the deck. when i go to cut the grass & pick up the dog poop before hand they can be in an assortment of most colors!

he even ate my birthday card & pedicure voucher from my friends.... (funnily enough he seems to chew up anything that my fabulous friend jackie gives me...)

the vet said he's angry & being spiteful, which makes sense as this happens when we are out.

but now, apparently, he's moving onto bigger things!!! last week we return home to discover this:

poor sponge bob! ~ this was bad enough... but what makes it worse ~ it's a library book & somehow i'm thinking tape isn't going to help, not even magic tape!!

then 2 days later...

another library book... well at least the title seems appropriate...

[ october in nj!! ]

sooooooo... it was october 10th yesterday & there was no school ~ thank you mr columbus :)

the forecast was beautiful ~ so i took the boys to the beach! who would have thought we'd be paddling in october, the water was fantastic.

a great time was had by all... except for a minor detail...  flynn buried oscar's lightning mcqueen frisbee (but to be honest he never played with it, i brought it along) resulting in all of us digging around the beach for ages trying to locate it... to the dramatic tune of oscar's 'i'll never see it again...' & unfortunately he's right...

[ a trip to jfk airport! ]

sooooooo... today my mum (mom) & cousin came to visit from italy!!! yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!


i was up really late tidying up the night before, doing washing, making up beds  etc etc. i had a really busy day today: a dr's appoint @ 8.15 which we were a bit late to because flynn, (my 4 year old son) couldn't find one of his shoes... i know i keep saying this, but this is when i'm so thankful that humans have two feet... seriously... it's hard enough sometimes finding a pair of something...

dr's appointment took longer than i expected arhhhhh i don't have time for this today....

squeeze in a drop off for a client

pharmacy pick up... left boys watching tv in car to run in but forgot we have changed insurance, so had to run back to car for new card & then they had to input the new info & run the prescriptions again... i had to stop myself from jogging on the spot & saying go faster!!! then i ended up paying $45 for a minuscule tube of cream for my eye! no generic grrrrrrrr

shopping trip to 3 stores... first one trader joes. flynn was napping & oscar (my 5 3/4 year old son) was pushing him in the stroller. it was literally 40 winks, so i closed the stroller & after trying every which way to fit it under the shopping trolley (cart) i balanced it on the top... which was fine, i just needed a bit more clearance to manoeuvre... this very loud, very blonde, very overweight lady picked the wrong to be strutting her stuff around the wine section trying to sound oh so knowledgeable about every single bottle... somehow it didn't matter how many times i managed to get around her she got in front of me again!!! i just wanted to tell her to keep still!! of at least take your hands off your hips pleaseeeeeee there isn't enough room for that!

next to whole foods & then wegmans. oscar wanted to go in w kids!! but flynn didn't ~ he said the bracelet was spiky... i was trying to convince him that that was fixable but he wasn't having any of it. so i think to myself i need a coffee. i get in the line & i don't understand what the person in front of me ordered but it was taking forever!! i could have prepared it faster with my hands tied behind my back.

i begin rushing round when flynn says... mum (mom) i need to go poo. nooooooooooooo!!!! seriously!!! i'm keeping calm... after i've asked him 3 times are you sure we head to the toilets (restrooms). i park the shopping trolley (cart) only to get glared at by this guy because i am in front of the newspapers & he wanted one of them.

after wiping down the toilet (i can't tell you how many public toilets i've cleaned since i've had kids) i put 2 seat covers on & lift flynn on. i wait outside as instructed by him... & wait 10 minutes... i swear he'd be whistling or reading the newspaper if he could do either. i ask him a couple of times if he's done ~ no not yet!!!!

when what seemed like an eternity has past flynn announces that he doesn't really need to go...

shopping done ~ rush home, put shopping away, vacuum, tidy porch, get towels out, get flowers ready to give guests... then LEAVE LEAVE LEAVE!!!!

i have not left the 3 hours my lovely friend jackie said... i wanted to but i just didn't get enough done...  :(

my phone is on charge in the car, got my gps leading me. every single traffic light is red, everyone is driving miss daisy... COME ON ~ i got to get me to jfk!!!

