So what do you give the kid that has everything??

The only day over the Thanksgiving Holiday I ventured out was Friday morning (and no early crap for me, we didn't go until like, 11am.)

Giz wanted to spend some of her money at Build A Bear, and Firstborn had his eye on a game at Best Buy, and they both wanted to go out for Mexican food at our favorite restaurant (they were so over turkey) - so I interrupted my mission clean out briefly to traverse to the other side of town to the (GASP!!) Mall....

I also had promised to take Gizmo to see Santa, so we decided (after getting a relatively and surprisingly good parking place) to do that first before hitting the designated destinations.

The line wasn't too bad, and we only had to wait about 15-20 minutes for her turn. The Santa at our Mall had a real beard and seemed to take a genuine interest in the kids.

So Giz gets up and gets her picture made (very cute) and then proceeds to have her discussion with Santa. However, this seemed to take quite awhile, and Santa gave her a big hug and an extra cookie.

???

I asked Gizmo what the heck did she have to talk about with Santa for so long? What on Earth did she ASK for???

"A Clock Radio"

That's it?? Just a plain ol' clock radio??

"Yep"

"...and he promised to bring me lots and LOTS of wonderful surprises!!"

SIGH.

I did NOT see THAT coming.

Reverse psychology from a five year old...

Pageant continued!!

Well we ran back to hair and makeup after Beauty, feeling very confident Gizmo had done her personal best...

Well, h/m lady started working on Gizmo's hair, and the fall...well, it just FELL.

The curl just died.

She sent me back to the room to see if she could work with any of our additional hairpieces while she worked on Giz in the meantime for Christmas wear! Well, I got to the room and my key wouldn't work!! and line up was in 30 minutes!! so I called Firstborn on the phone - no answer - do I run to the lobby? Try again. No answer. Try one more time... Success!! So I frantically stammered on the cell for Firstborn to hurry up and bring his key to the room to get me in! Well, now Firstborn has not one fast twitch fiber in his entire mollecular structure. So by the time he got there, we lost another 10 minutes!! So I busted into the room grabbed clothes and hair pieces and ran back up two floors and all the way to the other end of the hotel with all the needed equipment... 15 minutes to go and still no hairdo... I pulled out about 3 hairpieces, first too short, second too curly, third not right... 10 minutes and now I'm panicking and h/m lady is trying to figure out what the heck to do... well, h/m lady's daughter pipes up "what about the puppy ears you used to do on me??" perfect... now we're down to 5 minutes and she's just now getting Gizmo's hairdo in play... ARRRRGGHHHH $800 down the drain over a $150 hair failure.... I just sat down and shut the hell up at that point and set to grinding the enamel off my teeth.... So now it's exactly line up time and we're still in h/m.

She juuuuust finished in time for us to BOLT down to the stage area which happened to be 4 floors and 1/8 of a mile from where we were momentarily located. I was freaking out, but Gizmo thought it was again, all great fun....

We got into lineup just in time behind two girls ahead of her.

WHEW

And she again, did an awesome job - I was incidentally very irritated that the director emphasized NO extra moves for christmas wear modeling, and there were kids doing all kinds of cutesy stuff all over the place. GRRR.

...Next up. Outfit of choice.

****************************************

Speaking of sparkle... for some reason "Mister, yeah I'll help you get the tree up if you make me" voluntarily put up the Christmas tree this past weekend, got the lights on, then proceeded to decorate the INSIDE of our house with all the extra strings of lights we've been collecting over the years. I have christmas lights around the inside of the foyer front door, all around the back doors and windows, I have the light up garland wrapped around the balcony, chili lights around the passthru between the kitchen and the living room, in the ficus tree in the foyer and we have an extra tree on the stair landing complete with lights and christmas tiaras stuck in it for decorations. Oh and there are the fiber optic snowmen and the light up nativity city on the mantle!!! I may have to one up him and get all those stinkin' light up houses out and put up somewhere too.

Never mind there is nary one light on the OUTSIDE of the house.

I can't wait to get the power bill.

If I can find the cord for the digital camera I'll post pics of my husband's inner christmas coming out this year....

*************************************************

On yet another note, we made Gizmo's countdown to Christmas chain over the holidays... I felt a little guilty, here we were making a Christmas chain (one of those construction paper ring deals) all the while I was watching "little nicky" on tv.... I'm not sure why, it just struck me as wrong....

My Favorite Song ever!!!

In trying to find an mp3 of this song I found this little ditty on YouTube!



Now if I can just find a recording...

Speaking of recordings - For those hard rock fans, I highly recommend "The Heroine Diaries" by Nikki Sixx (Sixx:A.M.) I can't wait to read the book!

Saturday Continued

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!! I'm stuffed and we got through having my uber-hypercritical parents over for dinner... WHEW! I am so glad that's over.

Now where are those antiacids....????

***************************************************************

So anywho to continue my story just a wee bit!

1:25 So we're in lineup for beauty, and I am quite sure Gizmo could not have looked prettier! Of course I was driving her crazy making sure she was going to get that routine right, because ever since we set foot in the hotel, she appeared to have "site amnesia" and never got through it once in practice correct at the hotel.

I did feel bad about accidentally answering the phone when it rang at 1:28 - her regular modeling/charm school teacher was calling to introduce herself and tell us how much they missed Giz at modeling that day... I had to rush her off the phone and confess we were at a pageant LOL

1:30 The group lineup started on time, and Giz was dead square center in the group lineup. She looked incredible! And she was smiling her lil' butt off and never dropped it, not once. Although when the emcee came up to sing to her and I motioned for her to look at him she shook her head no. I found out later, he maybe needed some tic tacs. It's a little cheesy what he does (aka lil miss ss) but he's really a very sweet guy and the little girls adore him.

I try hard not to stress, but I now embrace it as exercise...

