Ethnically Ambiguous

My first award how bloody sweet!

2010-08-03T15:29:00.001-04:00

Wow, thanks so much to Jenn at TutusAndRainboots for bestowing this on me! You Rock :)

Here’s the rules (rules???)

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave it to you.
2. Share 7 things about yourself

#3 Pass the award on to 15 (15?!?!) bloggers who you recently discovered and who you think are totally awesome.
#4 Contact the bloggers and let them know that they have won!

1. Thanks Jenn at TutusAndRainboots!!! It's nice to be thought of :)
Go to her blog, wait…read my stuff first then go to her blog!
2. 7 things. Since we are already working with numbers, I will use letters.
a. I'm an old child and contrary to popular belief I am not spoiled.
b. I've lived in New York, California, New Mexico and Sweden.
c. My ultimate vacation would have to Ireland. There is something "magic" about it, every since I can remember I've wanted to visit/live there. Maybe I was an Irishman in a former life looking to go home
d. I have very low self esteem and it has only gotten worse as I've gotten older which is probably why I'm lacking in the friend department
e. I'm very creative but I have a short attention span i.e. 7 or so halfcrochet blankets and cricut cuts all over my craft desk waiting to be put together for my oldests 3rd birthday.
f. My favorite boardgame is Settlers of Caatan
g. I love sci-fi fantasy novels. My top 5 (in no particular order) are The Mount - Carol Emshwiller , The Gormenghast Novels- Mervyn Peake, The Drizzt series - R. A. Salvatore, EVERYTHING by Steven Brust and Lilth's Brood - Octavia Butler
3. Awesomeness that needs to be recognized: (I'm picking 7 because there were 7 points about me not 15)

Belly Charms - her mother bracelets are just gorgeous

Color Me Untypical - I'm addicted to her and her husbands love story

I Never Said I was June Cleaver - she's always got words of encouragement

Parenting by Dummies - my daily crack up and inspiration for bribing the heck out my 3 year old

The Adventures of Chip and Bobo - she answers the question What is worse than smelling like poop!

Big Fat Gini Blog - Anyone who dislikes posting inspirational quotes on Facebook is a friend to me!

Boobs Babies and a Blog - crystal chandelier penis that's all I have to say.

Monday Hops 8/2

2010-08-02T09:50:00.000-04:00

it's Monday!! and time for another round of Meet Me on Monday hosted by Java at Never Growing Old . Monday Mingle @ KD Buggie's Boutique, Monday Minute @ Daily Dose of Reality And now for question/answer time!

1. What is your favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving - I love food and family
2. What color clothing do you wear the most?
blue and green
3. What is your heritage?
Chinese,Black,German Irish English and Cherokee a.k.a PIRATE Arggghhhh!
4. What is your middle name?
Anitra
5. What is your favorite cookie?
Chocolate chip pecan

AND

AND then

Describe your life in one word

meloncholy
Is there something you wish you had learned how to do as a child?

play a musical instrument, learned Chinese and played a sport.
Who has been the biggest influence on your life?
My dad. He's a good egg, just really bad luck.
What is your greatest dream/hope/aspiration?
For my boys to have a better life than me, to make their own unique mistakes, love and be loved, be truly happy and continue to be healthy.
and finally...

Do you believe you have reached your potential? Why/why not?

No, I have tons of great ideas and such but I kinda chicken out on the follow through.

Getting to Know You 8/1

2010-08-01T21:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday and Happy August!

I've decided that I kinda like the idea of you guys helping me out each week with the questions..I come up with some and you come up with some..So if you're interested in having your questions used and getting a shout out on my blog..email me with at least two GTKY questions (anything goes)..I'm thinking this will become a permanent thing..It's getting harder and harder for me to come up with 8 questions and I like the idea of getting you all involved.

Thanks!

The awesome peeps that helped me out this week..

Jen at A Daily Scoop of Chaos, Me (Keely at Mannland5) , Ann at Living & Lovin, Stephanie S. at A Day in the Life

*wanna play..copy the questions..answer them..then come back here and link up*

The Questions~
1. If you were to win an award today, what would it be for?
Most Laundry done in a single day
2. What is your shoe style?
sneakers
3 Does your car reflect your personality?
don't have a car of my own yet...damn that explains a lot.
4. If you could take over someones body for a day..whose would you choose?
hmm tough question I'd like to keep mine just drop 50lbs
5. Love or be loved?
Loved. I've loved all my life. it's my turn now
6. If you were on death row, what last meal would you choose?
hmm either franks beans and rice or shepherds pie
7. Have you been on vacation this Summer, if so where?
nope. we're broke and Hubs is studying for his CPA exams.
8. What is your favorite food related guilty pleasure?
see number 6

Awe Yeah

2010-07-31T13:46:00.000-04:00

So I've been a lucky little lady as of late I won 3 count them 3 giveaways over the last 2 weeks!

1. A beautiful string of pearls from Goober Grape & Monkey Man courtesy of BltiheBride

2. A cute flirt toe ring from Mommy's Margaritas courtesy of Belly Charms

3. Weird But True, World Atlas and The Big Book of Fun from Parenting by Dummies courtesy of National Geographic Kids.

Yeah I'm pretty stoked. The pearls and the toe ring arrived this week and are gorgeous. I would post pictures but A. I haven't had a pedicure in 3 weeks and B. I've got this telephone zit from sitting on the phone with the State of Maryland over a frigging business license that has been paid, paid oh yeah and PAID already. MD county government sucks big fat monkey balls.

Sorry about no update on Ethnically Ambiguous or Religion but I kinda broke a promise to myself and started reading the Twilight series.

I'll say a few things thus far;
Robert Pattenson is not Edward
Bella is kinda of annoying
I know why girls/women got their panties in a bunch over this series. What girl's heart doesn't go a flutter over that is which is forbidden ESPECIALLY when it's a sexy vampire?

All in all after reading the first book I think Meyer did a pretty good job on vampires, but Edward and crew are definitely no Louis and Lesat. We'll see how I feel after New Moon and I can choose my side Vampire or Werewolf :)
The only thing that really gets my goat aside from Bella being such a lame duck character is the sparkly crap. Really?? Glittery vampires?? Vampires don't sparkle. You can't be goth and a candy kid at the same time.

Writer's Workshop 7/29

2010-07-29T08:32:00.000-04:00

It's assignment time! And here are this week's choices:
1.) It was a bad burn. Tell about the worst sunburn you ever received. How did that happen!?!
2.) Write a poem for your furry friend.
3.) Describe a memorable camping trip.
4.) It happened on a motorcycle.
5.) Post a vlog that shows you playing with your kids.

Picture it, Riis beach in Brooklyn. A mom, an aunt and a chubby teen with HUGE glasses and curly bangs relaxing in the sun. The aunt is religiously applying sunblock, the mom and chubby teen giggle at what seems like sun block OCD. The sun reaches high in the sky not so gently toasting everything in its path. The aunt applies even more sun block. Evening approaches and the trio begin to pack things up. The mom lets out a small groan, the chubby teen is beginning to realize that maybe one application of SPF 8 might not have been enough. The aunt starts to giggle as the redness emerges on her com-padres. The ride home is near unbearable, every bump, every rub of the seat belt send waves of agony across the chubby teens arms and legs. Once home the mom and the chubby teen try and clean up but adding water to severe sunburn only made things worse...water blisters covered the chubby teens arms and legs. Aloe and lydocaine did nothing, it was right out of a skin disease horror movie. Fast forward about 20 years the chubby teen is now a chubby mom who doesn't like to wear shorts above the knee because there is a permanent difference in color between the top and bottom thighs...

Dood seriously that was the most HORRIBLE burn ever the water blisters lasted for 3 days and hurt like h*ll. The difference in color on my thighs isn't as intense as it was before but you won't catch my arse without sun block ever again. I bathe my 3 year old what seems like every 10 minutes because I really never want to experience hot cranky sunburnt babies.

