Percie the Devil Cat and another busy weekend...

So our younger cat, Persephone, has gone back into heat again (or else perhaps I'm not understanding how this works) and is aparently pissed off at me for not getting her a boyfriend yet and started peeing on everything. First it was the futon. I washed the sheets and put them back on and the little sh*t did it again - with me sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!!! That is just her telling me she hates me. This is 5 minutes after I'd put the new sheets on. Argh. So I thought I'd outsmart her and not put the sheets on the futon until after we got her a boyfriend or got her fixed, but she thought she'd be clever and pee on the throw blanket on my chair instead. So I promptly made an appointment at Planned Pethood (isn't that a hilarious name for an animal clinic?) and she is getting fixed on Tuesday. I actually had found a little 4 month old Siamese boy kitten with no papers for $75, and we'd thought about trying to get him so they could have kittens... it would be a good experience for the boys and everything. But I can not have her peeing all over my house while we're waiting on the boy to go through puberty.

In other news... Thursday I got my hair cut. Ok, that's not too exciting. And I don't have a picture yet. What else?

Friday Shawn and I had our date night! It was long overdue but we had a really nice time. We went to our new favorite Mexican restaurant (the one I told you about a couple weeks ago) and then went to see The Number 23. It was an excellent movie and I highly recommend it... At least if you have similar taste to us. ;) Yes, Jim Carrey is in it, but I promise you that he does not act like his normal annoying goofy self. It's a psychological thriller but it isn't scary. It did, however have some pretty freaky looking movies previewed before it started. After the movie we came home and went through another of our memory boxes. 4 down... probably another 10-15 to go. We have a lot. It's good though. :)

Saturday we went out for breakfast... kinda. And then stopped at DSW to pick up some badly overdue tennis shoes for me on the way to pick up the boys at Ria's house. The rest of the day for me, after my work out, was spent in my jammies. :) Shawn went out with a friend that night, which gave me the opportunity to get caught up on Oprah and Medium, as well as all the emails I was behind on. Not too exciting, but nice and relaxing...

Today we decided to go on a mission to get a kitty door so the cats' litterbox can be in the basement and we can still keep the door shut. Decided to check out Costco - yes, we are the only people in America who have never been there - and have basically been hanging out at home watching a documentary, doing laundry, and playing Scrabble (I won - twice!). We'll finish off the evening with the Oscars, which should be fun... I'm not really rooting for anyone specific but I like to watch anyway.

Hope you had a great weekend. :)

Mystery Solved! And exercise... York style

Well as it turns out, the mystery jewelry came from the twins' mom. I got a call back from the company that sent them and they let me know. If you aren't already aware, I was a surrogate mom for a couple who hadn't been able to have children. They are now the proud parents of not one, but two healthy kiddos - who just turned 1 last month. Anyway, I didn't even think about the gift being from them... they are really sweet to me. :)

In other news... Shawn's training for the Boulder Bolder and had the boys on the ground doing some exercises. So I thought I'd share ... it was quite entertaining (and no, I did not join them).

Mystery Jewelry?

So something strange arrived in the mail today... In the form of a necklace and earrings. I did not order these. My husband did not order these. My mother swears she didn't order them... nor did my sister (who was at Mom's house when I called)... nor my mother-in-law. So now, dear readers, it seems we have a mystery on our hands. Time to call Scooby Doo and his crew. Or something.

They are very pretty, don't you think? I decided to do what any good mystery solver would do and go to the website to get a phone number to call and see if I can track down where they came from. Oddly enough, they don't have a customer service rep to answer the phone... so I left a message.

I'm thinking this is some strange type of marketing ploy as their website is on the inside of the jewelry boxes. Perhaps that's why they couldn't answer the phone when I called... too many pissed off hubbies thinking their wife is having an affair.

In other news... I got a freaking $300 bill from DirecTV. If you've spent any time with me in the past few months, you've probably heard me b*tching about them... from the crappy DVR box they sent to the obscene charges for random things that I don't think we should have to pay for. Perhaps THEY sent the jewelry so when I got the bill I wouldn't have a coronary because I was too busy trying to figure out who my secret admirer was. Who knows...

I'll let you know when I get to the bottom of it! :)

What a weekend!

