Too much TV

Many things can be born of boredom.  But sometimes, it's just ridiculous TV watching.
For example, Unfaithful; Stories of Betrayal on the OWN network.  It's an interesting concept where they take couples that have dealt with sexual infidelity and start from square one all the way through the incident(s) and whether they "made it" or not.  I like the idea of showcasing that marriage (and all relationships) are work and how easily one can find his or herself in circumstances which they never wanted to be.  And I like that they tell stories of gay couples and even those with "alternative" lifestyles like swinging.
What's so ridiculous?  They have reenactments.  And not just actors, but fitness models that only resemble the story-tellers vaguely by skin color.  So these half naked, muscled people groping and grinding out stories of betrayal.  The biggest betrayal is the sensationalism of the reenactments to the theme of the show!  It's so ridiculous it's funny.  Check it out sometime.

Bilingual Hopes

I took several years of Spanish starting in middle school.  I did well and passed my AP test in high school and even went on to tutor Spanish-speaking kids and work in a box factory where most of the employees were Mexican, Gautamalan and El Salvadorian.
However, I never really felt that I had oral fluency.  I'm much more comfortable writing and reading Spanish than conversing.  I assume this is because I didn't start learning until I was a pre-teen and was never really fully immersed in the language.
So where do I start to teach my own kids the language without confidence in my verbal skills?
I was pleased to discover several tools to help me!  I found a musical cd with catchy songs about every-day activities, En mi Casa.  We listen to it daily and I try to implement use of the vocabulary when we're doing these activities in real life.  Without complete comprehension of what they're saying, they've already memorized most of the songs and have lovely accents!  And now they're starting to understand the words.
The other tool I've just started using is Whistlefritz dvds.  While we also watch Sprout en Espanol, I think they learn more from these dvds because they're geared more toward teaching Spanish rather than teaching pre-school level concepts to children already Spanish-speaking.  Emberly learns the most from these because of her attention span, but Bauer does tune in for the catchy songs and more interactive portions.
I'm also reviewing my Repaso book from AP Spanish to refresh and trying to speak Spanish at home and take every opportunity to use the vocabulary that they know.
My ultimate goal would be to take them to Spain or South America when they're older a for longer trip where they would get to feel real pride in their ability to communicate and appreciate the culture without anxiety from a language barrier.  And then that they could easily pick up a 3rd (and 4th and 5th if they so desire) language with greater ease when they're older.
I'd love to hear about other experiences and tips from parents teaching their child(ren) another language than what's primarily spoken at home!

Citizenship

A long time ago I saw a Cold Case Files where a man had burned alive saving his family from a Klan fire at his home.  He was allowing black Americans to vote in his store.  It was decades before there was any justice for his family.
That concept has always touched me deeply; that people died so that I would have the opportunity to vote.  I don't take that for granted and I vote.  I've taken Emberly with me at least three times that I can think of and I like to think that the memories will make an impression upon her and that it will be important to her too.

Top:H&M
Dress: Crewcuts
Legs, socks and shoes: Target

I Scream, You Scream

... you know the rest.

Seriously though, if you're trying to lose 10-15lbs that you've slowly put on over the last year, what better decision is there than to buy an ice cream maker?!?
My girlfriend in Atlanta made salted caramel ice cream for our visit and when I got home, I made a bee-line for Costco and picked up my $30 ice cream maker. 

I've made chocolate gelato, strawberry ice cream, peach ice cream and of course plenty of salted caramel.  Freakin' delicious.

Do you have any favorite ice cream recipes? Please comment with the link!

Young Fanatic

Bauer LOVES Conan.  He'll shove the remote at me while chanting "Conan" until I comply (it's on the DVR).  He really only wants to hear the theme song and watch Conan dance about while the audience settles down.  But he's a serious fanatic for those few minutes.

I Survived

I survived the hiatus for The Walking Dead on AMC by checking out the comics (compiled into a hardcover graphic novel) from my library.

The differences in storyline interest me.  And I'm also noticing that some characters I don't care for may be more about the actor's intrepretation on the show.  I can't wait to keep reading, but currently there are no copies of the 2nd book available.
Good thing the show is back to tide me over!

Gorilla Bread

I saw this variation on monkey bread on Rachael Ray a few weeks ago and having just returned from the Dominican Republic and missing the sweet-and-savory banana pizza, it sounded delicious.  Bacon, bananas and syrup?  Um, hellz yes.

Emberly didn't care for it, but the rest of us people with working taste buds thought it was yumm-o (i gagged on my own giggle with that one).

Dance!

My kids love to dance.  I thought all little kids did, but being around more of them, I realize my kids *really* love to dance.
Bauer goes crazy for the opening theme of Conan.
Emberly has a mini obsession with LMFAO (she actually has trouble remembering that letter sequence {which is probably good LOL} and calls them Redfoo and Sky Blu).  She likes to Shuf-a-luffle (her words) and do the wiggle dance.  Ah, pervasive media and pop culture...  Thanks.

