I have this old friend. I've known her for about 15 years. When I was single we used to see each other once every other week or so. When J and I got married he took to her immediately and we saw her even more often. More like once a week. We would whoop it up and have a grand old time and we still do. The kids....they think of her as a long lost aunt. They can't get enough of her. She is loud and boisterous and easy going. She let's them do whatever they want when we are at her house. Heaven for a one and three year old, right? They can scream and dance and throw food on the floor and she doesn't give a hoot.

But I am starting to have this love/hate relationship with her. She's done me wrong twice now and I know that's not a lot but they were serious wrongs. The first time what she did was pretty bad. It took me over a week to get over it but after a few months I gave her a second chance. But you know the saying, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I have to apply that here.

My friend, her name is Superior Grill. and I loved her, golly, how I loved her. The cheese, the chips, ohhhhhh, the Margaritas. She makes a mean one and like I said, not a more kid friendlier place in the universe.

The first time I got sick was during that big Salmonella outbreak. I threw up for 2 days straight and couldn't eat for another week. I kid you not. It was bad and it wasn't the flu. Superior Grill was what I had eaten the day before and really nothing else. We didn't go back for a month or two but after I had fully recovered I just couldn't stay away.

and everything was fine until last night. I woke up about 7 hours after we ate at SG. I prayed to die. at 2am, 2 hours after I said my first prayer J realized that something was wrong. I think all the moaning and the cold rag gave me away. He said it would pass. and it never did. Uggghhh. The misery. Luckily I never got sick, just stomach pains and nausea that is still lingering. I am sad that I feel so bad on a Monday morning. and I feel even worse that J stayed home from work so that I could sleep in a bit. but what I am most sad about is the loss of Superior Grill. Can I really go back? I think I would be just looking for trouble. I don't know. I hate to end my love affair but I don't think I can go through another heartbreak. I have got to end this unhealthy relationship while I am strong. Maybe we can be friends, just have a margarita and chips while everyone else indulges. But that never works does it. The friend thing.

Pman loves to be tickled. I can almost always try to calm him down from his insanity if I can get him to sit on my lap and tickle his legs, arms or head. He is in heaven and will sit staring into oblivion until I stop at which point he will wiggle away or grab my arm to start tickling again.

I have always loved to be rubbed on. and my mom too. We still fight about who is going to tickle or be tickled first because it sucks to be the last tickler. You want to be the last tickled so you can truly enjoy it.

Before we had kids, J would rub my legs, begrudgingly. I would have to beg him and I remember one time saying that I couldn't wait to have kids so they could rub my legs. J was horrified. He couldn't believe that I would consider using my kids like that. The other day I was sitting on the floor with my legs in front of me and Pman toddled up, sat down and started tickling my legs. and I didn't even have to ask.

Jazz Fest is in the air

It's Jazz Fest time around here. People are gearing up for it. Getting there fold up chairs out of the garage, digging through their koozies for the "How ya gonna clap" one (you know, the one that has a strap that you can hang around your neck leaving your hands free.), starving themselves to make room for the crawfish streudel and bread and monica and anything else with crawfish in it, clipping out the schedule to make their master plan and calling Acura to beg them for the pass that they gave them the first year they bought their car but that they haven't got since (did this happen to you too?), building their party poles so that their friends will know how to find them in the mass chaos that is the fest. And this is to only name a few prep steps.

Well, It's all a lot of pressure. It keeps a true jazz fester busy that's for sure. But NOT FOR ME!!! and I am lovin' it. I think I have been asked at least 5 times today whether or not we were going to Jazz Fest. Nope. A simple,easy and stress free answer. and I am lovin' it. I used to be an all day every day Jazz Fest kind of person. Get there when the gates open and left when the last stage closed. I didn't care that my feet got grimy with a mix of dirt and sunscreen, that it was as hot as bejeezus, that I smelled bad and went to the bathroom in a port o let that smelled worse, not to mention that on several occasions entered after a couple who had just done it in the hot stank of it all. Ugh. I loved it, truly loved it. Sometimes I had backstage passes, sometimes I didn't but it just didn't matter. I loved it.

and now, you know what I love?
I love that I do not care in the least bit about Jazz Fest. I don't care who is playing. I find in my old age that I enjoy listening to music on a CD rather than in real life. unless it's in an atmosphere where I a. can sit b. can be in a non-smoking environment and c. that has good wine. Call me an old fart. Because I proudly call myself one.

