Toolio was fat

ODE TO CHUNKY MONKEY

Let's just take a look at Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream for a sec~

It's banana ice cream with fudge chunks and walnuts.  Do we really need anything else in life...really?  I mean we're talkin' real bananas (not banana flavor), a perfectly good nut specimen and, well, CHOCOLATE.  What's not to love?

I'm pretty sure if they served this in the White House we would not currently be at war.

How much you wanna bet no one at Enron got any Chunky Monkey?

Do you think Martha Stewart eats Chunky Monkey?  How about Hillary Clinton?  Gloria Albright?  For some reason I think not.  They need some.  I think Bill Clinton probably ate it a lot.  That and Cherry Garcia.

I bet Mr. Rogers would have eaten Chunky Monkey if he had the opportunity.

Every beautiful love song should end with the lyrics, "and a pint of Chunky Monkey".

I'd like to thank Albertson's for havng the Ben & Jerry's on sale this week.

Thank you.  Good night. 

WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT TODAY

1.  I can't believe we don't have a schedule today.  Must be nice?  Why yes, it is; thankyouverymuch.  I think maybe we'll go grocery shopping and probably go somewhere outside to play because it'll be almost 80 here today.

2.  My boys are really, really amazing.  Just had to say it.  Bubby is under too much pressure to do everything right (potty, school, manners, food).  We need to lighten up.  He has a girlfriend.  He calls her his "Lovey Girl".

3.  Hubby is very, very busy at work.  His recent sabbatical has him wondering why he has a corporate job in the first place.  Then he comes home to our cool house and cool kids and good dinner and various places to watch movies and goes, "oh yeah."

4.  I am seriously wishing that Mom (G-Judy) gets in on this new house thing.  She needs a house that will suit her in her retirement.  Those 13 concrete stairs she has in her current condo won't work for her much longer.  She needs to be "approved" for some deal for retirees and maybe...just maybe...she'll get a brand new house.  Then I can check that one off my lifetime list.  She will be okay.

5.  Got the tickets and made the hotel reservations (Bellagio!) for the Birthday Weekend in Vegas with my girls.  Still seems like it's a long way away, but the 'Ol 36th will be here in no time. 

6.  Doing well on the not-throwing-away-money-on-useless-crap thing this month.

7.  Hubby brought home a tin on Mrs. Fields cookies from work.  They are divine.

IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY...

...it's just that I suddenly have no time.  It is Sunday night - my last blog post was from last Monday - and I am spent.

So school/job went really, really well.  It is as fun as I remembered from last year and the kids already treat me like one of their own.  We are definitely having fun in the 4-year-old class.  Oh yes.

And Grandma C's girls are leaving tomorrow.  That's been a blast, too.  We all went to dinner Wednesday night, saw Footloose - The Play on Friday night, and I hosted a dinner party Saturday night.  ooohhhh - and I cooked.  Oh yes.

Then we went to the state fair today.  Not so great.  Bubby had fun on some of the rides and we ate burgers and ice cream, of course, but we didn't really enjoy ourselves that much.  It was so packed and so...GHETTO.  I know, I'm snobby, but it was bad.  South End and all...gah-heh-toe.  Oh yes.

Hubby has some big program launch tomorrow (I do not miss corporate life) and Bubs and I have to remember to bring pots to wear on our heads for school.  So stresses all around, you see.

Happy week, y'all!

WEEKEND RECAP

So - tons of fun at the first birthday party for The Des.  I didn't work too hard on this one.  Some kid food, some parent food, some presents, and everyone playing outside.  None of my kids cried and no one fought over presents (much).  The 4 year olds in attendance were more than happy to help Des open his gifts.  Des had cake for the first time and ate it for about 20 minutes before taking a breath.  Thank god Grandma C was here with her shoulder for Deso's nap in the morning. Pictures to come soon.

G-Judy came to visit and the kids absolutely loved it.  All plans went off without a hitch and everyone had a great time.  We managed to get through the weekend without eating every meal out ($$) and without shopping ($$).  Hubby is happy.

