Hap Hap Happy Birthday

Happy 28th Birthday today to the one and only LOKI! 

Checking In

Loki: I just wanted to say a quick hello to all our readers. We seem to be on a pattern where we post regularly one week and then the next...nothing. I guess this is a nothing week. I just wanted to give a heads up that Stella has a friend coming in town next week and they will be busy gallivanting around town...so time to blog will diminish. If anyone is interested in guest blogging with me or with someone else just let me know! :) I think it might be time for another Saucy and Curls banter....that is if Saucy can find the time. I hear little Meatball has been sleeping less and less during nights. No fun! Nothing new is going on here which is why we are having a hard time coming up with topics to banter about. I would like to say that I made it through my first week of running and this second week is already easier. I am looking forward to buying me some new kicks so that my poor feetsies will feel better.(No shin splints yet!) Although it has been rather cold here..I have to say that I am beginning to like it. It is all about making it a habit huh? People always say that (and Big T) and I would just think it was a ploy to get me to work out. Stella is still busy being obsessive with the working out. She has now starting tanning which is just going to get me even more green. Anyway no new news on the job front. Who would've thought it was going to be so hard to find a decent job when I actually started looking for one! Okay well enough of the update...if I don't speak to you again..have a wonderful week!

Curls-- what is a finger monkey? like a real monkey? I just watched a documentary about little house pet monkeys...and those people were nutty. It is like a baby. Like a baby...in a diaper... for the rest of its life. The thing never "potty trains". Also when they hit puberty...they become mean and uncontrollable and often times attack their owner. Okay so I just googled the finger monkey and it is quite adorable. The documentary I watched was not about finger monkeys but I am sure it is similar. Are you really going to get one? Please do!

 What do you think about this monkey? Animal haters--- Stella and Cookie?

Zonk

Loki: I do not know what it is in the air today, but I am about to rip my eyes out of their sockets. I have really bad allergies today. (Obviously from the sentence I just wrote about ripping my eyes out.) I just wanted to be clear it was because of the allergies and not from something that I saw, which could also cause you to want to rip your eyes from their sockets. Anyway, I digress. I literally had tears dripping down my face and sneezing so uncontrollably (and snotty) that I had to grab a towel to sop up that mess. Anyway I finally realized in this small pea brain of mine that they make medicine for such suffering. I look in my medicine cabinet and  the only thing I have is Benadryl. Okay great. I take one. An hour later and I am still in misery. So I take another. Thankfully Blue went down for a nap at this time and I decide to close my eyes as well. I need some relief anyway. Zonk (that is me literally passing out) I forgot how loopy and sleepy Benadryl makes me. I thought I had just closed my eyes when I hear Blue up and playing in her crib. I am considering just ignoring her and leaving her in the crib to fall asleep already when I realize that an hour has passed. We did take a nap. We are up now and after several splashes of water on my face I am coherent. I am still a little loopy and would like another nap but I do not have that option. As for my eyes.... I feel like clawing them out of my head again.

Stella: Sometimes mom will dress in a monochromatic color scheme to brighten up my day. It really does make me cheerful to see her looking like such a fool. Pink sweats, pink t-shirt... maybe pink socks if I'm lucky.

Stella: It's me again. I'm wondering why you haven't written on this post. You started it and wrote out a bunch of jibber jabber and I merely returned the favor. And yet, you ignore it. As if my random thoughts were not of any interest to you. They were not up to your standards, eh? You think my stories are not as clever and exciting as yours? That's fine. See if I care. I don't have allergies. Unless you want me to talk about my ears hurting, I don't know what else I could possibly say on this topic. We could discuss the weather I suppose. Are you enjoying this lovely day out? It's been awfully windy running up the hill lately. Today Bess actually gave out on me and slowed down to a walk. The nerve! I know, right?! I ran up behind her and started hitting her on the back. I told her that I was trying to beat some life into those old bones of hers. hahahh. That line still cracks me up. It did not motivate her to pick up the pace, but I don't think she'll do it again. hahah. Oh, I am a funny girl. I will look myself in the mirror every day and repeat this. ZONK!

Loki: You are in rare form today. I like the word ZONK. It's fun. I did not return the post because I wasn't sure if you were done with your jibber jabber. You see in order for it to be jibber jabber you must yammer on about nothingness for an entire paragraph. You only wrote like 2 lines.... not a jibber jabber paragraph does that make. I am sorry for the boring subject material of my miserable allergy head. At the time that was all I could think about... and it was quite another thing to be loopy on pain meds while taking care of a child. Please don't report me to DHS. It has only happened once. This is off subject but do you cry at everything you see about kids on shows or documentaries? Anytime there is an injustice or I feel sorry for a child my eyes automatically brim up with water. Maybe it is a sign of the allergies but it's like because I have a kid now I am more sensitive to those sad stories. Why I was taping that Lisa Ling documentary (on the OWN network) and it's about heroin use or something. I only made it through like 5 minutes where they were showing these parents drag along their 1 year old on their drug runs and then sticking their arms in front of the baby. Then it showed that these two "winners" had grown children too...like teenagers... and lo and behold, they were shooting up as well. I was bawling... and had to desert the program.

Stella: Yes, I do that too. I watched "The Pursuit of Happiness" while pregnant... and bawled the ENTIRE time. I can't watch shows about drug addiction that involve children, which most do. It happens every day all around you.. I know enough about it without having to watch it on television.Plus I already studied that in school in "The Abused." Yes, that was the name of the course. Talk about the most depressing subject you could ever study. I can watch Teen Mom & that's about all I can stomach. Man, this post is all over the place. The only thing I like about it is my story about me beating life into Nan's old bones. HAHAHAHA. Still makes me laugh!

