Saturday, December 22, 2012

Unplanned Haircut

You would think this post would be about a haircut that Boog gave to himself, but it's not. It's a haircut that my sister gave him. A haircut that I'm pretty upset about.

My youngest sister said the other one was going to cut his hair this morning. I was okay with that since I wanted to get it trimmed. I said she could go a little shorter than usual.

That is not what happened. What happened is she cut off all his hair. I'm so mad that I can't even explain it. And I'm more mad that she did it without asking me or even telling me. I had to get a pic of it from a friend. And she knew I didn't want it that damn short.

I'm considering taking her Christmas present back in exchange for a bag of coal.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Christmas Party

My part-time job had a children's Christmas party last weekend at a bowling alley.  All children up to age 12 were invited.  They had pizza, sodas, cake, goody bags, mini nerf footballs and all the kids got a gift.  It was pretty cool.















Boog was happy to be there and kept asking if it was his turn to bowl, so we got him some bowling shoes and gave it a go lol.  Luckily they had ramps for the kids to push the balls down, and had the gutter guards up.
















Then Santa showed up...and this is a child who won't talk to strangers, takes forever to warm up to new people and even people he hasn't seen in a while...Guess who RAN to Santa for a giant hug and even talked to him later about his "boo boo" - yeah, this kid lol...






And his gift was a tabletop electronic Spiderman pinball game!  Mommy just has to get batteries for the darn thing...but the good news is that he can still play with it without the batteries - it's just not as cool lol.

Boog fell asleep in the car and got carried into the house where he woke up briefly to ask me to snuggle and promptly fell back asleep for a couple hours.


Friday, December 7, 2012

A boy and...

...his (auntie's) dog...

Sometimes you just need a little something extra to get you going in the morning.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Octogums

Jarryl is learning his shapes at daycare and through his shows like Team UmiZoomi. He really likes octagon, which he called "octogums" for a while. He knows that a red octagon mean STOP.

This morning we got him the car to go to daycare. He usually gets in on my side and then climbs back into his seat. Sometimes he stops to drive. This morning he stopped to point out my triangle. Then we looked for other shapes for a few minutes and found circles and a rectangle. Then he had to drive before we could leave.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Crap in a crockpot

Not too bad...leftover rost beef, leftover roasted potatoes, one uncooked potato, some leftover green beans from Ruby Tuesday, leftover chicken gravy and some A1 in the crockpot all day...

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Thankful

I am thankful for many things, here are but a few...

I am thankful for the chance to bring my Boogie into this world.

I am thankful for having a place to call home.

I am thankful for my family, especially those family members not blood related.

I am thankful for the non-traditional dinner we are going to have today.

I am thankful for the four day weekend I have with my Boogie.

I am thankful for those who cannot be with their families today in defense of our country.

I am thankful for the people who could not be with us any longer - I am thankful to have been given the chance to know and love them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.





Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Happy Birthday!

Boog's birthday was Saturday and we had his party on Sunday.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Riding out the storm

Sitting around playing games and snuggling...just waiting for Sandy to come and go...

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Fall

It's starting to look a little like fall around here...complete with glowing demon dog eyes for Halloween lol...I came home to this in the house and some decorations outside...

Swings!

Jarryl is spending the day with my sister and my dad today...look like he was having fun at the park...

Friday, October 19, 2012

New phone!

I got a new phone, yay me! And it's and iPhone...and I have downloaded the blog app...

As we see, the project didn't work out so well...not because I wasn't takin pics of the kid, cause I certainly do...

My problem was getting the pics Fromm phone to my computer and the to the blog...with the iPhone/blog app combo, I don't have that problem anymore...you people are gonna be so sick of me - both of you lol...I have no illusions that anyone actually reads my ramblings...

Monday, September 10, 2012

Slack ass

So I'm a horrible, terrible slacker...and I promise to correct that soon...I WILL do a pic from each day that I have missed...I have just been enjoying my Boog more than I wanted to get online recently...But new pics are coming soon...



Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Day 6 - A whole mess of stuff

Last night I made these for dinner...It's what I had planned for tonight, but hey, Boog saw hot dogs and wanted them last night...I did almost the whole pack of dogs, but held two back, just in case he didn't like them with the cresent rolls on them.



And let me just say that he ate both of them...and said they were yummy...he didn't eat the last bite of the second one, but i think i'm okay with that lol...




It's amazing the things that can be turned into toys!  He thought the empty bottle was awesome...
















I got in the shower this morning and there was NO dog in my bed...I come back and there's a big oaf...


Big oaf has claimed the child...
And then woke him up by licking his back...WTF...


Obviously he was not happy about being woken up in such a manner...hell, let's be honest...he wasn't happy about being woken up at all...but he still loves his Big Oaf...


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Day 5 - Do we HAVE to get up?

Cause we don't wanna!


Day 3 - Monies

So day three is a little late...sorry about that...and well, day four kinda got lost...but day 5 will post in a few minutes...

He likes to play with his monies...We keep it in an old really big formula can that I cleaned out...I cut a hole in the lid so it would be like a piggy bank...but his latest thing is to dump it all out onto the bed, then put it into his tin cup Ashy got him from the Alamo...he then calls it his "money coffee" and has to blow on it because it's hot...