Welcome Wednesday 7/28 - teenage island

2010-07-27T22:56:00.000-04:00

It's Wednesday and today I'd like to talk about my brain child - teenage island.
Let me start by saying I would never EVER want to be a teenager again because quick frankly it sucks. Hormones are raging, NO ONE understands you and chances are you've hit an ugly patch.
With that being said it should be no shocker when I say I severely dislike teenagers. They are vile creatures and should be gathered up and shipped off to an island (teenage island), where they can sulk, throw fits, listen to really crappy music and complain about how no one "gets" them.
There would be supervision of course and I would require all island inhabitants to be temporarily sterilized (it's teenage island not teen pregnancy island) but basically these hormonally imbalanced creatures would be free to discover themselves without parents looking at them like "what have you done with my child" or "I brought you into this world and I'll take you out." It would be mutually beneficial. Teens would learn responsibility, get a taste of the "real" world and learn to appreciate their parents. Parents would stay out of jail (they wouldn't have to choke out skanky girls trying to corrupt their little boys) and get chance to ~~walk around the house naked~~ miss their children.

ok enough of my pipe dream. Welcome it's Wednesday.

Tuesday Hops 7/27

2010-07-27T08:23:00.001-04:00

So Misery's baptism is quickly approaching and I've got to get on the ball with his invites. I'm making them myself because I'm crafty damn it :) The fronts are actually already done but I have to bring the carstock into work so I can print the invite wordage (yes I'm that lady bringing my printables to work but I am getting a new printer at home so I can get all my crafties done in one place, my house!)

I'm also working on the next part of Ethnically Ambiguous - college AND trying to figure out how to get a copy of my QueerEye engagement up so you can witness their interpretation of making your life "better".

thanks for stopping by

woo hoo it's Tuesday! and the ladies over at

Survey Junkie,Little Yaya's,

Review Retreat , Boobies,BabiesAndABlog

are hosting Follow Me Back Tuesday

stop by link up make a new friend or two!

Monday Hops 7/26

2010-07-26T08:58:00.000-04:00

it's Monday!! and time for another round of Meet Me on Monday hosted by Java at Never Growing Old . Monday Mingle @ KD Buggie's Boutique, Monday Minute @ Daily Dose of Reality And now for question/answer time!

1. What one food could you eat every single day?
fiesta chicken panini
2. Do you wear glasses or contacts?
glasses - nearsighted blind aging bat :)
3. What kind of cell phone do you have?
blackberry curve in that frost purple
4. What did you have for dinner last night?
ox tail with rice and peas
5. What is your favorite candy?
a toss up between chick-o- stick and plain m&m's

AND

AND then

1. Who is your "what-if" person?
(What-if person being what if I married this person or am now in a relationship with "this" person)Johnny Depp. But seriously this is a funky question, with Hubs I wouldn't have Cheeks or Misery and yeah I just can't picture that.
2. What is your nickname?
nee - nee, neeps, neeper

3. If you could choose how you died, how would you like to die?
quick and painless, if not in my sleep then in a drug induced happy fest.
4. If you could have named yourself, which name would you have picked?
I can't imagine myself as anything other than Tanii. And I absolutely hate boring old names. No offense to those of you with said boring names but growing up with 9 Jennifer's in my class and like 5 John's & Michael's those names will never be associated with my offspring.
*steps off gold plated soap box*
5. Who were you named after or for what reason did your parents choose your name?
First name Tanii is my grandfather's doing. It's the anglicised version of beautiful river in Chinese. Middle name Anitra is my mom's doing it's apparently the name of one of Barker's beauties from the Price is Right. She also bought an exact duplicate of bedroom set she saw on the Price is Right as well. :) She also threw around the idea of naming me Zenobia after my great-grandma but she said i didn't look like one, I looked like a Tanii.

Getting to Know You Sundays 7/25

2010-07-25T21:00:00.001-04:00

From Keely @ Mannland5:

Hey Hey Hey..It's Sunday..Time for another super exciting edition of Getting to know YOU..

I have some lovely ladies helping me out with the questions this week (just like last week)..I had a bunch of great questions that I wasn't able to use last week and wanted to make sure I didn't leave anyone out..

Thanks ladies!!

Kim at Kimberly's Korner, Jen at A Daily Scoop of Chaos, Rachel at Simple.Little.Joys , Amber at A Day in the Life of Amber

*wanna play..copy the questions..answer them..then come back here and link up*

1. Thong or Granny Panties?

Actually I prefer to call them bloomers hehe but seriously I'm over my thong days but not up to those under the bra strap panties either.
2. If you see a guy with his fly down, do you tell him?

yep, usually something to the effect of "dead man walking"
3. Spanx or no Spanx?

spanx a a beautiful thing, keeps the old thighs from bursting into flames
4. Do you sleep in your sheets?

not really i have a series of snuggly blankets I sleep with
5. What is your favorite Disney character?

hmm I'm going to pass on this but my favorite Disney Pixar movie is Meet the Robinsons
6. Dream vacation spot?

Ireland
7. What is your dream job?

Honestly I don't know
8. Who is your hero and why?

My dad. He's been shite on over and over again and it seems like he can never get a break but he keeps coming back he doesn't give up and I hope that me and my boys can be more like him (sans all the heartache though make we can get a break or 2)

Friday Hops 7/23

2010-07-23T06:45:00.003-04:00

It's Friday and I'm hopping :) are you.

Well due to time constraints I was unable to participate in this weeks
Red Dress Club but here is next installment of

Ethnically Ambiguous – High School

Rules for Five Question Friday: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, then c'mon back to link up! If you don't have a blog but would like to play along, feel free to leave your answers in the comments of this blog, or any blog along the way!

Questions for Friday, July 23rd: (Special thanks to Christy [for inspiration], Kelly, Brittany Ciara, Emily, and Sami [for inspiration] for their question suggestions! Wanna be linked in a future 5QF? Just c'mon over here, to my community, and offer up your best question suggestions!)

1. What were your school colors?

blue and white

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?

"you're a great driver mommy"

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?

I buy the cheap stuff but it must be 2 ply and by cheap stuff I mean berkley and jensen not that dollar store crap which I don't even think is paper.

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?

I had a surprise engagement on QueerEye if that counts.

5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?

my full charged ipod. without music I'd probably go bat shite insane.

(P.S--the questions are getting a little stale over there...anybody willing to offer up some fresh ones? I can always break out the "Deck of Random Question" cards, but I like linking people up and giving credit for fun questions!!)

Ethnically Ambiguous - high school

2010-07-23T06:45:00.001-04:00

Ethnic \Eth"nic\, Belonging to races or nations; based on distinctions of race; ethnological. [1913 Webster]

Ambiguous \Am*big"u*ous\, Doubtful or uncertain, particularly in respect to signification; capable of being understood in either of two or more possible senses; equivocal; as, an ambiguous course; an ambiguous expression. [1913 Webster]

continued...

So I made it through grade school and just to make things easier (more horrific) I went to an ALL GIRL Catholic high school. I show up on the 1st day and guess what it's the great racial divide once again. On the left we have the white girls complete with the traditional Catholic school rolled skirt, on the right we have the black girls with their skirts past the knee and no where in particular there's me the chubby not quite anything girl with glasses and bangs.

(Note people with extremely thick curly hair should never have bangs cut way to short by their grandmothers)

Since we already know that I lived on the brown side of town/life I was immediately dismissed by the white girls. At first the black girls didn't know what to make of me. I wasn't white, I wasn't high yellow and sure as hell was not black. But I lived on the "other side" of Flatbush, my skirt was below the knee, I listened to hip hop/reggae and knew all the cool slang of the day. So I was kinda sorta adopted by the black girls but more so the nerdier side. If I wasn't in my fugly stage of life, I probably would have made it higher up the social ladder.

But hey I kinda fit in right?

Well yes and no. These were girls I talked/gossiped with, went to the mall with and even went to some of their houses but no one that would fall into a best friend category. No one that would invite me to a party or that I still talk to today.
(The one girl I kept contact with while I was college,disappeared somewhere around junior year.)

Don't get me wrong, high school wasn't totally miserable I had some great laughs and enjoyed it on a voyeur level...like the time my entire school was put on lock down because another school was coming to throw down. Let's just say we all bonded for those few hours as earrings were taken off, Vaseline applied and rings were turned(you know the Jamaican gold ones with the high bezel and "rubies") for optimal claw claw bite. fun times, fun times!

