Sigh. Someone showed up in my office the second I walked in the door so I have been busy with that and website work things so this post is late coming. Sorry!

Friday afternoon Ash and I went to lunch (I got a salad; good for me!) and then saw Star Trek: into Darkness. I really liked it. I would say if the first one was about an 85-88, this one was about and 82-84. Good action, story, characters, etc. We got the kids but then both Ash and I fell asleep for a bit. Somehow, the kids managed to entertain themselves… quietly! Well, I thought so anyway. I later found a book that Isaac had torn AND cut. Where he found scissors, I have no clue! I had to get a ton of necessities so we went to Target. There, Isaac brought one of Elliot’s hats inside… and left it in the cart! I stopped into Chik-fil-A for the kids on the way out, got almost all the way home, and realized the absence of said hat. Annoyed, I turned around but by that time, the carts had been taken inside and it was gone. I was livid at first but then calmed down and the kids and I went through the whole “it’s just a thing” speech. No big deal; things get lost. But sigh.

Isaac went to a pool birthday party Saturday morning with Ash and I took Elliot to his last tee ball game. Ash and Isey joined us in time for trophies and post-game pizza. Nap and then in the afternoon, we went to one of Ash’s co-worker’s houses to pay with her kids and jump on their trampoline. Kids had a blast. Picked up sandwich things and I basically watched TV all night. Ash slept on the couch for about an hour before heading out to a house-warming party. I couldn’t sleep for some reason so that kind of sucked. He got in around 2 and that is when I finally passed out.

The next day, it was my intention to exercise more patience with Elliot and to clean up in the house. Well, some of that got done. I was very good with him. We went to Home Depot for a string trimmer and some top soil and basil. Then I made a big lunch. But Elliot, oh boy. What a mood he was in. Whiny and ungrateful and downright spoiled. UGH. By then end of the day, he was pretty much done. When we put on Swiss Family Robinson and all he did was complain, we told him he could either watch or go in his room, which he did and promptly fell asleep… at 6:30. I guess he just really needed the sleep!

(BTW, I went out to Target Sunday afternoon for some shirts and thought – what the hell – and asked if anyone had turned in our lost hat… and they did! There are some good people still in this world.)

Today has already been one of those “if it can go wrong, it has” kind of days but at least Ell is in a better mood. I took Todd to the vet this morning so let’s hope he’s ok in general; he turns 9 on Saturday!

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So this week’s theme is “Summer songs”. I took the liberty of also adding in an element.

Also linking up here:

Ahhh Monday mornings. I relish in those first few hours in the office, catching up, the quiet, knowing everyone is where they should be on a week day.

Friday evening I took the kids to that birthday party I was dreading. It actually turned out just fine; there weren’t a ton of people there and both boys really enjoyed it. We walked out of there at 8:15 (when we’re normally laying down for bed) so I expected a lot of whining but no, they were quite good. Amazing!

Had a pretty good weekend. Saturday, the kids seemed to be in a funk. Ell had a tee ball game, which Ash took him to, while I did some shopping with Isaac (shoes, groceries). Decided to make a lasagna and then we all napped. I honestly can’t think of what we did in the afternoon; it was rainy. Oh yeah! We introduced the kids to Pee Wee’s Big Adventure   As I posted on Facebook, that movie really held up after all these years. Still highly entertaining and hilarious.

Sunday morning, the kids decided to wake up at 6, which is a good hour earlier than their normal weekend time. Soon as they barged in the door, I told them to go back to sleep, but Ash graciously got up with them and let me sleep and additional hour. Hooray! So we headed out to The Egg a bit after 7 but it was not the breakfast we had last year. Last Mother’s Day, the boys were excellent and Ash was in a good mood. This year, Elliot had a breakdown about something, Ash’s stomach hurt, and Isaac wanted food but when it arrived, “wasn’t hungry”. Ugh. Mine was quite tasty and I enjoyed that part regardless. Luckily, the day got better. I started doing laundry when we got home and the kids calmed down some. Around 11, I decided to get myself a pedicure. Ahh-mazing.  Naptime then we decided to hit up the community pool. Spent a good two hours there; some in the activity pool but the majority in the free swim area of the lap pool. Did some actual swimming and man, that’s a good workout! No wonder Ash has been doing that in lieu of running. The evening turned out well compared to morning. We skyped with my mom, aunt, and grandparents, then had hamburgers. The kids watched a movie on their comp and Ash and I watched Wayne’s World (lol). All in all, a good Mother’s Day.

