Precious Sings:)

sunny days and starry nights
and lazy afternoons
you're counting castles in the clouds
and humming little tunes
but somehow right before your eyes
the summer fades away
everything is different
and everything has changed
if you feel lost and on your own
and far from home
you're never alone, you know
just think of your friends
the ones who care
they all will be waiting there
with love to share
and your heart will lead you home
funny how a photograph can take you back in time
to places and embraces
that you thought you'd left behind
they're trying to remind you
that you're not the only one
that no one is an island
when all is said and done
if you feel lost and on your own
and far from home
you're never alone, you know
just think of your friends
the ones who care
they all will be waiting there
with love to share
and your heart will lead you home
there'll come a day when you're losing your way
and you won't know where you belong
they say that "home is where your heart is"
so follow your heart and know that you can't go wrong
if you feel lost and on your own
and far from home
you're never alone, you know
just think of your friends
the ones who care
they all will be waiting there
with love to share
and your heart will lead you home
if you feel lost and on your own
and far from home
you're never alone, you know
just think of your friends
the ones who care
they all will be waiting there
with love to share
and your heart will lead where you belong
i know your heart will lead you home

On moving forward

My place on the lake

WE DID IT AGAIN MY PRECIOUS TINY HUMANS!

A certain someone has spent the last several months telling me something over and over and over again about moving on from here. . .in a nut shell it is this mantra-
When you are ready to go forward, you will know it, but you won't move forward until you stop letting the past get in the way. . .there is a reason why things happen, and why people leave your life, what you have to decide is to live for a life not yet realized, or you will be chained to a life you don't want to live anymore.
Yesterday was that moment- when I finally realized this was going to happen, this life I have in mind is not only possible, but by my actions I can make it certain. Amazing the healing sustaining power of grad school, amazing advisors past and present, amazing friends and special someone and the ever wonderful presence of amazing tiny humans who fill my eyes with wonder, my heart with hope, my soul with life and love, and my days with awesome wonderfulness.

From here we go- I will get this finished up, and how about this- we go national in our search for a place for the umbrella? Precious, Cocoa, Butter- it will just be you three- and me. . .let's talk about possibilities!

Oh yeah. . .

Passed my proposal defense yesterday!! Very very happy. . .time to just write it up and get this done.:)

It is amazing how it feels, and I just wonder if this is actually gonna happen. . .I am so hopeful that this dream will come true. I just wish that things were settled in my life otherwise, so much stress from so many areas, I am just glad that things seem calm, and that for the first tim ein a long time, it feels ok to dream and to hope and to believe.
When I got home from the defense I had some signs waiting for me- made by my kids, my biggest cheerleaders and my total focus now. . .this degree will be theirs as well as mine, it is a family thing:)

Tick Tock. . .

Yes, I am nervous, but I would not blow this off, and would never EVER not EVER be a no call/no show to anything ever. . .

Just saying. . .

The rest of the story. . .and the decision

This is going to soound really stupid, but bear with me. I did something either really brave or completely mental. I will know sometime in the next few weeks which. . .but until then, I wait. I am not a good waiter. . .suck at it actually. I am a total doer, and when I can't get something I really want done, I try to do something else and complete it. . .so I painted my dining room.

A few quick notes- I am not planing any vacations in the next few weeks. I would never take a vacation without my kids and car, and I would never just leave my kids.

I want my dining room to look nice, should it become necessary for people to see it, and the color was important.

Peacock blue was sooooooo pretty, Precious really loved it. . .but we went with Sage. . .and I like it. However, I have a few bones to pick with Martha Stewart. . .since this is her effing paint . . .why was the paint attacking me and my house?

Look Martha, can I call you Martha, why did you make paint that jumps out of cans and splashes people? That is what my daughter said happened all over the floor, and that sneaky Sage ran under the tarps and taped corners too. . .Martha, do you have any paint that is not quite this talented?

Martha, also, why do you say this is a easy quick pick me up for anyone? You are a liar. . .it was not easy, it took most of the day, and I am STILL peeling paint out of my hair, even though I WORE A HAT. . .damn nimble paint that Sage is. . .

In short Martha, I wish you made your paint slower, dumber and cheaper. . .and one that played nice with painters. . .

Day 1 Spring Break

WTF???

Toys went down the hole, thanks Precious!

Cocoa Chagall

Oh yeah Martha this is what real women look like when they paint their dining rooms!

Peacock Whore Blue or sage. . . .

You will get the answer and the rest of the story later:)

KIA's Ink

Getting readyGo Time

Finished. . .and he is SOOOOOOO my kid if you know me you should recognize the imagry and the language on my kid's arm. . .

And yes, I did get mine, a very private thing, my vision, my artist's version. . .and just me and the artist were there- Mine is in a secret location and very few people have seen it either in person or in pics- so if you have seen my ink, you are special to me:)

Today

Awww please??????