But my defining high school memory is unfortunately a really shitey one. I don't remember what caused the rift in the senior class but the cliques were getting smaller and tighter and once again it looked like I was going to be the last one picked. We were all in the cafeteria and an argument started. All I clearly remember is being told by Denise H. to “STFUP because I wasn't even black”. Yep the cafeteria went silent, I went teary eyed and it felt like the whole school just stared right through me.

That was the first/only time someone came out and said what everybody always thinks when they see me. You're not Black, White, Chinese, Native American...you're just not. Needless to say the last few months of senior year weren't all the great but the dust settled and once again I was just outside and to the left. Graduation came and everyone parted ways I was off to Buffalo far away from my parents and the people that didn't care about me either way. I was super excited to be getting out and making new friends having new experiences and maybe even finding a boy who thought ethnically ambiguous girls with long manic panic/punky colors hair were their cup of tea.

Continued...

Writer's Workshop 7/22

2010-07-22T02:21:00.005-04:00

So each week Mama Kat sends out these nifty "prompts to get out writers groove on. I must admit this round of prompts were a bit hard for me after all the fun I had with Larry and Garry last week but I finally picked one. So go read it, you know want to.

This week's prompts are as follows:

1.) Write about your wedding song. What was it and why did you choose it?

2.) A movie you probably should have previewed before letting your kids watch.

3.) We talk about mother's guilt a lot...who needs it? Describe a good mom moment!

4.) Post a picture and a description that fits into this quote for you: "How far to heaven? Just open your eyes and look. You are in heaven" -Shankar

5.)Earthquake! Where were you when it happened?

So Hubs and I got married in our living room December 9th 2006 by our friend Osk. We also celebrated my 30th birthday and our house warming. The wedding was a surprise to everyone except Hubs and I (obviously) Osk and his belly dancer wife. (yeah I know cool people) So needless to say with a house full of people and 3 events crammed into 1, we didn't have a wedding song.

I've compromised a lot in life to make sure certain things were taken care of in a certain order...House Marriage and Babies.With all the money going to House and the fact that I don't really have any close friends, I didn't need the fancy schmancy wedding. Hubs already had the big wedding so yeah no song. Just us in our wedding sweaters.

However back before reality jumped up and beat my arse I had these grand ideas for my wedding day. I still have dreams about the dress (which I will have made and wear one day) and every time I hear a particular song I tear up a little and know that one day I will dance to this song in a white dress with my husband.

You can cry. I am. Without fail every time I hear this song I cry and from the moment I saw this movie way back when I knew I wanted to get married to it.

Hopefully that day will come sooner rather than later.

here are the lyrics just in case you didn't cry from Jim singing it...

He'll make me happy
Each time I see him
He'll be the reason
My heart can sing
He'll stand beside me
And I'll have everything
She'll make me happy
Each time I hold her
And I will follow
Where my heart may lead
And she'll be all I'll ever need
Days go passing into years
Years go passing day by day
She'll make him happy
Now and forever
Until forever
Their love will grow
She only knows
He'll make her happy
That's all she needs to know
They'll be so happy
Now and forever
Until forever
Their love will grow
I only know
He'll make me happy
That's all I need...to...know...

Wednesday Hops 7/21

2010-07-20T23:03:00.000-04:00

Yet another Wednesday and boy am I looking forward to Friday. It's been a rough week thus far with my insides being twisted up a bit about being shunned my a local church, Hubs being a lazy arse and giving me the silent treatment because he feels guilty about being a lazy arse but won't say sorry because he only says sorry when I'm a crumbly ball tears and work is just crazy trying to fix someone's problems but they can't even explain what they did to give you any insight on where the fark to start.

On a lighter note Cheeks gave me a ring on Monday night. He found it in the parking lot at daycare - it's one of those adjustable keyring loops. That little boy really knows how to make my heart smile. I took it off last night to give Misery a bath and he grabbed it and said "Mommy you have to wear your ring". So I've got my ring on my pinkie and that is where it will stay. (I'm going to find some string to cover it with because bloody hands are not my bag) I'm hoping that one day when Cheeks is all grown up and has a little person of his own I can give him/her the most amazing piece of jewelry that was ever given to me - a string covered keyring found in a parking lot in Farmingdale by the sweetest little boy I've ever known.

Well now that I've made myself cry I'm off to bed. Happy Wednesday!

Not so Blessed Sunday - Tuesday Hops

2010-07-20T06:08:00.003-04:00

Let's start with some background, I'm a baptized and confirmed Catholic. I went Catholic school K - 12 and a Jesuit college. My Uncle was a RC priest so I've seen left right and center of the Catholic Church. That being said, I am not a practicing Catholic. I do not believe in God in terms of organized religion but I do believe in something bigger than all of us. Something that wants us to be good people, look out for your neighbors, don't kill people, be good to the earth etc...

With that out of the way let's get to yesterday's events.

I plan on baptizing Misery in September, yes I know about what I said above but my parents are Catholic and they want my kids baptized so yet I'm a hypocrite hedger of bets - sue me. So on Sunday I decided to try this whole religion thing again and brought Misery to Church. I figure I should make an appearance before he gets the dunkaroo (and I figured maybe I could find a bit of community - I'm super lonely, like desperation type lonely and hey despite my issues with the Church they're supposed to welcome new comers/strays with open arms right?)

So I arrive at quarter to for the 10am children's mass with my 5 month old in toe. He's smiling, I'm smiling I start to tear up thinking maybe I get past my issues with the Church and come back. Bull F-ing Shite. I sit down, no one even glances in my direction. The hospitality ministers don't come over to say a word (that is until they try and shove that basket in my face and then roll their eyes when I don't put anything in) and then this old biddy gives me the death stare because I was apparently in "her" seat. No one even commented on Misery and his ooey gooey cuteness. Nothing it was your standard dry Roman Catholic fanfare of stand up/sit down/kneel. There was nothing family/children about this Mass except that no one openly rolled their eyes when the toddlers squeaked loudly. There was traditional high pitched older lady heading the mindless droning singing and the priest well let's just say the only words I understood were "Supreme Obedience to God" which creeped me out in that Nazi sort of way. Nothing kid friendly, nothing even adult friendly (most people were either sleeping or just reciting what droning prayer - they made every prayer sound like the guy from Ferris Buller.

The Gospel was about Mary and Margaret. Basically Mary ditches out on chores with Margaret to go hang with Jesus and when Margaret confronts Jesus, he tells Margaret that Mary chose the better because he is awesome. OK he didn't say that exactly but you get my drift. But instead of Homilizing (like that word? Yeah so do I feel free to use it) something like "what Jesus was trying to tell Margaret is that sometimes there are things more important than physical work, that sometimes you just need to sit down and listen to word of God/Jesus because he can shed some light on your life thereby easing the strain of physical work in your life or that sometimes you need to take a break from physical work and work on your faith - you know recharge your beliefs by examining them. Or something like that remember I'm just a semi heathen speculating on a book priests are to be able provide relevant meaning to. Not some dude in vestments in a thick accent no can understand spewing "Supreme Obedience"
So needless to say St. James will not be a place a visit regularly. I do not if I'll ever make it back to Church. I'm not converting to anything else and unless the RCC makes some grand over haul in there sermons which I doubt I guess heathen life is for me.

Unless any of you know of a FUN, INCLUSIVE Church in Nassau county, NY.

More on my issues with Organized Religion to follow.

Sorry for such a rant on a Tuesday.

Here's how it goes.
Every Tuesday will be different.
I'm starting this weekend with Experiences you've been apart of!
Good, Bad, Scary, Once in a lifetime, Never Will I EVER again...
Whatever you want.
Share three fun & exciting stories that have happened to you in your lifetime.

1. Childbirth - mixed bag of emotions

The birth of Cheeks was by far the scariest, most painful and amazing experiences of my life. - which is why I did it again with Misery and hopefully I'll get the chance at least once more.