Loki: I am going to make your daughter read this one day...when you apparently have "old bones." I am sure she will be just as inventive as you coming up with random names to call her mother. I shall enjoy it deeply...although I am sure "Nan" will too. She will say, "Why when I was your age you were calling me Ol' Bess and you were telling me my old bones needed some life beat into them!" I am pretty sure we have a hip mother.... and pretty much always have. Although I think she went through a stage when she dressed in really frumpy clothing.... and I am not sure how hip it was, but I have a feeling that it wasn't hip at the time. But we were too young to care at the time. In fact, I think Bess has some of that clothing still in her closet. Tomorrow we are going to film her trying on the many different hideous ensembles she has managed to hang (hoard) onto. I am thoroughly looking forward to it. Do you remember how mom had long curly hair (permed hair) when we were growing up and then one day she went and chopped it all off? She was very excited to show us her new "doo" and we both told her we hated it? I don't know that I had a filter back then. Of course I then remember her getting upset because of course she didn't want us to tell her we didn't like it!! I remember feeling bad. Sorry mom! I didn't mean to hurt your feelings! It was just such a drastic change and we were not prepared. Hahha talk about random. I figured I would give this post just a little more flavor. As always I have to end this post because of something Baby Blue has done/is doing... she has crawled up on to the ledge on the patio and is trying to stick her head in the fountain. Momma must go save the child.

At least her hair didn't look this bad! Tell us something random! 

Marathon

Loki: We were having a lovely lunch time with our mom, grandma, aunt and cousin the other day and somehow the conversation turned to running or exercising or diets... something like that. Anyway, everyone encouraged Stella that she should take part in the marathon that Cookie is running in May. No one even mentioned me. I mean... I know, I know! Why would they? But my competitive nature peaked and I got mad at myself that I am not this athletic girl that I once was. I want that back. So I have decided to train for it. Obviously I am going to have to start out slow and will not be able to partake in the coming up marathon... but perhaps by September I will be able to. Let me also just clarify that my goal is the half... not the full. I can't imagine running for 5 plus hours straight. I also dont think I am currently a runner and I usually get some pretty gnarly shin splits.... BUT who doesn't. Anyway, this is my goal. I am starting tomorrow. I also think that instead of concentrating or doing exercises to "lose weight"...that if I had some athletic competition or something it would help motivate me.

Stella: That's why you told me you wanted to run a marathon? Hahahhahaha. Oh poor Loki. You should just try out running and see if you like it before setting a big goal. It's like the only time my name has ever been mentioned with an athletic event and you freak out. I'm sure if you ran on a daily basis someone would have suggested you as well. Anyhow, I don't get shin splints? I don't even think I know what those are.

Loki: It feels like your shin muscle is getting stuck on your shin bone. Sorta like a charlie horse but on your shin. That is the best way I can describe it. I even get them on treadmills, which is why I always end up on the elliptical. You will be happy to know that I have ran twice now! Wow, huh? Sept. seems a long way away... I am just looking forward to when the running gets easier. I think I am running about 2 miles right now... (which is like a baby step compared to the 13...but its one step at a time.) I think I have to get over it mentally as much as physically. I keep concentrating on how far I have gone instead of how I feel. Anyway, I should probably start running other places than my neighborhood.... Only because I blare the music in my ears and I will probably run out in front of a car one day. Oh well. I need to go download some more "work out" songs to my ipod so that it will motivate me to keep on. Right now I listen to Rhianna "Only Girl" and Pink always pumps me up too. Anyway, I need to get some new shoes too but seeing as I am unemployed still I may just need to get some insoles or whatever they are called. Yes, I know that you dont think I will actually run the marathon...but in order for me to get up and run every morning, I need to have a goal. An end goal... and maybe in a couple of months I will already be in the habit of getting up and running and I won't care to run an actual marathon. However, I have to tell myself that this what I am training for. I dreamed last night about softball.... about playing in a tournament. This isn't surprising since most of my childhood was softball... but it made me want to play. I should join an adult league or something. I have been doing cartwheels for my daughter (she thinks they are funny) and can I just tell you that it hurts? Why do cartwheels hurt me? I guess I really am old. Maybe running and getting in shape will also allow me to do cartwheels over and over. Now there is a goal!

Stella: I never said you couldn't do it. I just asked WHY. You should have seen Mom's old running shoes we made her get out and show Choc Chip the other day. We told her they weighed about 20 lbs and to prove that we weren't exaggerating she went and got them out. (You might ask why she is still saving them, but it is ole Bess we are talking about!) Maybe you were there when we did that. I don't remember. It was still funny either way. It is always good to have a goal. I do not have a goal anymore. I am hoping that  if we all go on a tropical vacation this year then that can be it. If not, I'll just be depressed that I don't have anywhere to go. And like the rest of my life, there will be nothing to look forward to. WAH! I'm thinking of having a pity party tonight. Want to come?

Loki: NO.

Stella: Fine. As part of the party I was going to invite you to go to BTT. My one true love. But now I shall find another companion to take. Instead I shall leave you with my current playlist of songs to run to:

The Killers-All These Things I Have Done (My hands-down all time favorite song...)
Talking Heads- Burning Down the House
Florence & the Machines- The Dog Days Are Over
Fat Joe ft Nelly- Get it Poppin
Whitesnake- Here I Go Again
Queen- Fat Bottomed Girls
Madonna- Like a Prayer
Beck- Loser
Kanye- Golddigger
Elton John- Rocket Man (although I always end up singing this one while running which takes away some of my energy)

What do you listen to while burning off those calories and melting the fat?

Amputeed

Loki: I don't care how much fun Baby Blue is having playing with her toys. If I get up and go in the kitchen to cook...she immediately follows me in there and wants me to pick her up. When I can not pick her up because I am trying to chop up something to eat she starts to throw a fit. She wedges herself in between me and the cabinets and yanks on my pants. Her little arms reach up to me while she screams. Eventually I give in and pick her up and continue cooking the meal one handed. She quits crying the minute I pick her. She enjoys watching me cook. Usually I am preparing meals before Big T gets home so I am the only one here but even when he is here, I somehow end up holding her while I cook. I know she is small but after holding her for an hour I feel like my arm is going to fall off. I am just wondering what happens when there are 2 of them. NO, I am not pregnant but I am just thinking about what my poor mother did...and if I do have another sooner rather than later, will I have to pick them both up?

