Sunday, December 21, 2008

ahhhhhhh, young love



Morgan has announced she has decided who she wants to be her boyfriend. Well actually she said she wants to marry him but I had to say 'whoa, you're 6. Slow down there!"
Anyway, she is obsessively in love with Jeremy Sumpter, AKA Peter Pan. Terrific film if you haven't seen it yet. It's about the only movie my kids have that I will watch. repeatedly. So before she books the caterer and chooses the honeymoon destination she decided she'd first write him a letter. Luckily I found his address and she quickly set out to formulate the perfect letter to her true love.

(Click to see full size version)

In it she wows him with interesting facts like how high she can leap and how tall her brother is (can you tell we played with a tape measure today?) and then coyly asks him to be her boyfriend. Ahhhh, young love. I'll have to keep you updated on any responses.

So who was your first celebri-crush? Mine was Julian Lennon when "Valotte" was released. Sigh. Of course not much has changed. I still swoon when I get an update from Julian on my MySpace (we're friends, don't cha know). Of course, I'd probably drop Jude in a heart beat if Ralph Fiennes ever showed up at my door.

purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Beware of the Doghouse!

Ladies, you know your husbands haven't actually started their holiday shopping for you yet (hey, there's 4 shopping days left, 5 if the quickie mart is open Christmas morning) so there's still time to show him this.

but of course I'm the kind of gal who would actually prefer the fancy schmancy vac over diamonds any day.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Friday, December 19, 2008

Best View in NH

My neighbor took this picture the morning after the ice storm. It's her view looking up to our horse barn. She used to have horses and LOVES watching my guys play and frolick, she calls it the 'best view in NH'. This is a pretty incredible shot. Nature is amazing.

(click on the picture to get the full size version)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Pictures of the Ice Storm & Other Disasters


These monstrously tall pines bent almost to the point of snapping. Although they lost many branches we were lucky they stayed upright. The creaking and snapping (and crashing) sounds all night were eerie.





And although this damage was not ice storm related, the girls and I had some difficulty putting together this gingerbread, er, shack. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't pass building code.


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Give this to your teen, it's an effective form of birth control!

Baby Poops-Alot

The Reader

Yay! The electricity is back on. Sweet modern age!!!

Now onto my next dilemma which is far less disruptive but no less annoying.

I rarely get a chance to read books, heck, completing a thought around here is a struggle on most days.
And of course I mean real books, adult books, more words than pictures sort of thing, you know. So not only reading a book, but completing it in nearly one sitting is a new record for me but I did just that last week when I picked up "The Reader" and wanted to finish it before the movie was released. It's an intiging story and after completing the book I was just about bubbling over to see the film. Here we are a week later and the film isn't being screened within 100 miles of me! UGH!!! I have it saved to my Netflix cue but that means I have to wait, and I HATE to wait!

So any of you who are fortunate enough to have this playing nearby, please let me know what you thought of it if you go see it.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Little House on the Prairie (almost)

Ahhhhh, you gotta love old man winter! We had quite the ice storm here last Thursday night and power lines are down ALL OVER so we've been without electricity, phone, cable, INTERNET!!! for 3 days and probably won't have any of those luxury's until Wednesday at the earliest. Luckily we have a generator so we have lights, heat, DVD and running water. WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE. We've offered to take anyone in who is sick of living in the 19 century. I'm only able to post this because I'm at my Mother's house and she has somehow rigged up some juice (I think she has the kids running on some sort of huge hamster wheel that's powering the turbines) AND Internet. I can tell you, I'm going through major withdrawals!
Oh and my cell phone doesn't seem to work either. WTF.
Hopefully all the lines will be fixed soon, in which case I'll be glued to the Internet catching up on all the news and blog-stalking.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Messy Tooth Fairy!!