once over the verrazano bridge my gps dies ~ so i take my phone off charge & plug in my gps. nothing happens... i look at the plug & the end has broken off... nooooooooooooooooo!! i'm quite scared now ~ i have no idea what road to take... i have absolutely no room for error... noooooooo!! i call my friend, basit, but no answer.... so i'm guessing which road... while looking for the pieces of the gps charger on the car floor. i find a metal end piece, the broken piece of plastic that looked like it held it all together (i'd just lost my one of those!!!) a small glass tube with silver ends. still driving i'm trying to assemble. i need something to hold it together... realizing that i cleaned out my car that day i rack my brain as to what i can use... i kept thinking how people always stick things together with chewing gum on the tv!!!

then i suddenly remember the stickers oscar was given @ w kids & ask him for them. i tear them up into strips & stick them around the charger & plug it in. guess what... IT WORKED!!! i could believe it!!! WOO HOO!!! what a crap road the belt parkway is... i mean seriously. i kept switching lanes in the hope i'd pick a winner ~ but no. time is ticking ~ i so want to get there & be waiting @ the gate. i call my husband, mike, who is in germany & tells me about flight tracker ~ arhhhhhhh the website was all wrong!! they've landed!!

STRESS STRESS STRESS ~ lets go traffic. i finally arrive, park the car with almost a handbrake turn!! grab the boys and go to the terminal, just as they were coming out of the airport (not quite sure where they were going!!)

big hugs all round!! & safe journey home ~ HOORAY!!!!!!!!!! (eye cream ~ best $45 spent!)

[ hurricane! ~ part 2 ]

sooooooo... the guy mended our hot water this morning ~ yay!!! so i'm pleased to reported we have all had showers or baths today & smell lovely!!!

my husband, mike, & i spent all morning hurricane proofing the house... moving all the stuff in the garden ~ the more we looked the more there was ~ like old fence that could be blown over, toys, the hammock, garbage & recycling cans, the porch swing blah blah blah... then we filled sand bags & put them down the side of house that has a river when it rains. put everything higher in the basement & garage then shut the door & put sand bags in front of the garage.

i went to the farm to pick up our veggies around 1pm & it started raining (not hard) around 2pm & it hasn't stopped...

mike & i are pooped... we both feel like our knuckles should be dragging on the ground...

we were invited to my fabulous friend's hurricane party & a great time was had by all (you guys rock!!)

parked the cars in the car park (car lot) down the street as there are mature trees all around our house...

got home & i'm sooooooo disappointed because it's not even raining hard & our basement is wet... & water is coming in under our garage door ~ even though we put the sand bags there... all that work :(

but so far we still have power (so have run dish washer & and am on second load of washing!!!)

all pets are inside... james brown (our siamese) is stir crazy already & just wants to go out

lets see what tomorrow brings...

[ hurricane! ~ part 1 ]

sooooooo...what a week! first an earthquake, tuesday, & now a hurricane on the way! i have to say i was very disappointed to have missed the earthquake (but that's very easy for me to say knowing it was just a tremor where i live). but i'm so curious what it would have felt like, how i would have reacted etc etc. but luckily for me i was driving to the beach, with my boys & my friend, & didn't feel a thing.

& now talk of hurricane irene... at first i didn't pay attention when it was mentioned thinking it's just another storm blah blah blah... but then i went to do my weekly shop at wegmans last night & there was something strange in the air... apart from the fact they had completely sold out of water & batteries... & their produce section was less than a quarter full...

we live in an old house & our garage & basement have a tendency to flood, so i thought maybe i should get a couple of sandbags. i call home depot & they assure me they have 1/2 a palette left. i had to take my son, flynn, for his 4 year old check up & decide to go buy them after that. 1 hour later & a very upset little boy with 4 colorful band aids on his legs (shots) all the sandbags have gone... i call 2 other stores & they don't have any left either.... groups of people are waiting for staff to open up cardboard boxes to be handed the torches (flash lights) inside.

i'm starting to wonder, is this panic or maybe they know better than me...

after calling another store that's local to me, a young lady said she will put 10 sandbags aside for me... HOORAY!

i decide to go pick up some bottled water ~ a ton of others have the same idea, but it's not just water... carts & queues are getting bigger & bigger.