But I do love this time of year. and I do love that fact that there are people who still revel in the pleasure of Jazz Fest. Who don't mind the crowds and keep the spirit of Jazz Fest alive. Because, although I am not sad that I am not even thinking of going to Jazz Fest, I would be sad if I couldn't feel The Festival in the air. So to all you Jazz Festers out there......clap for me, loud and strong!

Trip to the Beach

We've been to the beach. W and Pman's first time to visit the Gulf and they had a ball. That's why I have been so scarce around here. Not that I haven't had a million things to post-especially while at the beach-but I have a thing about posting too much information online. I know, I post a lot but I do draw a line somewhere.

Here are a few teaser pictures to keep you hanging on until tomorrow.

W building a sand castle.

Pman's feet in the sand

W after a swim at the pool.

and Pman playing life sized chess.

Oh, but I have much to tell about our trip to the beach and many many doozer photos. For ex. RaRa, JoJo and Papa playing badminton. Certainly a sight to see. Just you wait.

I know somewhere on this blog I shared my fear. The fear that I would not love the new baby (now Pman) as much as I love W. I was really really worried. I thought about it a lot and I cried a lot too. I cried about taking time away from W and from the guilt of not loving the new baby.

and now I cannot believe that I ever thought that. I mean, hanging out with Master P all day has its ups and downs but when the ups are good they are really good. and I love him for all of his quirks and craziness and mischieviousness. For instance, the other day, he rode around in the grocery cart, I am not kidding, the whole trip, like this.

Is that crazy? Maybe not for you but for me, a mom whose first child is calm and collected and cooperative and docile, it is. I was scared he was going to pop his neck out of socket. It made MY neck weak just looking at him. But it was hilarious and it really kind of sums him up in a nutshell. It describes him better than I can with words. A picture is worth a thousand words and if you look really closely you can see my favorite part about him. That big ole cleft in his chin.

The boys are downstairs rough housing so it was my chance to sneak away upstairs to let you know that I am alive. Barely. I made the same mistake twice and ate another one of those "deliciously soft" icingy cookies that show up in the grocery stores during any holiday. I am crashing from my insane sugar high. At least this time I know what is going on. Yesterday I ate one at W's Easter Egg Hunt and I thought I was going to die. I didn't know what caused that misery until later.

Anyway, Pman and I had quite a day. He loves whoopin' and hollerin' and wrestling with anyone who will join in. We were doing that this afternoon. He got so riled up that he bit me. HE BIT ME! DAMN! It hurt! He did it through a long sleeved shirt and even broke skin. It was just barely, but hard enough that I have a story to tell.

Broken refrigeraters, poo poo and shopping

You would think from the scarcity of my posts that I am so so busy. I am not necessarily so but I am still stressed anyway. We have been out of a refrigerator for a week now, with one week to go. It's crazy how much you miss it when you don't have it. Now, we are living with scarce provisions in my old college refrigerator (which is still running strong despite his age) and a small one in the back garage. But IT IS STRESSING ME OUT. It totally upsets my routine and THAT I do not like.

Amidst all of the refrigerator debacle, I have been looking for a dress to wear to a wedding. and shoes to go with it. So Pman and I have been on the go all week to mall after store after mall. BTW, he loooooves the mall. He seemed to like Lakeside better than Saks. More colors, more water fountains, more things to get into. I finally found the dress but am still on the hunt for the perfect pair of shoes. I am particular about shoes but I won't bore you with the details.

In addition, the poo poo potty training came to a head last night, or rather the bathtub. DON'T get me started because it's not a pretty or pleasant story. and I am mad. I asked J if I was too mean and he said my anger was justified. "He has to have consequences". Enough said.

