Fabulous 40 weekend!!

I have to say, even though it's Jerrod's birthday weekend, I have had a blast!!!

Friday, we went to Byblos (Mediterranean food) with the kids and Mom/Dad and Brenda. We came home for cake (Whole Foods Berry Chantilly - yum!), and Jerrod, Ian, and Dad went to see Saw (which I heard was gory but lame).

Saturday, I got up early and met my book blog friend Rachel and we crashed a book signing by one of my favorite vampy authors, Jeaniene Frost (pic here). In addition to meeting Ms. Frost and another author, Karen Essex, I picked up the cutest pink scarf that has little skull/crossbones all over it :) I had coffee with Rachel and her husband and daughter while I waited for Jerrod to pick me up. After they left, I walked around the French Quarter for a while (alone!!!) and went into shops I never get to go into when the kids are with me. It was nice just hanging out by myself; a rare treat.

Saturday night Jerrod and I went out alone. We had planned to have dinner and go to the casino, but Jerrod got it into his head that we should go on an adventure....so we drove around until we found a restaurant that looked good -Sake Cafe - it was soooo good. We ordered a little "love boat" for two, it came to the table in a boat, just like when we went to dinner for prom (all those years ago, LOL).

After dinner, we decided spur-of-the-moment to get tattoos together! We'd been talking about getting tattoos, and although we both have tats, we didn't get them together. So we headed out to one of the local places, decided we both wanted fleur-de-lis, and voila:

(my back, right underneath my neck)

(Jerrod's inner arm - that's our anniversary date)

They're still red and sore but that will go away...

Today, I've already been to church with Bridget, who is in the school choir (after staying up late at the tattoo parlor it was really hard to get up!!!). We're headed out to trick or treat - pics to come - and hang out with friends to watch the game.

The girls are off from school tomorrow so it's just me and Ian in the am - not too shabby!!!

Happy Birthday baby, I hope you're having as much fun on your birthday weekend as I am!

Happy Birthday Jerrod!!!

Happy Birthday Baby! Welcome to 40!!! In honor of this auspicious occasion, I'm showing a video someone captured of the day we met:

You are my density - I Love You!
Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Whore-o-ween

Halloween is fast approaching, and as usual, I put off getting costumes for the girls until the last minute. This year Molly is going to be a ladybug and Bridget is going to be Athena. Bridget initially wanted to be a vampire but we couldn't find a vamp costume that didn't look like it came from the wardrobe closet of a porn flick. The Athena costume is terrific because Athena is one of her favorites characters in the Percy Jackson books. (She's read them so many times the covers have come off!)

Jerrod commented that neither girl has a scary costume. I don't know if it's like this in the rest of the country, but here Halloween is traditionally scarier costumes because Mardi Gras is supposed to be the "fun" costumes.

After costume shopping with Bridget last night, I've come to the decision that Halloween really is of the devil. Ya wanna drop a girl's self-esteem right into the toilet? Take her costume shopping.

A Ladybug and a Bee - sweet and wholesome, right? WRONG! When I think of a bee costume, I think of the Bee Girl in the Blind Melon video, not this:

I think I'm supposed to insert some "pistol/stamen" joke here...

I thought skeletons were supposed to be scary:


Look what they did to Hermoine!!! Such a sweet, bookish, buddy to Harry Potter. This is just wrong...

Believe it or not, this was but one example of Slutty Nun costume, there are several other slutty styles to choose from.


Okay, I'm just putting this next one up because it really creeps me out. The nun costume got me to thinking that there really is a slutty version of anything you can think of. I thought to myself, what is one costume I really wouldn't want to see a slutty version of - a clown:

Seriously, I may have nightmares.

Beauty, Bowzer, and Balls

First, let's start with Bridget - she was singing to Molly this weekend:

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Shamalama ding-dong! Shamalama ding-dong!
Woo hoo hoo! Woo hoo hoo!

Hahahahaha - you know what it reminds me of? Remember that show Sha Na Na?



I looked for some of their stuff online, and I really don't remember all the gold lame and leotards. Huh. I vaguely recall Michael and I being fascinated with Bowzer. Wow. And damn I feel old.