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Day 2 - Handprints


Last night we went upstairs to watch TV before bed - and I was hoping to get some reading in (yeah, you can all laugh at my stupidity now)...well, Boog decided he wanted to "make a letter" aka draw...and asked me to draw with him...i traced my hand with a marker and was going to tell him to color it...but of course he had to have his done too...

I need to get some paint and sturdy paper and get hand and foot prints to save...i wish i'd been doing it before now...

Saturday, August 25, 2012

New Project

In an effort to post more, I'm going to try to post at least one picture a day...I usually take at LEAST one pic of Boog per day, so this should be fairly easy...here are a few from yesterday...

I told him I was going back to sleep...he told me no and went to grab the covers off me...  






Riding his motor while we let the dogs out to potty...
Playing in his box/bed/car/rocket ship...that he moved closer to the table so he could reach his drink...and needs a stool to get out of lol...but he put a pillow and blanket in it and was hanging out...

Monday, August 20, 2012

Reclaiming my weekends!


Yay for every other weekend off!  So it’s only been two weekends so far, but we’ve done something awesome each weekend…

Two weeks ago, the first weekend in August, Boog and I went to see my friend and her family in North Carolina…and another friend and her son met us there from South Carolina…Boog got to play with new kids and get used to more new adult – which he is in desperate need of loosening up with new people.  We got to spend a few hours at the beach and I got to visit with 2 good friends and get a much needed mini-vacation.  I also got to see my Capone!  Who welcomed me in a way that made me feel much loved, and he remembered Boog, and tried to suffocate him with his tongue lol…I did not have a happy about coming home that Sunday morning.

Some shots from the beach...


He watched tv and played with the other kids, and generally stayed out of my butt lol…and even let N tuck him into the beanbag Saturday night, which is where he fell asleep – and so did the girls for that matter…and he kept stealing Capone’s red blanket…he loved playing with the “little meow” who let him carry him around, and hold him – and someone tried to get me to take it home with me…


This past weekend we went to the Watermine Water Park at Lake Fairfax in Reston…We tried to go through everything, but Boog was a little scared – I think it was because he couldn’t use HIS floaties, but had to use their life jackets…He spent most of his time in the tot pool but had a total blast…He saw a little girl going down the slide head first and of course he had to do it to – and never stopped…He was playing with other kids and trying to make friends with the older girls mostly.  They had break every hour, and he ate something every hour lol…We brought snacks, lunch and drinks with us, including two pieces of folded over peanut butter bread – which he started calling a knuckle sandwich…





Thursday, August 16, 2012

Brown Eyed Girl


Some people may have wondered why we played “Brown Eyed Girl” at my mom’s service…no one asked, but maybe some wondered…I don’t know why my sister agreed to it, but I know my reasoning…I hope hers is similar to mine…

That is the way I would like to remember my mom…Goofy, some-what carefree and young…No matter how old she got, my mom will always be young…

I think that my youngest sister missed out on a lot of my mom being like that…I think in some ways she experienced more of the bad side than the good, and will never know who she missed out on…that makes me sad for her…

Mom never minded keeping me home for a day every now and again, just to hang out or even to head to King’s Dominion for the day – and if we decided that morning that we just didn’t feel like keeping whatever plans we had made, it was cool…we still stayed home and just hung out at the pool…

Mom was the one who never cared how many of us were at the house – as long as we didn’t trash the place (or at least cleaned it up when we were done).  I remember coming upstairs for a blanket one night because everyone else had taken all the blankets, even the one off my bed and she never skipped a beat, just looked at me and said I was out of luck with extras…

She never lost that attitude either, even with my other sister – the more the merrier…I miss those good times…I can’t forget the bad, and every so often I get mad at her still…but I like to think that the bad memories will fade as time goes on…

Thursday, August 9, 2012

This is not the club y'all...

I had court Monday morning – and this is my list of observations from the morning…some of it I thought was common sense, but obviously I was wrong…

  1. Do not come to court looking like you are going to the club…and for that matter, don’t look like you just left the club and ain’t had a chance to go home yet…
  2. Do not come to court looking like you’re about to go workout/just came from the gym…
  3. Please, try not to look like a crackhead...
  4. Please do not bring your children to court…and damn sure don’t bring them into the actual courtroom with you, especially when both parents are present…one parent can sit with the child in the hallway…they have chairs…they even have a damn food court and an outdoor court yard at this particular establishment…
  5. Please do not try to explain your way out of a ticket – especially when your driving record is full of the same damn charge…no one wants to hear it, the judge doesn’t believe you and you are just wasting everyone’s time…
  6. Don’t sit there and talk to your friend/companion all loud…this goes double if you’re an attorney…we don’t want to hear it…and isn’t there something about confidentiality involved when you’re a lawyer?
  7. Please be on time, if not early…

And with all that said, I sat in the damn courtroom for two hours, unable to read my book, just for the judge to take 2.6 seconds to send me on my way after he called my name…but, it saved me $80+ in court costs and fines…

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Chicken, vegetable and rice soup

It's been a while since I've posted about food, so I thought I should mention last night's dinner.  I made a pretty thick soup/chowder and everyone seemed to like it...

