Me Read Good One Day..

So... to put it bluntly (which I'm known to do on occasion..) I don't, read, much.
I mean-- don't get me wrong.. I'm first to grab a shampoo bottle if I have a minute in the "lou" (that was the classiest word I could think of for it. Oddly,"the crapper" came to mind first, but seemed offensive, and not very lady-like..) and I thoroughly enjoy a NOT outdated People magazine now and then at a doctors office (where I have learned to take it IN to the actual examination room, cause we all know once in,that's gonna be another good 15 minutes of alone time. I just realized why I look forward to such appointments..)
BACK to my point.
Reading.
On my "what to do with ALL that free time" list.. somehow working out, sitting around talking to girlfriends, and watching mindless t.v. shows in the quiet dark of my house.. ALL seem to trump, the reading.
SO, when a friend suggested I join her book club, I stiffened.. declined.. and then cautiously, and with great hesitation, thought about attempting to do something that MIGHT just use my brain cells for something other than 5th grade math homework..
and decided I was IN.
Just walking into Borders, I already felt slightly more intelligent as a person.
Look at me. I'M buying a book. I've heard about people that do this kinda thing.. and now I'm right here with 'em.
I was doing something I'd never done before. I was going to attend a Book club. I was committed to reading a whole book.. by a certain date.. and it was gonna be rad.
Then I saw the cover.
Manhunt: The twelve day chase for Lincolns killer.
A historic novel.
I shuddered.
No hot vampires? No make-out scenes? Not even a chance at relateable female banter about skinny jeans and no-fat yogurt?? Seriously?
The cover was a dark red, and had a vintage sketch of a guy with a gun pointed at a creepy-looking rendition of Lincolns head.
Ew.
And it was thick. Over 300 pages thick.
And cost like, $18.00 dollars.
It took everything in me to heavy-heartedly drag it to the cashier and PAY for it.
But I was DOING this. If it KILLED me. (Can you imagine if it did?? Kill me? Everyone was like, "She seemed so healthy and full of life.. and then she got into this reading thing.. and she just really went down hill from there. She was bored I tell you. And in the end.. bored, to DEATH.")
No. It would not kill me. I was GOING to have more to discuss with people other than who hooked up on Greys Anatomy, but I wasn't gonna like it.
Let's just say the first few pages had me doubting my ability to stay strong.
I suddenly had ADD and Restless Leg Syndrome.
I could NOT focus.
All kinds of dates and historic hoo-ha being laid out for the story.
I panicked.
I had to read sentences two and three times to absorb them.
COULD I read a real book?
I wondered.
I stuck with it. Plowed through.
(O.K. I'm only on Chapter 3.)
But what do ya know if I haven't learned more about Lincoln in 40 pages, than I've ever learned about all the other Presidents combined. (Which modestly, I will acknowledge, isn't much. Try to contain your surprise.)
It is almost, dare I say, a bit fascinating even??
I may.
I'm not saying it's gotten much easier to pick up.
My early morning gym time and late night t.v. recordings still win out most days.. but I am determined to ride it out.. get r' done.. and finish an educated, sophisticated, "well-read" woman.

Maybe that's pushin' it.

I'll just try to finish it.

Still Not Over It.. (Refer To Previous Post)

As Bo was downing his morning bowl of Pops..
(WHAT? Don't judge me. They claim to now have fiber.)
I was going over his new list of vocab words with him.
This is always entertaining because he often chooses a facial expression , instead of words, to express the words meaning. Today the word "stare", was displayed in a precise, and unusually piercing, bug-eyed, stare.
Check.
Next word.. "regret".
He sighed, and explained..
"Like, when you do something, and then you wish you hadn't of."
Check.
Then he quietly added..
"Like the Panda Fun Run."

Chuckle-chuckle.

Taking The "FUN", Out of the Run..

So every year our little elementary school has a fundraiser: The Panda Fun Run.
$16.00 will get ya a polyester t-shirt involving some kind of Panda in the graphic-- and a chance to run a mile at 8 a.m., in the frigid early morning air.. on a Saturday. Needless to say, I have never been against, yet never aggressively encouraged, participation. The flyer comes home.. I set it on the counter.. wait for someone to mention it.. and when they don't.. dispose of it properly.
I have always been quite pleased on past mornings of this very run.. when I dreamily awake at my own pace.. and peer out the window to see the balloons and orange cones littered around the school-- proving that there was indeed an event of some sort occurring, while I slept.
So you can imagine my inner resistance when my Bo came home, adamant on being apart of this years run. Hmmmm. Do I fake a scheduling conflict and assume we'll all sleep through the morning anyhow?? Or give the infamous "We'll see.." and never, really, "see"?
No. If you've been blessed enough to be taken by Bo's deep double dimples and swirly curly cowlick bangs.. you would know that obviously I could not form my lips into saying anything other than,
"Yeah! That would be SO fun."
And I did it. I paid the $30.00 I'd rather spend at T.J. Maxx for the two of us to enter, marked the calendar.. and every so often would build up just WHAT fun we would indeed, have together.
Fast forward to this morning. For some background-- never actually having Bo try to run a mile, coupled with staying up til' midnight as a family watching Avatar the night before, MIGHT not have been the best move in our pre-race planning.. but it is, only, a mile.. and Bo has popped awake after a mere 6 hours of sleep just to be first to get computer time on more than a few occasions.. SO.. when I found him wrapped up snuggly in his cozy covers this morning, I wasn't too worried about rousing him. As I whispered..
"It's the Fun Run today Bo.."
he lay there perfectly still.. and then whispered back..
"I don't think I can do it."
Mom: Sure you can bud.. let's go.
Bo: It's cold.
Mom: I know.. but running will warm us up.
Bo: Can we quit?
Mom: Um.. sure.. I guess.. (not my best Mothering moment..)
Bo: I'm tired.
Mom: I know buddy. But you get a t-shirt.
Bo: O.K. (Long, contemplative pause..)Can you carry me upstairs?
I complied.. carried him upstairs, dressed him, socked and shoed him.. gave him a piece of gum for his morning breath.. and we were off. Off to the first corner in the race that is.. when he suddenly bent over in anguish and cried in pain--
"My belly!!"
That went on for some time. We slowed to a toddlers walking pace.. and spent the next 3/4 of a mile with Bo blurting out comments to the tune of,
"I cannot, do this. Can we just go back to the house? I think I'm seriously gonna short-cut through the playground.."
We came in right at 14 minutes.