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Also…

I love freebies weeks when I have recently discovered bands. Here are a few who fall into the new Glam rock scene category.

The second video is… weird. I wouldn’t say “explicit” but may be slightly squicky. There’s torture involved.

Loving these two bands! Happy Monday everyone!

Don’t forget to come back Wednesday for my weekly meme!

Man, what a weekend. Good, bad, parenting fails, and  high points too. In essence, we: ate Sonny’s barbecue, napped lots, dealt with a rainy Saturday, shopped at Costco, watched a few movies, dealt with kids exhibiting very strange behaviour, made steaks, went to the public pool, and  by the end of it, I was completely exhausted. Seriously, I don’t know what else to tell you other than the kids ran us ragged; something is definitely up. I think there was a full moon last week and it was hold over or SOMEthing because Lord… little hellions.

School is officially over here at FSU and grades are due soon. My office is nice and quiet, as well as freezing. They turn the steam off for maintenance as soon as classes are done. Good thing I brought a jacket!

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Songs with names in them? Got it covered.

LOVE this one!

Aww yeah

And some sweet LA Guns.

That’s what I’ve got. Be sure to check back tomorrow for Random Tuesday and on Wednesday for We Want to Know!

OK… I am IN the office. I am here. Whew, guys. Just whew. I left my office around 2 on Friday and my parents were already at my house; my dad doing the edging in my yard. Hung out with them for a bit then Ash got home and while my dad sojourned (the 20 minutes) to Georgia, we went and got the boys. Let’s see, what did we do after? Oh yeah, Ash went to play cards and we picked up Chinese food. late night for the boys but that always happens when family comes.

Next morning we went to Elliot’s tee ball game, which is why my parents came in the first place. So that was fun and then we went home and my dad and I started on the string trimming but realized it was later than we thought so we went to Sonny’s for lunch (kids eat free on Saturdays!) and then Ash went to a card tournament and we were on our own. Actually, it worked out well. While the kids napped, my dad and I did yardwork. Yay! My gate FINALLY got put in last Thursday (we started that process at the beginning o March!) so all of that looks really good back there. I was pretty exhausted after that but my mom and I had some grocery shopping to do before dinner, which was tacos. Ash didn’t get home until maybe 9 but that was right after the kids went to bed. Long day!

Sunday was also really long. We got bagels and then left around 9:30 for St. George Island. The loser weathermen had predicted rain but it was a gorgeous day. Not complaining! We got to the beach around 11:30 and had a great time until almost 3:30 or so. I got majorly sunburned but that’s my own damn fault. It felt ok yesterday but today I am hurting. Glad it’s finals week because  I’m a mess. All in all, a great weekend. We finished up Sunday night with burgers and Les Mis after the kids went to bed.

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Hmm ok, songs about friends. Let’s see. The only thing I could think of today was dog’s being man’s best friend so here’s a silly song about a dog.

That’s right: we got a lot done on our room switch-around project. We’re in the process of turning our office/junk room into the new baby’s room. In the end, we’ll have a play room that holds ALL the toys and a mere desk in the kitchen corner for a monitor/scanner/printer. We moved bookshelves and toys and art supplies. We cleaned out an entire filing cabinet and organized all of our important documents. It was a serious task but we got that stuff all completed.  Somewhere amidst all this we had a tee ball game, though it was cool, windy, and overcast, so, uncomfortable. And we ate at Sonny’s (apparently kids eat free on Saturday.)

On Sunday I was still feeling motivated to work but the kids – oy – they were in one heck of a mood. I’m talking emotional sobbing for God knows what reasons, etc. I think we were all a little annoyed by each other, for some reason. After nap though, they seemed to be ok. I weeded in the front planter, the boys helped Ash wash his car, and then we went to the playground. Elliot threw a fit about going to one park over another but as it turns, out, one of his tee ball teammates was there so he had someone to play with. It was a good lesson for him in that you never know when a situation could turn out differently than planned.

