WOOHOO!!!

Your Monday Photo Shoot: It's back to school season. Show us a picture of something that represents "Back to School" to you. Kids on their way to school, a stack of new text books, school supplies, parents leaping for joy... oh, wait, maybe not that last one.

Actually, I was doing the "hooray for school" dance while taking this picture!!!  Just kidding, but that would explain the look on Bum's face...lol. 

As I wrote the other day, they started school yesterday--2nd grade for Bum (again), and kindergarten for Little Guy.  This pic was taken in the morning, before we went to register/transfer.  We ended bringing Little Guy back home--we decided on afternoon kindergarten for him.  That way it would be a little easier to get them ready in the morning...at least for this year, anyway.  Speaking of that, they both like school this year...Joey came out on his first day and said, "School is awesome!".  That won't last long.  Same thing went for Bum...she was all smiles as she finished for the day.  Once she has homework, that smile will be gone (actually, that happened today--both things).  Maybe it'll get better for her.  I dunno.

til next time...=)

action-packed day! well, sort of...

Today's fun actually started last night, when Joey and I learned the first day of school is tomorrow instead of Wednesday...no real warning!!  Talk about taking us by surprise.  We were freaking out a little...no letter, no kind of notification.  What's worse, I still hadn't registered the kids at their new school.  That's not my fault, though...it would've helped if someone was at the school to answer the phone last week.  That's when I was told to call--the week before school started.   I tried calling Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week, all with no answer.  I even called their old school to see what I could do...they told me they would get their records ready for transfer; all they needed was the word from the new school.  I finally got someone on the phone at 8 o'clock this morning, only for them to tell me I had to go there and fill out some paperwork.  Now, mind you, I had work at 9 this morning, so that was out of the question, and I told the girl this.  So she says that I can do it tomorrow morning...before school starts.  YAY.  Gotta get both of the kids ready, even if he gets into the afternoon kindergarten class.  FUN FUN FUN.  That's enough about the school...wait until I go there tomorrow...but anyhoo.

That's not the end of my day; that's kind of only the beginning.  I almost missed the bus to go to work because of someone taking their sweet old time counting out change at the register at the store (had to get smokes!!).  I didn't take the car because parking downtown during the day's like ticket suicide--it's either park about 6 blocks from work, or get ticketed.  On my regular schedule, I can park in the mall for half my shift, then move it to the street later (the meter maids go home after 5pm).  Anyway, work was ok--especially the last hour, when all I did was really sit there and do nothing.  The computer froze, and wouldn't let me log on.  That was cool...getting paid for standing around and BS'ing. 

After work, I missed the first bus to get home, but caught the next one 1/2 hour later...no big deal.  When I did get home, Joey was out on the porch waiting for me.  He said I just missed a big thing...the house caught on fire!  (Don't worry, if it was that bad, I wouldn't be writing this.)  Not in our apartment...in the basement, actually.  He told me that the kids were eating dinner, when four cops came to the door..."what the hell did I do" was running through Joey's head.  They told him to get out.  Then they told him there was a fire downstairs and everyone had to get out.  He also told me there were about 4 firetrucks, 3 cop cars, and one of the local TV stations.  I was upset, since I missed all the commotion by about 10 minutes.   DAMMIT!  Oh well...maybe the girl downstairs will do it again (actually I don't know what caused it but who knows), only this time I'll be home...just kidding. =)

So that's my action-packed day.  I think tomorrow will come a little close, being the first day of school and all...no clue.  I'll fill you in with all the gory details...well, maybe not all of them...and I'll definitely have pics.  For evidence.

til next time...=)

speaking of bum...

Just an update on her nibble accident--she gets the stitches out tomorrow.  WOOHOO.  Then I have to schedule an appointment with an ear, nose, and throat specialist...just as a precaution.  Other than that, everything's going good.  The health department didn't call yet, so that's a relief.  But we're still getting rid of her...I don't want another accident happening.  It's a little ironic, though.  Just as Little Guy was getting used to Princess, this happens.  We've had her for 3 1/2 years...and it took him this long.  Oh well, better luck next time.

til next time...=)

double trouble

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Take a picture of two of something. Two of what? I leave that to you. But they have to be two of the same type of thing. Don't just put, like, a cookie and a Hot Wheel in the same picture and say it counts as two things. Two cookies, two Hot Wheels. You know. Double your pleasure and all that.

