Ring ring... hello? Is this guitar $59?

We went to Walmart, just got home. Bought a new cordless that tells you who's calling. Actually SPEAKS THE NAME of the person who is calling. Freaky.

Krissy had $45 in Christmas money and she found a guitar for $59. I caved and told her I'd throw in what she didn't have. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree... she was thrilled! I must have heard "thank you Mommy" a dozen times before we went to the check out.
She was all proud to be buying it herself, but her smile literally shattered when the cashier rang it up and it said $109. I looked at Krissy and she was so close to tears. I swear you could hear her heart break.
After explaining to the cashier that the tag [i]said[/i] $59, Jason told me to go back there and check myself (they already called down to the toy dept and they said it was $99). Krissy & I walked back there and right where we got the guitar from it said $59. I pulled the tag out of the shelf - it said it was for an acoustic guitar... I brought the tag up and the tag & the UPC code didn't match. Krissy was so ready to start crying... she wanted this guitar so bad, she's always wanted one since she was probably 4 or 5 years old. We got her one once - just a cheap starter one, but it broke a few years ago.
So anyway, they bring out the manager and you should have seen the smile come back on Krissy's face when they said they were giving us the guitar for $59!
We think the $59 guitar was probably a smaller one that they were sold out of... so the one we brought home really is a $99 one, but thats not what she paid for it!

And now I'm waiting for someone to call me so my phone can tell me who it is.

Make sure you read the instructions!

Here is the box I was talking about.....

Christmas is over

Christmas came and went without any problems... thats all a mom can ask for, right?

The husband & I were awake long before the girls woke up even after Demon #2 announced to us the night before that we were going to open presents when SHE woke up, no matter what time it was - even 3am. The demons finally rolled out of bed at 7am.

Man they are growing up.

After realizing how overboard I went on gifts this year from the cramp in my hand from holding the camcorder for over 1/2 hour, the demons were happy. #1 got her digital camera which she was convinced she wasn't getting and #2 got her Squakers McCaw parrot. By the end of the day I was regretting that purchase. That thing is annoying!

Remind me to take pictures of the box of one of the presents - the warning labels on there are hilarious! As the husband was reading them off I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt! Not good when the only thing in your stomach is coffee.

We hit the movie theater at noon yesterday, too. Went and saw National Treasure 2. Great movie - it got bad reviews from somebody but they must hate movies or something - that was a GREAT movie! But what the hell is on page 47??? Grrrrr Perfect opening for part 3, thats for sure.

At last

I suppose I need to make no excuses why this has been set on the back burner recently? It's that time of year... busy, busy, busy! It's Christmas Eve today and there's just a magic feel to the air. I love Christmas. I love the feeling of giving...

A bunch of people got the feeling of giving this year. I have a friend, one of my best friends, who has been in one bad month after another this year. Her husband had a good job, but the place was screwing him out of commissions, then they closed up. He was out of work. Her dad died and she is a bigger Daddy's Girl than I am! Her husband kept looking for work, but the problem is - he's too qualified. How messed up is that? He applied at low-end jobs such as a cashier at Home Depot - the person that was interviewing him basically laughed at him telling him he was more qualified for his job than he was! He did find a job, but a few days later the owners took off out of the country for work related stuff, but shut the doors while they were gone. So he's left waiting - and still looking for something to feed his family in the meantime. Oh yeah, did I mention they have 5 kids? They went to the food shelf, but they only give food, no necessities and a bunch of the food was either close to expiration or already expired. She got a bag of moldy sweet potatoes! Ewwww.
In the middle of all this her dryer, oven, washer & A/C broke. They live in Arizona. The A/C is sorta important. She's been washing clothes in the bathtub! For 7 people!
So a bunch of us who know her online got together - Saturday she received a gift box from one friend. Some food, toys, hygiene stuff. This week she will be getting at least $200 in Walmart gift cards, at least 3 more gift boxes filled with food, toys & needed things and a box full of frozen steaks and other meat from various people.
Funny thing about it all? They don't celebrate Christmas! They sure are this year though thanks to a bunch of friends that are sending love from all over the country!

It's amazing what the magic of Christmas can make happen!

And to all of you - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or whatever you would prefer me to say to you. I prefer Merry Christmas, so thats what you are getting the most of.

The Amazing Krissy

... and here we have the amazing Krissy!

Amazing Taryn

Our first video camera was purchased yesterday... now we must get the silly videos out of the way before we move onto more serious videos (like engines).

Scared of what I do

So if you come to this blog regularly, you are aware that I have my own shops. I have no problem talking about it here, because I figure if you don't want to hear about it you won't be here in the first place or you will just skip over that stuff, right?
Thats really the only place you will hear *me* talk about my designs. Occasionally on my forums, but nowhere else. I'm afraid of what people will think. How dumb is that?
The other day the husband asked me to make him a t-shirt for an upcoming snowmobile ride that he's going to with a bunch of people from vintagesleds.com. Fine, I did it. Then he wanted to post it there... oh good god. Why? Why did he have to do that? Now I'm sitting here worried that people are thinking I'm just bragging or something. So stupid. It's my job! I'm supposed to talk about what I do, otherwise how will I make money, right? I can tell strangers - but I can't tell friends. That is the most backasswards thing I've ever heard of and it's coming out of my own brain. Dumb. When the husband tells someone about one of my designs I just cringe. Just shut up already! I want people to know, but I don't want them to know.
I think my brain needs some new wires or something.

Happy Birthday to me

Did you know it was my birthday? Not that I really care anymore... I mean, do you really care after 21 anyway?