I swore I wouldn't get behind the judges and try to coach her from behind, what's done is done and what she's gonna do is left up to destiny. So I made sure I got over to the side so I could hoot and holler but not distract... (You have no idea how hard it is just to let them go do their thing, noooooooo idea.)

She did not disappoint me. She nailed her routine with the exception of:
1) she did fiddle with her nails for a few seconds in front of the judges
2) she was a wee bit bouncy in her walk

Other than that, she smiled the most gorgeous smile I have ever seen!!! And her modeling overall was very, very, clean - especially since she had practiced so hard and knew it herself.

I had promised her a big toy from the toy vendor at the back of the ballroom. She made me pay for that performance big time LOL.

I had so many people come up and tell me how wonderful she did. Even if she got last place, it wasn't her fault. I was as proud as I have ever been.

Off to the next events.... which didn't go quite so smoothly.......

*******************************************************

I gotta go do some serious digesting now.

:o)

We're back so why am I not in bed fast asleep??

I'm still coming down off the adrenaline-centrifical-if-I-stop-I-may-never-get-back-up path residual from this weekend's events.

Well not so bad this time, but I'm pretty convinced that the way these things are judged, if my kid walked on water, the judges would complain she can't swim.

We had a really good time as far as these things go...

We arrived at a pretty decent time Friday, even though it took longer to get on the road than originally planned - especially after picking up a prescription for my husband, dropping off the dog for boarding, getting gas, breakfast, etc.

We finally got launched around 11:30am for about a three and a half hour drive. Hubby was at the wheel and Firstborn and Gizmo were in pretty complimentary moods, so our start wasn't too stressful. It's funny how just getting on the road to someplace, anyplace, and stopping by the convenience store for a treat is super exciting for the kids (kinda like hotel pools at night, I dunno, but you can't beat it hardly in the list of things kids really want to do...) Fortunately, our drive in was pretty uneventful otherwise.

Well, when we reached the hotel, they said we had to go to a special station before we could check in, since we were with the pageant... (??) And a lady trying very hard to be pleasant handed us a very nasty waiver and a baggy explaining that if there was the suh-lightest damage to the room we would be charged insane amounts of money for the problems ($40 a sheet $100 for other offenses.) Now, I can respect if they had trouble last year...but why would the director go back if the pageant caused that much damage. I hate being guilty by association, but I've never met anyone at a pageant that wrecked a room worse than rock stars, but apparantly this is what occurred before, and we were going to be treated like the criminals we must be LOL. The hotel staff was extremely rude to us - even when I asked directions to a local Chick-fil-A the maintenance lady acted like I had asked her to take poison (did I mention we were in a heavy TOURIST town?) The girl at the front desk couldn't find my overnight package even though she looked straight at it like, five times in a row. These folks had been warned that the "pageant people" were here... it was like walking into a crowded bar and you're the worst gunslinger in the west. I don't know what was worse, the treatment by the hotel staff, or the fact that they had reason to believe we should be treated that badly. I don't know all the facts directly except what I experienced first hand, so I reckon I have to give them the benefit of the doubt.

So once we got checked in and our stuff to the room, I had to get Gizmo to her modeling lesson - it went well and halfway through my husband came running in with the christmas wear, which had been fed ex'd the night before and the hotel staff couldn't find it so he went and raised a ruckus to get it... didn't do any good because our coach decided we should go with the backup plan because she didn't care for what we had custom made. SIGH.

Next up, DINNER!! Well,not quite. We had to find a local Springmaid outlet and buy some cheap sheets just in case ANY tanner might get on the hotel sheets. (which really wasn't an issue, I just wish the director had told all of us before the pageant so we'd know to bring our own... and normally we don't have too much of a problem with tanner, but not we had the penalties to worry about, and frankly this hotel seemed to be looking for ANY excuse to charge us!!) After we picked up new sheets, pillowcases and couple of extra towels ($20 not bad...) we all went to Fridays on the main drag, and it was okay, except they didn't tell me before hand that all the liquor drinks advertised had to be made with wine, so when my drink came out a completely different color than the ad the waiter sort of mumbled something about "maybe we should have told you" and that the bar staff did "what they could"... I just sent it back and ordered a beer. I wasn't mad or anything, it was just kind of a dumb move on his part.

Back to the room, take Gizmo to tanning. The lady who did her tan was super sweet and Gizmo did wonderful. I don't know how she made any money on it, she didn't charge us much and gave Giz a small stocking loaded with toys and candy. Golden in my book if you ask me :o)

Next up, registration. Throw gobs of money at curt director (I'm guessing she was pretty tired since it was around 9pm and registration started at 2pm) in hopes that your kid will beat the odds. And NO, no sympathy expected here. I'm too old to use the "I didn't know excuse." We entered pretty much everything except the door overalls, which was just more than I could bring myself to spend after the initial fees. Registration ran pretty smoothly for a national, I will admit though.

I ended up staying up late, because after a wardrobe check with the coach I ended up having to whip stitch the skirt into the dress, and everything else had to be ironed, laid out with necessary accessories and supplies in preparation for the next day. So I didn't get to bed until about 1 a.m. Everyone else was out by 11, 12, and 12:30 respectively.

7:30 a.m.

Upsy Daisy!! Shower. Get dressed. Wake up Hubby and Firstborn. Get them rolling and into the shower etc. Run down for a pre-breakfast pick up. Send Hubby to BK for egg biscuits and juice (Gizmo HAS to have protein in the morning or she crashes bad in the afternoon and it is NOT pretty - she turns into a GREMLIN...)

10:20 Take Gizmo to hair and makeup. H/M lady has bad news. Gizmo's fall is having trouble staying put. Now I rolled that thing a week earlier, it should have been MOLDED into place. Not the hairdo we wanted, but it was pretty still. Giz was perfect for h/m but I think H/M lady wanted to shoot me with a tranquilizer dart.