The weekend ended with finishing up a few small tidying things and then watching The Hobbit. All in all, I felt really satisfied with all our work but it wasn’t exactly relaxing.

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In honor of Earth day we’re doing song about the world, plants, animals, people (nationality, cultures, etc). Or anything along this line of thinking.  My offering is about coming together as one world and living in peace. I think it works.

Friday was only partly sunny but the (fair)weather men claimed Saturday would be beautiful. We were banking on it because Elliot had a tee ball game and we had planned to go to the beach. Well, it turned out to be wonderful. Woke Saturday and had breakfast as a family. I flitted about the house, packing things up. Ell’s game was at 10:30 and it was wonderful weather: sunny but not hot, breezy too. His team “lost” but I figure it was payback for the butt-whooping we gave them last time. Promptly afterwards we went home, changed, made some pb&j sandwiches and hit the road. We decided to go all the way (all one hour and 50 minutes!) to St. George Island. In spite of the wind, it was still really quite wonderful. Water was a little cold but not bad once you got in a while. The kids had a blast building sand castles while I worked on my tan.

We were about two hours in when a group – probably form some camp or church – showed up and parked it right behind us. I swear, there were at least 60 people, mostly kids. We up and left for a less crowded spot because there was no way I could relax with kids running all around me. We stayed about another hour then decided to pack it in. Isaac was exhausted but had a hard time sleeping in the car. He eventually did though so we had a quiet meandering drive home along the scenic coastal highway.

Once we got back into town, it was about quarter to seven so we stopped at La Fiesta and had dinner. It was really a great day; kids had fun, we enjoyed the outdoors and it wore us all out.

Everyone felt the effects of the busy day and sun on Sunday morning and in some ways, it was good it rained all day. We didn’t feel compelled to do even more. I  did laundry and cleaning and ran a few errands while the kids played and watched movies. We watched both Old Yeller and An American Tail.  Isaac is going through a can’t sit still phase though so movies are a little on the outs for him. Speaking of, today is his official birthday. His teacher put balloons on his chair and brought in cupcakes. Super nice of her! He’s also wearing underwear today (going on day three here) so wish us luck. It’s about time he figures this whole thing out.

My plan for today is to get a lot of work done but also treat myself. I had a craving for 1 Fresh Stir Fry last night so I am totally going to get that AND a cherry limeade, since Sonic is doing happy hour on drinks since it is tax day.

Did you do your taxes??

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OF COURSE this week’s theme has to do with money. So here are my (three very random) contributions:

SO I just got into the office; it’s 10 AM. My weekend was INSANE, but full of wonderful things. I went to work Friday alone; the kids were home with Ash and his brother and father. I had lunch with them, then came back to tie up a few things, then went home around two or so. We ran respective birthday-related errands in the afternoon and I made a decent dinner that night before we all just hung out.

The next morning, Ash and his brother had to wake up super early to get out to Torreya state park for their 50k. I got the kids all ready after some breakfast and gathered Ash’s dad from the hotel before going to Elliot’s tee ball game. It was nice having his dad there to help corral Isaac and whatnot. His team “won” again and then we went home to play for a bit. I prepped outdoor chairs for my family’s arrival later in the day. By noon, we were out again on the hour drive to the state park to watch the guys finish their race. As they say, things don’t tend to work out the way you think. We waited nearly an hour and a half to two hours total when we had counted on only being there 30 mins max. Uncle Elliot finished OK but Ash’s knee gave out on him (an old running injury) and he had to walk some of the remaining 31 miles. He was saddened and disappointed by his performance but we weren’t. I can’t even run more than 14 miles, let alone 31! The finish line was near pavilions, bathrooms, and a little playground so the kids were real troopers and hung in there. We didn’t get back into Tally until close to 4:30 – which is way later than I intended – but it worked out. I started making my lasagne and my family got to check into their hotel and go to Costco before coming over.