I always get a kick out of how people ask you if you feel older - exactly how much older are you supposed to feel from yesterday? Seriously - I don't feel any older today than I did yesterday.

Anyway, I'm 35 if anyone cares. I sure don't. And I sure don't feel 35 either. Ok, a few joints and muscles do, but overall I still feel like I'm 20-something - and occasionally, on a good day, you might catch me feeling like a teenager.

So yeah, what did I get? That's the other question I hear. Shouldn't my MOM be getting presents today? Considering she passed away years ago, I can't get her a present, but why do the people who were born on a certain day get the presents? They didn't do any work - the moms did! Get the moms presents... it's all so backwards.

But I did get presents. My daughters got home from school and ran up to their dad and said "give me money" and then ran out the door to buy me presents. I got a shoe necklace (it's beautiful - for a 10 year old.) that I proudly wore to dinner tonight at a steakhouse, a birthday balloon starring Garfield (Demon #2's favorite comic), 5 Reeses' Peanut Butter cups from Demon #1 (she knows me soooooo well) all wrapped up in a leopard print gift bag (again, they know me well!). So 2 out of 4 is really good for the demons.

I also went and got my drivers' license renewed today. Tomorrow I would have been driving illegal.

That was my day. Pretty average, really. Just another day... and just one day older and not feeling any different.

Updated again

Ok, ok I updated the new section at SledderWear again. I'm slow, I know. I'm even slower at InsanityWear. Maybe in spring. LOL

Go see the rest yourself. I'm realllly lazy today.

Threaten them and you shall get...

I decided to say hell with the outside picture idea... our Christmas cards are going to consist of the cropped picture of the husband & I and 2 pictures of the girls by the tree.

It was -10 below outside, I didn't think I'd get anyone outside so I didn't even try.

I threatened them. For every picture that they didn't smile - I would take away a Christmas present.

I should have tried that last weekend.

And this, my friends, is the true Demon Spawns showing through. I wasn't kidding when I say they are demons...

A Memory of Sex

A couple years ago I was giving Demon #1 the sex talk. I think she was a little disgusted at the whole concept of intercourse... maybe she was a little confused, I don't know. This is the same "brain dead" brain I am talking about - the one in my previous post, but this was before we knew of her brain dead disorder. But, of course, she wasn't a teenager quite yet when this talk was given. Anyway, I'm explaining, pretty simply to her what goes where when a woman gets pregnant. Then this happens, which really threw me for a loop;

"Does it hurt the first time you have sex?"

"Yes, it can and it usually does. But only the first time usually."

"So it hurt when you got pregnant with me?"

*insert a blank stare of a blank mom mind*

"Um... yeah it did"

What else do you say? I didn't need to go into details that I had sex before, right? Then she throws me for another loop;

"So then when you got pregnant with Krissy it didn't hurt that time, right?"

Oh good God!!! This child thought I'd only had sex twice in my life! Keep it simple, Mom, keep it simple....

"Um... nope. Didn't hurt that time"

Teenagers and Walmart!

First of all - we, as in the husband & I, have decided that once a body has been alive for 13 years the brain that is located in the head of that body either falls out or temporarily shuts down until ... well, we aren't sure how long. Possibly 21, don't know. I hope not that long. Demon #1 is brain dead. I've come to that conclusion. She walks around with a blank look on her face all the time and if you ask her something - anything - her only response is "huh?". If she was a little bit smarter I would think she was on drugs - but she's just not smart enough to figure out how to buy the stuff, much less figure out what to do with it. She'd be dumb enough to ask me how to use it.

Then there's Walmart.

The husband gets a gift card every year for Christmas from the place he works. This year we were given a $300 one to Walmart. It's always to Walmart. Every year the husband hands it over to me as a birthday/Christmas present (easy out!). This year I had it spent before we got it - I wanted a video camera. We've never had one, so I wanted one.

Did some research on Walmarts website today. Found a nice Sony one, pretty much what I wanted, for $314. Hey, I can handle that. So tonight we loaded us up in the truck and headed to Walmart to buy me that video camera.

It was $348 at the store.

What?

I told the not-so-happy-helper that online it's listed at $314. She looks at me like "so?". After a few comments, phone calls to whoever and a football type huddle between her and this other happy-helper person they inform me that they cannot sell me the camera for $314.

Ok let me get this straight. I can go home, order it online for $314... get it "shipped" to their store for FREE (free in-store pickup, you know), drive back to the store I'm already in and pick up my $314 camera, but I can't just walk in and buy one off the shelf for $314, I have to pay $348 to get it without a computer middle man?

Dumbest thing I've ever heard.

So I came home... ordered my camera and will go back on Tuesday and get my camera.

Anything to save $34.

Tune in next week for videos. I might even show you what a brain dead teenager looks like in real-time.

Sled Porn

Why I didn't think of this design before today, I don't know. Funny how the mind works.

For those of you who will find yourself staring at this thinking "huh?", don't worry - you have to be an avid snowmobiler to really appreciate this one.

Bengal Nurses Piglets Dressed In Tiger-Striped Coats

Bengal Nurses Piglets Dressed In Tiger-Striped Coats
Zoo Exchanges Animals To Amuse Visitors
BANGKOK, Thailand -- What do you get when you mingle piglets with a tiger or tiger cubs with a pig? Motherly love. At least that's what a zoo in Thailand found out after placing several piglets with a 6-year-old bengal tigress. The bengal feeds the piglets, which were dressed by zoo workers in tiger-pattern coats, and across the cage tiger cubs are fed by a sow.