Stella: Looks like someone needs to learn the word "no." Haha. How do you like that for unwanted parenting advice from your little sister? Just put the kid down or just have another kid already. There's NOTHING exciting happening around here. We need a little something-something to look forward to besides what's for dinner tonight.

Loki: You don't want me to get pregnant again. Then you will constantly have to listen to me moan and complain about this ailment or that.. Seriously, I have to be the worst pregnant person ever. I know why you want me to get pregnant... you will virtually disappear from behind me. I hope not to but chances are I will blow up again... and then I might sit on you and squash you. Oh, and I do tell the child no. I try to ignore her when she is slapping my legs... and when she is throwing fits on the ground because is not getting her way. (that part is actually humorous) but then it gets the better of me and I just pick her up...usually when she starts wailing "mommmmma". Anyway we took her to the dr. yesterday for her year checkup (even though she is actually 13 months). She only weighs 20.2lbs. She is in the 25% for weight. Of course she is in the 75% for height. Can I just say that Saucy's baby is already 14lbs. haha.I wonder if my next baby will be small or chunky. Okay, that's it for talk about my next child. I'm going to go do a voodoo dance, walk backwards, knock on wood....something to make it not happen NOW. I guess that is probably like me and you as babies.... I was small and petite and you were big and chunky. I guess thats why everyone thought we were twins...we were the same size.  Awww.... but now we have switched. Poo. I would have rather have been the chunky baby than the chunky adult.

Stella: Just for the records, I was a healthy child. Not chunky. Now I'm going to tell you endless stories about my daughter like you do. Last night, Bella was watching a movie & the little girl's cat died sending sweet Bella into tears. It was precious. Then later she asked me what kind of animals do I like? Like she can already tell I'm a terrible person for not loving them as she does. Boo. Should I just lie and pretend to like them? We've also just finished reading our 4th Ramona book. So for a change I picked up my old "Little House on the Praire" books. We started with "Little House in the Big Woods." The entire first chapter was about the daddy killing deer and how they would smoke the venison and how dad butchered the pig with two big knives and Laura ran to hide so she wouldn't hear the pig squeal.... Not exactly age appropriate material. So now looking for another chapter book that Bella can listen to. Still have 4 more Ramona books so guess we'll stick with those for now. Alright, I'm boring myself. I hope you're equally tortured.

Loki: Mission accomplished. Although I like hearing stories about my sweet neice... its just that you told me that story this morning.... so it is the second time I am hearing it...which does induce snooze worthy material. My daughter is currently shoving her face with mandarin oranges (the kind in a fruit container) and as a treat I put a dollop of whip cream on top....it is her desert after all. I am sure you would cringe if you saw her.... she is sufficiently messy, but I remembered to take off her clothes this time. I was considering inventing something like a bib that would also hook up to the bottom of the high chair tray...like a catch all of some sort. But then I gave up because although that would prevent her clothes from getting messy....she still shoves her dirty hands in her hair making her all sticky. I think she does this on purpose because she loves bath time so much. One more thing.... my boob (yes just one) is throbbing in pain as it is rock hard and full of milk (sorry if TMI) . This hurts too much.... she might just get nursed for the rest of her life. 

Stella: Gross. I'm done here.

What's wrong with that?

Bonding Time

 Loki: There are some major disadvantages to knowing your readers. We try really hard to not sensor ourselves when we choose subject matter for this blog. But let's all face it...we do. Our mother and grandmother read this for crying out loud. Normally, it is not a big deal because Stella and I do not lead very scandalous lives. The point of choosing aliases of course was so people wouldn't "know" who we are. I am assuming that we may have some readers that do not know us in our personal lives, but most of readers do in fact know us on the "outside". Anyway, we had several ideas this weekend for blogs...mainly making fun of our relatives... and then some about ourselves as well. But that would not be suitable subject matter. With that being said, I actually went out last weekend with my dear sister and retarded cousin. It started out by me texting Stella about how I agreed to get a job and she text back to not let Big T use alcohol against me. haha. So as I was cringing at the thought of getting a full time job, I decided I should just go dance too. Haha Well, not really... but it just so happened that Stella and PlayGirl were headed out on the town....and although it was already 10pm, (my normal bedtime,) I thought it sounded fun. So up they come to fetch me because if I even drink a drop of alcohol my husband becomes my father and refuses to let me drive. Poor Man Child had already been convinced to come fetch them at the end of the night and so we inquired and he agreed to drive me home too. So there. Off we went to dance our troubles away. I haven't been in a bar setting in quite some time...let alone a dancing ho down. The minute we get there PlayGirl proclaims that she cannot have fun unless she gets drunk. What? Who says such a thing! Let alone means it! So ridiculous. I guess she doesn't realize that drunk or not she dances like a epileptic. (The girl has no rhythm!) Not that I am Beyonce, but at least I know I look retarded. Anyway, so off we go on a mission to get PlayGirl drunk...or at least enough so that she then decides to hit on any man walking by in hopes of getting her drinks paid for. I must say that I don't think she succeeded at even one drink... Perhaps it was the 80's shirt she was wearing. I'm pretty sure it was an actual one shoulder short-crop-top blue sweater. (You know that looks turned inside out.) Anyway, we ended up hanging out with her 2 nerdy guy friends who were already there. One just sat there watching the dancing and then the other took each of us on the dance floor to teach us the 2 step. I'm pretty sure he came back proclaiming how Stella was worse than PlayGirl, and I am not really sure how that is possible. I liked pointing at the most ridiculous looking dancer I could see at the moment and then mimicking their stellar moves. I'm sure I sufficiently embarrassed Stella.  I kept thinking "Who are all these people!" And yet, I didn't see  a single person I knew. I did get quite a workout in. (On top of the hour long yoga  session AND the running at the park with the fam that day...) So yes, my legs were shot. I could barely walk the next day.  However, PlayGirl is rather entertaining to watch as she flirts with random men... in an attempt to get her drinks paid for. I don't think I ever did that... I am not a good flirter. I don't think she liked having competition there (Stella...not me.)

