A little Funny

After he had shoveled a path from the garage door to my car. After he had changed out of his snow boots and shovelling gear and into his school sneakers. After his snack and backpack were packed. After all that, he went to put his lunch money in his pocket, and Schmoogie comes up to me this morning and says:

"Hey Mom, did you notice something different about me today?"

Not wanting to disappoint the excited boy that definably has something different about him, I look him up and down and go through the obvious:

"Did you forget to brush your teeth?"

"No" he says, with his delicious smile.

"Your hair is not done", Schmoogie gels the hairdo every morn.

"No, Mom, look!" with that, he looks downward at his pants.

"What, they look fine to me" I say this totally confused at this point.

"LOOK!"

Then we both burst out in hysterics. He had his pants on backwards!

It was really silly, but it struck us as really funny and I am still smiling about it now.
Peace

Mommy ~ Schmoogie Date Night

Schmoogie and Mommy went on a date on Friday night. We try to go out by ourselves a couple of times a year, and we always have a blast!

The short story:
Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant, complete with a poo poo platter, --- dollars...
Bowling, shoes, and soda at only the finest bowling center --- dollars...
Top the night off with Frosty's from Wendy's --- dollars...
Spending the night with the most amazing 8, almost 9 year old....PRICELESS!

Schmoogie has been doing really well in school, so when he invited me on a Mommy/Schmoogie date night, I quickly obliged.

We started the night out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, the poo poo platter was a hit. While we were not huge fans of the fire roasted cherries and pineapples, it was necessary to see how they would come out if he cooked them over the open flame. Of course they were awful, but isn't it more important that we giggled and laughed at its potential to actually taste good?

After dinner, we went bowling. Aside from the creepy guy offering way too much advise on how to bowl, it was a lot of fun. Not to obsess, but creepy guy was really creepy, and he touched Schmoogie's hand in an effort to show him the proper bowling technique that Schmoogie was really so eager to absorb. I gave him those "get your slimy hands off my kid" looks with my eyes, and he finally went away, probably because he was done"teaching", and not because of my eyes, either way he left, creepy people just don't get it.

Anyway, after we bowled some four games, laughed so much, one time until we almost peed our pants, had a ball go in the wrong direction, tried double ball bowling, and my fingers were swollen, it was time to hit the road and go home. We got into the car and both were quiet. See, one thing about going home is that the date is going to end. We were having such a great time, that we didn't want the night to end.

So, we stopped off for, a very unnecessary, Frosty. Neither of us ate much, but we did chat some more, and that was good for both of us.

Our night ended with a great big Mommy/Son hug, oh, and of course a kiss!

Peace

Taco Night

I absolutely love Taco night!

Last night was Taco Night in the P house. On the ride home from daycare Noodle and I have a little heart to heart about dinner. See, he has never eaten taco's because he is a very picky eater, but I made a promise to myself and the rest of our family that once Noodle turned three, I was not going to make him something different for dinner, unless he tried it and really hated it.

First, let me preface this story with the walk from Daycare to the Car:
"Mama, can I have a lollipop on the way home?"
He assured me he had a good day at school, so I answer, "Sure, why not?".

Once in the car, the conversation begins:
"Noodle, tonight is taco night."

"I no like taco night."

"But I really think you will, so your gonna try them tonight."

"No Mom, I said, I no like tacos."

"I know what you said, but you haven't even tried them."

"I no like them."

"Well, you need to try them tonight, I promise you will love them."

"NO!" (slurp, slurp on the lollipop)

"Yes, Noodle, just give it the usual three bite, if you really don't like it after three bites, you don't have to eat it."

"NO, I said NO!"

...I pull the car over at this point...

"If your not going to even try the taco's, then you need to give me the loli."

"No."

"Give me the loli, right now."

"No."

"Noodle, only big boys can eat loli's, so, if you are not going to try the taco like a big boy then you need to give me the loli."

"NO!"

"Noodle" (said with that mom face...you know the one)

"OK, here."

At this point I am stunned, and almost at a loss of words. He gave the loli back!

"So, you're really not going to try the taco's?"

"No."

