Meet Me at the Bus Stop - NaSePiMo

Taz welcomes Morgan home from school.

Heaven - NaSePiMo

Saturday I was feeling a bit down so I loaded Mr. Dee and his pal Chase into the horse trailer and headed to the beach.

It was a beautiful day. The air was a mild 65 degrees, as was the ocean temps. And blue skies... beautiful blue skies.

As we galloped, splashing a long the water's edge, I felt the negativity that I had been carrying melt away. Dee's ears were perked as he leaped and galloped through the waves, undoubtedly enjoying himself as much as I was. The rhythmic pounding of his hooves on the sand filled my head as I closed my eyes, let go of the reins and held my arms out, feeling the wind surround me and wondered if there would ever be such a perfect moment ever again.

As the tide started to come in, we untacked and brought the horses back down to the beach to roll in the warm, soft sand. As if he were entertaining the gathered crowd, Dee rolled, got up, laid back down and rolled again. The more people laughed, the more he'd do it.

I brought him back down to the water where he pawed and snorted at the waves. Sadly, in New England, by the time the ocean water warms up to a bearable temperature, summer is over. On this day the air temperature and water temperature were about the same, making it actually delightful to go for a swim, although Dee and I were the only beach-goers to actually swim.

I hadn't actually planned on getting totally wet but the water felt great and there is nothing like swimming with your horse out in the ocean's waves, especially BIG waves.

But once we got over our heads I realized my riding boots, filled with a few gallons of water, were now acting like cement shoes and decided it was time to head back to shore, salvage some dry clothes and head home.

I couldn't imagine a more perfect day.

Poop Happens - NaSePiMo

This little bugger had a great time at last weekend's horse show.
(Disclaimer: He's not mine. I just stopped laughing long enough to take the picture)


And here's a few more shots from the day, minus the poo.

Camera Battery is Still Dead - NaSePiMo

... and I'm still a loosah.
But don't I have a gorgeous family!



Mmmmmm, that husband of mine is a real tasty dish!


and in a totally unrelated note, Bev is a photoshopping goddess!

I've fallen off the NaSePiMo Wagon

Damn, and I was doing so good!!!

I'd post something now but my camera battery is dead... and I'm too damn tired to do anything about it.


...I'm such a loser.

Cavity The Magic Dragon - NaSePiMo

Joe just brought home this insane, sugary concoction.


What you may not be able to tell is under that 2 or 3 pounds of nasty green frosting is 2 cupcakes. Two little abused cupcakes.

Perhaps our local frosting-crazed bakery is paying tribute to Mary today in the stickiest, nastiest way possible...

Or perhaps they were puffin' away themselves when they came up with this idea...

Either way, Joe couldn't pass up it's sugary greatness.

But the best part.... the inlaws are in town and we're leavin' the kids with them tonight... right after we feed them this uber-sweet dessert.
*evil laugh*

Love Notes - NaSePiMo

Morgan came home with a love note from a boy in her class today.


(click to enlarge)

Hmmm, oddly familiar...

Hitler's Reaction to Kanye West

And I thought he took the parking situation at my gym badly..

Stop and Smell The Flowers - NaSePiMo

of course, he then ate them.

Time Warp - NaSePiMo

Woo-Hoo! Today marks the half way point of this tedious exercise NaSePiMo! Woot!

Yesterday Beck started speech therapy. He's come along way in just 2 short years with us, but because he spent nearly his first 3 years in an orphanage there is the lingering issue of the oral-motor muscle development. This lack of muscle development was most likely caused by the fact that he wasn't encouraged to speak or even babble, due to the lack of one on one contact. And additionally, the constant mush textured food they were given daily. We take for granted the development that occurs in just eating different textured foods as babies and toddlers.

In order to get him enrolled in this therapy he had to sit through 2 hours of testing. TWO HOURS OF TEDIOUS TESTING!! He rocked it while I started turning my socks into hand puppets and naming lint balls ! The therapist recommended testing for me noted how well he stayed on task which enabled her to complete the entire test, a feat that doesn't often occur.