Zoo officials said the animals have been interchanged with parents for the past few years. Officials said the reason for the experiment is to amuse visitors. Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

This just made me sick. I know they aren't getting harmed, but come on... this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Great amusement when the tiger realizes her "babies" smell just a little bit more like dinner than a cub and eat one in front of all these amused visitors. It's one thing to do to save the life of the babies...

I love zoos, I love seeing animals, but I hate them at the same time. It's sad when you stop to think about it. To sit and watch any wild animal not react at the sound of a human - they aren't wild anymore, they are a prisoner.

This story is just humiliating to the animals. Do they actually think that the pigs dressed up like tigers tricks the mom? She knows they aren't hers - it's called scent and instinct. She's doing this because she has the wildness drained out of her....

Stupid Monday

My head is all stuffed up, I'm sneezing, I'm out of cigarettes and the girls won't wake up for school. I hate Mondays.

I just had a cold about a month or so ago, why am I getting another one? Felt it coming on Friday and I was hoping it would just go away, but it won't! This sucks. I actually wanted to get a bunch of stuff done today around the house and now I just feel like I could lay in bed all day and hibernate.

I think I just might.

Yeah right. Like that will happen. Especially since I have to go out in this -6 degree cold just to get a pack of cigarettes. Good excuse to get some good flavored coffee though. And a candy bar.

Want 2 kids? Cheap!

My kids are demons from hell. They wouldn't cooperate for the family picture, they were crabby and wouldn't smile. I said we'd try again next week, but with a little cropping & some blurring I think they can just be cut out of the family this year and we'll send a pic of just me & Trucker on our Christmas cards.
I had a killer headache that felt like my head was going to explode... you think they just could have smiled. Grrrr

Winter Storm Watch

Saturday - Snow likely in the morning...then snow in the afternoon. Snow accumulation of 5 to 7 inches. Highs 20 to 25. East winds 10 to 15 mph.
Saturday Night - Snow in the evening...then snow likely after midnight. Snow accumulation of 2 to 3 inches. Lows around 15. Northeast winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the north 5 to 15 mph after midnight.

10 inches possible!!!! I might get that family picture afterall!!!! And the highs stay in the 20's next week, so the snow should stick around. If it even falls, that is.

No. We are being optimistic. Snow will fall.

What I'm working on today

Found another picture of Trucker on the sled that I could use for graphics. I can't wait for snow so I can get some new graphics!!!

Waiting for snow

We have until Saturday for it to snow. I want a family picture this year and we would like it on a sled, but if it doesn't snow I'm taking it without the "other family member". We'll go to a studio.

So, pray for snow... so I can have the picture I want.

Until then... here's some shots from years past.

Taryn waiting patiently for her chance... my little daredevil.


















Demons on the sled....


















Me on the Interceptor. Ha ha... I look so thrilled!!!!



















The husband showing off....


















Can't wait to take more pics this year...

Kitty's Beauty Tip #1

Totally random topic here.

Hair.

It's a well known fact around my family & friends that I don't brush or comb my hair. It's something I tell people who complain of frizzy hair or just thick hair (like yours truly) that they hate to brush everyday. I was one of those people many moons ago. You had to brush your hair, right? I mean, if you don't - you get rats nests in it or something, so I brushed my mop of hair everyday. I tried every kind of brush, comb and pick. I always had a big poof of frizz is all I got out of it.

Until one day in high school. Choir actually. There was a girl with thick long beautiful hair, hair I was so jealous of I could spit in it. I asked her what she used to brush her hair with, figuring it was some ancient secret like the rib bones of a rabbit or something.

"I don't"

Huh? What do you mean you don't brush your hair? You have to! She told me that the only thing that goes through her hair were her fingers. So I tried it.

Almost 20 years later I could probably count how many times I've brushed my hair on two hands. This doesn't count the phases of "mom let me do your hair" when the girls were younger. Ok, ok... they still go through that stage now. Even my hair dresser knows I don't brush my hair, so she lets me "brush it" instead.

So here is my tip for those of you who have long, thick and/or curly hair. Stop brushing it! Use your fingers as the comb... condition it normally, run your fingers through your hair and get the conditioner all through it, then when you towel dry your hair, don't rub the towel all over your head like you are trying to give your scalp rug burn - squish the ends in the towel, or better yet.. wrap it up in a towel for 5-10 minutes. Thats what towels are for - to capture water. Run your fingers through again. Get the knots out (after awhile you won't get knots anymore, I promise, especially if you stop the rug burn routine!). When you are blow drying... same thing - fingers.

Put something in your hair when it's wet. A touch of gel, moouse... whatever. Something. I prefer a light gel. I don't have any right now so I can't think of the brand, but it comes out in almost a liquid. Great stuff.

I'm trying to teach Demon #1 this trick, but she seems to think she has to brush her hair. Fine. She's the one who has to deal with the rats nests, not me.

Try it for a week... I'm serious. Then tell me how it went.

Oh... one more thing; quit shampooing your hair everyday. Always condition it, but don't shampoo it. I shampoo my hair twice a week, maybe 3 times if I'm lucky. But it gets conditioned every day. Unless you are using tons of hair spray, there is no need to shampoo it everyday. Shampoo dries your hair out. Water will clean it just fine.

And my shampoo of choice? Dove. It's a wonderful shampoo. Conditioner? Aussie (in the purple bottle). Great stuff. Plus, according to my niece Jessica, it smells like candy.

It does too.

Are You There?

Yikes... it's been quite a few days since I've posted, huh? Damn holiday week anyway.

I think I'm putting my tree up today. Wish me luck. I hate putting the tree up. The demons fight over who gets to do what.

I hate Christmas.

Bah Humbug.