we arrive at my local hardware store to pick up the sandbags ~ i walk in & ask, the girl who took my call overhears & says she has them behind her till... i'm thinking wow ~ that's so nice of her to carry 10 heavy bags for me, how is she fitting them there behind her counter? i pull out my credit card & she announces the total, $1.09 please... i said no that can't be right, 10 bags. no no that's correct she replies & looks down at the counter at these empty white bags... what are those? i ask... sandbags was the answer... but where's the sand? oh you have to buy that separately... noooooo i'm thinking, seriously?

so i end up buying 10 bags of kids play sand so at least my boys can have some fun afterwards...

i get home & think this isn't enough... more is needed for the side of the house that always ends up like a river into the basement.

also my lovely friend that is very level headed has text messaged me saying that she normally doesn't take any notice of the weather reports, but she has it on good authority that there will be lots of rain/flooding & we should prepare to be without power for maybe some considerable time...

so we pile back into the car back to home depot (that now has more sandbags) & buy another 15. let me tell you, 60lb sandbags are not the easiest things to move around, especially when you have a sleeping child in stroller & i found lots of them were leaking when picked up...

each time i go out there are more & more people buying supplies (it was on level with christmas time)

you know at least this should be good for the economy! (but i suppose any damage will cancel that out)

i was slightly worried about the weight in my car so i call up my mechanic, my car needs some major work & with the excuse of discussing when i should schedule that i drop into the conversation that i have 850lbs in my boot (trunk) do you think that will be ok? mmmmmm, he said, just take it easy...

it was a lovely calm evening & i really enjoyed being on the porch swing with the boys waiting for mike (my husband) to get home. it's really hard to imagine in a couple of days the weather will be the opposite.

mike puts lots more screws in the playhouse roof that he made, so hopefully that will stay on! & i bath the boys, or try too... our hot water packed up!! what...? the hurricane hasn't even got here yet!! so that will hopefully get fixed tomorrow.

also tomorrow we will have to get everything we care about off the garage floor... (not looking forward to that) & make sure garden furniture, outdoor stuff is put away... time to batten down the hatches!

[ the adventures of sesame place 2011 ~ part 1 ]

sooooooo... here we are in july ~ i have been exposed to some of the worst tattoos i have every had the misfortune of seeing... being paraded around on very unfit bodies, clad only in over stretched lycra & not to mention the moles... oh the moles!!! yes you got it! we got season passes for sesame place!!

i'm no dermatologist but seriously i really hope that a lot of people are having their moley moley moley's checked out because i have spied some highly suspicious looking ones... & i'm not trying to... they're waving from the people's backs walking in front of me...

i really really try to not look at situations that really shouldn't be out on public display but i find myself saying don't look, don't look... rubber neck ~ nooooooo my eyes my eyes... why do i do that?

don't get me wrong ~ there are some amazing looking people there too, but unfortunately the ratio is far from even & for some reason they don't get burnt into my retinas as easily...

the boys LOVE LOVE LOVE it here & once i get over the initial sting (brazilian style) of the pass prices it is fun, very clean & easy.

there are climbing nets, which have other finer mesh ones underneath them to stop any falling items landing on innocent passers by... there's the usual things you'd expect to see like loose change, popsicle sticks... then there's the yukky stuff like used band aids... but, this last time, i had to giggle! there was some one's dentures!!! can you imagine being the person who has to clean that net out!!! they could write a book! or that could be an interesting attraction 'net findings'.

oscar pointed out that bert & ernie have zippers in the backs ~ hehehehe!

last friday was very interesting! i didn't check the weather, when we got to the entrance it was pouring with rain!! we were soaked right though & out the other side... we went to see a couple of shows & then on the tubes. (nothing else was open) the boys thought it was hilarious that when i went over the bubbles my shorts filled up with air, it was pretty funny, even the life guard was laughing... i could'nt get it out though... so i just rested my elbows on them...  then we bump into our pharmacist... i say 'nice weather for it' he obvisiously didn't understand me & replied 'no i'm the pharmacist'...glancing at my inflatable shorts... 