Stella: I never tried to get men to buy my drinks either. It just so happens that they would without me trying. Hahah. I'm just gonna tell you now that when I had a big gorgeous head full of curly hair, I used to get more drinks for free than PlayGirl ever did with her big ole boobs hanging out. And that is a fact!! How's that for not sensoring? haha. Well, it's not like I did anything or like I am really conceited thinking I'm hot stuff. Since then I have lost my luscious free-drinks curls. But hello, when it comes to poking out $5 to $7 for one mixed drink, why wouldn't you just have some idiot doofus you'll never see again buy it for you? It's very tempting to take advantage of these poor fellas. Because what decent guy is standing around a bar wasting money buying strange girls drinks? None. Just creepers who think they'll get something in return for spending money. Just think about it- would you ever buy a random person a drink? No way. That's all I have to say about that.

Loki: Oh yes, boys are stuuuupid. However, I am sure there are some girls who would end up going home with a doofus. Just think if they hadn't turned on the lights at the end of the night....Play Girl might have gone home with that weird looking guy. Haha just kidding. That didn't really happen. Whats really is funny is when a guy buys one girl and ALL her friends drinks...all night long. I have been witnessed to such craziness. I guess the thing being projected there is money but still. I don't think such things work. Well maybe.... doesn't PlayGirl have a friend like that.... who she goes to the lake with only because he has a boat and buys her drinks? How sad . I was scouring the crowd for hopeful future Mr. Stella's, but then quickly stopped myself because 1. We are not attracted to the same sort of men (except for Big T...hahah I kid I kid... and just made myself throw up a little.) Although we did rank the Jersey Shore guys the same... Pauly, Vinny, Ron... (and in case anyone was interested. Mike doesn't even make the list by the way.) 2. You ain't gonna meet Mr. Right in a bar. I caught myself speaking with PlayGirl about such matters and she informed me that she had a friend, (one of the nerdy guys who was there,) who said if they were both 35 and single they would get married. Which is also one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Yeah like that relationship would last. I did ask this guy how old he was, 31 and he was not familiar with the pact he made. I guess she was just making it up...or he just refuses to remember that.  I don't think guys have that same "time frame" that women give themselves.
(I was looking up images for 'flirting for drinks' and all the captions had something to do with women flirting to get free drinks. One was even a checklist or tips that told you how to get these free drinks)

Stella: These guys were both so ugly that Loki & I ranked them as a one and a two (out of ten,) but then we couldn't even decide which one would have got the higher scoring of a two. It was that bad. Also, I wouldn't put Ron on the list... He's a big fat head. Sorry, I don't like men with big fat heads juiced up on roids. (Aka a "Gorilla Juicehead" for those who do not watch J.S. which is probably EVERYONE but me.) The most entertaining thing to me about this whole adventure was me trying on PlayGirl's shirts. They were all 80's style & not MY style at all. The worst one was a gray sweater that was the inside-out look, (like the one Loki previously described,) that was also a crop top that had huge slashes in it. It was the most horrific thing ever. I put it on and sang "I'm a maniac... maniac!!!" and danced but PlayGirl did not get my joke... So I just took it off.

Tell me what your favorite flirting technique is!!

Suck it UP

Loki: So I made myself a martini after the babe went to bed this weekend. It was nice and cool outside so me and the husband sat outside on the porch talking. I like doing this about 100 times more than sitting on the couch watching some mindless tv show. I think the martini was getting to my head because I agreed to get a job. A real one. I am tired of hearing him complain about how stressed he is and all the arguments it causes between us. I just realized that I have to participate in the money making too. Realistically, my unemployment money won't last forever either. I have also realized that my idea of a mother is obviously in direct correlation to what kind of mother I have. My mother stayed home with me and so to me that is what I have mimicked. However, just because I am not at home 24/7 does not mean I would be any less of a mother. There are plenty of mothers who also work and it does not mean that they love their children any less. Plus, this is a different world than it was when my mother was my age. Most families are 2 income families. I am the one who brought most of the debt to this relationship (ie college!!!)  And it seems a little silly to pay student loans off all this time and not be working using the degree. So I am still getting used to the idea. If I can find something closer to the "babysitter" than it would mean more time with my angel and less driving time. I have a promise that we can save and then move closer. (Location is still being argued). I think if I give in and give him this that he should at least let me live closer to my mother!! I am still thinking it through and I know that getting a job now doesn't mean we will always be in this same position. My car will be paid off shortly and then if I can get rid of my student loans than I should be able to quit. Umm... I probably shouldn't open with any of that in an interview. "Yes I am just biding my time until I can quit." If I had a passion for a job than I think things would be different. I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to invest your whole life in your kids... right? What I mean is, it is healthy to have a life outside of your kids. I had great hopes briefly of being like that show 'DC Cupcakes' where the sisters own a bakery. But then I realized that 1. I have no baking skills. 2. Stella is not motivated. 3. We would end up killing each other. 4. We have no money (although I have people who would invest.) Anyway, it isn't going to happen so I shall let that dream pass.

Stella: Am I supposed to comment on this? It was so long. I had a real hard time getting through the first half. It was like I was in your brain and you were trying to get it organized with all these hundreds of thoughts you have in there and it sorta stressed me out hearing them all. Me, on the other hand, I do not have these concerns. I don't care to ever be a part of a two income family. Because regardless of my current situtation, I do not plan on ever having to provide half the income. That's just stupid. I'm not the man. I'm not going to toil the earth. I will feed the man, dress the man, clean up after the man, raise the man's children, but I WILL NOT BE THE MAN. So there. Putting that down right now as #3 on the list of requirements for the future Mr. Stella. Hah. Also, I really didn't like the guilt trip about the bakery at the end. Gee. Like I could save you from a horrific 9-5 desk job by agreeing to go into a business venture with you.