We Need More

Christmas weekend with my mom and siblings was a blast.  Damon and I went out one night with my favorite couple.  There was pizza and Asian food.  There were presents and game playing.
The only part that I don't need more of is the check-in and security lines at the airport.  I'm going to start working on a personal teleporter, stat.
Photobomb!

{bff}

{Farmer's Market}

My eyes are closed in this one, but in the other one, I'm leaning away from my mom like she stinks to avoid the sun in my eyes LOL

{matchy-matchy!}

{that's Tombstone playing in the background, which we HAD to watch when a game of Taboo revealed that my youngest siblings did not remember it!}

{I did both their makeup and Emberly was insisting they were twins all weekend}

*Crossing Fingers*

Last night on the VMAs Beyonce gave a performance at the end of which she unbuttoned her sparkling jacket, revealing maternity trousers and rubbed a growing belly. That's a memorable show!

I know that celebrities are regular people who don't necessarily deserve to have every aspect of their lives scrutinized, but I sincerely hope that with the millions of young women (young black women especially) that adore her and love her music, that Beyonce will be an outspoken advocate for breastfeeding.

I really think that would have significant impact, at least in the initiation rates. *crossing fingers*

Nanny 911

I've worked through just about everything I *want* to watch that's available on Netflix "watch instantly." So I started watching Nanny 911. So far there hasn't been much ethnic diversity with the families "in crisis." I don't think this means that non-Caucasians have superior parenting abilities and perfect children (because really...), but that a)we (or "they," if that makes it seem like I feel like a representative for all ethnicities LOL) don't want that kind of business on national TV and b)they don't want parenting advice from heavy British women.
I know I wouldn't want it all over TV if I were letting Emberly run the show. Know what I'm sayin?

Damages

Damon and I were watching something when an actor that had been on the show Damages came on.
What happened to Damages?
It's a great drama about a cut-throat law firm and their multi-billion dollar suits. It stars Rose Byrne and Glenn Close. I love it!
According to the IMDB page, it's in its fourth season, which started July 13th. How is it possible that with all the programming we watch on FX that we haven't seen a single commercial and have been missing it for over a month?!?
A few more clicks and I discover that FX canceled it and it's now only available on a channel exclusive to DirecTV.
I feel personally ripped off. Hopefully I can see it later on Netflix... not the same though.

Obsessed with Obsessed

I've been watching the A&E series, Obsessed, lately. And I'm always randomly referencing episodes with Damon and he tells me that I'm going to be on the show, for watching the show LOL
The show is about people with anxiety disorders that have manifested themselves into various forms of OCD. The show centers around a more hands-on type therapy called Exposure and Controlled Response, where they expose the patient to their anxiety producing situation and make them experience the anxiety and wait for it to subside, without using their typical compulsions.
I find it absolutely intriguing, because I'm fascinated by the human brain and the extreme ways we can react to trauma. What is it that allows some to recover relatively quickly and unscathed, yet other's minds are fragile and trap them in destructive behavior?
It makes me think about where we draw the line between habit and obsession. It makes me think about how I've responded to life events and examine my own worry-wart quirks.
Sometimes when I leave the kids in the playroom at the gym, Bauer gets pretty upset (damn my broken toe and long absence from the gym that allowed him to develop that!). When he starts to cry and is looking at me in distress, I feel my anxiety level rise (which is something I've been paying attention to since watching the show and seeing the therapists make their patients rate their anxiety on a scale 1-10). But I'm able to ignore my impulse to grab him and go about my workout. He calms down and plays, I work on my fitness.
I get anxious about working out in and of itself. I get very irritable if something is preventing me from working out as planned. And on days I've designated for rest, I get anxious if I feel like i haven't eaten well enough to deserve a rest day and often end up working out once the kids go to bed anyway. But I don't workout for excessive lengths or numbers of times, I do eat nutritiously and it doesn't really get in the way of enjoying my family. So I can still think of myself as a fitness fanatic rather than a compulsive exerciser.
I am also insistent on giving my family hugs and kisses and "I love you"s any time they leave the house. I worry that if I don't, they'll die in horrible accident and I'll have to live without closure and with regret. But not because I caused it per se, but that it's just the ironic way in which I think the universe works.

I think we're probably all a little bit crazy :D

Where did that come from

Today I was going to hand Bauer his sippy cup when I said, "Here's your gulp-gulp!"
Hmmm.
What is a gulp-gulp, you ask? Years ago when she could barely talk, Emberly saw this episode of the Wiggles where they sang a song, "Gulp, gulp, drink some water, gulp, gulp, drink some water, because it's good for you!" And from then on, she decided her sippy cup was a "gulp-gulp." She seriously just stopped saying barely over a year ago. It popped right out of my mouth, yet immediately felt foreign.
I asked Emberly if she remembered. "Yeah, that was funny," she said smiling. Then her face immediately dropped and she resumed coloring. See, she can't waste too much time humoring motherly reminiscence.