Finally Updated

Yeah, yeah, so I'm slow. By the time I get done making designs, I have no ambition to actually add them to the new arrivals section. I finally did SledderWear's new arrivals this morning - only to find out that it's been so long that I ran out of room!

But anyhow... here it is. (Click that)

Maybe I'll do InsanityWear tomorrow. Wait, tomorrow's Thanksgiving. Never mind. I have to make two different salads in the morning - no time for work!

Here's a sneek peek of what I did today.

Coupon

Hey... that coupon code works at SledderWear too!!!

Which reminds me.... LMAO Check this one out I made this morning... if anyone buys it, I'm going to faint! LOL

Friends & Family of Insanity Wear

Friends & Family of Insanity Wear

Get $15 off $50*

Start shopping at Insanity Wear,

http://www.cafepress.com/insanitycafe

Use coupon code: FRFAM2007

* Excludes Gift Certificates, bulk orders, taxes and shipping fees. Cannot be combined with any other offers, discounts or coupons. Valid through November 27, 2007 at 11:59 p.m. (PST).

What Do You Do At 3:00AM?

Got a massage last night. This Thanksgiving season I am thankful that I know somebody who went to school for massage therapy and she makes house calls!

I slept like a baby last night...

... until 3am. I guess I slept long enough because I was/am wide awake and feel more well rested than I have in WEEKS! Yeeehaawww is all I can say about that.

So it's 3am and I need something to do... might as well go to work.

Worst. Night. Ever.

I could have killed someone last night

I had a headache early on... one of those behind your eyes, where you want to put lotion in your eyes because they feel so dry? Taryn had a friend over, a new one at that... and come to find out she's friends with Krissy's ex-bff Ashley! For some reason this girl wouldn't stop talking about Ashely, either. Was driving me nuts.

(Why Ashley has a friend who is in a different building of the school is beyond me - she's in Elementary, this girl is in Jr High)

Taryn, this friend & Krissy were playing Deal or No Deal (the board game). Krissy was the banker... I was actually in their room for awhile. To pass the time as banker (it's a pretty boring part of the game) Krissy was playing with Taryn's CSI head. It's this model head that you can sculpt clay all over it to make different facial features. Not a big deal. I'm in their room for about 10 minutes - I go out into the garage to have a cigarette and I come back in the house to hear Taryn SCREAMING at the top of her lungs. I go back up there to find Taryn completely flipping out that Krissy is playing with this CSI head. I told Taryn she should have said something 15 minutes ago when Krissy started playing with it. And I know she knew - it's not like a small thing you can hide or anything.

My head is just killing me at this point. I don't know what time it was, but I went to bed. 7:00 maybe? I don't know. Krissy comes into my bed to watch a movie. Fine. Anything to keep the peace. Trying to fall asleep with this child in the bed is like trying to sleep in an earthquake. But my head hurts so bad that I'm actually succeeding. She wakes me up to tell me she's going to bed, Fine. Go! She leaves the TV on...

Then I am awaken at 10:00 by the doorbell - you know how much my dog loves doorbells! Some guy was picking up a sled or something from Jason. We knew this. So for the next 2 hours I've got the dog flipping out that there is a stranger on the property. I'm still going in and out of consciousness.

Then I have this messed up dream that some kid is telling a mom that her daughter is living in the dark in a mausoleum and then the water in the pool next to it turns to blood and starts shooting out bloody water at everyone while this mother is yelling at this kid that her daughter is dead and is not living in this building.

Chico starts barking again and I hear the garage door. I look at the clock. 11:45. Good God. I go out in the garage and half way beat the dog to go outside and threaten that he is sleeping out there. I have a cigarette and Jason & I go to bed. My head still hurts so Jason gives me some Tylenol and rubs my neck because he can't find the Activon, which I found in the drawer in the bathroom this morning.

Oh... the movie on TV was Stir of Echos. The dead girl is buried behind a brick wall and she's afraid of the dark.

I finally get to sleep, but the night sucked. I still have a headache. And the girl that stayed over is in Taryn's room coughing. Great.

More Shamless Plugs Because There Isn't Anything Else To Do

Didn't have much else to say this morning so I thought I'd show a few of the newer designs at InsanityWear & SledderWear.

I try to do at least two new designs each day... it doesn't always happen and sometimes I go overboard and make ten or so new ones a day. Those are on really creative days and when I get up before 4am. Yep, all my creativity comes before the sun comes up. Funny thing, really. Once it's about 10am or so - I'm done. My mind can't function again until the next morning.

What I like most about this job is that all my work is done while sitting in my robe with bed head hair and no makeup! Wooohoo!

Lazy pup

I just can't keep my hands off this camera today!

Are you afraid of snakes?

Let me introduce you to my sweetheart - this is Jake. He's a mama's boy. Love him to death, as you can see. He loves to give kisses, too, which is what he was trying to do. Actually he was more interested in the camera most of the time.








I had to remind him that he doesn't have fingers so I don't know how he would push the button.


And yes, I know... most of you are squirming at the thought.

I WANT TO BE A CAT

What a life....
Poor Oliver hasn't been feeling well the past few days, though, so I guess I don't want to be him right now, but he just looks so fricken comfy! This is actually the first time he's really been out in the past 3 days... he's been fighting off a kitty-cold in the back of my closet since Tuesday.
He's cuddled up to the dog in this picture, but all I could get was the dog's butt so I cropped it.

Do you buy your own stuff?

Of course we do! Here is Demon #1 wearing her brand new fishy-fishy sweatshirt! She picked it out... she's the one that can catch a fish in a puddle and/or on a bare hook!