From my place on the lake

B-ball with my oldest 3

Sooooooooo owned them. . .

On our walk. . .

Amazing amazing day with my kids, score got to hang with all 6 today!!!!!!!! Gambit King showed up for basketball. . .a little Fellowship on tap to kick off Spring Break 2010

Sooooooooo close

3-30-10. . .1000. . . . .

About quitting school, no seal of approval!

No good deed goes unpunished

So- to catch you up to speed- In the aftermath of of the Tiger Woods thing, I asked my classes about how many options a man in an abusive relationship would have. . .and got the usual responses. Yet, I now find myself in the middle of a mess that came about from a need to help and sort of lead by example. . .

Keep your fingers crossed- looks like cancer is not the only thing gunning for me now. . .

A name for the Harbor Seal

Swimming, fighting, lost, but found, so close and so far, but tough and ready to reclaim tranquility. George, his name is George.

From the brink and back

Along the lake

approaching

Turning back

From the depth

Yesterday

Glorious day at the park. . .:)

World Poetry Day 2010

To friends young and old, new and forever

Thank You

For words and deeds, many remarkable in their value and their meaning

Thank you

For understanding and hope, faith and love, and everything in between

Thank you

For everything that makes you who you are in life and who you are to me

Thank you

For the essence of life, without which, interaction would be so empty

Thank you

for providing the soul for the social self

Thank you

Scenes from the Epic Battle

Before we begin. . .puppy love

Puppy wants out. . .

Paramedic droid STAT. . .Cocoa's self described Epic Fail

It's a draw. . .even the paramedic droids are packing it in. . .and they are just pretend. . .you know you have done something amazing if you wear out your imaginary friends. . .

I lack the words to fully describe the joy these little humans bring to my life. . .

Song of the Day. . .

Oh Its the sound
ha ha ha ha ha ha
Its the sound of havin a good time
Its the sound of pain
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain...chain...chain..)
(Chain of fools)
For five long years
I thought you were my man
But I found out, I'm just a link in your chain
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain.chain.chain.)
(Chain of fools)
Oh, you got me where you want me
I ain't nothin but your fool
Ya treated me mean
Oh you treated me crue
lChain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain...chain...chain..)
(Chain of fools)
Every chain,has got a weak link
I might be weak child, but I'll give you strength
Chain, chain, chain(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain...chain...chain..)
Chain of fools
(Woo, woo, woo, woo)
You told me to leave you alone(Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo)
My father said 'Come on home'(Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo)
My doctor said 'Take it easy'(Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo)
Oh but your lovin is much too strong
(Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo)
I'm added to your
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain -ain -ain -ain -ain
(Chain.chain.chain.)
Chain of fools
Oh, one of these mornings
The chain is gonna break
But up until then yeah
I'm gonna take all I can take, oh babe
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain
(Chain, chain, chain)
Chain, chain, chain -ain -ain -ain -ain
(Chain...chain...chain...)
(Chain of fools)Oh!
(Chain, chain, chain,-ain -ain -ain -ain)
(Chain, chain, chain)
Oh-oh!
(Chain, chain, chain, -ain, ain, ain, ain)
Your chain of fools
FADES

It SURELY DOES:)

Of coin tosses and bleeding

So- Quite the day here. . .most of it pretty amazing:)

The battle continues between Cocoa and Butter over how BEST to avoid even the simplest chores. . .today added a very inventive, and, well, totally HILARIOUS chapter to the Neverending Story of "How to Invest More Time and Energy Into Avoiding Your Chores Than It Would Take To Actually Do Them, Without Really Trying"

So- Butter has the living room, Cocoa her room. . .vested interests the both of them, because they are both only going to get their grail IF both complete the quest and if both complete it well. . .So saith Mauron. . .One Mom to Rule them ALL. . .ummm welll, ok

So, they decide, in TRUE form of the How to Invest guidelines, to work together on their tasks, so each will have help in getting theirs done and it will be so much more fun to work together.

Yes, as with so much in the world, in THEORY, this is maternal manna, sent right from G-d. . .not to mention sociologically geektastic. . .

BUT (you knew that was coming, didn't you? aww was trying to be subtle), it did not work out that way. . .but watching it play out was amazing, I will try to do it justice-

After arguing for about an hour about which place they should clean first, it was decided that the Omnipotent Coin Toss would decide the room. With this trusty and trusted method of impartially decided sticky situations with 50% odds for both. . .what could possibly go wrong. . .

Well, lots actually

First- Cocoa is convinced that the coin has 2 tails, since she lost EVERY.SINGLE.TOSS. and was not happy. . .and accused the coin, yes the coin, of cheating.