I was so proud a week later when I received his scores and cognitively he out-scored me scored at the age of a six year old! Not bad for a four year old who heard English for the first time only 2 years ago!

As I suspected, he did score poorly in the oral-motor skills. No big surprise.

Because he's one smart dude, he doesn't qualify for help through the SAU... and because we're self employed, our health insurance will only start giving us a hand after we shell out the first $10,000.00 - what saints! So we're gonna drain any chance of him getting to college be paying out of pocket for the therapy because although he's doing awesome, we want him to be totally prepared when he enters kindergarten next year.

So how much does speech therapy cost? $100/hour! Yowzaa! I'm SOOO in the wrong business!!!

So we went to our first session and Beck loved it. They worked on letter sounds and tongue exercises and 45 minutes later we were in the car heading home...

WHAT???? Back that truck up?!

Yes, FORTY-FIVE MINUTES! It seems that if you're getting paid $100/hr, that hour is really only 45 minutes TOTAL which includes signing in at the desk, removing shoes, and a little play time at the end, getting shoes back on and pushin' the little rugrat out the office door. What...the...???

Any of you out there working for an hourly wage, go ahead and try this with your boss tomorrow. Cumulatively, on an 8 hour day this would mean you could knock off 2 hours early every day! And still get paid! Woo-Hoo!

But something tells me, in the real world, that sort of thing just gets you fired.


"Show me the look Mommy makes when she gets our bill?"

Long Shot - NaSePiMo

Here's our boy, Wrong Street (AKA Taz), winning the Tampa Bay Sports Club Trophy Race.

Note the worrisome look on Taz's face as he crosses the wire. Perhaps he's a bit confused because normally at that point he sees lots of tails and horse butts in front of him. But on this day, he lead the pack and pulled off his first (and only) victory.

He was a fabulous long shot, paying $19.40 on a $2 wager! And apparently such a long shot that no one in his posse felt the need to dress up for the occasion... especially the 2 on the far left in the bottom photo. Yikes! Or perhaps they're photo-bombing track bums. Hawt!

When Life Gives You Lemons - NaSePiMo

Seriously, this has been one lazy, low-key weekend... and I LOVED it


I did manage to get the kids out of their PJ's and go visit their Dad, who was just 1 mile down the road at a nearby horse farm selling his lemonade at their horse show. (shut up your dirty minds!)

What? I haven't mentioned the lemonade stand??? Really? Well, long story short, although he's now a suit and tie wearing Financial Advisor, Joe was once a carny... still is, I guess, technically. He still sets up the lemonade stand a few times a year at different events. What? a grown man with a lemonade stand.. nothin' wrong with that!


Anyway, so we show up and suddenly Joe high-tails it outta the stand, leaving me to serve the line of customers.
... and me without my vodka.


After I was drinking all the profits relieved of my lemon squeezing duties, I headed to the store with the kids to get Morgan's dance shoes.

That was a complete bust since apparently the teacher requires ballet shoes that either don't exist or need to be order 6 months in advance (did I mention the class starts Tuesday. Yeah, who's mother of the year? I am!).

But the day wasn't a complete loss. As I roamed Target cursing myself for allowing Morgan to sign up for dance again, I came across the boxes for RockBand BEATLES. Oh how I have been coveting this little game. But alas, I don't have RockBand, I have Guitar Hero - cursed evil video jerks for teasing us!!!! Damn those marketing geniuses who some how scored exclusive rights to the world greatest band. DAMN THEM and their monopolizing evil powers!!!
Yes, I'm a bit envious. And bitter? Moi?
But as I ran my fingers over the game I so craved, I noticed a wee, tiny fine print..."works with some Guitar Hero controllers".. What? SOME? What the heck does that mean??!!
I didn't care, it was worth the $59.99 non-refundable purchase try.

Fast forward to 10 minutes (and several traffic violations) later... I popped the disc in my Wii. It had some sort of warning about making all my other games forever incompatiable if I continued... I didn't care, I just clicked like a Beatle-lovin' mad woman... to hell with Wii Fit! What the hell has it done for me lately!