Here's what I used, though I wish I had used more chicken and maybe added some garlic to the crockpot, along with some pepper at the end...

1 whole onion
4 celery stalks
2 chicken breasts cut into half dollar sized pieces
some leftover frozen carrots and corn - we had more corn than carrots due to a Boog-sized rabbit ;)

I let all that cook in the crockpot with some chicken broth all day.

When I got home at the end of the day, I used this cream base that I found on Allrecipes.com.  We didn't have any pepper apparently, so I couldn't use that...but I did add a tablespoon of minced garlic and let the cream base heat a bit more.

Anyway, once the cream base was done, I added it to the crockpot, including the extra chicken broth, which made it a little less thick - I wasn't sure if it was going to be too thin, but it was actually thicker than I would have liked since I served it over rice for me and The Boy...Boog decided he didn't want rice with his "soupa" but ended up eating a big bowl of it.

My sister and her friend also had some and said it was good...Surprisingly enough, there was enough for all 4 adults, Boog, The Boy had a second bowl and there's some left in the fridge...

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Update!

My awesome Boogie is working on day 3 of no diaper!  He went all day Friday and again yesterday with no diaper except at bedtime.  I am so proud and ecstatic over this - and he made the move all by himself, which makes it that much better.

Blog updates:
the view from here now has a FaceBook and Twitter page!!

the view from here can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/lifehereonout - @lifehereonout.  And FaceBook is https://www.facebook.com/lifehereonout.  Please be patient while I get these pages up and running.

And an official logo is in the near future...

Friday, May 18, 2012

a month...

So i just checked my email and saw one from Baskin-Robbins...they have a birthday club, for kids and adults...and it takes me getting this email to realize that my birthday is in a month...time has kinda flown this year...maybe it's because of watching Boog grow up...watching the new things he does and how big he's getting...

For example, he was having cereal for breakfast this morning...which is probably healthier for him that the little mini donuts he usually gets, but Mommy is a slacker this week and hasn't gotten more...he got the milk out of the fridgerfator (refrigerator) for me...and told me it was heavy, but he's strong boy...and he made sure to push the juice container back when it started to slip off the shelf...



He decided this morning that he didn't want to put a new diaper on when he got dressed this morning, he wanted to wear his unnerwear...the ones with Patrick Star on them...so that's what we did...he made it through breakfast and the ride to daycare with no accidents...i've been to scared to call and see how he's doing...i don't want to get my hopes up that we might be phasing out of diapers...i'll update tomorrow...

Monday, May 14, 2012

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mothers Day

What a bittersweet day for me...

This morning the Boy got up with Boog, took his wet diaper off, told him to be quiet and watch TV - and walked out of the room.  Okay, I'm thinking he went downstairs to get juice and donuts for the kid...

Boog comes over and says mommy a few times and I open one eye and look at him...that isn't working...So awake I am...and wondering WTF is taking so long to get donuts...then I think maybe he's making something for me and him for breakfast...

Boog and I are sitting up watching TV and just kinda hanging out when I hear the Boy's scooter come back into the drive way...WTF?  Oooh, maybe he went and got McD's for breakfast - I'd be down with that...

Nope, comes upstairs with a little balloon on a stick and a card!

But when we went downstairs, he did make me breakfast...and even cleaned up...

(He told me he pushed his scooter down the driveway and out from in front of the house so I wouldn't hear him leave lol.)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

More of my mom

She was a beautiful person, inside and out.  The way I'd like to remember her is as she was before the alcohol and bitterness took hold.  She was fun and had such an awesome energy - she was goofy and caring.  We played the song "Brown Eyed Girl" at her service, and that's the mom I miss...
I'm crying daily now, just thinking about her and the things that she and Boog are going to miss out on...I have so few pictures of them together...
My sister drives my mom's truck now, and Boog sees it and says "that my gammaw truck" but the hard part is when he says he wants to see her or go to her house...I just don't know how to tell him that he can't see her anymore and that she's not home...
I'd give just about anything to have her send me one of her crazy spelled, all in caps, text messages asking if we're coming over tonight...and I'd say yes...and this time, I wouldn't stop taking pictures...
 I may not be happy with the decisions I made to stay away from her at times, but she also made that decision...If I had to keep him away from her happy to avoid the horrible, so be it...I just wish things had turned out differently...I still love her, and always did...

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Tammy Lynn Friend-Hotter

It is with much sadness that I make this post...I have lost someone who made me much of who I am today...

San Francisco, after the 1989 earthquake

My mother passed away on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.

My mom and I had a very rocky relationship - though I never doubted that she loved me, and hope she never doubted that I loved her.

She joins her mother, father and daughter.  I know she will be happier with them than she was here with us.  She loved all of us, but she never got over the loss of my sister Joelle or my grandpap.

Tammy and Joelle
Halloween
Tammy and Eddie (Carroll Edward Friend)
Prom