blog challenge.... a Count Down

10 favorites
Color: blue
Food: Cuban Sandwiches
Month: October
Song: Mama Mia
Movie: ????? I like so many
Sport: whatever my kids are playing
Season: Fall
Day of the Week: Saturday
Ice Cream Flavor: Dulce De Leche
Time of Day: Morning
9 Currents
Mood: Tired
Clothes: Comfy
Taste: sticky mouth, need some water
Desktop: particle board
Toenail: Color: Nothing, but in the summer, I like to do something crazy
Time: 10ish
Surroundings: study/guestroom
Thoughts: mostly garbled, I have mommy brain
Wonderings: huh?
8 Firsts
Best Friend: Don't remember her name, erika, I think.
Kiss: His name was Nelson
Screen Name: traceyzimmer, not very creative
Pet: Nicki, a crazy wired haired terrier
Piercing: ears I was a few days old
Crush: Gus
Computer: a Tandy in high school
Home Location: my very first home as an adult, up the block from here
7 Lasts
Cigarette: sometime in college
Drink: Christmas
Kiss: this morning
Movie seen at the theater: Charlotte's web
Phone Call: to my message machine (and yes Martha your message was on there, don't know why I didn't hear the beeping)
CD played: ABBA
Gift received: Roses on Valentine's day
6
Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Friends: nope
Broken the Law: speeding?
Been Arrested: oh my gosh no
Skinny Dipped: nope
Been on TV: yes, on some PBS special about high school students
Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: yikes, yes...
5
Things You've Eaten Today: Chinese food, yum
You've Done Today: field trip with the youngest, the museum
You Can Hear Right Now: the hum of the computer
You Can't Live Without: said computer
You Do When You're Bored: computer, tv, read
4
places you've been today:
museum
Chick Fillet drive through (on the way to the museum)
home
that's it...
3
people you can tell anything to
shannon
colleen
shaina
oh what the heck, I tell most people everything
2 Choices
a. Black or White: White, look great in white when I have a tan but then I look good in black when I have that mid-winter pale thing going.......I just can't decide. Ok, i'm just going to go back to blue.
b. Hot or Cold: As a bonified Waspina, I'd have to say, in the middle.
1
Thing you wanna do before you die:
Meet all the Grandkids I'm going to have.

Oh yay

Addendum to my previous post, the teenage boys down the block just came up and asked if they could shovel my walk and driveway! woo hoo, 15 dollars well spent!

knee deep in kleenix or confessions of a whiney baby

I'm feeling very pathetic and need all your sympathies! I have a cold. It is a bad one, the readings on the thermometer two nights ago and the presence of the 'big bowl' should be proof enough. But since I'm the mommy, the boys still got their sleepover last night, the laundry still got done and the bathrooms got half cleaned before I lost steam. Periodically I would lie on the couch or bed and moan for 15 or so minutes until the kids needed something they couldn't reach, mix or microwave on their own. Jason left last night to go snowmobiling with some nerds, oh oops I mean guys, from work. Bless his heart, he did offer to stay (I'm sure his fingers were crossed behind his back). I said, 'no'. Am I martyr? Or just someone who knows that her husband has been working ungodly hours at work, lots of people resigning on him, sales people wanting him to hire more people blah blah, it's been tough on him. Not to mention he's coming home early two times a week so I can take my class. He NEEDS this time off! He's been grouchy, so I know when he comes home he'll be lovey-dovey and relaxed. And frankly, it's just a cold!

And speaking of cold....I had the windows open yesterday, airing out the house, we were wearing short sleeves, no jackets, finally cleaned off all the dog poo that was frozen in ice on the patio (anything NOT on the patio is gonna be fertilizer). Wake up this morning and snow all over the place, everything's covered all over again. AHHHHH, we were just thawing out too. And now I have to shovel (hear the whine here) Did I mention I have a cold!

School...figured out that I have a 91% average, woo hoo. BUT, this next test is going to be a kicker, I mean it has all the DNA stuff. And as a nurse, why is DNA replication of bacteria important? I was looking over my notes and apparently when I'm confused I doodle. there are cartoon pictures of cross eyed people with question marks for hair. GREAT, that's going to be helpful.

Off to make breakfast for the boys and their guest and then to basketball for Jake and then study study study...wish me luck, and oh yes, feel very very sorry for me, I'm feeling pathetic and need happy good thoughts coming this way!