Loki: Oh but you could! Sorry it was long and tedious... my reasons for getting a job. You told me to write a solo piece...and that was my attempt at a solo piece. The problem was you are my comic relief.. and without that you just get me yammering. Im like Philip on Survivor yammering about my past life. My former federal agent life.( The post is no longer as long as it was originally...I started an entirely different subject so I just combined it with another post). Anyway I just spent 2 hours of my life typing out my personal info, business references and qualifications. I thought that was the purpose of a resume... why must I also complete an application? Just look at my resume. By the way...I could not come up with 4 business references (people who are NOT related). Its really hard when you worked in an office with only 4 other people, 2 of which you can NOT use as a reference. Also my 2 previous jobs.... those resteraunts CLOSED down! So Poodles and PR better give me a good reference... you know if these places think I adequately answered all the questions correctly. I also have no idea how to explain the fact that I was fired from my last job. I have no idea to say why I was fired... seriously...can I say because of pride?  I also put my extracurricular (which makes me think of extraterrestrial) activities as 4 wheelin, fishing, and shooting. And then added that most of my time recently has been playing with my 1 year old.

Big T says I need to speak to more adults.

Does this orange background make you think of oompa loompas too?

Unforeseen

Loki: Stella has been preoccupied this week. I guess her wish has come true in that she doesn't have time to blog anymore. Well this week anyway. I have been busy as well.... just doing household things. You know cleaning and playing with the babe. I did spend my day painting again for the in laws yesterday. I guess it doesn't hurt to do some manual labor every now and then. I wanted to talk about something on the more serious side so I guess it is okay that Stella is busy and cannot really banter with me today. She prefers to not speak of serious things.In public especially. 
    I have noticed a big increase in pregnancy among my friends (mostly those on fb) but more depressingly miscarrying. I know that this is unfortunately just apart of life, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. Miscarriage would be much easier to cope and understand if a weight of silence did not hang over the topic. I understand that it is an uncomfortable thing to discuss. There are crazy statistics concerning miscarriage in that it happens in about 40 % of pregnancies. That is a scary number if you ask me. 1 in 4 pregnancies will end in miscarriage. I am not an expert of the subject but I have suffered through one. I don't even know how to begin to describe the feeling. I can't even begin to imagine women who have to endure more than one.  I do know that with all things, time heals.Well God heals. Time helps.  I don't understand the reason...the purpose...the need that we have to go through such things. I guess God is the only one who knows. He must need some more angels is all I can think of. Doctors can not explain such things either. I mean medically there was an incomplete set of chromosomes or irregular something or other. Gee....that makes me feel better. But of course the only thing I wanted to know was..WHY?! I mean tell me what I did! I had started going to the gym right after I got pregnant. Of course this is the thing I thought caused my miscarriage. The doctor told me otherwise however it still scared me to work out when I got pregnant again. For me I thought that maybe something else was wrong, that I wasn't able to carry a child to term. I just wanted a baby so badly and the thought of even starting over to possibly end the same was devastating. Statistically of course that wasn't going to happen. Statistics schmistics. No one cares about statistics. You also don't want people coming out of the wood works telling you about their miscarriage. I mean I guess it helps to know that you aren't the only one to go through it. But my pain is my pain.  I still have the one ultrasound picture I was given with my first pregnancy. I don't really know what to do with it though. I don't know if I am supposed to forget about it. Keep it somewhere?  Not think about it again?  I am sure that it is a greater loss when there was more development. I can't fathom having to birth a stillborn. I have a child and I think losing a child vs a 9 week pregnancy can not be compared. I am getting off track here. I just wanted to share a bit of information that I had. I guess to put it out there that this happens more than we think. It is a loss that is hard to explain and a loss that is hard to comprehend. You are losing the hopes and dreams that you had for this child. I am sure this is equally hard for the dad to go through as well but I think it resonates deeper with the woman. Only because it is your body that has to experience the loss. You have to feel actual physical pain and know what is causing that pain. It is something that would still scare me if I were to get pregnant today. Once you reach your second trimester your chance of miscarriage dramatically decreases... but for me I wasn't sure until I had her. This was one thing I am always shocked to see people peeing on a stick and then immediately posting it on facebook that they are pregnant! I always think about how it may not turn out the way you hope and then you have to inform everyone if you do happen to lose the baby. I mean on the other hand I get it. You are excited and want to share with everyone. And of course you shouldn't go around and worrying and expecting the worse to happen and I guess if it does at least you can get friend's support and/or prayer if needed.There isn't a right or wrong way to deal with such things.  Children are a miracle and a true blessing. I will meet my unborn child in heaven one day.


Love love and kisses and hugs to anyone who needs it. 

Recipe Friday's: Escalloped Eggplant

Loki: I always like finding new recipe's. I like trying new food. My cooking skills have dramatically improved from when I first starting cooking for myself. I could make pancakes and that was it. Anyway, this is not a hard dish to make...it is easy. I was a little nervous at first because I didn't grow up eating eggplant. I didn't even know what an eggplant really was. Anyway, I ventured out and bought the purple wonder. I can just say that I love this dish. It gives the eggplant a really good flavor. (Eggplant by itself can be a little bitter). I love eating this and without the breadcrumbs on top it is south beach/Atkin's friendly. I made the recipe as called for... and I believe this is a Rachel Ray recipe. You will need the following ingrediants:

1 medium eggplant
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 large onion sliced
1 pound sliced tomotoes (1 large or 2 small)
1/2 cup melted butter, divided
salt, basil (chopped or tried) and pepper
1/4 pound mozzarella cheese
2 tbl parmesan cheese
1/3 cup finely dried bread crumbs
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Peel the eggplant and cut into approximately 1/2 inch slices. Cover the bottom of a medium-sized casserole dish with the eggplant slices.
Place mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, on top. Drizzle with 1/4 cup melted butter and sprinkle with salt, basil, and pepper. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and arrange mozzarela slices ( I just sprinkle shredded mozzarella) and parmesan over top of baked veg. Mix garlic powder into bread crumbs, then stir in remaining butter. Sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake and additional 10 minutes uncovered.

