The Five Stages of a New Hairdo

Yup, I messed up! I decided to get a new do, yeah something fresh and sleek something a bit more sophisticated than my normal hippy hair that ends up in a messy bun on top of my head. I thought I would spruce myself up for the new year, I had fabulous visions of a whole new me, yeah that's not how it worked out. I asked the hairdresser to bring my hair out of the sixties and she did...directly to the seventies. I was trying to think who the heck I looked like with this new do and I finally got it! I look like Leather Tuscadero (played by Suzi Quatro) from Happy Days!!!! OMG!!!!! Any who that got me to thinking about the stages of a new hairdo journey and for me they are as follows:

1)Excitement.....I just KNOW this is going to be the greatest haircut I have ever got, it will transform my life it is going to be that good.

2)Trepidation....Gee that looks like an awful lot of hair on the floor.

3)Cautious Elation...Well it looked pretty good when she blew it all out.

4)Despair....What the f*** did I do!!!!!!! Why can't I leave well enough alone!!!! I could have just got a trim!!

And 5)Resignation....It will grow back.....eventually. Sigh. LOL!

Christmas Wrap up

Well the dust has just settled on this years Christmas festivities and thankfully it was a great success. Dinner came out nice although I thought the meat may have been in a wee bit too long, however in my family we like our meat good and dead so no worries and no complaints LOL! Most importantly the kids were ballistic over their gifts from Santa but the biggest hits were also the cheapest gifts..go figure LOL! Anyway I had great fun with my son who awoke at 5:00am and every 20 minutes thereafter asking "Mom! Mom! MOM!!!!(yelling)(then in a whisper) do you think Santa came yet???" LOL! until finally I got out of bed at 7:00 so we could creep downstairs to check! That is by far the best part of Christmas! His total belief in Santa and the look on his face when he saw the presents under the tree!!!! That's when the real hooting and hollering began! :) He was quickly joined by my daughter who does not quite get the whole concept of Santa but surely knows something good is going on downstairs and quickly checks it all out and gets into the spirit of ripping into packages. She was delighted by this three dollar kitty that when you pull its tale it vibrates across the table, again its the cheapest things that make them happy!
So my family were able to make it and Thank God because we couldn't see each other for Thanksgiving because my son had Swine flu and I thought that the weather was not going to hold out for us on Christmas but it did and they were able to make it to dinner and that is what its all about, togetherness. Also thanks to modern technology we were able to Skype my husbands parents in Ireland and see them via the computer too!
So this morning I got up bright and early and cleaned up the after effects of kids gone wild and put my house back in order and declared that "I am not doing another thing all weekend". Three hours later I was still up to my eyeballs in Indiana Jones lego blocks putting together the temple of doom or some such thing while my son happily cheered me on from another room with words of encouragement like "How long is this going to take?! "Are you finished yet????" and my personal favorite "Mom can't you work any faster!?" LOL! He LOVES legos but is not old enough to figure out the directions and while I am old enough to figure out the directions some of these sets are hard and require my complete concentration!!!! Anyway you might ask where the husband was during all this, well I'll tell ya, he was upstairs napping. He was apparently pooped from all the shopping, cleaning, wrapping and cooking for the big day! Oh hang on a sec....that was me! LOL! Well whatever you got up to today, I hope all your holiday plans came off without a hitch! :)