And then it happened....



...the most glorious opening sequence to any video game. ever.
(and yes, I took a picture. What?)

Hellz yeah! Take that!! It works, beyatches!!!!! *evil laugh*

and in a related story, this may be my last post for a few weeks... Gotta rest my drummer hands.

Saturday Night Spa

Yeah, I know, TWO Saturday nights this weekend.. weird.

Anyway, Morgan and I broke out the ol' foot spa and gave each other mani's and pedi's tonight.

Certainly a fabulous evening, even if my nails look like they were done by a blind epileptic.

Wild and Crazy Saturday Night - NaSePiMo

So I'm starting to think September wasn't the most exciting time of the year to celebrate NaSePiMo... but I'm hangin' in there. And I'm thankful (and impressed) that you are too.

So for your viewing pleasure...

Here's a pretty typical Friday night here at the Mixed Nuts.

Dinner and some TV... What's on the menu, you ask? Maple pan seared salmon.. yum, if I say so myself... and apparently, so says the dog as well. Who needs to vac?!

Lake Issyk Kul - NaSePiMo

I recently acquired a piece of original art from a very talented young artist named Emma Wright. It is of Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan. And if this painting isn't beautiful just by itself, Emma uses the money from the sales of her paintings to help those in need. She and her family have done, and continue to do, incredible work in Kyrgyzstan.

"This latest painting of Emma's was one of her holiday paintings... one painted just for fun. .... It is from the shores of Lake Issyk Kul . The original photo was taken while we had a group of orphans with us for an over night in the yurts.... it was a beautiful peaceful place...."

Perfect Start To A Day - NaSePiMo

Fair - NaSePiMo

We had a fabulous couple of days at the state fair; chocked full of deep-fried artery clogging goodness... and lots and lots of good ol' fashion country dirt.

So technically this is NaSeViMo ... but whatever...

No day at the state fair is complete without your kids being dragged through the dust by a team of steers. At least Courtney figured out to let go of the rope... Morgan, not so much.



Heh. C'mon you little dirt monkeys, let's go get some cotton candy!

Playing With Knobs - NaSePiMo

While mowing the lawn today the tractor came to an abrupt halt... seems as though I should have filled up the gas tank.  No big deal.  I simply lugged the gas can out to the tractor, which was naturally at the furthest point from the garage, filled it up and thought I was back on track to a tidy lawn.  Problem solved... or not.

I turned the key to start 'er up.... and got nothing.  Not being overly mechanically inclined, I thought the best course of action was to say screw it and go get a beer was to leave it sitting on the lawn, perhaps to cool off.

After 30 minutes, I returned to try my luck and still not a single sign of life as I turned the key.  So I resolved the issue the only way I knew how; left the tractor there and took the kids out on a horseback ride.

Joe came home at 9pm and I told him that something had happened to the tractor and it was regretfully DOA.  I went on to tell him I had tried everything but couldn't seem to remedy the situation.  So he went outside and moments later I hear the tractor start up, alive and well.  What the?!

Joe smirked as he passed by me.  Bastard.

He was downright giddy by the time he entered the kitchen to disclose what miraculous action he took to save my beloved mower.  Seems I forgot to turn off the mower deck before trying to restart the tractor... it of course won't turn over until all attachments are disengaged. *smack forehead*

So he imparted some sage advice: If you can't get something to work, just play with the knobs some more.

nice, dear.

time for a new laptop- NaSePiMo

Well , well, well... looks like my poor ailing laptop couldn't take the thought of my blogging via cell phone. Tonight as I clicked 'publish' on my newest post, my computer hiccuped, chocked & pooped itself and then gave me that screen I hate so very much...page cannot be displayed. BASTARD!
But i will not be brought down by insolent laptop! Please enjoy this shot of the Beck & Morgan catching up with their friend Aidai on the roller coaster yesterday at the fair.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

Smashy Smashy - NaSePiMo

Again I'm bloggin' by phone. woot! go me!