On top of it all I am trying to get ready for the Crescent City Classic and I kind of let my training die. The farthest I have run in the past week is 3.5 miles so I am not even sure I can finish. Oh, I am so disappointed in myself.

So there are my reasons for not posting lately. I hope I won't have to come up with anymore anytime soon.

If you could pick one word that you wished best described you, what would it be?

I always said I wanted that word to be joyful. Yes, I wish people thought of me as joyful. and if you know me any at all you are probably laughing your arse off right now. I know I am not joyful no matter how much I yearn to be. I don't think people would even describe me as nice. And certainly not approachable. Which is where this whole post is going.

The past 3 times I have gone running, I have been stopped by random people in hopes that I would answer a question. All 3 times there have been plenty of other people that these randoms could have stopped. People who
a. weren't running
b. didn't have head phones on
and
c. were much, much, much more approachable than me.

So I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why these people stop me while I am in obvious misery. Anyone?

Not so little anymore

I have a new kind of leverage around here with W. I have to admit that I thought it was really cute last night when he said it for the first time. and I got kind of weepy. It was just yet another moment in time that reminded me that my baby is growing up.

W climbed out of his bath and I wrapped him up in the towel. I don't remember exactly what I said but it was something like, "you are my cute little baby".

"I am not little!" he snapped. "I am big. P is your little baby."

He's right. He's not little anymore...although he will always be my little baby. So, yes, I was sad and it still makes me sad thinking that he is old enough to not want to be my little boy anymore. But oh, the leverage it gives me. My mind is racing. How can I use this to my advantage? The first thing that came to mind was using it to convince him to poo poo in the potty. Only little babies poo poo in their underwear. Big boys poo poo in the potty. Right? Are you with me?

Chicken and brine and soggy skin

Someone inquired about the results of my chicken brining project. I didn't live up to my post. I neither keep you posted nor took photos. But I can tell you that it was delicious. The bird was the most tender bird I have ever put in my mouth. The seasoning was just right and I can't wait to do it again. The only issue was the soggy skin. I like my chicken skin crispy. Any other way I get totally grossed out. So next time I will do one thing differently.

I will take the chicken from the brine and pat it dry. Then I will let it sit for a few minutes and pat it dry again and a third time for good measure. Hopefully that will allow for most of the moisture to drain from the bird and I can get a good crisp on.

W is the sweetest kid around. believe me, he has his moments and usually they are with Master P but for the most part he is sweet to him too. and he ALWAYS shares his snacks with him in the car. "Here P, I will share my goldfish with you."

Today we went to the zoo after school. My mom insisted even though it is one of my only days this week that I had to myself. So we went and W hasn't been feeling to hot-something with his stomach- and isn't eating. I fed Pman before we left and brought some goldfish for W in case he wanted something to eat. I ended up giving them to P and he was happily scarfing them down on the way home. Then W asked him for a goldfish. I turned around only to see Pman cut his eyes around and not respond. He asked again and Pman said, "No."

We all thought that we just hadn't heard Pman right. He isn't fully talking, just one word here and there and he responds to things mainly by doing unless it's a yes answer so I asked him myself just to be sure we weren't crazy.

"Pman, can you share your goldfish with W?"

He said it again, "No." Plain and simple, he knew what he was saying. and then he just started saying it again and again finally ending with an "Uh Uh!"

It was a major moment in big brother and little brother history and strangely it said a lot about how Pman is going to be. Definitely not the sweet sharer that W is. But I tell you one thing, W is going to catch on fast. What comes around goes around Little Man.

Brining Chicken

I am brining a chicken as we speak. I was inspired by Uncle RaRa. He just brined some cornish hens, so I thought I would try brining a chicken. I kind of wung the recipe. I listened to his tips and red some of Emeril's recipe but in the end I did this:

I bought a 3 gallon Ziploc bag.
I filled it with a 1/2 cup of brown sugar, salt and orange juice
Then I added a gallon of water, some crushed garlic pods, peppercorns, cumin seeds, cilantro and Herbes de Provence and put it in the icebox.