Next year.. the flyer doesn't even get counter time.

JUST So Ya Know..

I wasn't REALLY done rambling on and posting pictures about, our Vegas trip, that you will find below..
but my AWESOME computer stopped letting me add photos (as if to say, "That will be enough of that. You don't want to bore the people..") so it was cut short..
but when I regain my energies-- perhaps I will add more. Whether ya want em' or not.

VEGAS, Baby.

So just about the time we'd resigned ourselves to the fact that Spring Break 2010 would be an exciting week of frequenting mediocre local restaurants, and having the kids play violent video games for HOURS on end...
it started to SNOW, a lot, in April. We're talking blizzardy, accumulating, snowfall.
We snapped. And by snapped I mean: got on line, booked a hotel, changed the oil in the finny-fan, woke the kids up at 6 am to the tune of "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis.. and by Tuesday at 3:00 were rolling onto the sunny, palm-tree'd, neon-lit glory of THE strip!! SO much better than going for burgers at home.
Jasen had never, ever been in all his 37 years.. and I'd been there one night, at age 15. NEEDLESS to say-- so fun to see-- so much to take in-- (and not NEARLY as many boobies as I'd feared!)As we stopped in traffic right smack dab in front of the famous Bellagio fountains.. they suddenly sprang to life to the tune of no other than the "Viva Las Vegas" we had continued to blast every hour, on the hour.. of our 8 hour trip down.. as if Vegas itself was calling, "Nice choice! Glad to have ya!"
We had warned our virgin, innocent boys.. of the images we might happen upon.. (but assured them that being somewhere fun, and WARM, was worth whatever permanent damage it may have on them..) and were pleasantly surprised at the lack of nakedness.. the down-right cleanliness of the streets themselves. I don't know.. maybe I was blinded by the bright sunshine on my skin and warm breeze in my hair.. but I found it delightful. We wandered the strip for hours.. taking in everything from the fountains

to the Venetian..

(The boys wanted a boat ride.. and although fun in theory.. I felt having an American dressed in stripes, singing right to us-- might be more awkward, then authentic.)
..to New York, New York..

waited patiently for the Mirage volcano..

and found the only hard drug offered to us was a new form of "crack"..

that we of course accepted.. and enjoyed.
As Sophie twirled back down the street into the lobby of hotel at 10:00 P.M..
she let out a pleased sigh and declared..
"THAT, was great."
We stayed in the MGM Signature Suites which are LOVELY, and perfect, because unlike pretty much EVERY other hotel-- there is no casino, no smoking,



and a walkway to the MGM Grand with the best pool EVER.

Why did I not realize there would be palm trees?? PALM TREES folks. I should REALLY get out more. Oh. And frozen drinks.

Along with a relaxed husband.. not at work.

Us.. not eating at local joints.

And happy kids.. NOT playing violent video games.

She Thinks She's SO Sneaky..

The other day Sophie was trying to apply lip gloss to pretty much any surface she could get it to stick to (this explains why our minivans side window has been a tad bit "cloudy" lately..) and when I explained that if she didn't stop I was going to have to take the lip gloss away (the horror!) she quite snippily replied..
"Well, I don't want you to take it, so I'm going to go hide it.
DON'T follow me.. and DON'T look in my jewelry box."
I hope she's always this easy to figure out.

Well LOOKY There!

I hesitate to even state that my computer might actually be fixed for good this time.. in fear I just may jinx it.. but I'm gutsy like that.. and going to share that it has now been up and running for almost 4 days straight. I'm a little giddy.
It's like having a new baby in the house-- minus the diapers. Everyone wants to sit by it and play with it.. marveling at the miracle it truly is. I'm not proud I've now been sitting at it a full hour this morning.. the hour I'm usually making beds and starting laundry.. but again.. baby analogy.. and we all know those things can't always get done for the first little while. I just want to bask in the pleasure of it functioning a little longer before getting on with my day. Who knows.. maybe I'll jaunt on over to Facebook, check the weather report, download pictures from the last SIX months, or just look up cute shoes and bathing suits. The possibilities are endless. Ahhh. Being unproductive is SO relaxing.