For some reason, this typical 3 day weekend has lasted forever! It could be lack of sleep... more time awake... or just a lot going on.
Friday we had big plans to go get the car registered (exciting, I know) and get the boys' teeth cleaned. The DMV wouldn't let me register the car, however, because I'm not on the title for some reason. Dammit. So I have to go back with a notarized power of attorney. Lovely. Then we show up at the dentist and he is sick so we had to reschedule. The boys were not too sad about that...
We decided to run to the mall for a little bit to kill time since our morning had opened up considerably and had lunch and played for a bit. That afternoon Ria brought her girls over so she and her hubby could go out (we try to swap once a month or so - she's watching my boys next w/end so Shawn and I can go out!). The kids had a blast together, although they did have a couple lovers' quarrels. Overall though, it's nice having her girls here because they entertain my boys. And one day, our dream of them getting married to each other just might work out. :)
Saturday we cleaned, worked out and went grocery shopping. We decided to grab some Chinese food for dinner, which was just lovely. The boys are actually starting to really like it, which is nice. I'd like for them to be open to different ethnic foods - you would think they'd get sick of mac N cheese and corn dogs.
Saturday night I went out again. I'm getting really spoiled, I'll admit. We had plans to check out The Funky Buddha, but unfortunately they had a small problem with selling alcohol to underage kids and got their license suspended for the night. We were a little disappointed, but quickly perked up when they said they'd give us a stamp to get in a couple other clubs for free. We went to The Hornet for a couple drinks. Then we tried to go to The Church (sorry, couldn't find the website but I'm sure there's one out there) which was having a Latino night. We walked in to see people learning how to Salsa or something like that and walked right back out. Wasn't what we were looking for. ;) We ended up at Vinyl, which I'd never been to before. It was extremely loud and crowded, but we had fun dancing. I don't think I'd want to go *every* weekend as I like to be able to have conversations without having to yell in another person's ear, but it was certainly entertaining. It was an 18+ club, which I guess is cool for them but it made me feel REALLY old! We ended up going to a couple more places that night to meet up with another friend (who happens to be my kids' babysitter too - kinda strange) that I've been talking about grabbing a drink with for a couple years now and we'd just never gotten around to doing it. The last place we ended up at (I think it was place #6! I felt like I was back in college) was the Moon Light or Moon Shine or something like that... I was a little too far gone to pay much attention... and they had $2 drinks - sweet! I wasn't driving so I let myself have at it... Needless to say I woke up this morning (after 3.5 hours of sleep - thank you Gavin!) with a little bit of a hangover. Ugh.
So today was a little bit of a recovery day. We did manage to drag the kids to Target so they could spend their Valentine's Day money from Grandma, which they were happy about. After lunch, I took a much needed 3 hour nap. We did manage to be somewhat productive today - after finally having enough snow melt that we could see all the xmas lights, we put them away. Yes, I realize it's February. But it takes a long time for 4 feet of snow to melt and the little light up reindeer was completely buried! He's all better now though.
We went out to grab some pizza with Amy & Ben - our Indiana neighbors down the street (Amy was my ride last night but somehow she managed to a) get more sleep than me and b) not be hungover). The kids have fun playing together and though we had a to wait a long time, the pizza was yummy!
Anyway, better head to bed and see if I can get myself in good enough shape to go to work tomorrow!

Shall we talk politics some more?

First of all... you've been warned.

Second of all, a quick update on V-day. It was great! The boys LOVEed their scavenger hunt. They ran all over the house searching for "clues" and at the end of the day both declared it was their favorite part (and they want to do it again soon!). So thanks, Mom, for the good idea. I'm not very creative so I'll have to go on memories for ideas on fun stuff for the kids. That and a fun blog I came across a couple weeks ago. Anyway, they got some cool stuff and Tyler had a party at school. I got a sweet card from my Honey and am looking forward to our date here in a couple weeks. I'm finding that some of these holidays become less about us and more about the kids... Does that mean I'm getting old?

So my dear friend Tara commented on a post from a few days ago, which I thought I'd respond to in this format, in case anyone else wanted to know what I thought about what she had to say. :) Probably unlikely, but unless you'd rather hear about the laundry, dishes and workout that consumed the rest of my day, this is the best you're going to get.