"Ok, fine, I guess the deer will have to eat your loli."

"NOOOOOO! Mommy, I will try the taco."

'Okay, Great, here's your loli! I know you are going to like the taco."

"I no like it."

(I am practicing my deep breathing at this point, and we begin driving again)

Arriving home to dinner on the table is wonderful. See, one of the best parts of Taco Night is that Big D preps it, cooks it and serves it. Schmoogie sets the table, and we eat as soon as Noodle and I get home. I, of course, clean up!

So I take a soft taco shell and fill it with a modest amount of meat, and sprinkle with cheese. I didn't even attempt the lettuce, tomatoes or sour cream...YUMMY, right? RIGHT.

"Oh, Mommy, I weeely like taco's, can I have anudda one when I finish wit this one?"

Two taco's later, we have officially added another food choice to the picky toddler's menu!


Peace.

Resolution

I made two resolutions this year.

One was to lose weight, which I am doing.

The other was to stop saying the "F" word, which I am not.

I cant stop, it's as if it has been burned into my everyday vocabulary and is here to stay.

I want to stop. Really, I do. It's a terrible word and when I say it, I feel, classless.

The frequency of it's appearance in my vocabulary has diminished, so, does that mean I haven't totally broke my resolution?

Dictionary.com defines Resolve as: to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something).

So, to me, a resolution as a promise or commitment to oneself to do (or not to do) something. In that case I have broken my promise to myself on more than one occasion, or did I only do that once?

I am confused.

And, why you may ask, do I even care.

Well, it's simple, if someone makes a promise to me, I expect them to keep it. If I make a promise to someone else, I always try to keep it.

If you don't keep your promises, there is usually some repercussion for it, not necessarily punitive, but perhaps in the form of hurt feelings, or the like. And who wants that?

That being said, I feel as if I need a repercussion for myself from breaking my "promise" to me. Is the guilt enough, because every time an f-bomb slips out, I feel guilty. I also re-resolve each and every time.

I haven't allowed any to slip out today, so maybe I am on my way to success with my resolution. And, maybe by tomorrow that one naughty little word may find its way out of my mouth. Either way, I will remain hopeful!

Peace

Let it Snow!!

So it's been steadily snowing all day here on the North Fork. A beautiful, powdery display of flakes that is mesmerising. A continuous stream of baby puffs falling from the sky. I love snow. Big D hates it, well, it interferes with his livelihood, so its understandable. Me, I love snow, its pure, pretty, soft, yummy, fun. I remember being a child and making snow angels and snow people (no they weren't always men!). I remember sled riding, all over, in the sump, down the hill on our block, over where there are all kinds of houses now in the hood I grew up in, oh and that ever dangerous hill by Sunrise Highway! I would never bring my kids there now! There were tons of places Dad used to take us...we had so much fun.

Oh and then when we got older (we, the younger bro and me) we used to go skitchen'! Bad, bad, bad. There is nothing good about skitchen', it's probably one of the most dangerous things you could do. But, boy was that fun!! Well, fun, until either my parents found out or some other grown up in the old hood threatened to tell the parents. I recently reminisced about skitchen' over lunch with some colleagues. Many of them didn't even know what skitchen' was. Well for those of you who don't either, skitchen' is when you grab onto the back of a moving car's bumper and hold on until you fall off. A made up word? I suppose, it's coming up as misspelled for spellcheck. OMG, anyway, it was so much fun....way more dangerous and I would never tell Schmoogie and Noodle that I actually did that!

Back to the snow, today. My kids love to shovel snow even more than I loved to play outside in the snow. Yes, I said shovel. See, Schmoogie and Noodle do not go sledding, rarely have build a snow--, well they would solely build a snowman (it would most likely a sports snowman), and I don't even think they have ever made a snow angel (well, Schmoogie may have). They have sleds, snow tubes, all the gear, but they love their snow shovels.

Well boyz, you have a lot of shovelling to do tonight. Those new shovels that Santa brought you this year sure have been getting a workout this winter. As for me, I will be inside, next to Big D, in front of the roaring fire, waiting for you to come in with hot cocoa in hand, watching the flakes from the window!