I will let it soak until ready to cook (about 6-7 hours)

I am very excited about the whole thing. I will let you know how it turns out and provide photos of course.

Poo Poo in the Potty!!!!!

and boy did we dance! W poo pooed in the potty today. and we whooped it up like nobody's business. Now, the truth is I was helping him unbutton his pants to pee pee and I noticed a skid (sorry to get graphic) so I took his big boy underwear off and was going upstairs to get more. When I came downstairs he told me there was poo poo in the potty. So whether he actually intentionally pooed in the potty or it was already half out and it just dropped in(again, sorry to get graphic) I don't know but I ran with it. He couldn't wait to do his POO POO Dance and get a treat. Then he said, "Daddy will be soooo happy!" so we called and told Daddy all about it.

Now I am on pins and needles waiting to see if this will be the start of something beautiful. Aren't you?

Blue jeans:wear or wash?

A few weeks ago I inadvertently was listening to Big D & Bubba on the radio. I hate them but the car radio was tuned to their station and I just didn't change it. I don't know why. They were conducting a survey about blue jeans. The question of the day was whether it was okay to where jeans more than once before washing them. Not very interesting, I didn't think, until I heard the majority of the answers. Most people thought it was okay to wear them max 2 times but after that it was disgusting. and they were really disgusted. That is what I found interesting. Maybe I am disgusting but I can't count the times I wear my jeans before washing them. Denim is pretty durable, you can't really see stains and I wear......them......out. Of course if I have just gone to Superior Grill where you leave smelling like body odor I am barely in the door before they are off my body and in the wash. I need to know what my fans think. Am I just plain dirty or does anyone else share my opinion?

Catholic Guilt

I always feel guilty about something. Always. and I know it's because I was raised Catholic. My mom is catholic and is REALLY good at laying on a guilt trip. The funny thing is that I know when she is doing it so one would think that I would be able to rise up above it but I can't. It's the little things too. It doesn't have to be anything major that makes me feel guilty. For example, my dad sometimes calls right when we sit down to dinner. and I am tired of all the screaming and I am hungry and just want to eat so when I answer the phone I am a bit short with him. God, the guilt. So I always call back and try to sound chipper even when I am not because I feel so guilty that I was short with my sweet dad. No one could ask for a better dad. NO ONE! I don't care what you say.

Anyway, the reason for my guiltiness right this minute is that I am drinking wine. I gave it up for Lent during the week but I just couldn't help myself. J says now that we have joined the Episcopal church that we don't have to sacrifice during Lent. I beg to differ but even if that were the case....you can take the girl out of the church but you can't take the church out of the girl.

MMMMM.....that's delicious.

p.s. I would love to hear what you are feeling guilty about. It would make me feel less guilty.

Gift Card Scam? I wonder.

I hate that I have been so sporadic in my blogging. I am not really sure why. I did have my 20th high school reunion-20TH!!!!-last weekend so I was busy reminiscing and I will certainly post about that soon.

Aunt JoJo gave me the best birthday present and I redeemed it yesterday. All I wanted was a day to myself. My dad said to arrange it and he would pay for it but that hardly seemed enjoyable when I had to figure out how to arrange it-not that he didn't have the best of intentions but JoJo-she did it right and said she could come on Monday, March 16th. She told me not to just run errands but to enjoy the day. I have to admit I did a few mundane things but I also got a massage. It was easiest the best massage I have had in awhile. But let me get to the point. The point of this story is not that I had a great day all to myself-although that it was. It wasn't that I have the best sister-in-law in the world, which I do but it's about something fishy going on over at Belladonna Day Spa on magazine.