Go ahead and click on the link if you want to read her comment (I'll wait).

..... Ok. So are we ready? Well I'm not sure.

That probably wasn't worth the build up... sorry.

I do love Hillary. I know she leaves a bad taste in some mouths, but I am definitely an admirer. I grew up in a very conservative Republican house in the 90's when it was cool to hate Hillary. I really didn't give her a lot of thought until I started realizing that my own political views were more left leaning. So when her auto-biography came out, I thought I'd read it so I could get a little more insight into who she was. I wasn't 100% sure she'd ever run for president one day, though I do believe at the time it was speculated. But I digress... Let me say, the book totally changed my opinion of her. I loved her ideas on the health care crisis in America. I loved her drive and ambition... Her determination to be who she was going to be, despite her adversaries. I think she is a good person and genuinely cares for the well being of Americans.

That being said, I think Hillary might be too divisive for our country to handle right now. Right now we are very divided as a country. It seems as if each "side" thinks they are right and there is not a lot of compromise or working for the greater good happening. As heated as people get just saying Hillary's name, I think that overall her being this ultimate position of power would rub too many people the wrong way and continue pushing us towards fighting with each other rather than working together for the benefit of all American. I think the media will rip her to shreds (as has already been exhibited) and she'd spend much of her time just defending herself, which would be a huge waste of time seeing as how there is so much to do.

So though I love her and think she'd be fantastic, I think we need to come together as a country, get on the same page, and put this silly bickering aside before we'll be ready for her.

Which is why I like Barack. And I think that the country is probably ready for someone like him. I'm not sure how race will come into play, but I'm hoping we can be colorblind enough to look at him for who he is and what he can do for us and WITH us to unify this country and make some positive changes. I think once he is elected, much of the bickering and mudslinging will stop. He is a pretty stand-up guy and I don't think his character will be as easily attackable as Hillary's seems to be.

Regardless of the outcome, it should be a pretty dramatic next year and a half or so.

One thing to be excited about, though, is the Democratic National Convention coming to Denver! Shawn has already signed us up online to volunteer to help out, which I think is going to be tons of fun. And maybe I'll even get to meet Barack in person!

One last thing before I go... Joshua Radin is going to be on Conan this Friday. Do yourself a favor and check it out! Oh, and let me know what you think... :)

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day if you're still here with me...

My little mummies

So it seems that my stir crazy and bored children have resorted to wrapping themselves up in blankets as "mummies" and hopping around the house for fun as there is nothing better to do. :) It was really quite humorous - Shawn wrapped them up as tight as he could and they rolled around on the ground unable to get up. Thankfully they thought it was as funny as we did!

It's been a decent week so far. Work has been a bit on the slow side, which is disappointing in that we need to sell more so I can make some money! But it's nice to be able to get caught up on some projects that have gotten neglected a bit during our busier times. Still, I need to find ways to keep myself busy - job security is a good thing!

My in-laws came over for dinner tonight. Well all but my brother in law. He started a new job and I guess he's going to bed pretty early so we may not see much of him anymore. My mother-in-law is a fantastic cook, though and it was quite nice to be able to come home from work to dinner already in the oven with very little preparation required from me! Sweet!

I stopped on the way home from work to pick up some Valentine's Day stuff. I was trying to stick to a small budget for the kids as they a) don't need anything (they're a tad on the spoiled side) and b) get a ton of stuff from their grandparents. However, I ended up spending $40 at King Soopers. Ugh. I do have an elaborate scheme up my sleeve though. When I was little, my mom would have a scavenger hunt for V-day. We'd sit down at the breakfast table and find a card saying "Amy - go to the ..." and when I went there I'd find another card directing me to another part of the house. After five or so stops, I'd arrive at the final destination of my Valentine's Day gift. I think we did this until I was well into junior high because I remember it well and I have a horrible memory. Anyway, I thought I'd steal the idea from my mom and create that for my kids. They love surprises and trying new things and we haven't done a scavenger hunt yet. Tyler knows how to read but Gavin doesn't, so he will need some help, but hopefully they'll still enjoy it.