Take out of oven and enjoy! I made this tonight with some grilled chicken. Yummy!

If I am in a hurry and I want to make this dish...I will sautee all these ingredients together. I chop up the eggplant first. It only takes a few minutes. Just the mixture of mushroom, onion, tomatoes, and eggplant are good. Big T recommends chopping up the grilled chicken and combining the whole thing. Yummy--Enjoy!

Panties! Glorious Panties!

Stella: My daughter has been shortening her words lately. Instead of calling her grandma "Hiya" she is now "Hi." Or if she's talking about her cheetah, she'll just say "chee." And instead of saying "panties" (or my favorite "panty loons,") she just calls them "loons." The Man Child is mortified (as usual) when I yell at her to go get some clean loons. Or if she happens to be running around naked with the loons on her head. Haha. Speaking of glorious panties, word has it that the Cougar hosted a panty party this past week. (Like a dirty Santa exchange.) Bess text me while at the party that the house was decorated all cute & that the Cougar had hung panties on clothes lines everywhere. "That's cute," I thought. And then I began to think some more... What kind of panties did she hang up? I don't think I'd want to look at someone else's drawers spread out around the house. You wouldn't want to hang up your old granny panties, nor would you want to hang up super sexy, seductive ones... Then I concluded that was a very weird thing to do and was a little embarrassed. Later Bess came home and I confronted her about what kind of underpants the Coug displayed. Turns out, they were made of construction paper! Whew. Sigh of relief. Yes, that is cute.

Loki: Yes, the decorations sounded very cute and festive. I am sure we would be impressed and hope she took pictures. Speaking of undergarments, Stella was over at my house working out with me... (ie. forcing me to do the evil sadistic BOB workout.) While I was trying to keep up with Stella, I also had Bella watching and critiquing me! She would rat me out anytime I tried to take a breather or if I was not doing the move correctly. Hmmmm.... wonder where she picked that up! Stella had gotten pretty sweaty during this time and she kept blaming it on the "sauna" of a house...but in actuality it was only 70 degrees in here and the window was open to let the cold breeze in. Anyway, after about an hour of her walking around in a soaking wet bra she asked if I had any "small" bras that she could borrow. We do not have the same chest size, but I am pretty sure I had one that would fit. Lo and behold, she had a choosing of some since I save everything and had several old tiny bras still in my possession. She held one of them up and exclaimed, "Why do you have this? It wouldn't even fit your nose!" She insisted that I never wore the thing. I did! I did! I even had the matching underwear. It is probably 4 sizes too small for me now... and why did I hang on to it all this time you ask? I am my mother's daughter.

Stella: I am not exaggerating when I say that I've never even seen a boob small enough to fit in this bra. It was the silliest thing I've ever seen for Loki to have, the woman with boobs the size of my head. It must have been your training bra from when you were 10. Gee, I don't even know when girls start wearing bras. I guess in 5+ years I will be an expert about these things. And instead of talking about a 4 year old who knows proper workout techniques, we can be blogging about my pre-tween and how she was horrified at me giving her a bra to wear just like I was when my mother bought one for me. Yikes. Let's not. Let's hope I have something wonderfully exciting in my life to be doing at that point. Not that I don't enjoy wasting time writing out these little quips to please my family. I just don't want to deal with puberty. Ugh. But by then, Aunt Small Town will have recently dealt with her TomGirl on this subject and can give me some good pointers. Why do they call it a training bra anyway? It doesn't teach anything. So you're training to have to wear one the rest of your life?


Loki: How funny, Stella. Don't think about such things now. Just enjoy the sweet, little, somewhat-bossy, 4 year old that you have. Let's not forget the dorky stage that we all went through...which I think happens before the training bra. Or maybe it's all at the same time. How sad. I don't remember the training bra. I mean I am sure I had one, but I was excited to become a woman. Haha.. I wanted big boobs! Wish granted.  I don't know what I was thinking. How nice to not have to wear a bra. I think that is one reason I wouldn't mind getting a boob job...because I don't think you HAVE to wear one. I was more traumatized jean shopping as a teen and realizing I had HUGE hips. Of course, looking back I was a bean pole. But I felt very hippy. Jean shopping illicited crying profusely even at 13.... and to this day a tear or two drops when I try to find new jeans. Sigh. Does it ever stop? I think not. Anyway, back on subject. I hate to admit it, but I am bad about not buying myself new underwears and bras. I typically wear them out or until I have either Bess or Stella in a dressing room with me and they forbid me to put that bra back on. This usually starts a bra search and then they make me throw the one I had on in the trash can right there in the store for fear I will take it home and try to wear it again. Can I also tell you that yesterday I put on one of my expensive push up Victoria Secrets bra and after about an hour I realized that my entire boob was falling out. I guess it was still too small. It makes me sad. I haven't technically stopped breast feeding so hopefully when I do my boobs will shrink a little more so that I don't have to buy a whole new bra wardrobe.

Stella: Let's say boobs just one more time. Boobs, bras, panties, panties, panties. Okay, done.




What are your favorite panties!?

Text Test

Loki: We had a request to speak about texting etiquette...and because we are only here to please the audience, we shall talk about it. I do not use any type of "etiquette" while texting. I have predictive text on my phone so I do not even really use abbreviated words. Does anyone else think it is odd that the word for making words smaller is so large? Abbreviated..... Anyway, I get a little annoyed trying to read over abbreviated sentences. I am sure it takes me longer to decipher what is trying to be said than it would to just type the silly word out. I guess if you do not have predictive text than it is easier to shorten words...I don't know. I would like to say that every time I try to text the name "Megan," my phone predicts that I am trying to say "megabytes." Sometimes I just leave it even though it doesn't make sense and then try to let my mother figure out who I am talking about. I guess megabytes is more popular in the general population than in my vocabulary.