I had accumulated a buttload of gift cards from this place. and I don't really like to get gift cards because I never use them. Although I am an anal retentive scheduler when it comes to my kids, I don't like to make appointments for myself. Can't really explain it so I won't try. Anyway, I had a bunch of cards and awhile back I brought them in and asked them to tell me the value on each card. Which they did and wrote it on the back of each one. That was probably 2 years ago and I haven't taken them out of my wallet since. To make a long story short, when I went to pay with my last remaining gift cards they said one had a zero balance. Not possible. I talked to the manager after I had already just paid the balance but nothing was done about it. I have since heard of 3 other people to which this has happened. Is it a computer glitch? If not something not right is going on over there in the form of a gift card scam and I want to get to the bottom of it. The manager called me at home but I wasn't back yet and I called her back today, twice. One person said she was working and would call me back. The other person said she wasn't working. Is she avoiding me? I'll keep you posted.

Wednesday Wine Down

I've given in and am drinking wine. I feel awful about it but not awful enough to stop. Now that I am an honorary Episcopalian I have let my extreme Catholic guilt fall by the wayside. It was a pretty long day and after consulting with several people I decided to do it. So on that note....

IT'S WEDNESDAY WINE DOWN!

Pick yourself up a bottle of Little Penguin Cabernet-the purple label. I'm sorry my wine selections are so common but until after Lent that is how it will be. Don't get my wrong. As of last Friday when I had the purple label for the first time it's my favorite of the LP's. Try it, you'll like it.

One day I am bored out of mind (see post) and the next I am giddy watching the world through the eyes of a 3 and half year old. I know how lucky I am to have my boys but sometimes I have to remind myself to stop and truly enjoy them. It's easy to get caught up in the boredom of day to day life and preoccupy myself with cooking and cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. I am not a neat freak by any means but sometimes I can't help but feel that I am suffocating in Clorox wipes. Anyway, today was one of those days that I was suffocating until John came home and told me I could go running. I got halfway down the block and realized that I had just had a snack and ton of water and I could feel the cramp setting in and well, I just wasn't in the mood. I turned around, went home and put my earphones in W's ears while he was eating and he was....well, giddy. and I was giddy watching him.


It just goes to show that I have to let my hair down and be spontaneous with them even if it's as simple as shoving ear phones in their ears. Especially on the days that I have stepped in wild cat poo in my yard and got it not only on my shoe but all over my legs and my house. That's a whole 'nother story entirely.

HOOOOOO-RAY! for swimming

This parenting thing, it can be frustrating. More than half the time I am pulling my hair out while treading through some developmental milestone or trying to master a new skill with one of the boys. and we've had some rough times. Boy Howdy. But when you finally get to the other side and they realize that they too are glad they learned to do it after the fact-it's like a big HOOOOOO-RAY! And we all jump up and down and do it the hooray thing together. It's quite fun. The most memorable issue is the potty training. and as everyone knows we are still working through the #2 portion of it all but what keeps me going is that I know when we have success we will have the biggest HOOOOO-RAY! and poo poo on the potty dance that any mom has ever seen and it will all have been worth it. I can't wait!

The latest is the swimming. I am desperate for W to swim this summer so we have him enrolled in lessons right now. He has an immense fear of water. It's not for lack of exposing him to swimming pools. We've done lesson after lesson at this place. We spent the majority of the summer at a pool but still the fear is there. I don't know how it happened but today, TODAY, was the big HOOOOOO-RAAAAAY! He didn't shed one tear. He jumped off the side twice and glided through the water. He floated on his back and kicked his legs, all with the help of his amazing teacher, of course, but he did it. It's interesting because most kids this age love to blow bubbles and I have never seen W blow bubbles. He's not very good at blowing in general-like candles or soap bubbles. He lets his teeth get in the way. The teacher said the same thing- He won't blow bubbles on top of the water but it's the darndest thing. She says he regulates his breathing (meaning he blows bubbles) under the water. Instinct I guess. So please, if you have the time, take a minute for one big HOOOOO-RAY!

Lent and alcohol

We gave up drinking during the week for Lent. J is going to a party this afternoon. I asked him if he were going to have a drink. He smiled and said it was a work function. That's a yes. He is using the party as an excuse to cheat on his sacrifice. Well, I have a work function too! 24 hours/7 days a week I have a work function over here so if we can drink for work WAHOO! than I can drink pretty much all of the time!