[ wellies!...]

sooooooo...i finally ordered 'rain boots' wellies for my boys, oscar 5 & flynn 3. we had been studying the internet for quite some days deciding on which style ~ believe me there are a lot to choose from! luckily the ones flynn picked out weren't available in his size because he changed his mind over the same pair... several times.

we finally decided which ones, police for oscar, firemen for flynn. i went to order them from amazon, & what... there were no size choices... how could this be! one boot fits all?

so i rang amazon & because it is an outside distributor all they could do is give me their number.

on the other distributor's website they were more expensive (of course!) ~ but the lovely company honored the lower price & when they checked, it had gone down even more! music to my ears!! to get free shipping i had to but myself a nice pair of all black converse chuck taylors, naturally ~ but it was all still a bargain!!!

everyday, at least three times, the boys would be asking me have the boots arrived yet? when will the boots be here? how many more days? have they forgotten them? can you ring & find out...

i pick the boys up from school yesterday & rush back for oscar's piano lesson. but wait.... what was on our porch, a big brown box... the boots had arrived! everyone was jumping up & down super excited, yelling to open the box. first though i had to find socks & help with those (putting on socks when you're super excited is not the easiest of tasks) (i've said it before & i'll say it again, thank goodness humans only have 2 feet!) i unwrap everything as fast as i can. oscar's came out first, tied together with that crazy elastic. next came flynn's. he's opening his box up in double speed... the first thing i notice is there's no elastic on flynn's... as i walk over to flynn i look at his boots in horror ~ they've sent 2 right feet!!! oh come on!! by now oscar is wearing his doing the welly dance shouting that these are the best boots in the world & that he LOVES them... poor flynn's face as i explain to him that there's been a mix up ~ i promise to sort it out...

doorbell rings ~ its the piano teacher

flynn & i decided to clean out our beta fish, spiderman, while oscar has his lesson. i carefully catch the fish in a small bowl, place it on the counter & proceed to clean the pebbles & vase. we'd just got everything clean when oscar comes in the kitchen crying.

he's had a falling out with his piano teacher!!! i think it was a mixture of tiredness, not wanting to practise & him hearing flynn & i having fun.

after i talk to the teacher & he talks to oscar & things seem to be better i decide to put the fish back into the nice clean vase. i look into the small bowl & just see water... i know i'm forgetful maybe i put the fish back & didn't remember... then it suddenly dawned on me..... oh no... kamikaze fish... he must have jumped out!! i start yelling to the boys to help me find him... i can't see him... i'm frantically looking everywhere... oscar has burst into tears saying he's dead... i run around to the other side of the worktop & i suddenly spot a little flipping fish on the floor... it's weird, 'spiderman' is really red in the water, but out of it he's nearly black. i try to get hold of him without damaging anything!! he seems [knock on wood] to be fine!!!

and.. i rang the company that sent the wrong boots & first of all they told me i had to send the old ones back first... but after i explain the situation & how upset flynn was they overnighted them!!

great company ~ i would definitely recommend them!!

www.shopwss.com

spiderman

[ shopping... ]

sooooooo... today i had to do a bit of a major grocery shop... i whittled it down to 3 stores, armed with lists, oscar, 5, wearing a rescue backpack & answering to the name 'super spy' & 'knight flynn', 3, clad in robot helmet, blue plastic sword & riding a hobby horse... ok so that was my first mistake right there... how many times can i get poked by the sword & that stupid horse slowed us right down...


the first stop was whole foods... the boys have been out of sorts since we got back from our uk trip & were playing up pretty badly... we got in the same lady's way at least 19 times around the store & she was not impressed one little bit ~ i stopped apologizing after about the 4th time... i really felt she wanted me to say sorry for existing ~ but i'm not so la!


next stop sam's club... it was busy busy ~ boys were getting worse, thankfully we ditched the outfits & accessories!!


then wegmans ~ to be quite honest, by now, i'd had enough of the constant bickering... so we headed to 'w kids' ~ i love you wegmans! it was open & everything!! i dropped the kids off & did i skip away like dorothy down the yellow brick road to get the shopping done? hell yeah!