Dinner was a success, despite my late start, people were drinking wine and Coronas and sitting outside, chatting. We had Bruster’s ice cream for dessert and once everyone went back to their hotels, I surely passed out exhausted on the couch. Sunday was Isaac’s day instead of dedicated to race stuff. His birthday ins’t until the 15th but it was convenient to celebrate with everyone in town. We had 11 total people! Everyone got to our house around 10 and we pretty much hung out for a while. Weather was fabulous! We went out for Mexican for lunch and then people played cards and napped until about 4, when we did presents and cake. Good times, good times. Around seven we made burgers and hot dogs, beans, fries, and potato salad. I was ridiculously full but it was worth it; such a good weekend.

This morning was more laid back. I was thankful for sleeping in a little (the boys went to bed late each night then slept at least an hour longer each morning). My parents, aunt, sister and her BF stopped by on their way out and said goodbye, then Ash’s dad and brother came over. They’re still doing stuff today until their flights later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, I am trying to recover some sense of normalcy. I plan to work all day, then go home and feed the boys, go to Target for a few staples, then get them in bed a wee bit earlier tonight. Then it’s couch time and Bones and resting all night long.

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This week’s them is songs your mom/parents listened to, whether you liked them or not. I remember so much of my musical childhood. Both my folks liked very different things but here’s one they both liked:

LOL, what a silly song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdFghZmdwXk

My father was a HUGE Journey fan!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atxUuldUcfI

My mother was always big into country so here’ s one of her faves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZSiBj4vCiY

Sorry my blog is being weird; it won’t embed the videos for some reason!

Good theme this week! Don’t forget to come back on Wednesday for my We Want to Know meme!

I’m trying to write this post but Casino Royale  is on and Daniel Craig keeps commanding my attention. AHEM. OK, post. So our weekend was quite chock full o’ stuff. Ash took Friday off with Isaac and we went to lunch together. After getting Ell, we went to the store. I’m pretty sure we watched a movie because the kids went to bed late. Though I don’t remember which one. Ash had to run in the morning on Saturday and when he got home, I rushed him to get out the door for an egg hunt in a close-by neighborhood. The event didn’t begin on time so that didn’t matter in the slightest. Anyway, the hunt was run by neighbors and was pretty fun. They had three rounds; the first one excluding anyone over 5. The others were basically free-for-alls. The kids loved it though. We bought Ell some baseball pants and socks for his upcoming tee-ball game(s) and then went to Cracker Barrel. In the afternoon, we dyed eggs then made a big dinner before watching Willow.  After the kids went to bed, Ash and I then watched the majority of Skyfall, before going to bed, late and very sleepy.

Sunday morning, we woke and checked out what the Easter Bunny brought before hiding eggs in the yard for the kids. Again, they were in heaven. We have an overabundance of candy now and it’s insane how much of that stuff you can acquire in just a few days. Anyway, we were a bit lazy in the morning; watched Ben Hur for a bit (the kids liked the chariots) then we decided to walk, but the bottom fell out and it ruined that plan. We made burgers despite the rain but then the sun came out and it was nice. We then took our walk and the kids napped. I, on the other hand, mowed the back yard, which needed it something fierce. I was BEAT after that (you know, being 22 weeks pregnant) so I took an excellent nap in the recliner. We went to Lowes to get the correct part to fix our toilet and then had sandwiches for dinner. I got the cleaning bug after that and got on the bathrooms and the microwave. I figured I earned myself a cherry limeade after all that work so a little trip to Sonic was in order. I feel like we were constantly on the go but it was a nice weekend. Weather was great, kids had a blast, and we enjoyed our time.

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This week’s theme can be a song I wouldn’t never listen to. Here’s the first one that  comes to mind, because I HATE it. I hate this guy’s look, his voice, this pathetic little song. James Blunt needs a punch in the face!

Alright ::crackes knuckles:: back to the grind. School’s back in session for us this week so I am busy busy. But then again, when am I not? Anywho, the weekend was pretty darn good. Got some good sleep, since Ash had to run 26 miles on Saturday morning. The boys and I went to Target and then I did a bunch of cleaning before we went back out to Costco. I’m pretty sure I got in a nap and then in the afternoon, we played outside because the weather was gorgeous. It was slightly windy but the boys got to finger paint and ride bikes, etc. We didn’t know what to do for dinner so we went to this new pizza place called Joe Mama’s. It’s a little hoity toity for pizza but still pretty good. And we got to eat outside and the boys behaved. They even earned ice cream after, which was awesome for me as well! (sea salt caramel is honestly one of the best things in the entire world.) By night’s end, my back was done. I mean, I’m almost 20 weeks now and an entire morning of standing and chores will just do me in.