I took John's idea and tried it out (well, that and he explained how)...here's what I came up with -- my worst nightmare.

Here's Bum laughing at the face she's making...even she thought this pic was cool.  I used PhotoSuite...unfortunately, you can kind of see the editing lines.  Oh well, I guess the more you do it, the better you get.

til next time...=)

my little trooper

Poor Bum.  She got a booboo.  A big booboo.  See it on her ear?  I guess you can say our dog got a little hungry, and decided to take a bite.

Actually, it's more serious than it looks...she had to get 8 stitches, and it looks worse in the back, since there's another bite mark that the doc wouldn't stitch.  And it's black and blue too.  It happened yesterday...I just didn't get around to posting it.  Bum was petting Princess, I guess it was too much for her, and she snapped.  I was in the other room--all I heard was a bark and a scream.  Luckily, Joey was there to get Princess off...he had to punch her in the head to do so.  When I first saw her ear, it looked like Princess had taken a chunk out.  The whole time, Bum was screaming, but when she got into the car, she stopped.  In fact, on the way to the hospital, she was smiling...she said, "I guess this means I'm off punishment?"..lol.  We were in the ER for about 4 hours, mostly waiting.  She was really good, though, which shocked the hell out of me.  She has to go back in 5 days to get the stitches removed, and then to a specialist to see what's next for her ear.  I don't think they'll have to do anything, but I just want to be sure.

In a way I'm glad it happened to Bum instead of some stranger--imagine the bills then.  It's bad enough that we're probably going to get fined for not having Princess licensed, but that's better than getting sued too. 

Conclusion?  The dog must go.

til next time...=)

interesting...

I got this in an e-mail this morning...I'd thought I would share it with you.

"The English Language. Have you ever wondered why foreigners have trouble with the English Language?. Let's face it. English is a crazy language. There is no egg in the eggplant No ham in the hamburger. And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England. French fries were not invented in France. We sometimes take English for granted But if we examine its paradoxes we find that Quicksand takes you down slowly, Boxing rings are square. And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. If writers write, how come fingers don't fing. If the plural of tooth is teeth. Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth, If the teacher taught, Why didn't the preacher praught. If a vegetarian eats vegetables. What the does a humanitarian eat? Why do people recite at a play, Yet play at a recital? Park on driveways and Drive on parkways. You have to marvel at the unique lunacy. Of a language where a house can burn up as it burns down. And in which you fill in a form by filling it out. And a bell is only heard once it goes! English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (Which of course isn't a race at all) That is why when the stars are out they are visible, but when the lights are out they are invisible, and why it is that when I wind up my watch it starts, but when I wind up this observation, it ends."

til next time...=)

this weekend

I actually had the weekend off...and I think I made the most of it.  Yesterday, I made the drive to get my license renewed, with our car.  If you've been reading for a while, you remember when I had to get my drug test for Verizon?  Where I had to go is in the same industrial park.  Besides, the local state police barracks is the LAST place I want to take the car, since it's not inspected, not insured, etc.  That's why I put this off until the last day...I've had the form to get the pic done for two months.  Luckily for me, there's a supermarket across the street, so I parked there and walked over.  Needless to say, I made it home without getting pulled over or anything.  Phew.  And that was the highlight of yesterday.

Anyway, me and Joey were cleaning up the junk and stuff outside today (and there's LOTS of that).  Among the things we found:  loads of pincer bugs, lots of spiders, some broken glass, part of a Christmas tree stand, garland, broken shingles, and a decomposing squirrel.  Fun.

And this is what the kids did...

...turned the hill behind the house (well, actually right off our front porch) into a makeshift slide.  They did this for the better part of two hours!!!  Well, you can just imagine what they looked like when they were finished.  Bum's white shirt was either gray or black, depending where you looked.  Little Guy was worse--he had a huge hole in the butt of his pants from sliding.  Of course, as soon as they came in, the tub was calling them.  They were both black with dirt.  Bum's knees had to be scrubbed...and Little Guy's back was completely covered in dirt.

All I can say is, at least they had fun.

til next time...=)