Olde Time Christmas Traditions

This is how Christmas was celebrated by my Mothers family growing up in the lovely County of Mayo. The house was decorated with streamers, Holly and the Christmas cards received from family and friends in England, America and other places. (A ha! this is why my mother is always after me to get my cards out!)
For the Christmas goodies they went to the local shop and the traveling shop which came around to the house and the family would receive a Christmas box which was a thank you for shopping with them during the year. In the box would be a pound of tea, sugar, biscuits and bairin breac (which is a sweet bread with raisins and sultanas) and maybe a sweet or two. (Wouldn't it be nice if the shops gave out something to its patrons nowadays?).
For Christmas eve in the country there were lighted candles in every window and they left the door open(not just unlocked, I am talking wide open!) no matter if it was raining, snowing or cold, there was a roaring fire and something left out to eat, in case Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus were passing by and needed a place to stay. However at the stroke of midnight the stockings would be hung and the fire would be dashed so Santa could come down the chimney! Sure enough come morning the stockings would be full with things like an orange, an apple, a balloon, a ball, a hankie, a pencil and maybe some sweets. (What! no high priced toys and the kids were still happy! unheard of these days! LOL!) Mom said that orange smelled soo good but they couldn't eat it because they had to fast until after Communion.
In the early Christmas days they had a roast goose with all the trimmings and of course plum pudding (way too much like fruitcake for me but every year my husband tries to get me to eat it!) and custard. Then they would go about visiting relatives.
On St. Stephens day the boys went around with a wren which is a bird for all those who don't know (Mom said that alot of times it was just a potato as it is hard to catch a wren LOL! and Dad (from Co. Clare) says he used to go around with just a nest most of the time for the same reason LOL!) anyway the boys would go around to peoples doors and sing "The wren the wren the king of the birds! May I have a penny to bury the wren?" Needless to say they got more than a penny especially from relatives and it was a pretty lucrative holiday tradition.
My Christmas wish to you all is to keep the real Christmas spirit alive and know that it is not about the amount you spend on the pressies and all the stress that goes with it but about family tradition and togetherness. Have a very Merry Christmas, I hope all your celebrations are bright.

Ode to the Decorated Cars of the Season

OK, I know I was kinda picking on the Shiny Happy People the other day, but I neglected to give a poke to the people who find it necessary to dress up their cars in Holiday decor. I have spotted several people in my town with fake reindeer antlers on their car jingle balls and all! Oh and PS strapping a fake Santa to the front of your car, like you just hit him is probably not sending the right message to the little kiddies! LoL! I'm just saying.....

Happy Shiny People

You know the type, they have it all together. They are always washed, hair done perfectly, clothes in order, hats, gloves and scarves (all matching!?) on the cold days. I meet them all the time in line at the store and they always want to strike up a conversation with me! They say things like "Oh isn't this the best time of the year! I just LOVE Christmas! I just finished my baking for the big day, 50 dozen cookies all different types, 30 pies, 50 cakes blah blah blah" you get the picture. Their gifts have been carefully thought out, bought and wrapped....in July! Christmas cards have been written and mailed out right after Thanksgiving, just so they can be the First to wish you a Merry Christmas. You just have to love them (me not so much). LOL! When they finally come up for air from regaling me with their accomplishments they turn to me with a most expectant look in their eyes and ask me what I have done so far, at which point I look down at my cart full of ready made cookies, cakes and pies, the extra box of Christmas cards and the 10 rolls of wrapping paper and say "Oh I finished all that ages ago too! This stuff is for my neighbor!" LOL! Oh I am such a liar! But I just can't bear to disappoint these people with their Christmas tree sweaters, I mean they just live for this stuff! I complimented one lady on her hideous red sweater with a Christmas Moose (think Bridget Jones Diary!) and she was like "Oh Thank you so much! I have four others at home, one with a reindeer, a Christmas tree with bead ornaments, a snowman with knitted fluff balls and something else that I just can't remember(I think I mentally bailed at this point. She apparently rotates everyday for the holidays! I did NOT ask when she actually starts to wear them, but I am guessing its probably black Friday. LOL! Oh its just too much!
Well now that I have that out of my system, here is my update: I have mailed my international cards. LOL!

Christmas Pictures...

Every year sometime around the beginning of November, I start thinking about taking photos of the kids for the Christmas cards we send. Now remember, I said thinking about, not doing anything about, because, everyone who knows me (especially Mom the Motivator!) knows that I can be quite the procrastinator when I don't want to do something! LOL! Well yesterday since it was a snow day and I didn't have any reasonable excuses left, I decided to suck it up and get the kids dolled up for the picture taking session. People, it took me HOURS! It went something like this: Aww you guys look so cute! Okay let mommy get the camera, I will be right back. Hey little man where did your sister go? What! No princess put the paint down! We can paint later. Get off that chair before you break your neck. Leave the cat alone she is gonna swipe you! Okay now look at each other, No don't touch each other, stop fighting, just stand still for one second so I can get a good picture. Yeah yeah I know it itches just smile for one more picture. Oh no! you blinked again! On and on it went. LOL! So I get my mail this morning and I am looking at the photo cards some of my cousins sent and I am thinking to myself wow these look really professional look how angelic their kids look! Why can't I get my children to look like that for one friggin photo?! Of course I wish I could send some of the oops pictures I took, they are far more interesting and funny than the one measly half decent picture I eventually got. LOL! Oh well maybe next year! Somebody pass the rum punch...