Last night Morgan was visited by the tooth Fairy. This is her 2nd chomper to dislodge, the first one of course happened while Beck and I were in CA so I missed the whole tooth fairy fun. Not this time.
I helped Morgan write a note to the tooth fairy and she was so excited to go to bed. Well sometime that night the tooth fairy visited and when Morgan awoke she found a lovely note from the little toothmonger and blue fairy dust EVERYWHERE! According to the note Ms T. Fairy has a bit of a cold and sneezed fairy dust all over Morgan (Morgan concurs that in the middle of the night she did recall some sort of pixie sneeze). I will say that wiley little winged thing went a bit overboard with the damn sparkles! (but hey it was dark and one couldn't be certain the stuff was coming out!). Anyway, it was in her hair, eyes, PJs, bedding and carpet... and has since found itself in every nook and cranny of my ENTIRE house! I'll be vacuuming it up for years! But I would never trade it for the greats memories!


My carpets will forever be embellished with blue glitter!


Morgan and I picked a bunch of pixie dust off her bed so she could take it to school to show the kids.

Randomness? I can do randomness!

I've been tagged by Janiece, Mommy of 3 cuties, one being Beck's ol' pal (and ladies' man extraordinaire) Alihan.
Here's the deal, list these rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as a link to their blog Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Growing up I wanted to be a jockey (oh great, too tall to be a jockey, too short to be a super model. Oh life is cruel!)

2. When I was a teen, I worked in a traveling carnival running games and driving trucks. By the time I went to college I had a very large bank account.

3. My entire family were extras in the movie "Last Days of Frank and Jesse James" with Johnny Cash


4. I planned our entire wedding (including honeymoon) for under $3,000

5. My parents named me after actress Mala Powers after deciding to pick a name by whatever name they see next on TV

6. I used to be a technical director for the nightly TV news.

7. I haven't been pulled over since I was a teen...oh wait. nevermind

OK, I tag Kate, Jackie, Michelle, The Bev, Marnie, Tina, and April.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Oh Universe, you're so funny.

Last weekend my pal Bev and I went to a new age/ alternative therapies open house. I'm a firm believer in Reiki, in fact my Mother is a reiki practitioner and worked wonders on me after my stroke, and I feel there's a place for many non-traditional forms of healing and well-being. While at this event Bev and I met with a shaman healer named Amethyst Moonbat Buttercup or something like that. She did a lot of chanting around me, calling to all the angels and spirit guides ("Yoda?") and ringing bells around my head while having me blow upon crystals. OK, maybe this was a bit much for me. Frankly, it felt a bit silly. But she told me that I'm waiting for answers and stressing that I don't have them, that I need to take a deep breath, relax and know that my spirit guides are with me still and the answers will come, in their own time. Great. She did say my spirit animal was a horse. That's a pretty good choice.
Before leaving I bought some white sage and was told that burning it in my house will rid my surroundings of negative energy. That would be good. Whether it works or not, it smells pretty good.
So last night I burned some sage and applied my green tea cleansing feet pads. And this morning I woke up REFRESHED, ready to take on the world! I would get Beck to school, run my errands, take care of some of those nagging tasks I've been putting off and still have enough time and energy to work on that book that has been laying stagnant in the back of my head for well over a year (ahhh, yes. I don't think I've shared that a few years ago I got a contract with a publisher to go ahead with a book about the village of Contoocook... but then the paper chase began for the adoption and that was that.) But I digress.
With a certain spring in my step, Beck and I headed to his school. I didn't even let the Frogger-like challenge of making a left hand turn onto Rt 3 make my blood boil, as it usually does. I finally caught a break and traffic, gunned it to catch up with the flow of traffic before the maniac behind me drove up into the bed of my pickup. Just before his school I decided to quickly check off another item on my 'to do list' and drop off Morgan's dance school payment. I pulled into the parking lot and reached for my check book... Hmmm, no check book. Where the heck is my check book? I started rummaging through the glove box, my purse, where the heck is it?! Getting annoyed and breathing heavily I sat up in my seat to find a cop car, lights and all, parked behind me. Since the dance school was closed I thought maybe they believed I was robbing it or something. This should be no problem. After making me sit in suspense (and hoping Morgan's dance teacher wasn't watching out the window) the cop finally arrived at my window. He asked if I knew why he 'pulled me over' I bit my tongue and refrained from notifying him that since I had already been sitting in this parking lot looking for my checkbook for a few minutes, he really hadn't 'pulled me over'. I know better than to start a conversation with a cop by pointing out he's wrong. I think I said something slightly coherent about being parked at the dance school at closed hours but that I needed to make a payment. He then explained that I was speeding (you know, 10 minutes ago, 3 miles down the road while attempting my morning routine of trying to turn left onto the busiest route in Pembroke!). He went back to his car, making certain to keep the lights flashing so that no one else in the empty parking lot would, I don't know, crash into us. Of course he made me sit there for 20 minutes while he apparently reviewed my long and complex history of my life of crime. I clung to the thought that I haven't gotten any sort of ticket since I was 17 (and even then I got a speeding ticket on a 3 mile down hill stretch in my 1980 CHEVETTE. I was slightly impressed that the little Shit-vette could even make it over 50 mph, albeit it was only possible with the assistance of gravity). I thought a warning would be sufficient, right?
Wrong. He handed me a ticket for $100! ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!!!!
He gives me some attempt of kind words like, "try to get there in one piece" blah, blah, blah. $100! Happy Holidays!!
So I pull out to continue to Beck's school and my damn 'Service Engine' light comes on. Great. "Your only 9 months old truck!" I think, "you're too young for any service light to come on!".
I walk into Beck's school, late of course, mumble something about how Beck will be shouting stories about cops all day, thankyouverymuch. Get back into my truck, start down the road and now a little Exclamation Point (!) near the 'service engine' light is lit. "Shut up", I groan.
It's gonna take a lot more than white sage to rid me of the negative energies now! Think I'll try the Red Wine!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Cyber Stupid