2. The abortion - sadness

Back in college circa 1996 I terminated a pregnancy at roughly 2-3 weeks after conception. It's a decision that haunts me to this day because it leaves me full of what if's. I wasn't in the right place or with the right person and I know in my heart that it was the right thing to do but it's the dark spot in my heart that will never go away. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I was able to help create my to amazing boys because I was scared that because I made the choice to terminate one pregnancy that I would cursed to never have children. Thankfully I was wrong to have those fears because I have 2 healthy, happy boys I love more than life itself.

3. The Engagement - sweet/total embarrassment

Hubs and I got engaged on Queereye for the Straight Guy back in February of 2006. It was the sweetest day, Hubs said some amazing things to me and it was all caught on tape. Also caught on tape were the silly outfits, my dad being an arse and my Hubs getting his butt whooped. AND I only got to meet Jay out of the whole fab 5.

Monday Hops 7/19

2010-07-19T08:52:00.004-04:00

y it's Monday!! and time for another round of Meet Me on Monday hosted by Java at Never Growing Old . Monday Mingle @ KD Buggie's Boutique, Monday Minute @ Daily Dose of Reality And now for question/answer time!

1. What is your favorite sandwich?

Fried bologna and cheese mmm
2. What is stashed under your bed/mattress?
storage for kids toys, probably some shoes and society of dust bunnies
3. What is your favorite flower?
Anything that just grows on the side of the road
4. What is your favorite magazine?
pre-kids BMX rider, post kids Parenting
5. How often do you weigh yourself?
every couple of weeks and its been the same for a while but the pants are fitting loser woo hoo!

AND

AND then

What's your real name?
Tanii (tah-nee)
Have you ever fabricated a story or anything on your blog?
Nope no need.
When in the car do you listen to the radio/CDs/iPod/etc?
All of the above. But I'm working on getting all the kids cd's on my ipod so we can ditch those. currently listening to Yo Gabba Gabba, The Laurie Berkner band, Estelle and Mumford and sons
Describe the 'sexiest' item of clothing that you own
Yeah right I have a near 3 year old and a 5 month.
Would you be willing to breastfeed your friend's three year old child?
Nah I'm kinda creeped out by kids that are potty trained, eating solids, going to school, speaking in full sentences breastfeeding...but that's just me.

Gettingn to Know You Sundays 7/18

2010-07-18T09:19:00.002-04:00

So it's Sunday once again which means new questions from Keely over @ Mannlands5. However this 2 of the questions came from ME! yup little old me :) Keely's on vacation so she left the questions to us :) Hope you have as much time answering them as we did thinking of them.

his week I'm switching it up a bit..Since I'm on vacation (actually on my way home today), I thought I would take the week off from GTKY as well..

I had absolutely nothing to do with these questions..and they are pretty freakin great!..I have to give a shout out to the 4 peeps that came up with the questions..Tami at Talking with Tami, Tanii at Ethnically Ambiguous, Megan at Everyday Mama, and April at A Kingly Affair. Thank you so much ladies!! Since I have a lot more great questions that people submitted..I'll be doing the same thing next week!

*wanna play..copy the questions..answer them..then come back here and link up*

The Questions~

1. If you had to choose a country to live in besides USA (or the country you live in), which would it be?
2. Which would be worse, wearing flip flops in the snow or wearing gloves in the summer?
3. Fried or Bake and why?
4. If you were an entertainment reporter, which celeb would you love to interview and why?
5. What was your favorite book as a preteen/teenager?
6. List your top 3 guilty pleasure television shows.
7. What bumper sticker slogan best describes you/your attitude/your life?
8. If you were to join a circus - what performer would you be?

1. Eventually I'd like to relocate to somewhere in Europe, currently a tie between Ireland and Sweden. Ireland because ever since I was little my heart has been pulling me towards there. And Sweden because I lived there for 6 weeks in the winter of 2000 had a blast and loved that they are more family oriented than here in the States.

2.Flip flops in the snow because I hate cold feet.

3.Fried is AWESOME. There is nothing like fried - it's crispy but juicy on the inside. But since I have kids and want to eventually see some grandkids I limit my fried to once or twice a year :(

4.Sean Connery hands down...he's still sex at like a hundred and I'm sure he has some great racy/trashy stories from his 007 days.

5. I read and re-read Are you there God it's me Margaret & Julie of the Wolves at least 50 times between age 10 and 15. They are still in my top 20 books and I have both of my ratty original copies.

6.Hell's Kitchen- the last season I watch like a dope fiend that girl Tenile simultaneously make me want to slap some class into her and cringe because of the ghetto stereotypes.

Yo Gabba Gabba - I've stopped even pretending to watch it for Cheeks sake I love me some DJ Lance Rock!

Flavor of Love - that show was ghetto crap tastic and if Flavor-Flav came out with another season I would DVR it again and watch it marathon style.

7. It's not a bumper sticker but it should be

8.That lady that has the dancing Chihuahuas.

Friday Hops 7/16

2010-07-16T09:03:00.002-04:00

It's Friday and I'm hopping :) are you.

Quick little story. My son asked me last night, "Mommy what's in YOUR wallet" I said money and id. To which he said "No Capital cards are in your wallet". So then I asked him "What's in YOUR wallet?" and he said "Toys". I think we're going to have to stop listening to commercial radio, I mean what's next, he's going to start repeating Cialis ads?

Anyway enjoy your weekend and thanks for popping in.

Questions for Friday, July 16th: (Thanks to Cristy, Renee, Emily, Maryanne, and my Belle [from her vlog debut] for your question suggestions! Want to be linked in a future 5QF? C'mon over to my community and offer up your best question suggestions!)

1. Do you collect anything?
Turtles, vinyl toys, soft blankies, postcards

2. Name 3 celebrities that you find good looking.

3. Do you have any scars? If so, what's the story behind it (them?)?
one on my arm from an aisle end cap. it was gross down to the white meat.
one on my left pointer finger from when i was pushed into a pool and my finger was split down the middle to the bone.

4. What is a food that you like to eat, but others might think it's gross or weird?
My mom's family is from the South and my dad's part Chinese so we eat just about everything off a pig and my grandfather used to eat the eyes from steamed sea bass and chocolate covered roaches.

5. Have you ever seen a tornado in real life?
nope and don't plan on it :)

Writer's Workshop 7/15

2010-07-15T03:12:00.001-04:00

Thursday is turning out to be my most favorite day of the week! It's time again for Mama Kat's writer's workshop the prompts this week were pretty cool.

1.) Choose a headline from The Today Show website and write up an opinion post based on the story you chose.
2.) Write a poem about the last thing that made you mad.
3.) Write about a joke that did not go over well.
4.) Write a funny story involving socks.
5.) It happened on Facebook…write about a funny or awkward conversation you saw unfold on Facebook.

Guess which one I chose. Thanks for stopping by :)

Hello, my name is Larry and this is my brother Garry.

I know what you’re thinking, we’re twins right

Nope! Actually we’re the middle 2 of 8 identical brothers. See how cute we were?

Yep, our mom and dad are the ORIGINAL Octoparents

Lily and Herb we’re hippies – Our house always smelled of patchouli and bathing wasn’t really encouraged.

Our oldest brothers Jake and Drake got into weird body modification/tattooing and are currently living in L.A.

Baxster and Bernard are Wall Street tycoons. We haven’t heard much from them after the “incident”

before

After

And finally there are our youngest “brothers” John and Jackson.

They are currently performing as Cher in Las Vegas.

Last year Garry and I met a pair of gorgeous sisters (Abigail and Audrey)

Who get this are, get this 2 of 12 sisters!

In January, Garry and Abigail welcomed healthy baby girl octuplets.

And Audrey and I just welcomed 8 little boys who look like they might take after their uncles Jake and Drake.

Welcome Wednesday 7/14

2010-07-14T09:06:00.001-04:00

It's Wednesday again which means its time for the "Welcome Wednesday" blog hop, hosted by Take It From Me! Welcome Wednesday is a great way to meet new people and learn new things as well as increase your blog followers! So let's have some fun!!

So take a look around, follow if your compelled to,

if not thanks for stopping by anyway :)

Today is going to be a busy day with work (it's closing again) and finishing up my post about socks...you'll see it's funny at least to me.

until later.