Ash had to run a mere 10 on Sunday but he drove an hour to the location of his upcoming race to do them. We hit up the store then made a big lunch before tee-ball and then Lowes for a dryer part. Our vent thing (the flexible metal portion) has had a hole in it for months so I decided that morning I’d start moving things around to replace it. Like all home projects, it was a bigger pain in the ass than expected. BUT, we got it back together and I finally started doing my Big Sunday Laundry by 5 PM. UGH.  Again, my back was killing me but it was not a bad weekend all in all.

My calendar today says: “Being chained to a desk is not that different from being chained to a stove. Maybe we need to shift our focus to the chain!”

We’re all chained to something; can’t do much there!

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Freebie week! I spent some time sitting on my computer with my noise-cancelling headphones on, playing songs from my Hair Metal Ballads playlist. So you get some!

(that’s a fan made video, btw)

And that about doe sit. Don’t forget to come back on Wednesday for the We Want to Know meme. Its all about music this week! Here’s one of the questions: What is the first concert/show you ever went to? What was the best and why?

That’s right: for the first time EVER (in all honesty) we didn’t set the bedroom clock correctly after DST. Luckily, I managed to round everyone up and get Elliot to school on time. He’s the only one who really matters because if I miss a window, I have to park and walk him to the room.  Luckily, it’s Spring Break at FSU this week so no one’s here. Plus, I was only 25 minutes late. I did get myself a bagel and coffee after dropping off the kids so there’s a bonus.

SO, my weekend was pretty darn good. In the afternoon, Ash and I had Mexican and Dairy Queen and then Saw Oz, which is a good example of awesome preview but lackluster movie. There were so many parts where I understoof the concept they were trying to convey but be it through acting or dialogue, they just weren’t really getting there. It was OK; I would say slightly disappointing if nothing else.

Friday evening, I let the kids eat chicken nuggets in front of the TV(this NEVER happens) because we watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which Elliot loved up until the end/moldy cheese part. My child is afraid of a piece of moldy cheese! Anyway, I thought the movie was pretty good; middle school DOES suck and this movie encapsulates it. Can’t wait to watch the others.

Saturday morning, I was having some serious nesting tendencies so I cleaned and tidied and got stuff DONE. Then Ell had a 12:30 birthday party and Isey and I went to target before a long luxurious nap. I guess because of the nap or because I had been busy all day, I was actually awake all evening. Ash and I stayed awake until 1:30  new real time, but I didn’t feel tired the next day. In fact, Sunday was really good. Originally, we’d decided to take the kids to this Discover the Dinosaurs things at the civic center. Except people I know kept going and saying it was not worth the money. SO, we pitched 3 ideas to Elliot and he chose bowling. We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, Isaac napped while I took Ell to tee ball, and then we all went bowling.It was super fun and even though it’s a lot more expensive than I remember, we did a 2 hour deal that included drinks and popcorn. So that was cool. Plus, my second game was pretty good: 153. It was after 5 when we finished but we went to the store to gather things for burgers and also decided to grill corn, which turned out pretty good. Never done it that way before.

All in all, a fun productive weekend.

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Good prompt this week: Music that tells a story of your life.  This can be a single all encompassing piece of music, or you can cut together several pieces, each that are about part of who you are & how you discovered music.

Let’s begin with some songs I loved early on; songs I called “mine” because I was instantly drawn to them.

I loved Billy Joel and David Lee Roth!

Then in 5th grade, I got into boy bands. Well, ok, one of the first:

Soon after, however, I found metal: (Also, only chose this later, slower song because Axl is HOT in this video. Ooof. Also, lots of seductive women in this one. You’ve been warned.

My hard rock/metal fascination always carried through but when I moved at 15, Counting Crows were a huge part of my transformation.

Then I went through an indie/punk-ish phase.

All that carried on through college (throw in a lot of Tool and Pantera) and then, Ash and i loved Punk together. (Full album; listen!)

My mother always liked country and a few years ago, I discovered this Luke Bryan song and I’ve been hooked ever since.