10:50 back to room for snacks and rest time

11:40 back to H/M lady to have hair done.

12:45 - still not done with hair, it was not going well. Run back to room to get dress and all accessories while H/M lady is struggling to create a winner.
(All things considered, I thought Giz looked pretty awesome (should have for what I PAID LOLOL but granted, you do not always get what you pay for))

1:15 Dressed and ready to go, we go to the ballroom.

...to be continued, and I promise not to make ya'll wait this time.

Update. Maybe things will turn better...

Update!

Well, I emailed the lady who made the dress to let her know it just wouldn't work. I mean, in all fairness to her, maybe she DID do her best and just didn't get the vision LOL. Besides, I'd find out if she was legit, or not in the business to last. Well, to her credit,she did contact me, and told me if I would overnight the dress (cost $67) she would fix it. Demanded to fix it almost... Well, we'll see, because the repaired dress (another $47 to get it yet overnighted again to the Hotel tomorrow.... why cheaper for her I don't know, but I'll go with it but I really think she should have paid that shipping but at this point as much money as I am throwing out the door who am I to argue its so not worth it (and BREEEEEEATHE....)) So in trying to avoid paying $300 for a new casual wear, I basically ended up paying $300 after adding shipping and backup outfits. Anywho, live and learn. I had several leads on casual wears today, but I missed them because...

MY CELL PHONE DIED.

It didn't just die out, it came to a screeching halt in pieces. It apparently cracked at some point when I flipped the lid on it and then the antennae snapped off and was lost. So much for "military grade."

ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

Sooooo-aaahhhh. After busting a nut (as my guys at work say) getting up and getting the house cleaned, catching up on laundry from the washing machine fiasco, trying to take calls from work on our project, walking our crazy dog (I swear he was a sled dog in a previous life), and getting ready for Gizmos photo shoot... I had to go to the mall and buy a new cell phone. And, not realizing I had voicemail with some leads about a backup plan for a casual wear, I drug poor Giz from one end of the Mall to the other looking for something suitable. Oh and did I mention, the phone ended up costing THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS??? My choices were:

a) renew my contract for another 2 years and get $75 off the phone.
b) cancel current service and go to another provider (and go through allll the sales crap and paperwork etc. when I only had a little bit of time and needed a phone NOW)
c) just pay for the phone outright and keep the strings unattached on my plan

oh, and did I mention on option a) there was a $20 reactivation fee making it only a $55 discount??

I tried every tack I could, I even marched down to Radio Shack to try and buy a refurbished phone, and don't even get me started about that ordeal.

So I just bought the dad-blamed phone. Done.

On another note, Gizmo's modeling school photo shoot went off fabulously... although I still don't think they believe me that most of her ensembles were from Wal Mart. You'd think if I could put together something swell for modeling that I could do a christmas wear at the last minute. 'Cept I lose all creative capability when I'm under extreme duress.

We ended up buying a little OTR Christmas dress and accessories at Dillards and declared the search over. Time's up - what's done is done.

The rest is up to destiny.

I'm going to need new fingernails Monday. I do not have a good feeling about this weekend now, so we're just going to try and salvage what we can of the coming weekend.

....find a happy place....find a happy place....find a happy place...

p.s.s When I went to mail the dress Wednesday, I needed packaging because I didn't consider sending the dress back and at lunchtime was going try to see if I could find an alterationist to work on it. I didn't have box or anything for shipping!! So in between two meetings I ran like a mad mofo into Walgreens kind of wild-eyed looking for shipping tape and trash bags (to protect the dress in case it got left on a porch in the rain etc.)... I'm pretty sure there's some poor clerk around thinking she just had a killer with a body in the trunk run into her store the other day....

p.s.s.s. Did I mention my iron died today too?? Just as I was trying to get Gizmo's dresses ready for her modeling shoot?

CONFIRMED: I am NOT okay

Gizmo's Christmas wear came in today.

Completely unusable.

I now have two point five days to find a great christmas casual wear for her.

I'm going to cry. A lot.

I begged the lady to get it done sooner. I ordered it over a month ago and even sent her the material myself. She basically threw it together.

I need some grace right now.

:o(

I'm FINE Really! I'm o-kay. No issues. Nope not me....

Who the hell am I kidding.

I am officially a nervous wreck.

My house is a mess.

My washing machine blew up...

...and after dragging parts and grease all over my basement and laundry room it was determined that yes indeed, this is an unfixable piece of crap. (don't let 'em fool you those water saver piss poor excuses for robbing you blind are NOT what they are cracked up to be...and did I mention there is a class action lawsuit against the company for making this giant hunk of scrap metal???)

Had to buy a new washing machine. TONIGHT. Thank goodness I married the plumber.

Due to the washing machine being out, I had to buy khaki pants for Firstborn Saturday - BUT!! I could NOT find one stinking pair of 28/31s anywhere in town. He's 5'8" and barely breaking 100lbs. It took about 10 stores and 6 starbucks Fraps to get me through that one... But that's another blog... We had to be at a wedding Saturday Night, then cotillion Sunday and no way to wash clothes because hubby was still damning the torpedos that he could fix that hulking hunk of junk, and of course, everything we needed was dirty.

Roll hair

Pack clothes

Arrange fees, tanning appts, modeling lesson, school excuses, make sure all accessories are intact, plan excursion for hubby and firstborn while we get ready when we arrive...

Did I mention that it is roughly three and a half days before we can leave and not one but TWO of Gizmo's outfits are NOT here!!!!

The big boss wants a fabulous demo of my new project to present to the big BIG boss after Thanksgiving as a hallmark of things that are going right in our department (sadly a lot of projects apparantly aren't.) And it doesn't. quite. work. yet.

And my uber-hyper-critical parents are coming for Thanksgiving dinner.

Stop the world, I want to get off.