Playtex, fun for the WHOLE family

Zac was watching TV and suddenly came running into the dining room, where Jason had set up his lap top, "Dad, Dad, you need to buy some PLAYTEX". Jason, startled, asked "why?" and Zac answered, "Because if you wear them you can play ALL DAY".
Truth in advertising?

Pictures of the kids and dog!

Jake played his first basketball game this season...and proud moment...he made the first basket for his team. He also seemed to be good at the less showy types of sportsmanship and knew when to pass and to whom. He's #2, numbers go by size which may give you and indication how huge he is...he's also one of the youngest.




Zac was bored out of his mind, (note to self, bring game boy next time)He alternated between watching another kid play with his game boy and playing with the camera, here are some of his 'shots'

Look how big Hannah's gotten! Wow. She's a bit of a wild woman! and can jump as high as I am tall. Tries desperately to keep the kids in 'line'.

forecast tomorrow, more snow

scuba diving in cleveland.....

Today it's temperate but another arctic blast is about to hit us and more snow in the forecast for tomorrow. I was hoping that all the snow from December would have melted by now....no such luck, so I guess it's more of the above for us!

picture off of one of those forward emails from a cousin in Florida....yeah Floridians may find it funny...ok I do too, but really, it's been the story of our life in the last few weeks!.

This and That

The winning room on Top Design a couple days ago. It was a pretty neat pirate room, the little boy for whom it was designed, LOVED IT. One of the judges (meanie) thought it was 'over the top' but my thought is a kids' room SHOULD be over the top, whenever are they going to live a fantasy again? Of course Erik's back ground is in theatrical lighting and set design...And John is gone. He really boffed his assignment. Me-thinks he was overwhelmed by it all. He made a heart-breaking confession that he has HIV and was given testosterone shots to help with his energy level and that could be why he was a bit aggresive on episode one. It's insane that I like this show so much, I even stayed up til 1am to catch it. I need a life.
What's up with the whole letter verification thing on the comment section. How does that keep away people who shouldn't be commenting (not that I have those people). Do they assume that creepies can't recognize wiggly demented letters is there something in the brain of a homicidal maniac that can't decipher the letters? Hm, any thoughts? Or anyone know the reason for the letter verification? Oh oops, it IS called 'word verification' but those aren't words?
Microbiology....So last Tuesday we went out into the hallways and rooms of the school w/ a cotton swab to collect samples. I chose the vending machine....some of you may want to stop reading now....Yesterday, I check out my petri-dish and there are a few different types of microbes growing. YUCK. I'm going to isolate the nasty puffy white stuff (it was between that and some slimy yellow stuff) and hope to heaven it's not E. coli. One of my lab partners swabbed the milk steamer on the espresso machine at the little coffee hut, lots of things grew in her petri dish (benefit of a night course, everything's closed and you get the run of the place). Our next step is to isolate, grow whatever the stuff is in broth and get a good look at it under the microscope. Will keep you informed. I'm not sure I'll be using vending machines again though.

woo hoo

I guess I didn't bomb the test...89%, almost an A...I still have no idea how that happened though.

Another List Thing

Blog challenge forwarded by Martha is another list thing....hmmm, well it sure beats studying and I'm all for anything that keeps me from THAT!

When is the first time you fell in love?
Well it would be Jason, and I'm not saying that to spare his feelings, we met when we were 16 there weren't very many before him and no one serious.

lost someone close to you?
My Dad, I was 19.

drank alcohol?
High school....Oh My Gosh, I hope my kids DON'T do what I did in High school.

got kissed?
5th grade, you think I would have turned into a slut, given I was so young, but it was just a peck on the cheek. First REAL kiss, Jason...well the kiss that mattered, the kiss that made my toes curl.

went to the hospital?
For myself? when I had babies.

smoked a cigarette?
High school...unfiltered Camels....yikes. I do not smoke now, though

broke a bone?
never

got a job?
High school

got cheated on?
never

rode the city bus?
a month old, my Dad took me into the city and I peed all over him. For some reason he loved that story.

went to a concert?
High school

Met someone famous?
Had a chance to meet Andy Garcia, but bailed. My parents knew his parents.

dyed your hair?
In my 20's

got your own cell phone?
In my 30's

snuck out the house?
Ummm, that would be High school again (seeing a trend?)