Stella: Well you know me. I text in complete sentences and use punctuation. I use predictive text too... Who doesn't? I like to see what other words predictive text comes up with. Like how it will come up with both "wood" and/or "zone." Or another example is "able," "cake," "bald," "calf," "bake," "bale," and "cale." What's texting etiquette? I don't know. I always feel like I have to be the last one to text back to finish up the convo. If I don't respond, I feel like I am ignoring whatever the person said last. But on the flip side, if you keep replying then sometimes they will just keep replying too and it will go on forever. Me & Betty Lou have a good system down. Our text convos remain open and overflow day by day. She's a lot busier than me so sometimes she's on a 24 hour turnaround time on responding, which is okay with me. It's not like I text her with life or death information. And eventually she'll get back to me... 20 text messages at a time.

Loki: I also have noticed that the younger generation never put down the phone. "The younger generation"...ha... what an old hag I am. Anyway, my brother in particular wakes up and the phone is immediately in his hand and he is texting away. I have no idea who he is texting all the time....and every time I ask, he acts like he never heard me. (I think he developed this trait from my father). I do not think he even knows how to have a conversation on the phone...because apparently, why do you need to speak to anyone when you can just text it? My sister-in-law was telling me that her nephew stayed the night with her and he needed to move the couch that he was sleeping on because he needed to plug his phone in while he slept. Ummm... why do you need to be by your phone while you sleep? She said he would wake up every time he got a text and would respond and go back to sleep. Ridiculous! I don't even want to get into the "sexting" that kids are doing nowdays. I don't think they realize what they are actually doing or how easy it is for someone to forward something you sent. Nothing is private...especially involving young boys.

Stella: Yes, we are old because we can remember a time BEFORE cell phones. Even when I was a senior in highschool, not everyone had one and hardly anyone text. This was in 2002 people! In our family, we all shared the phone. Fast forward 9 years and people annoy me with phones too! Especially when I worked in retail and people would check out and be on the phone the entire time. It is just rude. I make it a point to never be on the phone when checking out or when an actual person is present. I can't do it anyway because being on the phone is distracting enough. Or another example of rude phone behavior is when you are out to eat with a person and they are constantly checking their phone or texting someone back. That drives me crazy too. Sometimes I will make Bess put her phone away when we are in the car together. "I am a real, live person with feelings," I will say to make her feel bad for ignoring me and talking to someone else. The Man Child is notorious for having his phone in hand at every moment. I keep mine in my room mostly... Chunk it in the purse if I leave the house... and stick it under my pillow at night to use as my alarm. But what do I know? I am not popular. I'm not a big phone person anyway. My crummy little phone is 4 years old. It's a classic. An antique if you will. Haha. I can't believe you brought up "sexting." hahaha. I have no words of wisdom on that one. I doubt I am friends with anyone who would take raunchy photos of themselves. Wait. That's probably not true. Ewww.


Loki: I used to talk to Bess on the phone all the time while I was grocery shopping....and everytime she would tell me how she didn't understand how I could grocery shop and talk at the same time. Well, it isn't brain surgery and I had a list to follow. Sometimes she would have to listen to my chatter about which brand I should get but a lot of time she would come in handy to help me locate a certain item. I never know where any of the baking goods are or things like marshmellow creme. She would always make me hang up the phone while I checked out because you told her it was rude to talk on the phone while in front of others. . However, I did not want to conversate with the sales person and would rather continue with my all important conversation than put my phone down. I will hang up at the grocery store but if I was just running into the gas station or something I would not hang up. I use the past tense because I never can just run in the gas station...that would require getting Blue out of a car seat and that just seems too much of a hassle for an impromptu soda.  Now I never talk on the phone because A. my life is boring and I have nothing to talk about and B. I have a child to talk to now.

What other texting rules are out there we should follow?

Quick! Take a pic!

Stella: I am exhausted. I have spent the past 2 days getting Bella's pictures updated. This might not seem like a very hard thing to do, but believe me... It was a daunting task. First of all, I haven't developed any pictures since Bella turned 3. Right after her 3rd birthday is when we moved back home. It was not a very happy time to capture so I just stopped worrying and caring about Bella having a nice collection of memories. Anyway,on top of the fact that I need to develop 1 1/2 years worth of photos, the pictures are stored on 2 different computers. One isn't even hooked up anymore. So I had to work on one computer and copy all of the pictures to a dvd to store/file. Then I had to go through millions of photos and figure out which ones I actually want to pay to print. Talk about a mess. That took one day. The next day I had to hook up the old computer and do it all over again. Not to mention, I also had to burn all of the movies I had taken on my camera to a dvd as well. Bella's classic moments... like "Jesus in the Bubble Wrap" and "I'm not a baby no more mommy..." It took FOREVER. Now I have a disk with over 1,000 pictures on it to develop. I thought I did good narrowing down which ones to print. But that's like 2 Christmases... 2 winter snow storm/sledding ... a new baby cousin... Bella dressing up in 1,000 different hilarious outfits... It was eaasier to do as quite some time has passed & I could look at them more critically. However, I still have to take the disk to be printed... (No, I will NOT go to Walgreens or Kinko's!) And then once I poke out a couple hundred dollars for prints, I will have to go through them and put them in order & put them in a photo album. WOW. How much is this really going to cost? I am already vowing to NEVER get this far behind again.