Strangely, as much of this is self inflicted, I don't expect sympathy, I just needed to vent.

Live chat now! We help you long time!

AAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Okay, so I have a couple of emails that for some reason appear to be ending up blocked to my regular email account (non-yahoo.)

So I sent an email request for help on how to unblock these messages.

I receive an email back admonishing me to contact their "live chat" for resolution because the companythatshallnotbenamed so very wants to help me for great customer satisfaction, blah, blah, and blah.

Here's a cliff's notes of the transcript:

THEM : Online chat - a representative will be with you in approximately two minutes
Me : oKAY
THEM : Eden has joined the chat
THEM : hello how may I help you?
ME : I have two email addresses that appear to be blocked, how can I have them unblocked?
THEM : oH, it appears you have been routed to the Sales group, do you mind if I reroute you to technical support?
ME : Uh, no (knock yerself out unless you think you can fix this...)
THEM : Cyrus has joined the chat
THEM : how may I assist you today?
ME : I have two email addresses I am expecting mail from that appear to be blocked, how can I have them unblocked?
THEM : All spam is blocked
ME : No, these are not spam addresses, last week I was receiving mail just fine from them and now I cannot
THEM : are you using webmail?
ME : YES
THEM : Is your mailbox full?
ME : no
THEM : check please
ME : 31 %
THEM : okay, please go to your filtering options
ME : okay
THEM : add these to your allowed list
ME : okay, will do , but what if this does not work? what can I do
THEM : do you have antivirus installed
ME : sure, but what does that have to do with blocking emails?
THEM: maam, it has everything to do with email
ME : how?
THEM : maam, if you need help with antivirus, please contact norton directly?
ME : ?? why? I'm not having trouble with antivirus, just blocked emails
THEM : really, you should contact norton
ME : for what?
THEM : how are we supposed to know, you are the one with antivirus problems
ME : WHAT??
THEM : thank you for contacting companythatshallnotbenamednow ... is there anything else we can help you with??
ME : uh, one more question.
THEM : yes?
ME : are you in the US or India?
THEM : I'm sorry maam that information is confidential
ME : (....BANGS SELF REPEATEDLY IN HEAD WITH BLUNT OBJECT)

$%!### ^&@@ss@@@

I'm okay. really.

p.s. I'm probably going to get beat up for this one, but geez, I was just asking the last question out of curiosity!!!

10.5 days to go, but who's counting??

Thanks to Rennratt I picked up this lil' ditty

Your Karaoke Theme Song is "Livin' On a Prayer"

You believe the best things in life are mostly forgotten, and you're definitely more than a little nostalgic . You're likely to still like the same foods, fashions, and music as you did when you were a teenager. You have a knack for knowing what elements of pop culture people have missed, without them even realizing it. It's great to remember the past, but don't forget that not everyone is as stuck in it as you are. You might also sing: "Pour Some Sugar on Me," "Rapper's Delight," and "Cherry Pie" Stay away from people who sing: "Toxic"

What's Your Karaoke Theme Song?

PAGEANT UPDATE

The dress came today!! (WHEW)

But I DID have to go get it from our Green Acres post office early this a.m. If you think I'm leaving a dress that costs as much or more than an expensive sofa there one minute longer than I have to yer flippin' crazeee!!

I was in there at 7:55 am begging for the box hollering through the mail slot at the poor woman trying to load the po boxes. Even went to the back door and stood on my tippy toes trying to get her attention asap!!! Snap to it lady, we've got business to take care of LOL....

Oh what have I been reduced to??

BTW It's GORGEOUS!!!

Now all we need to do is roll one more hair piece, get the Christmas wear and the Casual wear in the mail, pack and make it to next week without anyone contracting the siberian flu.

:o)

12.5 days and counting down

Pet peeve of the week.

Why is it people have time to send me all kinds of crazy junk emails with cute little puppy pics, wishes of doom if I don't forward to 500 people immediately, and just plain old stupid jokes...I don't mind if the joke is funny, isn't over 200k, and is sent to me personally to enjoy, but when it comes via a 150 person address book send, it doesn't make me feel particularly special.

Yet this is what I get back when I call on the phone to say hello...

Title of email: "Returning your call"

Hey, I jsut wanted to let you know until I get through
parent report card conferences and my dreaded
birthday, I will not be in the mood to chat, I will
call sometime after the 12th.

I'm beginning to think it's not worth trying to have any friends at all.

**********************************************

I must be crazy.

It took me 4 hours to roll hairpieces today.

The christmas wear won't be shipped until Thursday.

I haven't heard from the dressmaker in 4 days since I sent my last payment.

The new picture came in (bright spot.)

And the only pageant we could work in for practice next weekend has been cancelled.

I don't think this is a good sign.

Never mind we made our first dress payment in JUNE.

I guess we're going to go and lose again.

Really we should quit, this is so not worth it. I think.

But on the other hand, Firstborn and Hubby are joining us this time.

Should be interesting.

Maybe I'm living right, maybe not.

You haven't lived until...

It's 10:30 p.m.

You have a room full of people traveling in from various and sundry locations across North America to test a brand new computer application that they've been trying to get launched for almost FOUR years.

And it still isn't totally working.

My guys pulled through though, and at 7:42 a.m. they had it up and running.

WHEW.

Tomorrow I'm going to go have new nails and tooth enamel put on.

*******************************************************************************

My therapist should get hazard pay....

In three weeks, we are getting back on the proverbial horse and we are going back to another National Pageant.

Now somewhere between persistence and stupidity is something call perserverance. I'd like to think I'm just keeping the faith, but my husband thinks I'm stupid.

First of all, your child has to model well to be competitive. Gizmo has been practicing... a LOT. And it hasn't been going well. She wants to do pageants badly, but practice?? It's like teaching a pig to sing. To make matters worse, we changed coaches, and all her routines had to change. I told her if she doesn't practice, we'll have to quit, and when I do that, she just gets angry and screams. But when I ask her to practice (and I am working with her to get it right) I'm pretty sure pulling an oak tree out with my bare hands would be easier.