(You can get the Fishy Fishy in the Lake design here!)

I'm actually blushing!

Ran across this blog post today while going through my statcounter. Never heard of lady before, never heard of this blog... what a nice surprise to find someone talking me up more than I talk about myself!

Makes me wanna go run and make a bunch more kids' designs!

Oh wait... I did that!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

I dug my snowman table runner & placemats out of the basement today. Got them all washed and on the table.

It's my version of a snow dance (rain dance, get it?). Maybe the snow will flock to my visions of snowmen???

... wishful thinking.

Tupperware Party!

Yes, I had one. Yes, I'm partially insane. But hey - if it's free, its for me and having these parties gets you a whole bunch of free stuff, so I do it every now and then.

OK, it's been like 5 years since I've had any kind of invite-your-friends-to-spend-money parties.

We had a good time, really. Honestly, I have never been to a Tupperware party before so it was pretty interesting for me. I was the only one there who had never been to one. Figures. But I won't bore you with the details, except for this one;

I have a friend who lives 3 hours away from me. As a joke I sent her an invitation. Not that I didn't want her to come, I would have loved for her to come, but who is going to drive 3 hours to attend a Tupperware party, right? I was pleasantly surprised to find out she was actually going to order, though! I never expected that at all. I just wanted to send her an invitation just to be a dork.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day - well the morning anyway. At church the kids put on a "King of the Jungle" program at the 10:30 service. I have never seen a group of kids so enthusiastic about church... it's amazing. I'm so happy we found this church.. My kids love going to church, bible school and these programs. Demon #2 was the "King" in the program and sang a short solo. She has a great voice!

So after church we ran over to the grocery store to pick up milk. We go through more milk, it's crazy. At almost $4 a gallon you would think I'd start rationing our milk supply, but I just can't. My demons will grab a glass of milk over juice or pop any day!

Ran into a friend of ours, a guy I used to work with. I really miss him. I took over his shift at the hotel every morning and we had our morning cigarette ritual to signify the passing of the torch into the next shift. Many many debates were done on the front porch of the hotel! ;-)

Seeing him made us shorten the time I had between church & the party to actually get ready for the party so we cut the visit short and raced home. Started picking up the last minute dirty socks, hairballs and other such ugly things when someone knocks on my door.... it's my friend from 3 hours away! The turd didn't tell me she was coming! LOL I was in shock - so much so I didn't even sound excited, but I was. It was so much of a shock that I just ... didn't really do anything!

Now we know who will drive 3 hours for a Tupperware party!

GROUP HUG! Oh wait, it's breaking rules.

Did you hear about that 13 year old that got detention for hugging her friend goodbye the other day? It wasn't even a real hug! It was a sideways hug at that. This country is going to hell or maybe we are in hell, I don't know. Detention for hugging? Give me a fricken break. Sexual harassment - where do people come up with this shit? How about these hug-police walk around the school and start handing out detention for more meaningful things...

Lets see, how about name-calling? Teasing? Pushing? Downright rudeness to your fellow classmates? Nope. They can't seem to do that and trust me, I know from personal experience. Demon #2 has shown me the light on what other kids can get away with... but don't hug anyone.

Jesus help us all.

That whole story had me in a tizzy all day yesterday. I just fumed at the thought of it. I could say so much about it, but it would all basically be the same crap. Thats what it is, crap.

And crap is what I heard last night. Demon #1 got in trouble yesterday at school. No detention or anything, but her and her friends got a good talking to...

about.....

a group hug at lunchtime!

Yes. A group hug. In our school. The school that still sings Silent Night and Hear Comes Santa Claus at the CHRISTMAS program has fallen into the no-hugging bullcrap.

Maybe they should have yelled at each other, maybe that would have been acceptable. But no hugs. Nope. Don't show friendship or caring or loving or compassion.

Ok I'm done. I have dust to terminate.

DON'T TALKT O ME TODAY!

Well today do me a favor - if you see me online, yell at me! I have so much to do it's not even funny. I have 8 13-year olds coming over after school for a sleepover (Taryn belated birthday party) and on Sunday I have a bunch of people coming for a Tupperware party.

I really have to clean my house...

I have a shelf in the kitchen that has been collecting junk for a few months, it must be cleaned off!

I have a basket next to my coffee maker that has become a pen/pencil/lighters/cough drop storage container. It's an eye sore. Be gone!

My living room is covered in dust... but didn't I just dust like 3 weeks ago?

Kitchen floor needs to be scrubbed by hand. It's been awhile since I've gotten close & personal with it. Got spoiled with that Swiffer thing and don't listen to what they say - it's a great product, but nothing beats hands-and-knees cleaning.

So much to do, but I wonder - do I bother? With a house full of teens tonight, will it even look like I cleaned come tomorrow afternoon? I must try.

Crickets are chirping

I really don't have much to say the past couple days, do I? Nothing really worth reading/posting, thats for sure!

It's been a pretty laid back week so far. Worked on my shops yesterday and made chow mien for supper. Ok, I didn't actually make it - I just opened the can and threw it in a pot and watched it heat up. Tomorrow I'm making chicken noodle soup, so I'm making up for it. Yes, tomorrow. Today I have to boil the chicken. Good things take more than one day to cook. My vegtable beef soup is the same way - 2 days to make. I think it's the meat sitting in the broth overnight that is the trick, I'm not sure.

Calling a guy about a seat today. My seat. For my snowmobile. How cool is that? I still can't get over how excited I am getting over having my own Interceptor and being able to do what I want with it. I'm hoping this guy will take the seat, fix it and add a hot pink "cord" around the seam of the seat. Not much pink, just enough to keep the men off of it. For any of you snowmobile nuts that have been reading this blog - keep coming back. I'll be posting pictures of the transformation of Interceptor to 'Ceptorlicious. Don't get upset... you'll be amazed.