Tuesday Hop 7/13

2010-07-13T06:26:00.007-04:00

woo hoo it's Tuesday! and the ladies over at

Survey Junkie,Little Yaya's,

Review Retreat , Boobies,BabiesAndABlog

are hosting Follow Me Back Tuesday

stop by link up make a new friend or two!

Second Hand - it always feels like Christmas!

2010-07-12T20:34:00.000-04:00

I just got an AMAZING deal on a blue Graco tandem double stroller, used once and neatly packed back in it original packaging. I found this lovely woman on Craigslist that was cleaning out her kids inventory and wham I'm now the proud owner of a near new blue stroller for my boys!

I can't wait to take both boys for a stroll :)

I guess it's kinda sad that I'm so psyched over a used stroller but I it's the little things in life that make me super happy. Despite both me and my husband working full time, we can't afford all that high end baby gear, so just about every night I scour ebay/craigslist and any and all garage sales for the things I really want but can't afford/refuse to pay top dollar for and sometimes I get a real bargain like this one! The last great deal I got was on a BRAND new Britax roundabout car seat. I got this car seat in the original box for 30 bucks because the previous owners daughter didn't like the seat. Her loss my gain!!

Monday Hops 7/12

2010-07-12T09:18:00.002-04:00

Yay it's Monday!! and time for another round of Meet Me on Monday hosted by Java at Never Growing Old . And now for question/answer time!

1. What do your normally eat for breakfast?
Either a Fiber one bar or a Cliff bar.2. What kind of car do you drive?
2005 Honda Civic Hybrid - great car sadly lacking in trunk/kid space

3. Have you ever met a famous person(s)?
Janet Jackson/Dick Clark - back when I went to a taping of American Bandstand
Adam Graves - my hockey crush
Ralph Nader - my lazy eye Greenie crush
Spacehog - my college band crush

4. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
a tie between chocolate peanut butter and pralines and cream

5. Which TV Channel do you watch the most?
sadly its Nick Jr. but I have a preschooler.

AND

a new hop I stumbled upon @ KD Buggie's Boutique

Happiness is...

2010-07-11T20:40:00.000-04:00

...Cheeks and Misery passed out @ 7pm
...all the weekend laundry folded and put neatly away
...Jazzercise 3 days a week
...being able to finally watch Dance Flick because see see above
...summer Fridays @ my job because I get home early and can mow the lawn and work w/my Cricut
...Hubs' CPAP machine
...waking up this morning @ 4am to the sound of Misery giggling and kicking in his crib and then him falling back a sleep until 7:45am
...waking up at 7am to Cheeks in my face saying "I love you mommy it's wake up time"
...having everything prepared for Monday so that I can write this post and get to bed before midnight

'Getting to know you, getting to know all about you...'

2010-07-11T19:26:00.001-04:00

I've been wanting to take part of this weekly follow and now I'm actually doing it. Many thanks to Keely @ Mannland5 for putting this together. And now, some more about me!

The Questions..

1. What is YOUR definition of sexy?
A house I didn't have to clean! but seriously, sexy is : nerdy Eurotrash.

2. Would you rather clean up puke or change a poopy diaper?
poop anyday, that half digested food smell just kills me.

3. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I have always defined myself as an introverted extrovert. Basically I'm shy until I meet someone new, then all h*ll breaks loose :)

4. If you had to give up one of your 5 senses for a year..which one would you give up?
I'm going to wimp out and say taste, I would never want to miss out on seeing/hearing/touching my boys(Hubs included hehe)

5. Cake or Pie?
cake mmm
6. If you could play any character on TV (old or current) who would you play?
Tara Knowles because Jax Teller is H-OTTTTTTTT :)

7. My favorite website is.....?
Google. It's my everything!
8. The highlight of my day is....?
Watching my boys sleep and my train ride to/from the City each day - it's the closest thing to me time I get.

Friday Followings 7/9

2010-07-09T06:22:00.001-04:00

It's that time again! Please join us for some Friday fun, meet some new friends, find some cool giveaways and get some GREAT reads.

1. What is one food you could eat everyday? Pizza or mashed potatoes.

2. Are you working in the career you thought you would be when you were 18? Heeelll NO! At 18 I had no clue what I wanted to be. I went to college for Communication and Psychology because I had no clue. After college I went back to working retail and somehow made it to the back office and then into the Accounting department. But I'm glad I did because I really do enjoy it!

3. What is something that you wish you would have done when you were younger and you didn't? Traveled more. I been to a few places in the Continental States, Sweden & Hawaii. I wish I would have done that whole back packing across Europe thing but hey such is life. I just have to travel either with my kids (awesome for them!) or when they get older and head off for their own adventures

4. What color are your kitchen walls? Coffee, and I regret it, I should done a lighter brighter (non yellow) color.

5. Do you remember what your very first favorite song was? Sorry by Shelly Thunder. yeah I was what you call a Melancholy pre/teenager. I listened to that record at least a billion times and its still on my ipod favorite list.

Writer's Workshop 7/8

2010-07-08T06:33:00.000-04:00

It's Thursday again!! So I'm back again for my 2nd week @ Mama Kat's writers workshop :)

1. What would I change about my life if I could?

I'd be born into a wealthy family!! But seriously I probably would have slowed things down with my proclamation of "House, Marriage, Babies".
My husband & I got engaged in February of 2006 on Queereye for the straight guy (a story for another time) I immediately started house hunting because I was quickly going insane at my parents house.
October of 2006, my soon to be husband and I closed on our 1st home out in Farmingdale, LI. December of 2006, hubby and I got married in our livingroom by the guy that introduced us nearly 2 years before.
Early January 2007, hubby and I decided to start working on a baby (my dad is pretty broken down and I wanted him to be a part of his grand kids life for as long as possible - yep I am seriously a daddies girl).
MLK weekend 2007, at our pseudo honeymoon in the Berkshires Cheeks McGee is conceived.
October 9th, 2007 Cheeks McGee is born.
February 17th 2010 Misery McGee is born.
I wouldn't change anything about my kids (well except for the incessant whining) but I kinda feel like I missed out on what it means to be a wife and partner and went straight to mommy. Hubs and I only lived together a few months before hormones kicked in and I wasn't me but we and Hubs was just kinda the guy that I wanted to smack with his vile diet pepsi breath. Then Cheeks came along and wham I went from never held a baby to the caregiver of an amazing little boy. Looking back I probably had some PPD but somehow came out on the other side. Hubs and I went through a lot of troubles, mostly me doing everything him feeling like he couldn't do anything right, lots of crying and very little talking.
After nearly making the decision to walk away Hubs and I vowed to talk more, to send Cheeks to his grandparents so we could just talk like adult human beings. We could smile and laugh and I wouldn't be on mommy guard. It was so nice we decided why not add another one to the mix (I'm 33 so I don't have too many more years of baby bearing 36ish being my cut off period) So just after we got into a good routine with Cheeks, Misery comes on the scene and despite being broker than broke from daycare (nearly 600 a week for both boys) I think we're doing ok. Could we be better? of course. Do I still have guilt about not being "wifey" enough, yep. But no matter the tears, the urge to choke Hubs out, the forgotten anniversaries/birthdays, the constant whining of my 2 year old and the screaming of my 4 month old I love my Hubs and my kids and I know that one day the boys will grow up and Hubs and I will be able to re-connect in a way you can only do with someone you shared joy and pain with. So in short whatever my next proclamation is I plan on putting some "pauses" in the mix, unless my lotto proclamation comes true :)

Now it’s your turn!

Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back and sign Mr. Linky. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!

The Prompts:
1.) What would you change about your life if you could? 2.) I wish I would have...describe a time when you didn't take action, but later wished you would have.
3.) A collector you know.
4.) Photographs can turn a house into a home. Share a photograph that is not on your wall, but should be...if you weren't so lazy about actually putting it there.
5.) Write a list of 100 things you want to do before you turn 100. Otherwise known as a "bucket list".

