Like a Bow on a Present
July 9, 2009
Tying up all of the loose ends.
Carolyn G, come on down…
you have won the Wishbone giveaway.
Warning: Lots of links to other places now. Some of you hate that, so feel free to skip down to the bottom.
Over at Work It Mom, stuffed jalepeno peppers. So delicious and so easy to make it almost isn’t even a recipe. Except that it is and you should go make it.
My latest writing gig, over at DIY blog at AOL.
5 Tips for Reviving the Potluck Dinner Party Or, you know, you could just move to my neighborhood.
Creating an Outdoor Living Space I recently fixed my wicker furniture with duct tape, that I then spray painted. I am Klassy, with a capital K. But shhhhh, that isn’t what I wrote about.
$5 and 5 minutes: Fixing Your Running Toilet
How to Hang Pictures on Your Walls Most of you are probably not doing it correctly.
And then I wrote:
Tips for Preventing Brain Drain in Your Kids This Summer
Staying Safe on the Fourth of July I guess that might come in handy for you NEXT year or something.
I revealed what sort of allowance a child movie star gets.
And in between all of this I watched this:
Except in real life. Every day. Over and over and over again. And when I wasn’t watching it I was listening to, “Mom. Mom. Mom. Look at me. Watch. Watch me. Watch. Watch.” Followed by, “Didja see that? Didja see me? Were you watching?”
And I assure them that YES I DID SEE. I saw it every SINGLE time in the past hour that you have done it. I have not averted my eyes ONCE. In fact, I have even refrained from unnecessary blinking. But you know what would make it even better? If you could DO IT AGAIN. And scream MOM the entire time, just in case I forget what you call me.
Hello, I now live on the face of the sun. It is a place where make-up is shunned and a good hairstyle is but a pipe dream.
I take photos of the thermometer in my van and then send them to Susan. My furrowed brow is because I just got our electricity bill for last month. That’s okay, the children have eaten enough to last them the rest of July. They can have ice.
And of course this is still going on.
After the games I like to complain to my son about how hot I was sitting on the bleachers.
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Enjoyed the links! I know what you mean about heat vs. makeup . . . especially as I seem to have sadly inherited my dad’s sweating face genes. Bleh, totally unfeminine to go around dripping from my forehead and nose!
July 9th, 2009 at 5:25 amAhhhhhhh…. it brings a tear to the eye… all that heat!! Just think of all the money your saving by not buying replacement hair product and makeup.. Granted it’s going into the electricity bill.. but on the plus side your heating bill will be less!!
July 9th, 2009 at 7:15 amI take pictures of my van thermometer too!
July 9th, 2009 at 7:28 amEh, back here in New England, it is still so dreary and rainy, I haven’t even set up my porch to eat out there for the summer. Couldn’t you guys shave 10-20 degrees off and throw them our way?
July 9th, 2009 at 7:57 amWell of course you must complain about how hot you were on the bleachers. It makes up for all the times somebody calls “Mom, watch!” I have found that my personal limit for the number of times that particular phrase being repeated non-stop before causing my head to explode is 11. What’s yours?
July 9th, 2009 at 8:32 amWho says ice isn’t a real food? Hmph.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:08 amturn up the thermostat… ours is set to 78
Chris says: Oh trust me, I did.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:18 amAaaaah, the lovely heat of the midwest! (I’m in Oklahoma, so we’re NORTH of you and I’m pleased to say that it’s only been in the high 90’s here. I’ve had to resort to getting out my sweaters!)
July 9th, 2009 at 10:36 amIs it unbearably humid in TX? It is here. Every summer, I have dreams of buying a summer home in Colorado. Or Canada.
My poor husband is always having a fit over the summer electric bill.
But as I keep pointing out to him….. keeping a wife experiencing both menopause and a preschooler happy is is worth way more than just money.
kwim?
Tammy and Parker
July 9th, 2009 at 10:50 amhttp://www.prayingforparker.com
http://www.5minutesforspecialneeds.com
@ParkerMama on Twitter
Welcome to Texas……just wait until August rolls around.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:19 amThat recipe looks delicious. I will be trying it soon!!
I wish I could hear “mom! mom!” at the pool all day this year…my 4 year old just got tubes in his ears and isn’t allowed to swim. We were so anxious for the pool to open too.
As usual, I enjoyed your post! Stay cool!
July 9th, 2009 at 11:39 amWait…someone hates the links you give out? God forbid we be given another website to look at while procrastinating at work
July 9th, 2009 at 12:41 pmOh yes, the incessent ‘Mom, watch this’ is enough to kill ya. If the temperatures don’t.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:52 pmWhen I moved to Austin, I found out it was the potluck capital of the world. August is just more of the same. One year we actually turned up the the AC to 82. It seems warm, but compared to outside, it felt cool. We also closed all the blinds and lived in a cave. In combination, it helped a bit.
July 9th, 2009 at 1:35 pmStuffed jalapeno peppers? You had me at BACON.
I know I should not hang wall art using nails. I know this. But old habits die hard. I’m 44. And nobody sees the nail after the art is hung.