Why would they be upset? It's a man thing. And it's a Kawasaki thing. See, Kawasaki quit making snowmobiles in the early 80's. Actually, they only made them a few years. Well, in 1982 they made the Interceptor, which is gold to Kawasaki owners. It's what everyone wants and few people have. There were only 600 of them made. So it's kind of a big deal that I have one.... and when some of the Kawasaki crazy people found out that I was taking an Interceptor and "painting it pink" it was like I was defacing the cross at the local church. Yeah, it's that big of a deal. Luckily I've got the husband behind me on this. But the majority of the project is secret .... just because. Its fun watching all these guys cringe at the thought of a hot pink Interceptor.

So onto other things. Demon #2's "friend" was talking to her on Tuesday when they went back to school from a 3-day weekend. Then yesterday - she wasn't. Mama Bear feelings fired up again.

And thats enough of that or I'll get pissed again.

Today is a day of laundry, sweeping and designing. Told you there isn't much to talk about lately.

Stay tuned... maybe something exciting will happen today. Who knows.

Major Overhaul

Did a major makeover on SledderWear the past week. I think today I can call it complete.

Check it out and feel free to tell me what you think!

'Ceptorlicious is home!

She's home! I haven't really seen her... she's still in the trailer. From what I did see, she's pretty beat up and needs a lot of TLC. But I am officially the proud owner of a Kawasaki Interceptor 550 - #12 to be exact! Otherwise known as 'Ceptorlicious, of course!

Good God Almighty I'm Going To Do Some Bodily Harm To Someone

Seriously... OMG I am so *bleeping* pissed right now I could spit nails. I decide to try to cheer my Bear (Demon #2 - sorry, I'm in Mama Bear mode, so no demon talk right now) up and let the girls rent movies & get some Subway for dinner.

Long story - her bff/only friend "returned" all of her half of the best friend stuff they had to Krissy today along with a note that said "I don't want to be your friend anymore"... no explanation. Nothing. Not a *bleep* clue to why she decided this. My Bear came home in tears with a busted heart and I felt like ripping this girls heart out of her chest and stomping on it just so she could *bleeping* feel what Krissy was feeling.

Ok so anyway. We each pick out a movie... go up to the counter.

"Do you have your card"

*bleep*. I know where this is going already.

"No"

"Well you can't rent movies without your card"

"Can't you just look it up on your system by my name or phone number?"

"No, we need the card"

"Can you give me a new card? I have no clue where it is"

"No, we can't"

"Can I open a new account then?"

"No, only one account per family"

Oh shut the *bleep* up you stupid *bleep* ugly *bleep*. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH I hate her so bad. She REFUSES to rent movies without the *bleep* card.

So we leave. We go to the other convenience store that has the SAME *bleep* *bleep* SYSTEM as the other place. I walk in, walk up to the counter and say "I'm going to ask you this before I make another move...."

Poor girl probably thought I was going to rob the place.

"... if I don't have my precious little card to rent a movie, will you still let me?"

"Yeah, we just look it up by your last name"

I KNEW IT! God. That stupid *bleep* at that other place I just want to beat. I told the girl what happened at the other place and she said they have heard that many times.

So we got our movies .... the same ones we wanted even and my Bear is in a better mood. I can see she's faking it though, but at least she's trying. She got off the bus, went straight to her room and the floodgates let loose... she'd been holding this all in all day. All week actually, the "gifts" were returned today, but the note was given Tuesday or Wednesday I guess. Krissy was hoping Ashley didn't mean it, but she knew today when she got "their turtle" back that she meant it.

Tomorrow I'm going to go into the first place and tell them my house burnt to the ground with my precious, cheaply made, laminated card with my lifeline ID typed crooked on the back of it... and tell them that I am sorry that I can no longer do business with them.

Bye-Bye Trailer Queen

The husband just called me. The trailer queen is gone. That didn't take long at all... he's only been at the show for three hours! Sort of sad, really. I really liked that sled, but he never rode it because it was in mint condition. We still have the awards we won with it, though.

Last night actually sucked. I'd been looking forward to sleeping in bed all by myself for a week. Well, not exactly by myself. I had the 3 cats and the dog with me... with pets, you are never truly alone.

So I get the demons off to bed and I go and lock the doors. Funny thing that is, really. Won't go into that, though. I shut off all the lights and go to our bedroom. Get undressed.... hey, this isn't a exotic blog.... put my "granny jammies" on. Thats what the husband calls them; my grandma jammies. He hates them with a passion. Anyway, I put those on and crawl into bed, making sure not to disturb the already 2 sleeping cats. I get all snuggled into my blankets and take my place smack dab in the middle of the bed.

Then I get a lump in my throat.

Where the hell did that come from? Is this not what I've been waiting for all week long? The bed to myself... nobody hogging the bed or the covers... no loud smelly noises coming from under the covers? No familiar hand pawing at me, hoping I'm not as tired as I said I was? Whats the lump for? I just suddenly felt this incredible sadness. My honey wasn't in bed and I knew he wasn't going to be. I could have cried, it wouldn't have taken much, but I didn't. I just closed my eyes and fell asleep with the purring times 3 on all sides of me.....

Then I woke up this morning... best damn night of sleep I've had in a LONG time! Didn't even realize I was beating my snooze button until 45 minutes after I was supposed to be up.

Yep, I missed the husband, but not enough to not enjoy the slumber!

Looking forward to tonight...

