Bad News Brownies/M4

Normally I don't blog about hockey because, well, my hockey is just not blog worthy. Tonight was a little different, not because I did anything great, but just because of the situation.

I was asked to sub up a division along with a couple of other people. Again, not due to my skill, but because they were desperate for warm bodies. In any case, everyone on the team was so nice, and so supportive, it made what could have been a very nervous game for me, a very fun game. The team was very motivational, and even though we lost 5-0 I left with a huge smile on my face. It was one of the best hockey experiences I've had.

Thanks Liz for asking me to sub for M4.

And just because I wanted to know what my food would say if it could talk...

What Your Peanut Butter And Jelly Sandwich Means

Your eating style is gluttonous. If you like something, you're going back for seconds... no matter how full you are! You don't really have a sweet tooth. If you go for dessert, you tend to go for something light. Your taste in food tends to be pretty flexible. You may crave sushi one night, and your favorite childhood recipe the next. You belong to a class that's all your own. You resist rules and traditions of any sort. You are a tough person who isn't afraid to live life fully. There isn't a lot that scares you. You are a pretty easy person to please, but you do have your own little personal quirks. You're far from neurotic, but you can be a little picky at times.

What Does Your Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Say About You?

If only...

You Are Sheryl Crow!

Down to earth with tons of creative energy When you talk, everyone can relate to you "Life springs eternal On a gaudy neon street Not that I care at all"

Who's" Your Inner Rock Chick?

This was courtesy of Jennie

Hmmm, should this post be titled, "Exhibitionist Pregos" or, "Revisit of Pet Peeve 1,247?"

This week I took the girls back to one of our favorite places, the Silliman Family Aquatic Center. It's an indoor water park that is open all year long, and geared toward younger children. This time there was the strangest assortment of people there. Normally everyone is very polite, keeps an eye on their own children, and there is a certain amount of decorum that is inherent to the place. Today none of that was present. Was it the holiday crowd that I should be avoiding? (It was MLK day)

There was one boy, about 7 years old, that kept splashing everyone (in the small kids area), didn't wait his turn on the slide, and kept sliding into the other kids. When he slid into my kids, and actually hurt them (he was large for his age), I went and talked to his Mom. At first she seemed very nice, and headed over to talk to him. However, as she was walking over, she turned around and said that all the kids were doing it (they weren't), and that my kids had run into him before that (they hadn't - I was right next to them the whole time.) Later I noted another Mom went up and talked to her and got the same response. I guess this goes back to my Pet Peeve #1,247.

A plea to pregnant women everywhere, on behalf of all people with eye/s:

To the extremely large pregnant woman who came out of the locker room looking very appropriate in her swimsuit, keep it that way. Do not sit at the edge of the pool and proceed to roll the swim suit top up to the crease between your breast and your swollen belly - there's no sun at an indoor pool, you cannot tan this way.

To the other very large pregnant woman there - Thong bikinis were not meant to be worn by pregnant women. Bikini's yes. You had the body for it. Thongs, no. Getting to see your swollen prego bits was not my idea of fun. And to your husband, banana hammocks are just not attractive at the family pool.

Thank you for listening.

Hawaii run down

This is long overdue. It's been sitting in my outbox waiting to be finished, but it's apparent that it's not going to be. So, for your enjoyment (or torture), here's the rundown:
1. If you have kids, travel with them either in a stroller or in their carseats with some sort of wheels attached to get through the airport. This allows you to go through the shorter wheelchair line. We had no idea until we were redirected by TSA.
2. Have friends (Thanks Auntie Liz and Auntie Mo) pack backpacks for your kids to entertain themselves on the plane, and don't let the kids have them until you are at cruising altitude. This should keep them busy the whole flight.
3. Schedule beachtime during daylight hours or you will come back as white as you left. (Yep, that's from recent experience)
4. Get loco moco as often as you can. It's just not the same here.
5. Eat at the local roadside restaurants/stands. You'll get a plate full of rice, macaroni salad, and either beef, chicken, or pork for $3 to $5. It's delicious and usually enough to feed 2 people. We spent $20 for 5 people and ended up throwing away half the food cuz there was so much of it. I highly recommend Kenneke's. It was the best by far.
6. If on Oahu, go to see the Kamaka Ukulele factory. Sounds dorky, but it was fascinating. One of the sons of the founder is still there. He's 95 years old and made his first ukulele at 5 years old. He does the tours and you get so much more than just a tour with him. It's not in any guidebook, so you'll probably have the place to yourself and his undivided attention.