Second, Clothes Clothes Clothes!!!!!!
After the last national fiasco, we sold EVERYTHING and started over. From scratch.
It's not just the expense, but the design has to be right...Is it noticable without being tacky? Is it comfortable? Will she be able to model in it without any wardrobe malfunctions? Will she like it? Will I have to deal with a child screaming she doesn't want to wear THAT??? Are the colors right? Will the seamstress get the measurements right? Will she understand what we want? Will we get it on time? and How on earth am I going to afford all of this?????

Third
Pictures! You have to have new pictures. A new comp card... We even drove all the way across town JUST to get three additional pictures for the comp card in Christmas pajamas to complete the collage!!! I'm beginning to think they need to dedicate a lane in my name between two large Southern cities on the freeway because I've burned so much rubber between the two in the name of getting pictures!!!

Fourth
Loose ends: do the photo protectors need replacing? Do the wigs and falls need replacing? what about shoes? We need to make hotel arrangements. We need to contract a hair and makeup person (will they do my child right? will they understand what will make her look her best? will I get my money's worth?) Check socks, earrings, undergarments, storage for new clothes, wig heads, roller operation, hair spray supply, do we need to order fresh tanning solution....?? The List goes on.

It's work, work, WORK! A labor of love for sure.

help.

Happy Anniver-sry Bay-bee!!!!

Yesterday was our 17th wedding anniversary.

And for the 17th year in a row. We did the same thing.

Maybe that's why we've lasted so long LOL.

Every year on our anniversary, we go to a particular "Japanese" hibachi style steak house for filet and plum punch...
oooooh I lurves me sum plum puncheeeeee....

Anyway.

We've watched this restaurant evolve over the years, and we were sort of waxing sentimental about how the bar used to be sort of dark and quiet with more of a romantic feel (and they used to put out little bowls of japanese cracker mix with dried peas), and now it's a sushi bar/sub restaurant where they serve a lot of beer to Mexicans and it has bright lighting now. It used to be that ALL the cooks were Japanese, now there are none (hence the "Janpanese" reference vs Japanese no quotes.) We used to be able to order a lobster tail with our order, now you can just get some extra shrimp. And customers used to dress up for dinner there and you never saw kids. Now folks go in wearing work clothes from the garage, they bring screaming babies, and jeans are the norm.

In a way, the restaurant's evolution mimics our city's changes. But that's a story for another time.

But, it IS tradition. And the plum punch is still good, even though they've gone to free pour and you don't get as much liquor in it.

I think it's funny too that when our table found out it was our wedding anniversary, and our 17th at that, they were amazed. I guess long marriages are not as common anymore? The guy next to me said he could tell we got along well, and wished he could find someone to share his life like that. Another said we looked too young to be married that long.

And there was a lady at the end freaking out because she thought my husband looked exactly like (and could have been) Dave Grohl.... (I never would've thought THAT.)

Overall we had a pretty good time, but we opted not to go out after the fiasco we had when we went out downtown for my birthday (a GIRL hit on me in front of my husband....) So we picked up the kids from Grandma's and went on home.

And had a great evening.

Here's to another 17!!!

:o)

Usually it's a lot more interesting when our date is on FRIDAY the 13th....

Today

My daughter is in this stupid photo contest...

http://lipglossmodels.homestead.com/1000_Dollar_Finals.html

I have a feeling the moms of the tops might be the only ones voting...

just a hunch

;o)

***********************************************

You know, in a lot of ways I am cheap.

Cheap, cheap cheap...!

I pack my lunch most days.
...and I label and re-use the baggies (carrots, sandwich, cookies)

I live in a house that’s largely made of windows so I don’t have to pay a big light bill.
...and I use those funky looking florescent bulbs in the chandeliers

The last pair of shoes I bought were on sale.
...at Target, and they were only 4 bucks. Super comfy and stylish too.

I never use the dry cycle on my dishwasher.
...and the wet towel I use to get the water off is what I use to wipe down the countertops.

I only partially dry clothes in the dryer.
... I like to pretend that hanging the clothes up doubles as exercise.

I buy books at Goodwill for the kids.
...that way I’m not distracted by a $5 mocha frappacino at Starbucks

In a lot of ways I am a financial idiot.

Dumb, dumb, dumb...!!

My son and husband have a $100 a week golf habit.
...Plus balls, tees, and lost clubs.

I could have gone to Disneyworld for what I paid for my daughter’s pageant dress
...don’t get crazy, I could have paid for only ME not the entire family...

I have a $2 a day addiction to AMP.
... at the risk of TMI, sometimes it IS green.

I am quite convinced Pedicures are a medical necessity
...and I cannot figure out why health insurance won’t pay (reduces stress, really!!!)

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Do you have any money saving tips to share? Send ‘em my way :o)

I need to get my toes done

You gotta work it girl!!

You know, In a lot of ways pageants have been really good for Gizmo.

In others, I admit, they have been bad.

Case in point:

Today, Gizmo was invited to a birthday party for a classmate at the local "Snip Its" kids hair salon. "Get your Glitz and Glamor On" was the title on the adorable invitation she received in the mail. However, I have to worry about Gizmo's participation at these parties sometimes... so I shall explain.

She got up this morning all excited, ready to see her friends and have fun at the PAR-TAY - as she says... And of course, outfit selection was a critical event to pass before attending - "I can't GO if I'm not STYLISH!!!" Then "Kaitlyn is ALL about fashion so I have to be fashionable!!!" In the end she selected her "Dad said it was okay!" T-shirt, denim skirt with sequin scarf belt, funky knee highs and sequin hair bands. She also had to have a funky hairdo, and wanted to wear her new sparkley sketchers to complete the look.