LEFT AT THE CURB

Really I was left in bed. He wasn't even going to say goodbye, just gave me a kiss while I was asleep and was going to sneak out without me knowing. Before work it's one thing, but he's going to be gone for 4 days. I did wake up, obviously, which is a good thing because he almost forgot to bring pillows along on his 4-day trip across 2 states to go to the Michigan A-1 Snowmobile Show. He's going to sleep in the truck to save on money, so he needs his pillows. Would have been a rough couple nights without them!

So here I sit. Jealous. I wanna go! I could have, but then someone would have had to deal with Demon #1 & #2. Not that big of an issue, really, but me not going was cheaper. I really wanted to go to meet some of the people who don't make it over to the MN & WI shows. I really like going to the snowmobile shows - it's a good crowd of people that attend them.

Oh well. I'm not in the truck so I won't be there. Hope everyone has fun anyway.

THE BRAIN DONOR

Demon #1 as a brain donor

A HALLOWEEN "DUH, MOM"

Happy Halloween everyone!

I crawl out of bed at 4:30 this morning to find Demon #2 awake. "I woke up at 2:00 and couldn't get back to sleep" Yesterday morning she was up at 4:30 and never went back to sleep. This morning I checked the living room at about 6:30 and she was out like a light again, so somewhere between 6-6:30 she fell asleep. I try to wake her up and her eyes just won't open, no matter how hard she tries or I try. She just can't get herself to wake up. I know she hasn't been sleeping well, so I ask her if she just wants to stay home and miss the Halloween party at school. We are one of the few districts left in the country that allows kids to dress up for Halloween... and we celebrate Christmas too!
She wants to stay home, regardless of the party. So I call school and tell them the truth - the waking up at 2:00, the whole works. They said I can bring her in when she wakes up - the sympathy runs pretty clear with our school secretaries, they are so sweet.
So she wakes up around 9:00 and I ask her if she wants to go to school. No. She says she has a headache.

"You'll miss the Halloween party"

"It's ok, I really don't like Halloween parties"

This is where I should have figured it out.

"Ok, but no computer."

"What? Awww Mom!"

"Nope. Thats the deal. You can stay home, but you are home sick. Do you want to go to school instead?"

"No, it's ok, I'll just stay off the computer"

This kid must really not feel good.


"Well, we'll see tonight if you can go trick or treating, but you might not get to go, ok?"

"Ok>"

No arguing on that one? Huh?

DUH MOM.

What kid are we talking about here? This is the same one that since she was 2 years old has been scared to death of Halloween. She would scream bloody murder if you even tried to go past the Halloween aisle in a store!

Then came the movie Scream.

We own the mask, but it's hidden in the basement. She will not go into a room even if the mask is laying ALONE, by itself, on a table. She won't do it.

Every year it's the same thing - she goes out begging for candy, but doesn't last long. "I'm cold", "My feet hurt". That's not it at all and I know better.

Same with today. She doesn't want to go to school because of the costumes. She's afraid that there will be a scary one... and quite possibly a Scream costume. Call me a bad mom, but I'm not forcing my kid to go somewhere that will throw her into an anxiety filled fear. I won't do it. I should have figured this all out from the minute she hadn't been sleeping the past week - she's been scared of the upcoming holiday.

Duh.

The other Demon, she loves Halloween. Tonight she's going as a brain donor. We are taking a head of cauliflower, putting it in red food coloring water and wrapping her head up with gauze with fake blood. Today at school, she's a hippie. And the cat is a cowboy - or was for a few minutes.

A STRANGE THING HAPPENED

I need a belly pan for an Interceptor.

I need a what? For a what?

Yep, you heard me, it's happened. I'm starting to talk like a genuine snowmobile addict. I don't know when it happened or how it happened for even why it happened, but it has. Somewhere in the evil plan that I had a few months ago, the one about 'Ceptorlicious, it backfired on me. What started as a test to see if the husband would get me an Interceptor if I asked for one, when I'd been asking for a puppy, has ended up being my own demise. Something has overtook me... I'm actually starting to get into this whole project.

Someone help me.

I walked into the living room the other day and the husband was watching some auto-something show and I glanced at the TV and said "Hey honey, that's a piston!".

The smallest things make him proud of me.

DONTCHA HATE IT WHEN

You wake up with a fricken headache? Why bother going to sleep if you are going to wake up feeling like crap. Right behind my right eye, too. It's gone now. Thank God for prescription ibuprofen!

I'm off to work. Need to throw some new designs up at SledderWear today so they can be fresh & new for the show the husband is going to this weekend.

WHAT TO TALK ABOUT TODAY

I really have nothing to talk about, but I've noticed quite a few of you keep coming back. You must be checking for new posts or something. You guys really care about what I have to say? Wow! I'm honored! That's not even sarcasm - I really am. Considering all I seem to do is ramble, it's nice to know someone reads it.

Lets make this a boring post.

What did I do today?

I made a catalog. Yep I did. The husband is going to a snowmobile show in Michigan this week and wants to bring something along to show off my talents of designing. So I finally did it - I made a catalog of almost all my designs. Hey, I got lazy and cut it short. Sue me. It's the most cheaply made, cheapest looking catalog you'll ever see, but you know what? I made it all by myself!!

Look mommy! Look what I made!

I'm sure she's proud of her 34 year old daughter that she made something that her 11 year old granddaughter probably could have made better.

Sorry Mom, it's what you get.

Hey, have I ever told you about my mommy? There really isn't a lot to tell because honestly, it's sort of a sad story. I don't know her that well. She died when I was 7 but I still talk to her everyday. Its sort of funny actually, I will have whole conversations with her and I just go with what I think she would say. It's all I've got, so I take it.