Can't think of more at the moment, but that's enough "duh" factor for now.

The plumbing gods hate me

Now I am plunging my toilet which doesn't seem to be budging. Calgon
take me away. Oh wait, that would involve water and plumbing. Scratch
that and just get me a stiff drink.

Drain Disaster, The Final Episode

For any of you that may have been wondering (ok, I know it's only Chaim), the drain situation has finally been resolved. In case you need the info, it all started with this:
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have left it in the drain for 6 hours when it said to flush with hot water after 30 minutes. I believe Chaim was correct when he said all the hair, sludge, etc. had loosened up and congealed into a giant ball somewhere downstream. Lesson learned.

Resolution was achieved with 3 1/2 bottles of this (note the 80 oz. size):
2 more bottles of this (smaller, 32 oz. version of the Grandaddy bottle above):
A bit of this (until my shoulder started aching):

And a whole lot of this (which as you might have guessed, didn't help the situation at all, but it made me feel better.):

Next time I know to pay more attention to the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

What am I missing?

3 more doses of drain cleaner and lots of plunging and now my shower is
completely backed up! This from a shower that I (stupidly) treated
because it was a little sluggish draining. What was I thinking.

Huh? How does that work?

So. This week my drains were running slow, and I found myself standing in about 1/2" of water at the end of my shower, so I decided to be proactive and run some drain cleaner through. All seemed fine, the drains were running through very nicely, until this morning. This morning I found myself standing in two inches of water that wasn't draining at all. All I could say was, "Huh." When I finished my shower I ran some more drain cleaner through. Hopefully tomorrows shower will be puddle free.

Pet Peeve 1,247...

People who don't parent their own children at the park (or any public venue for that matter.)

Today we went to the park with Liz and Val and there was this group of less than well behaved children who were using sticks as guns, poking each other with them, pouring sand on my girls heads, and whacking Val in the face with a stick (though this last was just due to carelessness and not paying attention to the stick they had in their hand) all while their mothers sat on a bench and socialized. At one point, one of the Moms called out. "We don't play with sticks." Seriously, is that all it takes in her mind? The only other thing said to the children was, "5 minutes" meaning they had 5 minutes left before they were going home.

I'm appalled to say I overheard them speaking of homeschooling meetings as I am seriously considering homeschooling the girls. However, I hope that these parents and children are not indicative of the homeschooling community.

Kiddie gate update

The escapees are at it again. Today Sam wanted Riley to join her in her escapades. I can only guess that Riley couldn't quite make it over the gate, so Sam went into the bathroom, brought out the step stool (thought I should clarify that), and it was up and over for Riley too. Sigh. My life is no longer contained.

Too many pictures

OK. I may be taking too many pictures of my children. This morning
when I went in to be sure they were covered up, so they wouldn't get
cold while they slept, a little light from the hallway fell on Riley's
face. Suddenly I hear a little asleep voice cry out, "No pictures, no
pictures." I can only imagine that in that sleepy state the hallway
light must have seemed like the flash from a camera.

My little hockey player

This morning Sam wanted me and Riley to play hockey with her. This afternoon when I told her it was naptime and started walking to the bedroom with her, she told me to close the kiddie gate so she could climb over it. I guess she'll have no problem with the boards.

House no longer secure

All this time we've been able to use kiddie gates to keep the kids out of the areas of the house where they could get into trouble. Up until now it's been no problem because my kids aren't really climbers. Didn't climb out of their cribs, don't generally climb on furniture, and never
over the gates. Today I couldn't figure out how Sam got out of the play area, so I asked her to come back, so I could see how she did it. She simply threw one leg over the top of the gate and
rolled on over like some people clear the boards in hockey. So much for security.

Peppermills...a necessity for preschool kitchens

The girls made lunch today in their play kitchen. After they had
everything laid out on the table they walked around it with their
kaleidoscopes twisting the bottoms to "grind" pepper on the plates.