Peace (and snow!)

It hit the P House

The stomach virus hit the P house. Schmoogie and I had it, me worse than him....Big D and Noodle are safe so far.

Schmoogie was beside himself about the virus, not because he was sick, but because he missed a day of school, and more importantly, a day of testing and "ruined his perfect attendance, just days before the 100th day of school".

See, Schmoogie is in third grade, and this is the year for the big ELA testing, two day that the kids and teachers prep for for four months. Its a tad stressful for the average kid, as there is so much emphasis put on this test, and less on everyday school work that it really gets to them.

While he never misses school unless he is sick, and that one day when we went to the North Pole, he really wants to achieve that "Perfect Attendance". He did it in kindergarten, and got a sweet little certificate and notoriety from the principal way back then, and that hype has stayed with him. Plus, he's a bit of a perfectionist, and since the word perfect is contained in the award, well, you do the math!

Last night when I was about to fall asleep, Noodle turns to me and we had a short, sweet conversation about the virus.

Hey Mommy?
Yeah Noodle?
If you still sick tomorrow, you need-a go to the doctor.
Yeah, baby, I will.
You know Mommy, the doctor will make you feel better, and he will tell you "No More Monkeys jumping on the bed".

Good Night Noodle....Good Night Mama, hope you feel better.
I went to sleep with a smile on my face, feeling much better today.
Peace,
P

Recession is Making me Sick

I never thought my second post would be a sad post.

However, I learned some awful news this morning that brought back a wave of emotions that I cant even begin to describe.

A very close friend lost his job.

For many of us, our jobs, in part, define who we are. A massive amount of your awake time is spent "at work", much of our adult life is spent "at work", when you meet someone new, or rekindle with someone old, one of the first questions is "so what do you do?", which means "what do you do, at work". So, its not difficult to understand why when you lose your job, a part of your identity dies.

When your job is pulled out from under you without notice or hesitation, I can tell you, it is a horrible feeling. It happened to me four and a half years ago, when I was pregnant with Noodle. For a very long time after, I felt as if my world was turned upside down. I felt, sort of, dead inside. Lucky for me, I have Big D, and with some lifestyle adjustments, we did just fine. As for my friend, he too is lucky, as he has a wife with a great job that will carry them through until he secures another position.


His job is (was) one of those that are dependent on this wretched economy. Apparently his abundance of talent and professional skills are not "necessary" right now as we spiral out of control into a recession, depression?

When we were little and were posed that age old question of "what do you want to be when you grow up?". Ya know, no one ever said, "make sure you pick something that is not dependent on the economy." Because, it wasn't a concern. It wasn't a concern even though our grandparents lived through a recession and then a depression. It wasn't a concern because that could never happen again. Well, it did.

In today's world what is happening with the economy, flat out, should not! We are such a rich society, with so many resources, experience and wealth that we should not be in this situation. We should have known better... in my opinion, we have suffered this crisis because of greed.

We need to reflect on who we are, where we have come from and where we wish to be in this country and stop all of the nonsensical BS that politics, greed and sin have allowed this country to marinade in for so long.

Obama says it will get worse before it gets better, only time will tell. How can we, as a nation, have allowed this to get this far in the first place?


For today, I leave you sick to my stomach and sad.
Peace

Here I Am!

So, I finally did it! I have been wanting to create a blog spot for a while now. I too wanted to have a place to write about all of the things that make me happy, sad, silly, angry, overwhelmed and most of all, proud to be a Mom. I named the blog Double P in the Place To Be because, well, I am a Double P, initial wise, and I feel as though I am exactly where I am meant to be, and I like it.

Juggling work, the boyz, the hubby and everyday life is quite an amazing journey, and I love it, I really do, all of it. I try to make the best of every single situation that I am in, while maintaining a positive attitude about it all.

I am many things everyday, I am a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a granddaughter, a godmother and a friend, but most of all I am Mommy. I think my boyz will be the main focus of this blog, however, I definitely plan to write about other areas of interests, activities and stops I make along my journey.


I hope you enjoy what I write, either way, let me know!
As for me, I am Double P and I am Definitely in the place to be!
Peace!