Like I said, I don't know her that well, don't remember much at all. I do remember her smile though - God, do I remember that. It's like it was burnt into my memories by something that knew I would need that memory. I guess it doesn't bother me that I don't remember much about her because I can see her smile.

One nice thing is that I can never forget what she looks like. Like Demon #1 said once; all I have to do is look in the mirror. Life is funny that way. Of anyone who could look just like their mom, its someone who can only remember her smile. God works in mysterious ways.

Ok well that's starting to get a little sappy. Time to get that lump starting in my throat to go away.

I made a catalog today and went to the store. That was about it. Fun filled day.

Oh and I typed this.

Gotta run. 15 minutes of solitude until the demons take over... or less if they decided to walk home from school.

Kawasaki Snowmobiles - I am not the expert

I thought it was funny that this blog was getting Google hits from searches regarding Kawasaki sleds. Interceptors, Invaders... all of them. The husband didn't find much humor in it, though. If you notice on my sidebar there is a link to KawasakiTrax.com. Thats where you want to go for information on Kawi sleds. How I climbed the Google ladder, I don't know. All the information you would ever want or need to know is there. The site and the forums themselves is filled with information from the best group of die-hard Kawi fans out there. Are they experts? Sure they are! They are self-taught experts and what better way to become one, right! So if you stumbled into this blog because you are looking for something about your Kawasaki snowmobile, go there, not here. I just use this as a place to vent, bitch and brag really. (Read my posts on the upcoming 'Ceptorlicious - my very own Interceptor that is already pissing Kawi fans off and it hasn't even made it to our garage yet!) I'm just the wife of a Kawasaki addict, thats all.
And if you are looking for Kawi t-shirts, coffee mugs, sweatshirts and other gifts - thats where I can help. SledderWear.com is mine and it's my little part of the snowmobile world. But otherwise... head over to KawasakiTrax and yap with the guys - they will help you out!

TODAY'S LAUGH AT MY STUPIDITY

Ok you guys can have your daily laugh at this one -

We lived out in Idaho for awhile, moved there when I was in 5th grade and I moved back to Minnesota when I was in the middle of 6th grade (goofy story that I said "I" - I moved east, my parents moved west... someday I'll explain it. Not today. It's not a bad thing or anything... I wasn't a bad child!)
Anyway. One of my dad's favorite pastimes was driving to Yellowstone practically every weekend and/or through the mountains. It got pretty boring after awhile. So during one of those 1st trips - it might have even been the original move to Idaho, don't remember, he passed the time by telling me an old story about an Indian tribe that lived in the mountains. The Indian chief had a son that went wandering one day and never came back... they never found him. The chief got the governments help to get everyone to watch for him. Call it the first Amber Alert, if you will. Signs were posted everywhere throughout the mountains that this chief lived in that you were supposed to watch for his son... his sons name???




Falling Rock.



True fricken story. I looked for that damn Indian boy for the longest time!!! I was so stupid. And to this day my dad loves to tell that story to anyone who will listen.
For those who have never been in the mountains, there are signs everywhere that say "Watch for Falling Rock".
And to think I love my father more than anything else in this world... I should really hate him after that one.

Newsworthy

Remind me never to be famous. I don't want to go out for coffee one day and find out later it was a big news story of the day.
I mean, seriously, if the "news" isn't good enough to be more than one sentence long ... I just don't think people should waste their muscle use in their fingers typing it out just so someone like me can accidently click on it, thinking it's something good. I thought, at least, they walked away without paying.... or something.

In other celebrity news, my future husband has become a grandfather. Rumored at least. Go grandpa Mel! And congratulations to Hannah & Kenny... if it's true.

Snowball - Our Dancing Cockatoo

Nope... not mine. I wish! Just a random YouTube video...

UPDATE ON THE SHOES

If anyone is curious if the shoes were ever found - they were. After spending probably an hour of my day on Monday looking for these shoes, it did finally come to an end. Demon #2 came home from school and her first words were "did you find my shoes?"

"No"

"Did you check at Grandpa's?"

"Why would they be at Grandpa's? Didn't you wear your shoes home?"

"I don't know"

So later on it was time for her to go to Karate, so on the way we stopped at Grandpa's and I had her go in and check to see if her shoes were there while I stayed in the car.

It's more like I made her go in. She didn't want to. "Why don't you go check?"

"They aren't my shoes"

No shoes at Grandpa's. So we continue our journey to the high school for her Karate class. I'm doing the logical thing - backtracking her steps.

"Did you wear them to bowling on Saturday"

"Oh yeah, they are in your bowling bag" Now mind you, she says this like its the most natural thing - like she knew all along. She might as well said "duh Mom".

I then had to explain to her that she cannot wear my bowling shoes (hey, we wear the same size shoe, why should I buy her her own bowling shoes - only to lose them?) outside of the bowling alley! How many parents check their child's feet when they leave somewhere?

So when I got home from bringing her to Karate, I looked in the bowling bag. There they were. Were my bowling shoes should have been. And the bowling shoes? On the floor of the car. She switched into her sandals, which were in the car - that she lost the week before and couldn't find - when I picked her up from bowling on Saturday.

And no, I didn't even notice that my bowling shoes were on the floor when I checked the car during the day. It's a mom thing, get over it. I was looking for tennis shoes, not bowling shoes.

NEW STUFF

Lots of new stuff in the store.. I spent many hours the past few days working on it. So here's just a sample for you...




And some snowmobile ones...


And, of course, you know where to get them.... InsanityWear & SledderWear