Ethnically Ambiguous - grade school

2010-07-07T23:23:00.000-04:00

Ethnic \Eth"nic\, Belonging to races or nations; based on distinctions of race; ethnological. [1913 Webster]

Yes, that is me... a pirate, mutt, mixed kid. I was born in 1976 to a Black, Irish, English, Cherokee mom and a Chinese, Black, German dad. My mom had a copper afro and freckles, my dad had a black afro and didn't look Chinese. From that mix you get me, a not quite enough of anything human being desperately looking to fit in somewhere. You see I don't really look like "anything" my hair is kinda coarse but it's not kinky, I have big brown Anglo eyes, I'm kinda orange, I don't really look "white", I sure as hell don't look Chinese and can't even pass as high yellow. But my father's sister looks blasian (brown & asian), my whole mother's side ranges from white to blurple.

And then there's me.

Growing up as a hybrid before it was fashionable and without the distinct Black/Asian/Native Indian good looks ...

At my first grade school St. Patrick's, I was the only non-Irish/Italian aside from the Greek girl but unlike me she was still "White" enough to fit in. I remember being teased for having a Chinese name but not looking Chinese, and not really having any friends because I didn't have anything in common with anyone. I lived in the Coney island projects, all the people I knew were Black or Latino and I guess I just couldn't relate to semi-suburban Brooklyn kids who lived in houses, parents were in PTA and had distinct ethnic traditions.

At my 2nd grade school St. Thomas Aquinas, I was the only non-Irish/Italian aside from the mulatto kid Anthony that started at the same time I did. He was tall athletic and brown. I was chunky, non-athletic and neither white nor brown. There was a mystique about Anthony he was visibly different but essentially white, (he lived on my block and he and his sister were adopted by a really nice white couple) with me I was just different enough to not fit in and essentially black, which did not translate too well at the time. (basically I was not ghetto or brown enough to be interesting, just orange) During my 2nd year at STA a few more black people joined the ranks but they were West Indian, which translates into brown skin but not American Black. So while I was never fully accepted by my West Indian counter parts, I still had more in common and could at least superficially be friends.

At my 3rd and final grade school the mix was a little better, there were I think 3 Asians, 1 West Indian kid and you guessed it the majority of the rest were Irish/Italian/Greek/Polish. I still had nothing in common with the White kids, and they showed no interest in me because once again I was just different enough to be cast aside. The West Indian kid was a guy and since I wasn't "cute" there was nothing there. Which left the Asians, 1 guy see previous statement and 2 girls who I did have a bit of a friendship with. While I couldn't speak Chinese I did have a Chinese last name and knew what "breakfast food was" liked Asian cartoons and cute things with big eyes. However nothing really stuck because I lived in a Black neighborhood and they lived in an Asian/White neighborhood.

After typing that last sentence I think that's part of why I never felt like I fit in anywhere, my parents trying to do their best by me always put me into predominantly White schools where even if I could forge a friendship they couldn't grow past the classroom due to proximity.

to be continued...

Welcome Wednesday

2010-07-07T13:35:00.000-04:00

I think I may have an addiction to these blog hop things.
Thanks for stopping by and look forward to a post later tonight on why I'm Ethnically Ambiguous :)

stay cool!
EA

Tuesday Hop

2010-07-06T13:49:00.003-04:00

Because Tuesday is a great day to find new & interesting friends.
Thanks for stopping by :)

Speaking of ...

2010-07-06T09:29:00.003-04:00

ROACHES!

Yep today I'll be writing about roaches. So in last week in Mama Kat's writers workshop Amethyst Moon over @ Life Music & Laughter said that she hated roaches. Roaches are in my top 10 ickiest bugs but growing up in the projects in Coney Island has kind of de-sensitized me towards those nasty albeit sometimes amusing brown creatures.
So sit back and enjoy a laugh & a cringe @ my expense.

First let me preface with my parents always kept a clean house, everything was in tupperware containers and food was always kept sealed or in the fridge. It's just that in the projects roaches are always there. If we fog our apartment and you don't, our roaches just take a staycation @ your apartment until the dust settles @ ours. When we moved from Coney Island every box was doused with Raid & not a roach was transported with us.

There is a reason the kitchen lights are always on

I lived in Coney Island from birth to age 10 & in that time the kitchen lights were turned out ONCE. It was an unspoken rule that only needed to be broken once because the outcome was something out of Creep Show. Let's just say I was prompted to turn the lights back on because of strange noises coming from the kitchen. I remember creeping over to the kitchen, flipping the switch & then letting out a blood curtling scream. The floor was covered with a scampering carpet of brown. Needless to say the light switch was then permanently taped in the on position.

I told you don't mess with box

There was a box with 5lb weights on my play/dinner table in the livingroom. They were my mom's to workout with but had become the latest in workout dust collectors. Being a little kid I always wanted play with the things my mom said not to & one fateful day my stubborness beat out commonsense in the you really should listen to your mom debate.
I will always remember this in slow motion...I walk up to the box & try and lift it, it slips,tips over & what seemed like a tidal wave of roaches rush out the box. My mom rushed in from the well lit kitchen to find me screaming and flapping like I was on fire. Once she figured out what must have happened & that I wasn't dying she proceeded to laugh and say "I told you, don't go messing with that box".

There are no ice cubes @ 3am

My mom always went to bed with a cup of ice water @ her bedside. Well one night she wakes up around 3am thirsty & without thinking she takes a big sip of water & something bumps her lip. At first she thinks it an ice cube but then realizes that her ice would have melted ages ago. She looks in her cup & low & behold a little brown creature was doing the upside down backstroke. Needless to say there are no more cups of water near her bed.

And that my friends concludes my little speech on roaches.

EA

Friday Follow

2010-07-02T14:16:00.007-04:00

It's that time again! I'm really digging this Friday Follow business.
I found some really interesting blogs to peruse & hopefully will make a friend or two. Thanks for stopping by!

Have a happy & safe July 4th weekend!

No,No I have a plan!

2010-07-01T21:36:00.001-04:00

Hubby & the boys come to pick me up from the train this evening & I ask my oldest Cheeks if he wants to come to work with me tomorrow & then go to Grandma & Grandpa's house...

Cheeks: No Mommy, tomorrow we are going to the city & see Elmo.
Me: Sweetie, Elmo isn't in town tomorrow but you will get to see my co-workers & then we will go to Grandma & Grandpa's.
Cheeks: Elmo is in the city tomorrow, we will get on the train and see him.
Me: No, he's...
Cheeks: No,No Mommy I have a plan. Tomorrow we are going on the train to see Elmo then to Grandma & Grandpa's house.
At which my husband & I almost burst out laughing, my 2.5 year old has a plan...at least it's just to see Elmo & not world domination...YET.

Writer's Workshop

2010-07-01T08:48:00.000-04:00

10 things that put a smile on my face:

1. When Misery wakes up smiling @ me.
2. When Cheeks snuggles in close & says “Mommy I Love You”
3. New Years Eve with the Nidermaier Clan
4. “Somebody’s Getting Married” from the Muppets Take Manhattan
5. When my husband does something around the house without having to be asked.
6. Our engagement on QE.
7. The Goonies
8. The smell right before a summer shower
9. Turtles
10. Snuggling with all my boys in the family bed.

People would be surprised to learn that…
I didn’t get my driver’s license until April of this year. Yep.
It took me 17 years past the legal driving age to finally get my license.
I was always scared to drive:
I don’t do well with people yelling @ me – although looking back @ things I doubt my dad or a driving
instructor would yell @ me while teaching me to drive.
I hate to fail – my mentality was if I don’t try & I can’t fail.
I have WICKED passenger/road rage. I hate, hate, HATE stupid people & I’ve found that stupid people LOVE to drive. You know the guy/gal in left lane on the highway doing 40 because they are putting on mascara or talking on the phone!
I lived in Brooklyn, NY up until 2006 & didn’t need to drive – however ragged our public transportation was/is I could get anywhere fast with a Metrocard & a dream!

Now it’s your turn!

The Prompts:
1.) Describe someone in your life who you might not know as well as you think you know.
2.) Write a poem about a memory you sometimes wish would disappear.
3.) Write a list of 10 things that are sure to put a smile on your face when you are not happy.
4.) People would be surprised to learn that…
5.) A snappy comeback!

Meet Me on Monday

2010-06-28T21:02:00.004-04:00

This looks like fun I'm all about getting to know people :)

Every Monday Java posts five get to know you questions that you can copy and paste into your own Monday post this way we can all learn a little more about each other!!