I've wasted precious hours of my life this morning trying to fix what is probably a simple problem. Here's the scenario, plan and simple. Joe ordered a monthly service and pays for it with my paypal account automatically. He has now decided to discontinue this service and the service provider told him he needs to let Paypal know to stop the automatic payments (OK, I honestly think the provider should be stopping the draw, but whatever.). So after scouring the paypal website for an answer I resorted to my last option which is their automated cyber rep. The following is our conversation:

Sarah - PayPal :Hello, I’m Sarah and I’m here to answer your questions about PayPal. Even though I’d like to be a real person, I’m not. I’m programmed to answer your questions. How can I help you?

You : How do I stop automatic payments?

Sarah - PayPal :Do you mean:
Can I pay my eBay fees through PayPal?
How do I send a payment for an eBay item which I have won?
What is a Backup Funding Source and how do I select it?
Can I add funds to my PayPal account from a confirmed bank account?

You :no

Sarah - PayPal :So what are you searching for?

You :How do I discontinue paying automatic payments?

Sarah - PayPal :
Your question seems related to the following situations. Click on one of the following to find the information you are looking for.Could you be more precise please?
Can I pay my eBay fees through PayPal?
How do I send a payment for an eBay item which I have won?
Can I add funds to my PayPal account from a confirmed bank account?
What is a Backup Funding Source and how do I select it?

You :A vendor charges my paypal account every quarter. How do I stop this?

Sarah - PayPal :
Your question seems related to the following situations. Click on one of the following to find the information you are looking for.Do you mean:
Can I pay my eBay fees through PayPal?
What are the fees for Personal accounts?
Can I have a Personal account and a Premier or Business Account?

You :Sarah, I don't think you're listening.

Sarah - PayPal :So what are you looking for?

You :an answer to my question.

Sarah - PayPal :OK. How exactly can I help you?

You :by answering.

Sarah - PayPal :I'm not sure what you're saying. Could you please rephrase that?

You :You're an idiot.

Sarah - PayPal :It's hard for a virtual agent to be as smart as a person... but I am learning all the time, so if you come back to see me in a week or two, I'll be more intelligent.

You :not likely.

Man this makes me miss speaking to the customer service reps in Indonesia!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Hangin' with Aidai

It is endlessly special that 2 children who once lived in the same room half way around the planet in Kyrgyzstan, now live with their families so nearby to each other in New Hampshire. Saturday Aidai and Beck had a playdate at a new Children's museum and we had a blast! Aidai is doing great! You should see this little powerhouse run! And that laugh and smile, she's beautiful. A sentiment that Beck agrees with wholeheartedly! Beck insisted on sitting next to Aidai at lunch.

I love this clip. Beck and Aidai check out the bunks in the submarine.