Yesterday was our weekly quasi-marriage counselling night. We've grown bored of our book so while I was working out, Shawn dug out our old "memory boxes" - which as the name might suggest are photo boxes with things like movie ticket stubs, old letters and cards, and maps to places we went to see Stabbing Westward in concert (before they broke up). We only made it through two boxes but oh my gosh it was so much fun taking another trip down memory lane. I'm not sure if any of you read my other blog where we were reading our old emails, but this was pretty similar.

Shawn and I have been together almost 10 years so we've collected quite a few boxes over the years. Some of the things in them we can not remember why we saved them... But really we're having a good time re-discovering (again) the us that we used to be.

Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day tomorrow. It probably won't be *too* exciting for us. We aren't going to go out until the weekend of the 23rd as Shawn's waiting for a new movie to come out, so we'll save our date until then.

Anyway, don't forget to give your sweetheart lots of love! :)

Fun in the "snow" and Girls Night Out!

So we've had a really beautiful last couple days. Yesterday after my workout, we all went to the backyard for the first time since our big Holiday Blizzard back in December. The snow has half melted and is a weird icy consistency now. It was perfect for snowballs and snow castles! The boys had a lot of fun running around and getting some fresh air. They also got a kick out of their frozen toys...

I ran to the thrift store for a little bit and found a couple of pairs of jeans, as my other ones are getting too big (only 3.2 lbs away from my goal as of this morning! woohoo!). I love being able to find exactly what I was looking for... And for $17 I found two pairs of jeans, a cute jacket and some PJ pants. Success!

After dinner, I joined my favorite mamas for a much overdue Girls Night out. It is Tiffany's birthday today, so we went to Sing Sing, a dueling piano bar downtown. We danced and sang and made fools of ourselves (in a good way, I hope!) and had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, we are not able to go out as much as I'd like, but we always make up for it when we have the opportunity. Ria's birthday is coming up soon, so hopefully we will be able to go celebrate again.

This morning, despite my slight hangover (oops!), we drug ourselves out of bed to try another new church. They had a special service where the kids were singing, so the boys stayed in the sanctuary with us for the service. It was a nice service, but the boys got a little bit restless. They still want to go back, but will likely enjoy it more once they are able to go to their classrooms and play with other kids rather than listen to "so much talking".

We had a date with Shawn's mom to go to the mall and enjoyed lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (I had a Thai salad - yummy!!) and walked around a bit. My mother-in-law bought some goodies from my favorite local bath and skincare delicatessen (they are having a good sale right now!).

We are going to spend the remainder of our weekend relaxing at home and Shawn and I are going to curl up this evening after the kids are in bed with some popcorn and a movie.

How many links can I put in one post? ;)

Anyway, all in all, a fantastic weekend. Hope your was great as well!

Barack Obama for President!

Well I don't know about you, but I'm definitely ready for some fresh blood in the white house. Shawn and I just got done watching Obama's announcement speech for candidacy for President in '08.

I am SO excited for the potential that this man offers. I think he is one of the most brilliant public servants that I've ever had the pleasure of exploring. I've been reading his first book, Dreams From My Father, and have seen him interviewed and now after watching his speech, I am a believer.

I think that if anyone can take this country to where we need to be, in order for survival, for happiness, for equality, for everything that is important to us as individuals... it is him. I just think, for once, someone in Washington has their priorities straight. I think he is able to see the problems we face as a nation, and that he has the wisdom and courage to see to it that those problems are corrected. I think his dreams and aspirations for what this country can be mimic my own. The possibility of a better life for my children and grandchildren just fills me with an excitement that I can hardly contain.

It's nice to be able to hope again.