Loki: I don't like having to keep up with the digital prints... putting them on facebook, and then also printing hard copies for the photo album, baby book and any super cute extras for family. I filled an entire book with Blue's first 6 months of life. I took tons of  pictures and printed every picture. I have slowed down drastically. I had to learn myself that I don't need to print every picture I ever take. But here is the thing... do we really need hard copies? Like if our baby pictures were on the computer, facebook or whatever wouldn't we look there instead of trying to find the hard copy? Let's not forget that most of our baby pictures are just in a shoe box in mass amounts of piles. Okay, maybe not baby pictures but when we were still children, just no longer cute. I don't blame my mother it seems like such a daunting task especially when she had 4 children to keep track of. Anyway, I will always print hard copies because I like having hard copies. But it makes me anxious just thinking about all the photo albums I am going to have to store for the rest of my life. I also always feel like I have entirely too many photos on my facebook page. I have yet to delete an album. I know you consolidate your photos after a time and I am wondering if I should do the same. I mean its not like I have to have every picture taken of me since I started facebook to be published for all my friends to see. I also feel like people might get annoyed with me posting so many pictures of my baby, but then I get over it because I am not forcing anyone to look at them. Okay, well I didn't mean to go on a tangent about facebook photos. Most of my photos are all on the computer and occasionally we remember to burn them to a cd...so in case the computer crashes we will have them. I have also gotten in a bad habit of never deleting them off of my camera card. So I have like 500 photos on that thing.

Stella:I also tried to include photos of me even though I thought I looked like a big fat chubby faced momma in all of them. Like I said, the past year and a half has been rough on me. But I read an article about how moms always seem to disappear from their kid's photos and therefore, memories because they are either always the one behind the camera OR they crop themselves out. So I included a ton of pictures of me & Bella together... EVEN the ones I thought I looked like Miss Piggy. Maybe in 10 years from now I'll just look back at them and think how young I look. Hopefully I do not look back on them and think I'm thin! Ah. Although before I got pregnant, I thought I had weight to lose and now 4 years later I look at them and only WISH I could be that small again. Ugh.

Loki: Oh well, that's how I knew I had gained a lot of weight... by just looking at photos. It is always a good way to see what I really look like. For some reason starring in the mirror doesn't always do it for me. I do not print fat pictures of myself, but yes, I intend to stay in them as Blue grows up. My sister-in-law has a photo of me hanging in her house and I look like a whale. It was probably when I was at my heaviest, (minus pregnancy,) and she has the dumb thing framed. I have asked her to take it down, but she has not. Bleh. And I do not think you look or looked like Miss Piggy. Sheesh. However, I do suspect we will look back and think how young we look. What is sad for me is I have looked at pictures of me and Big T and have thought how young we looked. Sigh.

Stella: I don't know what will happens if I have another child. I will have to make sure I  have a rich man to pay for the photos it will require to keep up with Bella's portfolio. I already feel like I should print every picture I've ever taken of Blue & Bella together. Just imagine if she had an actual sibling. Which she told me really casually the other day, "Mom, if you just want to get married and have another baby that's okay with me." Alright, Bella. Thanks for the go-ahead. She also tries to think of people for me to marry. She'll say, "You can't marry Batman because he's your brother... You can't marry Pop because he's your dad... I don't know who you can marry. Let me think." And it cracks me up her little brain is trying to come up with a suitable mate for her mother. At least she has finally gotten it through her head that you don't marry people that are already in your family. Even I can't think of one real, single person that I know myself. On that note, I think we should think of a new rich man for me to pretend to marry though. I don't think Sammy is going to pan out, especially since I have a cousin who is actually in love with him. Kansas Cousin #1 for lack of a better name. Or we could just call her Sam Bradford Lover since that seems to be the only fact I know about her.


Loki: Hahah. Well, she is also a surgical tech for a plastic surgeon. I think that fact is more interesting than the fact that she loves Sam Bradford. I hate to admit this, but I think she has a better shot with him. Only because she sort of already knows him or has some connection to him. Does she read this blog? Hmmm... I never know. People are so secret about reading blogs. I would like to give a shout out to whoever is reading us in the United Kingdom. We don't know who you are but we seeeee you. Say hi! Anyway, back to the subject at hand... let me think. Sammy was a good pick though because he isn't really a celebrity and he is rather famous in this state only... Hey, do you know I live like 1 mile away from Sam Bradford Drive? I am pretty sure his family lives by me, AND I saw him and his dad playing raquetball in the court next to us one time. He even threw back a ball that I hit over the wall. See, so your degree of separation is far shorter than say...Taylor Lautner. I do think your family would be far more excited about Sammy than Tay. Although some would like Tay better because maybe for Christmas he could invite his friend Rob too. You know because Rob doesn't have any family in the U.S. and we would want to make him feel welcome. Okay, now I am off on my own tangent...I am a married woman. Sheesh. Okay, well I tried. I am glad to hear that Bella is wanting a sibling. I mean I know it's not in the immediate future but you never know. A year from now you could be married....it could happen. It is somewhat funny to me that Bella wouldn't mind a sibling because when we have made comments about me having another baby she was pretty adamant that it SHOULD NOT happen. I think she can only handle so much sharing of her Nana and Momma at one time. 

Stella: What? I'm appalled. You don't think Sam wants to be my baby daddy? You think he wants some hot, young, single woman without a 4 year old? hah. You're probably right. And to be honest, we'd have nothing in common, and maybe he'll need plastic surgery one day if he gets injured or something and Kansas Cousin could meet him. haha. I bet he wouldn't even know the title of this blog is from a silly saying on Go Diego Go! Only boring mothers with nothing else humorous in their lives quote things like little kid shows. BUT that is hilarious about Taylor & Rob. You will please Gma Mod at just mentioning their names.. It has been so long and she has done so well cutting back on her second Twi-life. haha. Did you enjoy the Twilight "Does he not own a shirt?" song spoof on the Oscars? I thought it was quite hilarious! By the way, I just made my trip to Walmart to print my pictures. Let's just say I thought I had narrowed down which ones to print, but my grand total was 1,133 pictures= $135.  FAIL.

In case you missed it...click the link for the auto-tune from the Oscars

http://video.aol.com/video/auto-tune-on-83rd-annual-academy-awards-022711-tv-replay/130208340


Will you just be my sugar daddy? Thanks.