as i went up & down the aisles humming to song playing 'madonna borderline' ~ i was thinking things can't get much better than this!! i love madonna! i get to the olive bar... & spy the big green ones that are stuffed with red peppers... but these peppers look really lovely & red... as i have been caught out before & bought a whole tub of yucky olives i scoop one up to taste (my husband just thinks i'm a pikey!!) because i'm 'sampling', i don't muck around, chew it up & swallow... the heat hit me pretty much before i swallowed but it was too late... sweet jesus it was the hottest thing i have ever tasted... it burnt my throat, i didn't think i could speak then it hit the top of my stomach & literally set it alight, my eye lids were sweating... i had just eaten hell in an olive!!! when i reach the deli counter i have to cover my mouth with my hand because i was afraid of setting the woman next to me on fire with my breath...


i end up ring my husband, mike, to ask him if eating something really hot could kill me...


it turns out those olives were stuffed with 'piri piri' peppers, also known as bird's eye, African devil, or African red devil. It is a small, extremely spicy member of the Capsicum genus. lets just hope it doesn't burn exiting... first of all i can't believe there wasn't a warning... & secondly i can't see how anyone would enjoy eating them, but it takes all sorts.


on the way home we pass a field of goats... i said 'say hi to the goats guys' & i wave....


flynn says 'mum goats can't talk'


me 'how do you know?'


flynn 'i saw one open it's mouth & no words came out...'


fair enough!

[ wedding! ]

sooooooo... my lovely friend, pamela, invites my husband, mike & me to a wedding! her brother in law, who has made a lot of money, is getting married in nyc & spending a lot on this affair.

i excitedly accepted!! who doesn't love a wedding? (especially a lavish one!) & i already had a classic dress that cost me an arm & a leg when i was single thats only been worn twice.

the wedding website (!!!) is forwarded so i can get all the details...

the day of the wedding arrives... i have planned things in military procedure, our sons, oscar 5 & flynn 3 are going for a sleep over. i've packed enough stuff to survive most major emergencies!  mike takes off early from work, i get a make over!

i feel a bit weird picking them up from school though... in my jeans & fancy up-do... & when someone asked me where i was going i really wanted to say, nowhere... i just fancied getting a 'do' to pick my kids!!

rush home, get dressed & we're off! mike in his tuxedo, me in my big dress...

after leaving the kids with our lovely friends, the kovacs, we get onto the turnpike & it wasn't until we were nearly at the lincoln tunnel that mike asks & i have no idea what made him ask it... it is black tie isn't it?

my response was of course it is ~ that's what the groom is wearing in the illustration on the wedding website... & it's at a really fancy place & a very extravagant function... i even back it by saying ~ i'm 110% sure it's black tie.

i look up the wedding website (!!!), right then, to double check... but i can't see it written anywhere... right at the same moment mike asks, you have seen it written somewhere haven't you? erm... i'll text pamela just to put your mind at ease... 10 seconds after the text went she calls me... no it's not black tie... all the men are wearing suits... just the groom will be in a tuxedo...

an exhausted mike, who has been working really long hours, says he can't go like this... people will think he works there & will be handing him glasses & ordering cocktails...

i'm sitting there letting the reality sink in... not just the tux fiasco... i have fringing feathers in my hair... i call up my lovely friend jenn, who has the kids, & announce it's not black tie, she can't hear me because of kid noise, again i say it's not black tie... after repeating that sentence several times she hears... there was an ooooh... followed by laughter!!! the whole thing is funny i have to admit...(well it is now!!) i really feel mikes pain & although the suggestions are heartfelt & appreciated, they weren't going to fix the situation... my dress cost way too much money to cut a couple of feet off the bottom... & taking off his jacket wasn't going to fly.

mike really wanted to go home, or just go for a meal on our own... i was beginning to think i really had just got a 'do' to pick the kids up! but i kept pushing... we were so close, we'd made a lot of effort, it would be ok once we got there, we just needed to change a couple of things...

mike suggested burlington coat factory, BRILLIANT idea, they have lots of suits & dresses for good prices. thank goodness we have a GPS ~ & there was one 5 minutes away from us! things were looking up... after sitting in traffic for another half an hour we made it there... what a total dive this store was... imagine the surprise of the other customers as we stroll in... i have to admit i did feel a tad over dressed...