Here's another one where I let my age show:
Thanks to the modern miracle that is the ipod, I can listen to anything I want. Unfortunately I have a bad habit of hitting the --> button. I have, however, been letting a few select songs go through, including this masterpiece. I used to be fascinated with that song, and looking at the video all I can think is holy smokes - that's a lot of boobies! All I remembered was the mermaid. This was back when MTV actually played videos.


And, file this in the "how the hell did I not know this" file:
I didn't know guys could sit on their balls. How does this happen? Does it happen a lot? Sounds painful. If it was me I'd be grabbing them every time I sat down... you know, this may explain a lot...

Random Friday with F'ups :)

Just some random stuff, an embarrassment, and crazy thoughts while sitting in traffic:

First, let me get the family bit out of the way:

Ian is taking driver’s ed and guitar lessons. Judging by his facebook posts he seems to like both. (yes, we do actually talk, but sometimes I get the “real” picture from facebook)

Bridget joined the school choir, which means that on the last Sunday of each month I’ve got to drag my lazy ass out of bed to be at Mass at 9:00 *cries –too early!!!*

Molly asked me to stop singing in the car. Hello, she’s 4 years old and she’s a critic already?! You know what I did to the last kid who asked me to stop singing in the car (I’m refusing to see a pattern here) – I SANG LOUDER! Take that short stuff!

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Speaking of facebook, I think most of you have seen the purse game: “I like it on….” Yeah, yeah, it’s supposed to be a mysterious secret, but when I log on to MSN.com and there’s an article about it on the homepage, the jig is up… Anyhoo…Yesterday I saw a few posts about how this was insulting and my impression was a feeling of anger – this is doing nothing to help and breast cancer is not “cute” or “pink” and this is all bullshit. I was feeling kind of conflicted about it, I mean, yeah, it’s definitely an important issue and if you can, by all means donate to finding a cure. But if you’re not in a financial position to do that, and playing this game helps bring awareness, what’s the harm? I kept flipping back and forth, seeing both sides of the argument, but it wasn’t until I was speaking with hubs about it last night when it hit me. I turned 40 this year – this message is meant for me. Wow. That brought me up short. I mean, yes, I know women 40 and over should get annual mammograms. And I know I turned 40 this year. But I never put them together before yesterday. So maybe it’s not such a bad thing.

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Next up for your reading enjoyment: My totally embarrassing e-mail gaffe.

As I’m sure you all know, my other love is my book blog. Occasionally, someone will contact me about reviewing a book. It doesn’t happen a lot, so when it does I’m super psyched and it’s possible I jump up and down a bit…Lately though, things have been busy at work and at home and I’ve had to refuse a few requests. Not too many, but still, I hate to do it. So, last week, I got a request I knew I wouldn’t be able to do. I copy/pasted a generic decline letter I typed up previously so that I'd always know what to say, made sure I mentioned the name of the book I was declining, and sent my regrets. I realized yesterday that what I actually sent was something like this:

Dear XXX,
Sorry, blah, blah, blah.
Patti

Now, the body of the letter was fine, I referred to the correct book and all was well. The signature was fine. The salutation? Not fine. I actually left it as “Dear XXX,” <--- OMG I am mortified! So, last night I sent her an apology. Whether that was the right thing to do or not, I don’t know, but it felt right to me. I definitely do not want to alienate anyone who might be interested in my blog, and I’m afraid that’s exactly what I did. *sigh* Oops.

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Have you ever noticed it’s harder to walk diagonally DOWN stairs than UP them? I have a large flight of stairs that runs the length of my building at work, and I have to get from one end to the other to enter the building or get to the street, depending on if I’m coming or going. I’ve noticed it’s much easier going up the stairs at an angle. When I go down the stairs it seems like I’m falling all over my feet. I wonder why?