Princess room too good to be true!

Well it happened, I knew it would. I just didn't know it would happen in less than a week. What am I talking about you ask? The wonderful princess bedroom in a box that I spent a whole evening putting together, not five days ago! Apparently my lil princess who has a fondness for gymnastics was swinging from the canopy when it snapped like a twig! This was apparently her second attempt, the first one being quickly stopped by my mother who was babysitting. Ah but she is tenacious, nothing stops my lil princess from doing what she wants, she just waited until mom came back downstairs and continued on her mission LOL! Thankfully she wasn't hurt. But after a long day of work I come home to my mother and husband exchanging glances at each other...nobody wants to break the news to me about the catastrophe and finally I am like "What?" "Just tell me already!" So my husband says to our little destructo, "show mommy what you did" and she races upstairs calling to me to follow her and when I get up there she is standing there with a big gigantic smile saying "Mommy!....Grandma did it!" LMAO!!! Ah well she's only two!

Oops! Heres the Joke!

My Living Will

Last night, my husband and I were sitting in the living room and I said to him "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependant on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

He got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine.

He's such an ass.....

Saturday Sort Out

Well the first "real" snowy day of the year!!!! Yay! We were out in the snow playing with the kids, sledding in the driveway and then we came in to the roaring fire that I started before going out and had a steaming cup of hot chocolate! Yummy! Now the 5yr old is glued to the HarryPotterathon and the 2yr old is passed out asleep! The husband is upstairs watching the tv and I am tinkering with this blog trying to make it more interesting. With that in mind here is a good joke that relates to alot of my friends! LOL!

Mish Mosh Thursday

Cost of one Princess room in a box $100.00. Cost of spending 3 hours putting it together while your 5yr old yells out constantly what is taking you so long to build it and your 2yr. old beats you with the metal rails....priceless. Well who said motherhood was easy anyway. Right now as I speak the little princess is practicing getting in and out of her new bed. I put her in, kiss her goodnight turn out the light and come downstairs. Two minutes later, the light comes on, I hear the pitter patter of little feet and I hear "Mommy look!" I go upstairs and she runs back into bed giggling, this has been going on all night! Ah well one of us is bound to fall asleep sooner or later...probably me! LOL!

Well its been a busy week around here, my Dad has decided to put a new heating system in and so it has been all systems go, he came down here on Tuesday morning right before I left for work and when I got back all the baseboards were in place! There is no stopping him! He is unbelievable! Then yesterday we spent the whole day installing and soldering the pipework in the basement and by the end of the day taking turns whacking our heads on the various pipes and beams that are down there! LOL! We were tired! Meanwhile in the mist of all this my mom is taking care of my 2yr. old, raking leaves and painting everything she could find. I don't know where she gets the energy from!, I certainly do not get that much accomplished when I am here on my own! Which probably really annoys her! LOL! I call her "The Motivator", I get all my productive work done around here when she is here, because her favorite expression is "Get er dun!" No she is not southern, but we like to talk in a southern accent while we work, it really makes us laugh and the jobs seem to go faster. Man am I lucky to have parents like these, my father has always tried to teach me how to fix things and most of it has stuck and then my mom steps in and says "Let's get to it!" and it gets done.

So thinking back on the Princess bedroom, it is because of my parents that I bravely take these projects on and I hope to continue the legacy with my kids. I hope they get more out of seeing me do these things than the mumbled curse words that slip out occasionally as I get whacked in the head or have to chase my tools around. LOL!
Ahhh Good Times!!! :)

New Title.....Tooth Fairy!

Its official people! I have a new title "The Tooth Fairy". My little guy lost his first tooth! He has had two loose teeth for well over a week now and the first one finally came out yesterday! Very exciting rite of passage. But now for the money part, what exactly is the going rate for a tooth these days? When I was a kid, I remember we used to get a dollar and with that dollar we would go to the corner store and come out with a can of soda, bag of chips, chocolate bar and a swedish fish or two and we would share it with our friends, it would be a party! Go to the store with a dollar nowadays and see what you can get, you would be lucky if you got just one of those things! Of course times have changed drastically since then, we were happy with a dollar, my son thinks that losing a tooth equals a new lego set! I had to explain that the tooth fairy is not like Santa and that she is too tiny to carry big presents, she can only carry a dollar. LOL!