Jury Duty and the Dentist

Hooray for Friday!
It's been a pretty busy week this week... Work has picked up, which is good. We had a slow January so we need to sell, sell, sell this month! So far, we're plugging along at a nice pace. It's a short month so hopefully we'll keep that up.
Yesterday, which was my brother's birthday (Happy Birthday Scott!), I had Jury Duty. I sort of was looking forward to it, because I think it'd be fun to get to be on a jury. We were told that the cases were all for small things - major traffic offenses or misdemeanors, which meant we'd be picked that morning if we were going to serve, and finish up by that afternoon. Perfect for me because I would get to do my civic duty while not taking up *too* much precious time. Well, I ended up getting dismissed after about an hour (which I spent text messaging with my dear friend Ria), so it wasn't too exciting afterall.
I decided to go ahead and go into work, but it was a very short day as I was late anyway. Robin and I (my boss), had to stop on the way to work and take pictures of a client's house. We also tried a new restaurant for lunch. It was very yummy! And cheap and only 2 minutes from the office. Sweet!
And finally, after putting it off for various reasons, I went to the dentist after work. Back in August when the boys and I went in to get our teeth cleaned, we discovered that I had, after 29 years, gotten my first two cavities. I'm thinking this might have something to do with being pregnant with twins last year and not increasing my calcium to a high enough level to combat what they needed. I am kind of a baby and was not looking forward to someone drilling holes in my teeth... and although it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be, it wasn't the most horrible thing I've ever done. The fillings aren't silver anymore, so you can't even tell anything is there. But I hope it's a long long time before I have to smell my burning teeth again. Eeewwww!!! My uncle is a dentist and has always taken really good care of my teeth, and I'm hoping that since no more twin pregnancies are in my future, those will be the last two fillings I have to get!
Let's see... Other than that, life's been pretty good. We have a few things to do this weekend, but I'll fill you in on that later.
Oh! Check out Shawn's blog ... He will probably be a touch on the controversial and political side for some tastes, but he does have a lot of good things to say and I think a blog will be the perfect way for him to say them. He's a fart smeller (read: smart feller) and an even better writer. I've also put a link on the right side of my blog, in case you forget to bookmark it and want to check it out again later. I don't know if he'll post as often as I do, but when he does, I'm sure it'll be good.
Have a great weekend!

All Josh, all the time

Well I have to say, last night was one of the most pleasureable experiences of my life. Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk (pronounced "Sky-ler") were absolutely fantastic. I LOVED the show.

We were in the Triology Wine Bar in Boulder... very small venue - only about 200 people there. It was a very intimate place, and we were pretty close to the stage. In fact, the band had to walk right past us to get up on the stage. I've only heard Schuyler as backup on Josh's songs, and since she opened for him, we got to experience some of her solo stuff. She was just great too!

They were both fantastic performers live - it was as good, if not better, than what you hear on the album. Josh was just hilarious. It was like getting two performances in one - the singing and a comedy show. I loved getting to hear the background to why they wrote the songs they wrote.

But the best part - a hug from Josh. He probably thinks I'm some freaky fan but he was so close, and invited us to say hello after the show, so I took that as my personal invitation to stop him as he was walking by to profess my love for him and thank him for coming to Boulder. :) He is shorter than I would have thought, but sweet and sexy.

I told Shawn, if he ever leaves me, I'll have to find a way to be with Josh. :)

If you haven't checked his music out yet, I highly recommend it (and Schuyler too). He is absolutely fantastic. I hope he comes back to Colorado soon! I will be at every show!

My son, the stab victim.

Nope, I'm not kidding.
Tyler, who is 5, was stabbed in the neck by a fellow kindergartener at school yesterday. There is an actual tiny puncture wound, which happens to be VERY close to a vein in his neck. I spoke with T's teacher today and she was not watching when this happens and is unsure whether or not this was provoked. T says he asked the little boy to stop before it actually happened, so he did try to prevent it.
It's just so hard to be a parent and know how to deal with this. We teach our boys to use words instead of violence to stop behavior that they do not like, and then go to a parent or teacher for help if that doesn't work. But with a clearly impulse control challenged child like this, it's hard to know what to advise him.
He's Ok, which is the good news, and doesn't seem to be *too* phased by this, which is good also. The boy who did it got a slap on the wrist - one day suspension from class. I'm not sure how his parents reacted, and am resisting the urge to contact them myself. (as an aside - I know the child's mother, sort of. We interviewed her as a potential child care provider before moving to our home back in April. Needless to saw, we are happy we chose another provider!)
Anyway, that's the news from today (or rather, yesterday).
Better go get ready for my date with Josh ... er ... my husband. ;) I'll let you know how it goes...

Go Colts!