Today feels like everything starts for us.  Bubs and I start school and Des and Grandma C do their thing while we're gone.  Today's lesson plan at school is busy and messy.  We will be painting, stamping, playing, eating, reading and taking pictures.  PHEW~

This week we will also welcome Grandma C's closest girlfriends for a visit.  "The Girls" will all be here Wednesday.  Grandma C is planning quite a visit.  We'll even go see Footloose - The Play at a local small theater (of course I'm going) and I'll host a fancy, schmancy dinner party next Saturday.

Here we go!

I CAN DO IT!

See?!  I can let it go~

The (so-called) TV news started talking about Bush and the elections and "more power for the President", yadda, yadda, yadda.  And you know what I did?

I walked away from the TV.

Couldn't exactly turn it off, but I left the room and went to the office and read my favorite blogs.  None of them mentioned politics today.

My SisterInLaw gave me my update for Rockstar Supernova, my BFF showed some awesome pictures taken by her 4-year-old, and  I read about wine and lattes and the upcoming Sandwich Day on Slashfood.

I am really proud that I could drop it today.  There are more important things to think about.  Like how I'm going to keep my hands of the Just Desserts Fudge Brownie Bites until the birthday party this Saturday...

MOVING ON

Alright - so the 9/11 thing is over.  I think I'm ready to stop thinking about all this political stuff right now and get on to more important things...

like Deso's B-Day party

School and new job starts

G-Judy's visit

Halloween Party planning

Trip to Cali for Thanksgiving

Holiday crap in general

Christmas Eve dinner party

New Year's Eve

Hubby's B-day (where will we go?)

Ladies' trip to Vegas, Baby!

So those are the things coming up the next few weeks/months.  Today we'll hit Costco (fun!) for the belated birthday party (Deso turned 1 on August 15) and G-Judy's visit.  This week we also have "Meet the Teacher" day at school.  And since I'm now an assistant teacher, the class will need to meet me, too!  FUN!

So have a great day, y'all.  Let's hope I don't spend our retirement at Costco today...heh.

P.S. Love you, Granny

WHAT SEPTEMBER 11TH MEANS TO ME

Know what I remember?  This is why I resent this day so much:

On September 10, 2001 at 5:10 pm, I got a call from my doctor confirming that I was pregnant with our little Bubby.  Of course, we had already told the family, but we weren't going to tell anyone else until the doctor's test came back positive.  September 11 was supposed to be our annoucement day.

September 11: We started our bus/ferry commute to work and heard what was going on via a friend talking to her husband on the phone. 

Everyone knows what happened that morning and we all know how everything unfolded.

The thing that stands out the most for me, though, is when a coworker (with whom I discussed my desire for children quite often) came to me right after we knew we were attacked and said the following,

"I can't believe we've been talking so much about having kids.  Who would want to bring an innocent child into to this world now?".

Uh...

ohhhhKayyyy

So that's my memory.  I know it could have been much more tragic and I am lucky that the story didn't hit closer to home like thousands of other people.  I am furious over the effects on our country and about all those people who died and continue to die because of this.  I know my little bad day won't ever compare to theirs.

But still. 

RANT

from Citymama's Friday Link Love. 

Saddam Had No Link to al Qaeda (BBC News Report).

Are there still people on this earth who think that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11 (or any terror attack)? Do these people read or listen or even have one original thought?

If they had been listening, they'd known we were going to hit Iraq eventually, regardless of 9/11.  How sad and sickening it is that our government tried to sell this pack of lies and even sadder that LOTS of Americans believed it.  Where do I come from?  Sorry to say, sometimes it is embarrassing to be American.  Though I love my country and what we're supposed to be, I hate to imagine what other countries think of us right now.

It's no secret that Bush went into office with Iraq as his top priority.  9/11 just gave him the opportunity.  And no one got in trouble for letting it (9/11 attacks) happen, either.   Also not a secret.