Admittedly, if I need to hang anything really heavy, I get geek husband to do it. He’s all about measuring and stud finding and proper tools and picture hangers.
Meanwhile. I need a high heeled shoe.
July 9th, 2009 at 2:34 pmI did a little dance when my electric was only $91 for June…and then collapsed in sobs because next month’s will be ten times that. And THEN I collected myself because at least mine is still working. (I hope.)
July 9th, 2009 at 3:27 pmAhhhhh. Oregon. It’s 75 here today. Okay, I’m shutting up now.
Chris says: That sounds frigid.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:37 pmI know that feeling at the pool. I spend the entire time counting heads while pretending to relax and read a book… not!
July 9th, 2009 at 6:38 pmI love the bottom baseball picture. Dragons. Baseball definitely tends to drag on. I feel the same way about my boys’ baseball schedules…
Chris says: Yup it drags on and on and on…
July 9th, 2009 at 7:46 pmYou have inspired me to cook…or at least stuff some jalapenos. Keep the links coming.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:01 pmDon’t worry, you will be loving it in Texas come December, Jan. and Feb.! makes up for everything you experience during the horrible summer. Really glad to know that I am not alone with my lack of make up and constant pony tail once I moved from Pa. to Houston.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:48 pmHowdy! I am new to your blog, and am understanding you are new to Texas. I live 30 miles east of Austin, been here 35 years. I do not remember a summer this hot. There have been a few Augusts this hot, but not the whole summer. Please don’t think they are *all* like this.
At least the humidity is waaaay down, but I’d even trade that for a few days of good, solid rain!
Enjoying the blog, thank you very much!
Oh, we don’t have AC, so the bill doesn’t go up in the summer!
July 9th, 2009 at 9:53 pmThose jalapenos are calling my name. Do you know in the 7 years we have lived in this house I have never used the broil setting on my oven? I am not even sure what it does.
As for nails and shoes being inappropriate choices for hanging pictures, clearly you just aren’t using the right kind of nails, technique, or shoe.
I have a 6ft x 4ft mirror in an ungodly heavy oversized hardwood frame hanging on a wall held in place by two nails which for the record are not in a stud because of course the studs are conveniently not located where I eyeballed the exact middle of the wall where the mirror needed to be hung. And despite being run into on a weekly basis it has never come down off the wall. Of course now that I have said that be on the lookout for the news story about the woman whose toes were flattened like a pancake in a freak accident involving a precariously hung mirror.
July 10th, 2009 at 1:08 amThanks for the DIY tips - we’re working on the outdoor living area. Try not to melt.
July 10th, 2009 at 8:08 amAs for makeup, I have been using Bare Minerals and have to say it is so much better than the other stuff, because it doesn’t drip off my face and is still there after a hot day.
As for the electric bill, meh, it all evens out in the end. I may have $200 months in the summer, but $90 in the winter. Of course, that is because I hate a hot house and rarely have the heater on.
Good Luck and don’t burn up.
July 10th, 2009 at 8:23 am116 here in Phoenix today!
July 10th, 2009 at 3:19 pmHa! My girls(9 & 11) have outgrown the “Look at Me!” stage but my younger girl still has the habit of saying “Hey, Mamma” as a prelude to anything she says even if only 2 seconds have passed since her last statement. Almost annoying at times but funny!
July 10th, 2009 at 9:09 pmIN Texas ice is considered a food. Complaining about how hot your are in the bleachers is your right since you sit there game after game.
July 10th, 2009 at 10:41 pmHeat, I wish we had that here right now, it’s in the low 60s/high 50s tonight. Although we just got back from vacation and ran out of clean cloths we were sweating so much! If we could average our temps it would be comfortable for both of us.
July 12th, 2009 at 12:05 amI actually am posting because you made me giggle a good one. I did not read the word as Dragons in the baseball picture…I really did see “drag on” the first time I saw it. Of course it could be the road weariness catching up to me.
I just browsed your YouTube and watched the “waiting for those college scholarships” one with Miles hitting the ball off of the tee. My almost 2 year old is in that exact phase right now. When we play whiffle ball with the older boys, we let the 2YO hit it, then when he runs around the infield like a drunken midget, we hustle up and pitch to the real batter. Ahh, baseball: the sport where your’re never too young, it’s never to hot (or cold) to play, and the games never end (my husband is a coach of our h.s. legion team, so I really mean it: the games. never. end.)
July 12th, 2009 at 11:51 amI know, I hate the heat. I just looked at our forecast for the next ten days, and it varies between 107 and 110. Makes me nauseated just thinking about it.
I got into my car at work the other day and the thermometer said 122. I realize that’s because it’d been sitting in the sun… but still.
*blech*
July 12th, 2009 at 2:33 pmI have to constantly remind my four when we are at the pool, beach, park, etc. THat we did not come to play “Mom, watch!” and if they can’t find something to do that does not involve repeatedly shouting my name we will pack up and go home. They catch on quick and I am able to retain a miniscule amount of my sanity.
July 15th, 2009 at 10:07 amOH wow…just notifed the Dragons logo on the baseball feild. If that is Roud Rock High School I graduated there back in 1989…yes I’m old!
July 15th, 2009 at 5:09 pm