mike went to the suits, i went to the dresses... unless i was spending the day at the beach, there was nothing appropriate ~ i head over to mike, who has found a really nice suit. we also grab a belt & he heads off to the fitting room... of course the trousers aren't hemmed... i ask at customer service if they have any pins? 'no' - tape? 'no'... mmmmmmmmm. as i walk away i suddenly think new shirts have pins in them... i open a couple of packets & pull out some...

good job mike is so tall ~ i think we can get away with not doing anything with the trousers!

we get back into the car after paying & i suddenly realize i don't have the usual bag with me ~ so i have no scissors to cut the million sewn on labels & tags... so we go back to the store & ask to borrow scissors ~ i was expecting a 'no', but hooray they have some!!! i suggest to mike to go back to the fitting room & get changed but he's not up for that... instead he strips off in the car lot!! i'm thinking this will be the next thing ~ we'll be arrested for indecent exposure!!! everything's good ~ mike looks great & off we go... i could down play my outfit, take the feathers out of my hair... but then i thought no... meghan, who did my hair, did a FABULOUS job... i'm not going to change anything!!

we finally arrive ~ not too late... we can hear the ceremony going on & both need a bathroom break before joining the other guests... a man in a tux came out of the bathroom & i was just about to say look mike! but then i noticed he had a walkie talkie in his hand...

we catch the end of the ceremony ~ get a drink from the bar, sit at a candlelit table overlooking the river, get offered lots of delicious nibbles from passing waiters, smile at each other & everything is good...

the wedding was really great! worth all the effort! there's nothing like good food, wine, dancing & friends!

[ snake!!!! ]

sooooooo... guess what! we were all at the park after school & my lovely friend, theresa, spies a [huge] snake!!! i resisted screaming a snake! a snake! but i know she's at one with nature & so i yelled catch it! catch it! no way did i expect her to actually go after it ~ but she did!! i obviously helped from a safe 8ft away... this snake traveled fast!! when she grabbed it half way down it's body the snake immediately turned around & tried to bite her! i'm squirming on one foot... seriously i would have dropped that sucker & run ~ but she quickly grabbed it round the neck!

i have to say i was amazed! & very proud!!! she'd be my first choice of being stranded in the wilderness with!!

when she let it go ~ i asked weren't you scared... she said no because she knew it wasn't venomous...

oh dear:

"Garters were long thought to be nonvenomous, but recent discoveries have revealed that they do in fact produce a mild neurotoxic venom. Garter snakes can't kill an individual with the amounts of venom they produce, which is comparatively mild, and they also they lack an effective means of delivering it. They do have enlarged teeth in the back of their mouth, but their gums are significantly larger. Whereas most venomous snakes have anterior or forward venom glands, the Duvernoy's gland of garters are posterior (to the rear) of the snake's eyes. The mild poison is spread into wounds through a chewing action. The properties of the venom are not well known, but it appears to contain 3FTx, commonly known as three-finger toxin, which is a neurotoxin commonly found in the venom of colubrids and elapids. A bite may result in mild swelling and an itching sensation. There are no known cases of serious injury and extremely few with symptoms of envenomation."

all snakes are huge!

oscar ~ today

sooooooo ~ we were sitting down to lunch & my son osar, whose 5, didn't like his pasta... surprise surprise. he was eating the sausage so i asked him if he wanted bread with that. after cutting off the crusts he agreed. then... he proceeds to tell me he's going to make a sausage taco... i was amazed because we've never eaten tacos together (as far as i can remember... which isn't saying much!!)


then... to my even more amazement when he finished making it he said VOILÀ!!


WOW!!! i thought, what a continental little man!! but then... he said 'mum that's spanish...' oh well i enjoyed his moment of genius for a second!!


his next sentence was:


'mum snakes are nocturnal ~ but iguanas aren't'...


that kind of makes up for it ~ i daren't look it up!!