Ah Black Friday...Not for the Faint of heart

Well its official, I have lost my ever loving mind. I think the week long quarintine had finally made me snap because I actually trekked over to Walmart this morning with the kids in tow, I don't know what I was thinking or what came over me (perhaps I was possessed?). I did not go until 9:30 thinking the worst would have to be over by then, well not so. What a scene! Things were all over the place (more so than usual) and even though all I really wanted was some Christmas lights and maybe a $3.00 pair of pjs for the kids nothing was where it should be there were crock pots in womens clothing Christmas pathway lights in mens underwear! Never again. Gotta give it up for the Walmart workers though, they were really busting their butts to get things back on the shelves. Needless to say, we were outta there in ten minutes, we just turned tail and ran. I think I will leave Black Friday to the professionals, maybe Cyber Monday will be more my speed. Happy shopping to all and to all a good day!

Happy Thanksgiving

I found this great joke to share with you all hope you enjoy:

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary. Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

In desperation, John threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer.
For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued...

"May I ask what the turkey did?"

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Swine Flu

Oh swine flu what to do? The media has everyone running scared so naturally when my 5 yr old was diagnosed with it on Sunday, I felt pure panic, it was like being kicked in the gut. I mean what do you do? Run to the hospital? Quarantine the house? Alert the media? Keep it quiet so others don't panic? What is the protocol? All this went through my head in the ten seconds it took my sons Doctor to tell me he had it. Then she handed me a prescription for Tamiflu and said give him this, you will notice a big improvement tomorrow( I did, like night and day). I said okay, what then? Nothing she said just watch him. OK. So I said what about my 2 yr old? She said watch her too if she has any symptoms bring her in and I will give her a prescription too. That's it. No panic, no calls to the hospital nothing. I don't get it, I mean why does the media feel the need to panic everyone its just not right. I guess in a normally healthy child with no existing medical conditions you should not expect any complications, at least that's what I got from my Doctor. However if you do have a child with certain medical conditions you have to be extra cautious I guess. So then why are not all Doctors doing the swab test for H1N1? My friends child had all of the same symptoms as mine did but was told she did not have Swine flu (no swab test was done) and was sent back to school. Huh. I just don't get it.

Whoopsie poopsie

Whoops! In my haste to get started on this blogging project, I forgot to thank my very good friend Sandra for setting me all up!!!! Let's see if I can tap into my inner Lois Lane (not the one from the original Supeman movies, but the one from Smallville LOL) and make her proud. Thanks for taking the time to find just the right background and badge and all the other technical stuff that I still don't understand Lol! I think you may have found a hidden talent and I would float you a few bucks for all your help if I had any to spare!! LOL!

Well on to the meat of the matter I would like to discuss. A person looks to buy a house, said person gets house inspected. The person is told it has a septic tank. Nine years later when septic is failing, the person finds out that she Does Not have a septic tank at all!!!!!! WTF!!! Apparently I have a seepage pit and 40 yr old pipe running off that! Oh and the pipe is made of get this, cardboard that has been soaked in tar! Now the whole thing will have to be replaced, Engineers called in etc. Whoa is me!! So I did what any good woman would do, I went strait out and bought copious amounts of chocolate and ate into a wonderful chocolate oblivion. Then I decided to leave it in Gods hands, I am sure I will be blessed in some way that will make this ugly situation get resolved.

Well enjoy your weekend folks, we are off to a Lego convention in Ct. I know my little man will be beside himself with excitement when we get there, he eats, sleeps and breathes lego LOL!!!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog, pour yourself a good cup of tea (Barry's Irish tea is my fave) and sit down and have a nice chat. I am the busy mother of two small children and when I am not running after them or cleaning up after them, I like to curl up with a good book. I particularly like paranormal and historical romance novels, they are my guilty pleasure ( How do they come up with this stuff!). Hopefully some of you have the same interests and can recommend some good books as I am always looking for a good one. I will of course keep you posted on the books I read so you can check them out for yourself too. Well until next time, I wish you many peaceful moments to enjoy your tea.