Want to play along? Copy the five questions, write a post with your answers and then link up.

Questions:

1. Are you a collector of anything?

2. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

3. What is your favorite salad dressing?

4. What was the last thing that you ate?

5. What was the last movie that you saw?

---------------------------------------------------------

My answers:

1. I collect turtles & quirky melancholy girl art.

2. No tattoos and all my piercing have closed up but I did have 3 in each ear, cartilage on both, lip, tongue (x2 12 & 6 gauge), eyebrow & septum.

3. Current favorite salad dressing is raspberry vinaigrette

4.A handful of edamame & apple jacks

5. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasuss

Argh!

2010-06-28T20:25:00.001-04:00

Let preface my Argh! by stating I do not like hot humid days & by living in the NE I am subject to hot humid days which make me extra cranky & overly sensitive.

So after a nice ride home on the LIRR watching an episode of the Wire I get home & that peaceful ride home is shot to shit. We walk in the door & I immediately start my evening routine, make/serve dinner, clean up, prep for tomorrow, put on laundry, entertain little people, feed/wash put littelest person to bed, eat my dinner, clean remaining dishes...& what is my daling husband doing while the sweat is dripping down my back? watching tv & eating dinner. I wish I had it so easy. His only drama is bath time for the big boy & if it weren't for the fact that the big boy doesn't want Mommy to bathe him, that would probably be on my plate as well.

I'm pooped & I still have to switch out the laundry & I really should start working on Misery's baptism invitations. Now the husband after a whole 15 minutes upstairs is ditching me to watch Robots for the 6th time in 3 days to "study" for part 2 of his CPA exam. (which I'm sure if I go downstairs in like an hour his grimy arse will watching tv)

Can we please get an 8th day a week where stressed out parents can get just a few minutes to themselves where there is no laundry, no dishes, no vacuuming...

ARGH!

Applesauce & Avacados

2010-06-26T21:15:00.002-04:00

So my youngest (Misery) has been starting solids this month. We started with Rice cereal (yucky) and today we started with applesauce!! Since my oldest (Cheeks) is a horribly picky eater I decided with Misery to make my own baby food so we could introduce him to more than just carrots, bananas & something in tiny jars that they say is "meat".
So being a devotee to the Google gods I did my searches and found some recipes. I figured I would try applesauce first since who doesn't love applesauce.So I cut up my apples steamed them in some water, put them into the food processor & *poof* the tastiest applesauce I've ever had in my entire life. No sugar added, just apples & water. I feel like such a schmo for giving Cheeks that processed crap out of the jar when I could have just A. steamed some fruits & veggies or B. pureed whatever we were eating .

As I said above my oldest (Cheeks) is a PICKY eater, he eats chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pizza, rice with gravy and past with sauce - notice no vegetables. He used to eat peas but then all of sudden peas were the enemy. I remember making a special dish for him with green peas gravy and chop meat, he has eaten it before & asked for it before but on this night he refused to even look at the peas & I was left to pick every last green pea (which seemed like a billion) so the boy could just have rice, gravy & meat. Needless to say I wanted shove those bloody peas up his nose but from that day on anything resembling a vegetable was "No mommy that's yucky". So in trying to get him more involved & hopefully interested in eating better I took him the the grocery store today to pick out any vegetable so that we can cook it together, try something new & get a sticker. (Yes I bribe with stickers)

We walk through the produce section what seems like 1k times -
I suggest carrots, he says no,
I suggest baby corn he says , they won't make him grow up big & strong
I suggest potatoes, he says yucky (yep I think I have to only kid that doesn't like french fries or mashed potatoes)
Now what does the sweet little blonde boy with the fluffy black eyelashes choose?- An Avocado.

I can't wait until tomorrow to see how this goes - an Avocado.

**update** the avocado was tasted and then added to the yucky list...at least he tried it!

Friday Fatties

2010-06-25T12:25:00.005-04:00

Well now this one looks like some fun! Maybe it will be a little extra motivation to stay on track :)

Let's see what have I been doing to try and lose the "House, Marriage & Baby Carriage" weight?

1. Went to Jazzercise on Wednesday! I've finally learned all the steps now if I can just crack that Jazzercise clique and make some friends it will be even more fun.
2. Only had the one slice of pizza on Monday rather than the normal 2.
3. Drank my weight in water at least 3 out 4 days this week.

Starting weight: 227

Last week: n/a

This week: 227

This Weeks Difference 0

Total Pounds Lost: 0

Goals for the remainder of this week & next week:

1. Jazzercise Saturday & Sunday

2. Add a salad to lunch & dinner every night next week

3. Get outside with Cheeks & Misery to play in the sprinkler

Blog Hop Friday's

2010-06-25T10:37:00.006-04:00

So in my quest to find some new blogger friends I did a handy dandy google search for Friday blog hops and these lovely ladies popped up. So I've linked up and we'll see how it goes. Hopefully we'll have enough in Common to talk about and enough Differences to maintain a relationship.

Damn the Man!

2010-06-25T09:41:00.001-04:00

So we're taking the boys to daycare this morning & my 2 year old Cheeks starts say what I thought to be Damn the Man!, Damn the Man!. First thing that pops into my head is my little blonde haired boy dressed in all black, fist to the sky all his former BP grandma (also fair skinned but with at the time a fiery red afro) - (for those of you keeping track that is part one of of the contributing factors to my ethnic ambiguity, 1 check in the black box we'll discuss why I don't like the term African American later). It was a funny thought my little milky Blondie boy damming the man! but after having him repeat himself a few more times we came to find out he was saying "Dan the man! Dan the man!" referring to his classmate Daniel the school biter.

Cute way to start the weekend right? :)

Because today is Thursday, a fine day to start again

2010-06-24T22:31:00.003-04:00

So I've decided once again to start blogging. This time around ethnically ambiguous is going to be a little more real. I'm not going to try & be a mom blogger,a contest blogger (I will still enter & review if I feel so inclinded)or an anything blogger just plain old me the - the Ethnically Ambiguous mom not enough of any one thing to be whole.

Well I need to finish formatting The Wire season 4 for my ipod. A big thanks to Kelli over @ 3boys and a dog for reminding me about blogging. Sometimes all it takes is a radom email from someone you've never even met to remind you that you do have a voice.

More tomorrow since my internet is out and my blackberry decided to make the bulk of this post "magically" disappear.

Mother's Day 2009 recap

2009-05-13T12:30:00.001-04:00

I had an absolutely lovely day. My parents came out & we went to breakfast then we went to Lowes to get wooden picnic table for the backyard along with replacement parts for my wooden fence (so Cheeks McGee won't wander off). My husband & dad worked on the fence & I mowed the lawn...I know it's not a traditional Mother's day event but I enjoyed it. My mom watched the boy (which she loves) & I got to contribute the upkeep of the house (that did not involved laundry, dishes, cleaning or cooking) You see I like to do manual labor I'm an only child & hung out with my father the most growing up so I did what he did - begrudgingly at first but then I came to enjoy it. So yeah we worked on Mother's day but we did it as a family :) After my parents left & my husband took Mr. McGee in for a much needed bath I stood in the driveway, teared up a little (I swear childbirth does something to your tear ducts that just makes them leak at EVERYTHING) & realized that I am one lucky daughter/wife/mommy/person. As for the other gifts I got well my husband made up for last Mother's day mishap (don't I think I will ever get over that one) & got me a spring clean up maid service - one of the more heavy burdens I carry in my worry arsenal is that my house is a mess. It's not a sty but isn't as clean as I would like it to be. So on June 1 2 lovely ladies are coming to the house and make it sparkle! SOOOOO excited. As for what my darling little man gave me, he said Mommy I Love you for the first time - yes I cried, he said Grandma for the 1st time - ye she cried & he picked out an awesome resin turtle swing that my hubby put in the backyard for me. Yup I’m one lucky lady.