[ NEAT FREAK!!! ]

sooooooo... i have been untidy all my life. i walk into a place & create a mess! i won the 'messiest desk' award at work, it's my creativity! a brain can't be creative & tidy... well that's my excuse & i'm sticking to it!! now... add 2 young boys, a husband, a dog, 2 cats, a bird & fish to the mix & why am i surprised that it isn't any better!!!! i would really like to get organized, i don't want one of those houses where when i sit on the couch & try to make myself as small as possible because i feel like i'm making the place look untidy just by being there ~  well lets face it even if i did want that it would NEVER happen! i came across a local 'organizer' online & got quite excited! my friend, jackie, said save your money, she'd help me ~ i'd love that but i'm scared we have a big 'girl fight', hair pulling & screaming, over what i should throw away. [ whenever i think about women fighting, which isn't that often, it's always in the 70's, so maybe we should be wearing flared catsuits & flicked back hair...] when my mum came to visit me, i asked her to help me declutter. (everyone in my family is SUPER tidy... except me) i'd read that when you go through clothes you should bag up what you don't want & put them straight in your car to take to the donation drop off. i did that but couldn't sleep that night, thoughts of what my mum had bagged were racing through my head. before my mum got up the next morning i'd gone through it & pull some things out... it took about 3 months to not be stressing over one pair of baby trousers i'd got rid of... when we talk about people being tidy everyone mentions OCD... but i looked up the definition & i have it!!!!!! extensive hoarding!! how do i change that to have a pinch of the tidy stuff? i'd like to think that once i've got things sorted they'd stay like that, i need a system, i'm just clueless how  ~ i just must have been having coffee when they gave out this kind of info. soooooo... i love to hear all your de-cluttering, organizing, tidying tips please!! the best books you've read, ANYTHING!! maybe we'll all get something out of this! you can do it anoymously if you like, but please be nice :) here's some of things that bamboozle me! what on earth do you do with: ~ all your old greeting cards? (i keep mine in a box!) ~ odd socks, where on earth do the other ones go? (i keep these in a box!) ~ bills... & papers in general! (i keep mine in a box! ~ i'm sensing a pattern here...) ~ most of the stuff i put in boxes breeds. ~ keep the shoes tidy? you get the picture!!! jackie... just say the word ~ i'll dig out my curling tongs! i emptied out my bag the other day... as you can see i have all the essentials!! including the 'must have' acorn...

[ pass the popcorn... ]

sooooooo... my husband, mike, & i decided to take our boys to the cinema between christmas & new year. mike read reviews. gulliver travels, we decided, would be a bit old for them, sadly, as it's starring jack black ~ who is on my top 25 people that i wouldn't mind getting stuck in a lift (elevator) with!!!


to tell you the truth there wasn't a lot to choose from... we went for 'tangled', a disney adaptation of rapunzel. of course lets see it in 3d, 2 adults, one 3 year old & a 5 year old please ~ that will be $54. sorry i thought you said $54! oh you did!!! do i sound like a really old person complaining about cinema prices??


so we settle in to watch & i have to say i really enjoyed it, i even shed a tear behind my 3d glasses! basically the queen is going to have a baby (rapunzel) but is very sick & needs the power of a golden flower to survive. this crazy lady has been hiding the flower because she's using it to keep her young. but it gets found, cures the queen & the flower's power is now in rapunzel's hair.


the crazy lady tries to cut some of rapunzel hair but when cut it dies & won't grow anymore... so she kidnaps the baby, locks her in a tower & uses her hair to stay young blah blah blah.


in the end rapunzel has fallen in love with a guy who got in the tower, the crazy lady stabs him & he's going to die... rapunzel promises that if she can heal him (her hair heals too) she'll let her stay young & remain her prisoner forever...


but just before rapunzel gets to do this, the guy cuts off her hair, so there's no power left...


the reason i'm telling you all this is because mike and i spent a long time after the movie 'discussing' this (& we still don't see eye to eye on it!!!)


i said it's a shame he cut off her hair before she healed him.


mike thinks that that wouldn't be right because she had made a promise to the crazy lady....


yes but that promise is to someone who had her locked up in a tower for 18 years!!! & once her hair was gone the old lady wouldn't need her anymore.


i can't believe how long we discussed this for!! how we are both adamant that we're right & that i'm now blogging about it!!! not to mention the reckless way he cut her hair (it won't grow anymore) ~ so she's stuck with that 'do' forever...