I don't mind her wanting to be stylish, really. I know that's probably not the most responsible parental attitude, but I don't like conflict and I choose to pick my battles where my judgement deems my effort really needs to go. But it kinda looks funny to the other parents when my child doesn't want to "play dress up" when well, she already IS dressed up walking in the door. Nonetheless, she had a great time - and it didn't bother the other kids, and probably not the other parents either, but I'm a little sensitive to what they might think so it's probably all just in my head. At this birthday party in particular, the whole point was to "Play Dress Up" and be "Glamorous" THERE. Then you get your hair done. Gizmo didn't want them to do her hair, because to her, it was already done. But she did let them curl the ends of her hair, put the makeup on, and do her nails.

At the end of the party the "big deal" is for each child to walk the red carpet (yes, they have a red carpet LOL) in their fancy outfit, hair, and makeup. Most of the kids just kinda walked out and stared at the floor with a "whatever" look on their face. Of course, Gizmo sashays out doing her twisty walk, total smile and attitude going - stage presence topped out - and models, well, like a professional. Oh and never mind that although she's not the oldest child there, she's the TALLEST and the THINNEST and looks like a model. Now don't get all in a wad over that statement, I'm not saying Gizmo was the "prettiest" and keep in mind not all models are "pretty" per se, they just have that presence about them...

Embarrassing.

Of course the other mothers are looking at me and one says, "MY she's PROFESSIONAL."

Um, I'm sorry Ma'am, I truly am, but compared to the rest of these kids She IS.

I didn't say that out loud, of course. I just sort of smiled sheepishly and focused my attention on the fact that the next kid was coming up.

I know it sounds weird, but I was so proud (she has such a pretty bright smile and she DID work it down that runway...) but embarrassed at the same time (she just didn't act "normal".) I mean is it so bad she enjoyed it in her own way? Maybe I'm making a bigger deal out of it to myself because I am sensitive to the whole is-it-or-isn't-it-politically-correct to put your kids in pageants issue.

But in the end, all I know is a bunch of little girls had fun today, one of which had to do it her own way.

:o)

One thing I did notice, is that this joint had TVs to distract the kids while they were getting their hair cut. No wonder we are raising a generation of kids who have to be entertained all the time!!

Vague Ramblings

I hate to be outgeeked, but since I'm not a full fledged card carrying member I really shouldn't try. (I'm sort of a fence rider....) But anyway:

I was riding back from lunch with some of the guys on my team and they were talking about back in the old days of building their own printers and protocol converters (pre TCPIP days etc.) And how they used to do all their programs on punch card readers, and how they spent Saturday nights in the computer labs in college....blah blah blah...etc and so on...

Out of sheer frustration all I could think of was the time I stuck a fork in the light socket....

(Hey! I traded out doing one guy's biology homework if he would do my data processing homework in the computer lab. I swear the geeks would leave me be for 30 minutes laughing at the dumb sorority girl who couldn't find the power button to the computer. It made me feel like tweety bird trapped at a cat convention, can you blame me for the trade out?)

But Anyway. (I supposed that explains a lot)

****************************************************

Gizmo fell out of bed early Saturday a.m. and pulled her left shoulder muscles out of whack. Oh can she milk it for all. its. worth. Now, at the risk of being called a bad mom, I didn't take her to the doctor until today. My kids can make a paper cut into a knifing attempt by Mark Twain. Complete with "...and he got away without a police report...." So I'm not known for rushing to the hospital. She's fine, says the doctor, just give her motrin and leave it alone a couple more days.

We're a pretty durable bunch in this gene pool.

Kinda reminds me of the time I rode a horse with a bad reputation on my mother-in-law's farm. "Now don't take him to the upper pasture and run..." stated my father-in-law matter-of-factly. Whatever says I. I can ride him.

So I take the perilous pony out and everything is going fine, 'cept I let my guard down on the upper pasture.

NOT a GOOD IDEA.

Next thing you know we're going, going, going. Then he's NOT going.

And I still AM.

Can you spell "Swan dive"????

Well, I ended up getting bucked off head over heels and landed my full weight on my right shoulder. My guardian angel musta been working overtime, because I came within a couple of inches of landing straight on top of my head, and I was NoT wearing a Helmet. Now, being the resilient gal I am I sort of popped up off the ground and I remember my husband RUNNING up the hill screaming "OMG are you Okay???"

"NO. I'm going to Pass out"

And I did. PLUNK.

When I came to about five minutes later I swore I broke my collarbone (and for some reason, I REALLY had to go to the bathroom...TMI, but it IS true....) After all, I'm a pretty solid girl and I took a very nasty fall and my shoulder REALLY really REALLY really HURT. My husband looked at me (the hopeless romantic he is) and said "I'm not taking you to the hospital, I'm not sitting around the emergency room I might CATCH something"

>o|

You know he made me WAIT until the next day to go to the doctor????

Well, as luck would have it they xrayed my shoulder. No break. No twist. No fracture.
Geez, I could have at least had a small fracture or something for my trouble. The bruise wasn't even much of a trophy.

Apparantly, you can bruise just the bone itself...

Now, it might not have been much, but to this day I can STILL tell you when the barometric pressure is changing.

*********************************************************

In the meantime...

Firstborn, who is full tilt boogie heading into puberty, is having so many mood swings I'm getting emotional whiplash. I'm not ever sure who I'm talking too: Sir Morose, The Giddy Puppy, The Third Parent, Mr.Hideaway... Well, Mr Morose visited juuuust as we were getting him ready for cotillion Sunday afternoon. I'd rather try to pull a large tree out of the backyard with my bare hands before having to deal with this facet of the hormonal horrors known as THIRTEEN. He wants to wear his dress pants around his fanny, the tie doesn't work, he DID? comb his hair... So my husband grabbed him by the ear and did his hair as I added to his humiliation by fixing his shirt in his pants.... I have never heard such whining (his voice is cracking too which to his chagrin tends to give me the giggles - but I try not to have them in front of him I SWEAR.) Tears, pout, huff. Tears, pout, huff. Hell, he makes the Bridezillas on TV look downright docile.