Fat Machine Gun - rant

2009-04-03T15:00:00.007-04:00

Part1. Fat
First let me preface this rant by saying that I am fat, I’ve been fat since grade school. I’ve been less fat at times but the point is I’m fat. That being said, Why the hell do fat people feel the need to sit next to one another on public transportation??? Again I am fat but it just fit in MY side of the double seat on the LIRR. Without fail 2-3 times a week a fatter person decides they need to sit next to ME. So they begin to wedge themselves into seat, sitting on my thigh and causing me to hug the wall just a little close for comfort. Then they realize that I’m fat too when I don’t scoot over and give them the “Hello I’m fat too look” so they stand up (each time I hope that they are leaving to go sit next to the skinny person not even 5ft away but alas…) take off their coat, because the coat is what made them unable to fit their fat ass next to my fat ass. Then they presume to re-wedge themselves back into the seat, fluff around a bit and think yeah now this is comfortable. However with all the wedging & re-wedging now the fatter person is sweating. I know this because I always glance over to try and give them the “Hello I’m fat too look” again and notice the nose sweat and fanning that has inevitably started. Now you have 2 hot fat people wedged into a double seat on the LIRR. She’s sweating, my thigh is burning from the compression and the heat that 2 fat people generate and all I want to do is just look her in the face and say “Listen, I’m fat your fat when you got on the train there were plenty of seats next to skinny people why didn’t you sit next to one of them? I could have comfortable, you could have been comfortable now were both uncomfortable and I know sure as hell that I am not giving up my seat since I have been on the train since the 1st stop. So tomorrow when you get on the train and see me (I sit in the same seat everyday) please just keep moving let the nice skinny lady sit next me and you can sit next to the skinny person you choose.”In all seriousness why do fat people like to sit next to other fat people? I personally avoid at all costs because you know I don’t want to be reminded the entire train ride that I am fat and can’t fit in the seat. Thoughts/non-derogatory comments?

Part2. Machine gun
I work right above Madison Square Garden/Amtrak/NJ Transit etc…I’ve become accustomed to all the police, they annoy me because outside there is some little old lady getting mugged while they are all inside chatting away, drinking coffee, NOT telling the homeless man simultaneously peeing and whacking on in the corner to stop you know transit police type stuff. But everyone once in a while we get the SPECIAL AGENTS/SWAT TEAM patrolling the halls. These assholes are decked out in full riot gear brandishing machine guns WITH THEIR FINGER ON THE TRIGGER MIND YOU!! Their bullshitting walking around supposedly intimidating some unknown boogey man meanwhile all I want to do kick them in the balls. Seriously FINGER ON THE TRIGGER all I can imagine is me walking past one of these 18 year old I so should not be trusted with an automatic weapon in a public place and as I go reach into my pocket to get my chapstick (raspberry lemonade blast) this asshole’s finger slips and I’m a puddle human swiss cheese. Do they really think machine gun toting assholes make people feel safe? They do one of 2 things 1. “Oh my god what’s going on!??! Panic, woe panic!! (this is how the sheep usually respond) or 2. W-H-A-T T-H-E F-U-R-K NOW! God damn machine gun toting assholes. I always fall under number 2.

/rant

The most disturbing but hilarious story ever.

2007-01-19T13:02:00.001-05:00

Dood first off let me say no one deserves to get their box punched. I do not condone box pucnhing but this story did make me snicker in that disturbing sort of way.

Punched in the Box

Stupid Teenagers

2007-01-08T19:34:00.001-05:00

Friday night. After a long week I rush to catch the 5:53pm train back to Farmingdale so I can begin my weekend. I get to the station, rush down to the platform and the train doors are closed. No biggie its still 5:46. There is a Charlie Brown teacher voice heard over the loud speaker….Pedestrian….accident….NO SERVICE. So I schlep back up the stairs to get the real story. Pedestrian accident at Kew Gardens all service suspended until l further notice. I start swearing about stupid “jumpers”, retarded suicidal people taking their lives RUSH HOUR FRIDAY NIGHT. I call Eric who calls Paul who is going to pick me up in Queens. Stupid jumpers shut down the city. Saturday rolls around Poppa John asks if I was caught up in the drama at Penn Station. I roll my eyes and say “yes what exactly happened” Poppa John says some stupid teenagers (I really don’t like teenagers) were tagging up the track area around Kew Gardens and one got hit. I say “stupid f-ing teenagers” I wish death upon no one but dood you jump down into the track (illegal), you tag up the walls (illegal and probably some crap like your name or some scribble scrabble), then you die. Stupid teenagers. I’m waiting for the lawsuit to arise because the families of stupid people always try to cash in on their stupid relatives death. Stupid teenagers. Dead at 13, now his friends will probably jump right back on to those track to tag up the walls with “In memory of ”.

Addiction

2007-01-08T14:13:00.001-05:00

So I’m once again hooked on Degrassi the Next Generation. Oh how these Canadian tweens and teens captivate me so. Over the weekend I taped the “catch up” episodes for season 6 and watched them religiously while Eric did god knows what at Paul’s/his den. He popped upstairs momentarily saw that I was in teen drama world and proceed to turn right back around. *punk* Jason to whom I can beat for getting me once again hooked to this Canadian high school used to watch the show with me and we’d talk about the original Degrassi with “Spike” the teenage mom (here daughter Emma is the focus of the new series), Snake, Joey (such a hottie- didn’t grow old to gracefully – he has a role on the new show) oye vey it a little bit of everything – sex, drugs, racism, rape, teen pregnancies, abortion, eating disorders, shootings and stds. What more could you ask for in a television show? Sure I’m 30 and I just bought the 3rd and 4th seasons on dvd and have just put on my wish list the entire original collection…but I don’t know the teen drama genre just tugs at my heart strings. Maybe it’s the Canadian accents and that I grew up with the parents of the kids in the Next Generation, actually I know what it is. I’ve always love the high school genre; it represents everything that I wanted out of high school or the pre/teen experience but never got. Ah well its my crack I suppose and it could defiantly be worse. Granted not too much worse since my other addictions was the Flavor of Luv “FLAVOR FLAV”. I’ll devote another post to the “Flavor” that’s a whole different addiction. But for right now I’m going back to Degrassi and I have the dvd’s for my next ladies night with Pam…I’m thinking the original series some popcorn and tissues. Canadian teen dramas ROCK!

Hi Welcome to the village here is your uniform

2007-01-04T20:06:00.000-05:00

So I work down on 9th and Broadway, right smack in the heart of the "village"...head shops, porn stores, used guys on every corner, pan-Asian restaurants opening and closing daily...you name it its here. And 10 years ago I would have been happier than a pig in slop. But I'm older now. I've been there and done that. I'm a jaded ex-raver, ex-activist, ex-vegetarian, ex-ska gurl, ex- and the cookie cutter kids just make me want to vomit.

costume 1. skinny jeans, something with skulls, dark hair (dirty looking/filled with product) chucks, something stripped, oh and the boys skinny jeans sag so that it looks like there's a moist shit in their pants.
costume 2. ufo's (they're pants silly) lots of black usually some fantasy dragon on a t-shirt, doc martins or my personal favorite gripfast, a book bag with lots o buttons and patches on it.
costume 3. some combination of costume 1 & 2

I guess I'm just getting old and seeing the kids today all looking them same its just like blah. come kids you live in New York, you're the little fashionistas of tomorrow going to NYU and FIT but you all look the SAME! Not only do you all look the same but you've recycled the recycled fashion barely 10 yrs old.

Maybe it's because I always lived on the fringe of fashion, creating my own look, helping to set the trend...now that I'm surrounded by the sheep of the world..oh my god i totally need a new pair of chucks and ballet flats...its driving me crazy.

le sigh

was making the same rant about my raver/activist/vegetarian/ska the things that annoy me are just getting to great. hehe long before blogs I'm sure some doodgurl ways.

This is the dawning of the age of aquarius...

2006-12-28T19:46:00.000-05:00

that song is stuck in my head. I have no clue why. I'm sitting here at work, bored out of my mind, the last day before the New Years break. Its like being in grade school again counting down the minutes to ...tick tock...4:40 tick tock 4:40 & 28 seconds. I'm sure I could be working on something but dood there are like 5 people here, 1 is playing an online puzzle, 2 are shopping, 1 is on the phone and I've created a photobook and created this new blog. I've killed the old one as it was kinda dark and I'm trying to leave the land of meloncholy behind (we'll see about that). Well I suppose I could make some copies and create a new "away message".