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Last thing: this falls under the OMGWTFBBQ file…

Driving in to work this morning, I ended up behind “timid” drivers twice; once on a regular street and once in bridge traffic. You know who I’m talking about. They stay waaaaayyyyy behind the cars in front of them, don’t quite make it up to the speed limit, kind of hesitate at stop signs if there’s anyone else approaching…stay back until someone hands them an engraved invitation to merge…they drive me nuts!!!

So anyway, this morning I was thinking about the “timid” driver in front of me (as I silently seethed as car after car after car got in front of her in the toll lane) and out of the blue a thought popped into my head: Do these people act that way in bed too?<--- WTF is wrong with me? Where the hell did that thought come from?

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That’s it. That’s all I got. Have a great weekend!!! If you're in Algiers on Sunday, Bridget's Girl Scout troop will be selling bricks painted black and gold with fleur-de-lis on them (I've seen them, they really are cute and only $5!) at Aurora's craft fair. Stop by, say hi to BB and support the Girl Scouts!

Show me your teeth*

*Lady Gaga


My family tells me I've been ignoring this baby. They're right. I have the usual excuses: work, family, my other blog..but that doesn't mean I don't have shit bouncing around inside my head. Yeah, I said shit - and sometimes that feels literal. So today you get one of my random musings:

Now, my intention is that this will be a fun, upbeat post. The only problem with that is that in writing about my subject matter, I will be making a statement that sounds like I'm feeling sorry for myself, and that is not the case at all. I'm using this (so far mysterious) statement as a contrast to showcase my actual subject matter.

"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?" you're thinking, right? Well, I'll give you a break - I'm talking about smiles. There are three separate things that got me to thinking about this subject (in no particular order):

1. I hate to have my picture taken
2. My newest sister-in-law
3. A music video on my friend Kris' blog (NSFW)

So, let's start with my "mysterious" statement: I'm not pretty. Am I pretty on the inside? I certainly think so. But I'm not physically attractive at all, even when I was thin. Now, see, I'm not saying that for sympathy, it is what it is. Get over it and keep reading:

This music video I saw over at Kris' place, Housewife by Jay Brannan, (remember, this site is NSFW!) features a young guy singing. He's okay-looking...until he smiles. When he smiles he's breathtaking. If you do go look at the site, the "still shot" is not what I'm referring to, you have to watch for the smile.

My three brothers all married beautiful women (seriously, if I put up a family photo, you'd look at those three and think "damn, those chicks are hot!"), but today I'm going to focus on my newest sister-in-law. She doesn't read this blog, and I'm not sure if my brother does either, so I'm just going to lay it on straight. She's cute as a button, very pretty. When she smiles...wow. She's got a smile that would stop traffic. Seriously, you read about smiles that transform faces, but until you actually meet someone with a smile like that you just don't get it. When she smiles she will knock you off your feet.

She is not afraid of the camera, none of my sisters-in-law are. I don't think the Housewife guy is either. And it makes me wonder what it would be like to see a camera and not automatically want to turn away or hide in the back. Because of my camera aversion I am a terrible photographer - I forget to bring my camera more often than not, and even when I do, I forget to use it.

So, I don't really have an end to this ramble, just that I wonder what it would be like to have a gorgeous smile, sort of like I wonder what it would be like to be am millionaire or speak 7 languages. I think it would be fun; I really can't see any drawbacks.

*shrugs* That's all. Carry on.

My not-very-well-thought-out post on how Henry Ford is partially responsible for the decline of the American Family.

This rant surfaces in my brain every now and then, so today I thought I'd share:

The automobile: Modern convenience or Destroyer of Families?


I'm going with Destroyer of Families - here's why:


See, this lovely family is all sitting down to a wonderful dinner lovingly prepared by (I assume) Mom. Note everyone is clean and washed and there is nothing to distract from dinner conversation. Everyone shares their daily experiences and hopes for the future.

Enter the drive-through:

Those lovely family sit-down dinners have been replaced by this:

We don't even sit in the "restaurant" when we get the fast food - it's quicker to just drive through and eat it on your way to wherever it is you're going. I confess I am very guilty of this activity.

Modern times have given us wonderful inventions and a better lifestyle, but sometimes I wonder why we have to take the bad with the good.