We're currently anxiously waiting for the start of the demolition derby at the state fair. jealous?

Morgan is enjoying a slushy concoction of syrupy nastiness over ice (which I'm sure I'lll end up wearing one way or another).

Redneck fun aside, I wasn't about to drop the ball on NaSePiMo!

Long Distance -NaSePiMo

OK I'm attempting to blog long distance via my phone. Bear with me. Or BARE with me... whatever floats your boat.

Anyhoo, I'm currently at a social mixer at my daughter's school. Yes, this is me mixing. suck it. I have NaSePiMo duties to fulfill & let me tell you, today pretty much sucked... not in an earth-shattering, life altering sort of way (thank goodness) but just high in the craptastic factor. So really I had nothing interesting to shoot...unless you dig me vacuuming. I know, fabulous.

First Ride - NaSePiMo

Yes, we bought a horse that we had no idea could be ridden.  Today I'm very happy to say that my horsey intuition is 3 for 3. 

I purchased Mr Dee 10 years ago, via the phone, having not seen him in over a year and being 1500 miles away.  I went with my heart and it paid off in inmeasurable ways.

Then there was Storm.  I fell in love with him over the internet and met him half way from his home in PA.  What I found was a very sick horse with a very questionable future.  But I knew he needed medical attention immediately and it seemed obvious he wasn't going to get it in his current situation.  So I wrote a check and loaded a feverish, weak horse into my trailer.  I knew there was a possibility that I would simply bring this horse home to bury, but again my heart lead me.  And once home with proper care, he recovered and flourished and has been a blessing to our family.

And now Taz.  Again I saw something special.  And again I felt that draw, that gut-feeling.  So we bought him without knowing whether he was even ridable.  Another leap of faith...

Well today, we had at least one question answered...

Corona Bastardos - NaSePiMo

** note: you have to say this post title in your best Ricardo Montalban.  C'mon, DO IT!!! **

The other day I was buying Mayo in a 55 gallon drum shopping at Sam's Club when I spotted a tower of Corona.  Being that I'm holding fast the last glimmers of summer, I decided I could enjoy one last case some more summer brew.  As I reached for a case of liquid delicious-ment, I stopped myself and decided to go all healthy and good for me, and so I selected the Corona LIGHT.  Go me!

Fast forward to hours later when I retrieved a perfectly chilled bottle of Corona LIGHT from the frig.  I stopped dead in my tracks as I held the bottle.  "When did my hands get so big?", I thought.  "Oh mah GAWD!!!  How could I have never noticed I have freakin' MAN HANDS!!!". I quickly ran through my mind what my future held now that I had come to the realization that I possessed ridiculously monstrous hands; I'd become a shut in, add oven mitts to my daily wardrobe and try not to frighten small children with my hideous malformation.

Joe must have noticed the tears welling in my eyes as I stood motionless, staring at my gigantic ubber-mitts.
"Honey, they're little 6 oz. bottles."

WHAT?!  Mini bottles?  What the hell, Corona!  50% less calories because there's 50% less beer!!!!  Party foul, my friend!  Bad form, indeed.

So let the record show, I tried.  I think I earn some points for at least buying LIGHT beer... so I've done my part, yeah?

Oh course, being that the bottles are so wee....

Heh.

National September Picture Month

Since last month I was completely slackerific, I declare September National September Picture Month, or NaSePiMo. I attempted this last August, but failed for the most part. That aside, the idea is that I need to post a picture everyday, fresh from my digital camera, with or without text.

Let us begin, shall we?

Seems that Morgan may actually be serious about riding again.  She and Courtney decided to groom Dee and Storm and take them down to the ring to ride.  In other big news, Morgan had her first "unscheduled dismount".  Yes, lesson learned; slippery pants + bouncy, bareback trot = close encounter with the dirt.  Luckily, she laughed it off and climbed back up.

Morgan's also learning quickly that when you have your own horse (yes, she's claimed Dee as her horse), it's not all about the fun and riding...