I'm weird

So during the Family Guy last week, they made fun of this music video:

While I did find humor in the totally unintentional homoerotic vibe that was the 80s, I also couldn't stop thinking about how much I'd like a drapey green silk shirt with patch pockets. I mean really.

Faceless Internet

I was thinking about how the places I come across mean-spirited people are mostly within online communities. And it just so happened that I watched an episode of Glee on my DVR today that talked about how the anonymity of today's technology gives people the freedom to be... mean. So I thought about it some more, about the significance of that. I think it's kind of sad. Because I don't think I actually come across any fewer mean people in real life, it just means that most mean-spirited people are also cowards, who only have virtual balls by which they try to tear people down. Nothing says confident and self-assured like being an a$$hole with only an avatar and screen-name for an identity. And that's not to say I'm saintly or really even nice. But I'm pretty much equally so in *real life.* I think it's scary that, in my case, these people are parents. And we wonder why bullying is such a problem today. Go figure.
Speaking of meanies and haters, let me tell you about my husband's latest joke LOL
Emberly got a collection of sock monkeys for her birthday.

Guess what he had to say when Emberly decided the largest was a mommy monkey?
"Well, it does look just like your mommy, with lipstick on." :| LMAO So rude, right?

Private Vaults

There's this storage company here in Las Vegas that I first noticed a billboard for a while back and was disturbed. And now they have commercials. "Why do people want to know so much of your personal information?" is their marketing platform. These "vaults" are accessed via a retina scan and require no ID to open and are completely untraceable. Eek. What kind of people need that level of anonymity? Serial killers? Organized crime members? Divorcees evading child support and/or alimony? And there's that many of these people to whom that is so important to be a target demographic? I'm freaked and discouraged by humanity.

Butter

I while back I had a conversation with my best friend's (it's her birthday today! woot woot) cousin about going vegan. I lamented that I would miss butter. I confessed that I had a butter fetish. He'd never heard of that before LOL It started when I was pregnant with Emberly. At the end, I made my meal choices in order of what I could soak with the most butter. I barely put syrup on my pancakes.
And then this weekend, I saw Julie & Julia, and found comfort that I am not the only butter lover. The main character, Julie, went on about how if you taste something and it's ridiculously delicious and you wonder, WHAT is in this??? It's more than likely butter!
I've since tamed my butter fetish, but I still really appreciate it's creamy, fatty goodness.

Relating

I record every Oprah on my DVR even though I'm not interested in every show because I got tired of seeing a commercial for an episode that did catch my attention and missing it. I finally got around to watching the one with Portia de Rossi from last week. She was talking about her experiences that fed her novel "Unbearably Light," about her eating disorders, her sexuality and how she got to the good place she's in today. She told a story about scoring a L'Oreal campaign and going to a fitting where she had to try on all these suits to decide what would work for an upcoming commercial. None of them fit. 15 size 4 skirts in, she was feeling pretty shitty, only to have the stylist frustratedly tell the producer that "No one told me she's a size 8." Wow. I fondly remember my experiences as a model, but I know that my distance from it (4yrs now!) has allowed me to romanticize it somewhat. My stomach hurt for her just retelling her story. I can remember several go-sees where I just couldn't get the zipper up, button those pants, or could see the side seams screaming for mercy. Feeling like complete crap, thinking about every carb that I probably shouldn't have eaten the last weekend. And I was a size four, which is pretty damn thin for 5'11". Those samples that they send around with trunk shows are ridiculously tiny for women 5'9"+ to fit into. And even though I never got so far as to develop an eating disorder, I relate to feeling proud and in control that I had the discipline to watch what I ate, exercise diligently and get down to a size two so that wouldn't happen to me anymore. So that I could work every job. And that felt pretty hardcore, so I can hardly imagine the neurotic places her mind went to get down to a mere 82lbs.
I don't miss that pressure one bit.

Praise the Lord

Steven Seagal, Lawman is back for another season on A&E.
He is so entertaining without meaning to be. He states the obvious. He's always trying to talk to people and be the compassionate one. He's a backseat driver. He has a ponytail.
On the season premiere, they pull over a man who is driving his truck with a beer can right in the center console cup holder. He hesitated to pull over because he didn't want to go back to jail. He had just served 5yrs. For guess what? Driving while intoxicated. Surprise, surprise. They give him a field sobriety test and an officer asks him to follow his finger. The man can't focus on his finger going back and forth. He tells them "My eyes don't move like everyone else's eyes." *eyeroll* No shit, they move like a drunk person's. Dunkaduballs.