Pirates and Other Weekend Festivities

This weekend was started off in our usual summer weekend way, another bbq in the backyard. After Laney and Alie went to bed, Carl and I had some s'mores. We melted our marshmellows over ther grill; not the best plan to stand around a hot metal with hot coals following a 90 plus degree day. The s'mores were good though, so that makes up for it. I spend Saturday hitting up Baltimore's childrens consignment shops getting the girls clothes for the fall. In the past I've had some issues with Tried But True. I wasn't so convinced that they had consignment store prices on their used items, but I was quite pleased this time around. I spent $65 and ended up with a bunch of great stuff including a couple pairs of jeans, overalls and sweaters!!! I also went to my favorite, Just Arrived. They had not started accepting fall clothes yet so they didn't have a big selection BUT they were having a 50% off sale on fall and winter items, so I was able to spend only $22 and get a few really nice things. I'm headed back to Tried But True later this week to look at any new arrivals and to turn in some of our own winter clothing for consignment.
Saturday night we had a disappointing bbq...about 5 minutes after Carl put the chicken out, it started to pour. Oh well, the chicken was still good.
Sunday my MIL watched the girls and Carl and I got to see the new Pirates movie. It was GREAT!!! I can't wait until the next one is released since they left me hanging. We had dinner with Sue and then headed home to complete most of the remaing baby-proofing in the living and dining room for my increasingly mobile daughters. I also got to try out my new "crocs" from llbean while i gardened in the backyard and snipped some of the ugliness from the front yard. I can't wait until late Sept...Carl and I will be removing the terrible bushes from the front of the house and putting in nice, new, smaller ones....
Book club tonight and I'm looking forward to it!

Disney World is the answer to everything!

Today, one of my friends was having a mental breakdown about her relationship and I recommended that she and her boyfriend take a trip to Disney World. Actually, I did more than recommend, I emailed her the link to the website and ordered her the free vacation planning video. Afterwards, as I leaned back in my chair at work, I thought more about Disney World being a solution to her problem and came to the conclusion that Disney World is the solution to most of the problems in my life.
Sure that sounds dumb, but Disney is my favorite place in the whole word. In fact, I cannot wait to bring Delaney and Alison there. I love the rides, I love the shows, I love the fireworks, I love the hotels, and I love the food. Everything seems so simple there. There is always something to do, even if you're not actually in the theme park. Most everything is appropriate for children and so nothing is offensive. Disney is the perfect place to go when you've hit a rock in your life because while you're there you can't help but smile. You can have breakfast with Cinderella, dinner with Mary Poppins and lunch at a restaurant that has a large green alien playing the piano. You can spend the night watching the fireworks above the castle or drinking and singing along at Jelly Rolls. Everything is themed to the max. Pools, restaurants, attractions, stores, even clubs are decorated completely, I mean how can you not have fun and forget whatever it is that's bothering you.
So to my friend and everyone else who is having a problem and needs some neutral ground, I think that Disney is the perfect place!

Moms in "booty" shorts

Last week I spent every morning working at the wonderful orientation program for transfer students coming to the university where I work. During my time spent around these new students and their parents I came to one very important conclusion; moms (especially moms of college students) should not wear "booty" shorts. As I was working on a transfer evaluation for an incoming student, I had a very nosy mom looking over my shoulder. She made it very clear that although she had no idea what I was doing, she was going to question my every decision. As this woman walked away, I noticed that she had on shorts that were barely covering her butt cheeks. Seriously! At the youngest (lets say she was pregnant with her daughter at the age of 16) we'll say this mother was 36. 25 in my opinion is too old to be wearing shorts that do not offer full coverage of the rear region, let alone 36. As a mother myself, I feel fairly confident in stating that post childbirth, my body has had some shifts. My midsection, nor my rear are commodities in which I feel necessary to show off anymore.
So in closing, my biggest pet peeve are mothers that try to dress like their much younger daughters. I am not wearing onesies alongside Delaney and Alison. Mothers of 20 somethings should not be dressed to pick up guys or go to the bar. I know that my clothing, consisting of mainly banana republic, jcrew, and ann taylor could be considered a bit conservative, but I do feel that there is a need for women (and men) to dress their age!

Grown Up Survey

Stolen from Farmer...I am bored at work (well just putting off work that I need to get done actually...)

"grown up" survey Tired of all of those stupid surveys made by High School kids?'Have you ever kissed someone?''missed someone?''told someone you love them?''drank alcohol?'Here are some questions for some people who are a little more mature... ok old folks like us.