So we ended up being 15 minutes late. Not a good thing when after all you are going to Manners class...

There I was dropping off my pouting, steaming, hunk of hormones off at the club door, taking solice in the fact that there were SIX other parents dropping off their equally pouting humiliated male tweens at the door too!!! AH, Misery loves company.

When I picked him up, he was absolutely the polar opposite.

My neck is sore.

Please pray for little Maddie

We pause for a life sucks moment.

My daughter does a lot of online glitz photo contests, and we get to know quite a few folks over the internet and all over the country.

There is one contest we do alot in particular, because the lady runs it well, she's very nice, her fees are reasonable and she gives away build a bear prizes, of which Gizmo has won a couple. Each time this lady lets her youngest daughter go and pick out the bear and the clothes for the prize to mail to the winner with a special note. Then she'll post a picture of the child with their prize in her winners log.

This little girl was involved in a terrible car crash today - a teenager was texting and not paying attention and Maddie was in the back seat and took the worst part of the crash. She is in serious condition.

This is just horrible!!!

Gratuitous AD day!!!

I'm going to buy 10!!!!

http://www.palmercash.com/women-tees.asp?0=258&1=259&2=-1&6=1

We pause for a whiny brat moment.

I have a confession to make.

I desperately want to be liked.

I envy people who have lots and lots of friends... I still long to be a popular kid.
If I had people come by and hang on weekends around the house to keep us company, I think I would be so much happier. I think I carry around a lot of baggage from being at the bottom of the social food chain in high school... I mean, for crying out loud, I DID go to my senior prom on a blind date. It sucks being a geek.

But I married a social recluse, and although I try really hard to make and keep friendships, it seems like I'm never going to achieve my life's goal to have people to really go do things with. We used to have a couple we would go on vacation with occasionally, but when Doug died of cancer my husband just sort of gave up on finding anyone else to hang with. And his wife and I had nothing in common at all to try and keep a relationship going. She was nice, but she never wanted to do anything.

I have a "best" friend, who calls me often and enthusiastically on the phone with all her news and trials and tribulations, but when I go to visit her she ignores me for her local friends (she literally turns away from me and talks to them and doesn't let me get a word in edgewise.) I took my daughter down to visit her this summer and although she is a teacher, she seemed perpetually annoyed with my daughter, and got mad when I asked if we could fix some popcorn (around 8:30 one evening) for Gizmo and I because she and the "babies" (her two dogs, had a bedtime to keep. Geez, we only visit once a year. I mean she tells me about going out to dinner with her friends and going to the movies etc. but when I suggested we all go to dinner and a movie she curtly replied "I'm so not interested...." Or if I suggest we go visit this or that she looks at me in disdain "I am NOT a tourist" Yet, I say nothing. Although I did feign not feeling well so we could cut our trip a little bit short, she didn't really seem to mind and then made all nice. She could make a little bit of effort if she really cares about our friendship. But maybe that's why she's 38 and still whining that she can't find a man.... (she hasn't had a boyfriend since college.)

I wish I had another mom with kids I could call and say "let's go to six flags today!" Or, let's go to the mall! Or, come over and have lunch. But I guess we're all kinda caught up in the day to day of things and we have our own families to harrass and hang with... Even when I go to birthday parties and meet other mothers I kind of feel uncomfortable because I don't even think the same way they do. They talk about worrying about their kids being too worldly, or the teachers not giving enough homework, or how they don't like ChuckECheese because it's too loud inside.
I don't worry about Giz being too worldly - how can she be worldly taking the dog for a walk, going to pageants, going skiing and roller skating and to the pottery place or going grocery shopping.... and I don't want her to burn out on homework in kindergarten.... and I don't mind ChuckECheese or Monkey Joe's or Six Flags... I love to rollerskate and I love to ride rollercoasters and I can ski and I want to try other things too... Aren't there any other mom's out there like Me???

I'm sure it's overrated. But I haven't felt well this week and I'm wallowing in my own self pity. I'll get over it. Maybe. (Although one of the guys on my team did give me a cookie Monday - Macadamia/Cranberry - and for a little while I WAS truly cheered up :o)

Okay. I know I'm whining. But only a few people read my blog anyway, and they don't seem to be all up in the air about me being one of those social outkast battle-ax stagemothers.

I know they'll understand.

SNIFFLE.

Dissed at the Disco - Part 2

Ah.... Now where was I??


Gizmo was wonderful in outfit of choice, and knowing she really didn't have the clothes to win casual wear, I let HER pick out her music. She picked a really bouncy tune "Jump" by Jump 5 - but I figured if she was happy, she'd smile like she needed too. And she did. But she gets sooooo bouncy she looks a bit of a train wreck in her modeling when she needs to just slow down and take it easy. But, all things considered, it's all about her and she should have some creative liberty. Even if she is only 5.

Last but not least, moving on to Disco Wear. No, we didn't have custom mixed music (but I AM trying to learn Audacity now LOL) but yes, Giz had worked her lil' fanny off practicing and I was pretty confident she would do her best.

She did not disappoint me.

I get tickled after the last event at any pageant because although she's really good about the hair, and the makeup, and the nails, and the lashes etc. once that last deal is done, you blink twice and it looks like a mannequin murder scene. Pop, pop, pop. Off go the nails. UUUUHHHHHH Youch! There goes the fall. Off go the lashes... It's really quite funny. Then she hands it all to me in a wad - I am SO done Mommy! Let's go swimming now??

Of course!

Definition of Eternity = from the time you are done on Saturday until crowning on Sunday morning.