I think this week I am really, really sick of everything (political) that's happened the last 5 years.  I'm sick of the lying about 9/11.  I'm sick of hearing about the poor men at Gitmo.  I'm sick of gov't officials covering up beautiful works of art because they're "not Godly".  I'm sick of losing my civil rights in the name of Homeland Security (and why is it that we have to refer to our country as "homeland" just like the Nazis did?).  I'm sick of our country funding more fuel truck convoys through Iraq instead of funding more aid to Darfur.  I'm sick of the Scooter Libby's getting off.  I'm sick of people's votes not getting counted.  I'm sick of the real stories not making the national news because we are run by fascists.

I guess I'm naive, but I thought that most Americans would be even a little disgusted knowing that Bush lied his way into Iraq and now thousands have died because of it.  I'm maybe even a little shocked that there still is a Republican Party.

So I guess it's okay to impeach a president for getting a blowjob, but we can't touch a president who has thousands killed for monetary gain.  Why do some people think this is okay?  How can any true patriot support an administration so against American values and The Constitution?

Blech.

PROPAGANDA

Anyone else getting sick of the politics dripping all over everything right now?  It's like I can't even buy a freakin' sandwich at the deli without wondering how I'm being brainwashed.

"Cold Cut Trio on wheat, please!  And sure - I'd love a Catch Bin Laden pin with that!". 

Not that I don't want to catch Osama...I'm just sayin'.

It seems like there's a new terror threat or "unveiling" or video or fake-ass-docudrama, or something about 10 times a day.  Are Americans still that naive?  I guess so.  I mean, there are still people out there supporting this shit.

Though fewer in number, there is a contingency still supporting GW and his battle for oil in Iraq.  And as the anniversary for 9/11 approaches, this contingency is exploiting the hell out of one of this country's most tragic experiences in recent times.  Makes me sick.  Sometimes I even start to believe the conspiracy theories.  Some of the paranoia does make sense - the FAA not stopping the planes, the missile sized hole in the Pentagon, the military being told to stand down.  I'm just sayin'.

I just want it all to go away.  I want to believe that some good can happen.  Realistically, I have serious red flags about any politician - liberal or conservative - if they're powerful enough to make change.  We all know you catch more bees with honey, but a whole, giant beehive can get to be pretty scary, too.

I want the elections to be over.  I want the insulting "news"/propaganda to cease.  I want someone to just tell the truth.  I know - our government lost that feature long before anyone in my family was around. 

Oh well - it'll all pass.  But in the meantime, I worry about Bubby's friend's Daddy in Iraq and their mom by herself.  What will they do if the worst happens?

Why can human beings be so evil and greedy?  How can a few folks let money motivate them so much?  Why do several thousands have to die for oil? 

This whole thing sucks.  I'm so glad that it will end some day.

FATTY

So today I am fat.  I know, I know (Jude screaming, "WHAT?!? WHAT?!?"), I am petite.  But today I am fat.

See - once a fat girl, always a fat girl.

And you know, it has nothing to do with my size or what I've been eating.  I've been pretty active all Summer and I'm down 2 pounds right now. 

But for some reason I looked at the Halloween costumes today and felt like a saggy, old, fat lady.  I watched video from our Summer vacation and thought (out loud, of course) "what a heffer".  I thought that it would be a joke if I ran around in the Catwoman suit again this Halloween.  Not that it doesn't fit; it does.

NO- I am not anorexic (mom).  I realize what size I really am.  I think I am just discovering new views of my body and I'm not happy with it.

I will always feel fat sometimes.  Like an alcoholic still says they're an alcoholic, but they finish every statement with "sober 12 years". 

I am an obese woman, "thin now for 3.5 years. Haven't been fat in 42 months and counting!"

I wonder how long this will last.  I wonder if I will every really be okay with how I look.  Honestly, I am not happy with how I look sometimes.  Other times I feel like I'm a showstopper (honest, now).  Most of the time I just need a shower.

But seriously - I don't want to be this concerned with how I look.  I am healthy, fit, and trying to fix my food lifestyle. 

So if the the short term goal is to stay healthy and make good choices,  the long term goal would be to stop worrying about my appearance, right?

I have to worry some though, don't I?  I'm not going to run around without makeup and (god forbid) last season's coat?!

Oh PLEASE.  Who am I kidding? 

I think I just need to get my roots done and I'll feel better.