After I convinced her that it was not cheating and explained to her the fundamentals of probability and chance, I let them get back to negotiations. . .battle. . .negotiations. . .until there was a stalemate to end all stalemates, and the Peacekeeper was called. . .so I began to hear the demands of both parties, which were, mutually exclusive and irreconcilable. . .so I offered on more option before all out warfare- we go back to the coin toss, use a different coin, and they decided Cocoa would be tails. . .

It was heads. . .sigh

However, after a short pouting/whining/puppy dog eyes session, she agreed to go to Butter's task first. . .and to their credit, they did an amazing job:)

Currently, they are resting from their epic light sabre battle. . .which got so EPIC I had to implant paramedic droids into both of them to deal with the massive injuries. . .

On the health front, I had a treatment yesterday afternoon, and by the early morning was panicking from the fact that I had a massive blood clot blow out, wow, and looked WAY worse that it was but wow-both older boys gone to friends, neither on answering their phones. . .and me alone with the kids. . .I managed, but wow.

We are going out and about all day tomorrow- off to see the world:)

Are you not entertained, ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED????

Some funny goings on here under the umbrella- not of the best variety, but something tells me that a certain someone is having a very good time right about now. . .sigh

Wonder of wonders, I get to go to my happy place today- Archives for research, so I can feel like I am getting closer and closer to my goal of completing this dissertationand graduating . .sooooo excited:)

Weekend looks iffy weatherwise, so kids and I might stay local, but if not, it is another trip Under the Sea for the sweetums here with the Rainmom. We try to do something fun eery weekend, and I have yet to get to a fraction of the places near and far. . .so many cool places for them to explore.

Off to poke around into other people's history:)

When moments are not enough

Release the dog of War. . .August 2008

Many times over the past few years I have had these reality checks, that are often followed by a mantra that only recently began to make me laugh. . . .

When did my life become a bumper sticker campaign?

Giggle- no really when????? Seriously, when did I start to jones for the perfect saying for the moment I was living? Tough times don't last, but tough people do. . .check. Life/S*%^ Happens/when it doubt, stick it out- Roger that. A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle/Real Women are single/I'll take hand cuffs over a wedding band any day (this one confuses and, frankly scares me) Oooook. . .
I used to just cringe at these kinds of things, not because of disrespect, but because it just seemed weird that something stuck to the back of a car could pop into your mind at the time you need to be strong, be alone, or get better, so random and so weird.
And song lyrics! My relationship with music as always been very close, and it has been no surprise that music has made so many things possible, endurable, and believable. . .
Guess you just never know where the inspiration to go on will come from, even if it's the last place you would expect. . .

This day can end ANY TIME NOW

Boston Harbor August 2008

Maybe I'm the one

Maybe I'm the one who is the schizophrenic psycho (yeah)

She lays down on the fresh lawn

She can make everything magical

But she tied one on big time

And it makes me wanna rewind

To back in the days when we were young

When everything was like a loaded gun

Ready to go off at any minute

And you know we're gonna win again (yeah)

Maybe I'm the one

Maybe I'm the one who is the schizophrenic psycho (yeah)

Maybe I'm the one

Maybe I'm the one who is the paranoid Flake-oh

She lays down on the sidewalk

Never very analytical

She is something simply beautiful

Re-appear when you feel magical

To back in the days when we were young

When everything was like a loaded gun

Ready to go off at any minute

Yeah you know we're gonna win again

You're the one, you're the one who is the schizophrenic psycho

Back in the days when we were young

When everything was like a loaded gun

Ready to go off at any minute

And you know we're gonna win again

You're the one, you're the one who is the schizophrenic psycho!

Sigh, cancelling class, going home to hug my kids, what a horrible day!

Yo Gabba Gabba and 'SupFast. . .

My BA Irish Muffin

While it's still in one piece

Cocoa

Yes, I made it, from scratch. . .

Gotta have the ShamLights

Precious waiting

Is that. . .

LOOKITLOOKITLOOKITMOMMYMOMMY

It's them!

DJ Lance ROCK!!!!!!!

Precious and I went to see Yo Gabba Gabba today, and it was pretty amazing! He had a great time and I just love how different this show is from all the rest! We had a great time just him and me. . .and even with TONS of really unpleasant stimulation in the form of crying babies having epic meltdowns. . .he was awesome!

We also did Irish 'Supfest. . .the 5th year of doing an Irish Breakfast for supper on or near St. Patrick's Day! I will make a dessert for the actual day since it is on CRAZY weekday time, but for today, it was just awesoem to crank the Flogging Molly, Celtic Women and Nightwish and rock out to a variety of Irish music. G-d Willing I will be at the Gaelic Storm concert on St. Patrick's Day. . .HEAVEN! And the picture of the teapot? See I have been wanting to collect tea pots for years. . .I had a collection of 1 lonely teapot. . .until I broke it (that line STILL cracks KIA and Muffin up) then I got this one. . .it is STILL in 1 piece. . .so I had to take a picture of it:)