drove a car?
16

got your own digital camera?
2002 and Like Martha,I resisted, because I was very attached to Film!

how old are you now?
38

Idiots are fun

Oh my gosh it's ME....Jason and I went to a marriage seminar yesterday. He's a guy who has written a lot of stuff and deals, I think, a lot with sexual addictions (not a problem in our house I would like to add...not that that makes us perfect or anything) anyhow, his name was Doug Weiss, been on Oprah, really really funny and amazingly perceptive....so that aside. He was giving different steps that you could do individually in your marriage to make your marriage better. He got to acts of service and I just perked up, this is EXACTLY what Jason needed to hear. After all I had just kvetched at him that morning about how the trashcans hadn't gone into the back yard yet, how the snow wasn't shoveled correctly blah blah blah, I was in a MOOD. So I figured obviously he was lacking in the whole acts of service thing....Then Dr. Weiss says (and I'm paraphrasing), "If you have a list of things your spouse isn't doing or needs to do, then you are the one with the lacking in service" He even threw in the ENTITLEMENT word. GASP. NO WAY. I mean have you SEEN my volunteer schedule? But you know he was RIGHT, gosh that was hard to say. Jason does do so much, not to mention he is the sole monetary provider for the family. And he hardly ever ever makes demands of me, hardly asks anything. So the thing I thought I had down is the thing I'm gonna work on first because Pride does kind of mess you up at times.

So at the end of the seminar Dr. Weiss started talking about his new book coming in November. He categorizes people into two different categories...and of course not everyone fits neatly into one or the other but can be predominately in one. Jason's was something to the effect of methodical, can't make decisions easily because he has to think through them....etc. Mine was more of a rapid fire thinker...quick but not always correct (well except in MY case, hahaha) really held onto ideas, didn't want to let them go etc...people who are good under pressure.... so while Jason and I are listening to these things, I was thinking "wow these people must be really fun people to be around I'm so glad I'm one of these" and Jason was sitting in his seat, very uncomfortable, thinking, "Gosh I hope he's not hurting these guys feelings, he's being so harsh" HAHAHAH, we are so different.

Love this quote: Idiots are fun, every village wants one. From the show House.

Top Designer

I could blog today about how I miserably, most likely, failed my Microbiology test last night (and by fail, I mean probably in the C range). But I would like to discuss something much more light-hearted...What may become my new favorite TV show. Top Designer on Bravo. There are two particular characters I absolutely hate and yet, I'm sure, will absolutely LOVE to watch in the coming episodes, that is, if their personalities will allow them to stay on. I'm surprised they weren't booted off on this first episode.

John, a 40 year old from Chicago who has one enormous chip on his shoulder. But gotta admire a guy who was told he couldn't and he did, then sold the company to the guy who said he couldn't. He was a do it yourself, no nonsense kind of guy who probably does not work well with others....or at least those are the clips you saw. Not quite sure if he's gay or not, he did compare himself to George Michael, but then pretty much called most of the other guys pansies. And, gasp, wore a Hawaiian shirt and flip flops.

Michael, most definitely GAY, is a 23 year old who was raised on an organic farm, turned big city designer and squeals like a little girl when asked to paint. He has perfected eye rolling to a new art form. As a mom of eye-rollers, I wanted to reach through that TV and just slap him. This guy was a know-it all-little brat who didn't pull his weight in working on the project.

Surprisingly their room was one of my favorites. The guys who did win, won because it was so innovative, but not a room you could live in.....sand box in the floor with a swing...weird.

It was amazing that these two got paired up for the first assignment, sort of made all of the other pairs fade away in their tantrum-less professional demeanor's.

It will be interesting to see how these two fair. OK interesting for me at least. Thank you sis-in-law, Chayna, as the kids call her, for pointing out the show, yes you are right, I do love it.

And let me now focus my attention on my new favorite blog (and thank you Martha for pointing this lady out) Mostly True Stories She totally gave me the idea to critique the people on a show, she did it with Top Chef. She's a L&D nurse with a wicked sense of humor. And makes me laugh and actually in a weird way, gives me hope that I too can make it through my Micro class and then nursing school...even if it is for the stories I'll be able to tell.

So is discussing the lives of the characters on reality TV a new low in the art of procrastination? I do believe so.