Happy Monday! Everyone at our house is pretty happy... Even though we live in Bronco's Country, my husband (and subsequantly the boys) have stayed very loyal to the Indianapolis Colts, who share the same hometown as us. We didn't have a big party yesterday, but did enjoy the company of Shawn's parents. Shawn's dad is a Bears fan so it was a fun rivalry. We did decide to deck the boys out a bit... it was fun and gave us something to do while preparing for the big game.

In other news... Percy (our siamese mix) is in heat. She is going around the house crying and crying for a boyfriend. It's almost humorous, if it weren't so annoying. She seems to think we have her boyfriend buried in the basement and is relentlessly trying to open the door to go down and procreate with him. Poor thing... We have been watching on Craigslist for an unfixed male Siamese to get for her play thing, but so far to no avail.

We had a very nice weekend... Saturday was busy - cleaning the house, working out, grocery shopping, etc. We did get out in the afternoon for a little bit of fun. We went to the mall so the kids could play on giant breakfast food. Tyler's getting a bit too old for that, but Gavin had a blast. There was this random out of control child there who was going around pushing, pulling, and hitting other kids (yes, mine included), which inspired me to go talk to the father to inform him that his child was out of control. Not before he beat up a couple kids younger than him and left a trail of crying children in his wake. Of course, the father had a "talking" to his child but still stayed so he could impart his wrath on the rest of the world. Ugh.

We then went to try a new restaurant in LoDo. It was VERY yummy and quite inexpensive (thanks in part to a great waitress and our Entertainment Book coupon). It was mostly Mexican themed and they had the best homemade chips and salsa that I think I have ever had. So good, in fact, that we asked them to send us some salsa home so that we could have it with chips for the game Sunday.

On Sunday, the boys and I had some time to kill while Shawn made chili (sweet! love not having to cook dinner!) and prepared himself to watch The Colts win the Superbowl. So we ran around town looking for Blue & White nail polish, face paint and hair coloring.

So that pretty much wraps it up. Hope everyone had a nice weekend... It should be a good week this week. Tomorrow night we have a sitter and are going to see one of my favorite artists perform in Boulder. I usually don't make a habit of going out during the week, but for Joshua I will make an exception. I'm really excited! I'll let you know how it goes...

Have a great week!

Random Thoughts

Well Happy Friday... It's cold here in Colorado - our highs this weekend are about 7. Brrr! It's been a pretty good week for the most part. I am all caught up at work after missing a couple days. I now just have to catch up with work around the house... which should be a blast. I did manage to take a couple pics to add (as you might have already noticed). The first of which just tickled me - this cat is a strange one already, but does this look comfortable to you?? I thought it looked a little painful.

Tyler didn't have school today, so thankfully other than shoveling the driveway, we can hibernate in the house where it's warm today. Shawn had to venture out, and deal with icy roads, but he made it and arrived after taking the past couple days off due to a "sore throat" to find that his boss wants to give him some more responsibility. It doesn't equal a raise but it does give him the opportunity to earn overtime if he needs it, to get the extra work done. I'm not sure yet what he'll be doing, but I think he appreciated the confidence they have in him.

Here are a couple pictures of the boys eating. You can probably tell Tyler's haircut is *ahem* home made. I'm not the best hair cutter, but hey, I'm free. Seeing as how his hair was in his eyes and he was begging to shave it off - not in the dead of winter, Honey - I figured I'd better give it a shot. Hopefully he's happy. :)

We did have some bad news this week. My almost 27 year old brother had a minor stroke. I guess he had a bad headache one day while (thankfully) his wife was home and then half of his body went numb. They went to the E.R., who weren't able to determine anything but did refer him to a neurologist. There is a possibility that it was a seizure also, but it looks more like a stroke. I can not even fathom my little brother having a stroke. I thought that was something that happened to old people. Not to young fathers and husbands. I'm pretty worried about him, as is (understandably) the rest of my family. Hopefully once they are done with the battery of tests they have him scheduled for, they will have some answers as to why this happened and what to do to prevent it from happening again.

So other than that, nothing much else is new around here. We're getting ready for the game on Sunday, which for me entails cleaning the house and figuring out what we're going to have to eat. I think we'll have a pretty calm weekend.