Getting out of a hotel on Sunday morning during a pageant is really tough when you don't have help. Albeit we had friends staying with us and we could pinch hit looking after kids while we loaded up the car, it's still really difficult when they are little. They want to run and play and wander etc. when you really, really REALLY need them to be a little clingy.

Anyway. They had a wonderful Disco party before crowning and they gave the kids these light up Disco glasses and glow necklaces and all the kids got to dance onstage - thus burning off some energy before having to sit still and deal with their nervous mothers for the crowning event.

So they called the 0-3 groups - a lot of predictable winners but since I didn't get to watch those age groups I really couldn't tell how they were going... So it wasn't too long before the 4-8 divisions were called.

Now it is important ya'll know that although I love doing pageants with my daughter I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE crowning. In case you weren't clear, I HATE it. I'm pretty sure one of these days I'm just going to puke and spew everywhere out of nerves. I've even been told by others that I actually look like it too. Oh well. They started calling side awards - I didn't enter Gizmo in any of the additional optional events (I have to economize some) besides casual wear so she had to watch kids get prizes for Natural photogenic, Composite, and a 2nd outfit of choice. But now they were getting down to business with the core events. Second runner up in photogenic. Good. Second runner up in Disco Wear (I personally thought she was the best, but HEY I'm not the judge....LOL) then side awards - best hair? NO .... best dress? NO.... Most beautiful? they gave like 6 places and she didn't even place. It's about this time I am not getting a good feeling.... 5th RU - went to a child where obviously she and her mother had no clue about National pageants. 4th RU - Gizmo SIGH. Might as well have been dead last. And she noticed this time she didn't get a crown! Quick! Damage Control!!! We stayed onstage until the last beauty winner was called with me distracting her the rest of the time and whisking her off stage. WHEW.

?????

Definition of Forever - having to wait until all of crowning is over to talk to the judges.

Now, losing wasn't so bad, but here's what I got wrapped around the axle about:

Gizmo effectively got a zero for facial beauty on her scoresheets.

WTF??

...well, maybe she IS ugly in the eye of the judges and I'm not terribly objective.

I got in line, trying desperately to be settled and patient. Really trying. Honest! So I get up in line to the table and finally it's my turn. I looked at the three beauty judges and said "Look. Don't tell me how beautiful and great my daughter is..." I hate when they say that - it's patronizing especially when your kid didn't do well "...don't patronize me and BS me that my daughter is all that when she came in almost dead last...." One of the judges wouldn't even look at me. She literally had her face in her hand. "I want to know what your thinking was on her scores." Well the male judge effectively stated that he gave her a low facial score because he didn't like her dress. He preferred pastels he purred in his most girly voice. I was fine until then really. Now I'm really, REALLY, reallyreallyreallyreally PISSED.

If he had told me that he just thought my kid was ugly and he wasn't into her, I would have had some respect for him. Have some balls dammit. But to dock my child's facial score, which is a totally separate score from Overall Appearance (where his disdain for my daughter's dress should have been reflected) was competely irresponsible. I could no longer contain myself. Now, I did not swear. I did not raise my voice. I did not resort to insults or name calling. But if pastel dresses were a requirement, it should have been in the paperwork, right? A respectable judge should judge how the dress compliments the child regardless of his or her preference in color. If they want to reflect an issue with attire it should be in the overall appearance score, or attire score if one is used.

Well, as it turned out the two little girls who made 3rd and 2nd runner up respectively (and oh, btw there were like nine kids in the group with 2 pulling supremes and two group titles) he did the same thing to. He effectively knocked these three girls out of the running for ANYTHING because he didn't like bright color dresses. Which is, in my opinion, bullshit. :o) Besides, my daughter does not do well in pastels overall because they tend to wash her out.

In Disco wear two judges gave Gizmo perfect scores across the board. But one judge expressed that Giz was "looking" at a coach for cues. My daughter can tend to look at me occaisionally, but in Disco wear this time, she most certainly, did not. Would not. I even tried to get her attention and she was so into what she was doing she never paid me any mind at all (should have in a couple of places...maybe LOL.) So I knew right off this judge had written us off and not really watched my baby. Because if she did, her notes should have read that Gizmo stumbled on part of her back X - and I would have definitely understood if she took off for that.

In my opinion, judges should watch a child the entire time she is on stage. They should judge whether or not the clothes work for that child. They should judge the modeling according to the age and abilities of the age group. Anything else (i.e. judging low due to personal color preference) shows NO respect for my daughter's time and hard work, and it shows NO respect for MY money. I am a paying (and lord knows in pageants you PAY....) customer, and that's what I expect - since we don't get a "product" in return, I expect good service from the pageant directors and the judges. We pay for them to be there, our kids give them their best, and we deserve THEIR best effort in return. Not bullshit I'm lazy and don't want to make any effort to truly judge your child so I'll use dress color to make my decisions.

Now when I got home, and finally received the DVD of the pageant, I told myself that maybe the judges DID see things I did not, and I promised myself I would be objective in my review of not only my daughter's performance, but the other children's.

I stand by my opinions. The kids who won, hardly smiled. The kids who did not DID. Gizmo had Disco wear in my opinion still. Did she model as well or better than the others in Casual wear. Yes. Did she outsmile all of them. Absolutely. Did her clothes hurt her? Yes.

So now what?

We are getting Gizmo with a new coach. Not because our old one was doing anything wrong, but maybe another coach could see what she/we did not. There's always room for improvement, AND you never know, another technique might be just the thing she needs.

She is getting all new clothes and we are trying different seamstresses/designers. All I can say to that is OUCH.

We took a little "break" to practice new routines and get our heads together.

We're not quitters. Maybe we'll never be able to win this game, but as long as she wants to do it, and we do what we can afford, and she's making a real effort, we'll give it the old college try.

(It would be nice if a millionaire sponsor would show up LOLOL)