1. What bill do you hate paying the most? Its not quite a bill but I hate paying for gas. Carl is in charge of all of the bills..
2. What's the best place to eat a romantic dinner? romantic dinner? what's that? I think in a nice restaurant or even in my dining room
3. Last time you Puked from Drinking? The beginning of February by accident
4. When is the last time you got drunk and danced on a bar? freshman or sophmore year of college
5. Name of your First Grade Teacher?Mrs. Andrews
6. What do you really want to be doing right now? Spending time with the fam
7. What did you want to be when you were growing up? An electrician
8. How many colleges did you attend before you settled on the one you graduated from? I have just attended Gburg, I will be attending TU for my masters though
10. Gas Prices! First Thought? ugh!
11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you? I think I'm pretty much happy with where I am...maybe I would like to have a second house at a beach or possibly Key West. 12.When the alarm went off this morning?5:15- time to work out
13. Last thought before Falling asleep last night:I hope the girls sleep all night since I fed them early
14. Favorite style of Underwear?bikini1
5. Favorite style of Underwear for the opposite sex?boxers
16. What Errand/Chore do you despise?cleaning the bathroom
17. If you didn't have to work would you? travel a lot and stay home laney and alie
18. Get up early or sleep in? get up!
19. Your Favorite Cartoon Character? Yzma from the Emporers New Groove
20. Favorite NON sexual thing to do at night with a girl/guy?snuggle
21. A secret that you wouldn't mind everyone knowing?I'm not really a secret keeper
22. What was your First Car?1994 Toyota Corolla
Your favorite lunch meat?Turkey
25. What do you get every time you go into a WAWA?I haven't gone to WAWA in years...I hear they have a milkshake machine though so I might check that out soon
26. Beach Or Lake?beach
27. Do you think Marriage is an outdated ritual that was invented by people who died at 20? Um...I'm married so I'm guessing no
28. Who do you stalk on myspace?my friends, constantly!
29. Favorite Guilty Pleasure?The Hills and The Young and the Restless
31. What's your drink?Water and beer
32. Cowboys or Indians?Cowboys
33. Cops or Robbers?Cops
34. Do you cheer for the bad guy?depends on the movei
35. What Hollywood star do you think resembles you best?I have no clue. This kid at a college fair told me a I looked like Karen from Will and Grace..I don't know
36. If you had to pick one which cast member of Lost would you be?I've never seen lost
37. What do you want when you are sick?to sleep
38. Who from High School would you like to run into? I'm not sure.
39. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now? DC 101 I think
41. Stiffler or Oz?Oz
43. The Cosby Show or the Simpsons? I absolutely LOVE the Cosby show, I definitely watched a marathon til all hours of the night last week
44. Worst Relationship Mistake that you wish you could take back? I'm not thinking there are really any "mistakes"...perhaps continuing to be with someone after we had broken up would be the biggest thing I would take back
45. Do you Like the Person who sits directly across from you at work? noone sits across from me, just a big window. I like the people who have offices on either side of me
46. If you could get away with it who would you kill??????
49. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?no
50. Last book you read for real? "The Reading Group" that was really good...now I'm reading "The Devil Wears Prada" so that I can see the movie
51. Do you have a teddy bear? yes, and a Pinky
52. Strangest Place you have ever brushed your teeth?college, camping
53. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?I have never been to California, but I think I would enjoy Napa
54. How many times a day do you text? maybe once every 2 months, only to my friend Brad generally
55. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or relationship?I would like to branch out in my career
.56. Do you go to church?Not as much as I would like to but we go
.57. Pencil or Pen?Pen.
58. Describe your favorite Day? Spending it with the friends and family that are most important to me
59. How many jobs have you had?Lifeguard, memebership services assistant,Fantasyland attractions, Admissions intern, and admissions counselor
60. What would be your "dream job"? my dream job would have to encompass a lot of things. It needs to have sufficient leave time, flexibilty and be close to my house. If it met these criteria, I would love to be a college counselor at SPSG
61. What do you want to achieve in life? Continued happiness

Vacation #2

This past weekend my husband, children and best friend Cirucci all visited my other best friend Wen in North Carolina. This trip was full of adventure and excitement which all started at our first stop on the way, the Kangaroo gas station. This particular gas station had a wash-a-roo, which at 12:30 am was most exciting to Cirucci and I. So exciting in fact that I made her get out of the car so I could take her picture in front of it. As we continued on into the later hours of the night we pondered such things as why its not ok for Americans to name their children Jesus and whether Raffi takes drugs. Finally, to top off our "driving to Beaufort" experience, we were pulled over by a cop, who in the end, seemingly just wanted to meet us and give us directions at 2 in the morning.
Day 1 of our wonderful visit began with a wonderful breakfast at Atlantic Beach. We then visited the NC aquarium which was lots of fun. Carl was able to visit with his new favorite wildlife, the fiddler crab. Laney and Alie really seemed to enjoy looking at the fish swimming, before they were too worn out and took a nap. I finally convinced Wen to open one of her birthday presents at the conclusion of our pizza dinner. We spent the rest of the evening reminiscing back to our old college days. Wen had some great pics of the triple kiss, nights spent at Crow, and some funny ones of our first mixers and formals....black pants, tube top and cardigan days.
Day 2 began with Laney, Alie, and I staring at Auntie Cirucci until she woke up. After breakfast we headed to the beach for the afternoon before coming home and showering to go back to the beach for Wen's Birthday Cookout. Greg and Wen have the best bread, it really made my turkey sandwich taste awesome. Laney and Alie were Auntie Cirucci's dates at the cookout. Alie was trying to do everything that Brian might do to Ciruc...kiss her, slobber on her, grab at her boobs...Upon arriving home from the cookout, Delaney vomited all over the carpet and then everyone decided that it was time for some key lime pie. We played cranium and talked until Wen and Greg headed off to bed...but did they go to sleep??
Day 3 was the day that we journeyed back to Baltimore following an amazing chocolate chip pancake breakfast compliments of Greg. Once back in the car, Laney, Alie, Carl, Cirucci and I enjoyed hours of Disney songs. We had the soup/salad bar combo at Ruby Tuesday's following a wonderful nap in the car and then stopped later to top it all off with frozen frappacinos and candy bars from Sheetz (who doesn't love Sheetz with the automated ordering). I am now looking forward to August when our group will reconvene (and everyone will have a date) for the O's game.